Page 67 of Heart’s Prisoner

"May I be of assistance?"

Lana swerved around, almost dropping Nicole. In front of them was a Scibot, appearing out from somewhere in the warehouse. Both she and Nicole let out a shaky breath of relief.

"You think you can help carry us," Lana asked, joking. The Scibots weren't known for assisting in such physical matters.

The Scibot paused as if calculating its answer. "I'm afraid I don't understand the–"

In an instant, it was ripped away into the darkness and in its place was a large slithering creature, looking down at them with four eyes. It roared.

Lana fell with Nicole, hitting the hard ground with a painful crash. Nicole screamed as the creature reared its head up like a snake, ready to strike, it bared fangs and opened its wide jaws. It lunged forward and Lana brought her hands up as if she could somehow defend herself.

There were shouts from somewhere close and gunfire lit the room, bullets hitting the creature in the face, making it rear back. It screeched with rage until a bullet bomb hit it square between the eyes, tearing its face wide open. It hit the ground with a loud thud and went limp, its green blood flowing out like a loose pipe.

Lana tried to take hold of Nicole while attempting to scramble to her feet when a heavy hand grabbed her and pulled her up. She twisted around and came face to face with Galger.

"Well, you're tougher than you look, sweetheart." He grinned.

Chapter Twenty-One

Despite Lana's protests, Galger insisted on carrying her. She shifted uncomfortably in his sweaty arms and thought several times about squirming out of them but at the moment they were rushing for the elevators and she wanted to get away as quick as possible and they could run much faster. Nicole was silent and looked more grateful to the man carrying her, another team member named Jerard. As they got into the elevators, Lana saw one of the men press the button for level five.

"Why are we going to the security sector?" Lana asked.

"Because it's secure," Galger said as if it were obvious.

Lana tried not to roll her eyes. "Is there a saferoom?"

"For us, yea," he said.

Lana didn't exactly understand until the doors opened to level five and the team rushed out taking them through several passageways until they came to a rather large door, leading to level five's storage room. When they opened the door Lana found the room had been taken over by Galger's team and turned into a makeshift saferoom. Doors were locked and under watch, crates were pushed to the walls so that at the center, where Galger placed her and Nicole, was piled with military gear, tools and, of course, weapons of all shapes and sizes. Other members sat on smaller crates around the center, unloading guns and counting bullets, checking inventory. One man was seen working on a Scibot which, like the one in the saferoom she had first been in, was hacked to show security footage throughout the base.

Many men stopped to look at them, some giving curious looks. Others, hungry. Lana quickly made to huddle close to Nicole on a mat as if to protect her.

"Where the hell did you get those two?" came a familiar voice. When Lana turned her head, she caught the cold black stare of Officer Torrence's eyes.

"Can you believe they were just wandering around on eight? A little beat up but somehow intact," Galger said with his wolfish grin.

Torrence said nothing, only glared down at her, and Lana held his stare, jaw clenched. He chewed slowly on his gum, checking the gun on his waist. "They can't stay here."

Galger raised his eyebrows. "Oh, come off it Torrence, we have enough food and shit. And they can keep the others company."

Lana's stomach twisted and her face burned. She didn't even want to know what he meant by keeping the others company. And the way they talked like she and Nicole weren't even there was infuriating.

"If I may be so bold as to say we don't want to be here either," she said, grasping Nicole's shaky hand. "Just take us to the nearest saferoom and be done with it."

"Now, now," said Galger. "Let's talk this through, eh?" He said crouching beside them. "How about we get you fixed up, have a nice meal and will figure things out. Sound okay, Torrence?"

Torrence just chewed his gum. "Did you at least hit anything out there?" he asked Galger.

"Yea, got the giant worm. Should see the look on its face. Or lack of." Galger laughed.

"Good. I'm readying the others for the next trip. Dillon says he saw the spider. It made it's nest nearby. Want to get to it before it disappears into the vents again. Otherwise, we can smoke it out."

Lana clenched her hands into fists. The hunt was more than just a job to them, it was a game. She knew she had to warn them about the parasite but feared they'd turn mowing down individuals as a game also.

But what choice did she have? If any got exposed it could mean the death of them all.

Lana rubbed her temples. "There's something you two need to know before you go back out there. About another threat."

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