Damn it, damn it, DAMN IT!
The sight of the docked Haunted Star causes Kristina's stomach to sink as she makes it to the top of the hill, her feet swallowed by the snow.
"They already docked?" Jordan asks, standing next to her. The rest of the team slowly follows: Curtis, Dante, Laura, and at the last possible moment, Anna Devane, "Where could they possibly be?"
"Valentin told me there's a compound here," Anna responds, "With the coordinates Trina gave you, it can't be too far away."
"And Valentin couldn't be here…why, exactly?" Dante asks.
"He's focusing on Charlotte."
"Well that explains a couple absences from this mess…"
"What do we do?" Jordan asks, "Do we all just track this place down and ambush it? Do we try to play it safe?"
"Do we know for sure they're all in some kind of compound?"
All eyes fall on Laura, who stares at the Haunted Star nearby.
"What if they're on the boat?" she ponders out loud, "What if there is no actual compound? Maybe Victor set up those coordinates as a landing spot rather than going to some bunker?"
"That's a possibility," Anna replies, "but I doubt Valentin would feed me false information."
"Victor could've fed him false information."
"Even then, he'd still try to verify it on his own. I think this place exists."
"Well, Laura, what do you suggest we all do?" Curtis looks her way, "Do we check out the ship or try and track down the compound?"
"Both. We'll split into teams. You, me, and Jordan will investigate the boat. Dante, Anna, and Kristina will track down the compound."
"You're sure about this?"
"Yes. I know how badly Kristina wants to save Dex and Ciara, and if there's any people I trust to handle Victor on their own, it's Dante and Anna. If you three find everyone, let us know immediately."
Kristina keeps her eyes on the vast field of snow in front of her as Dante and Anna watch the other three walk to the ship. She begins to take her own path, marching through the elements, heading up the nearby hill.
"Kristina!" Anna calls, following her, "Slow down! You have no clue where you're going!"
"I'm looking for some kind of house or compound, right?" Kristina gestures outwardly, "All there is here is snow! It's probably not that hard to find!"
"You're about to wander off into a freaking tundra! I'm not going to let you do that, especially not by yourself."
"Look, we don't have time to talk about the 'safe' way to do things, okay? My family is in danger, and the more time we waste, the less time we have to find them in one piece."
"You don't know what you're looking for-"
"I'll figure it out."
"Kristina, stop," Dante snaps calmly, "Listen to Anna on this."
"Oh, so you're finally talking to me again! I figured you would if you got the chance to yell at me."
"Let's not do this now, please."
"We might as well if Anna wants to waste time coming up with a plan!"
The man runs his hands down his face, "I don't want to waste any more time than we absolutely have to, so fine, let's get this over with. Yes, it bothered me that my own sister put someone through what I went through with Lulu and Maxie. It brought back some tough memories, and I had to distance myself."
"You know I didn't mean to do that-"
"I know, but you still did it, and I know you knew about the incident when it happened."
"I wasn't thinking about it. I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm sorry."
"Thanks."
"...Well, now that that's dealt with, let's get back to tracking the compound down," Anna cuts in, "We're looking for a red A-frame structure."
"There were a ton in the village we landed at. Are we sure it's not back there?"
"The coordinates locked onto a field; it has to be out here."
"The only thing we can do is go further north," Kristina points in that direction, "We're bound to hit something."
The three try and make their way through the vast, empty space before them, the snow coming up just past their ankles. The cold air nips at their face, their shaky breaths a pure white when they leave their mouths. Silence hangs over them the further in they go, the miles seemingly dragging on.
"There it is!"
Dante and Kristina stop in their tracks, following Anna's pointed finger to a house that sits to the right of their path, standing tall in its red, A-framed glory.
"Uh, something tells me the Cassadines wouldn't make their compound a normal Greenlandic house," Dante observes.
"You're right, which means there's probably more underneath the surface," the older woman takes off, and the siblings follow her lead. Once they reach the wooden green door, she attempts to twist the doorknob. She kicks the structure when it doesn't move.
"Let me see," Kristina nudges her aside and tries to twist it with a firmer grip. No success. She begins smacking on the door with her fists, swearing the more she tries to force it open. It moves ever-so-slightly.
"It's frozen solid," Dante gets in front of her. He kicks his foot against the lower middle area of the door, watching it bounce. He continues kicking as hard as he can, the wood beginning to splinter. Kristina pulls him back when she notices his heavy breathing, ramming her body against the bending door. Anna grabs her to steady her as the door finally flies open, wood pieces flying about. They look inside, staring down a seemingly endless flight of stairs.
"Yeah, that's more like it," Dante remarks. He turns to Anna, "What's the plan?"
"We need to be subtle," she says, "Any loud noise will out us immediately."
"Lead the way," Kristina nods, and she trails after her, with Dante at the end of the line. They gingerly walk down the stairs, their footsteps gently echoing downward. The closer they get, the more they hear a collection of voices. Anna stops them after a while, crouching down when the voices become distinct and clear.
"You don't have to do this! He doesn't deserve to die!"
"That's Trina," Anna whispers sharply, "We're in the right place."
"I'll alert the others," Dante stands up, pulling out his phone. He typed a few texts, but the messages fail to send, "Crap. There's no signal."
"Trina, my dear, I'm doing you a favor by sacrificing my vaccine. Don't make me reconsider."
"Vaccine? For what?" Kristina asks.
"Uncle, don't do this-"
"With all due respect, young man, don't tell me what to do. Liesl, what's taking so long with the pathogen injection, hm? Don't get cold feet just because you have an audience."
"Please, Victor, change course here. Let this young man go home with his daughter."
"Do as I say, Liesl. You can express your remorse to Dexter as you're pushing the pathogen through his bloodstream, and you can give your condolences to Ciara after he croaks. In fact, she can watch her dad take his last breaths up close and personal."
"Give me your gun," Kristina snaps at Dante, her hand open behind her back.
"What?" he asks, "No!"
"Give. Me. Your. Gun."
"Dante," Anna frowns at him. He sighs and passes his sister the weapon.
"I'll go ahead and alert the team, then," he shakes his head, turning away and walking back up the stairs. Anna pulls out her own gun and the two women inch closer to the bottom, stopping at a spot where they're able to observe the room without being spotted.
Liesl takes a deep breath as she puts on a surgical mask and opens the door to the separate room, closing the door behind her and locking it. She sets the container down on a nearby table, slowly opening it. A vial of deep red liquid rests in a snug, black protective cushion. A lone syringe sits below it. She pulls both items out and sticks the needle through the top, sucking in most of the contents.
Dex thrashes around under the straps as Liesl draws closer, shaking his head and attempting to move his arms. Kristina watches him all the while, a lump in her throat when she catches the mix of fear and pain on his face. The lump grows bigger when she sees Victor appear in her line of sight, carrying Ciara as he stops in front of the separate room's windows.
"Say goodbye to your father, my dear," he smirks, taking Ciara's wrists and thrashing her arm up and down.
"Please," Dex sees them before turning to the doctor, "please don't do this."
"I'm sorry…" Liesl remarks under her breath, grabbing his head and slamming it down against the bed. Dex immediately stops squirming, the pain of the wound hitting the hard surface shooting through him. His stillness gives Liesl enough time to stick the needle in a vessel close to the inside of his elbow, pushing the syringe down until its contents disappear.
Just as she removes the object from his arm, a bullet rips through the room, grazing the back of Victor's head. He winces in pain, bending down on one knee and dropping Ciara in the process. She perfectly lands on her stomach, letting out a tiny gasp at the impact. Liesl, Trina, and Spencer look to the entrance of the space, eyes wide as they see Kristina and Anna point their weapons downward.
"You…" Victor hisses at Anna, "How dare you?"
"It was me," Kristina steps forward, keeping her gun on her target, "and you're lucky I didn't aim lower."
"You s-seem to have a knack for putting your daughter in d-danger. I guess M-Molly's complaints weren't completely b-baseless after all…"
"Enough of this charade, Victor," Anna steps forward as well, "The game's over."
The series of sounds, whines that echo ones from a wounded animal, hits Kristina's ears immediately, and her heart breaks in two. She immediately faces the window, looking down at the man trapped on the bed. Dex awkwardly shifts around, his back somewhat arched off the surface. He twists his head in a number of directions, his face openly displaying an expression of pure agony.
It hurts… he thinks, the room spinning, it hurts…it burns…it…burns…
"Dex?!" Kristina slams her hands against the glass, startling Liesl. He slowly turns her way, catching her in his blurred vision before erupting into an aggressive coughing fit, proceeding to spit up a small yet worrisome amount of blood while a separate stream leaks from his nose.
"Back away, Kristina," Victor gets to his feet just as his men surround the room, some with weapons aimed at her and Anna. The young woman then feels a small weight on her foot, and she looks down to see Ciara hugging her lower leg, staring at her with what Kristina deduces as concern.
"Oh, baby girl," she picks her daughter up, cuddling her, "thank God you're okay! I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry!"
"Put the gun down," the old man scowls at Anna.
"Not until you reverse what you did to Dex," she responds.
"I can't do that-"
"Use the vaccines!" Trina chimes in, which causes a few goons to point their guns at her.
"Lower those guns now," Spencer snaps, stepping in front of her.
"Where are the vaccines?" Anna asks, glaring at Victor.
"They're not here-"
"You tell us where they are right now, or so help me God, I will let Kristina blow your head clean off your shoulders!"
"You can pry those vaccines from my cold, dead hands for all I care!"
"Gladly," Spencer rushes forward, pouncing on his uncle, pummeling him. The goons drop their weapons and try to swarm the young man, giving an open window for distraction.
"You need to get out of here," Kristina attempts to give Ciara to Trina.
"I can't leave Spencer behind," Trina looks his way as he fights off the mob around him, "I can't leave you, Dex, or Anna behind either."
"Don't worry about us. Curtis, Commissioner Ashford, and Mayor Collins are nearby, okay? Dante went to get them. Go upstairs, reunite with them, and get the hell off this island."
"Promise me nothing will happen to Spencer. Promise me that nothing will happen to any of you."
"I promise, now go! Hurry!"
As the young woman sneaks off upstairs with both infants in tow, Kristina returns to the fray, pushing a few goons off of her cousin. Anna takes the opportunity to stare Liesl down.
"Where are the vaccines?" she asks loudly, hopeful the woman could hear her.
"They're in a black container," Liesl yells back. Anna looks around the room, spotting a black canister just past Victor. She rushes in that direction, the old man tripping her.
"You…" he grunts, holding one of her ankles, "will not…get away with this. Dexter…will die…and so…will you…"
"Let go of me!" she snaps, using her free ankle to kick him in the face. She scrambles to her feet as he nurses his nose, taking the canister and jogging back to Liesl. The doctor opens the door enough to take the item, shutting it immediately. She retrieves three syringes containing the vaccine, pocketing the last one, and hurriedly injects them in the same spot she injected the pathogen. She looks down at Dex with worry, his face clear of pain and his chest appearing still. She exits the room immediately, closing the door behind her.
"ENOUGH!"
A gun goes off, causing Spencer and Kristina to scurry away towards the older women. Victor's men help him get to his feet, one of their guns in his hand. He points the barrel at each person, deciding which one to pull the trigger against.
"Restrain them," he orders, and the goons make quick work out of it.
"You," he looks at one of the men, "Go after Trina Robinson. Drag her and those babies back here. And you," he eyes another, "enter the lab."
The second goon gulps before entering the separate room, keeping the door ajar. In a matter of minutes, he begins to choke on the air, struggling to breathe as he drops to the ground.
"Yes," Victor laughs, "YES! It worked!"
"What did you do?!" Kristina screams, squirming in the goon's grip.
"He's made Dexter a bioweapon," Liesl sighs in disappointment, "I didn't supply the vaccines fast enough…damn it…"
"Oh, my dear Liesl, I'm sure your quick thinking did keep Dexter alive, but it appears that that doesn't matter! His body has no resistance! He's weak enough for the pathogen to take over!"
"You evil piece of trash!" Kristina huffs.
"I'm doing you a favor, my dear. You deserved better than him."
"You're not going to get away with this," Spencer growls.
"I believe I already have," Victor grins, approaching the door to the lab, "and while it seems I can't let the world get a taste of this, I can at least make sure that all of you do."
The door ends up wide open as Victor steps into the room, leering over Dex's still form.
"I told you," he says, his throat beginning to close up, "I t-told you that y-you'd be useful…w-well done, young man…"
The group begins to cough the longer the door stays open, the air growing unpleasant. Each goon feels the effects as well, letting their prisoners go and dropping like flies. Liesl, Kristina, Anna, and Spencer scramble to cover their noses and mouths, rushing to the other side of the room as the effects of the pathogen take over the space ever-so-slowly. Liesl does her best to dig around the cabinets and crates before locating what she hoped to find: oxygen masks. She throws the other three their own, and they manage to secure the object on their face, opening the airways with ease.
They turn to see Victor staggering out of the lab, his face red as he struggles to open his mouth. All four of them watch on as the man attempts to stand tall before crumbling under the weight of the pathogen, dropping dead right before their eyes.