William was going to slow him down. He smiled, understanding Astral a little more. He wasn’t going to leave the kid behind but he wasn’t going to lose focus of his goal. He needed to stop Astral. “I’m lead,” he told the boy. “Follow my orders and we’ll make it out of here in one piece.” He surprised himself with the firmness of his words. Did Astral feel the same doubt in her abilities as he did? He found the idea laughable.

He followed the narrow path between bodies with William trailing so close behind that the boy stepped on the captain’s heels often. Seth scowled while forcing the annoyance from his mind for the umpteenth time. He lit his fourth flare. They rounded the fourth corner where the captain stopped to get his baring. There was only one direction to go. Yet, he was sure he had lead William into a full circle. Inspecting the wall to his left, where the door had existed in the previous circuit, there was no sign the entrance had ever existed; in it’s place was the continued display of the long preserved dead.

Flare over head, he looked at the bodies for familiar faces and repeating patterns, a glitch in the program, or signs that it was saving resources. The Academy’s patch had disappeared from the student’s breast, and the brilliant white and black of the school uniforms had become greys and kaki coloured. Rankings and achievement marked their long sleeves, joined by a black armband with white phoenix trapped inside a red circle. These people were from the Regime which had reigned over the country for at least a century. Stories of their rise to power were hazy at best, but everyone had an opinion on how it was done. Seth wondered if the ghost in the machine had played a role in their long reign.

He pushed ahead, ignoring the signs of slow decay on the bodies. He rounded another twelve corners and had to strike his last flare before the military uniforms were replaced with flannel, plaids, and bright colours of casual wear of an era Seth couldn’t place. Short skirts, shorts, sandals, and jeans, deep cut V-neck tops, string bikinis, and sheer materials that revealed bras. His teenage lust couldn’t find a foothold in the marred flesh and mummified remains. Men wore subtler fashions but the extremes varied, much like the women. Winter parkas, ponchos, heavy fur boots, heavy shirts opened to reveal lighter wear beneath suggested a change in season. Colder seasons sat in groups next to warmer seasons as though meticulously categorized. He considered that the demon’s hunting grounds were bountiful in the early days, perhaps even before humanity realized that they were at war with a supernatural force.

How far back in time would he walk? “I get it,” Seth breathed just loud enough that he was sure the program could hear him. “You’ve been at this for a long time. You’re hungry.”

“I’m kind of hungry,” William admitted, “but excuse me if I’m not one of those freaks who carries around a food cube everywhere just in case.”

Seth spun on William, covering his mouth, eyes darting back to the dead. He thought he saw one move. He prayed it was a trick of the light. He knew he wasn’t going to be so lucky in his denial. “Keep moving,” Seth said for his own benefit, steeling his resolve.

Case in hand, he took long rushed strides down the narrow path between rows of rotting bodies. There had to be an end somewhere. This room couldn’t be his final destination. He chanced a glance back at the boy who followed close behind, oblivious to the threat. He didn’t want to died next to William. The boy gave him the impression that he wasn’t the sort to risk life and limb to save a comrade. Astral on the other hand would probably shoot him to put him out of his misery before leaving his corpse to the desiccation that was sure to come. At least with Astral he knew where he stood, she was easy; she would weight the pros and cons, the chances of success and the knowledge of what she could reasonably accomplish. She’d need to get out alive to be able to carry on the Hunt, therefore her life held more value than his, who for the time being was an unknown element. With William, the boy would assure him that he’d never do something so terrible, until he did.

Was that scratching? He glanced back to the boy to see that he was scratching the back of his neck. “The air is so stale,” the boy complained.

A jolt sprang up Seth’s spine. The captain sprang down the narrow path, ignoring the dying flicker of his flare and the way the bodies had keeled over with time, heads resting in the laps, arms missing, legs sticking out in odd positions. He ignored the way the prim posing had changed to something reminiscent of a sloppy teenager throwing his belongings to rest permanently in whatever corner it landed in.

Was William even William? In the last licks of the dying light, Seth slid to a stop, opened the crate and turned on the flashlight, pointing the brilliant beam in the boy’s face. “Ack!” William’s hand flew to cover his eyes, as he squinted to the captain. “What’s your problem?”

The flashlight flicker as he expected, reminding him of Videl’s final moments. He saw what he had been dreading. The long dead shambled to their feet, unlike zombie shuffles or the slow amble of a waking sleeper. The dead moved between the strobing of the light with a speed that his human mind struggled to grasp.

He grabbed the protesting William by the arm and ran, the flickering light his only guide. Let there be a door!

There then not, a door fought it’s way into the program before melting away and fighting to return again. It was a tinted black glass door, revealing the room beyond and Astral fighting. Don’t kill it! Seth heart pounded, his need to reach and stop Astral outweighed his need for safety.

He pulled William behind him, colliding with the door’s long handle, hoping that combined with the impact the door would not resist. It held in place, even as Seth pushed against the steel in a desperate bid for freedom. Astral glanced away from her target as she slid out of it’s reach. For a second their gaze connected. He felt her distain penetrate the glass barrier between them. The door vanished, leaving himself and William trapped in the darkness with the hoard of undead at their heels.