“This is insane!” Clara shouted as she struggled with two others to hold the door closed.
On the other side of the door, three people shoved and pushed, growling and snarling as they desperately tried to open it.
“We need something to block the door!” Clara shouted. “We’ll never be able to keep them out ourselves!”
She looked around the room.
“What about this?” Nessa called to her, standing beside a bookcase. “We can knock it over and use it like a blockade.”
“It’s better than nothing,” Clara sighed, knowing it wasn’t heavy enough to keep the crazy ones out for long.
She looked back at the three people huddled together on the floor. Each of them had injuries that made it difficult for them to help hold the door shut.
“Sam!” she shouted.
The man who had an injury to his forearm looked back at her.
“I need you to take his spot,” she said, motioning to the soldier who stood beside her, helping to hold the door. “Just for like a minute while he helps Nessa push that over here.”
Sam nodded and took the soldier’s place at the door. He pushed his back against the door and grimaced as each time those outside shoved, he felt the pain in his arm.
The soldier hurried over to Nessa. Together, they knocked over the bookcase and shoved it toward the door. It took a few minutes to move it, and they almost lost control of the door in the transition, but Clara was quick to use one of the books to beat back the person who tried to break through.
Once the bookshelf was against the door, Sam moved back to rest. The soldier and the other woman who had held the door sat on the bookcase, adding their weight to keeping the door closed.
Nessa returned to setting up the laptop she carried with her.
“How does it look?” Clara asked. “Are you able to get back into the system?”
“It’s going to take a few minutes,” Nessa said, rapidly typing in numbers and letters. “It looks like they locked down the weapons systems, armory doors, and some of the monitoring tools. That combo creates a secondary lockout of many other systems, but it’s only a few layers of security. Not a full lockdown.”
“There was hardly anyone here. A lot of people didn’t show up for shift. I thought they were just running late,” Sam said.
Clara walked over to him.
“At the time, it was just me and Henry,” Sam said, motioning to the soldier at the door.
“I don’t really do any of that stuff,” he continued. “The computer stuff... My job is purely watching the monitors and reporting strange activity. So, I just know the basic system locks. I didn’t even know how to set off the alarms.”
Clara reached out and touched his shoulder with a gentle smile.
“You did a good job, Sam,” she said. “Locking the weapons and armory is great. If one of the loonies got in and had access to that, it wouldn’t be good... like it would be really bad... so, you did good.”
“Thanks,” Sam nodded.
When things went weird, Clara and Nessa hadn’t been far from the central command station. Nessa immediately got a notification when any system was altered or shut down. But before they reached the central command, they ran into shouts and fighting in the hallway.
They found two people on the ground. Standing over them in defense was a single soldier. He tried to shield them with his body while three men with batons beat his back repeatedly.
Neither Nessa nor Clara were fighters, but they knew how to protect themselves and others if necessary. They worked together to subdue the three men, then helped the others down the hall.
More shouting came from behind them, and they quickly made their way to central command. When they arrived, they found another soldier and Sam. But just as they made it in, the others caught up to them and tried to get inside.
“How did you know to lock the systems at all?” Clara asked Sam.
“Like I said, my job is watching the monitors and reporting anything strange,” he said. “I had already seen a lot of weird movements and gathering throughout the compound. But when Alpha Landon arrived, things got weirder. I told my supervisor that it seemed like something was going on. He told me to let him handle it, and then he left.”
Clara nodded.
“Makes sense so far, but where did your supervisor go? And how did your arm get hurt?” Clara asked. “And if he said he would handle it, why didn’t he lock out the system? Why did you have to do it?”
“Clarebear,” Nessa called without removing her eyes from her screen, “let him finish his story, and you might get all your answers.”
Clara’s face was flushed with a light pink.
“Sorry,” she said to Sam. “I can get a little ahead of myself.”
Sam chuckled.
“I know,” he said.
“Continue,” Clara said with a smile.
“So, when my supervisor left, it was just me and Henry. But I didn’t stop doing my job. I kept watching the monitors, and after a few minutes, I got really worried.”
“Why?” Clara asked.
“Because I saw my supervisor leading a group of people down these halls,” he said.
Clara’s eyes widened.
Sam nodded.
“I watched him for a moment and then realized where he was going,” Sam sighed. “He was leading them to the armory. I didn’t know what was going on, but I knew that was not something I could let happen. I immediately entered the lockdown commands for the weapons and armory locks.”
“That was really good thinking, Sam,” Clara said reassuringly.
“Yeah, well, he showed up pretty quickly after that,” Sam said. “He rushed Henry and tried to break my arm as I entered the rest of the commands. Luckily, Henry was able to toss him out before he could do any more damage. We did our best to hold the door until we saw you guys coming on the monitor just before the feed cut.”
Clara nodded.
“I knew things were getting weird around here, lots of whispering and paranoia… but I didn’t realize it had gotten this bad…” she sighed.
“We’re pack animals,” Nessa commented. “We have a natural need for structure, for direction. Without a recognized leader, we lose ourselves.”
“What about us?” Clara asked. “I feel perfectly sane, and you’re as solid as ever… Sam seems fine, Henry… like… why aren’t we looney tunes like the others?”
“I’m still a Crag wolf,” Nessa replied. “Landon is my Alpha.”
“Oh… right..” Clara said. “But what about me? Sam? Henry? Loads of others who aren’t completely bonkers.”
Nessa looked up over the screen of her laptop at her mate.
“Do you really not know?” she asked.
Clara furrowed her brows.
“Know what?” Clara asked.
Nessa chewed her bottom lip while she thought about the right way to say it.
“If you think about the people you know for sure aren’t ‘bonkers’ yet,” she said, “is there anything you can think of that they might have in common?”
Clara looked at Henry and Sam, she thought of a few others, but nothing stood out immediately as a unifying theme between them. She was about to ask Nessa to explain when Henry called their attention.
“Hey, guys…” Henry said.
Clara looked back at the soldier sitting on the bookcase. He had his ear pressed to the door.
“I don’t hear them anymore,” he said.
“That’s a good thing,” Clara said.
Henry shook his head and stood up. The woman sitting on the bookcase beside him stood, moving away from the door when she saw his concern.
“No,” he said. “It happened too fast. They just suddenly stopped.”
“What does that mean?” the woman asked.
The soldier who had taken the baton beating by the three men pushed himself to his feet. He was weak and in a lot of pain but stood up next to Henry.
“It means someone scarier showed up,” he said, “and took all of them out at once.”
The door handle turned, and then the door shook as an attempt to open it was made.
Sam moved closer to the other injured, and they huddled together. Clara moved before them while the two soldiers stood between Clara and the door.
Again, the door shook, and a loud thud was heard as someone on the other side rammed into it. The injured gasped. The soldiers swallowed and prepared to fight.
Once more, the door was rammed, but the bookcase was pushed out of the way this time. Now, the door was open just enough to allow whoever was on the side to enter the room.
“This is insane!” Clara shouted as she struggled with two others to hold the door closed.
On the other side of the door, three people shoved and pushed, growling and snarling as they desperately tried to open it.
“We need something to block the door!” Clara shouted. “We’ll never be able to keep them out ourselves!”
She looked around the room.
“What about this?” Nessa called to her, standing beside a bookcase. “We can knock it over and use it like a blockade.”
“It’s better than nothing,” Clara sighed, knowing it wasn’t heavy enough to keep the crazy ones out for long.
She looked back at the three people huddled together on the floor. Each of them had injuries that made it difficult for them to help hold the door shut.
“Sam!” she shouted.
The man who had an injury to his forearm looked back at her.
“I need you to take his spot,” she said, motioning to the soldier who stood beside her, helping to hold the door. “Just for like a minute while he helps Nessa push that over here.”
Sam nodded and took the soldier’s place at the door. He pushed his back against the door and grimaced as each time those outside shoved, he felt the pain in his arm.
The soldier hurried over to Nessa. Together, they knocked over the bookcase and shoved it toward the door. It took a few minutes to move it, and they almost lost control of the door in the transition, but Clara was quick to use one of the books to beat back the person who tried to break through.
Once the bookshelf was against the door, Sam moved back to rest. The soldier and the other woman who had held the door sat on the bookcase, adding their weight to keeping the door closed.
Nessa returned to setting up the laptop she carried with her.
“How does it look?” Clara asked. “Are you able to get back into the system?”
“It’s going to take a few minutes,” Nessa said, rapidly typing in numbers and letters. “It looks like they locked down the weapons systems, armory doors, and some of the monitoring tools. That combo creates a secondary lockout of many other systems, but it’s only a few layers of security. Not a full lockdown.”
“There was hardly anyone here. A lot of people didn’t show up for shift. I thought they were just running late,” Sam said.
Clara walked over to him.
“At the time, it was just me and Henry,” Sam said, motioning to the soldier at the door.
“I don’t really do any of that stuff,” he continued. “The computer stuff... My job is purely watching the monitors and reporting strange activity. So, I just know the basic system locks. I didn’t even know how to set off the alarms.”
Clara reached out and touched his shoulder with a gentle smile.
“You did a good job, Sam,” she said. “Locking the weapons and armory is great. If one of the loonies got in and had access to that, it wouldn’t be good... like it would be really bad... so, you did good.”
“Thanks,” Sam nodded.
When things went weird, Clara and Nessa hadn’t been far from the central command station. Nessa immediately got a notification when any system was altered or shut down. But before they reached the central command, they ran into shouts and fighting in the hallway.
They found two people on the ground. Standing over them in defense was a single soldier. He tried to shield them with his body while three men with batons beat his back repeatedly.
Neither Nessa nor Clara were fighters, but they knew how to protect themselves and others if necessary. They worked together to subdue the three men, then helped the others down the hall.
More shouting came from behind them, and they quickly made their way to central command. When they arrived, they found another soldier and Sam. But just as they made it in, the others caught up to them and tried to get inside.
“How did you know to lock the systems at all?” Clara asked Sam.
“Like I said, my job is watching the monitors and reporting anything strange,” he said. “I had already seen a lot of weird movements and gathering throughout the compound. But when Alpha Landon arrived, things got weirder. I told my supervisor that it seemed like something was going on. He told me to let him handle it, and then he left.”
Clara nodded.
“Makes sense so far, but where did your supervisor go? And how did your arm get hurt?” Clara asked. “And if he said he would handle it, why didn’t he lock out the system? Why did you have to do it?”
“Clarebear,” Nessa called without removing her eyes from her screen, “let him finish his story, and you might get all your answers.”
Clara’s face was flushed with a light pink.
“Sorry,” she said to Sam. “I can get a little ahead of myself.”
Sam chuckled.
“I know,” he said.
“Continue,” Clara said with a smile.
“So, when my supervisor left, it was just me and Henry. But I didn’t stop doing my job. I kept watching the monitors, and after a few minutes, I got really worried.”
“Why?” Clara asked.
“Because I saw my supervisor leading a group of people down these halls,” he said.
Clara’s eyes widened.
Sam nodded.
“I watched him for a moment and then realized where he was going,” Sam sighed. “He was leading them to the armory. I didn’t know what was going on, but I knew that was not something I could let happen. I immediately entered the lockdown commands for the weapons and armory locks.”
“That was really good thinking, Sam,” Clara said reassuringly.
“Yeah, well, he showed up pretty quickly after that,” Sam said. “He rushed Henry and tried to break my arm as I entered the rest of the commands. Luckily, Henry was able to toss him out before he could do any more damage. We did our best to hold the door until we saw you guys coming on the monitor just before the feed cut.”
Clara nodded.
“I knew things were getting weird around here, lots of whispering and paranoia… but I didn’t realize it had gotten this bad…” she sighed.
“We’re pack animals,” Nessa commented. “We have a natural need for structure, for direction. Without a recognized leader, we lose ourselves.”
“What about us?” Clara asked. “I feel perfectly sane, and you’re as solid as ever… Sam seems fine, Henry… like… why aren’t we looney tunes like the others?”
“I’m still a Crag wolf,” Nessa replied. “Landon is my Alpha.”
“Oh… right..” Clara said. “But what about me? Sam? Henry? Loads of others who aren’t completely bonkers.”
Nessa looked up over the screen of her laptop at her mate.
“Do you really not know?” she asked.
Clara furrowed her brows.
“Know what?” Clara asked.
Nessa chewed her bottom lip while she thought about the right way to say it.
“If you think about the people you know for sure aren’t ‘bonkers’ yet,” she said, “is there anything you can think of that they might have in common?”
Clara looked at Henry and Sam, she thought of a few others, but nothing stood out immediately as a unifying theme between them. She was about to ask Nessa to explain when Henry called their attention.
“Hey, guys…” Henry said.
Clara looked back at the soldier sitting on the bookcase. He had his ear pressed to the door.
“I don’t hear them anymore,” he said.
“That’s a good thing,” Clara said.
Henry shook his head and stood up. The woman sitting on the bookcase beside him stood, moving away from the door when she saw his concern.
“No,” he said. “It happened too fast. They just suddenly stopped.”
“What does that mean?” the woman asked.
The soldier who had taken the baton beating by the three men pushed himself to his feet. He was weak and in a lot of pain but stood up next to Henry.
“It means someone scarier showed up,” he said, “and took all of them out at once.”
The door handle turned, and then the door shook as an attempt to open it was made.
Sam moved closer to the other injured, and they huddled together. Clara moved before them while the two soldiers stood between Clara and the door.
Again, the door shook, and a loud thud was heard as someone on the other side rammed into it. The injured gasped. The soldiers swallowed and prepared to fight.
Once more, the door was rammed, but the bookcase was pushed out of the way this time. Now, the door was open just enough to allow whoever was on the side to enter the room.
