A silence followed Eve’s response as the guard looked over the two women. He took his time which was starting to get on Eve’s nerves. She couldn’t let that annoyance show because that would blow any chance of them getting inside. The guard cleared his throat looking down at them. “Alright, you’re cleared to enter. Follow the marked path to the basement entrance. After that a guard will guide you to collect your reward.” He put his thumb on a pad on the wall to his right. A loud buzz was heard and the gates to the city opened.

Eve made a mental note of where that thumb pad was located. That would be crucial later on just in case she had to find another way to let the larger group inside. She followed the marked path as the guard had instructed. The place was lit so brightly she thought about walking with her eyes closed. This was one of the things she disliked as a kid. Everything didn’t have to be so bright.

Thankfully the assault on her eyes was calmed when they made it to the basement door. It wasn’t as large as the front gate, but it was a marvel. She glanced on the ground to find markers for her to stand on. Once she was positioned a soft hissing sound came from the door as a small piece opened up in front of them. “Please step through with the ability user a few steps behind you.”

Eve figured the voice came from the guard that the gate guard told her about. She walked through pulling Alexandria as instructed behind her. This room was bright but it wasn’t an assault on the eyes like the outside was. The guard was at the back of the room behind a caged area. She motioned for Eve to step forward. “I would like to see your papers and if possible a demonstration from your captured ability user.”

Alexandria couldn’t speak but her thoughts raced with everything she had seen so far. Everything was so clean and polished most likely to avoid any germs from getting inside. She also didn’t remember seeing a roof over the walled city. How in the world did they keep the virus out with no roof? Alexandria put that thought to the side with the guard’s mention of a demonstration of her ability.

Eve looked to Alexandria for a moment and then to the guard. “Her arm is injured but if you like she could maybe pull off a shift?” Eve didn’t want the cane weapon to come off and cause trouble. Maybe reducing her pay for the bounty would allow them to skip the demonstration.

The guard waved her hand in the air. “That is alright we will figure it out once she is taken in for processing. I still need to see your hunter papers.”

Grabbing at her jacket, Eve felt around for her hunter papers. Thankfully one of the hunter’s she encountered in the past, who she killed, had papers on her. It was a simple matter of changing the emblem, face, and name to match hers. She pulled the papers out and handed them to the guard through the slit in the window.

The guard took the papers from Eve, looking them over carefully. After a few moments she stamped the papers, jotted a few things down on a notepad, and handed the papers back to Eve. “Alright we will take possession of this ability user. You may wait over there for your payment once the process is completed and everything is verified.”

Eve nodded as another guard came out of a side door to take Alexandria away. She handed the lead over to that guard giving Alexandria a sly smile when the guard wasn’t paying attention. Eve walked over to the waiting area and sat down. After she got her payment it would be time to walk around the walled city for as long as she could. Once the action started all bets were off and she could run wild.

Alexandria followed the guard watching everything that happened. There were not as many checkpoints and secured doors in this facility as there were in the one she was in. That only meant it would be that much easier to get out. This led her to believe this place was most likely just for ability users found here in the city or in the area.

The guard stopped which made Alexandria run into him since she wasn’t paying attention. “Hey, watch it, test subject. Anyway this is your cell where you will spend the remainder of your short life in.” The door opened and the guard shoved Alexandria inside. “Play nice with your cell mate or we will come in and put you both down.” The door slammed shut.

Shaking her head to gain her bearings Alexandria looked around the small cell. She was confused at the mention of a cell mate. In all the readings about other facilities none of them said anything about ability users sharing cells. She was about to start talking to herself when she noticed someone laying on the top bunk of the beds in the corner of the room.

She raised an eyebrow moving towards the bunk beds. Alexandria didn’t want to cause a scene so she wasn’t going to wake anyone up if they were sleeping. “Hey, are you awake?” She spoke softly just in case. Of course Alexandria wanted to immediately ask this woman what her ability was, but that was a bit much and maybe a little rude.

A soft sound came from the person laying down as they sat up in bed. The woman had short blonde spiked hair, perhaps a pixie cut and her eyes were gold with a hit of blue and green mixed in. She shook her head a bit, stretching out, and yawning at Alexandria. “Did you just get here or have you always been my cell mate?”

Alexandria wrinkled her nose at the woman and her question. Why in the world would she ask that if she has been here a while? Alexandria had hoped to find the final crew member while taking down this city. However, she wasn’t sure this person was crew member material. “I just arrived, brought in by a hunter.”

The woman’s eyes went wide as she jumped off the bed taking a fighting stance. “Is that how you messed up your arm? Show me what happened and how the fight went down.”

Alexandria almost jumped backwards from the sudden change in the woman’s demeanor just by the mention of how Alexandria had gotten here. Perhaps she was something that could join the crew. “That is a quick change in mood. Why do you care about these details anyway? Also shouldn’t we introduce ourselves to each other?”

Again the woman switched her mood to bored and half asleep. “What is the point of knowing names when we are both just going to die anyway. Not many ability users last here. If you must know, my name is Veronica.” She stood there for a moment just watching Alexandria.

Tilting her head to the side Alexandria just looked Veronica over for a moment. Looking down at the floor she could see it had been repaired many times as had the floor. Come to think of it when she jumped down from the top bunk Alexandria heard a small cracking sound from the floor. “My name is Alexandria and I am a shifter. I also will not be here long. How did all these cracks in the floor and other places happen?”

Her mood shifted back up again. Veronica started bouncing up and down with her fists up. “My ability is what caused all the damage. I am made of the hardest materials known so I can be pretty destructive. I’m also a master of martial arts.” Veronica paused for a moment playing back everything Alexandria had said. “Wait a minute, how will you not be here long? Are you going to die or something?”

A smirk crossed Alexandria’s face. It seemed like dumb like she found someone she was looking for after being here only five or ten minutes. However, she also knew that trusting too quickly almost always ended in pain. “That is a rather unique ability. I am not dying but I do plan on leaving here and taking over the city once my crew arrives. I would be happy for you to join my pirate crew, that is if you’re interested?”

A silence filled the room and Veronica went back to her half asleep mood only for a moment. She looked Alexandria up and down, starting to jump again throwing punches into the air. “If all that is true, what is your plan for getting out of this hell hole?”

Alexandria was glad to see Veronica was interested in getting out. Of course she had to wait until everyone was in position to do anything. “I did mention my crew was coming. Well the rest of them anyway. One member is already inside the city while another is somewhere else. Do you know of any other ability users in this facility that can be saved?” Alexandria didn’t like to ask or even think about that question. However it was true that some ability users once inside a facility can never survive outside again. The experiments take their toll and the users just slip into a deadly depression.

She curled her lip trying to think if there was anyone else who could make it on the outside. A few moments passed and Veronica shook her head. “As I said before, once ability users come in here they don’t get out. This place from what I hear is all about extraction of abilities for replication.”

A wave of anxiety struck Alexandria right in the gut. That was the reason for all the low security measures. There was no reason to waste the resources if this was just an extraction facility. That changed things and it meant they needed to get out of here sooner rather than later. She needed to find a way to get a message to Eve or Tyra to push the plan forward. This whole place needed to be burned to the ground.

“Alright then how long have you been here Veronica?” Alexandria was trying to push down the dread and anxiety she felt in order to come up with a plan on the fly. Of course that is when an idea hit her. If Tyra was watching then all Alexandria had to do was write a message for her to read. She felt around for her inkwell finding it still in the hiding place she put it inside her clothes. The journal and quill pen were still there but she didn’t need those at the moment.

She started jumping around again punching the air with a serious look on her face. “I can’t remember how long it has been. The only reason I am still here is because no matter what they use on me they can’t extract anything. So I stay in this cell while they try to figure out how to open me up.” Veronica did a couple more punches then switched to kicks moving around the room staying out of Alexandria’s personal space.

Alexandria could see that with Veronica’s ability that would be next to impossible especially due to the limit in technology at the moment. She walked over to the wall opening the inkwell. Alexandria threw the ink onto the wall and started to write a message for Tyra. Hopefully she was able to see it and was able to get everyone to the island in time.

Veronica ignored what Alexandria was doing and continued her workout or whatever it was she was doing. There was an extra spring in her step now that there was a possibility of actually leaving this horrible place. “Even though the few ability users still here can’t leave for the outside world. I still think if you asked for their help they would gladly join in. Maybe you could even convert the underground into a makeshift home for them hidden away from the rest of the world.”

That was actually a very good idea. Of course the upper level stood no chance but the basement could be made into a home for them to live out the rest of their lives. Alexandria rubbed her hands together taking off her cane weapon and cracking her neck. “Alright we are going to make a move. If you’re really with me then get ready for some fun. You will know the signal when you hear it.”

Veronica gave Alexandria a funny look as they both just stood there looking through the bars of the cell into the hallway in front of them.

Tyra was surveying the area with her scope finding a ton of interesting things. It was about time to check on Alexandria and Eve. She needed to look in on Alexandria first since Eve was most likely doing her thing to get ready for the upcoming fight. It took her a few minutes but she spotted Alexandria in a cell with someone else. She was going to zoom in on that person until she noticed the ink on the wall. ‘Tyra plans have changed. Take out the guards around us and signal Eve. If you can get a message to the island. The operation starts now!’

She let out a soft chuckle shifting her rifle around to locate the guards closest to Alexandria. Tyra flexed her trigger finger, a grin crossing her face. “Let the hunt begin.”