Escape
The Banshee

Chapter 4

THEBANSHEE

As Jayce explained his devisedtactic to the team, the Bulks grunted restlessly, as if having detected theunfamiliar human presence in the building. The tension in the air built up bythe second and the slightest spark could ignite the entire situation.

"Shark, estimate how manyM-Wave Grenades you'll need to clear out the Reapers. Toss it on our mark, andrun towards us." Jayce explained. Before Ling could interrupt, hecontinued.

"The explosion will set off theBulks in both our rooms. Ours will run straight into a trap we'll set and it'llbe taken down. Humans can outrun Bulks so we'll grab the weapons and equipmentin our room. The Bulks from your room will be charging straight into ourgunfire."

"Brilliant, Scorpion. Brilliant.Viper, heard that? That's exactly what we'll do. Get ready." Ornelasordered. Jayce and Rissa immediately set up a trap comprising of wired ropes totrip the Bulk. Bulks had a weakness at the back of their neck and it would beexposed. Artemus counted the Reapers and prepared 2 grenades. The plan wasready to go and Viper was awaiting the mark.

Ornelas whispered in the radio chat,"Ready? Five, four, three, two, one. Go!"

Arty tossed the grenades andimmediately ran off with Ling and Kanith. The explosion had disintegrated theReapers almost instantly. It burnt the Bulks and they spun around angrily. Theexplosion set off the Bulk in the Weapons Room and it charged straight into thetrap and fell. Jayce drew his mechanical sword and stabbed it through the backof the neck. A clean hit. It killed him but now they had the two from the DataRoom to worry about.

The trio from the Data Room arrivedand they grabbed the first guns or mechanical crossbows they saw. They satprepared and as soon as the Bulks arrived, they were met with a mix of gunfireand mechanical arrows and were stumbled immediately. Rissa drew her mechanicaldouble daggers and sprinted. She ran up and leapt off the wall, slashing acrossthe first Bulk's neck and stabbing the second's.

She landed with them and hopped offin style. As she sheathed her daggers, she was faced with the impressed facesof Viper.

"Damn, girl. That was sweet,Fox." Ornelas praised. Apart from Jayce, Ornelas had rarely praised othersand the rest of the team could detect his affection for Rissa growing. Jaycewas genuinely impressed and gave Rissa an acknowledging smirk before walkingby. Viper walked by the carcasses of the Bulks and were irked by the atrocityof the monster. Ornelas then lead the team who brisk walked towards the DataRoom.

In the Data Room, the team was facedwith three huge hologram screens and wide computer keyboard. Alas the keyboardcharacters were Japanese and Viper had to rely on the one member they wishedthey didn't have to. Ling smirked and strolled over the keyboard, studying theJapanese characters. Jayce then guided her into navigating through the filesand breaking to their system. Meanwhile, Rissa and Artemus stood guard by thedoor to watch for more Beasts while Ornelas and Kanith looked around for clueson an alternate exit.

After roughly half an hour, theynavigated deep enough into the data and managed to replace military plans againstEngland.

"Get the ones for the othercountries as well, they're useful leverage." Ornelas reminded. Jaycenodded and extracted it before keeping the memory drive safely. Kanith gatheredthe team and showed a map of the place he found. There were no alternate exitsand the hallway was of a simple structure. The fork from the entrance leadspast the Weapon Room and Data Room respectively, before it reconnects and goesdown straight, with entrances to bunks and storehouses along it whicheventually led into dead ends. The path then leads straight down to a solidwall.

"This is it. We're trapped. Weretrieved the information, but for nothing." Ling lamented.

"No. We can transfer the databack to HQ using their computer system. Jayce, get on it." Ornelasinstructed. Jayce returned to the computers while the rest studied the map.

"It's just not possible for amilitary base to have only one way in and out, no matter how secret. It'simpractical." Ornelas said while scratching his head, looking across Viperto see if anyone had ideas. A theory hit Artemus and his face lit up.

"If it's not on the map, it'ssecret. Who would know of secrets? The head. Where would the entrance then mostlogically lie?" Artemus said excitedly.

"The Major's room."Ornelas smiled while patting Arty's shoulder. Jayce had happened to havefinished transferring the data and regrouped. They brought him up to speed withArtemus' theory and they headed down the hallway. The hallway was crawling withBeasts and there was no way they could sneak past them all.

"We could use the smoke bomb asa distraction. We just need to throw it far enough down the hallway to leadthem away." Jayce looked back at the team. Ornelas approved and now allthey needed was someone strong enough to toss a smoke bomb far down thecorridor. Heads turned like clockwork to Kanith as he smiled sheepishly. Hetook over the smoke bomb from Artemus and hurled it.

It landed far down the hallwaybefore exploding into a ball of smoke. Beasts of all sorts were immediatelystartled and started crawling towards it. Viper took the chance and sneakedinto the Major's room and locked the door.

"Guys. Did you see? I'm prettysure amongst those Beasts, I clearly saw a Banshee crawling through. It's notthat attracted to non-human objects and a nose that can smell humans at least100 meters away. We don't have long before it comes to hunt us down."Jayce had an extremely sharp senses since birth which was something he had usedoften to his advantage, and eventually for scam and fraud. Ornelas agreed butthat was on the bottom of their list of worries at that moment.

The team searched frantically aroundfor clues before replaceing a secret button under the bed. Ornelas pushed it andthe bookcase sunk into the ground revealing a door. However this door was notwhat they were familiar with. It was an old door made of granite and controlledby an electrical system that seemed outdated. It had made use of electricalcircuits instead of electron porting, which was the technology used for mostelectrical devices in their time.

"This technology is ancient.It's as if it's from the Year 2010." Kanith said, dumbfounded.

"Probably to make sure not justanyone was able to get in. Kanith, can you get through?" Jayce said.Kanith nodded and immediately started working on the circuit with his toolbag.While Kanith worked on the door, the others looked through the peephole to makesure the Beasts hadn't found them yet. The electrical system sparked after afew minutes and the door moved upwards, screeching loudly its way through.

It startled the entire team, butmore importantly, all the Beasts in the hallway. After moments of silence, thebeasts stomped their way towards the door and started attempting to knock itdown. With the strength and ferocity of Beasts like the Bulk, they didn't havelong to distance themselves. However, the door's system suddenly self-destructedand the door came falling down.

Kanith immediately ran to support itand was barely able to hold it. The door was held merely 30cm off the floor andViper had to crawl through underneath one by one. Before they could help liftit, they were interrupted by Kanith.

"This thing... is... heavy...hurry... get.. out of here!" he yelled with all his strength. As theystarted crawling, the door was partially knocked down and a flying spike camethrough and stabbed Kanith in the torso. He fell to his knees and blood oozedout from his abdomen but had still managed to hold the door in place. Beastswere overflowing on the other side of the door and time was running out.

Viper was shocked as soon as theysaw Kanith's injury but he reassured them but kept them moving. All of asudden, a huge, thick strand of tentacle-like hair came through the cracks ofthe door and tied around Kanith's body, tugging him slightly. Yet anotherflying spike came through and this time, impaled him through the chest. The bloodhad not only flowed from his body but now from his mouth as well.

As the last of the team creptthrough, they tried to help Kanith but he was losing his grip. Yet anothertentacle hair whipped through and grabbed him by his legs. This time it pulledhard and hauled him off his feet. Ornelas reached for his shirt and grabbed itwhile Kanith still held the door in place, but at an even lower height.

"Don't... worry... about...me... get... out... of... here... survive... and... escape!" Kanith forcedhis last words out before the final tow from the tentacle yanked him away intowhat seemed like oblivion and the door fell shut. All that was heard after wasthe scream of a man and cries of beasts. One of which was heard clearly. ABanshee's cry.

And silence followed soon after.

The team was left frozen in placefor almost ten seconds. Waves of disbelief had struck and overwhelmed them.Tears started flowing down Rissa's cheek as she covered her mouth and sobbeduncontrollably. Ornelas held her in his arms and consoled her, fighting to holdin his own emotions. Jayce fell on his feet and was more than engulfed in a seaof emotions which was not expressible by facial movements alone. A good manfell to the prey of a beast. A beast with a scream that struck fear into theirhearts once again.

Artemus got up and slammed the door,now motionless as the entrance's.

"NO! NO! KANITH! NO!"shouts of sorrow echoed down the hall, which had reflected what was in thehearts of Viper. Ling got up undeterred and started pacing around for the teamto muster themselves, and seemed almost annoyed by their emotions.

Silenced ensued in the seeminglyempty secret base, filled with nothing but the cries and sorrow of the team,with anguish overflowing over the loss of their team mate. Their comrade. Theirbrother.

Lost to the Banshee.

ENDOF CHAPTER 4