The New Haven Incident - Part Forty-One

Mendez made peace with death as he fell. Death, however, was not interested in acquiring him at present. Something hit him from the side, slamming him into the wall of the pit. His fall stopped abruptly. Strong arms wrapped around his waist and shoulders. He blinked and looked up at the face of his saviour. Lilith smiled down at him, cradling him in her arms like a baby. Using her wings to assist her assent, Lilith leapt upwards, bounding from wall to wall, until they were once again on solid ground. She set Mendez down on his feet in front of the hole.

“Thanks,” Mendez said. He paused a moment. “That was weird.”

Lilith flashed him an exhausted grin.

The warrant officer turned and lifted the gun he still clung to. He fired twice, taking the pressure off Sebastian, who struggled to defend himself against Harding’s increasingly unhinged attacks.

Mindless with pain and rage, Harding turned towards the new threat and ran forward. He didn’t reach Mendez this time. Lilith slammed into him from the side, one of her swords plunging hilt deep into his stomach. Harding bellowed, swinging wildly for her. Lilith dodged and retreated, withdrawing her sword with a thick arc of blackish blood. He lunged for her. Sebastian slid across on his knees and cut across the back of Harding’s ankle. The tendon cut, Harding fell to one knee.

Mendez saw his chance. He circled around. As the captain, his tendon reattaching, began to rise despite the combined onslaught of Sebastian and Lilith, Mendez’ knife bit deep into his neck.

“We were friends, you bastard,” Mendez snarled. He pulled hard, cramming the blade between Harding’s vertebrae, severing the spinal cord. Harding shuddered, then fell face forward.

A heavy silence fell. Mendez stood over the corpse of his once-friend, staring down at him, his mind blank. Sebastian and Lilith, both exhausted, were doubled over, hands on their knees as they fought to regain their breath.

“Can I come down now?” Hannah’s plaintive question roused Lilith, Mendez and Sebastian. Lilith moved first, leaping up to Hannah with the assistance of her wings, and pulling her close as Hannah slid from the make-shift swing. Lilith turned and glided down.

“You think this is over?” Dr. Reinhert screeched from the hole in the ceiling through which the cage had been lowered.

Sebastian straightened and pointed his gun at him through the hole. He stopped. Reinhert held Dr. Liu before him, a scalpel at the smaller man’s throat.

“It is over, Reinhert,” Sebastian said.

“It’s just the beginning. Thank you for a wonderful first test of my creations. The footage was spectacular. My investors will be very pleased. I will change the face of warfare.”

“Let the doctor go.”

“Oh, this fraud? This liar? This thief? Oh no. I intend to make an example of him. But first, he will watch my army march across the world.”

Dr. Liu closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them, he looked directly at Lilith. They were calm, assured. Lilith placed Hannah down, never breaking eye contact with her father. She grimaced and gave him a small shake of her head. He responded with a sad smile.

“This madness ends with us, Howard,” he said quietly to his captor. He reached up and grabbed Reinhert’s wrist, pulling the scalpel away from his throat and delivered a sharp elbow with his other arm. He turned. Liu was fast, but Reinhert was stronger. Reinhert broke through his defence, stabbing the scalpel into James’ neck. Dr. Liu stiffened, covering the wound with his hand. It would do precious little, he knew. He looked and Reinhert’s triumphant sneer and narrowed his eyes. He reached out, grabbed Reinhert by the front of his shirt and yanked hard, pulling the unsuspecting madman through the hole with him. They fell together.

Lilith gasped as her father fell. She ran forward, leaping up to catch him. Reinhert shrieked his indignation as she passed him, hit his head on the edge of the hole into the pit, and was silent for the rest of his fall, save for the deep, crunching thud his body made as he struck the ground below.

Lilith carried her father to safety, one hand covering the wound on his neck. She touched down, her father cradled in her arms.

James Liu looked up at her with his soft, dark brown eyes. “My beautiful girl,” he whispered, reaching up to brush a copper strand away from her brow. He smiled. “I love you so.” The light in his eyes faded and his face fell slack. Lilith sobbed. She pulled her father’s body close.

Sebastian and Mendez stood in silence, watching. Sebastian looked down briefly as Hannah came forward and wrapped her arms around his leg, resting her head against him. He placed a comforting hand on her head.

A crack like thunder ripped through the air and the ground shook. The lights turned off, replaced by flashing red emergency lights.

Explosion detected. Emergency evacuation protocol enacted. Please move to your designated evacuation area, the mechanical feminine voice stated.

“Shit,” Sebastian hissed. He turned to Mendez. “Take Hannah.” He ran forward to Lilith and took her arm. “Lilith, we have to go.”

Lilith shook her head and pulled her father’s body closer to her.

“Lilith,” Sebastian said quietly. “This whole place is going to blow. We have to go. Now.”

Lilith looked up and blinked. She looked down at her father, slowly releasing him. She stood, helped by Sebastian. He took her hand and nodded at her. She nodded back.

Sebastian turned. “This way.”

He ran, leading Lilith by the hand, through the corridors with Mendez holding Hannah running behind them, as a series of explosions shook the floor until he came to the elevator. He checked what floor the lift currently sat. It was two floors down.

“Perfect,” he murmured. He pulled out a bundle from one of his pockets and gave it a single, sharp shake. It unfolded into a crowbar.

“That’s neat,” Mendez noted.

Sebastian grunted his agreement, then placed it between the elevator doors and pulled. The door swung open with little protest. “Grab the cables,” he said, standing aside. Lilith went first, leaping easily to grab the thick cable.

“On my back, kiddo,” Mendez said, swinging Hannah around. She obediently clung onto his broad shoulders. “Hang tight.”

“Okay.”

Mendez jumped, easily catching the cable. Sebastian followed.

“Uh, now what?” Mendez asked.

Sebastian pulled his sidearm from the holster on his thigh. “Hang on.”

“Wait —”

Sebastian did not wait. He aimed his gun at the bolt holding the cable to the elevator three floors down and fired.

Hannah shrieked as they soared upwards, lifted by the falling elevator. The lift hit the ground floor with a deafening crash and the cable slowed then stopped at a closed elevator door. Before Mendez could ask what was next, Sebastian leapt off the cable and onto the service ladder that was anchored to the wall on the right of the door. Accessing a small box, Sebastian cut a cable and the elevator doors opened.

“Go!” Sebastian shouted.

Another thunderous explosion below shook the elevator shaft. Lilith jumped across first, turning and waiting for Mendez.

“Hey Kid,” Mendez yelled to Hannah over the tumult happening beneath them. “You ready?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Here goes!” Using the cable to swing himself across, Mendez leapt, landing heavily and having to use his hands to prevent his face from meeting the floor. Sebastian swung himself around the door and out. They were in the underground parking lot of the university hospital. Fresh air poured in from the open gates at the far end of the lot.

“Run!” Sebastian commanded as a soft rumble announced the slow collapse of the floor beneath their feet. All three sprinted for the open gates as the edges of a sinkhole dogged their heels.

They continued to sprint once outside, chased by the ever-widening hole created by the underground explosions.

“Fuck!” Mendez grunted as he felt his heel slip down. He reeled backwards. Sebastian stopped, turned, and, grabbing Mendez by his vest, yanked him forward to safety. The effort to keep Mendez from falling pulled Sebastian back, and he lost his footing.

Hannah screamed as Sebastian disappeared. Lilith leapt after the agent without hesitation. She caught him. Using the falling debris and her wings, Lilith flew up, until they were free of the hole and on solid ground. Another rumble shook their safety. Silence. The hole ceased its ravenous expansion. Sebastian stumbled back, pulling Lilith with him until they were both a safe distance from the edge of the hole.

Mendez joined them, panting hard, Hannah still clinging to his back. He slapped Sebastian on the back, noting the man’s shirt was soaked through with sweat. He grinned as Sebastian looked over at him.

“It’s weird, right?” he said, mimicking being carried by Lilith.

“So fucking weird,” Sebastian answered between gasping breaths. He flashed a quick grin, and his beautiful, sad features turned bright and boyish for just an instant.

Mendez’ smile slipped. “Is it really you?”

Sebastian turned and looked down at the enormous sinkhole. “I think so,” he said. He frowned and looked over at Lilith. She stood, still as stone, and stared blankly down at the gaping hole that had swallowed nearly the entire hospital. His smile faded. Knowing no platitudes could ever help, he walked over to Lilith and wrapped her in a close embrace. She remained rigid at first. Then, as if waking from a dream, she collapsed, turning into Sebastian and burying her face in his muscular chest.

He held her as she sobbed, offering nothing more than his gentle strength. Exhausted, Lilith’s sobs slowed, then stopped. They sank to the ground together. He closed his eyes and rested his cheek atop her head.

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