Finding Paradise
I met him at a bar.
There he stood.
I asked their name.
Not a soul responded
Drowned in grief.
We found our way.
Whispered from the mother.
Our Fate Predetermined
Click, click, click-
…nothing happened. Sam gritted his teeth as he repeatedly pulled the trigger on his waterlogged pistol, failing to fire a single shot. He growled with frustration, throwing the pistol at Strelkov.
“Motherfucker! You’ve ruined her fucking life! Your cult is a bunch of fuckers! You hear me?!” Sam yelled, preparing to rise up from sitting, all despite clutching Olivia close.
Before I could run over to intervene, and far before Sam would even reach Strelkov, Olivia spoke, barely loud enough to be heard over all the noise.
“Samuel… stop… It isn’t his fault…”
“Are you kidding me?! Look at what they did! Look at yourself!”
Olivia let out a breathy sigh, tilting her head to finally look up at Sam. His teeth were still gritted, letting out a low growl before his eyes met Olivia’s. The two stayed silent, trying to wordlessly convince each other whilst I slowly approached. The whole time I spent walking closer, Strelkov stayed completely idle, analyzing the weapon that had been thrown at him. I hesitated to take any steps closer to Sam and Olivia, feeling as if my actions would disrupt the sudden balance the two struck. In the end, it was Strelkov who spoke up.
“I know nothing of what the congregation has done to you two, though if it means anything, your friend is right here. Regardless, that creature deserved what it got for provoking us.”
Sam slowly got up with a drawn-out groan and huff, leaning against the wall. Olivia winced as well, trying to pull Sam away as her legs wobbled and struggled to keep her up.
“Olivia isn’t a- a fucking creature. She’s my friend like anyone else! You’re the damn creature here! Mr. Silver hair and glowing green eyes!”
Strelkov scoffed. “It has changed before your very eyes, and yet you lie!”
“That’s it!” Sam shouted, lunging, though yet again Olivia tried to stop him. The grab Olivia did caused the pair to tumble forwards into Strelkov. Neither party was really expecting it, dropping their things and reacting in pained shouts as they landed on the cold metal floor right in front of me.
Among all the things that clattered on the riveted steel and tiles was Sam’s gun, sliding almost prophetically towards me. Then and there, I immediately broke out of my frozen trance. Before me, as Sam and Strelkov awkwardly pushed against each other on the floor, I went and swiped it off the floor.
“S-Stop it!” I cried, lifting the unwieldy, worn, and wet pistol away in a fashion that felt right. Immediately the pair stopped, turning both their heads to look at me.
Sam seethed, his eyes widening in realization as he noticed Olivia lying right next to him, holding his arm to try and stop him as well. “Olivia? Sam?” I muttered to the both of them.
“None of us are in any sort of state to fight! You, me, especially Olivia!” I shouted, mostly speaking the first thing that came to my mind at the moment. The adrenaline was surging through my veins at that point, and I had absolutely no clue why I had even spoken in the first place.
“They’re right, you know… I don’t come with ill intent. Seeing as you’re alive, I can only assume you’ve done what monsters have done. You slaughtered my whole congregation.” Strelkov accused in their oddly calm tone.
Despite how much Strelkov’s words enraged him, Sam chose to stop shoving or trying to throw punches, sitting up to back away before speaking. “Your congregation deserved whatever Olivia did to them-”
“So I’m correct. Typical of the nonbelievers. Consumed by the vices of the old world.”
“Enough. I defended myself… They- They got what was coming.” Olivia spoke up, giving a sputtering gasp as she too tried to prop herself up with her only remaining arm.
Sam slowly stood and helped lift Olivia back onto her feet, putting his arm around her to hold them close for stability. Not long after, Sam tried to approach me, trying his hardest to reach for the gun I held. I stumbled back in response, feeling as if it were the last thing I should do. Olivia seemed to feel the same, using her weight to pull him away from me. I wasn’t even sure what to do myself, looking back at the pistol I was holding up with guilt.
“Hmph. It seems we’re all at our lowest.” Strelkov noted quite obviously, breaking the silence. “I’m in no spot to carry out the mission I intended, and I’m unsure why you still continue in such worn and wounded states.”
“Who put Captain Obvious in charge then? I’ve made a mistake and I’m intent on righting it. Right, Jo?”
I looked at him with as earnest a look as I could muster. “You know, I’m really starting to regret all of this…”
“What? Come on, what has this fucking hippie been doing to you?!”
“Sam, I- I thought it would be a lot more simple than this. I can’t even count the amount of times I’ve almost died. It’s been nice but-” I paused, looking to Olivia, who seemed just as ashamed as me. “-I’m really regretting this.”
Strelkov looked at us, their face shifting to a gradual frown. “Well, now you all are making me feel bad. Perhaps we should all go our ways and forget this.”
“Forget this? No, I ain’t forgetting shit! I’m- I’m going to find Madeline!” Sam announced, gently moving Olivia against a wall so he could let her go, doing an awkward limp and hop before he suddenly dashed off down the extensive metal corridors. His running and limping echoed, though I felt that I was in no shape to stop him, especially after what I said to him.
Olivia, on the other hand, weakly reached for him, giving a small sniffle as she slumped against the wall, quietly crying to herself in her weakness. I stammered, putting Sam’s gun awkwardly into the pocket of my long-since torn pants, trying to help Olivia. I put my arms around her in the hopes that anything could comfort her.
“I shouldn’t have lashed out. I ruined it all!” Olivia whined quietly, muffling her cries in the side of my arm. Her whole body exuded an unnatural feeling of warmth, almost making it comfortable to hold her.
I stammered and choked on my own upset, trying my hardest not to cry as I thought over my own choices. “No, don’t say that! Don’t say that… it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have agreed to this.”
“No! I got us hurt! Sam wouldn’t have done this if I had just given myself up for whatever.” Olivia paused, wincing and giving a shout of pain as she presumably tried moving what remained of her missing arm.
I pulled away, examining Olivia. She was still bleeding, her bandages and some other cuts on her body leaving stains of blood on my clothes.
“Are you okay?” I questioned through my teary eyes, as much of a stupid question as it was to ask her.
“Jo, I’m bleeding… It’s not going to stop unless I get help. Just leave and- and find help. Go home and leave.”
I shook my head, trying to drag Olivia up. “We’re going together. You’re going to be okay.”
“Don’t!” She shouted in pain, crying out as I brought her to her feet awkwardly, barely able to support Olivia’s surprisingly heavy body against me. “Jo, It’s going to be REAL difficult to get me fucking help!” She seethed in her usual characteristic sarcasm, gritting her teeth in pain as she slowly tried standing on her own. She looked me in the eyes after, her face wet with her tears.
“Then we go out and get you help. After that, I go find Sam and fix whatever the fuck I just did.” I tried to plan, though in actuality I had zero clue on how I was going to mend any of the mistakes I had just made.
“The ‘help’ you want to get me is the fucking medicine I’ve been looking for my whole damn life! You have no idea how fucking dangerous it is.” She snarled back to me, looking over my shoulder.
“You still continue despite how dire things are? I commend it, creature named Olivia. It almost makes me admire you.” Strelkov finally spoke, keeping their arms crossed as they stood a meter or two away from me.
“You’re still here,” I noted, growing a little more defensive as Strelkov approached. He ignored me, deciding to help Olivia by putting an arm around her.
As much as Olivia fought against the help, she was far too weak to really resist. Strelkov helped her stand straight, speaking after. “You’ve slain my congregation and presumably my superior. By our rules, that now makes you my new superior. I follow your orders now, madam.”
“Tch… I am no leader. I-” She spoke, giving a pained exhale after. “Nevermind. I have nothing to lose except my life. Jo, if you want to find help for me, then follow my lead.” She ordered in a grumble, trying to stumble ahead.
Strelkov chose to allow Olivia to drag herself ahead, presumably because they didn’t want to end up like everyone else they knew. I, however, felt more comfortable going back after her to help. She was leaning against a wall for support, using her hand to clutch the handle of her weapon in its sheath instead of keeping herself upright fully. I carefully put a hand on her shoulder, taking a deep breath as I tried to stop her.
“Olivia, I know this isn’t the most ideal, but the last thing we need to do is drift further apart.”
Olivia tried shrugging me off, pushing along. “We aren’t drifting, no. We find the medicine I’m seeking out, then we find Samuel. I’m not letting him go where he plans alone.”
“Promise?”
“Jo…” She responded with a small hiss, stopping finally to look back at me. As much as the look of physical pain persisted, she tried to force a smile. “I’m making this as much of a promise as I can. We either get to Sam, or I die, and you end up lost. Well…”
I followed the sudden look Olivia shot over my shoulder, meeting eyes with Strelkov, who raised an eyebrow at me for once. They seemed pretty confused about what we were talking about, giving a small shrug at us.
“Yellow mage,” Olivia spoke up to Strelkov, “you’ll accompany us to the end. If anything is to happen to me, this one here becomes your new leader.”
“Ah, finally taking initiative. Lead on then, my sister.” Strelkov finally replied to Olivia’s newfound vigor, giving her a smile.
“Now that more adrenaline is in me, yes, but don’t expect that to last long.” She warned, though she began to step ahead with more speed on her own. Regardless, the two of us followed her.
As a trio, we began to navigate the metal bulkheads and halls of the level we were on, following Olivia with the assumption that she knew where it was. We moved across intersections at random, following the colored lines and signage that directed us through the labyrinth of the corridors. Eventually, our walking stalled, although that was mostly due to Olivia losing her breath more than anything else. She slowly came to a full stop, resting her back against a wall as she panted.
“This isn’t looking good.” She murmured, reaching to hold her bandaged stump of an arm. Overall, she seemed to be returning to a condition just as bad as when I found her earlier. I went over to her in a little hurry, looking at her bandages before checking her face.
“You really don’t look too well,” I confessed with an awkward hiss at her bloody wound.
She shook her head at me, trying to continue on regardless of how bad her condition was. She moved her only arm to trace it along the various colored guiding lines along the walls. The portions of the place that we ended up in seemed just a little more rusted and derelict than the rest of where we’d gone. A few stains on the floor that showed water damage on rivets and puddles, and peeling and cracked paint in some portions. Olivia seemed to be hyper-focused on the lines. Her finger traced the fading and partly missing light blue of one of the lines, turning a corner that it led around.
Soon enough, she gave a frustrated huff, stopping dead in her tracks. Her hair fluttered in a nonexistent breeze. “Almost… I need to get there…”
Stumbling back, I felt the air grow warm and humid around Olivia, her hair gently settling and resting in a slight mess. Her presence itself seemed to be making the very hall we stood in grow warmer. Strelkov even seemed surprised, stopping dead in their tracks beside me.
“Olivia? What’s going on?” I blurted out in my shock. After all, her gradual change to having a full head of vibrant pink hair was certainly something I didn’t forget. Not when it was right in my face and hard to ignore.
To my surprise, she responded with a tired, almost annoyed scoff. “The end of my life, that’s what. I’ll turn to ash if I’m not fast enough.”
“Y-You can’t just drop that on me!” I shouted, hurrying over to try my best to help her back up. “Listen- You’re going to get that medicine and we’re going to find Sam, just like we discussed. Come on!”
She tried to help herself up with my pull, seething as her eyes and mouth lit up in a gentle pastel pink. Light shone from them as if she herself had become a conduit for the sudden and excessive wave of heat. The wave of warmth caused me to release her, prompting Olivia to fully collapse onto the ground at my feet.
She sputtered and struggled to get up with her one arm, and given her body was literally steaming with heat, I felt worried about even touching her now. She looked to be in complete pain, though her eyes and mouth no longer shone the vibrant light. Before I could act, Strelkov moved in to provide Olivia with assistance, easily lifting her off the floor to carry.
“Give us directions, madam. This seems urgent.” They asked her, though Olivia only replied with a weak point.
The point of her finger seemed to lead to something that broke up the scenery of the monotonous walls. A steel door, rusted and peeling more than the walls around it were. We hurried to it, ignoring a sign hung over it, and we pushed right through the doorknob-less door.
I was the first of our group to enter, scanning my new surroundings on the other side of the door. An intersection to my left was the first thing I noticed. In the other direction was some form of hallway letting in natural light from a set of windows that stretched from the floor to the ceiling. Deeming it safe enough, I stepped forward and made room for Strelkov to enter, carrying Olivia in with them. As a group we stood for a moment, trying to be sure that Olivia’s directions were correct.
Gently setting her down against a wall, Strelkov knelt down to check her condition. They didn’t remove the bandages and gauze around her shoulder, but they did seem to get a good idea of how bad things really were. I could only tell because of the slightly grim look on their otherwise pretty neutral face. Silently, they held a vial of greenish-brown powder, a bottle of herbs or spices.
“This will soothe your pain. You can’t be moving that much anymore.” They warned, looking back up to me soon after. “I’m not fond of the idea of leaving her alone, but someone needs to find whatever it is she needs.”
“You want me to go off on my own?” I asked, suddenly filled with the anxiety of being on my own yet again, especially after what had happened to me the last time I was.
“Do you want me to live or not?… Go, Jo. Find my medicine…” Olivia grumbled, giving loud huffs.
Looking back in shock, I trembled and thought of the worst. There was no chance in hell that I could find Sam on my own, and I was doubtful that Strelkov could bring us back to the statue to give us advice again. Not that I especially wanted to see that again after the disquieting experience I had with it.
No other words or warnings were given, and I immediately ran off in a hurry. The light shining in through the windows that made up the walls of the hall almost provided me comfort. For once, I could see the sun again. At least, something that replicated it. My walking slowed slightly as I left the well-lit portion of the hall and reached another dark, messy corridor. The paint peeled and mold grew on the lower portions of the walls and doorframes to completely trashed science labs. The musty stench of decay and water damage made me gag, growing stronger the further I went. I couldn’t tell what exactly this place was used for, but the fact that Olivia’s medicine was here only gave me more questions.
* * *
I looked into each doorway I passed. At least the ones that weren’t collapsed in on themselves. Most of the spaces appeared to be simple labs, all outfitted with equipment that looked decades older than anything I’d ever seen. However, nothing I saw indicated that there was any medicine nearby.
I abandoned searching the current set of trashed lab rooms quickly, moving further down the decrepit hall. I began to kick up a bit of dust as I passed through cobwebs, half expecting to encounter some sort of hideous monster or giant spider. Given how a lot of these places had been, I wasn’t doubting the possibility. Still, I knew Olivia’s continued existence depended on it. Even if I didn’t quite understand what she was.
My walking soon began to slow as I reached a larger room that the hall connected to. A set of glass skylights let in more natural light, allowing me to properly see the interior of some sort of junction. The layout made it feel like the atrium or lobby for the whole complex. There was even a lounge with a few seats, and it appeared as though some people were currently sitting around.
“Hello?” I called, though the figures sat in orange hazard suits stayed motionless.
It didn’t take me that long to put two and two together. Once I got up to them, I could see their withered and mummified faces through the clear plastic of the suit’s faces. Some were slightly slumped over one another, expressions eternally contorted into oddly peaceful sleep. I shuddered upon seeing them, taking a frightened and staggered step back. Looking around, I noticed they weren’t the only ones. Other bodies in hazard suits littered the room, some lying on the floor or sitting propped up against walls.
I gulped upon realizing the extent of how many people had truly died in this room, though I had little to no indication as to how they had died. There were definite indications that they had been at least living in this lobby for some time. A few were still sitting with plates of half-eaten food in their laps, though whatever they all had consumed appeared to have long since blackened and rotted. Still, though, this could’ve given me a lead on where to find the medicine.
Carefully, I tried to check around each body, hesitant to really touch them in case they’d fall apart or worse. Their suits lacked pockets, which wasn’t too hard to figure out at a first glance, though some did have belts with open pouches for holding things. It felt wrong to search them, though it wasn’t like they would be needing any of it anyway.
First one, nothing.
Second one, nothing.
Third one, still not a thing.
Eventually, I figured that I was most likely searching to no avail. All of the of pilfering through the belongings of these bodies was starting to feel wrong, so I stopped regardless. With that, I looked around for any possible direction to head. Most signs indicating what each of the branching paths was had become overgrown with mold and grime. A legend and map on a nearby wall would’ve offered some help, but not only was the map itself almost nonsensical and grand. The legend for all the section names was a mix of gibberish and symbols with no clear meaning. Part of me wondered if this was a human construct or simply a product of the level itself.
Given the legend was of no help, I chose one of the halls at random, looking back at the atrium of bodies before hurrying on ahead. At this point, I was expecting them to magically come to life and chase me. Proceeding down the darkened hall, all I could really make out was the linoleum tiling of the ground beneath me and the darkened spots where some of the drop tiles of the ceiling were falling apart. The vague natural light from some proper holes in the roof made it a bit easier for me to see around.
Despite the urgency of trying to find the medicine to save Olivia’s life, the dark gave me a larger sense of unease than I had felt in prior situations. I only took brief glances towards the opened doors of some of the rooms, being able to see nothing but tables and desks in pitch black.
For a moment, I thought I saw something shine and move within the wall of darkness that permeated past the natural sunlight leaking through portions of the ceiling, stopping dead in my tracks to do a double take. With a few shuffling steps, I craned my neck around the doorway. My heavy panting breaths grew to a slow shudder as I panned around the darkness of the room, spotting the grinning visage of a face bobbing and twitching from side to side. It moved, listening to the rhythm of a song, retreating further into another doorway, which it illuminated with the ethereal glow of its eyes and mouth. Like a ghost, it moved fluidly, seeming almost as if it were disembodied and lacking any real form.
I was nearly mesmerized by the sight, staggering back moments after it had disappeared from my sight. “Holy shit…” I murmured aloud, starting to feel the crushing weight of dread pushing me to flee.
I carried along awkwardly, looking back yet again in disbelief at what I had seen. Thankfully it didn’t seem to pursue me, but it didn’t leave my mind as another potential danger. Especially now that the hall came to an intersection, all of which was barely lit by more than the light from floor-to-ceiling windows from an adjacent alcove with seats. To my left was the hall featuring the lit alcove, and to my right was pitch blackness with what I only assumed to be even more rooms. The hall ahead of me was wide, featuring a barred gate with some kind of metal revolving door, which I could only make out due to what looked like proper lights flickering from one of the neighboring rooms.
Whatever it was ahead, it seemed like the best option for me. I reached the metal revolving door for the gate, passing through with a rusty squeak and a lot of pushing. Squeezing through, I was able to investigate the flickering further, discovering rows upon rows of locked cabinets and shelves stocked with medicines. Some of the lights thankfully functioned fully, allowing me to see the labels and names of all the things I was looking at. A majority of the boxes or yellow pill bottles had generic descriptors on them, just a bunch of nonsensical strings of symbols. Nothing really stood out as being helpful, even if some of them even described what they were generally used for.
I continued to loop and weave between the shelves quickly, suddenly stopping dead in my tracks as I came across something. The long-dead remains of some poor soul that seemed to have been slammed right into the glass of one of the shelves. Judging by the bloody mess around them, and the fact that the lower half of their body was entirely eviscerated or missing, it couldn’t have been a pretty death. I gagged and averted my gaze from the gruesome sight, even if it was still pretty old.
Before I could make up my mind, I noticed that it looked different from the bodies in the lobby. It wore some kind of uniform and had a bag on its back that was torn open to let the supplies within spill out. However, what caught my eye was some kind of letter that had drifted from their hand long ago. Timidly, I took a few steps closer, bending down to pick the torn letter from the dried pool of blood.
Task 14/Lvl.831/Alpha Group
Orders issued by: Morozov, B., 22/6/2018 16:30
Directed to: Team Commander Bishop, 5th Scout Regiment
Orders state:
You have proven yourself up to standard, scouts. Task 14 is difficult, but you indicate strengths that may be useful for finding [Objective - X Stim] among the remains of 831. A major incident resulting from staff testing has led to a present danger that you may be familiar with. Your team commander will explain more to you in a small debrief, but for now, know that it is necessary to our colony’s survival that you discover this cure-all.
Attached is a set of images of the trial syringe that was demoed and exhibited in the trial run done by U.E.C. researchers. Search for possible high-containment areas that may be holding the stim.
Please note that [Objective - X Stim] may be held in individual containment. Please do not use the serum on yourself or others, since it may only contain a limited number of doses. Again, we need this to fabricate duplicates, as you will learn in an in-depth briefing. Utilizing the serum on your own will result in immediate termination and further, much more serious punishment.
I stared over the note, checking if there were any images elsewhere on the paper as it indicated. The back did have some printed onto it, although they were since ruined by the dried blood, only leaving me with the general name and idea of what to go off of. Nonetheless, it was the lead I needed.
I awkwardly folded and pocketed the note, trying to step by the body as I continued searching. Unfortunately, this was soon cut short. I managed to step on some of the glass shards from the broken case of the shelf, making a loud crunch. Like clockwork, all the lights in the room burst, raining down glass as I was plunged into darkness. The dim glow of a red emergency light was all that gave me sight, though I could only see an arm's length in front of me.
Taking a clumsy step back, the glass crunched under my weight again as I felt along the neighboring shelf for guidance. This only seemed to attract a hissing wheeze of something ahead, emitting a familiar milky white glow as it loomed and tilted around the corner. The radiant cream white of the grinning mouth and piercing eyes stared right back into mine, letting out another shrill whistle like air leaving a hole in a balloon. I stammered as it stayed still, almost analyzing what I was as we looked at one another.
“I’m- I’m sorry.” I weakly managed to squeak out to it, though this didn’t provoke any real response from it.
When I eventually took another shaky step back, it seemed to make up its mind. With a loud whoosh of air, it quickly began to swoop towards me. I had little time to react, diving to the side as a burning warmth passed me. With a clatter against the glass of the shelf I had thrown myself into, I pulled myself up and began to run. I looked back, seeing the glowing face glide and weave around a corner, almost like a snake. After that, I tried not to look back, sprinting straight down the corridor of shelves towards where I had entered from, hearing the clatter and whistle of the wind as the face wormed its way after me.
Nearly stumbling and tripping over my own limping run, I dashed through the doorway, reaching for the metal door to the room so I could possibly shut it to contain the monster. Leaning my full weight onto it, I felt the hard thumps of the door being hit, as well as a startlingly human shriek. The door flexed with the effort from the creature on the other side, though I continued to try and hold it back until the beating stopped. Figuring it had given up, I hesitantly backed away from the door. Wasting little time, I looked back to the description of the note, glancing at it occasionally as I trekked further into the hall. The other rooms to each side of me were all closed, but trying them yielded no luck. Each was securely locked.
* * *
Grumbling in annoyance, I kept on trying door after door until one suddenly opened up into a room. This one was far more elaborate and technical, having little pedestals that were secured with glass. Within each seemed to be a syringe or bottle, though they were far more complex than the simpler ones I saw on the shelves prior. To add to the high-profile nature of all the medicines, each case had a complicated lock. Figuring this might’ve been where I had to look, I searched for something matching the ruined images and descriptor from the note.
Right there, plain to see in one of the cases further back, locked behind a secondary glass wall, was the familiar name from the note, “X Stim.”
I couldn’t believe I had actually found it at first. I looked at the strange syringe, its body consisting of a vibrant orange and white hexagon with a sharp point where someone would inject the syringe. The name was printed as a simple logo on one of its sides, right beside some kind of indicator that I couldn’t quite see from how far it was from me. The only way into the section it was held within seemed to be a doorway locked by a keypad, though the fact that the whole thing was made of some kind of glass made it easier for me to try and break in.
Knowing Olivia’s life depended on it, I pounded my fist on the glass as hard as I could. I hurt my hand as I punched it, cracking the glass ever so slightly. Either way, it filled me with more hope. I slowly stepped back, bracing myself as I sprinted towards the glass wall, using my shoulder to ram into it. The glass audibly cracked, though I seethed and took a few steps back. I tried to kick the glass, hoping I had the strength to shatter it.
With a loud pop, a good portion of it broke away and smashed across the floor, making a hole large enough for me to crouch down and weasel my way through. I didn’t try to think any deeper about what I was doing, going right up to the glass case with the stim, punching it whilst my adrenaline was still high. This glass broke immediately without a second try, allowing me to snatch the bulky syringe to take with me. With all the time I wasted, this might’ve been the only chance I had to save Olivia.
I looked down and studied the syringe as I brought it with me, checking the little counter built into it. It was some kind of rotary wheel printed with numbers, It was currently on the number (2), with a small glass strip along its side showing the remainder of the clear solution within. I went right to the door, though when I opened it, the lights all across the hall flickered to a familiar dark red, sending a primal panic through me.
I immediately tried to bolt towards the rotary door and gate I came from, just as I heard the various doors around me fly open with loud thuds and bangs. A small pack of glowing faces loomed behind me in pursuit, shuffling and slithering in a loud whoosh that made it sound like I was being chased by a hurricane. They wheezed and shrieked as the growing heat of their bodies gained on me, culminating in me throwing myself into the rusty rotary door as they helplessly pounded against the metal, trying to squeeze in to get me. I shrieked and tried to push the rotary door in the other direction to free myself, being so close to the static, glowing eyes and mouths that attempted to lunge and snap at me in blurs.
I managed to slip through to the other side, my eyes glued to the sight of the horde of faces gazing at me. They had since all stopped trying to break through, staring ominously at me as I took stumbling steps back. They wheezed and hummed in unison, slowly slinking back into the dim red of the hall behind them. Somehow, I had managed to escape them. Now all that was left was to find Olivia and Strelkov again.