The Center: Best Served Cold - Part Thirteen by: Enemyoffun Becca has been having nightmares, all of them involving a certain Mr. Green and how he ruined her life. Now Green's whereabouts might be known and Becca will do whatever it takes to make sure that he doesn't get away from her this time, no matter what the cost.

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Author's Note: Time for something a tad different. Becca's narrative will pick up again in Ch. 14 but I thought I'd try something new. So this chapter will be told through Stella's POV...please be kind. I have a question to, this was supposed to be a one time thing but I'm curious if I should write at least one more from her POV. I'd like to thank djkauf for the wonderful editing.

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Chapter Thirteen:

The music was so loud I could barely hear myself think. I looked over at Karen and smiled, the girl wasn’t having a very good time. I knew how she felt. This wasn’t exactly my scene either. But unlike her, I wasn’t here to have a good time. This was a part of the mission, at least according to Becca. So far, I had yet to see anything that might even look remotely like Dekker being here. In fact, looking about the place all I saw was young people, save maybe the bartender and the doorman. It was crazy to think that an adult would want anything to do with this place, but of course, none of us could tell Becca that. She had a one track mind and if she thought something was the way it was then it was. There was no arguing the point.
I sighed, all my worry coming to the forefront.

We were all worried about her but I think I was more so than the others. This unhealthy obsession of hers was starting to weigh heavily on all of us. I understood her need to for some retribution but she was taking things one step too far. I hated to think so badly of her, seeing as she was a good friend now but I couldn’t help but wonder how much she was actually herself. Unlike the others, I knew all about what she was suffering through. I heard her moans in the middle of the night, I saw her thrashing about on her bed, unable to fight off the horrors I’m sure she was dreaming. I couldn’t feel her pain physically for her but I could definitely feel it mentally. She was troubled and she wouldn’t let anyone help her. Not that we didn’t try. Everyone tried. But no matter how much we---her friends---tried to get to her, there didn’t seem to be anything in our words that she liked. Before she used to shrug us off but now she was getting downright nasty about it. It pained me to think where all of this nastiness could possibly be going.

I turned to the bar, trying my hardest to see through the people there. Becca had left the table about a minute or two ago, to go surprise Barry. The two of them were sweet together but even that relationship was straining. She didn’t talk about it much but I knew the two of them were having problems, how could you not. The two of them had been rocky ever since they got to the Center together. I’m not really sure of the specifics but I know that she was in confinement for a month and there were stories about what he did while she was there. But things started to look good for them after they got back from Section One, the two of them were hot and heavy for a bit.

But all of that changed when Brad showed up. You’d have to be an idiot if you didn’t notice how he looked at her and how she looked at him. It was clear that something was going on there. Thinking about me always brought a bit a jealousy to the surface. For so long I’d been trying to deny it but there was no denying it now. I had the hots for my roommate. I mean how can you not. Tonight when she walked out of the bathroom wearing that outfit, I did everything I could to keep from jumping her right there. There was just something about seeing a girl in a tiny little number like that that makes me wet. I can’t help it---I wish I could---but there was no denying my feelings.

“You girls look bored,” said a voice, shattering my thoughts.

I snapped my head away from trying to see Becca and over to the interloper. Britney was now occupying Becca’s seat. She was shining with sweat and panting. She looked like someone had doused her with a hose. There was something about a glistening girl that made me blush. I did so now, hoping she wouldn’t notice. There was no way I could deny how I felt about her either. Britney was gorgeous, not Becca gorgeous but definitely right up there. She was a tease, too. She danced around her---our room, for the moment---in the tiniest little underwear, flaunting what Mother Nature gave her. Unlike Becca, Britney knew how I felt.
Karen fingered the rim of her glass, looking uncomfortable. “I’m not sure what to do in a place like this.”

Britney huffed. “You get a drink, you knock it back then you find some hot thing to grind against for a couple of hours until you can’t stand anymore.”

Karen turned a strange shade of purple. Britney laughed and turned her attention to me. “What about you, Red, you want to party with little ole me?”

I looked past her over at the bar again. I finally spotted Becca; she was talking with Barry and Brad. I bit my lip. “I think I want to wait for Becca to return.”

Britney rolled her eyes. She turned to Karen. “You’re coming with me; I’m going to loosen you up a bit.”

She grabbed Karen’s wrists, pulling her out of her seat, ignoring her protests. I watched as Britney dragged a struggling Karen into the throng of people on the dance floor. I sighed. At least some one was having fun tonight. Who knows, maybe some of that would rub off on Karen. She was a strange one. I told Becca I’d look after her while she hooked up with the guys. We talked for all of thirty seconds before Karen quietly dazed off into the crowd. There was a moment when I thought a group of guys might pique her interest though. They were from that school Brad and Connor were hiding at, pretending to be students. There had been one guy in particular that Karen was staring at, a tall dark haired boy. But Karen diverted her eyes away quickly and it looked as if the color drained from her face.

I searched the crowd for the group, hoping maybe Karen would get up the nerve to approach the guy. But I couldn’t find them or her anymore. Maybe Britney was getting her to cut loose after all. I smiled and turned my attention back to the bar. Brad was pushing his way through the crowd, moving back toward the table. He looked like someone had forced him to swallow something unpleasant. He spun a seat around and sat down, the back of which was facing the table. He was good looking---I could see what Becca saw in him---but there was no spark of interest toward him on my behalf. I was one hundred percent lesbian and proud of it.

“They send you away?”

He shook his head. “I chose to leave. It was getting kinda awkward.”

He looked around the table, noticing I was alone. “Where’s Emma?”

I shrugged. She disappeared a few minutes before Becca. I wasn’t really paying attention because I was too busy trying to engage poor Karen in conversation. Now that Brad mentioned it, I hadn’t seen Emma since she disappeared. It was pretty obvious why she stormed off though. Looking over at the table where Kit and Samson were sitting, it was clear she was reading something there that pissed her off. It was pretty common knowledge that sweet Miss Ford and the Corporal had a thing for one another. I’m not sure that made her overprotective brother too happy but I couldn’t see anything happening there anyway---Samson was twenty three after all.

Brad looked over at the table where the two military people pretended to be into each other. He seemed to relax a bit when he saw that both of them were still there. After a few seconds of giving Samson the evil eye, he turned back to me. “Why aren’t you on the dance floor?”

I sighed. I took a chance with the truth. “Because just like you, I’m waiting for something that I can’t have.”

We shared a knowing nod and as one, both of us looked back in the direction of the bar. I like Brad and if he was competition, I’ve already lost. Of course, both of us would still have to get rid of Barry. I didn’t know him all that well. He came by the room only once and a while and mostly to pick Becca up. But in the last week or so even that had stopped. I’ve only been at the Center for a few weeks and I think I’d only actually seen the two of them together five or six times. He used to sit with us at lunch but now he didn’t even come to the lunch room. I’m not sure how she could be in a relationship and not be in one. I suppose she loved him---they had a lot of shared history together---but even that had to be taxing.

The two of us stared in shared longing. Then Barry turned away, looking angry. He stormed off, pushing his way through the crowd. I caught sight of his face the closer he got. There was a look of anger there but there was something else too. I followed him as he approached our table. Brad stood up and tried to talk to him bit Barry slammed into him---shoulder to shoulder---shoving him aside as he charged on past. In his wake came Becca, moving just as fast. I stood half way, waving to her but she ignored him. Brad apparently didn’t want to be ignored because he took off after her.

I looked down at the table and followed. I saw him grab her arm and slowly spin her to face him. I looked past the two of them, spotting Barry push the rest of the way through the crowd. Near the door I barely saw him bend over and pick something up, it looked like a backpack. What the hell? I turned back to Brad and Becca and just caught the tail end of their conversation:

“I just need some air,” she said, pulling her arm from him.

“You want me to come…”

She didn’t even let him finish before she stormed off after Barry, disappearing into the crowd. I saw the look of confusion on Brad’s face. Then the look of determination. I don’t think he was ready to lose her so easily. I smiled. He took a deep breath and followed, calling Becca’s name. I took a deep breath too, taking one last look back at the dance floor. I finally caught sight of Britney and Karen; the two of them were grinding into one another. A pang of jealousy waved over me but I’d deal with it later. I turned back, seeing Brad had a head start. I picked up speed and followed. When the two of us got to the door, we were caught up in a flood of people coming in. By the time we pushed our way through, we stepped panting into the cold night air.

I looked about but both Becca and Barry were gone.

Brad seemed to look too then he went straight for the bouncer.

“Have you seen a girl with short black, about five eight, five nine. Dressed in a halter top and short skirt?”

The bouncer rolled his eyes. “There’s a lot of girls going through here buddy.”

“She just left actually.”

The bouncer smiled and nodded. “She left about two minutes ago with a blue haired chick, I think the two of them were heading that way.”

Brad looked in the direction the guy was pointing then took off. I groaned, running to keep up. It was kind of hard in the heels that Britney forced to wear but I managed. The bitter cold was the problem. I was wearing barely anything at all---my dress was so tiny it barely covered my butt---but Brad didn’t seem to think anything of it. He was dressed like a normal human being though and in any other circumstance, I would have probably been running ahead of him. But without heels, he had a pretty good head start. When I caught up, he was looking this way and that, from one storefront to the other. When we got to the end of the road, we both stopped dead in our tracks.

There was a gray van parked out in front of a little corner coffee shop. It didn’t mean anything to me until I saw what was being carried into the van. There was a blue haired girl and a big burly guy carrying a person between them. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that it was Becca. Brad and I were standing on the other side of the street and the two of them already had her into the van.

“Hey” Brad shouted, probably not the best thing to do.

The big guy closed the door and turned toward us, smirking.

Brad took off across the street, it was late enough that traffic wasn’t really that bad. Luckily for all of us there weren’t a lot of people about so no one saw what the big guy did next. He raised a hand in Brad’s direction and a jet of flame shot from it. I screamed. Brad just stood his ground as the flame engulfed him. For a second I thought he was a goner until I realized the nature of Brad’s ability. The flame licked around his body but didn’t burn. The big guy seemed to notice something was wrong because he didn’t stand around to try again. He pulled open the van door and jumped inside.

I ran across the road, kicking off my shoes as I went. I looked to make sure Brad was ok, then continued on foot after the van. But you know how that is. There was no way a normal person could ever catch up to a speeding van. I stopped after a few feet, cursing as the van whipped around the corner and disappeared.

Brad came up behind me, already talking: “They took her. I repeat, The Eagle is Gone.”

I cursed. Becca was going to be so pissed when she woke up.

_____________________________

“Son of a bitch” cursed Kit as she furiously typed away at the keys.

I looked around the interior of the Mobile Command Unit---Becca and the others called it the “MCU”. I felt out of place here. I was kinda a geek before the Change but it only went as far as constant hours of World of Warcraft and playing games on Facebook. All this computer stuff---the things that Barry could do---were completely foreign to me. Kit on the other hand seemed to be a master at it. She wasn’t as proficient as Barry was but then again she was a normal person. But tonight no matter how much she tried, she just couldn’t seem to get a break. After leaving the street, Brad and I went back into the club to get the others. Luckily, Britney and Karen were still on the dance floor so we were able to talk with the rest of the team in private. Well, at least I was. Brad got worried about Emma and went looking for her. I filled Kit, Samson and Connor in on what happened. It wasn’t long after that that a frantic Brad showed up, claiming that he couldn’t find Emma anywhere. Samson helped him search but in the end Emma was as MIA as Becca and Barry.

As a group, we concluded that we were compromised.

We cut the club session short after that. I managed to get Britney and Karen off the dance floor and told them what was going on. The cover was that Becca and Emma got a little “lucky” and would join us later. I got the two of them out of the club and into a waiting cab; it didn’t take long for us to get back to Chairmont. Once Britney was asleep, I did my invisible thing and snuck out. The MCU was waiting for me at the gate, the boys already inside.

"Damn thing is fucked,” said Kit, giving up. She pushed the keyboard away, cursing.

“What are you talking about?” asked Samson, coming to stand behind her, looking over her shoulder.

Kit ran her fingers through her hair. “I think we got punked. Whoever took Becca and Emma, somehow hacked our system.”

"p that?”

For once, I actually agreed with Connor. It was unlike Barry not to have his system protected. Barry had two loves in his life and the first one sadly wasn’t Becca. He cared more about his computers than anything, there was no way he’d let someone hack his system. I mean who could anyway. They’d have to be the world’s greatest hacker and as far as I knew, I think that was Barry himself. Becca told me how he hacked the Syndicate’s mainframe and put everything on a little portable hard drive. It was ingenious. I found it hard to believe that he’d be careless enough to let someone mess with his system.

Kit agreed with me. “Barry set up the best security imaginable. The only one who could bypass it is him.”

None of us said anything. It was crazy to think about but crazier things happened. But to think what I was thinking. What I’m sure everyone was thinking.

Connor voiced it though. “How do we know it’s not him?”

None of us had anything to say to that.

It was hard to think of Barry as anything other than a team player but who else could hack his system? I bit my lip, trying to think of alternatives. If I was still Mike, I could have probably come up with some crazy story to explain all of this. I used to be such a geek when it came to these things. But ever since changing not my new self, the geekiness was slowly slipping away. I’m not saying that my mind changed or anything, it was just that I didn’t really like who I used to be. I still love video games---in fact, Emma and I have been playing them since she got here---it’s just that I’m interested in other things too. I smiled thinking about that. If I would have told myself a few weeks ago that, I was going to turn into a girl---a sporty one at that---I would have laughed in my own face.

“Can we contact the Center?” asked Brad, speaking up for the first time. He’d been pretty quiet after we all realized that Emma was missing too.

Kit sighed and shook her head. “Most of the long range communication is tied into a satellite. We can’t access it without the computer. The only communication we have is short range, meaning between ourselves.”

“What about your back up guy?” asked Connor.

Kit shook her head again. “I haven’t been able to raise Baker or his team.”

"What about phone calls?" asked Connor, playing devil's advocate. "What about that guy from MI5?"

Kit frowned. "Something's up with the phones. I tried calling it in earlier but I got nothing but static. I would try Baker but I don't have a number to reach him. There's something screwy going on here, something beyond just what's happening here."

I looked around the van, at all the somber faces. The two soldiers were the only ones cut out for this kind of thing but even they looked defeated. I’m not saying that Becca had all the answers but she was sure on top of things. But it sucked to thing that all of us were too stupid to figure out what to do next. I kept staring at my fellow teammates, trying to read each of them. Connor looked disinterested, Brad looked worried and Kit looked frustrated. The only one who didn’t seem to register at all was Samson. He was sitting next to Kit, staring at the bank of computer monitors in front of her. I think he was trying to figure a way out of this scenario. I think he might have been feeling a little guilty too. After all, he was supposed to be watching our backs and already three of us were gone, taken by the enemy.

I had to say something. “Is there anything we can do?”

Kit sighed. She looked like she was going to say something but stopped. Then I saw a look on her face and she smiled. She didn’t say a thing but she went right into typing. Her hands flew across the keys. I looked at the screen in front of her, watching as window after window scrolled across. She was good with that thing---not Barry good---but better than me. I couldn’t make sense of much of it but whatever it was; it seemed to make her happy because her smile kept getting bigger. After staring for a few seconds, I noticed a map pop up on the screen. It was replaced seconds later by a landscape. First, it was a forest then it slowly started zooming in, a gray rectangular building slowly came into view.

Kit finally stopped typing. “I’m such an idiot,” she admitted, tapping the screen.

“What is that?” asked Samson, leaning forward to look. Then he read something aloud. “Barton Research?”

“That’s where they are,” said Kit confidently.

This time I leaned forward, surprised. “How do you know that?”

Kit smiled. “I was so caught up in everything that was going on that I forgot one key detail” She paused for the dramatic effect. “Becca is bugged.”

________________________________

It was her bullet. The night before we shipped out from the Center, Kit slipped into our room and took Becca’s Dekker bullet on Mrs. Fine’s orders. They replicated the bullet---making a fake one with a tracker inside. Then they replaced it without Becca’s knowledge. It was a simple little maneuver. Mrs. Fine knew that Becca had been carrying the damn thing with her all over the place. She also knew that given the chance Becca would eventually do something crazy and stupid so she put this plan into effect. It paid off too. I’m not saying that whatever Becca did to get caught was stupid but it was definitely fortuitous that she was being tracked.

After Kit shared that amazing little bit of info with us, we had something to go on. The tracker operated on a different frequency that the rest of the communications array. Though the two of them were connected to the same satellite, there was no reason for whoever to know about it. So when we were initially locked out of the computer, the hacker---I’m not ready to admit the obvious---had no reason to think that such a tactic existed. Kit forgot all about it because she assumed that she’d be locked out of the program. Then she remembered that it was on a different network, one of her own design and not something, that Barry had any access to. Yeah, she was kinda convinced Barry was involved somehow.

It helped that only she and Mrs. Fine were the only ones who knew about the bug. Now we were on a deployment. Who would have thought I’d ever think about that. Ok so it wasn’t really anything special. After discerning the building’s location from the bug, Kit and Samson handled the details. We still didn’t have communications but they were able to organize a lot. The MCU had pretty much everything needed to storm a facility---i.e. guns and tactical gear. Kit and Samson were all decked out now. Samson was in front driving; Kit was at the computer giving him directions while the rest of us were in the back. Me, I wanted to piss myself. I was doing everything I possibly could to keep my mind off what was about to happen. We were going to storm a secluded facility, in the middle of nowhere, with possible hostiles waiting for us. Ok, they didn’t know we were coming so we had the element of surprise on our hands but it was still not very reassuring.

“You look green, Princess” said Connor, who was sitting next to me.

I wanted to punch him. “I’ve never done anything like this.”

He laughed. “Ever play paint ball or laser tag?”

I groaned. Paint ball was too much work for me but I’d played my far share of laser tag. I was kinda a geek after all. But that was all pretend, this was real life. Even though I didn’t have a gun---Connor and Brad did---I was still wary of the things that I might have to do. I knew this was a possible part of the whole deal but I was definitely having second thoughts about this whole commando thing. When Becca first pitched the idea to me, I thought it was something that I might enjoy. After all, I had a unique skill set, one almost built for this kind of thing. She mentioned that there might be situations where we would have to engage the enemy but I figured she and Emma would handle all that stuff. I had no real combat training---a couple hours in the shooting range maybe---but nothing like this.

I looked over at Brad who was sitting on the other side of me. He smiled weakly. I could see it in his eyes, the mixture of anticipation and fear. I reached over and squeezed his hand.

“What about me?” asked Connor, sticking his hand in my face.

I swatted it away. He laughed.

“Ignore him,” said Brad “I usually do.”

I nodded. “Are you ok? “

He shrugged. “I’m not really good at protecting my sister.” He sighed, running his fingers through his hair. “Back when the roles were reversed, she did everything to be the best brother possible. I used to envy her for being so cool. Then the change happened and everything is different. She’s still the same cool person but it seems her emotions get the better of her now. I should have been watching her better; I should have made sure she was in my line of sight at all times.”

I squeezed his hand harder. “We’ll find her. She’s going to be ok, I promise.”

I continued to hold his hand, looking out the window of the SUV. We left the MCU back in the city, opting for an SUV instead. The van didn’t really have the all-terrain capabilities that we were looking for. Besides there wasn’t really all that room for us to sit. Kit transferred what she needed onto a laptop. She tried to reestablish a connection to the communications network but it was still down. She seemed to think whoever hacked it, might have done it on both ends. But that didn’t stop her from trying. She did everything she could think of to try to reconnect. But so far, she was having no such luck. So the four of us were still on our own.

The SUV was currently bumping down a dirt road; passing by small stone walls on either side. I could barely see anything, though. Looking out the window there was nothing but blackness on either side. A part of me wished I had Becca’s night vision. I kept thinking that there was something lurking out there, waiting to strike. I knew I was being kinda paranoid but you never know with these Syndicate types. Yeah, Syndicate, who else could they be. I knew it was kinda strange, especially considering what Becca told me about Dekker. He was kinda an ass; he didn’t much like our kind either. So why would he be working with them? I guess it didn’t really make much sense but then again none of this did.

I continued to stare, glad that I had charged myself up before going to the club tonight. That’s how I work, you see. It’s not so much that I turn invisible or even bend the light around myself. I sorta absorb it, pulling it into myself. So I’m not really invisible, I’m kinda using the light like a shield. It’s really complicated and I don’t understand it much, other than that, it takes a lot of concentrating to do. Marnie---that’s what Miss Orville told me to call her---has been helping me. She went to school for sports therapy, with a specialization in alternative forms. They recruited her a few months ago. She was “young and with it”, according to her. She’s been helping me with breathing exercises and yoga. She was the one who got me into my running too. She said that having a regiment would help me deal with stress better. When I’m stressed out, I tend to disappear, literally.

Right now, I was doing everything I could to keep my breathing under control. I looked down at my hands; the one still clutching Brad’s was slowly fading away. I bit my lip and concentrated. It reappeared and I sighed. He looked at me and smiled.

“I have problems too,” he said, demonstrating by making his free hand go transparent.

He leaned forward and stuck it through the seat in front of him, the one where Kit was sitting. The Specialist gasped.

“Not cool” she snapped.

Brad wiggled his fingers as they poked through her chest. We both laughed and Brad slowly slid his hand out. Kit patted herself down, to make sure she was all there. She snapped around and glared at us. Brad shrugged which only got us laughing more. After that, Brad and I played a simple game of Show Me. He started by doing funky things, like putting his hands through the windows and things. I’d counter by making my limbs invisible. We had a good laugh over it. His powers were much cooler than mine though. Unlike me, he could take my hand and bring it through the window too. I tried to make other things invisible but I can’t. It was one of the things they had me try to do in my powers training. We spent hours trying to do it but invisibility is all about concentration, something that inanimate objects don’t have.

I’m not really sure why it doesn’t work with other people.

“You two done playing?” asked Kit from the passenger seat.

We snapped to attention but were still laughing.

“Sorry” we both said at the same time.

She smiled at us from the rear view mirror. “Good because we’re approaching the target.”

I looked ahead, letting go of Brad’s hand. There it was, Barton Research. THe building stood out in contrast, the gray showing up like a beacon through all the green around it. The sun was coming up too, peeking its head over the clouds. I completely missed that.The place surprised me though. It wasn’t what I was expecting. For one thing, there was no one outside. There was a perimeter fence but it looked to be chain linked. There was no barbed wire on top, at least none that I could see. The building was beyond it, looking like a large gray rectangle. I was kinda disappointed. This was supposed to be a dreaded Syndicate facility. Where were the electric fences, black suited guards, and crazy E’s who shot flames? I was expecting a firefight as soon as we got here but this place looked deserted. I huffed and sighed at the same time. Only a part of me was disappointed. The other part was really happy that there was no welcoming committee here to meet us.

We stopped the SUV along the fence. Samson got out first, bringing a gigantic gun with him. It was a new addition to the Center’s arsenal, something he requested after the Section One mission. They’d only just gotten it in right before we left and I think Samson was itching to try it out. He called it AA-12; it was supposed to be a badass combination of a shotgun and machine gun. Samson talked about it the whole time we were prepping; he talked off anyone’s ear who would listen. It was designed for urban combat or something like that. To tell you the truth, I only half paid attention. Mike would have loved hearing about it but now I think I was more girl than I wanted to admit.

He moved along the outside of the vehicle then ran over to the fence, checking both ways as he did so. I think he was just as perplexed about the lax security as we were. After a few minutes of scoping things out, he gestured for the rest of us. I unbuckled my seatbelt as Brad opened the door. Connor was already outside, raising a sub machine gun. I hated that he had no real weapons training. All he had to do was read something and bam, he knew it. He was a literally Encyclopedia on legs. Me on the other hand, it took me hours to even shoot straight. I was getting better but nobody would be handing me a gun anytime soon.

When I got out of the SUV, Kit had the back open and was rummaging around in a hard black case. She gestured me over, pulling a pistol out of it. She held it out for me. Ok, I stand corrected; someone was actually going to hand me a gun.

“This is a Springfield X-Dm-9 3.8. It’s a 9mm, twenty rounds. It’s a fairly new piece of equipment. I know you’re not up to speed on weapons training but I’d feel safer if everyone on the team has a firearm, just in case.”

I nodded numbly, taking the gun from her. She handed me a shoulder holster and showed me how to put it on. I was familiar enough to put the gun in right making sure it was secure. When she saw that I was all set, she nodded and closed everything up. There was a feeling in the pit of my stomach, knowing that I now carried a deadly weapon with the intent to kill. I’m not sure if I was terrified or mortified. Maybe a little of both. But I think they’re the same thing.

I tapped my pistol. “Ok Bart” I said, yeah he had to have a name. “Let’s hope I don’t have to use you.”

Samson took the lead with his mighty AA-12, Kit took up the rear. Brad got near Samson first, grabbing his shoulder and walking through the fence with him. Then he came back for Connor and me. It was one thing to have your hand phased through a windowpane but it was another to pass through something as big as a chain link. I was still tingling after I was through. Kit was the last one who went through. There was a green look on her face, as if she was about to throw up. Brad checked to make sure she was ok and when she nodded, the five of us moved on. Samson was always in the lead. We moved fast, trying to keep out of the light coming from the building. Which wasn’t much of a problem, considering most of the light was only coming in slits. When we got closer to the building, we realized that most of the windows were boarded up. I bit my lip. What the hell was up with this place?

We came up to the side of the building; there was a lone door there. Once again, no guards. There was something real screwy about all this. It should have been swarming, right.

“Ok, radio silence, guys,” said Kit, slipping ahead of us as Samson went to the door.

He reached into his pack, taking out a little block of gray clay. I knew what that was. He started to shape it around the door handle. He did something else but I couldn’t see because he was in the way. Then he stepped back and motioned away from the door. We went back several feet; he pulled something out of his pocket and pressed down on it. There was a loud popping blast and the door was blasted from its hinges.

Open Sesame.

Samson went first, followed by Connor. Brad made me go ahead of him, I was glad that I had their guns all around me. Brad and Kit were behind me. The hall in front of us was narrow and poorly lit. We moved down in single file. We got about half way down when an alarm sounded, red lights flaring all around us.

I bit my lip, lost my concentration and disappeared.