AN: Hey guys, so things in this chapter escalated quickly. There's not really much gore to worry about but I think I might have broken Waylon. With that said, please enjoy the chapter, and thanks for reading/reviewing.
***Waylon***
I awoke feeling like I'd run a marathon and then been stampeded over by a herd of cattle. My head throbbed in the inky darkness and for a second my body simply refused to move. It'd been too long since I'd slept well, with every time I closed my eyes being plagued by horrible dreams and painful memories.
Fighting against my brain, which begged me to stay laying on the dinky fold out couch, I scraped myself up and sat in the oppressive dark. I couldn't see an inch in front of me and had no idea where the flashlight was.
Great.
"Miles?" he could see in this dark right? That was what he'd been going on about last night, I think.
There was no reply other than the roaring silence.
"...Miles?" he hadn't gone to sleep, had he? No, I don't think he even did that any more.
"Hello?" the only sound in the room was my own echo. The Walrider wasn't out causing havoc, Miles hadn't finally lost it- sitting all alone in here for a few hours- had he? What if that thing was sitting, waiting in the gloom?
I could suddenly hear my heart beating. I became vaguely aware that my breath was ragged and grated against the silence. As much as I didn't want to move it was clear that sitting would do me no good. If I remembered correctly there was an old camping lantern on one of the wire shelves, if I could feel around for it I might be able to get some lights going…
As I stood from the couch the old springs of the fold out bed creaked and groaned, each movement sounded as loud as a gunshot. Just as I creaked towards the edge of the bed there came a sound I hadn't expected or hoped for.
"Waylon? What are you doing?" that was definitely Miles.
"um… looking for a flashlight"
I assumed the worst, standing from the bed. He could have been doing any number of things in the dark, right in front of me, without my knowing. What if Miles had finally cracked? He wasn't very happy last night, what if that was the straw that broke the camel's back?
While I focused on my own paranoic thoughts a beam of light flickered on. Miles stod with the flashlight pointing at the wall, looking none too menacing and not at all like he was in a murderous rage.
I should feel bad, really. For always thinking the worst about him, for second guessing his every move...
I looked again at him through the dark, thinking of the street he flooded with blood, and of the pulverized remains of Jeremy Blair raining down on me.
…but then again, it was better to err on the side of caution.
"So, did you sleep alright?"
"What?" why would he be asking?
"I just mean, you were talking in your sleep"
I'd believe that, but why would that concern Miles…? unless I said something that he wasn't supposed to hear! "Oh really, and what was I saying?"
"Nothing much, just some lyrics to a Patsy Klien song and something about emails…"
Emails? Oh dear god, did he know that I was the one who sent… no, theres no way he could, "Oh, you don't say" how much did he know?
"Ya, it probably wasn't anything major"
If he knew theres no way he'd be talking to me right now, I probably wouldn't be alive "I suppose so."
There was a seconds more hesitation than I was comfortable with before Miles turned the light onto the wire shelves.
"...right. I could have sworn there was a little battery powered lantern over here." he dug through the dusty shelves "here it is."
He turned off the flashlight, plunging the room into darkness, then spent a few seconds turning the lantern on before setting it, lit, onto the floor.
"Great, now we can at east see"
He could see the whole time, and he knew I knew that. Something was obviously off, everything he'd said was to pleasant or guarded, it been a whole conversation without some dry attempt at sarcasm, he had to be hiding something.
"Ya, great" I sat back onto the folded out couch, Miles moved over to the office chair behind the desk. A silence stretched out, thick and heavy. It wasn't broken until Miles asked:
"Can you hand me the leftovers?"
I picked up the styrofoam box, which was cool, and handed it to him. Was he actually hungry, or putting on an act for my benefit? If it was an act it was a bad one, and if it wasn't he seemed forced anyway. What if it was the Walrider? What if Miles was gone and it was trying to act normal?
What if I was just inventing a scenario?
If I was going to man up and clear the air, now was the time to do it. Just me and him, having an honest conversation. What's the worst that could happen?
"So… I have to ask…." how was i going to start this conversation? "are you sure-"
The roar of an opening garage door overwhelmed the words I would have said. Hardly a second later a thud hit the boxes and Chealsy's frantic voice came through the false wall.
"Guys, we have an issue. A really fucking big issue!" she was nearly yelling as the crates moved from their place.
"Good morning and it's nice to see you too" Miles un-enthusiastically greeted her.
"This is serious guys," she slipped halfway through the barrier "we need to disappear now! Murkoff probably knows where we are."
Any good mood Miles may have been in disapeared like fog at high noon. Luckily I responded to her before he did "how did they find us?" I asked while already moving towards the exit.
"My best guess? Somebody saw us while we were out, I drove by the restaurant we ate at last night and it was fucking quarantined, same thing at my apartment."
Miles had yet to move, "are you sure its Murkoff?"
"not at all, but they sure as hell aren't the CDC like everyone thinks they are."
"CDC?" Tim had gotten a call from a supposed agent when we were at his house.
"Is there an echo in here? Yes! The CDC, now lets hurry up and get gone!"
Apparently Miles had come to the same conclusion as I had, because after a seconds hesitation he moved to leave the room as well.
"Ok, so it's going to be pretty obvious that we've flown the coop once they check all of my bug out locations, but it'll take them at least an hour before they find them all, so we've got a bit of a head start…" she went on talking long after I'd stopped listening.
The three of us moved quickly down the halls, eventually coming to the stairs, as we filled down them Chealsy's every word echoed and rang off the metal walls and floor. When we stepped into the deserted lobby the cacophony of her words died out in the open space, though she continued to talk.
"...and even if they find us theres no way they could actually-"
"Jesus christ Chealsy, just shut up already" Miles cut her off.
She looked at him as if he'd slapped her across the face "don't tell me what to do, if I want to talk then I'll talk, I seem to remember that you used to want to listen to me for days on end. Do you remember-"
"Umm, guys" it was my turn to cut her off. Two men had come into the lobby, they were dressed too well to be a couple of people just moving things out of storage and something seemed very stiff about them.
"What now!" Chealsy had worked herself into a fit.
"Miss" one of the men had seen the three of us and started walking over.
"Hello," he continued on "I'm Daniel Larson, from the CDC, I'm afraid we'll have to ask you to leave the building."
Nobody responded. The room seemed to slow down as we looked dumbly at the man. In the time it took for us to not respond a look of recognition spread over Larsons face. He made a grab for a gun that'd been tucked in at his waist. I moved without thinking, towards the door.
Shouting broke out behind me, then a single shot. Flying through the door I took a side glance over my shoulder, Larson was on the ground, the other 'CDC' agent was being flung down next to him by a tackle from Miles.
"Move it Upshur!" Chealsy yelled to him from behind me.
Still moving I reached the car. Chealsy skidded up behind me, followed closely by Miles. All three of us got into the car, in the rearview I saw the two men recovering and leaving from the building.
Peeling out of the lot the rear windshield shattered, the roar of guns rang out.
Chealsy began to yell some idiotic command from the back, not that I needed anyone to tell me to move, the car was already speeding down the road now.
Whipping through the cars that were meandering down the street, I didn't have any time to register where I was going. Every ounce of my focus was spent on not hitting the other cars on the road. I came close to an SUV, side swiped a truck, nearly rear ended a honda.
The only noise from the back seat was Chealsy's yelling.I couldn't make out any words.
The sound of more bullets rang out. These guys were shooting through the traffic? They must be fucking insane!
Over the din of traffic, gunfire, and screams, a single yell was clear as day "Turn left!"
That was Miles. I wrenched the wheel to the side, nearly missing the turn. I had no idea where he thought we were going.
Until I saw the building at the end of the street.
It was Murkoffs corporate headquarters. I slowed the car by a fraction. I had to go there.
"There still behind us!" Chealsy called from the rear seats.
I still slowed down. I had to go inside, this could be my only chance to find Garret and Connor. It was a week later and we still had no idea where they were! Jerking the wheel to the left and through oncoming traffic the car skidded over a curb and crashed into the crowded plaza that lead to the massive skyscraper.
"Holy shit, you're fucking insane!" Chealsy screamed at me.
Not caring about the consequences I jumped from the battered car and made a beeline through the crowd of terrified onlookers to the front doors. Knowing Murkoff it wouldn't be long before some sort of security would show up and make things worse. I made it to the front doors before the screeching of tires entering the plaza sounded. Not turning around to see what had to be 'the CDC' I barreled into the lobby, only to be greeted by a couple of stone cold security guards.
They weren't about to play nice; one made a shot while the other called in a report over his radio. The firsts bullet went wide and missed me by an inch, with adrenaline flooding my system I made a wild run for the inside of the building. Before I rounded the nearest corner another bullet chipped the granite wall to my right. Expecting a bullet to land in my back at any second I only ran faster. No more shots came my way though, there was the noise of shattering glass, then a hail of gunfire from both inside the lobby and out in the plaza. The panicked screams of the guards started not long after.
Not daring to look back I darted down a hallway. The sounds of a massive gunfight grew louder behind me. Knowing that there could be a small army of heavily armed guards in the building I made myself move. The now small wound on my leg began to ache from the motion but I didn't care. They had to have my sons in her somewhere. They had to be here. Right?
Lost in panicked thoughts I didn't notice the armed man in front of me until I ran into his side. With trained reflexes he whipped around, gun at the ready.
"Uh…" ohshitohshitohshit.
Without a word a gun roared in the hallway. The man went down in a yelling heap.
"Fucking shit Park, you nearly got me killed!" it was Chealsy. With a gun.
What.
"Well don't just stand there, obviously there's something goddamned important in here."
Where did she- never mind. I stepped past the writhing guard and continued down the hall, Chealsy followed close behind with the gun still in hand. There had to be some hint as to where they were keeping Connor and Garrett. The halls were winded into a labyrinth of small offices and break rooms. Most have their doors shut and locked. The sound of gunfire was dieing out.
"Is there a plan for your madness, or are we just walking around until something terrible happens?" she sounds pissed. I don't care.
Deep in the heart of the building the near-silent hum of a computer cooling system reverberated through the hall. If I could find a company computer it would take me a second to pull up all the information I needed. Following the sound of machines I lead Chealsy through another three halls before finding a door unlocked. Inside was dark, but it was unmistakably filled with large processors and reeked of chips and red bull. If I had to guess, they probably kept hiring young newly graduated engineers to maintain their computer systems. After all, they were more likely to take the first job they could get and probably weren't prone to blowing the whistle on any shit they saw Murkoff get up to.
Going into the dimmed room I looked past the blinking lights that adorned the shelves and walls. Far in the back of the room a desk top computer shared its space with a dozen nicknacks and figurines. Ignoring the little statues I went to work on the computer.
Chealsy remained at the door and kept watch on the hallway, not that there was any reason to, no one was going to pay attention to an IT room with a full scale invasion going on in the lobby.
Digging through the old computer I tore into the Murkoff main frame, some of the old security override codes still worked. After thirty seconds of my fingers flying over the keys I got into one of the restricted databases. Launch inquiry, keyword: Park.
The screen filled with nearly five dozen files, I set restrictions for files less than a week old, it was reduced to just over forty. there had to be some proof in here, some clue to where they could be…
...intent to falsify birth records, a memo,…
come on, anything.
…Agent Drayer incident reports, orders to dispose of corpses…
What? Orders to dispose of corpses. That had to mean…
I kept looking, there had to be something else.
Near the bottom of the list was a file for transfer paperwork.
There, a transfer, I opened the file.
From: MURKOFF CORPORATE, Salt Lake City, UT.
To: MURKOFF ARD, Zeichner Facility
The transfer of brothers GARRETT and CONNOR PARK from the field offices of agents DRAYER and FIGUEROA to the Zeichner facility are to take place within three days of this correspondence. Minimal restraints are necessary, as the subjects for transfer are eleven (11) and eight (8) years of age, respectively. Upon arrival at the facility it is recommended that they be held in medium to minimal security conditions. Due to the unusual circumstances of our acquiring them, and the currently unknown state of their dispositions any the governing personnel of the Zeichner facility are under no limitations of their actions towards the two new subjects. Let it be noted that this is a preliminary outline of events yet to occur, to view the details of said transfer please refer to attached documents INTENT OF TRANSFER 194560-A and 194560-B (completed by K. DRAYER- DECEASED) , TRANSFER ITINERARY 5270694, ZEICHNER ENTRY FILE 4832976 and 4832077, and INVENTED RATIONALE FOR ENROLLMENT forms 9246208 and 9246209.
NOTE: Due to their non-standard method of acquisition and their largely unplanned enrolment in the facility, it is not imperative that the longevity of the subjects lives be preserved.
I closed the screen.
"It is not imperative that the longevity of the subjects lives be preserved" I repeated the last sentence. Time seemed to slow and I thought I could feel my innards melting into a toxic sludge.
They were fine. They had to be fine. I had too keep looking for them, where the hell was the Zeichner facility? I rapidly typed in the name of the place they would be. Before I hit enter for my new search a shot rang out from the door
"It's time to go!" Chealsy was yelling from the door.
No! I still needed to know more!
` More gun fire came down the hall "damn it Park, if we stay here we'll never get out!" she tried to pull me from the chair. I refused to move, there came yelling and the sound of heavy footfalls from the hall.
"Shit!" Chealsy spun around and let a bout of panic fire loss at the door.
There were hundreds of results about Zeichner from within a week. What were they doing there?
"God damnit! MOVE!" she yanked at the chair under me, forcing the screen from my view.
"But-"
"But nothing!" she pulled at my arm and moved me to the door "It won't fucking matter if you know exactly where your kids are if you're too full of lead to do anything about it."
But I could… damn it she was right. They weren't here and I couldn't do a damn thing. Murkoff would probably kill them because of this break in. If they weren't already dead. The last sentence of the note echoed in my head. I'd failed. I'd failed again, I'm so useless, so goddamn useless! She forced me into the hall; we had to get out, I'd thrown us into a hornets nest, and now we had to get out.
I fumbled down an eerily quiet hall, following Chealsy, who was only a few steps ahead. How the hell were we supposed to get out? I was turned around, had no idea which way we'd already gone. I was just about to follow Chealsy around a corner when a scream that nearly blew my eardrum out burst into the air.
"What the hell is that!" a hail of panic fire reigned through the echoes of Chealsy's words.
Skidding to a stop I nearly hit her back, only stopping to look up at the wall of shifting gray haze occupying the hall. Without a word I grabbed at her shoulder and pulled back around the corner. That way wasn't safe, not at all. The Walrider was on the loos, I should have know that this would happen, but the risk of that thing would have been worth it if I could find Connor and Garret, but now…
"...the fuck was that?" Chealsy sputtered out words to crash my train of thought.
"Probably just Miles" I told her robotically. I had no emotions to spare for my words.
"What?"
I didn't talk back, she knew about the Walrider, she could figure it out, I didn't need to be there to hold her hand, god knows it'd probably break if I tried.
There had to be a way out of this place, someway to get to the streets unseen and to a car. Chealsy followed closely behind me now, still gripping the now empty gun. The hallways stood empty, with doors locked tight, if only the people inside knew that staying there would be a death sentence; I'm sure then they would be out in a panic.
The halls began to look reminiscent of Mount Massive, with wayward smears of blood and puddles of gore lining the walls.
"Holy fuck…" Chealsy sounded like she was losing it behind me, letting loose small chains of quiet swears. Is it bad that this seems more like a bad haunted house attraction than real terror? shouldn't I at least be breathing heavily?
I stepped over a putrefied body, Miles must of been down this way.
Hadn't I been panicked the last time things went like this? Why did I feel so numb? I thought back to the contagious insanity of Mount massive, back to all the horrible shit I saw there: men mutilated into the mockeries of women, people playing basketball with a severed head, blood clothed cannibals stalking me through rotting halls. That should have ruined me, that should have sapped any humanity or sanity I had. Not this, not the slow despair that had been bogging me down since I left that horrible place.
It should have been over…
This bullshit should have been over.
***Miles?***
The whole building reeked of fear and corruption, cleaning it of all the stains pretending to be people would be a public service. Some worm fired a bullet, it did no harm, not even hitting its mark. He was dead where he stood. Not a second later there was nobody left to hit the floor.
This was the building where they had worked, the fools who conceived of Mount massive, some of them were still here. Cowering in their offices on the floors above, running down stairwells in effort to escape.
...NNNnnn...
The hallway ahead stood bare, no living man was there. No one could stand in the swarm and live. The hall led to the stairs, a man in an obscenely expensive suit was reduced to pulp and organic rain as he ran from them. The stairs filled with the swarm, the buzz alone could have bust an ear drum. On the second floor stood little more than a graveyard of cubicles, all of them abandoned, some of them newly ownerless. Larger doored offices lined the walls, the few that still contained groveling creatures were redecorated in red. With the floor dead and drowned in its own fluids there was no opposition while traveling down the halls.
Ssstttt...
The corridor was lined with doors, some hanig open, a few slammed shut. None of them worth the effort of an investigation, until the a security room drifted into sight. It stood empty, the filth inside having fled long ago. The small room filled with the swarm almost immediately, a few sterile computer screens blaired light through the dark cloud. On them were views of the hall, all empty, all devoid of movement, of anything work while.
Except for one.
A laboratory looking room, not unlike the ones back at Mount Massive, held a single man in a lab coat. He stood hunched over a desk, working frantically at some machine. Did he look familiar? Had he been at the asylum? Before the end? Maybe. Either way anything he knew would be lost before long, there would be no survivors from this place. Moving again down the hall it was not long before the building morphed from gray soulless cubicles to white amoral research halls. The bright lights gave way to the clouded swarm as the room loomed closer.
Leaving one less murkoff slave to pollute the world should be rewarded. By crossing the threshold the frantic man came into clear view. His pathetic life probably flashed before his eyes. As the swarm rushed to him, it suddenly stopped.
The world became heavy.
It felt like I weighed a ton.
I weighed a ton. I stood covered in blood. I suddenly realised that the floor had been smacked against my face. There were bleeding wounds across my body, I hadn't thought I'd been shot. Wait a second.
I'd been shot. I was in Murkoff HQ, what the hell had I done?
Every limb in my body felt like it has been recast in lead, even breathing felt implausible through the heaviness. Without moving my head to look around the room an office worker's foot came into view, it must be the man who was in the lab.
There on the floor it occurred to me, I still had to move, had to do something, get revenge, destroy everything in sight, I couldn't just let this place go on existing. From the floor rage began to surface.
Somewhere in the background I became aware that the man was talking into a radio, or a phone, or maybe even to himself. It didn't matter what exactly, I just knew I had to crush him and get back to destroying this place and punishing everyone inside. Try as I might I couldn't move so much as a pinky finger.
I thought to myself to move, nearly screamed it, there was no reply from my limbs or the Walrider.
The man moved closer, not talking now, something jabbed into my side, the room became covered in a haze that wasn't my doing. There was no time to blackout now, I had things to do. Things I should have been doing from the start. Ruining this place is what I should have done from the beginning. Going to Donalds had been a mistake, Salt Lake should have been my first stop.
The man moved away, the room was more shadow and haze than sterile white lab. I had to get up and move, I had to break something, preferably this mans skull.
My eyelids became too heavy to bear.
No! I had to move, had to get my revenge.
Finally I saw nothing.
I would have to wait to get my revenge.