AN: As a warning, from here on out, things are going to get a little dark. Bullets will fly and people are going to get hurt. And as a reminder, I am an American, so my action heroes kill people. That means when the poopy hits the paddles, guys like Lucien and Danny are going to shoot to kill. Just thought I'd give you fair warning, if you got into fanfiction for cuddly romantic pieces, turn around now. But if you're okay with a little action and violence, please read and enjoy.
Chapter 6
Darren sat, with his arm around Taylor, enjoying the movie and trying to unwind from their stressful day at the elementary school. Although he tried to focus on the movie, his mind kept wandering back to what Taylor had said about the dangers they were facing and about the men that tried to kill Lucien. Controlling the anomalies had gotten a lot more dangerous and they had to be better prepared. A woman's scream from the back of the theater broke into Darren's thoughts.
"What the hell is that thing?" She yelled. Darren and Taylor both looked at the same time, fearing the worst. The woman was backing away from a small creature that had gotten into the theater when she opened the door. Darren groaned as the baby velociraptor hopped around excitedly, squeaking at the other moviegoers. Darren and Taylor leapt to their feet.
"Call Ben," Darren said quickly as he moved to get people away from the baby dinosaur, "If there's one,there's probably more." As Taylor pulled out her phone, Darren whistled loudly to get everyone's attention.
"I need everyone to exit the theater by the fire exits in the rear." He called. "I'm with the zoo and this is an escaped Komodo Dragon. They can be very dangerous if you're not trained."
"Komodo dragon?" One man yelled, backing away from the raptor that was now nipping at the frightened people. "That's no Komodo dragon, that's a raptor." Darren forced a laugh.
"You'd be amazed at how often we get that." He told the man, who now looked less certain. Darren knew he needed to get everyone out of the theater as soon as he could, before any adult raptors showed up.
"If everyone could please exit from the fire doors." Taylor yelled over the commotion. "Once you're all gone, we can contain the creature."
People began moving out of the doors while Darren kept his eyes on the raptor. The constant noise and movement seemed to have cowed it into hiding beneath one of the seats. As the last person left, Darren looked at Taylor.
"We need to get this one contained and find the anomaly." He said tersely. Taylor nodded and looked around.
"This is contained." She said after a moment. "We can leave it here and find the anomaly." Darren thought about it for a second.
"That's fine." He agreed. He and Taylor ran out of the theater, slamming the door behind them before the raptor could get out as well.
Darren looked around the hallway of the movie theater until he saw what he was looking for. He pulled the fire alarm, causing a loud blaring noise to sound throughout the building. Taylor looked at him with a small smile.
"That'll clear them out." She said, "But the fire department will be on it's way." Darren frowned, he hadn't thought about that, but it was too late to do anything else.
"Let's get this anomaly cleared up, then." He said, looking around for any sign of an anomaly or incursion.
Suddenly, a full grown raptor walked around the corner and looked at the pair of them. It seemed puzzled for a minute before cawing loudly. Darren grabbed Taylor's hand and the pair of them sprinted down the hallway away from the raptor. With another loud caw, it gave chase.
As they ran, Darren looked for anywhere to hide until the rest of the team arrived. Ahead to their left, he saw an open door. He pointed it out to Taylor, but as they headed for it, Darren saw a young boy, no older than six, standing in the middle of a side hallway. As Taylor ran to the room, Darren cursed loudly and let go of her hand. She looked in shock as Darren tore off down the side hallway to get the boy.
Darren scooped up the boy, who seemed unable to move, into his arms and slung the child over his shoulder. As he turned around, the raptor skidded into the entrance of the hallway. Darren stopped dead and the two of them stared at each other for a tense moment.
A clanging noise caught the raptors attention as Taylor banged two pots together from behind it. The raptor took a step out of the doorway towards her. Darren bolted behind the raptor, running to the door. When he got to the open doorway, Darren began yelling and making noise to get the raptors attention as well. The raptor turned towards Darren, giving Taylor time to run past it and into the room. Darren followed her and slammed the door behind himself, locking the deadbolt.
The room appeared to be a staff lounge and Taylor put the pots she'd found back in the sink. Darren looked at her as he set down the boy he'd rescued. All three of them jumped as the raptor outside slammed into the door. Darren looked the boy over, he seemed unhurt, just terrified. He kneeled down to the boy's level and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"What's your name?" Darren asked, trying to be consoling. The boy just shook, apparently unable to speak. The raptor plowed into the door again and cracks appeared in the wood.
"We need a plan." Taylor said, looking around the room. Darren stood up as well and searched for inspiration. He saw a rolling trolley against the wall where the door was located. He could slam it into the raptor when it came through, as long as the raptor didn't leap at Taylor or the child immediately. Another bash on the door focused Darren. He grabbed a pitcher of water and handed it to Taylor.
"When it gets through," Darren instructed, looking her in the eyes. "throw the water on it. I'm going to hit it with the trolley and pin it to the wall. Hopefully." Taylor frowned.
"Why would the water stop it?" She asked, looking scared and confused.
"Wouldn't you be confused if you burst into a room and someone threw water on you?" He questioned, only half joking. "I only need it to stop for a second." Taylor nodded and maneuvered the child behind her, holding the pitcher in readiness. Darren ran over to the trolley and made sure the wheels were unlocked. The raptor hit the door again and it cracked outward, the next hit would be the last. Darren looked at Taylor, still putting on a brave face against a raptor, armed only with water. She looked at him and they made eye contact.
"I love you." He said sincerely. He had to make sure she knew, just in case. She smiled at him.
"I love you too." She responded. Then the raptor burst into the room.
As soon as it came through the door, Taylor threw the water into it's face. As Darren had hoped, the raptor stopped, shaking its head. With a savage roar, Darren shoved the trolley as hard as he could, hitting the raptor at a run. The raptor, caught off guard by the two part water and trolly attack, gave no resistance. Darren slammed it into the wall, pinned by the large cart. Unfortunately, the raptor was still conscious and snapped at Darren from the other side of the trolley. Darren leaned back, trying to avoid the creature's massive jaws.
Just then, someone clapped Darren's shoulder from behind. He turned to see Steve walking past him, holding what looked like a stun gun. Steve fired almost nonchalantly at the raptor. The creature spasmed uncontrollably before flopping against the trolley, its head still twitching. The two friends looked at each other for a moment and Steve grabbed Darren in a tight hug.
"Never do this to me again." Steve admonished while still hugging Darren. Darren laughed.
"It wasn't part of the plan. I just wanted a quiet movie." The friends broke apart and Steve looked at the small child.
"What's your name, little guy?" He asked as Darren held Taylor tightly.
"T- Trevor." The boy answered meekly. Steve grinned.
"Well, Trevor," He said, "you're lucky you found two smart people like my friends here to protect you."
"Yeah, smart." Danny interjected, walking into the room. "You two are geniuses. You trapped yourself in a room with only one way in or out and that way was blocked by a raptor. Real smart."
"We're fine, by the way." Darren said with a grin. Danny smiled widely.
"And thank God for that." He said, pulling both of them into a hug. "You can't go scaring us like that."
"Why does everyone act like we wanted this?" Darren said, still smiling. "I just wanted a quiet movie."
"Are there more raptors?" Taylor asked, looking between Danny and Steve.
"Gartus and Lucien are searching the building." Danny replied, leading them out of the lounge. "And Ben and Emily are looking for the anomaly. We're gonna have to find it fast and get out of here. Charlie told the firefighters there was a false alarm, but they can't delay the police for very long. Too many people called from your theater saying there was a monster loose."
"What did you tell people?" Steve asked curiously.
"Komodo dragon." Darren replied, slightly embarrassed. He knew Steve could have come up with something better. But surprisingly, Steve laughed.
"Good thinking." Steve complimented, "Komodo dragon, who would believe that." The four ARC members stopped in the lobby and looked around for the others.
"Where'd you get a stun gun?" Darren asked after a moment of silence. Steve grinned mischievously.
"I realized that the EMD's were basically big tasers." He explained, "So I wanted to see how effective an actual taser was. Lucien had a spare, so he let be use it to go rescue you."
"I'd say it worked rather well." Taylor commented. As Steve was about to reply, Ben walked into the lobby from behind the concession stand, Emily following behind him. They both gave a sigh of relief when they saw Darren and Taylor.
"We found the anomaly." He informed them. "It's in a small storage closet. But we've got to go as soon as possible."
"What about the raptors?" Darren asked. He didn't like the idea of leaving a pack of raptors in a movie theater or leaving an anomaly open and unmonitored. As if on cue, Gartus walked into the lobby holding the baby raptor by its neck and holding his sword, which was now covered in blood. The raptor was squirming and writhing in Gartus' grip, but he gave it a little shake.
"Do we kill baby raptors?" He asked, looking at the others. "Lucien and I have killed the rest, but we didn't know about the baby." Darren and the others looked at each other. After a moment, Ben shrugged.
"Eh, let it live." He said. "Toss it back through the anomaly with the bodies." Gartus nodded and walked off. Ben checked something on his phone. He looked up with a worried expression.
"We've got to go." He said quickly, hopping over the counter. "Charlie texted me, the police will be here in one minute."
"What about the anomaly?" Steve asked as everyone moved to the back of the theater. "We can't just leave it here. Especially if raptors are coming through."
"We don't have a choice." Danny told him, urging Steve along.
"I'll text Charlie and tell him to keep people out of the closet and to stay wary." Ben said as the group ran down the hallway. "That's the best we can do." Steve nodded as the eight of them exited the movie theater into the setting sunlight.
After leaving the theater, they were all sitting together at Darren and Steve's apartment. It had happened by unspoken consent, no one had made the decision, they just all arrived and sat down, talking casually. In the middle of the conversation, Gartus snapped his head up and looked around. Danny frowned at him.
"What's up, Gartus?" He asked. Gartus' eyebrows furrowed together.
"I'm not sure." He replied slowly, "I just had a bad feeling."
"What do you mean a bad feeling?" Emily asked while Gartus continued to frown and look around the room.
"The last time it happened, my company was almost ambushed by Picts." Gartus elaborated, sounding distracted. Darren looked at the others, they had never heard Gartus talk about his life 2nd century Rome .
"I just had a bad feeling, so I sent half the men on a different, parallel, route." Gartus finished.
"Yeah," Steve said, "but that could've just been-" Steve was cut off as someone kicked the door in.
Darren looked towards the doorway, leaping to his feet like everyone else. A man in a black jumpsuit charged into the room and leveled his assault rifle at Taylor. Time seemed to slow down for Darren as he realized what was happening. Without making any conscious decision, Darren pushed Taylor out of the path of fire as he saw the man pull the trigger.
The impact sent Darren sprawling backwards. He hit the wall hard and slid down it. He couldn't feel anything but the cold spreading from his chest. He looked down and saw the red blossoming across his t shirt. The world began getting fuzzy and he could hear yelling from far away, but he didn't seem to mind. Darren's last thoughts were about Taylor, and how he'd saved her life. He was a hero.
XXXXX
The entire world had gone insane, and Danny Quinn was just trying to stay above the current. He'd heard the man kick in the door and reacted like everyone else. Then, in a burst of gunfire, the man had shot Darren in the chest. A red haze clouded Danny's vision. He didn't care what he did anymore, just as long as he hurt everyone responsible.
Danny pulled his gun from the back pocket of his jeans before he'd even realized what he was doing. Far away, he could hear Steve yelling, but it didn't matter now. All that mattered was hitting them back.
As the man in the jumpsuit moved his rifle, Danny fired. His first shot hit the man in the knee; his second, in the head. Danny didn't care anymore, he just wanted to kill as many of the people who'd killed Darren as he could.
More men ran into the room and Danny fired at them as well. The gunshots from the other side of the living room meant that Lucien felt the same way too. The men in jumpsuits obviously weren't expecting armed opposition and they retreated back down the hallway, Danny and Lucien firing after them.
"We need to get out of here." Ben shouted. He tried to pull Steve away from Darren's body, but the young man wouldn't move. Tears were streaming down his face ashe tried to stay with his friend. Danny looked at the group of terrified kids. He'd already failed one of them, he had to get the rest out.
"C'mon." Danny yelled, "Everyone needs to go. We've got to get out." Steve had a wild look in his eyes.
"I can't leave him." Steve yelled. Danny could hear men shouting in the hallways outside.
"There's nothing you can do for him." Emily told Steve, pulling him to his feet. "Danny's right, we've got to go."
Danny took the lead and headed to the door. Ben pulled Taylor, who seemed to be in shock, along with him while Emily kept a tight grip on Steve's hand. Danny looked at Lucien.
"I'll take point, you bring up the rear." He instructed. Lucien nodded and Danny ran out into the hallway with a wild shout, firing his gun to scatter the men in the hallway.
The New ARC team ran down the hallway, bullets flying through the air. Danny held the stairwell door open while returning fire down the hallway. When Lucien got to the door, they both ran in and slammed it shut behind themselves.
Gartus took the lead down the stairs to the parking garage. Another man in a jumpsuit came running up the steps to stop them. Gartus cut the man down immediately and the rest of the team followed him into the garage.
Several men were standing by the vehicles, but they obviously hadn't been warned anyone was coming. Danny leveled his gun as the men put their hands in the air to surrender. Steve punched one man savagely, knocking him to the ground. Steve grabbed the man's pistol, aiming it at the man's head with a wild look in his eyes. Thankfully, Ben snatched the gun out of his grip. Danny was worried about Steve, but he needed to get everyone out.
"Lucien, you take Taylor and Gartus." Danny instructed, "Ben, Emily, and Steve, you're with me. Everyone, ditch your phones." As the others threw their phones on the ground and got into the cars, Danny pulled his out of his pocket. He got into the car and dialed Connor's number. He had to warn them too. Connor picked up as Danny drove out of the carpark, Lucien right behind him.
"L'Connor Temple." Connor answered in a terrible French accent.
"Connor, listen to me." Danny said quickly, "Someone is targeting people who've worked with anomalies. You need to get your family and get out, now. I don't have time to explain, just warn the others and get out. Ditch your phones and go into hiding. Good luck." As Connor sputtered on the other line, Danny disconnected the call and threw his phone out of the window. He hoped Connor could get them out. Danny tried to think of somewhere to hide.
"I don't think we're out of the woods yet." Ben said warningly, looking behind them. Danny turned and saw two black SUVs following them, and getting closer. Danny weaved through traffic, trying to get alongside Lucien to communicate his plan. Luckily, Lucien was able to pull up next to him. They both rolled down their windows.
"You got a plan?" Lucien yelled over the noise of wind and traffic.
"Benton woods." Danny replied. "We can hide there. We just have to loose the tails first."
"Split up." Lucien advised, "We'll take one, you take the other. We'll meet you there." Danny nodded and swerved suddenly into a turn lane.
"One's following us." Ben said from the passenger seat. Danny kept his eyes on the road, racking his brains to remember what people had done while he was in car chases.
"Cause an accident." Steve said in a dull, lifeless voice. Danny looked back at him in surprise, Steve hadn't said anything since they'd left the apartment. Emily still had a tight grip on his hand. Danny and Ben exchanged a quick look.
"Sounds like a good plan to me." Ben said after a moment. Danny nodded and looked back at the traffic behind him.
The SUV was only one car behind them. Danny could see the car in the next lane trying to pass his car. Danny had a moment of regret for what he was going to do, and then he cut sharply across the lane, causing the driver to jerk his wheel in surprise. Danny's plan worked as the car in the next lane swerved, causing the car in front of the SUV to hit it, with the SUV immediately crashing into the back of the second car. Danny floored the accelerator as he looked back to see a man getting out of the SUV and glaring at Danny's car. Danny kept driving to Benton woods.
When they got to the entrance to Benton woods, Danny parked the car and shut it off. The four of them all got out of the car without speaking. Danny went to the trunk of his car and began handing out flashlights.
"We need to find Lucien and the others." Ben said, looking around.
"Or they could find you." Lucien answered, walking out of the wood line with Taylor and Gartus following behind him. Danny checked them over, they all seemed to be unhurt, just frightened and worried.
"We'll camp in the woods for tonight." Danny told the group. "We'll work on finding out more information in the morning." The others nodded, except for Steve, who was still glaring at the ground. Danny led the group on the path that would take them deeper into the woods.
XXXXX
Ben blew on the fire and watched the small flame pick up. Lucien stood over his shoulder and watched, nodding approvingly. Ben stood up.
"Told you I could handle myself in the woods." He said with a forced grin. Lucien smiled back, but Ben could tell there wasn't any emotion in it. Everyone felt the same way, they were just trying to act like nothing was wrong and do what had to be done. Ben kept the memory of Darren's death pushed down, he couldn't deal with that fact and try to keep a look out for anyone who might be coming. The only person who wasn't present at their makeshift camp was Steve, who'd gone off to be alone almost as soon as Danny had chosen a place to stay.
Ben, like everyone else, was worried about Steve, even more than he was worried about the group's survival. Steve had been unresponsive since they escaped the apartment, only answering basic questions. Ben knew he barely understood the pain Steve had to be going through. It was all he could do to keep himself from stopping completely and sobbing, and he'd only know Darren for a few months. Granted, Darren had become one of his closest friends in those few months and someone who he knew he could rely on in a crisis, but he'd still only known him for a short amount of time. Danny's whistle brought Ben out of his thoughts. Danny motioned for everyone to sit in a circle around the fire.
As they sat down, Ben looked over the faces of his teammates. Danny looked determined to protect the rest of the group and keep them safe. Gartus and Lucien both had the look of men who'd seen too many deaths and didn't want to deal with another. Emily looked like Ben felt, upset, but trying to keep a calm and comforting exterior. And Taylor, Taylor just looked dead. She, like Steve, was barely speaking to anyone. She seemed to still be in shock, as if she was waiting for someone to wake her up. Danny spoke first.
"We have two immediate problems." He said, looking at everyone in turn. "How to deal with whoever attacked us, and Steve."
"I'm worried about him." Emily volunteered, "He was going to kill that man in the garage."
"We need to give him time to work it out on his own." Lucien added, "We all need time."
"How are we going to find out who attacked us?" Gartus asked.
"They'll find us." Taylor said suddenly, "They found out where we were, they'll find us again."
"I've been thinking about that." Ben pointed out, "I don't think they knew who we were or where we lived. If they did, they would've moved by now."
"I think Ben's right." Lucien added, "We put ourselves on their radar at the school. They obviously have some sort of anomaly detecting device as well, so when the one opened at the theater, they must have known about it too."
"Someone probably followed us to the apartment." Danny finshed.
"So we find them and we make them pay." Steve said, walking up to the group and sitting between Emily and Ben. Everyone looked at him in surprise, he seemed to be completely in control.
"But how will we find them?" Gartus repeated. Steve looked grim.
"Like Taylor said, they'll find us." He stated solemnly. "And we'll be ready."
After the fireside conversation was over, Ben went to sit down next to Steve, who was sitting a little way off from the rest of the group. Ben sat next to Steve and the pair of them were quiet for a moment.
"If you want to talk," Ben said quietly, "I'll listen. If you just want to sit here in silence, I'll sit too. But you need someone with you now, I don't want you off on your own again." Steve nodded, but stayed silent. After several minutes, in which both men stared at the fire, Steve spoke.
"Did I ever tell you why Darren and I got detention in the first place?" He asked. Ben shook his head, they'd always discussed the events of their detention, not why they'd gotten it in the first place.
"Darren had a crush on this girl, Beth." Steve continued. "And Beth had gotten detention one Saturday. That Thursday, Darren told me during chemistry class that he wanted to get detention too. I thought it was a stupid idea until Darren admitted his crush on Beth. He thought having detention with her would give him a chance to get to know her better. He just wanted her to like him." Steve paused for a moment, obviously collecting himself. After taking a deep breath, he continued his story.
"I wanted to help my friend out, who wouldn't. So I grabbed the nearest flasks of chemicals and started mixing them together. Made quite a mess, and a seriously bad smell. We both got detention that Saturday. And that's how we ended up here. We both got involved with all of this over a girl that didn't even give Darren the time of day." Steve was quiet for a moment while Ben mulled over the story.
"I don't know why I wanted to tell you that." Steve added, "It just seemed important that you know." They both sat quietly for another few minutes. Ben noticed Steve had stopped watching the fire and had begun watching Emily. Ben looked over the other members of the group as they followed Lucien's instructions on constructing makeshift tents.
"I don't know what to do about Emily." Steve admitted after a while. Ben turned to look at him in surprise.
"What?" He asked, confused at the change in topic. "We were talking about Darren a minute ago."
"I know," Steve responded, "but I don't want to think about that right now. So I'm thinking about Emily. I can't tell if she likes me or not." Ben looked at his friend, who seemed completely serious, and shrugged. He said he'd talk if Steve wanted to talk.
"In case you haven't noticed, I'm not that great with women." Ben told Steve. "I need more advice than you do."
"She kept holding my hand after we left the apartment." Steve said, still watching Emily. "But I don't know how to read that. Was she saying, 'I'm sorry your best friend died', or was she saying, 'I'm sorry your best friend died, and when you're ready, let's go out for texting and scones'."
"What?" Ben asked again in confusion. "'Texting and scones'?"
"It's from Doctor Who." Steve replied, "Honestly, Ben, how can you say you're a British citizen if you don't watch Doctor Who?" Ben looked at Steve, who had a hint of a smile on his face. He was glad to see his friend already starting to get back to his trademark humor.
"I have better things to do than watch sci-fi all day." Ben teased. Steve gave a short bark of laughter.
"Yeah, why watch sci-fi when you can live it, right?" He said, grinning now. Ben just smiled. He knew now that Steve would get better, he wouldn't be back to his old self, but he would recover.
XXXXX
Emily sat with her back against a tree, watching Gartus tie snares in the thin metal wire Lucien had in his car. She saw Steve walking over to her, and to her surprise, he sat down next to her. They both sat quietly for a moment.
"How are you doing?" Emily asked after a minute, unable to stand the silence any longer. Steve shrugged.
"All things considering," He began, "I'm getting better." Emily nodded and they both lapsed back into silence.
Emily was battling a fierce internal struggle. She wanted to take his hand again and tell him how she felt. Emily realized that Darren's death had focused her, she'd realized that she had no idea what she would do if it had been him. Emily just wanted to grab Steve and tell him everything she was feeling, but the other side of her mind gave an argument.
The other side of her mind was telling Emily not to even begin to start talking to Steve about her feelings. He'd just lost his best friend, he didn't need to deal with her as well. Beside her, Steve took a deep breath and let it out again. He turned to face her.
"I told Darren I would do this," He said quickly, "and I haven't had the chance until now, so here it goes. I was terrified today, not just for everyone's safety, but that something was going to happen to you before I told you how much I cared about you. That scared me more than anything else. So whatever happens, I just want you to know how much you mean to me." Emily was shocked, he'd said almost exactly what she'd been thinking. Steve was looking at her with a hopeful expression. He seemed worried about her response, but exhilarated that he'd finally gotten if off of his chest. She smiled at him.
"You just said everything I wanted to, but in a deeper voice." She told him, still smiling. Steve's eyes widened and he broke into a grin as he took her hand.
"Please don't start kissing." Gartus interrupted suddenly. Emily and Steve jumped apart in surprise as they both looked at Gartus. The Roman grinned at them.
"Don't mind me." He said sarcastically, "You two have your romantic conversation. I'll just be sitting over here, making traps so we can eat in the morning." Steve smiled and shook his head.
"If it'll stop you complaining, I'll make some snares." Steve told him, standing up. The centurion handed him some wire. Emily sat back against the tree and watched the New ARC team moving through the camp, they may have been tired and hurt, but at least they were together.