What was once Washington DC
Crossing the rooftops of what had once been Washington DC with Jackal at her side wasn't how Allie had pictured rescuing Kanin. But as much as she was loathe to admit it, the other vampire had a point. Finding the mysterious government lab that had worked in conjunction with the now destroyed New Covington lab was probably the best way to get an idea of what Sarren was up to. And if there was a cure to Rabidism buried under the city, they had to find it.
After supplying Jackal and Allie with maps, thermoses of blood and a reluctant offer of a place to return if they absolutely had to, Azura had showed them out through a tunnel that led to an empty building beyond the fence and pointed them in the direction of the rabid nest.
The city beyond the fence was dark and eerie, overgrown with trees and brambles. It was easy enough for two vampires to climb to the top of the nearest building and pick their way over loose shingles and gaping holes. On the rooftops the path was clear as the moon lit their way.
On the streets it was a different story.
Rabids roamed the streets, skulking between cars, climbing out of window, loping along the crumbling sidewalks. They snarled and hissed at each other, blind in their rage and driven mad by the Hunger. And unfortunate possum tried scurrying across the road and was instantly pounced on by a rabid, who shoved the animal’s head between his jaws and ripped it in two. The smell of blood drew several more rabids to the area, and a vicious fight broke out as the rabids screamed and tore at each other for the remains of the creature.
Jackal
"So how'd Eden work out for you?" Jackal asked casually. Yes, he was being deliberately provocative, and he snickered before Allie could answer.
"Here's what I think happened. You got the little bloodbags to Eden, like you said you would, but oh, they couldn't let a vampire into the city, now could they? That would just cause a panic, having a wolf walking among the sheep. So they either turned you away or drove you off. And your little friends, the humans that you rescued from the big bad raider king, the people you stuck your neck out for, they didn't do anything. Because they knew the others were right. Because you're a monster who kills humans to live, and no matter how much you tell yourself otherwise, that's all you'll ever be."
Allie
Maybe, if Allie hadn't stumbled upon Fandom, she'd be more bitter about being turned away from Eden. Oh, who was she kidding. She was still bitter, but it was tempered by thoughts of Fandom and the friends she'd made there. Of easy conversation with Mike at the bar or quiet mornings in the park visiting with Kaidan and the flamingos.
"Tell me again why I'm helping you?" Allie sighed.
Jackal
"Because you know I'm right, sister," Jackal laughed. "You can deny it until the sky falls down, bu you're only fooling yourself."
Allie
"You don't know me." He snickered and Allie whirled to face him. "And another thing. Stop calling me 'sister'. We're not related just because Kanin sired us both. I have a name. Allison. Use it."
Jackal
"Sure thing, Allison," Jackal sneered, baring his fangs.
"But we both know the truth. Vampire blood is stronger than family ties. Our blood links us together in a way they can't even imagine. Why do you think you could sense where I was, where Kanin is? Because you're getting stronger, and the stronger the vamp, the easier it becomes to know where the members of your particular family are at any time. That's why most covens are all members of the Prince's family, the ones he sired himself. He can sense where they are, and sometimes even what they're thinking. Makes it hard for them to turn on him. But the tie goes both ways."
Allie
Unconsciously Allie lifted her hand to her chest, remembering the pain that had woken her screaming from her sleep. "That's why we've had the dreams. Why we've been able to sense him."
Jackal
Jackal stared off to the west for a moment. "Yep," he said. "And each other, to a lesser extent. But the strongest pull is toward our sire, or at least, it was until he went into hibernation. It doesn't work as well if the vampire is close to death, but it's still there. Because in some small, subconscious way, Kanin is calling for us."
Allie
Kanin was waiting for them. Calling to them, Allie reminded herself several hours later. The map said the entrance to the subway should be on the street below them, but so far they hadn't spotted it.
Jackal stood on the edge of the rooftop, fiddling with the map and ignoring the rabids passing in the shadows on the street below. For an instance Allie debated pushing him off the edge into the group of rabids and seeing if he could survive. A dark voice inside her head urged her to do it now while he wasn't looking. That he would do it to her if their positions were reversed.
Allie shook off the thought. That would make her just like him.
The rabid pack moved away, hissing and snarling as they crossed the street.
And vanished beneath a pile of rubble.
"Hey, I think I found it."
Jackal
Hey, Jackal would approve of that way of thinking.
They dropped down to the street, keeping a close eye out for any rabids still lurking behind cars or around buildings, and warily approached the spot where the pack had disappeared. The building next door had partially fallen, and the ground was strewn with broken glass, steel, and cement. But beneath a collapsed overhang, a tiny, nearly invisible hole snaked down into the darkness.
"Ladies first," Jackal said, grinning at Allie.
Allie
Allie rolled her eyes at him before crouching down and peering inside the dark opening. Cold, dry air wafted out, smelling of dust and rot and decay.
Drawing her sword, she turned the hilt backwards and tucked the blade flat against her arm. If something came out of the darkness at her, she was going to be prepared.
Without hesitation she slipped into the darkness and found herself at the top of a flight of stairs.
Jackal
Jackal slid in behind her, dropping to the stairs with a grunt. "All right," he muttered as he straightened -- or, well, tried to straighten, because he had to keep bent over to avoid hitting his head on the low ceiling.
He shook out the map and squinted at it in the dark. "So, according to this, we have to take the red line North to get to the nest, which will be somewhere around this area." He circled his finger around a rather vague point on the map.
Allie
"But you don't know exactly where," she observed.
"So we're going in blind. Searching for a lab that may or may not be there. In the middle of a massive nest of rabids that would love to tear us apart."
Who thought this was a good idea again?
Jackal
"Exciting, isn't it?" Jackal said, grinning as he folded the map and slid it into a pocket of his duster. "It's moments like this that really make you appreciate immortal life. Don't you love it, sister? Doesn't it make you feel alive?"
Allie
"I just want to find the lab and get in and out in one piece." That wasn't really an answer to his question.
Allie started down the stairs, her eyes darting about as the stairs ended and they wound up in a huge, domed tunnel.
Jackal
Rails lined both sides of an empty platform. Jackal walked to the edge and dropped down to the tracks below, peering down into the tunnel. "No sign of rabids," he said. "At least not yet."
He glanced over his shoulder at Allie. "You coming or not?"
Allie
"What's the matter?" Allie asked as she gracefully leaped down to the tracks next to him. "Need someone to hold your hand in the dark?"
Jackal
Jackal laughed, and the sound bounced off the domed ceiling. "See, this is why I like you, sister," he said, conveniently forgetting to use her name again. "You and me, we're exactly the same."
Allie
I'm nothing like you, But Allie kept the thought to herself, even as Jackal's words kept repeating in her head.
They moved deeper into the tunnels as the hours passed, listening for the shuffling of feet or the skittering of claws over rocks. The rabids they did come across had been easily dealt with by Allie's sword or the fire ax Jackal swung with vicious force.
"Where is this stupid lab?" Allie muttered. "I feel like we've been walking in circles all night."
Jackal
Jackal opened his mouth to reply, then frowned instead as he peered into the darkness. "Do you hear that?" he said in a low voice.
Allie
"No. What?" she asked even as they kept quietly creeping forward.
The tunnel narrowed down and the hair on the back of Allie's next raised as the stench of dead, rotting flesh slithered down the tunnel. She could hear them now, the low growls and hisses that meant rabids were near.
Allie pulled out her sword as the tunnel ended abruptly into open air in front of them, and a rusty narrow catwalk stretched out over nothing. She edged forward and peered down, into the darkness.
Jackal
"Shit," Jackal said. It was an understatement.
They were on the edge of a massive round chamber, the walls soaring up another fifteen feet above them. A narrow metal bridge stretched to another tunnel on the opposite side, a good two hundred feet across. And below, twenty feet down, the cement floor was a shifting, roiling carpet of pale bodies and jagged fangs. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of rabids filled the chamber, growling, hissing, moving about the room like a swarm of ants, coming in and out of tunnels and pipes.
"Well," Jackal said, amused. "I think it's safe to say we found the nest." He gave the catwalk an experimental shake; it creaked and sent flakes of rust drifting to the horde below. "Doesn't seem very sturdy, does it? This is going to be interesting."
Allie
Allie looked at the catwalk, then looked at the floor full of rabids, then looked at the catwalk again. "You can't be serious."
Jackal
He shot her a challenging smirk. "Do you see any other way across?" he said. "I thought you were so anxious to find the lab."
Allie
"Fine," she said, meeting his smirk with one of her own. "After you then."
Jackal
Jackal shrugged, then took a careful step out on to the bridge, gingerly testing it for weakness. The catwalk groaned but held, and he looked over his shoulder with a grin.
"Afraid of heights, sister? Need me to carry you across?"
Allie
"Just save the smart comments until you're on the other side."
She watched as he rolled his eyes before turning and walking across the gap with unnatural grace. The catwalk creaked and groaned horribly under his weight and Allie bit her lip, certain it was going to crash down under his weight and send Jackal to his death.
On the floor below, the rabids noticed him passing over head and their shrieks and snarls rose as they gazed up hungrily. Some of them began leaping for the catwalk, reaching with their claws. They didn't quite make it, but it was terribly close.
When Jackal reached the end, he turned and beckeoned Allie forward with a grin.
The hisses and screams of the rabids were deafening in the chamber as Allie stepped onto the catwalk. Just one step at a time.
Keeping her eyes forward, she started across the catwalk, putting one foot in front of the other as lightly as she could. With no railings to hold onto, Allie focused on maintaining her balance, even as the the bridge swayed and groaned. She made it to the center, carefully stepping over the gaping holes in the mesh floor and was nearing the end when her luck ran out.
A rabid leaped from the floor, lashed out, and struck the bottom of the catwalk with a screech. The walkway jerked, then let out a groan as one side of the bridge shuddered and began to twist.
Fear shot through Allie as she made a frantic jump for the edge of the tunnel just as the catwalk snapped and fell. She hit the wall a few inches from the edge and clawed for a handhold, as her fingers scrabbled against the smooth wall.
Jackal
Jackal had been keeping a close eye on Allie's progress and the rabids below. As Allie began to fall, he cursed and dropped to the ground, bracing himself as he reached out and caught her wrist. He didn't have a lot of leverage from his position, but he struggled to pull her up to safety.
The snarling rabid jumping on her back didn't make things any easier. Jackal kept his grip despite the extra weight, managing to anchor himself enough to allow him to reach down over Allie's back with his other hand so he could unsheathe her katana. He stabbed at the rabid, and it screeched and fell back down to the mob below. Another strong pull and he had Allie up in the tunnel. He glared defiantly down at the rabids.
Allie
Allie collapsed against the wall and stared as Jackal approached her and held out her sword hilt first.
He'd saved her life.
"Thanks," she said as she took the sword carefully.
Jackal
The smug look on Jackal's face faded into something that wasn't completely obnoxious at her murmur of thanks. "No problem, little sister," he said.
But his usual leer quickly returned. "So, I think I'm entitled to a smart comment or two, don't you think?" he said. "Comment number one -- how much do you weigh to snap the bridge like that? I thought you Asians were supposed to be petite and dainty."
Allie
So much for touching family moments.
The hilt of her sword snapped against its sheath with a little more force then necessary as Allie glared. "Just when I thought you weren't a complete bastard."
There was a sharp clang from the pit as a rabid landed on the tunnel rim with a snarl. Allie snarled back and kicked it in the chest, sending it crashing back down below. A quick glance down into the pit made her realize that the catwalk had fallen against the wall the rabids were using it to scrabble up to the tunnel. She drew her sword again and slashed at the nearest rabid.
Jackal
Jackal grabbed the back of Allie's coat and yanked her away. "No time for that!" he said. "The whole nest will be up here in a second. Come on!"
Allie
He had a point. Allie tugged free of his grip and spun. As the shrieks and wails of the rabids intensified, they bolted down the tunnel.
A few miles of tunnels later, they still hadn't outrun the horde and were no closer to finding the entrance to lab. Tucked into a narrow corridor, Allie grumbled impatiently to herself as Jackal checked the maps.
Jackal
"Sorry, I don't see a big X with the words Top Secret Government Laboratory on the map," Jackal said, annoyed. "Did you?"
A rabid dropped down from an opening overhead and landed in front of them. Without missing a beat, Jackal whirled his ax and struck it under the jaw, smashing it aside.
"All right, where the hell are we?" he muttered, shaking out the map again. He began to walk down the corridor, weaving around fallen beams and pipes.
Allie
Allie was rapidly losing patience as she followed him. "You know they're right on our tail."
Jackal
"Kind of hard to look at the map when you're rushing me along," Jackal sighed. "Make up your mind, sister."
He walked by a tall square pillar that jutted out of the wall; two sliding doors stood half-open at the front, and a cool breeze wafted out of the crack. "Okay, there's the subway tunnels," he muttered, still studying the map but walking a little faster now. "And there's the entrance we came in...wait a second." He stopped and turned, looking back the way they'd came.
Allie
"Hey, where are you going?" she demanded as he started walking back towards the approaching horde. "Usually you want to move away from certain death!"
Jackal
Jackal stopped at the long, square pillar. "Yeah, I thought so," he muttered. "This isn't on the map, and there shouldn't be anything down there. Get over here and look at this. He's been here."
Allie
"Sarren?" Allie asked, already knowing the answer. She trotted over to where Jackal was studying a pair of sliding doors. The metal was crumpled, as if something had slipped iron like fingers in between them and pulled them apart.
She peered through the gap into the narrow shaft as it disappeared into the dark. It seemed like it was a long, long way down.
A howl sounded and rabids spilled into the corridor, charging forward when they spotted Allie and Jackal.
Jackal
"Move, sister!" Jackal yelled, pushing Allie through the opening, trusting her to catch herself before plummeting to the bottom. He squeezed through the doors and swung himself onto a rusty ladder set into one side of the wall.
"Meet you down there," he said, grinning at Allie.
Allie
Grabbing at the thick cables hanging in the shaft, Allie grimaced as they stopped her fall. "You are so lucky I can't reach you right now."
Anything else she might have said was lost when a rabid slammed into the door frame and shrieked as it leaped and grabbed the cables next to Allie. Claws slashed and she yelled, kicking out as she swung herself out of reach on the cables.
The rabid shimmied through the cables after her and lunged at her face, fangs bared. Allie threw up her arm and let the jagged teeth sink into her coat and skin before yanking it to the side, ripping the rabid off his cable and sending him plunging into the darkness. It was a long time before she heard him hit bottom.
Overhead more rabids crowded the door, but none were willing to jump.
Grateful for small favors, Allie spotted Jackal on his ladder several yards below her. Muttering curses, she began her own climb into the darkness.
Jackal
Jackal climbed down the shaft, unable to see the top or bottom in the darkness. It went down at least a couple hundred feet before he finally reached bottom, which seemed to be a large metal box at the bottom of the cables. There was an open hatch in the center of the box, and the rabid Allie had thrown down lay in the crack against the wall, its skull smashed open.
He smirked at Allie as she slid down the cables to join him. "Looks like we're on the right trail," he said, pointing to the hatch. "After you."
Allie
Allie pulled her sword and dropped through the hatch and into the box. The metal doors here were pried open as well. A long hallway was beyond the opening, ending in two thick metal doors.
"It looks like we found it."
Jackal
Jackal hit the floor beside Allie, his duster settling around him, then straightened, giving the entrance a shrewd look. "All right, you bastard," he muttered, starting forward. "What were you looking for down here?"
They stepped through the doors together and stepped into a dark, chilling room.
After supplying Jackal and Allie with maps, thermoses of blood and a reluctant offer of a place to return if they absolutely had to, Azura had showed them out through a tunnel that led to an empty building beyond the fence and pointed them in the direction of the rabid nest.
The city beyond the fence was dark and eerie, overgrown with trees and brambles. It was easy enough for two vampires to climb to the top of the nearest building and pick their way over loose shingles and gaping holes. On the rooftops the path was clear as the moon lit their way.
On the streets it was a different story.
Rabids roamed the streets, skulking between cars, climbing out of window, loping along the crumbling sidewalks. They snarled and hissed at each other, blind in their rage and driven mad by the Hunger. And unfortunate possum tried scurrying across the road and was instantly pounced on by a rabid, who shoved the animal’s head between his jaws and ripped it in two. The smell of blood drew several more rabids to the area, and a vicious fight broke out as the rabids screamed and tore at each other for the remains of the creature.
Jackal
"So how'd Eden work out for you?" Jackal asked casually. Yes, he was being deliberately provocative, and he snickered before Allie could answer.
"Here's what I think happened. You got the little bloodbags to Eden, like you said you would, but oh, they couldn't let a vampire into the city, now could they? That would just cause a panic, having a wolf walking among the sheep. So they either turned you away or drove you off. And your little friends, the humans that you rescued from the big bad raider king, the people you stuck your neck out for, they didn't do anything. Because they knew the others were right. Because you're a monster who kills humans to live, and no matter how much you tell yourself otherwise, that's all you'll ever be."
Allie
Maybe, if Allie hadn't stumbled upon Fandom, she'd be more bitter about being turned away from Eden. Oh, who was she kidding. She was still bitter, but it was tempered by thoughts of Fandom and the friends she'd made there. Of easy conversation with Mike at the bar or quiet mornings in the park visiting with Kaidan and the flamingos.
"Tell me again why I'm helping you?" Allie sighed.
Jackal
"Because you know I'm right, sister," Jackal laughed. "You can deny it until the sky falls down, bu you're only fooling yourself."
Allie
"You don't know me." He snickered and Allie whirled to face him. "And another thing. Stop calling me 'sister'. We're not related just because Kanin sired us both. I have a name. Allison. Use it."
Jackal
"Sure thing, Allison," Jackal sneered, baring his fangs.
"But we both know the truth. Vampire blood is stronger than family ties. Our blood links us together in a way they can't even imagine. Why do you think you could sense where I was, where Kanin is? Because you're getting stronger, and the stronger the vamp, the easier it becomes to know where the members of your particular family are at any time. That's why most covens are all members of the Prince's family, the ones he sired himself. He can sense where they are, and sometimes even what they're thinking. Makes it hard for them to turn on him. But the tie goes both ways."
Allie
Unconsciously Allie lifted her hand to her chest, remembering the pain that had woken her screaming from her sleep. "That's why we've had the dreams. Why we've been able to sense him."
Jackal
Jackal stared off to the west for a moment. "Yep," he said. "And each other, to a lesser extent. But the strongest pull is toward our sire, or at least, it was until he went into hibernation. It doesn't work as well if the vampire is close to death, but it's still there. Because in some small, subconscious way, Kanin is calling for us."
Allie
Kanin was waiting for them. Calling to them, Allie reminded herself several hours later. The map said the entrance to the subway should be on the street below them, but so far they hadn't spotted it.
Jackal stood on the edge of the rooftop, fiddling with the map and ignoring the rabids passing in the shadows on the street below. For an instance Allie debated pushing him off the edge into the group of rabids and seeing if he could survive. A dark voice inside her head urged her to do it now while he wasn't looking. That he would do it to her if their positions were reversed.
Allie shook off the thought. That would make her just like him.
The rabid pack moved away, hissing and snarling as they crossed the street.
And vanished beneath a pile of rubble.
"Hey, I think I found it."
Jackal
Hey, Jackal would approve of that way of thinking.
They dropped down to the street, keeping a close eye out for any rabids still lurking behind cars or around buildings, and warily approached the spot where the pack had disappeared. The building next door had partially fallen, and the ground was strewn with broken glass, steel, and cement. But beneath a collapsed overhang, a tiny, nearly invisible hole snaked down into the darkness.
"Ladies first," Jackal said, grinning at Allie.
Allie
Allie rolled her eyes at him before crouching down and peering inside the dark opening. Cold, dry air wafted out, smelling of dust and rot and decay.
Drawing her sword, she turned the hilt backwards and tucked the blade flat against her arm. If something came out of the darkness at her, she was going to be prepared.
Without hesitation she slipped into the darkness and found herself at the top of a flight of stairs.
Jackal
Jackal slid in behind her, dropping to the stairs with a grunt. "All right," he muttered as he straightened -- or, well, tried to straighten, because he had to keep bent over to avoid hitting his head on the low ceiling.
He shook out the map and squinted at it in the dark. "So, according to this, we have to take the red line North to get to the nest, which will be somewhere around this area." He circled his finger around a rather vague point on the map.
Allie
"But you don't know exactly where," she observed.
"So we're going in blind. Searching for a lab that may or may not be there. In the middle of a massive nest of rabids that would love to tear us apart."
Who thought this was a good idea again?
Jackal
"Exciting, isn't it?" Jackal said, grinning as he folded the map and slid it into a pocket of his duster. "It's moments like this that really make you appreciate immortal life. Don't you love it, sister? Doesn't it make you feel alive?"
Allie
"I just want to find the lab and get in and out in one piece." That wasn't really an answer to his question.
Allie started down the stairs, her eyes darting about as the stairs ended and they wound up in a huge, domed tunnel.
Jackal
Rails lined both sides of an empty platform. Jackal walked to the edge and dropped down to the tracks below, peering down into the tunnel. "No sign of rabids," he said. "At least not yet."
He glanced over his shoulder at Allie. "You coming or not?"
Allie
"What's the matter?" Allie asked as she gracefully leaped down to the tracks next to him. "Need someone to hold your hand in the dark?"
Jackal
Jackal laughed, and the sound bounced off the domed ceiling. "See, this is why I like you, sister," he said, conveniently forgetting to use her name again. "You and me, we're exactly the same."
Allie
I'm nothing like you, But Allie kept the thought to herself, even as Jackal's words kept repeating in her head.
They moved deeper into the tunnels as the hours passed, listening for the shuffling of feet or the skittering of claws over rocks. The rabids they did come across had been easily dealt with by Allie's sword or the fire ax Jackal swung with vicious force.
"Where is this stupid lab?" Allie muttered. "I feel like we've been walking in circles all night."
Jackal
Jackal opened his mouth to reply, then frowned instead as he peered into the darkness. "Do you hear that?" he said in a low voice.
Allie
"No. What?" she asked even as they kept quietly creeping forward.
The tunnel narrowed down and the hair on the back of Allie's next raised as the stench of dead, rotting flesh slithered down the tunnel. She could hear them now, the low growls and hisses that meant rabids were near.
Allie pulled out her sword as the tunnel ended abruptly into open air in front of them, and a rusty narrow catwalk stretched out over nothing. She edged forward and peered down, into the darkness.
Jackal
"Shit," Jackal said. It was an understatement.
They were on the edge of a massive round chamber, the walls soaring up another fifteen feet above them. A narrow metal bridge stretched to another tunnel on the opposite side, a good two hundred feet across. And below, twenty feet down, the cement floor was a shifting, roiling carpet of pale bodies and jagged fangs. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of rabids filled the chamber, growling, hissing, moving about the room like a swarm of ants, coming in and out of tunnels and pipes.
"Well," Jackal said, amused. "I think it's safe to say we found the nest." He gave the catwalk an experimental shake; it creaked and sent flakes of rust drifting to the horde below. "Doesn't seem very sturdy, does it? This is going to be interesting."
Allie
Allie looked at the catwalk, then looked at the floor full of rabids, then looked at the catwalk again. "You can't be serious."
Jackal
He shot her a challenging smirk. "Do you see any other way across?" he said. "I thought you were so anxious to find the lab."
Allie
"Fine," she said, meeting his smirk with one of her own. "After you then."
Jackal
Jackal shrugged, then took a careful step out on to the bridge, gingerly testing it for weakness. The catwalk groaned but held, and he looked over his shoulder with a grin.
"Afraid of heights, sister? Need me to carry you across?"
Allie
"Just save the smart comments until you're on the other side."
She watched as he rolled his eyes before turning and walking across the gap with unnatural grace. The catwalk creaked and groaned horribly under his weight and Allie bit her lip, certain it was going to crash down under his weight and send Jackal to his death.
On the floor below, the rabids noticed him passing over head and their shrieks and snarls rose as they gazed up hungrily. Some of them began leaping for the catwalk, reaching with their claws. They didn't quite make it, but it was terribly close.
When Jackal reached the end, he turned and beckeoned Allie forward with a grin.
The hisses and screams of the rabids were deafening in the chamber as Allie stepped onto the catwalk. Just one step at a time.
Keeping her eyes forward, she started across the catwalk, putting one foot in front of the other as lightly as she could. With no railings to hold onto, Allie focused on maintaining her balance, even as the the bridge swayed and groaned. She made it to the center, carefully stepping over the gaping holes in the mesh floor and was nearing the end when her luck ran out.
A rabid leaped from the floor, lashed out, and struck the bottom of the catwalk with a screech. The walkway jerked, then let out a groan as one side of the bridge shuddered and began to twist.
Fear shot through Allie as she made a frantic jump for the edge of the tunnel just as the catwalk snapped and fell. She hit the wall a few inches from the edge and clawed for a handhold, as her fingers scrabbled against the smooth wall.
Jackal
Jackal had been keeping a close eye on Allie's progress and the rabids below. As Allie began to fall, he cursed and dropped to the ground, bracing himself as he reached out and caught her wrist. He didn't have a lot of leverage from his position, but he struggled to pull her up to safety.
The snarling rabid jumping on her back didn't make things any easier. Jackal kept his grip despite the extra weight, managing to anchor himself enough to allow him to reach down over Allie's back with his other hand so he could unsheathe her katana. He stabbed at the rabid, and it screeched and fell back down to the mob below. Another strong pull and he had Allie up in the tunnel. He glared defiantly down at the rabids.
Allie
Allie collapsed against the wall and stared as Jackal approached her and held out her sword hilt first.
He'd saved her life.
"Thanks," she said as she took the sword carefully.
Jackal
The smug look on Jackal's face faded into something that wasn't completely obnoxious at her murmur of thanks. "No problem, little sister," he said.
But his usual leer quickly returned. "So, I think I'm entitled to a smart comment or two, don't you think?" he said. "Comment number one -- how much do you weigh to snap the bridge like that? I thought you Asians were supposed to be petite and dainty."
Allie
So much for touching family moments.
The hilt of her sword snapped against its sheath with a little more force then necessary as Allie glared. "Just when I thought you weren't a complete bastard."
There was a sharp clang from the pit as a rabid landed on the tunnel rim with a snarl. Allie snarled back and kicked it in the chest, sending it crashing back down below. A quick glance down into the pit made her realize that the catwalk had fallen against the wall the rabids were using it to scrabble up to the tunnel. She drew her sword again and slashed at the nearest rabid.
Jackal
Jackal grabbed the back of Allie's coat and yanked her away. "No time for that!" he said. "The whole nest will be up here in a second. Come on!"
Allie
He had a point. Allie tugged free of his grip and spun. As the shrieks and wails of the rabids intensified, they bolted down the tunnel.
A few miles of tunnels later, they still hadn't outrun the horde and were no closer to finding the entrance to lab. Tucked into a narrow corridor, Allie grumbled impatiently to herself as Jackal checked the maps.
Jackal
"Sorry, I don't see a big X with the words Top Secret Government Laboratory on the map," Jackal said, annoyed. "Did you?"
A rabid dropped down from an opening overhead and landed in front of them. Without missing a beat, Jackal whirled his ax and struck it under the jaw, smashing it aside.
"All right, where the hell are we?" he muttered, shaking out the map again. He began to walk down the corridor, weaving around fallen beams and pipes.
Allie
Allie was rapidly losing patience as she followed him. "You know they're right on our tail."
Jackal
"Kind of hard to look at the map when you're rushing me along," Jackal sighed. "Make up your mind, sister."
He walked by a tall square pillar that jutted out of the wall; two sliding doors stood half-open at the front, and a cool breeze wafted out of the crack. "Okay, there's the subway tunnels," he muttered, still studying the map but walking a little faster now. "And there's the entrance we came in...wait a second." He stopped and turned, looking back the way they'd came.
Allie
"Hey, where are you going?" she demanded as he started walking back towards the approaching horde. "Usually you want to move away from certain death!"
Jackal
Jackal stopped at the long, square pillar. "Yeah, I thought so," he muttered. "This isn't on the map, and there shouldn't be anything down there. Get over here and look at this. He's been here."
Allie
"Sarren?" Allie asked, already knowing the answer. She trotted over to where Jackal was studying a pair of sliding doors. The metal was crumpled, as if something had slipped iron like fingers in between them and pulled them apart.
She peered through the gap into the narrow shaft as it disappeared into the dark. It seemed like it was a long, long way down.
A howl sounded and rabids spilled into the corridor, charging forward when they spotted Allie and Jackal.
Jackal
"Move, sister!" Jackal yelled, pushing Allie through the opening, trusting her to catch herself before plummeting to the bottom. He squeezed through the doors and swung himself onto a rusty ladder set into one side of the wall.
"Meet you down there," he said, grinning at Allie.
Allie
Grabbing at the thick cables hanging in the shaft, Allie grimaced as they stopped her fall. "You are so lucky I can't reach you right now."
Anything else she might have said was lost when a rabid slammed into the door frame and shrieked as it leaped and grabbed the cables next to Allie. Claws slashed and she yelled, kicking out as she swung herself out of reach on the cables.
The rabid shimmied through the cables after her and lunged at her face, fangs bared. Allie threw up her arm and let the jagged teeth sink into her coat and skin before yanking it to the side, ripping the rabid off his cable and sending him plunging into the darkness. It was a long time before she heard him hit bottom.
Overhead more rabids crowded the door, but none were willing to jump.
Grateful for small favors, Allie spotted Jackal on his ladder several yards below her. Muttering curses, she began her own climb into the darkness.
Jackal
Jackal climbed down the shaft, unable to see the top or bottom in the darkness. It went down at least a couple hundred feet before he finally reached bottom, which seemed to be a large metal box at the bottom of the cables. There was an open hatch in the center of the box, and the rabid Allie had thrown down lay in the crack against the wall, its skull smashed open.
He smirked at Allie as she slid down the cables to join him. "Looks like we're on the right trail," he said, pointing to the hatch. "After you."
Allie
Allie pulled her sword and dropped through the hatch and into the box. The metal doors here were pried open as well. A long hallway was beyond the opening, ending in two thick metal doors.
"It looks like we found it."
Jackal
Jackal hit the floor beside Allie, his duster settling around him, then straightened, giving the entrance a shrewd look. "All right, you bastard," he muttered, starting forward. "What were you looking for down here?"
They stepped through the doors together and stepped into a dark, chilling room.