CHAPTER 120
Seth stood on the muddy ground. Dr. Conners was just jumping down between him and Kyra. With a firm hand he pulled the two of them closer and waved everyone else in. Ms. Murdock ignored him. She was busy scoping the area for danger.
Bryce spoke over the rain, "The bunker is down that road." He pointed to a dark gap in the tree line. It was just visible through the rain. "We're going to form a tight group. The three of you need to stay in the middle of it." He nodded to Kyra, Seth, and Shelly. "We're going to move fast, and you have to keep up."
Everyone nodded.
By this point Gary, Guss, and Phill were on the ground. Guss was still cradling his bruised shoulder. He had a pistol in his good hand now. Dr. Conners had taken pity on him while Ms. Murdock wasn't looking.
The two lab techs were working their way out of the metal hatch. Hector and Humberto were the last ones in the building. It was when Bryce spotted the two techs rushing down the ladder that he suspected something was wrong. Through the wind and rain he heard a dampened scream from the hatch above.
Everyone else heard it also. Ms. Murdock's head snapped toward the building with intense eyes.
Dianna looked up. "Oh god."
As Dr. Ellis and Bill hit the ground Bryce said, "Cameron, what is it? What's happened?"
She answered through panicked breaths, "They got them, both of them."
Joan stepped forward. "You're certain?"
Bill nodded. Rainwater was pouring off his scruff as he shook his head. "Those assholes came right up through the ceiling and pulled them down. They didn't have a chance."
Seth was surprised by the manner in which he spoke. It was grouchy with an overtone of pure pandemonium. The fact that he flailed his arms like a panic stricken muppet when he said it might have made Seth laugh if not for the circumstances.
Joan looked hard at both lab techs. Dr. Conners was expecting even the slightest hint of hurt in her eyes over the loss of Hector, but he didn't see it.
"Damn." Ms. Murdock wiped her brow. "Humberto had the gas grenades." She shook her head and panned the area again with a swift shift of her eye. "Well, there's no one left to wait for." She turned and led the group toward the bunker at a fast jog.