The New Haven Incident - Part Thirty-Five

Something was wrong.

Sebastian’s eyes snapped open. The laboratory was quiet. Mendez was asleep in the next bed in the treatment room, his breathing heavy and slow; not quite a snore, but not far from it. Lilith was presumably still with her father in the main room.

Listening carefully, Sebastian waited. There was no sound, beyond the electrical hum of laboratory equipment and the dim blue lights of the room. Still, something was wrong. There was a disquiet in Sebastian’s gut that told him danger approached. He threw aside his blankets, noting with passing surprise that he no longer ached. In fact, he felt remarkably good; well-rested and strong. This had to be a recovery personal record.

Without much time to think about this odd development, Sebastian found his boots and put them on. He moved to Mendez’ side and gently shook the bigger man’s shoulder. Mendez snorted and sat up, immediately alert. Sebastian smiled as Mendez gathered himself. Despite their situation, the manner in which Oliver bolted upright, alert, was comical; something like a cartoon dog snapping to.

Mendez scowled at him, but the expression vanished as Sebastian put his fingers to his lips. Mendez must have felt it too, because he paused only briefly in confusion before throwing aside his blanket and retrieving his rifle. Carefully, he followed Sebastian out of the room. They both paused at the door to check their surrounds before moving quietly towards the main room where Dr. Liu and his daughter would be camped out.

Sebastian spotted his gear laid out neatly on a countertop before he noticed Lilith and Dr. Liu. They were both asleep, Liu bent over the console, his head resting on his arms, and Lilith curled on her side on the nearby sofa. Sebastian went to Lilith, so Mendez moved to Dr. Liu. They woke the pair gently.

Lilith snapped to in much the same fashion as Mendez had, immediately alert. Dr. Liu took more convincing. He groaned as Mendez shook him a second time, slowly pulling himself upright.

“What is —” He clamped his mouth shut when Mendez put his fingers to his lips.

Dr. Lius turned to Lilith, who was getting into her weapons harness with the agent’s help. Their eyes met and Dr. Liu immediately understood. Something had woken the agent, and given the state he was in, it had to be of considerable concern. Dr. Liu turned to the console and noted that, at long last, the file download had been completed. He ejected the thumb drive as Mendez took up position at the door, peering out into the dimly lit hall, and put it in his breast pocket.

Making sure no one could see, he ejected a second drive and slid that into his right pocket. Insurance. He moved to Lilith’s side and took her hand. She smiled over at him; a small, worried smile.

Sebastian had left her side to gather his tactical gear and was dressing himself when a soft hiss from the far end of the hall echoed down into the room. He barely paused as the others turned to the sound. Moving quickly, he had dressed himself before anyone started to move into position.

Lilith released her father’s hand and moved to Mendez, placing her hand lightly on his shoulder to let him know she was close. Mendez moved out, certain Lilith would have his back. He stepped carefully down the hall, his rifle held in front of him, ready.

He felt, rather than heard, Lilith behind him. Dr. Liu was a little louder, and Sebastian might as well have been a ghost, though Mendez was certain he was there as well, making sure no ambush waited at their rear.

There was another hiss as the door at the far end closed. Gloomy, vaguely human shapes crowded the far end of the hall. One moved, and the lights were suddenly on, filling the hall with bright white light. Mendez squinted as he lifted his rifle. The shock of the sudden light was probably why it took him a moment to recognise the shapes at the end of the hall.

He straightened and grinned. “Harding?”

“Mendez,” Captain Harding greeted, smiling softly. Team Two stood behind him. They did not offer Mendez a smile. The Warrant Officer did not notice. He stepped forward and threw his arms around his friend.

“I was going to head out to find you soon,” he said. “Boy, am I glad you’re alright.”

Harding clapped Mendez on the back before pulling away. “Why wouldn’t we be?”

“Besides the fairy-pocalypse?” Mendez said. “The doc made an interesting discovery.”

“Oh?”

“There’s a Doctor Reinhert lurking here. He was the one who trapped Team Three in the room… When I went to help. He is apparently behind this whole mess. He had files on us, Roger. All of us. Not just Team Two, but the whole of Sigma.”

Harding raised a brow. His gaze shifted to Dr. Liu. “Is this so?”

James nodded. “It is.”

Harding grunted, frowning.

“Did you get what we needed?” Warrant Officer Mendez asked his commander.

Turning his attention back to Mendez, Harding nodded. “In record time. We’re headed to the surface, but came looking for you first. We don’t leave anyone behind.”

Lilith watched the exchange. Harding appeared as distant as ever, making Mendez’ personable warmth odd by comparison. She jolted as Sebastian whispered behind her, to himself rather than to her, “How did he know to look here?”

Lilith felt her stomach drop. She moved forward and tapped Mendez’ elbow. He turned to her and she signed Sebastian’s exact question. For a moment, Mendez just stared at her, then he frowned and turned to Harding. The captain had seen, just as Mendez had, that Agent Connors had become infected. But he couldn’t have known it was Reinhert’s virus. How would he have known to look for his missing team member in Reinhert’s personal laboratory?

“How did you know where to look for us here?” he asked.

Harding paused. He raised his brows. “Ran into Sakata,” he answered at length. “Said something had gone wrong with the agent and that you were headed to a lab to fix him up.”

This answer appeared to satisfy Mendez, but Sebastian’s disquiet grew. Mendez has swung his rifle to his back. Sebastian did not holster the pistol he carried. Instead, his hand reached slowly for the combat knife sheathed at his left shoulder.

Dr. Liu walked forward. “I am concerned, Captain, that you might be in more danger than you know.”

“I’ll take that under advisement,” Harding said. There was some colour of amusement to his tone, and Sebastian did not like it. He remained in the rear, blue eyes narrowed as he observed Harding and his team.

All eyes turned to Lilith as she came to stand beside her father. There was something in the movement of the Sigma mercenaries, some slight twitch that set Sebastian’s hair on end. He scowled, moving forward to stand protectively between Sigma Team Two and Lilith. “Something is off,” he murmured. His eyes slid over the rest of the team and narrowed as he noticed an unusual shadow at the edge of Richards’ collar. He lifted his gun.

“Show me your neck,” he demanded.

“Sebastian!” Mendez said, surprised.

Sebastian ignored him. He stepped forward to stand before the group. “I said show me your neck.”

Mendez was about to step forward when he felt Dr. Liu’s hands touch his lower back. The doctor slipped something small in the tiny pocket that existed on the inside of the waistband of his pants. A thumb drive, Mendez guessed. He paused, his mind working. Why would Liu need to hide the data he had retrieved, unless…

Mendez turned to Harding, noticing the malice in his superior’s eyes as they bored into Sebastian. It gave his eyes an unnatural light. At last, Mendez paid attention to the warning that had been blaring in the back of his mind since he unexpectedly reunited with his team

Richards did not move, not until Harding turned to him. With his back turned, it was impossible to guess what commands Harding was giving. They were not verbal, but Richards complied. He released his rifle with one hand and brought it up, slowly, to his collar. Staring blankly at Sebastian, he pulled his hand down, to reveal a dark network of veins showing through.

“Shit,” Mendez said, stepping back and raising his rifle to point at Richards.

“Stand down, Mendez,” Harding snapped.

“He’s infected, sir.”

Harding smirked.

“They’re all infected,” Sebastian said softly.

Mendez looked at him, then back at Harding. “Sir?” he asked, suddenly unsure.

For a moment Harding said nothing, his expression caught in a small smile that looked sinister in the white light of the hallway.

“You shouldn’t have left us, Mendez,” he said at length. “You too could have this blessing.”

“Blessing?” Oliver stepped back, pointing his rifle at Harding. “What the fuck did you do?”

“Achieved immortality, my friend.” Harding took a step forward.

“No,” Mendez barked, his finger finding the trigger. “Back up.”

“You’re not going to shoot me, Mendez. We’ve been through too much together.” Harding took another step forward.

“He won’t,” Sebastian said, changing target from Richards to Harding. “But I will. Back the fuck up.”

Harding stopped his advance. He turned to Sebastian and cocked his head, smiling a mirthless, tight-lipped smirk. Finally, he said, “We only need the girl alive.”

Sebastian discharged his weapon before anyone else had a chance to move; shooting the members of Sigma Team Two in the head like they were targets at a fair before turning his gun back to Harding. Team Two dropped, flopping to the ground like rag dolls.

“You’re not going to touch her,” Sebastian growled. He fired twice, hitting Harding just above and below his right eye.

Harding grunted, stumbling backwards, his hand over his eye. Sebastian’s heart stopped as Harding straightened and removed his hand to reveal smooth skin. Those shots would have dropped a Dark One for at least a few minutes. Harding had recovered in seconds. Smiling, the captain extended his hand. There sat the bullets Sebastian had just discharged.

A groan from the ground drew everyone’s attention. Joseph twitched. Richards at his side followed. Then, as if waking from a sleep, all the members of Sigma Team Two clambered to their feet.

“Jesus,” Mendez whispered.

“Run,” Sebastian breathed. “Go!”

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