Page 67 of Grizzly Sleuth
“You brought explosives?” Idris asked as they exited their cell following Takhi, who grabbed Becky, the cow who loved poking with needles, and headed for the next closed cell.
“I didn’t. Freya did. Woman’s got connections in Europe. She’s outside placing them around the perimeter as we speak. And before you ask, I disabled the installation’s internet access before we landed so they can’t upload any files off-site. We also activated a cell phone jammer so they can’t call for help.”
“Good thinking, but it might not be enough if we don’t get rid of Levy,” Idris pointed out.
“Oh, the fucker will die,” Takhi promised with a dark look. “But I might want to draw it out a bit to make sure he’s not stored his research notes somewhere I can’t find to erase them.”
“I’ll hold him down for you,” Idris offered.
Svetlana would help. She’d like to see that slimy worm try to squirm out from under her fat furry butt.
Takhi and Tanis, each with their own dead heads, unlocked cells one by one to release those imprisoned, entering a code that Svetlana memorized just in case. She noticed they skipped a door and wondered why.
Empty? Doubtful since she could smell someone inside.
By the time they finished opening all but four of the cells, they had sixteen people clamoring in Russian and broken English. Yuri did his best to reassure them that they were there to help and urge them to remain calm.
Tanis stood alongside Takhi and Idris, eyeing them. “Holy shit, Levy was busy. Sixteen people so far. More than the chopper can handle. We’ll need to locate some vehicles to extract them.”
Yuri overheard. “There should be a truck large enough parked around here somewhere. It might not be comfortable, but should fit everyone.”
“Good to know. Takhi, why don’t you work on locating it while Idris and I handle the four remaining cells?”
“On it.” Takhi took off at a jog, and the prisoners, seeing her aiming for the elevator, broke into a shuffle-run to join her.
Yuri shook his head. “I don’t think they realize it will take more than one trip in that elevator.”
“Not to mention the language barrier. Mind giving her a hand? We should be able to handle the four doors that are left.”
Yuri took off to help, and as the elevator doors opened and a few people piled in, Idris suddenly yelled out, “Are any of you Patient Zero?”
No one replied, and Svetlana wondered at his interest in that particular patient.
The first batch of people left with Takhi, and the remainder waited with Yuri.
“I’m gonna open B13,” Tanis stated. “There’s what looks to be a fox with several tails inside. It seems to be sleeping despite the alarm.”
Idris murmured, “Be ready. There’s a possibility the person inside has gone rabid.”
Svetlana turned a querying look on Idris.
“Some people who go through the protocol shift lose all rational thought. Become killing machines. Even worse, bringing them back to their human shape doesn’t always bring back their sanity. That’s how we lost Zendaya.” His lips turned down.
Who was Zendaya?
The moment the door unlocked, Tanis readied her weapon, and the wolf crouched in attack position by her side. The person within the cell didn’t react to its door being unlocked. Tanis shoved it open and jumped back, weapon pointed.
“It’s not doing anything,” Tanis said to the wolf. Some kind of understanding passed between them. It led to Tanis firing her gun.
Svetlana gaped in shock. Had she killed the person?
Nope. From the room, a woman shuffled, her nakedness showing off her gaunt frame. A pitiful creature until she uttered an ear-piercing wail and threw herself at Tanis with fingers outstretched. Tanis got off a shot, but the released prisoner didn’t even flinch.
The wolf reacted quickly, a blur of fur that intercepted. Blood flew as he tore out her throat, a killing wound the woman couldn’t heal from.
The next two doors fared pretty much the same. The one released a wolf, slavering and wild, that even when shot and turned into a man kept coming. The next had a creature that belonged in nightmares. Even worse, it didn’t change at all, no matter how many bullets Tanis fired. Svetlana had to roar to the rescue with the wolf, the pair of them managing to rip apart the scaly creature.
The remaining door had the woman tensing. “Not sure what to expect. The video feed is offline for this room.”
