The New Haven Incident - Part Twenty-Five

Mendez grunted as the door opened, flooding his vision with bright light. Team Two entered the room. It was clearly an observation deck of some kind. Three rows of seats faced an observation window which permitted the light in. There was a fully stocked bar on one side and a door on the far side.

“What the fuck?” Richards said, walking to the window and peering down. “Isn’t that…?”

Mendez walked to the window and looked through. He froze. Team Three and the survivors were in the room below. So, too, was Sebastian. But something was wrong. There was a barrier running down the centre of the room. Team Three and the survivors were one side. Sebastian stood on the other, facing Hannah. His weapon was drawn, pointed at the girl, who simply stood, clutching her much-loved stuffed toy to her chest, staring at Sebastian.

Shoot her! a nebulous voice commanded.

Mendez watched as Sebastian visibly trembled, fighting against himself.

“No!” Dr. Lundt whispered. She turned to run from the room, but Harding caught her arm.

“Where are you going?”

“That’s my niece,” Dr. Lundt  spat back, struggling against the enormous man’s grip.

“You can’t go. You’ll get killed and we need you here.”

“Jesus Christ,” Mendez breathed, only half listening to the exchange between his captain and the doctor. His eyes were locked on Sebastian and his visible struggle against his own body. He turned, checking his weapon to make sure it was fully stocked, and started up the step to the door.

“Where are you going?” Harding demanded.

“To help.”

“This isn’t our mission, Mendez. Leave it.”

“He’s going to shoot her!” Mendez barked, staring at Harding, noticing Dr. Lundt trapped in his grip. Joy stared at Mendez, her eyes pleading. He nodded to her. He would help.

“I said leave it, soldier.”

For a brief moment, Mendez could do nothing but stare incredulously at his captain, the order to simply let a child die making no sense in his mind. This was not the Harding he knew; not the man he’d fought beside when they were in the army together.

“Please!” Cheryl screamed from the room below.

“Fuck this,” Mendez snarled. He turned and left the room.

“Sir?” Riley asked.

“Leave him,” Harding murmured, a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth. “He’s a lost cause.”

“Captain?” Richards asked, confused.

Sighing, Harding turned back to observe his team. “I am sorry, you know.”

The remaining members of Team Two stared at their captain, not understanding. Dr. Lundt continued to struggle. Harding sighed again, tossed the woman aside, then reached behind himself and pulled out two canisters. He popped the lids off with his thumbs and depressed the buttons. Grey gas poured from them, quickly filling the room.

Taking a deep breath, Harding stood still as his companions started coughing uncontrollably. He remained still until the coughing died down, then stopped. Shaking his head, he went to the far door and opened it. Five Changelings entered, equally as unbothered by the gas as Harding, and collected the unconscious members of Team Two and Dr. Lundt. They exited the way they had come in, silent and mindless. Harding followed. He paused at the door and turned back.

“Good luck, Oliver,” he murmured before turning and following the Changelings down the dark hall.

“Sebastian,” Mendez said through the comms unit the agent had given him. “Hang in there, buddy. I’m coming.”

A click followed by a moment of white noise told him that Sebastian had pressed the response button.

Sh-sh-sh-sh-oot on… A grunt. Shoot on sight.

Mendez grimaced as he paused at an open entry to a stairwell. He had no idea how to answer that demand. He had no intention of shooting Sebastian. There had to be an alternative. He flicked his flashlight on to check for hostiles and, finding none, descended the short staircase to the hall below where he was reasonably sure he would find the door to the room in which Sebastian and the others were currently trapped.

You will kill him, the voice in Sebastian’s head said.

“Shut. Up.” Sebastian could not be sure if he had spoken out loud or not. The fight had robbed him of most of his senses. The pain caused by his internal battle made breathing difficult, let alone speaking. The voice offered no retort but a soft, sinister laugh.

Sebastian’s anger lent him fresh strength. The finger slowly depressing the trigger of his weapon lifted slightly. Still, he knew that Reinhert was probably right. Despite himself, there was a creature in him, a strange, twisted thing that refused to die. It carried him through Cedarwood City, his brutal training at Tumnus, and every mission after. It didn’t care about anything except survival. It was the sole reason he still lived, while so many innocent people were dead. When that door opened, Mendez would fire. Sebastian felt the monster in him rumble in disquiet.

What followed happened so quickly, even Sebastian wasn’t able to comprehend everything. The door behind him hissed open. He spun and pulled the trigger as Mendez walked through, hitting Mendez in the shoulder. He fell back with a grunt.

The compelling force in Sebastian’s mind lifted. A vision flashed before his eyes. A control room, where stood Dr. Reinhert, guarded by four Dark Ones. The observation window overlooked the group trapped in the room and for a brief moment, Sebastian saw himself. In an instant, his mind flipped the image, giving him the direction of his target. He dropped to one knee, lifted his gun and shot thrice into the reflective window. It shattered on the second shot. The third was for Reinhert.

Sebastian had no way to confirm a hit. Blinding pain drove him down to his hands and knees. He dropped the gun and clutched his head, swallowing back a scream.

Two Dark Ones dove out of the shattered control room window. Lilith grappled with one of the Dark Ones. They landed together onto the hard steel ground. The other went for Hannah. Shocked from staring down the barrel of a gun held by Sebastian, the girl only stared. She didn’t even scream as the infected creature extended its clawed hand to her.

Mendez grunted, lifting himself slightly as chaos erupted around him. Sebastian was on the ground, clutching his head. Lilith was suddenly there, somehow, fighting a large Dark One. There was another, reaching for Hannah. With no time for thought, Mendez withdrew a handgun and fired, striking the Dark One in front of the child twice in the head. It dropped.

Hannah screamed.

Lilith killed her opponent, the dark head bouncing twice after she separated it from its neck. Not missing a beat, she leapt for the one Mendez had downed, taking its head just as it started to twitch back to life.

“Fuck,” Mendez grunted, letting his head fall back. His shoulder burned. Pain shot through his arm and chest every time he drew breath.

“Lil!” Hannah cried. She dropped her toy and ran to Lilith, who knelt down with arms wide open, drawing the girl into a close embrace. Hannah burst into tears.

For a moment, Lilith held the girl close, stroking her dark head. After a moment, she pulled away.

I have to lift the cage, she signed.

Hannah swallowed but nodded bravely and stepped back. Lilith smiled at her, then turned. She leapt up to the control room, aided by her wings, and vanished inside for a moment. There was a long silence before the bullet-proof divider and the bars both retracted back into the ceiling.

“Hannah!” Cheryl breathed, running forward to pull the child in close.

“Auntie,” Hannah whispered, throwing her arms around her aunt’s neck and bursting into tears again.

Dr. Liu and Captain Sakata ran to Menedez’ side, followed by the rest of the team.

“That was close,” Sakata noted as Dr. Liu inspected the wound at Mendez’ shoulder.

“He meant to miss,” Mendez said, wincing at the pain doing so inspired. “Or I’d be dead.”

“I’m not sure you’re right,” Dr. Liu noted. “But you will live.” He looked up at Captain Sakata. “You have a med kit?”

Sakata nodded and signalled Bosch, who ran forward unstrapping the med kit he wore across his chest. Bosch passed it to Dr. Liu, who set to work immediately.

Lilith returned, coming to her father’s side. She smiled down at Mendez, who managed to grin back.

“Fantastic timing,” he grunted to her.

Lilith smiled again and signed. You too.

Mendez nodded, then hissed as Dr. Liu pressed a gauze against his wound.

Previous Part                                                                                                                                                                          Next Part