Page 56 of Tracking the Alpha
“It means that the general, whose ass you’re so fond of licking, thinks you’re an idiot.”
“When did you talk to him?” Suddenly, the major didn’t look or sound so confident.
“Right after you briefed me on today’s mission.” Brittany entered Tanis’ line of sight with bared teeth that were a little large for her mouth—and pointy. “The general gave me a direct order, one I am excited to complete. Kill the major and feed him to the failures on B6.”
Stevens adjusted his grip on the knife. “You’re lying.”
“Am I?” Brittany taunted, taking a step toward him. She might wear human skin and a plain gray tracksuit, but menace oozed. “If I’m lying, then why do I have security access for B6?”
“Stand down, soldier,” barked Stevens.
“No can do, Major. See, the general ranks above you, and being a good little soldier, I’m bound to obey my superior officer. And that’s not you!” Brittany shouted as she lunged, fingers extended, but more frightening, the way claws suddenly extended.
“Fuck off, you bitch,” the major huffed. Metal clattered as objects went scattering. Tanis couldn’t actually see the fight, merely hear the sounds of it.
Banging. Sharp gasps. Thumps. Even an animalistic snarl.
When sudden silence fell, Tanis had no way of knowing who’d won until a body landed atop her, wide-eyed and staring in death.
A maniacally grinning Brittany leaned over and put herself in Tanis’ line of sight.
“Now that he’s gone, time for the next part of my orders. Dispose of the bodies.”
“You don’t have to kill me.” Tanis made a futile attempt.
“I wasn’t going to. Like I said, I’m not into listening to the screaming or dealing with the blood. Besides, nothing like the entertainment of tossing someone to Patient 39. Watching him stalk and take apart his meals is so entertaining. The last hunter I fed to him actually crawled and begged for mercy. Thirty-nine tore out his spine with a single grab.”
Tanis tried to not let fear invade, but her voice wasn’t quite steady as she said, “Why do you obey these assholes? Why not escape?”
“To go where? To be what, a simple civilian?” Brittany uttered a husky laugh. “No thanks. I’m the general’s right paw, his executioner. It’s a great gig. Now, enough yapping. There are some hungry monsters that will be excited to have some fresh meat.”
The table squeaked slightly as Brittany rolled it to the elevator. “Time to test out my new authorization.” She stared at the scanner until it beeped. “Looks like we need to wait until whoever was on sixth gets off and frees up our ride down to the basement.”
Tanis’ despair thickened as she watched the blinking numbers rise from B6 to M for main. It paused there for only a few seconds before arriving at their floor. The doors whooshed open, and the metal bed got rolled in.
“Next stop, monster central,” Brittany sang before giggling.
Tanis tried to not panic even as it seemed appropriate. Tied down, as well as smothered by a dead body, on her way to be fed to a feral creature by a psycho.
Could things get any worse?
She couldn’t help but watch with dread as they descended.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Six.
Ding. The doors slid open to Brittany’s lilting, “Last stop, everybody out.”
The first thing Tanis noticed? The smell. It permeated the space, the distinct rot of death mixed with the coppery tang of blood. Overlaying all of that, something bestial, primitive, and rank. The kind of stench that horror movies were made out of.
Brittany heaved the major off Tanis, the loss of weight barely a relief because she knew she’d be next.
The woman slung the major over a shoulder and waved to a simple panel with a few buttons under a video screen currently turned off. “Unlike level B5, where they drug the folks each time they drop a tray of food in their room or take them for tests, sublevel six has antechambers because the gas doesn’t always work on them. They’re set up so that the inner door can’t be opened at the same time as the one to the hall. Wouldn’t want one of the failures on that floor to escape.”
