Cole could practically hear his heart desperately trying to escape the danger in the room. The two guards held their weapons with practiced ease, their fingers ready to unleash death, with a slight twitch.
"Answer my question." Cooper's expression and voice were extremely calm, but Cole could see fiery emotion flashing through his eyes. The man wanted his answers, and he would do whatever was necessary to get them.
Cole closed his eyes for a moment, he hoped to gather his thoughts, without worrying about the danger in front of him. At that moment, he felt Alyx twitch slightly on his back.
"Don't worry there is nothing to worry about. Just answer me, and neither of you will be hurt." Cooper reassured Cole. "I promise no harm will come to your bodies. I am even willing to sign a contract." Cooper continued.
Cole tensed, the careful diction, held a meaning that terrified him. Their bodies would not be harmed. What did Cooper plan to do with their minds?
"Drop to the ground." Alyx spoke tersely, not giving Cole any time to consider Cooper's words. As soon as she spoke, Cole threw himself to the ground, he trusted Alyx enough to mindlessly follow her direction.
*Bang. Bang. Bang.* Cole felt a flash of heat race past his head, and when he lifted his eyes from the ground, he saw the two guards gazing lifelessly at him, their heads sprawled against the floor.
The third shot must have come from the guards, because Cooper turned and bolted away. "Get me an angle." Alyx said, when Cole had dove to the ground, he had lost his grip on Alyx, and she was slumped just out of Cole's reach.
Cole scrambled to his feet, lifting Alyx's torso towards the fleeing Cooper. "Wait, you don't need to kill me." Cooper had stopped, noticing that Alyx was training her gun on him. He could tell he had no chance of reaching the door, and was trying to find another way to survive.
Cole knew there were dangers in letting the man live, but he had no desire to be involved with any more killings. However, he was not the one holding the gun. Alyx just laughed grimly, and her gun swiftly silenced Cooper's begging.
Cole looked at Alyx, her face was set without a hint of mercy. "He knows what we look like, and he threatened to torture you." Cole blinked, but did not respond. Instead, he bent, scooping Alyx onto his back, they didn't have time to waste.
"Grab their hats, they can help obscure our faces a bit." Cole walked over, retrieving the guards' hats from a pool of their blood. Cole took a deep breath, putting one of the hats on his head, before reaching back to help Alyx.
Even though he could feel her arms wrapped tightly around his neck, Alyx needed help with the hat because it had taken her an immense amount of effort to move her arm to fire her gun.
The gun had returned into the shape of a cuff, and Cole hoped that it would not have to shift forms again as he entered the newbie area. It was still dark, but after he took a few steps, the lights began to flash on. Either the building had entered a state of panic, or it was almost time for the new members to awake.
Since Cooper had called the two guards to their death, the area was empty, but if Cole was right, many people were about to appear. Normally, that wouldn't have been an issue, Cole felt something cool drip down his face, and he was reminded of the bloody hat on his head. There was no way that the building was not abuzz with their infiltration. Cole broke out into a run, ignoring the awkwardness of hurrying with Alyx on his back.
Surprisingly, they made it through the new member area without any conflict, and they rushed through the room where they had signed their contracts, returning to the long corridor full of numbered doors.
Cole did not slow, he had no time to understand that the pain in his chest came from a shortness of breath.
*Wham.* Cole's side crashed into the wall as he dodged one of the doors that had abruptly swung open. Just as Cole regained his footing, he felt a hard impact on his stomach. A man had emerged from the door, attacking Cole in an instant.
The man raised a fist, and Cole swiftly reached out, catching the man's wrist. The two struggled for dominance as Alyx struggled to maintain her grip on Cole's back. Cole frowned slightly, pushing the man's fist away, it was too easy.
Cole easily caught the man's other hand as he threw out another clumsy punch. From the man's thick beard, Cole could tell that he was an adult, but it felt like he was struggling with a child. Cole shoved the man back through the door. The man tripped, landing on his side, head smacking into the ground. The man groaned softly, struggling to get to his feet. Cole slammed the door shut, turning away from the room to rush down the hall.
*Chk. Chk. Chk.* Cole froze as the numbered doors began swinging open. The exit which had seemed so close seemed to dash away as the hallway stretched, allowing numerous bodies to inhabit it.
Cole took a deep breath. Cole's body screamed at him to turn and run away, but he ignored the feeling, sprinting into the throes of the promised struggle.There was no turning back.
Cole barreled into the closest person to him, knocking the woman to the ground. He did not spare her a glance as he continued forward. The woman reached out desperately, trying to grab his ankle, as he rushed past.
The next to confront him were two broad shouldered men, whose large forms took up the entire corridor. The men reached toward him.
Cole did not slow, barring his arm into the man on the right's throat as he threw his, and Alyx's combined weight, into the burly figure. The man crashed unceremoniously into the ground, and Cole tensed to spring off the man, past his companion.
Something silver glinted in his periphery. "Don't shoot." Cole shouted and Alyx groaned as she flipped her gun around, slamming the butt into the other man.
"They aren't themselves." When he had taken a closer look at the man under him, Cole had noticed fluorescent lights scanning across the man's eyes, which looked vacant and empty. It was like they had not left the virtual world. They were being controlled by Harbor.
Reaching an arm back to steady Alyx, Cole sprang to his feet. From Alyx's labored breathing, Cole could tell that she would not be able to help him very much, if she did not fire her gun. Cole looked towards the exit, ignoring the countless bodies in the way. He would make it.
Cole lunged forward, ducking under a fist that came flying towards his face. He did not look back as he rushed past the owner of the punch. His energy would not be enough to deal with everyone in the hall, so he had decided to try and blitz past as many of them as possible.
This meant that he had to be faster than everyone he passed, or he would have to deal with them attacking Alyx. With his new strategy, Cole was able to make it further down the hall. Fortunately, he was running through a hall that housed rooms that only connected to the virtual, meaning that everyone he was fighting had bodies that had not fully recalibrated to the real world.
Long sessions of virtual reality often left a person's body stiff, meaning they did not have a full range of motions. Another factor that was aiding Cole's desperate rush, was that most members of Harbor did not have well trained bodies. They could look however they chose in the virtual, so there was little need to put effort into exercise in the ordinary world.
Cole grabbed at a clawed finger trying to scratch at Alyx, twisting it painfully. However, the owner of the twisted digit did not reel back in pain, instead attacking with the other hand. That was the main difficulty Cole was struggling against. Everyone in the hall was under the influence of Harbor, and even though they did not have the best tools to contend with Cole, the system used them with callous indifference.
It did not let them react to pain, it only allowed them to throw their entire body at Cole. What they were experiencing in the virtual while they fought, Cole had no idea, but he hoped they would return to their senses after he escaped.
*Thump.* Cole groaned as he was slammed into a wall, catapulting Alyx off of his shoulder. A heavyset woman had rammed into him, and Cole roared in frustration as he fought to toss her aside. From both sides he could see people rushing towards him, digital lights scrolling across their eyes.
Cole's body was aching, and it refused to overcome the woman, who must have weighed twice as much as him. Cole turned his head under the crushing force, seeing Alyx dragging herself along the ground towards her gun.
Cole felt a wave of panic crash over him as he saw another figure dashing towards the weapon. Alyx would not be the first person to reach the gun, and Cole could already see the blank faced man pointing the gun at Alyx.
Cole closed his eyes, tapping into the surge of adrenaline that came with the image of Alyx in danger. His muscles screamed as he forced the woman back. She barely moved, but it was enough space for Cole to drop to the ground, slamming her into the wall that he had been pressed against.
He dove through her legs before she collapsed on top of him, diving forward towards the gun. He felt a breath of relief as his fingers closed around the gun, but it was followed by a flash of pain as the man, who had been reaching for the gun, stamped on his hand.
Cole screamed wordlessly, allowing the shout to fuel his manic grab of the man's ankle. With frenzied force, he yanked on the ankle, sending the man crashing to the ground.
Cole scooped Alyx onto one his shoulders, returning her gun as he continued to barrel down the hall. The exit seemed so far.
Cole's mind was blank, and the different parts of his body competed for attention with their spurts of pain. The hat had been knocked off of his head, but blood still streamed down his face, numerous scratch marks welled with the red liquid. Cole didn't feel alive, but he had made it out of the hall.
*Bang. Bang.* Alyx fired her gun into the air, and the people in the main reception room cowered towards the ground. Cole forced his body forward, they had not escaped yet. With the threat of Alyx's gun ringing through the air, no one stopped them as they rushed out of the building.
Cole felt thankful that his body had gone numb as he felt a blanket of dust ripple over him. His already labored lungs whimpered in protest, but he felt a spark of joy. They were finally out of Harbor.
Alyx's vehicle was still where she had parked it, and Cole rushed over, setting Alyx onto one of the seats before collapsing. Alyx reached out and pushed a button, sending the vehicle into the air, and Cole laughed to himself.
Alyx had activated the auto pilot, but he could not enjoy the safe driving because his consciousness was fading.