Ryder pulled on the handle and the heavy metal door actually opened. She hadn’t been expecting that. She’d thought that they would have had to use the explosives Graham had brought with him. Ryder turned to Graham and saw the disappointment on his face and the explosives in his hand. She shook her head, and he unwillingly put them back into his backpack.
She wondered why the doors were open and had no guard, but she’d happily accept the invitation. With the help of the others, she pulled open the door. For each millimeter they opened the door, Ryder’s heart rate increased. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t shitting herself, but this wasn’t about her feelings. It was about her friends.
When they’d opened the door enough for them to enter, the place was eerily quiet. This was normal for Level One. The bunker was soundproofed so Afana couldn’t hear the noise from the lower levels. The lower levels were the noisiest since they were the fullest.
Fluffy was right by Ryder’s side as she walked into the bunker. This was the calm before the storm.
In front of them was where the advisors worked, behind a glass wall with a door that led to the outside. Over the years a few had tried to escape when the door guards weren’t looking, but they never got far. Normally the daylight was a shock to their system. They’d gaze at the blue sky, which they’d only seen glimpses of from their work area.
Those who were captured ended up in the lab next to the work area and would become the next experimental body for their co-workers. That alone was enough to prevent most of them from trying to leave.
Ryder led the group along the wall out of the eyesight of the advisors, who were at that moment looking down through the glass floor.
Ryder waved Massimo to the front of the group, then pointed at the advisors’ stations. “You need to turn the cameras off from there and open the doors,” Ryder informed Massimo. She didn’t know how or where, only that he could turn them off from there. All she remembered was Advisor George bitching about resetting the cameras from Level One when he came to the lower levels to fix the cameras she’d broken.
“I’ve got this. Come on, Leandro,” Massimo said to Fluffy. Massimo didn’t see the wolf, just his son. Just like Ryder.
“Good luck,” Ryder said.
“Luck? A vampire and a wolf don’t need luck. Those we go after do.” Massimo grinned, enjoying his new strength. “Call us if you need us. We can hear you wherever you are.” Massimo nodded reassuringly. With that, the father and son, vampire and werewolf, took off toward the advisors’ stations. They ran along the wall, hiding in the shadows.
The plan was for them to wait till Massimo had turned off the cameras, so the advisors wouldn’t be able to alert the bunker that they were here. Part of Ryder wondered if they still needed to follow that plan. She had to find out if there were Mad on the loose in the bunker.
Ryder paused. “Wait here.”
Ryder edged forward. She had to get to the glass floor so could see down to Level Six.
Ryder was shocked when she looked down. The glass floors were smeared with blood, and there were piles of bodies. She gasped in horror and leaned back, bumping into something. She swung around, but it was just Carter.
“Carter!” Ryder hissed through gritted teeth.
He wasn’t paying her any attention; he was looking down through the levels. “This place is huge. Where is Natalie?”
“At the bottom, on Level Six,” Ryder informed him. He was right. The place was huge.
Carter squinted to get a better look down to the lowest level, but the blood-covered glass floors made it impossible.
The others had joined them as well.
So much for them following orders, Ryder thought.
There was no one around to see them, so they didn’t need to hide. Oh, shit, the cameras! How could she have been so dumb? The cameras were pointing right at them, so she quickly looked at the advisors. They weren’t looking at her. Ryder couldn’t see the computers because the advisors were blocking the screens. Their eyes were still locked on the glass floor, watching what was happening beneath them, which meant that the cameras weren’t working. George hadn’t fixed them yet, and no wonder, with everything going on.
That meant that Massimo and Leandro didn’t need to turn off the cameras.
“Come back,” Ryder whispered.
Massimo and Leandro turned to face Ryder. They’d heard her whisper, but it was too late.
They were already in front of the glass wall, and the advisors had seen them.
Massimo turned away from Ryder. As he did, his fangs protruded out of his gums, and his eyes glowed red. The advisors who had spotted Massimo were staring at him in horror, and the others quickly followed suit.
He pushed open the door, which wasn’t locked. There were squeaks from the Advisors’ chairs as they quickly got to their feet and backed away from Massimo and Leandro. This wasn’t quite the fight the two had expected. The advisors’ faces were as white as their lab coats as they backed away from Massimo and Leandro.
“How do we turn off the cameras?” Massimo used his vampiric voice, and Leandro let out a growl for good measure. When the advisors shook their heads, he sighed. This would mean a fight. He moved in front of them. “Tell me!”
One of the advisors rushed at Massimo with something metal in his raised hand. Massimo wasn’t going to take any shit from this lab guy. They needed answers and quickly. Massimo twisted the man’s head off like a daisy, then dropped it to the floor. The man’s body followed it.
“Tell me, or that will happen to you!” Massimo wasn’t messing around.
“They… They…are down,” an advisor spluttered, pointing
