"Normally, I would prefer to have all of you properly trained in wearing these suits, but the danger of the Anomaly appearing without warning is higher than your ignorance of the equipment." Bella looked at each of them, trying to drive in her next words. "Each of you is equipped with several firearms and cold weapons. Unless I tell you guys. I repeat. Unless I tell you guys, you'll ABSOLUTELY not use them. Don't even remove them from the holsters." Her words dripped with authority.

Liam raised a hand. "Just holding them should be okay, right? I remember learning about guns having safeties."

"You're right. If the guns you carried had safeties." Katya chuckled in amusement, her face once again hidden from them.

Seeing how Katya had activated the suits concealment feature, Helen rolled her eyes. "It's like she enjoys how we're on edge around her." She took a heavy breath, feeling the slight delay of the air being sucked in through the filters. It was taking a little bit of getting used to breathing while wearing a gas mask, but she appreciated the thought of being, relatively, safe in the new world they would be seeing beyond the portal.

Several of her friends were startled upon hearing Katya's words, moving their hands quickly away from the weapons strapped on their bodies. When Michelle slightly brushed up against Liam, he yelped in surprise.

Observing how tense the information she gave had made them, Bella shook her head slowly.

"As long as you don't pull them out of their holsters, you'll be okay," Catharina tried to calm them down. "The holsters are designed in a way to handle fast movement and tumbling often occurring in our line of work. We've never experienced an incident where they randomly discharge."

"Catharina is correct. I've already instructed Catharina and her teammates to keep an eye out for you, to prevent any unwanted accidents." She breathed in deeply. "Each of you has grabbed a pack. I believe it's time we say farewell to our home." Her voice was lower than usual from the thought of abandoning the world they were born on.

It was a sentiment shared amongst them all, thinking of everything they cherished being left behind, especially for Helen and her friends, who'd be leaving behind their family inside of the community due to their inability to get out of the forest and survive.

Thinking of their family waiting for their return made her sad, looking at Abigail and wondering how Abigail's mother would handle never knowing what happened to her daughter. Though, Helen also thought about the creatures and their movement away from the forest leading to the eventual discovery of their home.

"Even if we were there... It's not like any of us could do anything to fight those things." Helen frowned bitterly.

Moving a hand to the gun strapped to the side of her chest, "These things would, likely, not even do anything."

A concerned voice interrupted her thoughts. "You okay?"

Jumping, Helen turned to the sound of the voice, noticing Catharina had walked over to where she was.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to startle you." Catharina took a step back.

Raising a hand and shaking her head, "No. I was just thinking about how we'll need to leave behind everything we know." The filter made a loud noise as she breathed in and sighed.

"Let's go," Bella called out to the group. "I want us through the portal as quickly as possible."

Resting a hand on Helen's shoulder, Catharina guided Helen in the direction everyone was beginning to move towards. There was a wide hallway with a sign on the ceiling stating "Authorize Personnel Only!"

"I think the Squad Leader has the right idea about going through the portal. We don't have much of an option at this point..." Her voice trailed off.

"You leaving someone behind?" Helen could hear the sadness in the woman's voice.

Shaking her head, "From the reports, everyone in the Capital is dead... My little sister... Being in a wheelchair..." Catharina's hand dropped back to her side.

Hearing such news, Helen didn't know what to say.

The two of them walked in silence, both thinking of what lay ahead and people left behind.

Walking down the hallway, thick power cables were connected to the ceiling. Some pipes ran parallel, some of them labeled, "Liquid Nitrogen," "Salt Water," and "Data - 1."

"The portals draw in massive amounts of energy from a geothermic energy source beneath it. These pipes come in through secured methods and isolate this area from the rest of the building, which you know already." Catharina pointed at the pipes.

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Hearing the explanation, many in her group nodded in wonder.

"Liquid nitrogen... Isn't that the really cold liquid?" Liam turned to look at Michelle and the others.

Chuckling, "Cold doesn't even cover it. If you were to keep your hand inside of it long enough, you'd find out what it means to shatter your hand." Timothy playfully pushed Liam.

"I think I understand the reason for it. My mask is telling me the temperature is increasing." Rodger said to the group. "I can only imagine how much I'd be sweating."

The girl named Sin, who'd placed the suits they were wearing down back in the main area maneuvered closer to them. In a flat tone, "It doesn't get much hotter than what's on your monitor. Even without the suit, all of you would just find it similar to a hot summer day without the air conditioning."

"Sin's right. Most of the people working on the portal project would wear protective suits, but this was only precautionary. The safety mechanism is to such a degree, where not even the incident with the Anamoly caused any issues. All of them are still active and waiting for people to enter into them, from before the incident." Catharina chimed in sounding relaxed.

Ahead of them, Helen saw a large security door half-opened, parts of it bent from some external force applied to it. On the corners of the door were spinning lights, alternating between a yellow and red light. It screamed caution as if warning off those approaching it.

"I'm starting to understand why Bella wanted to leave this place in such a hurry," Katya's voice was filled with wonder and curiosity.

As they passed through the entrance, Katya walked up to one of the doors and placed a hand on it. Her hands moved to the areas which were bent.

"Confirms my thoughts." Katya sounded troubled.

Not bothering to turn about, Bella's voice sounded solemn. "Do you believe me now?"

"Fuck..." Katya hissed. "Those bastards..."

"You wanted the money," Bella stopped and looked back.

Moving away from the destroyed door, Katya didn't even answer. Her movements were the usual smooth and graceful manner, but Helen felt like she noticed a slight difference. "Is this in regards to her accepting the contract?"

In front of them were a dozen closed metal containers with a darkened window in front. They appeared to look similar to wardrobes, even having handles on the front. Each one had a large circular looking lock embedded in them.

Sighing, "I don't know which one is going to be safe for us to use." Bella stared at the containers that could just as easily be our coffins, allowing us to play a guessing game of how we would all die. "Fuck it." Looking at one of the women, Bella snapped a finger. "Kelly. You pick. Use that creepy ability of yours."

A woman with slicked back long black hair rolled her eyes. "Squad Leader, I told you to stop saying I have a creepy ability."

"Then give me back my money!" Another woman shouted at Kelly.

Kelly looked away, ignoring the comment. Looking sideways at Bella, she shoulders deflated as she gave us. "Fine." She muttered under her breath, walking to one of the containers. Not even bothering to think about it, she just grabbed the locking mechanism of the one nearest one and turned it open.

A loud hiss was made, the lights in the room dimming a second as if the device was pulling out too much power as it was opened.

"What the hell is that noise?!" Helen shouted as the room was exposed to a whining noise. It sounded as if thousands of nails were dragged across a chalkboard. Her vision tilted for a moment.

It felt as if the world was slanting to one side in addition to an earthquake. Helen felt her mind being torn apart, as she tried to hold everything in. Her eyes were watering but still searched for Abigail. Feeling her thoughts pulled out of her mind, she saw Abigail laying on her back. The sight was unusual and Helen struggled to figure out what Abigail was doing.

"Helen!"

The earthquake grew in intensity, successfully throwing thoughts of Abigail into disarray.

"Helen!"

It felt as if something was happening, but she was confused.

"Overriding user by the direction of the Squad Leader. Detecting unusual wavelengths. Commencing Environmental Protocols."

The world went black.