23

Hope stood looking at the team standing there waiting to enter the maze and she grinned widely, looking like her Daddy.

"Right, you lot. I hope you have had a good night's sleep. I had an amazing one and I have woken with a new agenda" she said loudly, watching them shift from foot to foot. "We have been doing these drills every morning for the last two weeks, then spending the afternoon discussing our weaknesses and strengths."

She looked around the circle of faces and jiggled on her heels then continued "So… while you were filling your faces this morning I had some good men at work. The Twins and Pip are already in the maze and I have to tell you… it is not the maze you have come to know and love."

Groans now.

"This morning we are also going dark."

Silence now as this was new, her hand waving to the table they had not noticed before "Under the cloth are some night vision goggles. We are going to simulate nighttime up top with minimal light like a moonlit night or an underground facility with just our torchlight."

She waited as they started to talk excitedly, then silence again "But… there is only one set per team. You will all have to depend on your team leader!"

She turned to look at the entrance to the cavern that was set up like a maze of rooms and full of hidden traps "Oh yeah… and one more thing. The Twins, not-twins and Pip are all in there… somewhere. Not in Wolfling form, but as Zs. They will kill you if they can. Those made dead have to come back to the beginning and the sticker placed on their clothing will be placed here on the chart under their name. At the end of the day, we will see who gets through in one piece, who dies the most and we might have to reconsider your team leaders if they are shit under stress."

Now there was murmuring amongst the teams, more than one person looking at the door with open expectation, ready to go even if some of the others were not. Hope stepped to one side and said softly "Mia, want to lead?"

"Yes Boss" the pretty girl said, nodding politely to Hope. Even though she was a year older, she still felt the strength and power behind the gaze that held her while speaking and looked to Hope as an elder already. Many of them did.

Mia headed to the table and grabbed goggles, then said without turning around "Sol, Bella, Daisy, and Keera. Let's go."

She chose siblings and best friends. A click already there. Hope nodded with agreement that age did not matter…. Knowing the one in front and behind did. Good.

Mia adjusted the goggles and after taking a deep breath, stepped into the room. It was not completely dark. There were soft lights here and here like it would be in a moonlit night. It was creepy but in a sort of cool way, like entering a video game. They turned on their flashlights and Bella groaned as hers flickered and died. She had not checked it before going in. Rookie mistake and they all knew it.

"Stick close" Mia ordered. As they moved into the long corridor there was a soft click and she turned to see that Bella had stepped on something. "Bella stop."

As she spoke, Bella lifted her foot and loud heavy metal music began to play.

Fuck.

Now they were all blind AND deaf apart from Mia. She pondered if they needed to wait for the music to stop or accept it would not and move on.

"It will have a timer, right? Like Zs will go for a while after a noise then settle?" Keera asked.

"Maybe" Sol answered "I agree, we should wait a minute or two in case it stops."

So, they did. It did. Right. First hurdle. Clever fucks.

They moved into the open area and stopped again, the obstacles had not been there before. Looked like one of the tunnel trucks and some other things like rubble.

"Fuck, they have been busy" she muttered, then explained what she could see beyond the strength of the torches. Then, she removed her goggles and let everyone take a turn to see and memorize the room. A lot of curses and some general annoyance but also some glee as this was really switching up a gear.

Once she had her goggles back on, they fanned out and began to move, those without the goggles able to see shadows and such in the dimmed lighting, Mia of course seeing it all in it's glory.

"Movement" Sol said, swinging his paint gun in the direction of said movement, then relaxing as a dog appeared, looking at them like they were mad before it ran off and one of the others swore. Some titters. They had not been warned about that. Like in RL, surprised can happen. Good one. No one had shot the dog with it's cool protective vest on.

Then they moved on. They stopped at a large pile of crap that looked like left over building supplies and Mia turned to motion for two of them to go around it in a pincer move with guns raised when she noticed something odd. She was down a man. Or a woman… you know what I mean.

"Daisy" she hissed "Oi. Daisy, where are ya?"

"She was right behind me" Bella said as she started to scan the area as best she could with the torch.

"Well… fuck" Mia huffed "Sol can you… Sol. Sol?"

Sol was gone.

"This sucks!" Keera said with annoyance "They are too fast. Zs don't act like this!"

"Yes, they do" a voice said next to her and she squealed as Ianto stepped forward and the area they were in became illuminated for them all to see him "Some Z are advanced. Fast. They move as we do, fast and with purpose. The ones you have seen are confused, their brains devoid of thought other than the desire to kill. Then eat. The ones out there that you might face one day are HER soldiers… they move like the Not Twins are right now."

"It's rigged then!" Keera folded her arms with annoyance.

"Of course it's rigged ya silly girl" Pip stepped forward now, his face so sweet and youthful "SHE does not play by the rules. Her men are not the average Z. She is trying to gain advantage. We must be ready for that."

"And my two teammates?" Mia asked.

"Dead."

"Move on" Ianto said as he stepped away and the place was plunged back into semi-darkness "Mourn the dead later. Get used to that too. In a pressure cooker there is no time for emotion, it can get you killed."

"Anger as much as grief" Pip agreed, then dogs started to bark in the distance and Mia cursed again.

She was not so full of herself now.

This was going to be a long day.