“We need to go!” Gaylen shouted, as the people who had seemed dead a few seconds ago got to their feet. The moans turned to bestial grunts and screams of incoherent rage, and many of the people tripped themselves up in their sheer rush to get up and vent that fury. But most did get up, and their bloodied eyes focused on the trio.

Jaquan abandoned his task, and they all started running. A few of the nearest gassing victims broke into a run as well, screeching with mad fury as they went. They were the first few pebbles in an avalanche, and there would be no stopping it.

Gaylen eyed one of the further sets of stairs, on their left, empty of people. But it also led up to the second floor, and would only buy them a few seconds. However, the guard had left the door open.

Gaylen ran in an arc as the shrieking crowd came at them. Instinct made him snap off a couple of shots from the pistol, and he even hit with both, but it did nothing to dissuade any of the frenzied people.They just came, with contorted faces and outstretched hands. If they got their hands on him, Kiris, or Jaquan, if any of the trio stumbled and fell… it would be over.

A lean man in a fancy outfit made it into the lead, as the desk and the door beyond it were nearly within reach. Gaylen fired into his torso. As with the caterer, the bullet went right through, but the spine stayed intact and the man kept on going even as he flopped to the ground.

The screaming was reaching a horrible crescendo, the din of the avalanche getting started in earnest, as Gaylen came at the desk. There was a little door through it, but it was a few steps to the right, a few steps closer to the advancing maniacs, and so instead he leapt over the obstruction.

Kiris was nimble enough to hop over herself, but they both stopped for an instant as Jaquan’s turn came. Gaylen spent a moment to draw careful aim, and shot another one right in the brain. Kiris reached over the desk and brought her weighted cane down on a hand as it reached for the engineer. The fingers broke, which did next to nothing to dissuade the snarling owner, but it bought Jaquan an extra half-second, and so he made it over.

The first few gassing victims just slammed into the desk like they hadn’t even noticed it. Thankfully, it was the U-shaped kind that reached all the way up against the walls, so there was no way around. The people started clumsily making their way over it, as Gaylen, Kiris and Jaquan entered the door.

Within was an unremarkable security station, with a monitoring console, a tiny eating area, and another door leading further in. Most importantly, there was a big, red button next to the one they’d just come through.

Gaylen meant to slap it, but a woman in a jumpsuit crashed through and into him, sending them both to the floor. Jaquan hit the button, and the door slid shut… but stopped on an arm that was thrust through the gap, trapping it between the door and the frame.

The woman attacked with that clumsy ferociousness and utterly heedless strength. Gaylen fought to keep her from getting a grip on him. A swipe at his face ripped the mask off with a pop of air. He held his breath, but what he had in his lungs was fast burning up from effort. Kiris swung her cane into the back of the woman’s head. The Chanei wasn’t strong, but it was still a solid crack, and left the woman wobbled.

Jaquan activated his cutter and put the white-hot flame to the intruding arm. The unseen owner out by the desk screamed, though there was still more rage to it than pain.

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Gaylen swung a gloved fist into the woman’s jaw, which wobbled her further. He forced her all the way off him and smashed her head into the edge of the monitoring setup. Kiris gave her another vicious crack, and Gaylen snatched his mask off the floor.

Jaquan finished cutting through the arm, and the door finished slamming shut. Gaylen put the mask back on, and desperately sought out the vacuum button. Every trace of air was sucked out of it, and only then did he risk an inhale.

Jaquan two-handed his big wrench, and swung it down onto the woman’s head. The skull audibly gave in, and she fell limp.

“What the hell is going on?” Kiris asked in a low hiss, and turned her attention to the door.

“They’re called…”

Gaylen savoured another deep breath.

“They’re called marbozi. That gas was brown jendra.”

“That stuff is real?” she replied.

“It’s real.”

Gaylen looked at a screen that gave a view of the desk. The horde was crammed in tight around the door. Those who could reach it were beating away, trying to get in. The door was made of metal, but it wasn’t terribly thick, not designed to hold back frenzied people who didn’t care about mashing their fists into pulp. The door was sound insulated, so he couldn’t hear the screaming, but the battering made it through.

“It’s very real. And somehow they managed to cook it up down in that sewer of a neighbourhood.”

Jaquan stepped over to the panel and shifted between feeds.

“More Veroki,” he said after a few seconds. “I see Oleg, and two with him. A couple more… that one you shot, and two with him…”

Gaylen was examining his stolen gun, but looked Jaquan’s way as something stopped his tongue.

“What?”

“The marbozi are just ignoring them. Look.”

Gaylen did look. The Veroki weren’t in the middle of the crowds. They were pressed up against walls, up on raised areas, or otherwise generally out of the way of the madness. But they were clearly visible, and yet the marbozi didn’t pay them any more heed than they did one another.

“Zoom in,” Gaylen said, and Jaquan got them a close-up of the one Gaylen had shot, and the two assisting him. They all had that same odd sheen over their skin, same as Oleg.

“Can’t we make a call from here?” Kiris said, and looked over another part of the setup. “Surely this has better reception than our hand-comms!”

The door made a noise. It was small, but deeply chilling.

“We need to go,” Gaylen said, and the door made another little sound.

“Everything jammed here too,” Jaquan said after a quick look at the reception. “And yes, let’s go!”

Gaylen spotted a weapon locker, just big enough to hide a modest carbine, or a folded rifle. He tried opening it, just in case, but of course it was locked.

“Yeah, we’re going.”

The door made another sound. It was like a horrible countdown.

He was the first through the inner door, leading with the pistol. They found what one would expect: A bathroom, a locker room, storage, and a couple of hallways leading further into this back area.

“How many bullets do you have left?” Kiris asked.

“Six.”

“Not great.”

“No, it is not.”

She looked for a way to lock the door on the inside, but found none. There surely was a locking mechanism, but it presumably required a fob, or keycard, or something else the guard would have had on him.

“Do you think there might be an employee entrance?” Kiris wondered.

“There is!” Jaquan said, and Gaylen found his friend looking at a map-plaque that was on the wall. “This way!”