OH FUCK! OH SHIT! OH FUCK! OH SHIT!

With his pistol in his left hand and desperately clinging to a legion tendril with his right, Henry’s body flapped about wildly as he dangled in the air.

MR._BUCK_LEY, you appear to be gaining altitude at a rapid pace.

NO FUCKING SHIT!

I do not have a flight marked in your calendar. Would you like me to add one?

FUCK NO!

As Henry spun around, he could see the apartment building was quickly approaching. Pulling himself closer to the legion, he managed to get himself close enough to grip the tendril with his legs. Blindly reaching out with his right hand, Henry grabbed onto the legion’s body to stabilize himself, but as soon as he looked up, he realized his arm got too close to a rocket and lit his jacket sleeve on fire. In panic, he let go and tried to pat out the flame, but he couldn’t properly put it out while holding the pistol. 

A sudden jolt from the legion correcting its path caused Henry to slip to the very end of the tendril. Redirecting his attention to the impending building, Henry saw he was heading straight for the safety glass of the second floor windows. Knowing the force of the impact could knock him off the tendril, he switched the pistol to his other hand and engaged the mechanism to fire the loaded shotgun slug. Using the aiming assist in his helmet, Henry lined up the shot to not point at people’s doors and pulled the trigger. 

In an instant, the slug plunged into the safety glass, causing it to buckle inward, but it didn’t shatter. Switching the pistol back to firing its standard rounds, Henry unloaded the magazine as quickly as his trigger finger would let him, spraying bullets all over the glass. As each round buried itself in the window, a more intricate web of cracks began to form, but it didn’t give out. When the pistol finally clicked instead of firing more rounds, Henry could feel his stomach sink. He was only a couple meters away and the window wasn’t damaged enough for him to break through it.

As Henry was debating if he could reload his weapon fast enough without lighting himself on fire, he noticed a new hole form in the window. When he blinked, he saw two more holes and more began appearing. Clearly the result of someone else shooting the window too, he looked back to the ground where he had been. Although he couldn’t hear it, Henry could see the muzzle flashes of Mercy’s rifle. He was stunned by the rate she was firing it considering it was a bolt action, but he saw the scars on her body were glowing again. Turning back to the window, Henry could see she had shot a ring centered on his embedded slug into the window. Although the laminate sheet was keeping the glass shards together, it would offer no resistance, or so Henry hoped.

Gripping the tendril as tightly as he could muster, Henry extended the elbow of his burning arm to aid in piercing the window. Although the legion had lost a great deal of speed, Henry was forcefully thrown into the window as the two of them impacted the side of the building. His elbow plunged through the laminate glass, but the rest of his body merely caused the glass to buckle. Henry squeezed the tendril even tighter as he felt himself falling, but realized he was falling into the building. With a final crack, the window tore apart and Henry relinquished the tendril, falling to the carpeted floor of the apartment.

Having been unsuccessful in his first attempt to put out his burning jacket, Henry found the entire sleeve was burning and was now licking at his helmet. Wasting no time, he dropped his pistol and got to his feet to rip the jacket off, tearing some of the clothes and protective gear that had melted to it. Throwing it to the floor, he tried to smother the flame by covering it with the rest of the jacket. The fire started to melt his jacket into the polyester carpet of the apartment, causing a toxic smelling fume to mix with the smell of Henry’s singed fur and seep through his helmet. 

As Henry cursed up a storm while stomping on the burning plastic pile of goop, the apartment’s sprinkler system sprung to life, drenching him. With the fire alarm blaring, Henry stepped back and picked up his pistol, taking a moment to calm down. Hearing some of the doors behind him open, Henry turned to see multiple people staring at him in confusion, so he motioned to them to move toward the exit.

“You should evacuate. A blockbuster is on its way here.” They looked at each other before heading back into their apartments. 

REG: Henry, are you okay?! Everyone said you just flew through a window?!

ME: Yeah, somehow.

Henry walked over to the broken window and carefully leaned out. He could see Reggie was with Boris and Mercy. Not sure what else to do, he gave an exhausted thumbs up. Hearing metal scraping against concrete coming from above, Henry turned to see the legion was climbing up the side of the building. Some of the rockets on it were still firing, spreading flames across the building facade.

ME: Okay guys, I need to get to Patricia. I want the rest of you to evacuate the tenants.

REG: and leave you alone with the legion!?

ME: I’m just going to get her. The legion still has to get to the fourth floor and break through the safety glass. 

Stepping away from the window, Henry retrieved another shotgun shell and a full magazine from his protective vest.

ME: The legion set the building on fire and I tripped the fire alarm. Firefighters should be arriving soon. Not to mention the blockbuster is about to arrive. God knows what they’ll do when they get here.

He ejected the empty magazine and loaded in the new one along with the shotgun shell. A shiver went down his spine as he cocked the pistol, the various clicks and the sound of tightening springs made his heart flutter.

REG: I’m going to send Mercy to go with you. 

ME: No. It’s better for her to help you evacuate the tenants.

With a final echoing click, the top of the gun slid back into place. Henry gripped it tightly.

ME: Just trust me Reg. It’ll be okay.

He watched the typing indicator for Reggie pop up and disappear a few times.

REG: okay

Taking a deep breath, Henry approached the nearest door and pounded his hand against it.

“Evacuate the building! Emergency crews are on the way!”

Henry didn’t wait for anyone to open up or answer and proceeded to run down the hallway. He encountered a few people as he headed toward the central stairwell, but he didn’t stop for any of them. Whether they were peering out their doors or standing in the hallway, he repeated to them the same order to evacuate and kept going. As he approached the stairwell, Henry could hear a commotion from the lobby as people seemed to be heading outside. Looking up, Henry sighed as it sank in that he had to run up 2 flights of stairs. He was worried his leg was about to give out, but he continued putting one foot in front of the other.

As Henry crested the first staircase, he could see the lower half of the legion through the hallway windows. Summoning the last of his stamina, he bolted up the stairs and found a sign that let him deduce where Patricia’s apartment was. Turning toward the hallway he saw her run through earlier, he jogged on. He struck each apartment door as he passed, keeping track of their numbers.

131…133…135…finally, 137…

Henry crashed into the door, his lungs and legs screaming for rest. As he panted heavily, he heard a cracking noise behind him. Turning around, he could see one of the legion’s fingers digging through the safety glass. Not waiting for a response, Henry began pounding on the door.

“Patricia! This is Captain Henry! Open the door! We need to go, now!” Between the fire alarm wailing and the helmet preventing him from listening through the door, he couldn’t tell if she was saying anything. “Whatever you were looking for, leave it! The blockbuster will…!?” Henry tumbled forward as the door he was leaning against opened.

Hitting the floor with a heavy thud, he felt a person grab him by his belt and drag him further into the room before slamming the door shut behind them. Turning over, he watched Patricia begin latching the door. Reaching for the old loveseat next to him, Henry pulled himself to his feet. He was still panting heavily.

“Didn’t you hear me? We need…”

“I heard you!” She finished locking the door. “You were so loud I could hear you over the damn fire alarm!” She tried to walk past him, but he held up his arm to stop her.

“The legion is outside your window! If we stay in here, it will corner us!” She shoved his arm away, but he grabbed her with his right hand. 

“Let go of me!” His grip on her was too tight for her to break.

“We are leaving!” Henry used all his strength to drag Patricia to the door, the various rugs caught under her boots sliding along with her. He felt her punch and slap him, but it didn’t deter him until he watched her bite down on his arm. “KNOCK IT OFF!” His bark reverberated through the apartment, drowning out the fire alarm.

“I found what I was looking for! I just need to charge it!”

“It doesn’t matter! The blockbuster will destroy the legion when they get here!” Patricia continued fighting to break free of his grip, but he refused to let her go.

“Please! I can save her!” Henry pulled Patricia to be face-to-face with him.

“That thing isn’t your sister!” Patricia stared at him with wide eyes and narrow pupils. Henry could hear his heart beating savagely in his ears. As they stood there, Henry could see her eyes glimmer with tears.

“Please… I just want to try… see if she’s in there somewhere.”

“She’s not.” Henry felt his chest tighten. “She’s gone. You have to let her go.” 

“How do you know? How do you know she’s not stuck in that thing?! What makes you such a damn expert?” Henry looked deep into Patricia’s eyes. He struggled to find the words, but Patricia could clearly see them in his eyes. “Did… did you even try?”

Henry remembered Ashley’s face, staring at him with those glowing green eyes in the dark. There was no joy, no anger, pain or fear in her face. Everything she was in life was gone as her otherworldly gaze cut through him. 

Henry…

The way she whispered his name made his whole body wince. It was her words, but not her voice. Henry let go of Patricia and braced his back against a nearby wall. He didn’t exhale so much as let the dread constrict his chest.

A loud crack from beyond the apartment door snapped Henry back to attention. He approached the door and looked through the peephole. The legion had one claw piercing through the window that seemed to be supporting its weight. It was using its free arm to swipe at something. Henry could make out the blue glow of Sasha’s bird, but it was proving ineffective at slowing the legion.

ME: Sasha, thank you, but call off the bird. I don’t want you to lose another one.

Henry closed his eyes and pressed his helmet against the door.

Fine.

“How long will it take?” Henry turned back to Patricia. She turned and went into the closest room.

“I don’t know. A few minutes?” Henry walked over to the door frame and peered inside.

“2 minutes. That’s all I can give you.” He watched her plug in an older charge pad and placed a cellphone on it. It was incredibly worn to the point all the color coating of the plastic had rubbed off.

“You can leave. I didn’t hire you to do this.” The phone lit up to indicate it was receiving a charge. Patricia turned to him, some optimism reflected in her eyes. Henry simply balled his hand into a fist and extended his pinky. Patricia stared at him, a little smile appearing on her face before turning her attention back to the phone. “While it’s charging, I guess I can see if it still has the files I’m looking for.”

“You have a little over a minute.” 

Turning back around, Henry looked around the living room. All the furniture was old and worn, but it looked comfortable. The knitted blanket draped over them reminded Henry of when his mother knitted stuff for their family all time. He knew without the helmet on, he would be able to smell the aged fabrics. His eyes fell upon a side table with a couple of picture frames. Going over to them, he studied each one. There were three people that kept appearing in them: a girl resembling Patricia, an older girl with similar features to Patricia with an abnormally large brown eye, and another badger woman who looked much older than the two.

“She lost her eye before I was born.” Henry turned to look at Patricia. “Doc or tech or whoever said she’d grow into it. I suppose that would’ve been true if she was a larger variety animoid.”

“How old was she… when she went missing?”

“16” Patricia rubbed her arms. “She said she found a job that paid well, but it was… I found out later that it was probably syndicate work.” He could hear her voice waver. “She… she never came back the night she left for it.” Her voice cracked. “I lived with my aunt after that… till she passed away.” Henry waited a moment before speaking.

“I’m sorry… you lost them.”

“I’m sorry you lost… whoever it was you lost.” Henry checked his assistant’s clock.

“Any luck with it?” He moved over to her.

“The phone didn’t have it saved, but I think I found it in the cloud files, so I started the download.” There was a crash outside the apartment door.

“Can it download on the go?” Henry went back to the door and looked through the peephole again. The legion had an entire arm through the window.

“Yes, but it’ll take longer off the charger.” Henry began unlatching the door.

“It’s gonna have to be enough.” He looked back at her. “Grab it! The legion’s almost through the window, and we don’t want to get trapped in here.”