The security operative opened the door to a room. Everyone went in.
"Wait, wait" Raymond screamed as he ran along with Grace towards the room.
"Faster" the security said sternly. Grace and Raymond scurried into the room and the security bolted the door immediately.
"I will want everyone to be as quiet as possible. We will leave the building when it is safe to exfil. But right now, we don't want anyone outside knowing we are in this room, okay?" some of the people nodded.
Grace and Raymond were still panting hard. They were worn out by their just concluded race.
"I can't remember the last time I ran like that" Raymond said breathing heavily. He looked at Grace. She couldn't catch her breath yet. She sat down with one hand to her chest and the other on the floor.
"Lay on your back, baby" Raymond laid her down putting her head on his lap. "Deep breaths, you know we have work to do" he caressed her on the arm.
"I'm okay" she s
"You talked about sitting ducks earlier. I didn't get you then. Now I know what that means" Mayor Mount said regrettably. He was talking like he had lost all hopes. He could see bullets flying past in front of their eyes where they were. Mayor Mount and Reyes both stood against the wall opposite the elevator like they were glued to it. They were only covered by a doorway. They dared not bend outward or it would be another story that would be told about them.They wanted to use the elevator and get to the basement but they were cornered on the other side. Reyes was providing cover fire. They were literally stuck and that was what Mayor Mount believed. Reyes had not given up yet."I think the best thing is for you to cover my rear right now or you will understand what sitting ducks means better in the next few minutes" Reyes said taking pauses at intervals to shoot."Just let us surrender, we are only two. They are like fifteen, twenty or even thirty. I'm no
Mayor Mount walked hastily on his way to the basement. Grace and Raymond followed him closely. Just then, Grace stopped abruptly."What's wrong, baby?" Raymond waited ahead. He walked back to where she was."Why have you stopped?" he inquired again. He watched her closely to detect clues that answered his questions."He will be here in no time,let's move fast" Mayor Mount shouted at them. He was visibly shaking. He was not supposed to be afraid of Mr. Cypher to that extent."I guess there had been a development" Raymond yelled back. He would only follow Grace's lead. And it seemed she was not interested in their current journey.Grace took another turn. Raymond followed closely."That isn't the way to the basement" Mayor Mount said sadly.Raymond ignored him. He didn't bother to say anything to him again. He followed Grace right to where she was headed, he didn't know for sure but that was less important.Mayor Mount was not wi
Mayor Mount and Raymond could hear heavy footsteps coming behind them in the basement."Do you hear that? He was right behind us" Mayor Mount was completely scared. He rushed to one of the doors of the room in the basement."Do not panic. Today is our day. Isn't it?" Raymond winked at Grace. He believed greatly in Grace. Once she was with them. There would be no cause for alarm.Mayor Mount opened a locket beside the door. A keypad was revealed. Raymond was surprised."This thing is real. A door with a passcode" he exclaimed. He had never seen anything like that before.Mayor Mount was distracted. He glanced at him briefly."This had been in existence since the nineteen fifties" Mayor Mount informed him."That was before I was born" he clapped for no reason in particular. He watched as Mayor Mount type in the keys.The footsteps echoed more loudly. Those behind them are now in the basement with them.Mayor Mount en
Grace was back but very weak. The fact that she was not dead yet was a great relief to Raymond. He didn't care about any other thing that was happening."I couldn't get through since I've been trying" Mayor Mount exploded. It seemed he was frustrated."Who have you been trying to call?" Raymond asked and the only reason he had asked was because he wanted to get out of there with Grace. Whatever Mr. Cypher had in stock for Mayor Mount was the least of his concern."I'm calling for backup, the military. They are the only one that could save us out of this mess" Mayor Mount lectured. He was talking like this was a game to him. A game of life."If it doesn't connect, then try another one. Like anyone that could connect you to the military" Raymond didn't care anymore about him.Grace was grounded and that was his only guard, guardian angel. It was his turn to watch over her and he must see her to safety. He had made the promise within himself.
The smelting continued outside and the sounds became more clearer. The gas used in powering the cutting machines could be perceived.Grace started to frenzy. Her bones creaking loudly. Raymond glanced at her briefly. This is one of the parts he didn't like. He couldn't look at her much.Mayor Mount was surprised and afraid as she shook violently. He couldn't move near her."What the hell is wrong with her?" he asked Raymond. He must have been amazed at how Raymond had reacted to the situation."Nothing bad. Just let us worry about what will happen to all of us when they finished cutting through this steel door" Raymond didn't show much of the concern Mayor Mount had expected.Mayor Mount kept starting at Grace. He didn't understand a bit of it."Let's just say she is transforming or shifting shape, you understand that, right. In simple terms, the monster is going to rest and Grace is taking over" he tried explaining to Mayor Moun
"I regretted sending out my best" Mr. Cypher crowed at Raymond's face. "I overestimated you and the little experiment you did with that girl. But you are just no match for me" he walked over to the asset.Raymond knew what he was talking about. He was referring to Grace. He was comparing her to his engineered asset that dragged them to the conference room all the way from the protected basement.Grace was accident. He would never carry out an experiment on her. But Mr. Cypher didn't need explanations. He didn't have to tell him anything. He was expecting him to do his worst. He had won."This cost me a huge amount of money but it's worth it" he patted the asset on the shoulder. The asset groaned weakly like a dog that had just caught its prey."I was on a business trip to the eastern part of Europe, when I discovered this substance that was turning teens into supermen, heroes, but that was only to me. Some people think they are running m
Mr. Cypher fell flat on his face. He turned quickly to stand on his feet. The asset planted his heel into Mr. Cypher's groin sending him back to the ground.Hell was let loose. Mr. Cypher's men started shooting at the asset. The bullets didn't tear a hair off his body. He lifted Mr. Cypher up and put him in a headlock. The bullets from the gunfire hit him on the arm and thigh."Stop shooting, you idiots" he shouted at them, writhing in pain. Some of his men rushed at the asset hitting him with their gun butts. They broke Mr. Cypher free from his hold.Raymond, Grace, Mayor Mount and some of the hostages ran out of the conference room as the asset continued maiming Mr. Cypher's men."What happened back there?" Mayor Mount panted as they made their way into one of the rooms."That's a glitch and what a glitch can cause when not taken care of" Raymond joked holding Grace in his arms. They were set to have a passionate kiss."You two are s
"Come out here. I only want to negotiate not to kill you" Mr. Cypher continued. Mayor Mount refused to come out."Anyway, I made a mistake trying to steal the position of Mayor from you. I would have taken the money and that's why I am speaking to you right now" he made a serious face.Mayor Mount kept listening to all what he was saying. He wondered how he had gotten out of jail. He needed to make a call but he didn't want to risk going out in the open and get shot."Wont you say anything? Do we have a deal or not?" Mr. Cypher asked desperately. "Whenever you catch your breath, find your tongue or summed up courage to talk to me. Remember, I want a hundred million dollars in exchange for your video. I won't gain anything from tarnishing your image but if you give me no choice then I will have no choice" it seemed Mr. Cypher didn't like the way Mayor Mount was reacting. His voice was dropping and rising like he was regretting talking to him.M
"You should feel better now" Raymond put the cup back on the table smiling."You mean the wine is good?" Grace asked, she was pretending she didn't know what he was talking about."No. Not the wine. I am talking about the daughter of the city" he had opened up straight, she wouldn't have a chance of turning his words around anymore."She's good, but her judgement is somehow different from mine" she complained a bit."Two different people can't do the same thing same way. There will always be a slight difference" he explained."I have nothing against her but I'm just thinking operating like this. The Mayour won't be able to back her" she was right about that."She doesn't want it too. And this evil people give more respect to harsh treatment like such" he added."I'm sure we are not here to talk about the daughter of the city" she was becoming boring with their conversation. She stared at her cup weirdly.They had come out to a
The computers pinged as Grace had said. Laura had been waiting for some time to hear that.She couldn't believe it at first. The pinging was not that loud but it was noticeable. She dashed over to the ammunition side and picked up the sword.She started feeling weird. She felt like she couldn't do this anymore. She stood there in front of the weapon. She wanted to take more than just a sword.But it would be useless to take what she wouldn't use. The computer pinged again. Time was going. She wanted to go but she was very much in need of a little push.Maybe she could just make a call to Grace. She would be helpful. They had become something like best friends.She hurried to get her and make the call. Time was no longer on her side. The call took like eternity to get connected, maybe that was because she was calling from an underground."Laura?" Grace said excitedly.There was nothing funny about this. It was damn serious but she had
Protocols were now being duly observed. Raymond and his accompanies were not allowed in until Reyes came out to them.He waved at them to come over."I'm sorry for the delay. Everything has changed since the attempt on the Mayor's life" he apologized as they walked over to him.They all walked together into the living room to meet Mayor Mount where he was comfortably seated."Raymond, Grace" he smiled to welcome them."And you, your face looks familiar" he pointed at Laura.Raymond was a little bit afraid. He wished Mayor Mount had not remembered when she tried to kill him."We met at their base" Laura said slowly."Yeah, I remember. You are that little girl that was in their base. You know I forgot what you were doing there that day" Mayor Mount seemed to have really forgotten. He was visibly trying to recollect."Actually, we are here because of her" Grace broke in suddenly. She was going straight to the point.
Raymond was coming down the stairs. He saw as Grace kept changing the TV channels. She seemed not to find the one suitable for her present mood.He skimmed down to join. He sat by her side without saying anything. She obviously had a lot running through her mind but she was obviously not going to tell him anything except he incited words from her."Maybe TV isn't what you need right now" he grabbed the remote,took it from and gently placed it on the table."What do you think I need then?" she folded her arms. it seemed she was not pleased with that."A good company like me,that has always been working even when you are stuck on the Millionaire Island" he joked.Grace smiled subtly. She was not enjoying the moment as she wanted."What are you thinking about?" he asked."That's my problem. I don't just know where to channel my mind" she shook her head."You really need that before you could channel the TV" he chuckled.She
Raymond was seated by the side of the hospital bed with a newspaper in his hand He wasn't really reading it. He kept checking Grace If she had woken up from her deep sleep.She would wake soon. She had been slept for a long time. She opened her eyes slowly and closed them back immediately like the lights were hurting her eyes."Raymond" she whispered. "Are you there, is that you?" she asked with her eyes closed."Why don't you open your eyes and confirm?" he replied her casually."I'm just confused seeing that in your hand. A publication? Really?" she had not opened her eyes yet and she was already taunting him."Are you okay?" he leaned towards her and asked."I feel better" she moaned. She opened her eyes and sat up."No, no. You have to rest" he quickly retorted. He felt she should be down there on her back.Grace was just looking at him with surprise. She didn't yield to his yearning."I guess I am still alive" she l
"Are you okay?" Raymond asked Grace. lied down on the floor. He gasped. He was exhausted."I have never been better" she said despite all the obvious pain she was going through.She also laid on her back breathing slowly to relax. Hugh sat and rested his back against the wall. He was devastated. It was definitely his first time to kill a man.He was seriously having a conversation within himself. He was raising his hand up above his every now and then.Probably regretting what he had done or he was trying to encourage himself that he had to do it."They say that is how you feel after you have your first kill" Grace chuckled and pointed to Hugh."He will surely get over it" Raymond said assuringly. He was sure of that. Hugh was a person with some facets of a bad guy. It shouldn't be so hard for him."Which makes me remember, Ray. You never had a moment like this. You never felt bad after your first kill. You are not very human" Grace r
Jansen had already heard a series of gunshots inside the building. Not long later, another shots were fired. He wondered what was happening.These guests didn't look like people who could shoot except the city hunter and his guy. And these guns were actually the guns brought by him and his men.He could denote that easily from the sounds of the rounds. He wondered why Dray or Morton or both of them would have been shooting like that unless the situation called for it.He was in awe what the situation could be. He was also having negative thoughts maybe his mem had been overpowered and subdued. He had to do something rather than waiting for them here.He brought out his handgun and headed towards the room. He waited by the first room and listened attentively. It was very quiet. He moved over to the door of another room.He was still trying to catch a sound with his ears when he saw bullets casing right ahead. He walked slowly aiming his gun forward.
Raymond and Grace had gathered all the others in Susan's room. The guests were definitely expecting to see this device they claimed to have found."I don't think we need to show them the real thing" Raymond whispered to Grace. He had already seen the hungry looks on their faces. The hunger to see what the device looked like."Let's just show it to them, to boost their confidence and make them trust us" Grace assumed. She must be thinking the guests might get annoyed if they weren't allowed to see it."They will be on to us soon, if we spent more time here without giving them a feedback" Hugh complained. It seemed he was urging others to hurry them up in handing over the device.He had been staring hard at Raymond and Grace as they had been having mouth to ear conversation. That seemed to have stirred up his anger."I thought you brought us on the fact that you have found this thing?" Mrs Summers said in her old weak voice. She must ha
Raymond and Grace walked along the hallway after everyone had entered into different rooms.Raymond attempted opening a door at room but Grace stopped him immediately. He was stunned."Things like this are not kept inside rooms. Vaults are built to house them" she explained."These people are not looking for treasures and not gold bars. It is something, like a part of nuclear weapon as one of them told me" Raymond argued."No one keeps nuclear weapons in a room also. They are hidden underground in most cases" she was still determined she was right about her opinion."Underground like basement?" Raymond felt she was making sense with what she said."Yeah" she moaned."Then let's get to the basement then" he asserted and walked forward with fast paces and Grace following him. He stopped suddenly."We won't get there unless we are outside" he said in regret."They won't let us go out. And we have to get this thing before th