“That’d be my point. You know, you’re a good person, Steve. I don’t think this is the life for you. Remind me to transfer you to something that isn’t on the front line. Like teaching or providing expertise. No sense in wasting a resource.” Felix upended the bleach into the vent above the pawnshop.
“What? I just don’t like the idea of gassing an entire building full of people. It’s not wrong to believe that.”
Felix shrugged and pulled out the second bottle. Not bothering to check the label, he knew what the contents were and what they’d do, he turned it upside down over the vent.
“Get that blanket ready. This is going to go bad pretty fast. We need to get out of here as soon as we’re done, too,” Felix said softly.
Steve shook his head, clutching the blanket a bit tighter to his chest.
Felix couldn’t fault him for his attitude. Steve was a good person, trying to do the right thing, in a bad situation.
Those were the type of people who people wrote stories about.
Counter to him was Julia, who simply acted for whatever her interest was. She was much closer to Felix in sentiment.
“Toss it on, we’re done here. Let’s get back down and get ready.”
“Can’t we—”
“No. No prisoners. Nowhere to put ’em. Just… give the wounded to Julia. She has her orders. No need for you to bloody your hands. This isn’t your call, and you can’t save them. But I can at least spare you that,” Felix said.
Turning on his heel, Felix moved as quickly as he could manage while keeping silent. Right about the time he slipped in close to Julia’s left side, he could hear coughing coming from inside the building.
“What’d you do?” Julia asked.
“I made it so we could take them out as they come out. If they don’t come out, they’ll die in there anyways. No prisoners, Julia. I expect you to leave no one alive. Take anything worth a damn and set it to one side,” Felix ordered.
“Huh? Why?” Julia griped.
“Because you’re probably the only person, other than me, with blood on their hands. Did you notice all the weapons our compatriots chose?” Felix asked.
Julia’s head turned towards Steve, Nancy, and Amy. “The weapons they chose?” she asked under her breath.
The coughing was growing louder.
“All blunt weapons that I’m betting they’ll use on arms and legs. Or torso and shoulders. Hoping they’ll fall down unconscious or in pain. No… this’ll be you and me, I’m afraid, and some ugly blade work,” Felix said. “Now get ready, here they come. Remember, fatal attacks if possible upfront. Less to deal with on the backside.”
Julia nodded her head to that, gripping the machete in her hand tighter.
Felix had decided to stick with the blade he’d found the night previous. He’d already blooded it after all.
That, and the gas more than likely took his opponents’ ability to see clearly.
Or so he hoped.
A man burst out of the door and stepped out into the night, hacking and coughing heavily. Light green vapor wafted out behind him before the door closed.
Worked like a charm.
The man was rubbing at his eyes with both hands, not even looking at his surroundings. Julia smashed a rock into the man’s temple, dropping him to the ground. Grunting, she pushed the body of the man up against the door, then leaned up against it.
“Fuck you and your ‘fatal attacks’ and whatever else you wanted me to do,” Julia said. Sliding down to her bottom atop the unconscious man. She wedged her shoulders and braced her feet. “They can all stay in there and be on your own conscience. Not mine.”
Nancy and Amy were there before she even finished talking. Gripping the door handle, Amy held onto it while Nancy sat down right next to Julia.
“Overcomplicated bullshit. Are all your ideas like this?” Julia complained.
“Huh,” Felix said, standing up slowly from his crouch. “That works, too. We’re going to work out just fine together, Julia.”
Felix could hear shouting and coughing from inside the building. The pounding of fists and feet on the door.
Probably a few shoulder checks.
Nancy and Julia bounced with each hit, but neither woman budged away from their job as a door wedge.
Well. We’ll give it a few hours, then pull the cover off the vent to help it disperse.
Figure by morning we should be able to get in there and take a look around.
Maybe.
Hopefully.
Felix had spent last night and early this morning on trying to figure out what he could do with his points.
However… everything he tried was astronomically inflated.
There was nothing he could do.
With anything.
To anything.
Owning it or not, something was terribly wrong with his power. To the point that he was now certain that there was an outside source influencing him.
Focus, Felix. Focus.
Breathing in through the wet cloth, and redirecting his thoughts, Felix stepped over the bodies in the entry area of the pawnshop.
There were at least fifteen bodies right here, crowding each other at the door.
Guess that worked pretty well.
He didn’t dare wait any longer since dawn was coming. They didn’t want to be out in the street when daylight came.
No one wanted to be out unless they had to.
Hoping that the stupid wet cloth would work as an filter well enough that he didn’t die, Felix pressed on. He didn’t bother with the corpses and instead went straight into the sales room.
Most of the pawnshop’s sales floor was littered with stolen loot, food, resources, and camping items. It was clear this group had been here for a while.
Ignoring it all, he kept on, making his way to the backroom.
There in the corner he found the no longer concealed trapdoor. That led to a steel door that’d been ripped off its hinges. He had no idea how they’d managed that.
That led straight into a concrete room with nothing in it. There were chips in all of the walls. It was clear that whoever had checked the room had tried to determine if the walls were truly concrete.
Standing in the center of the room, Felix cleared his throat and lifted the fabric up from his mouth.
“Felix Campbell,” he said to no one.
Nothing happened.
Really, Felicia? I know you said you did, but I was hoping you were kidding.
Sighing, Felix cleared his throat again.
There was a slight burning sensation in his mouth and eyes.
He had to make this quick, it didn’t seem as if the gas was quite gone.
“Felix Campbell, holy fucking shit.”
A grinding noise came from the floor itself. Looking down, he realized the entire thing was divided into six portions, and the two on the furthest side from the door were moving.
They were literally sliding into the wall.
“Felicia, I hate you, and love you,” Felix said in a muffled voice, pulling the wet fabric back down over his mouth.
Waiting only long enough for the floor to make a hole wide enough, Felix dropped down into the hole it’d made. It was a staircase that spiraled downward for at least thirty feet. He only went two steps down before he decided it’d be better to go back and get everyone else.
Returning two minutes later, Felix started to make his way down the steps.
“So, it’s true then,” Julia said from behind him.
“Which part?” Felix asked.
“That you’re Felix Campbell, the CEO of Legion,” Nancy said.
“Yes, he really is,” Steve confirmed.
Felix ignored them all. He didn’t feel like answering, and they seemed perfectly happy to answer for him.
When he reached the bottom, Felix found exactly what he was hoping for.
Sealed Legion crates.
They were all hermetically sealed and packed tight. Made and built at machine standard with no expense spared so that they could be shipped and held in reserve if ever needed.