BEGINNING OF STORY

PREVIOUS (PART 18)

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Charlene warned Doug that the released prisoners might mistake them for guards and kill them too, but Doug had solved the problem by walking up to them and saying, "Hi. I'm Doug, and I'm going to help get you all out of here." There wasn't any time for other introductions as they were soon engaged in firefights with more soldiers. Charlene gladly led the way through these as Doug and the prisoners who obtained guns provided cover fire. Doug was good at cover fire as it involved shooting in a general direction of people without necessarily hitting anyone - the type of shooting he excelled at.

Another soldier fell under a burst of gunfire. Charlene tossed her rifle and grabbed his before facing the group following her. "That's the last of them! Come on! The communications are down, so all the soldiers in the building only know the alarm is off but not why. We have to get out of here before they put things together."

The twelve freed prisoners, had expressions hovering somewhere between hopeful and confused. One older man finally spoke up. "Who are you people?"

Charlene looked annoyed. "Doesn't matter; come on."

She led them to the stairway and Doug turned to the group and said, "We were just passing through, so we thought we'd help."

"Thanks... Doug."

Doug smiled. "No problem!"

There were some gunshots, and then they all had to step over a body on the stairway. After they got up a few flights, Charlene announced, "Here's where we part. You can take this stairwell to the roof where you can obtain a vehicle to get out of here... just leave at least one for us or I'll find another way out of here and then hunt you all down." Charlene scowled to make her point.

The freed prisoners kept heading up the stairs, a few calling out "Thank you"... mainly directed at Doug since they all seemed a bit scared of Charlene.

Doug waived goodbye and then followed Charlene out of the stairway. "They were nice."

"They won't last long; they probably don't have anywhere to escape to as I don't think any nation would accept them."

"Oh, I'm sure they'll find some place."

Charlene just glared at Doug for a half-second. She had been a bit tense ever since Doug accidentally set off the alarm.

As they approached Lab 8, they spotted four people standing in the hallway: Bryce, Lulu, and two soldiers. Charlene fired her rifle and then it was just Bryce and Lulu standing there.

Bryce recovered quickly from the surprise. "We were just telling them about the training exercise and how we were waiting on two technicians."

"And then you shot them," Lulu added. "I could have done that."

Charlene shoved Bryce towards the lab door. "Let's just get this over with."

"Don't be so impatient." Bryce swiped a security card and entered a code. "We weren't the ones who set off the alarm."

"That was Doug's fault!"

"But you had all ready shot people first!" Doug said. He knew Charlene seemed upset, but he didn't think he deserved all the blame.

The lab door opened, and Lulu led the way. "The important thing is no one got seriously hurt... other than people we don't care about."

Bryce and Charlene got to work on opening some computer at the back of the lab while Lulu watched. Doug then noticed a number of drawers with labels composed of odd combinations of letters and numbers. "Oh yeah, Stan told me to look for some project here that would help me."

Charlene took a panel off the side. "Who is Stan?"

Bryce pulled out the hard drive. "Doug's imaginary friend; we don't have time for this."

"It would prove Stan is real if what he told was here is here." Doug scanned the labels on the drawers. "I think he said to look for project DX-7."

"GX-7." Doug turned to see a woman had entered the lab behind them. She was an attractive brunette wearing a white lab coat over a black evening gown. "And who was it who told you of that project?"

Charlene had her rifle on the woman in a blink. Lulu followed suit pulling out her handgun.

The woman laughed. "So you people are the cause of all the commotion. All I ask is to be able to work in my lab in peace, and, if someone disturbs that peace, I want them killed. Apparently I need better help." She looked them over. "So all this is to steal my backup drive." She turned to Doug. "And project GX-7?"

Doug spotted the drawer labeled "GX-7" and opened it. Inside was a vial that he pocketed. "Now that I found it, I guess I'm stealing it. Nothing personal."

Bryce placed the hard drive in a case. "I don't know who you are, lady, but..."

"I'm Vera, of the Vera Research Facility." Her smile faded. "This is my research building, and I really don't like having you here."

"Well, Vera," Lulu said, waving her gun at the woman, "we have the job we're hired to do, so why don't you just stand back and no one else will have to get hurt."

Vera didn't look at all concerned about the guns pointed her way; she actually seemed to be ignoring them. There was something off about her... something Doug couldn't quite place. And, when he did place it, it sent a shiver down his spine. He slowly reached for his knife.

Vera smiled again, this time more like a predator bearing its teeth. "Maybe 'no one else getting hurt' is not the outcome I want."

NEXT

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