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"Take her gun!" Bryce ordered Doug. Doug took the pistol from Lulu's holster and held it dubiously.

"What's going on?" one of the Protectors demanded, the group keeping guns on them both.

"The enemy has some sort of conspiracy involving the armory," Bryce explained, "and I was hoping this imposter would lead me to it. I guess you all screwed up that plan."

"You're too late!" Lulu said with as much menace as she could as she kept her hands behind her head. "You're all going to die here!" She added an evil laugh, but Doug judged it a bit forced.

"What do we care about the armory?" a Protector asked. "We're abandoning this whole place and the letting the stupid Children fight for it."

"Hey!" Charlene exclaimed.

"Shut up, you," Bryce told her sharply, and then turned back to the soldiers. "I can't tell you much about it, but there is an artifact of great importance to Asmod in the armory that unfortunately it seems the enemy has found out about. We need to secure it before leaving. Come on, there's no time to waste."

Bryce started leading Lulu away at gunpoint. "Come guard," he told Doug and then struggled to get his suit jacket off while keeping his gun on Lulu. He tossed the jacket to Charlene. "Carry that for me, Child."

The Protectors followed as well. "So the enemy might already be in the armory?" one asked.

"Could be. Be prepared for a gunfight," Bryce said.

"Loch will eat your blood!" Lulu shouted. She then whispered to Bryce, "You don't think Chen mentioned you?"

"I doubt she would so readily admit she was duped by one of us Last."

"And what exactly are we doing when we get to the armory?" Charlene asked quietly.

"We'll figure it out when we get there. No worries."

Doug still had the pistol in his hand and wasn't sure what to do with it. He had a bad record with guns from the brief time the government conscripted the Last Children in the military, so he wanted to put it away but didn't seem to have a holster. He tried shoving it in his pants pocket but it was too big, so he turned to Charlene. "You want to carry the gun and I can carry the coat?"

"Can't you even pretend to be competent for even a couple minutes?" Charlene shot back under her breath and turned away.

Doug thought of telling her he had been pretending competence for more than ten minutes already, but then he remembered he wasn't supposed to talk.

They soon reached the armory and stopped by the entrance. "The enemy doesn't know we're on to them yet," Bryce told the six soldiers. "Let's try to head in quietly and get a look of things. Are you prepared?"

"We can handle it. You have her?"

Bryce patted Lulu on the head. "The little floozy isn't going to be a problem."

"You're going to die," Lulu added.

The six Protectors slowly made their way in. Bryce turned to his group. "Any ideas for what to do next?"

"The loading dock is just inside." Charlene said. "I think we should just grab a vehicle and get the hell out of here before they wise up and shoot us all."

"I'm for that," Lulu said, her hand still behind her head. "My arms are starting to get tired; I don't want to be a prisoner anymore."

"Fine," Bryce said. "Maybe we'll get lucky and they've already loaded one of the trucks up for the evacuation. Let's just--"

Automatic gunfire erupted from inside. Two Protectors ran out returning fire, one clutching a bloody wound at his side. "They've taken it over!" He shouted to Bryce. "They've already killed everyone in there! I think they have the artifact!"

It took a moment for Bryce to get over the shock. "Well... that's... not good."

More gunfire tore down the two soldiers, and then four angry looking women emerged from the entrance pointing rifles at Doug, Bryce, Lulu, and Charlene. Doug decided to break the no talking rule. "Dude."

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Hellbender Take Two
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