Chapter 13: Leland

As the three of them ran, they could hear most of the hunters stopping short to feast upon the two hunters that they had just managed to kill. The shrieks of triumph and the sounds of tearing flesh were unmistakable and repulsive. Bower wondered if Scarface was one of the hunters giving chase but didn't want to risk looking back to find out. At least not all of the hunters were in pursuit. He charged up the anti riot gun as they ran.

The tier stairs were slowing down their progress and not slowing the hunters. Bower ran down three tiers of stairs, crossed the bottom level and starting up another set when he saw a hunter leap clear down from the top tier to the bottom in one bound. Three sets of stairs were bypassed in half a second; the agility of the hunter really pissed him off. As the hunter landed and broke into a run less than ten feet from him, Bower slowed down, took aim and shot it in the groin. He kept running, smiling to himself as the fallen hunter twitched behind him.

Nadia and Mahn both had a good head start on him and the hunters were gaining fast. He reloaded the weapon as he ran, glancing back periodically to shoot any hunter that got too close. Two more were felled by the stunning pulse of energy. Up ahead, it seemed that Nadia and Mahn turned into a narrow hall that channeled off the main corridor. Bower understood their plan; there was no way they could shake the hunters down the main hall but in the smaller twisting hallways, they could.

Their thundering footfalls, the roaring of the hunters, his heartbeat pounding in his ears and his hard breathing made it deafening around him. This was a game he had played numerous times before. Running for his life, heart racing, adrenaline coursing through his veins. For the first time, he wasn't panicked almost as though he was fairly confident that he could escape the hunters.

Nadia and Mahn rushed down a flight of metal stairs ahead. Bower ran down the stairs with surprising ease. At the bottom, the passage was flooded with a few inches of water. He couldn't see Nadia and Mahn up ahead. It was much darker here.

He didn't hear Nadia yelling for him to turn. Luckily, Mahn grabbed his collar and hauled him into the small service entry and closed the door swiftly behind him. They heard the hunters run past the door but they would double back soon enough.

It looked like they had entered a dead end.

The narrow hall they found themselves led to a small set of stairs and then to a small reinforced hatch with a lock wheel on it. The wheel wouldn't turn at first, but after a few seconds, they heard a loud click. The wheel turned freely and they crawled through. They closed the hatch behind them and they heard it lock again.

Someone had let them in.

The room they had entered was some sort of holding tank. It was a circular tank about thirty feet in diameter and about twenty feet high. Above them was a processing area or perhaps a staging area. An assortment of cranes, pulleys and lifts were mounted along the edge of the staging area overlooking the tank.

Bower sat down nursing his cuts and bruises. Nadia stretched and rubbed her sore muscles like a cat. Mahn carefully surveyed the surroundings.

"Someone's there." Mahn warned.

Bower whipped around and locked onto the target with the anti riot gun.

"Whoa! Don't shoot! Time out!" the man said in a deep gravelly voice.

Bower saw a straggled filthy man step from behind a large control panel with his hands up in surrender.

"No weapons! I got no weapons!," the man told them quickly, "I unlocked the door for you! I could have left you out there with them but I didn't. I unlocked the door for you."

Bower kept the weapon trained on him. He was shocked that they had found another survivor but he wasn't going to trust him right away.

"I got no weapons," the dark man assured them again still showing his hands. "Wait, please. Excuse me a second." He starting flipping large switches along the walkway above and different lights overhead came on brightly. "Please," the man continued jovially, "come in and make yourselves at home." He was animated and cheerful as though he was excited to see other people.

Initially, Bower had thought that the dark man was covered with grease but now with the lights on, he could see that he was a black man. His dark skin was natural, not the result applying grease as theirs was. His hair was wild, like short dreadlocks.

"Who are you?" Bower asked him. He still had the man in his sights.

"Call me Leland."

"I'm Bower. This is Mahn and her name is Nadia."

"The pleasure is all mine." Leland said with an exaggerated bow.

Bower asked, "Why don't you come down so we can meet properly?"

Leland gave a little laugh, "You think I've survived this long by trusting strangers?" He was older than any of them, in his late forties, maybe even early fifties.

"How did you know to let us in?" Nadia asked Leland. She was watching him very closely.

"Oh I saw you approaching on my security monitor," he said smiling, "I have a few cameras set up in the adjoining hallways. I don't like to be caught off guard."

"You live here?" Bower asked.

"I know its not much to look at," Leland lamented, looking around. "But! They can't get in here, unless I want them to."

"Why would you want them to?" Mahn chimed in.

"A man's gotta eat."

What the fuck?

"You feed on the hunters?" Bower fought hard not to grimace or retch as he spoke.

"Hey, they eat us. I figured, why not eat them?"

"How the hell do you manage to kill them by yourself?"

"I use gas. It knocks 'em right out," Leland snapped his fingers for emphasis, "If I leave the door open, it usually attracts the young ones. The adults are too busy hunting, you see. The young ones though, they like to explore. They're so much more tender than the adults."

For fuck's sake.

"You're in my trap right now," Leland told them happily with a carefree wave of his hand. "I leave the door open, a prey comes in, I close and lock the door behind it as the gas does its work. It's a good, solid plan if I may say so myself."

"You locked the door behind us to trap us?" Mahn asked.

"Yes." Leland was still smiling, happy with himself.

"You plan on gassing us?"

The smile vanished.

Mahn stared up at him.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Leland asked heatedly.

"I asked you a very simple question," Mahn said quietly. "What is so difficult to understand?"

Leland was visibly angry now. "You think I want to eat you? Is that it?"

"I don't think he was saying-" Bower started.

"That's disgusting!" Leland spat. "What kind of fucking sick people are you?"

Mahn just stared at him.

"I'd rather eat dog shit."

"We didn't mean to offend you." Bower soothed.

"Offend me? Oh I'm more than offended." Leland growled.

"I only asked a question." Mahn told him, "You are the one who is assuming that I meant something offensive by it."

Leland stared at him for a few moments. Slowly, the smile returned, "Hey, I'm not offended. I was just surprised. I figure cannibalism might be the rage these days everywhere else. Not here though. Not with me."

"We eat normal food too," Bower assured him.

"Yeah, we're not cannibals either," Mahn called up to Leland. "Although since all we have is super snacks to eat, it does sound rather tempting."

Leland laughed. "Talk about eating dog shit. Those super snacks are a crime against natural food."

Mahn chuckled. "Well, it is better than eating each other I suppose."

"I gotta a question for you," The excitement had returned to the dark man. He was beaming at them, "Where do you need to be?"

"Reactor bay. Do you know how to get there?" Bower hoped.

"Yeah, I do. Why would you want to get to the reactor? Oh I get it. You just woke up, huh. Well, are you hungry? Because I can cook." He turned and lit a burner underneath a hanging pot and began to busy himself with other pots, pans and utensils.

After they rested a few minutes, Nadia whispered, "We should really press on."

"I got a real treat for you." Leland was calling down to them, "It's a special meal I've been saving for just such an occasion."

"I am a little worried about what he thinks a special meal is." Mahn whispered grimly.

"Lets find out what he's cooking at least," Bower offered quietly, "If it's nasty, we decline it politely and leave. If its good, well, I don't know about you, but a hot meal sounds pretty damn good to me."

"What are you making?" Nadia called up to him in her sweetest voice.

"Tuna casserole," Leland sang out, "been saving this can of tuna for a perfect meal for good company. Don't you worry, I'm a certified cook, you know. It says so right here on my tattoo." Underneath the grime, Bower was sure Leland was wearing the light gray jumpsuit of the Culinary Division.

"Tuna! See? Nothing to worry about," Bower smiled at Nadia. She had seated herself and stripped off her uniform top down to a flimsy white undershirt. There were a few bruises and scratches on her shoulders. The creamy surface of her skin was blotched with several scars. She was strong looking but not buff. Her waist was slender, her bosom was ample. The way she was sitting, she could have been a model posing beautifully for a photographer.

Nadia produced a clean piece of cloth, dampened it with a bottle of water and began to clean the cuts on her face when she noticed Bower watching her.

He didn't mean to stare, he was just surprised to see how beautiful she was underneath the grimy clothing. To change the subject he quickly asked her, "Is it safe to clean those scratches with just water?"

"Yes. I think the mutagen increased our immune system as well," She winced as she cleaned the shallow cuts on her nose and brow, "I've gotten worse wounds than this and I've never gotten an infection once."

"How long have you been awake?" Mahn called up to Leland.

"Hmm let me see. What's today? Tuesday, so I have no idea."

Mahn laughed. "That long?"

"I've been awake for so long, I was getting used to talking to myself," Leland said, "When I saw the three of you on my monitor, I thought, people!" He laughed again, "Seriously though. I haven't had anyone to talk to for a long time. This really is a treat for me." After a few more minutes he announced, "Okay! Let's eat."

Leland lowered a tray on one of the smaller lifts. It had a few small metal bowls with utensils and a few metal mugs. He then lowered a ladder down to where they were and climbed down holding a steel coffee pot. "Normally, I always reuse coffee grounds at least once before I throw them out but this time, I used fresh grounds. I'm sorry that I don't have any sugar or creamer. The coffee will hit the spot even if you don't take your coffee black, trust me."

The casserole was a little bland but hot food was heaven in their bellies. Washing it down with a piping hot cup of coffee gave them a sense of calmness, as though life was normal instead of in chaos and jeopardy.

They made small talk as they sat in a circle enjoying the meal until Leland noticed Bower's tattoo. "You're with the flight crew?" He asked incredulously.

"Yeah. You ever see any other aviation around here?"

"Not recently," Leland told him. His demeanor had changed. He seemed very distracted, his brow was furrowed deep in thought. "Not in a long, long time."

"How long?" Bower asked.

"The last Flight Crew member I met was a guy named Gallo," Leland said quietly.

"Are you okay?" Nadia asked him.

"Yeah, that tattoo just brought back some bad memories is all."

"Gallo doesn't sound familiar," Bower admitted.

"He was the one that told me about what happened to us. He was the one that told me why we're all in this predicament."

Now it was Bower's turn to be astonished, "You mean you know what happened to the ship?"

"Yeah," Leland said sorrowfully, "and it's not a very good story. No hero gets the girl. No happily ever after to look forward to, you know?"

"Tell us." Mahn said, getting comfortable. "I would love to hear the story, even if it is bad."