Ahiga switched on his goggles in time to see the rest of the group charging up the stairwell.
Only Fitch and Golding were left. They were moving their heads from side to side in panic and bewilderment, with their hands stretched out in front of them. They couldn't see a thing, their goggles weren't functioning. Ahiga had removed the battery packs before handing them their equipment.
'Wait!' Golding called out.
Ahiga placed a hand on his shoulder.
'Quiet. There are soldiers nearby, you don't want to give away our position.'
'Who's that?' said Fitch.
'It's Tom. I've been sent back to get you.'
'I thought you were on point.' Golding said.
'I was. Until you two got left behind'
'Our fucking goggles aren't working.'
'That's okay,' said Ahiga putting his hands on both their shoulders. 'I can probably fix them in a minute. We've got to get you to safety first.'
Ahiga led them back into the main room of the armoury where the high explosive had been primed.
'Hold on a minute,' said Fitch. 'This feels like the wrong direction.'
'You're just disoriented by the dark. It'll pass in a second.'
'Aren't we supposed to be going up some stairs?'
'Not the first set we just passed,' said Ahiga. 'We need the next set at the end of this corridor.'
There was a burst of gunfire in the distance. Ahiga used the opportunity to steer Golding and Fitch into the front office. 'We have to duck into here for a second. You can't see to shoot and we're pinned down.'
'Can you fix our goggles now?' Golding said.
'That explosive is going to go off any second.' Fitch said. 'Are you sure we're far enough away to be safe?'
'Trust me. We're in the perfect spot.'
Ahiga took Fitch and Golding to the far end of the office and positioned them so they were facing towards the door.
'What's going on?'
'Quiet!' Ahiga hissed. He moved the body of the guard that was up against the door and shifted a filing cabinet around to create a little nook in which he could shelter.
'Now,' Ahiga said. 'Let's do something about those goggles of yours.' He clipped both their battery packs back in and dived into the nook he'd made for himself.
A second later the explosive went off.
Ahiga was thrown forward by the force of the blast. It lifted him off the ground and rattled him around in his hidey-hole like a dried pea in a rain-shaker.
The noise was like a bitch slap from a thunderclap. He didn't just hear it, his whole body felt the impact.
The blaze was fierce, white and iridescent. It burned bright images on the back of Ahiga's eyes, even though he had them tight shut. He contented himself by thinking what the blaze would do to two sets of eyes made more light sensitive by night vision.
Ahiga was too stunned for a while to realise it had stopped. The first thing he was aware of was that the walls and the ground had stopped shaking. He caught his breath and slipped his goggles on. He was pinned in by the filing cabinet he'd moved.
Lying on his back Ahiga pushed the cabinet with his feet. It toppled back then disappeared from sight. There was a crash as it hit the ground twenty feet below.
Ahiga stood and looked down. Where, seconds ago, there'd been a series of large rooms, there was now just a crater. No ceilings, no floor, just a gigantic pit filled with rubble. Half dead bodies writhed amid arcs of electricity that leapt between severed cables and shattered generators.
He wasn't out of hell yet. He was just on a different level.
All that was left of the office was a two foot wide ledge that had once been the floor, and the wall behind Ahiga. He realised his hearing was coming back when he started to make out the groans. Dying men calling for their mothers with their last breath, or cursing their God for letting this happen.
There were groans right next to Ahiga. He turned and saw Golding and Fitch under a pile of dust and rocks. The blast from the explosion must have knocked them into the back wall and stopped them being crushed in the pit.
Thank the Great Spirit they were alive. He wanted them to suffer so much more.
Anna had gotten her arms free of the straps when the lights went out. The whole room shook. All the windows cracked and Anna heard several panes crash to the ground. There was no sound and no light. As she tried to find a way to undo the straps her eyes got used to the dark. She began to hear voices off in the distance.
Though her arms were free, Anna's chest and legs were still bound. Anna had hardly any room for manoeuvre and she couldn't find any way to release the remaining restraints.
The voices from the corridor outside started to get closer. She saw the flicker of torch beams.
'Wait, it's over here.'
'See I told you.'
'Shit. I never knew there was medical equipment on this floor. You think there's drugs?'
'One way to find out man.'
Two men entered the room. Anna blinked as torch beams found her.
'This must be her then. All trussed up and ready for us.'
'Our orders were to take her to quarters and lock her up. Sooner we get that done, sooner we can sneak out of here.'
'Fuck our orders! I ain't got me none for months. Might be months before I get my next chance. We don't even have to pay for this. She's tied down and everything.'
'What if she's just a kid though? Or one of those things they make out of the kids?'
'Don't matter. She can be anyone you like in the dark.'
It was just like being back in the Pleasuredrome. Pathetic men and their disgusting appetites. Only this time Anna didn't feel violated, or victimised. She felt mad as hell. Her anger became eager movement in the vats of the Doomsday Virus. Like she was flexing a huge muscle. One that was waiting to be a part of her.
The man undid the strap that was holding Anna's legs down. She tried to kick out at him but he grabbed her surgical smock and yanked. 'Hey quit pushing,' the man said. 'You'll get your turn…'
His words trailed off in a choking gurgle. The man put his hands to his throat. He was still holding his torch. For a brief moment his face was caught in the beam. A knife was sticking out of the front of his neck.
He dropped and Anna heard more footsteps enter the room.
'Hey wait! It's okay man, we got orders we're supposed…'
The voice was cut short by the sound of a jaw fracturing. The man's cries were soon muffled by the sounds of boot leather colliding with flesh.
'Anna, are you hurt?' It was Cortez's voice.
'I can't find the release for these straps. I'll have to cut them.' Anna felt the knife touch her as Cortez hacked through her restraint. It was sticky with the blood of the man who'd tried to rape her.
'How is she?' said Greaves. 'Did they hurt her?'
'I'm fine,' said Anna without hiding her annoyance. 'Thanks for asking me.'
'I'm sorry. I just didn't know if you were conscious or not. We've got to get you out of here. The virus is up on the next floor.'
Anna's emotions were in conflict as they helped her down from the table and out of the room. Greaves handed her a pair of goggles that helped her see in the dark. Outlines appeared, drawn in a ghostly, green half- light.
She wasn't angry at Greaves specifically. He just reminded her of the scientists who had pawed her then left her strapped to that table. He'd spoken over her as though she wasn't there, just as they had. Now he was desperate to get her to the Doomsday Virus so he could finally finish this little experiment of theirs. In many ways Anna was more of a piece of meat to this man than she was to the men who had tried to rape her.
Maybe it was unfair to say that of Greaves. He had tried to connect with her. He just wasn't any good at it.
