Helen stared at the weapon directed at her, both hands raised as she came to a complete stop. The sight of two women in form-fitting protective outfits while wearing gasmasks wasn't something she was expecting ever to see in her lifetime.

"Who are you, people?!" Helen heard Rodger demand in alarm from outside of the room.

Turning her head, she saw Sheila, Rodger, Liam, and Michelle back into the room. A gun was seen as it was trained on her group of friends. It didn't take long before several more women of a similar appearance were revealed.

"What did you do with Abigail?!" Helen demanded at the women.

One of them turned their heads and looked back at Helen. "Your friend is okay. She is still propped up against the wall."

"How did you people get into this facility?" The woman who demanded an explanation asked again.

Still laying on the ground, Timothy explained, "We came in through the entrance."

Pulling out a device from one of the many pouches strapped around their bodies, the second woman in the living room said, "State your identification number."

"Char-lee, Zeero, Zeero, Zeero, Five, Nin-er, Tree, Wun, Ait," Timothy listed off a series of words and numbers.

Helen didn't know what Timothy was saying, finding the way he pronounced the words and numbers to be strange. She noticed the woman typing into a device. None of them said anything, standing tensely.

Without warning, the woman lowered her weapons. Helen looked and saw the others doing the same, looking for relaxed compared to previously.

"How did you gain access to this place?" The first woman asked Timothy. "Was it your father?"

Sighing in relief, Timothy got back up. He didn't look too happy before saying, "Yeah. He informed me about setting up a back-door for me in case something happened."

"Seems you fucked that up. We noticed your friend out there. Instead of being responsible and not spitting in your father's face, who could have been sent away for the shit he pulled, you gave access to a spy." Her voice sounding disgusted by Timothy's actions.

Timothy hung his head down, no longer looking like the guy they had seen when first entering this building. Helen saw the Timothy they had all gotten to know and thought was their friend. It made her wonder who these people were to make Timothy revert to his previous self. A part of her did feel secretly happy that he was getting put to task, especially with how he recently behaved towards them.

"Did any of you witness the anomaly on your way here?" The woman who had the device asked, as she secured it.

"Anomaly?" Helen couldn't help herself from asking the two.

"The thing leaving behind all those trails in the hallways," The woman said.

Timothy shook his head. "The only thing we encountered was some strange noise in the ceiling. We assumed it was the thing doing all the relocating out there."

"Fuck." One of the women near the door said.

Each of them looked at the woman, who cursed. A sense a dread could be felt growing deep inside of them judging by how the woman reacted to the news from Timothy.

"Please tell me that noise was the creature you, people, are talking about...," Liam said in a pleading tone.

"It is. It has to be." Michelle chimed in, sounding desperate.

Sheila asked the question they were all dreading. "Whatever is out there can't come in, right?"

The first woman sighed heavily. Placing a hand on her mask, she pulled it off to reveal her face.

"Squad Leader?!" The others cried out at the same time.

Luscious red hair tumbled down as the Squad Leader removed the head covering. It didn't take long before they saw a woman who looked out of place, holding a weapon and being inside of a secretive corporate building with a monster roaming the halls.

The Squad Leader looked at each one of her teammates, who then proceeded to follow suit. Without complaint, each one revealed a face equally as attractive.

Helen looked at the one behind the squad leader, who had shoulder-length hair, one side shaved. A vicious scar trailed from her cheek and along the shaved portions of her head. It painted a picture of how competent these people were and the training they had to go through.

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The Squad Leader turned to look at each one of them, her green eyes seeming to glow slightly. "I won't apologize for the rough treatment you guys received. Technically, none of you should be in this section of the building, regardless of who their father is." She looked at Timothy. "My name is Bella, Squad Leader of the covert security team stationed in this building."

"Squad Leader..." The woman behind Bella started.

Bella lifted her arm, silencing the woman. "Olivia. Enough. You are aware of what the world has become. There is no longer the company we've sworn to. This is not the time for loyalties, especially those who have passed."

"Yes, Squad Leader," Olivia looked ashamed for being chastised.

Looking at the others, Helen could see they agreed with their leader's opinion. "Her leadership abilities speak volumes, being able to keep them focused on the task. I don't know if I could be able to have developed such loyalties."

Smiling bitterly, Bella continued, "I don't tell you this information lightly. The situation demands we work together, considering what is out there." Bella addressed Timothy, "I'm assuming you, all, are attempting to access the portals?"

Not looking surprised to learn their motives were so easily spotted, he answered, "That's correct. We came into the building to escape Modified Humans. Considering the forest surrounding this place, I'm not confident all of us would be able to escape whatever things are making the forest their home."

Hearing the new, Bella didn't look happy. "The external cameras showed the forest changing, but something tore them out and left us blind. I was hoping..." She shook her head. "There's no point in wishing for the impossible."

"Squad Leader," One of the women who came in tentatively spoke up.

"What is it, Isabel?" Bella asked.

Isabel didn't look happy to speak up. "Squad Leader... The portals... One of them brought in the Anomaly, so what happens if..." The unspoken words echoed in the room.

"Shit!" Liam put the obvious pieces together. "Did you know this, Timothy?!" He yelled, looking angry for not realizing the flaw from the beginning.

Helen also felt angry but also anxious, thinking about what they were going to do. She cursed herself for being so stupid, not thinking about where this Anomaly had originated from considering the security system of the building was still intact and their need to escape through the portals.

"Yeah, Liam. I knew." Timothy confessed. "It's possible the portals will take us to places even more dangerous than the one we currently are in. What would you have me do?" He accused his friend.

Bella looked at Liam. "Judging by how you guys entered this building, I empathize with your feelings of anger. The problem is related to the limited options we have at our disposal." Pointing towards the entrance they had entered to escape the sound, she said, "The noise you heard is likely not the Anomaly. I don't know what your friend of the friend he smuggled in told you, but you wouldn't have escaped if it was." She sighed. "Honestly, I don't even know how our security is able to contain that thing. It makes me think it's not even bothering to escape."

"T-then what's the t-thing we heard?" Sheila asked in a shaky voice.

Bella shrugged her shoulders. "I have no idea. We were ordered to stay out of its way after it had..." Her face twisted as if remembering something unpleasant. "The point is... Our current position isn't as secure as it looks. We were trying to get in contact with other teams and coordinate something, but we haven't been able to get in contact with them. With our orders now no longer in effect, we have been checking some last-minute things before getting ready to escape."

Hearing Bella's plan, regardless of the dangers didn't sit well with Helen. She looked in the direction of where Abigail sat unresponsive, thinking, "What do you think, Abigail? Do we roll the dice and see how things turn out?"