“They’re walking into their deaths. We need to stop them!”
Elise exclaimed, but Natalie was already running forward.
“MATT!” she shouted, frantically waving her arms as she
called his name, “MATT!!” It wasn’t his name that made him freeze, it was the
sound of her voice. A voice he thought he’d never hear again.
Matthew glanced towards the cluster of trees. She appeared
through the forest, arms outstretched and a smile on her face. Tossing Dominic
his weapon, he rushed forward. They met halfway, his arms instantly enclosing
her in a warm hug as she bounded into him. “I can’t believe it’s you,” he
whispered against her ear before their lips met. He could feel the moisture on
her cheeks as her hands slipped around his neck.
Group 1: Veronica, Elise, Natalie, David, Amélia, Eddie Location: Warehouse
“That’s where they prep the intake for treatment,” David
said as he, Natalie and Elise scouted the safe zone. He had led them there
shortly after the attack. Natalie was seeking revenge. Ignoring the dangers of
walking into such a heavily guarded location and against David’s advice. Eddie
and Amélia hung back to watch over their prisoner. She’d blamed the man for
Veronica’s death, but deep down she knew the real source of the problem was the
medical company that started it all. BioCore workers transported boxes into the
facility out the back of unmarked trucks.
The place was cordoned off by a large electric fence and several armed guards. Working cameras were posted on every corner of the building as well as what appeared to be command dogs and even alert sirens.
“Where do they go from there?” Natalie asked, formulating a plan.
“There are several research rooms within the facility,
there’s no telling where each individual is taken,” David replied. “I can tell
you, however, it’s never good. Some of the ‘research’ I witnessed…it makes
prison look like a trip to the spa.”
Group 1: Veronica, Elise, Natalie, David, Amélia, Eddie Location: Warehouse
Eddie rushed forward, tackling one of the men to the floor.
His gun flew, landing near the door and misfired another round. Amélia fell to
the ground, covering her head with her hands as chaos erupted. Elise fired at
the second gunman as he rushed towards the other injured shooter, hitting him
in the leg. He turned to fire at her and David moved to wrestle away his gun.
Finally grabbing hold of the glock 19, David quickly aimed
and fired. The bullet drilled through the man’s chest and he fell on top of David.
“No!” the injured shooter screamed, watching the life drain from his brother
and pool around him. “You son of a bitch!’ The man struggled to retrieve a
knife from his boot. Natalie stood to help. The throb in her knee crescendoed
and she tumbled to the ground.
Group 1: Veronica, Elise, Natalie, David, Amélia, Eddie Location: Warehouse
Another series of bullets drilled the walls above them.
Glass shattered and fell to the floor as more of the warehouse windows
exploded. Elise, Eddie, Amélia and Veronica kept their heads down while David
did all he could to keep Natalie covered. Once the bullets stopped, she pulled
away and checked herself for injuries. “How’d they find us here?” she asked,
satisfied she wasn’t hurt.
“It’s the only building for miles,” David said. “Process of
elimination.”
“Come on out! You don’t want us coming in after you,” the
same voice cried out with an even angrier tone.
Veronica moved beneath the window, preparing for combat.
Eddie shook his head no. They were out gunned and in no position to shoot it
out with these people. She stayed her hand, knowing that if she did fire, it
would cause a reaction no one in the room was prepared for.
“This can be over right now. I can end this,” David said,
getting to his feet. “I’m what they want. No one else needs to get hurt.”
“No!” Natalie exclaimed pulling him back to the floor beside
her. “I’m not letting you commit suicide by walking out there. Besides, what guarantee
do we have they’ll turn and leave once they have what they want?”
“She’s right,” Eddie said, repositioning himself beside the
window. “The only way out of this is to fight.”
“Fight?” Amélia exclaimed. “There are four of them out there
with automatic weapons. We have what? A couple of glocks and a shotgun?”
“Then what do you propose? That backdoor is sealed up,
remember? We patched that nice and tight before holing up in this room. The
only way out is through them,” Eddie said.
“I say we let them in,” Veronica stated, her voice cold and
serious. “If they want to get us, any of us, they’ll need to be willing to
enter. And when they do, we’ll be ready.” The group listened closely as she
formulated a plan.
Elise and Eddie hid themselves on opposite sides of the
front door. Amélia and Natalie remained where they were, listening as the men
outside continued taunting them. The shouting stopped. And everyone waited with
bated breath as footsteps approached the building.
David stepped into the center of the room. He was bait, for
all intents and purposes, and he felt about as vulnerable as a baby deer in a
lion’s den. With no weapon to protect himself, he had to trust the others would
take out the gunman before they got to him.
The board fell from across the handle, landing with a
resounding crash. The door had been opened. He took a deep breath. The soft
padding of footsteps drew closer and he clenched his fists in anticipation.
This wasn’t such a brilliant idea after all. Why did he have to open his big mouth?
A window shattered. Shit.
They were encroaching from different locations. If they somehow got behind them
through the back stairwell…another window, to the east. Eddie switched
positons. Now he and Elise were guarding separate doors alone. David took a
moment to catch his breath and calm himself. He could feel his entire body
trembling.
At last, the door opened. Two men walked inside. The first
to speak was instantly recognized. “There he is. The man of the hour!” The
second gunman had David dead-to-rights. The first never flinched; even when he
heard the weapon click behind him. “Why don’t you tell your friends to drop
their weapons and move where I can see them?”
“No. Why don’t you drop yours,” Veronica said, dragging one
of the others out from the back. He was bleeding from a leg wound; a large
knife dangling from her left hand while she aimed her gun with the right.
“STOP!” she shouted at the gunman standing beside the ringleader. He’d made a
motion forward and she quickly redirected her aim. “Stay right where you are.”
“He’s my brother. He’ll bleed to death! Let me help him.”
“You really think I give a shit if he dies? You assholes are
here to kill us! For all I care he can join the rest of your friends in hell
and I swear to GOD if you don’t stop inching towards him I will put a fucking
bullet in his head right now!” Veronica yelled watching the other man slowly
move to comfort his brother. “BACK UP! MOVE!”
“Alright, I’m going, just…please.”
“Now, drop your weapons or no one is walking out of here alive.”
“I like option B.” The
man’s face twitched into a wicked smile. All his rage and strength accumulated
at his finger on the trigger. He looked between the two again and without
giving a second thought to her words, he pulled the trigger.
Continue----> (Clicking this continues the story in order. If you would like to move to the next part of this group’s story. Click the # below.) #6---->
---------------------------------------
The polls are now open. Vote for your chance to control the action! Remember, you can add your own choice to the plot through the comments section or the poll below. Polls close at 12 noon EST tomorrow and reopen at 8 pm EST.
Group 1: Veronica, Elise, Natalie, David, Amélia, Eddie Location: Warehouse
Stepping away from the door, Elise tried to catch her
breath. How had this man come into contact with Natalie? Who was he? Was he the
reason she was unconscious? And if so, what had he done to her? So many
questions were running through her mind, but Elise did not have time to ponder
them all. Pounding down the stairs behind her, she turned to find Veronica, Amélia
and Eddie standing in the corridor. Veronica was the first to move, aiming her
weapon at the newcomer. Right away he knew she meant business.
Group 1: Veronica, Elise, Natalie, David, Amélia, Eddie Location: Warehouse
The sight of the opened fence swept away Natalie’s balance.
She stumbled forward. David snatched her back and pressed her up against the
wall. “Stay down or we’re dead.” With his hand covering her mouth, Natalie was
hard-pressed to turn her head, but she did notice the armed men standing on the
other side of the wall as well as lining the gate and outer bushes. “Ok, stay
behind me but try and keep up. We have maybe three minutes to get from here to
the other side of the woods before they realize we’re gone. You ready?”
Group 1: Veronica, Elise, Natalie, David, Amélia, Eddie Location: Warehouse
“Slowly, put your weapons on the ground and take a step
back,” the voice instructed. Veronica gazed over at Elise and quietly nodded
no. “NOW!”
More shadows danced along the ground. The man wasn’t alone.
Veronica squinted, focusing her eyes in the distance. Two figures, struggling.
A frantic howl came from the other side of the house, cut off abruptly by the
smack of something striking flesh. “EDDIE!” a woman screamed; a desperate cry
for help.
Ignoring the women he held at gunpoint, the man rushed
headlong towards the large country home, disappearing from view just on the
other side. “Come on. Let’s get the hell out of here,” Veronica said,
grabbing Elise’s arm as she attempted to flee.
“Wait, they need our help!” Elise replied, snatching free of
Veronica’s grasp.
Group 1: Veronica, Elise, Natalie, David, Amélia, Eddie Location: Warehouse
“Keep running,” Veronica huffed as she charged forward in
front of Elise. Coming from the dark, thicker area of the woods into the
lighter open one, she could finally see where she was going without the use of
a flashlight and quickly tucked it into her backpack.
“Wait, Roni, we need to go back. The kids. Jeremiah and
Nina, they’re gone,” Elise said, leaning her body against a rock as she tried
to catch her breath.
“What? SHIT!” Veronica cussed, looking around and seeing
Elise was right. She had no idea at what point they’d lost the other two but
looking at the blaze, now visible above the trees, there was no way they could
go back. They would stand no chance of getting out alive. “We can’t go back. We
have to keep moving.”
Hello. My name is Amélia. I work as an Executive Administrative
Assistant at BioCore in Fairhaven…well I guess in my case worked. Let me explain. Today, the facility was the site of a
massive reactor explosion which nearly leveled the entire building. Many of us
became hopelessly trapped in the upper levels, myself included as I worked on
the 5th floor, while others were lucky to escape the area that took
the majority of the damage and make it safely out of the building.
I had been sitting at my desk working on some bullshit,
unimportant report my boss HAD to have at that exact moment even though,
technically, I was on lunch when I felt the rumble. It started small sort of
like the aftershock of an earthquake. But within seconds it had built up to a powerful
shake that exploded windows and killed the lights on every floor. I ducked
beneath my desk and waited for the thunderous roaring beneath my feet to stop
enough to make it to an exit. But it was only after the explosion ended the
real danger began.
