Clara couldn’t remain inside the Honcho’s office. There was no time. Taking a deep breath, she activated the control panel and opened the door. Gabriel had intercepted their communications and informed her that the security officers believed she had a taser hidden on her body. Retreating to the middle of the room, she stood with her hands out to her sides to demonstrate that she was unarmed. Clara wiggled her fingers, feeling the electrical energy build as adrenaline soaked into her chest, warming her arms.

Outside, a dozen or so security personnel armed with riot gear stood in formation, accompanied by a handful of administrative staff. The two men who had wrenched a crowbar between the door’s seam backed up, batons and bar raised. Gloria–the head of security–was no longer slumped against the wall. Clara’s eyes flickered over the group, challenging each man and woman to make a move, before looking at the Head Honcho. The others seemed to be waiting for his signal.

“Surrendering yourself?” he said, barging to the head of the group. Behind him, two security personnel dressed in the black overalls with red trim carried Andy’s shotgun and Clara’s submachine gun. The Head Honcho snapped his fingers, and three other personnel approached her.

“That’s not a good idea,” Clara said, slipping her backfoot into a fighting stance. “Your vault is compromised. You need to evacuate.” Clara let her electrical energy seep into her hands. Blue teslatic energy shot from her fingertips and scribbled across the metal floor. The men approaching her stopped. “Listen to me,” she said. “I know what you’ve seen on the security footage. I know you’re confused. But right now, whatever that thing is… it’s inside Habbitation sector, and it’s killing your people.”

“You brought it here,” the Honcho snapped. “Didn’t you? You’re trying to seize control of the vault. You murderous bitch.” The old man shook with anger. He gritted his teeth, flushed red with anger. “Seize her.”

Clara stuck out her hand. “Wait. I can help. I’m about the only person that can. I have experience fighting these things.”

“Put your hands down,” one of the security personnel said. He held his circular riot shield at his chest, baton by his side. Clara had been struck by Gloria’s taser and it hadn’t hurt her–if anything, it had invigorated her. Although the electrical shock of the batton couldn’t hurt her, Clara had no good defence against getting pummelled, or shot.

“You idiot,” Clara said. “You want to detain me while there’s a demon in your vault?”

The security personnel fanned out, flanking her, but they were hesitant to engage. Clara had maybe a few seconds left before the situation escalated and became hopeless. She could make a run for it, dash between the guards and head into the Security Stations where an elevator could take her down to the Workshop on Level Two. But it was very risky. “Listen to me,” she said. “I’m not your enemy.”

“You have orders,” the Head Honcho said.

Somebody screamed behind her. The sound was tinny, compressed, coming from a speaker set into the wall, echoing throughout Admin Sector on a dozen other systems. The terrifying sound rose in pitch as more voices joined it, a dreadful choir that sent a jolt of primal panic through Clara. The guards stopped in their tracks, seized by fear, scanning the room for the source. One man’s eyes glazed over, staring into space, lost in the horrible sound. Abruptly, it cut off, replaced by the sound of radio static, and Gabriel’s voice.

“Sorry, I know that was startling,” he said. “Although, that was kind of the point. Anyway, what you just heard was an audio feed taken from the microphone of a personal computer in Habbitation Sector. Just one room of many. It’s hard to see on the webcam video feed. They’re still screaming though. I can see the waveform. I’m not playing it again. I don’t want to. Unless you need to hear it again?”

The man before her paled inside his riot armour. His arms dropped and he turned back to look at the Head Honcho. The old man’s face was frozen in a snarl.

“I can help you,” Clara said, seizing the initiative. “Open the vault doors. Evacuate everyone now.”

“Open the doors,” the Honcho muttered. “Open the doors, and let more of them in? Is that your plan?” Grabbing Andy’s shotgun from the hands of one of his subordinates, the Honcho attempted to pump-load it. Clara’s heart fluttered. He was insane. He would kill her.

Shoving aside the nearest guard, Clara darted past the vanguard personnel, releasing the restraints on her power. She got within five metres of the Honcho and released a Teslatic Burst. Blue lightning shot from her hands, crackling through the air, grounding itself through the Honcho’s body. His spine arched as the shotgun went off in his hands, blasting the ceiling above Clara’s head. The lightning spread to four more members of his guard, scattering sparks about the tunnel. They jumped, spasming as they were shocked. Clara slid to one knee, wrenching the shotgun out of the Honcho’s stiff hands and pump-loaded it, pointing it at the guard wielding her submachine gun. “Drop it!”

He did as she said, unslinging the gun slowly and placing it at his feet.

“Anyone else?” she said, scanning the tunnel. The security personnel had backed up, interlocking their shields in groups of twos and threes. They still outnumbered her. If they rushed her, they could still take her down.

“You’re right,” she said. “I am taking control of this vault. My men have hacked into your systems. And we are going to evacuate this vault. Any questions?”

The security personnel were silent, then one woman walked forward, lowering her shield. She had dark skin, green eyes and short black hair in curls. “Can we save them?”

“Yes.” Clara paused, the subdued fear in the woman’s voice catching her off guard. A second ago, the woman was her enemy, now she was something else. “Get down there. Secure the elevator. Do anything you can. Light kills it, this shadow entity. Turn on the lights, evacuate the vault.”

“What is it?” somebody asked.

“It’s…” Clara stammered for a suitable name to call it. “I’ve seen things like this before. Light will kill it, muzzle flashes, torches. Your tasers will work, the brighter the better.” Clara’s mind raced, it wasn’t the first time she had to get creative to kill a monstrosity in the wasteland. “Can your weapons be modified? Amplified? Turn up the strength?”

“There’s only one setting,” somebody said.

“Flashlights then,” Clara said. “Arm yourselves.”

“I think I know something that could help,” another soldier said. He was short and stocky, with a thick black moustache, and a red-brimmed officer’s cap. “A crowd-control weapon, a shock rifle. It’s in the workshop.”

By the looks on the others’ faces, this was news to them.

“Top secret,” the short man said, then nodded at the Honcho lying dazed at Clara’s feet. “Guess that doesn’t matter much now.”

“The workshop?” Clara said. “Good, that’s where I’m heading. We re-arm there, then we assault the Habitation Sector, establish control over the main elevator, and begin evacuating civilians.”

“No,” the woman with green eyes said. “My husband is down there. I have to go now.”

Most of the security personnel voiced their agreement. Though they were afraid of Clara, she was still an outsider, they wouldn’t follow her orders.

“Okay. Do what you’ve got to do,” Clara said, grabbing her sub-machine gun off the floor and flicking the torch attachment on. “Keep comms open. Stick together. Remember, light kills it.” If they were going to assault Habitation Sector now, they’d need all the firepower they could get. She handed the woman with green eyes her submachine gun. “Trust me.”

The woman nodded, leading the majority of the security personnel down the tunnel towards the elevator. “Take me to the workshop,” Clara said, addressing the short stocky officer.

He glanced at her shotgun, weighing his options, not so easily intimidated. “What aren’t you telling us?”

“Nothing. What do you need to know?”

“Where… why are you here? What is that thing?”

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Clara stared into his eyes, and felt the tension behind his gaze. “I don’t know,” she said slowly. “You need to react now, or we’re all dead.”

The man blinked, and the tension disappeared. “Renold, gather the upper sec civvies, get them upstairs.”

“Yes sir,” another of the men in grey overalls said, taking three guards with him down an adjacent corridor.

“Alright then, this way,” he turned, accompanied by the two remaining soldiers. “My name’s O’Niel, head of Hab-Sec security.”

“Clara,” she said, though she doubted there was an officer left in the vault who didn’t know hers and Andy’s names by now. “What do you mean by upstairs?” she asked, nodding at Renold and his team.

“The vault door,” O’Niel said.

“Reckon it’s safe?”

“I have no idea what’s safe right now, young lady.”

Clara pointed at her feet. “Right here, with us. We don’t know where it’s coming from. Could be upstairs. But, we can fight it. We can keep people safe.”

O’Niel’s chin creased, then he nodded, activating his radio. “Renold, scratch that. Meet us in the workshop.”

“Affirmative,” the radio responded.

At the bottom of the vault tunnel, the main group of security personnel arrived at the elevator heading down. Clara was still unsure what they were up against. Had those men and women departed on a death march, or a valiant assault? She hoped they stood a chance.

O’Niel took one last look at the Head Honcho, lying on the floor of the tunnel, clutching his chest, then headed down a hexagonal corridor. “This way.”

“Where is Gloria?” Clara asked as they broke into a jog.

“The infirmary,” O’Niel said. He had a sharp accent which seesawed between high and low notes, unlike anything Clara had heard before. “You shocked her hard and good. What weapons you got hiding?”

“Nothing hidden, it’s a natural ability. I’m an Augmented soldier, so is Andy. There are more like us outside. We are designed to fight the apocalypses, just like this one.”

“The world has changed a lot,” O’Niel said, scanning his armband over a control panel to access the room beyond. Clara could have asked Gabriel to open the door for them before they arrived; it would have saved them a few seconds, but she decided to let the officer lead the way. Having some control over the situation would probably be good for his head. Clara needed the soldiers to be sharp and alert if they were going to get out of here alive.

“Gabriel,” she radioed. “Update.”

“Andy has arrived at the workshop. There are seven others with him. They’ve all got guns.”

“What’s the situation like in Life Support Sector?”

The radio was silent for a moment, as Clara and her team approached an elevator. Awaiting them at the elevator were four more vault dwellers, two women, a man and a child.

“Bad,” Gabriel replied. “I don’t want to look there anymore.”

“And Habbitation?”

“People are hiding, locking the doors.”

“Can you keep the lights on?”

“I’m trying my best,” he said. “The creature seems to be overloading the circuits, causing the bulbs’ fuses to burst. There’s nothing I can do from here.”

Imagery rose to the forefront of her mind–swirling colours forming an electrical current. “Can you detect an overload in the circuitry and limit the amplitude?” Clara said. “Dim the lights which the shadow targets?”

“I’d love to, but by the time I detect a surge, it’s too late.”

Clara’s mind raced. She stood outside the elevator, waiting for it to arrive, staring into space. “Get on the intercoms in Habbitation. Inform the population of everything we know. Tell them to shine flashlights, start fires if they have to. Stop the lights from going out.”

“Affirmative.”

The elevator doors opened for them. “Can you access the vault doors from here, the one on the surface?”

The radio feed paused while Clara got inside the elevator. The officer keyed a command and the door closed behind them.

“I can,” Gabriel said.

Clara paused, an order on her lips. If she opened the vault doors now, it would ensure that they had an escape. There was a chance that they would lose that option later, for whatever reason. However, there were other risks. Although the Head Honcho was a paranoid fellow, he wasn’t completely insane. He may have been correct in thinking the shadow entity had slunk in with Andy and Clara when they opened the vault door above. Though the apocalypse zone was marked as ‘Fae Creatures’--Clara didn’t know anything about shadow demons in that genre of lore.

“Andy, do you read me?” she radioed.

“Heyup.”

“Any ideas where this thing came from?”

“Yeah, me, I think. Whoops.”

Andy’s words resounded over her radio speaker in the quiet elevator chamber.

“What makes you think that?”

“Erm, I dunno. A hunch.”

“I doubt that,” Clara said out loud, then quietly into her radio’s microphone. “Keep that theory to yourself.” Either way, it couldn’t be a coincidence that they had entered the same day which the shadow demon attacked after the vault had remained isolated for nine years. Regardless of the details, the vault was safe until she had touched it. Guilt welled up inside her, but she squashed it down. It wouldn’t do her any good. Her mission was clear: help the vault dwellers evacuate. Depending on how many people she saved, she could feel guilty later.

As for whether there would be more monsters waiting outside the vault entrance, there was no way to be sure. They hadn’t seen anything on the road while approaching the vault, but then this creature was clearly intelligent. It may have hidden in the shadows like a fox outside a rabbit’s tunnel. If she asked Gabriel to open the vault doors now, more of them might get in, then they truly would be trapped. It was better to keep the doors closed until they were ready to evacuate, then do so in force, rather than be trapped and attacked from both ends.

The elevator panel pinged and the doors opened on an alcove in a large tunnel. Clara came face to face with the barrel of a rifle. Two women and one man stood on both flanks of the alcove with a full arch of fire on the elevator chamber. “Drop your weapons,” the man shouted. Clara squinted. She recognised his thin blonde moustache and white overalls from when she and Andy had burst into the entryway elevator that afternoon.

“We’re on your side,” Clara said, but they didn’t budge.

“I won’t tell you again,” the young man said. His mouth curled into a snarl.

“Hey!” Andy’s voice rang down the tunnel alongside his heavy footsteps. “You best not be pointing a rifle at my sister, you moustachioed prick.”

The young man began to babble a response, rifle lowered, then Andy came into view wielding one assault rifle in each hand, and headbutted him. The rifleman fell to the floor clutching his nose.

“Andy! Too far,” Clara said, lowering her shotgun and raising her free hand to the two women, displaying that she wasn’t a threat. “We’re friendly. Honestly, I’m sick of saying that.”

Suddenly, more vault dwellers rushed into the tunnel’s alcove, each was armed with the same black short-barreled assault rifle, however their uniforms were all different colours.

“Traitors,” O’Niel spat. “Opportunist scum. Have you no honour?”

Clara recognised one of the vault dwellers in the group–the head of the external guard, Gary, whom she had accidentally landed on in the elevator earlier that day. “All of you, out. Greys, over there.” He pointed down the short tunnel. At the other end, a door opened on a workshop station. Clara was glad to see the lights on inside.

“Load in,” Gary said. His subordinates began filing into the elevator.

“Where are you going?” Clara asked dumbfounded.

“To retake this vault.”

Clara blinked. The man’s stupidity was stunning. The doors began to close on the seven armed militia inside, leaving Clara and Andy with the three guards in grey overalls alone.

“Gabriel, halt the elevator,” Clara radioed. “Open the doors.”

Almost immediately, the elevator doors opened before her. Gary was scowling at the elevator control panel, scanning his armband over and over again.

Clara snapped her fingers, releasing some of her pent up anger in the form of short electronic bursts. The sound, like firecrackers, caught their attention. “Let me catch you up on events. The vault is compromised, that means there’s a shadow entity running rampant, killing people. Are you aware?”

“Yeah, we know,” the young man who Andy had headbutted said, clutching his bloody nose.

“The monster in Habbitation?” Gary asked.

“Yep, and Life Support sec, and probably finding its way up here right now.”

“How bad is it?” Gary asked.

“Bad. I take it you guys are some sort of revolutionaries, that’s swell. But I’m in control of this vault now. My men have hacked it. The Honcho has been usurped, not by you, but by me.” Clara took a deep, calming breath. “Do you have a problem with that?”

The revolutionaries stared at her, then looked to Gary for a response. The older man’s expression seemed to be stuck in a loop. His eye twitched errantly. Beside her, Andy slowly raised his assault rifles akimbo, pointing them into the elevator shaft.

“Andy,” she groaned. “Not helpful.”

“Will you let us escape?” Gary said.

Clara winced and shook her head like she was shivering. “Yes, of course. Why would I want… We have a plan to evacuate the vault. Are you prepared to work together?”

“With you?” he asked. “Or them?”

“Me, him, the greys, the whites, the people wearing fucking yellow overalls and green caps with the red fucking trim-” Clara screamed, then clenched her jaw shut, squeezing her eyes closed. Her body thronged with electrical energy. When she opened her eyes, she noticed a yellow light glowing beneath her combat jacket, illuminating her hands. She spoke slowly, releasing wisps of yellow light with each word. “We are going to work together, okay, to save as many lives as we can. Everyone is on everyone’s side. There’s something you have to learn about the apocalypses. It’s humanity vs them. Got it?”

One by one, Gary’s revolutionaries excited the elevator, rifles lowered. One woman approached the grey uniformed security personnel and offered her apologies. Finally, Gary bowed his head and approached Clara. “Is the vault really under your control?”

“Yes, it is.”

He sighed. “What are your orders then, Head Honcho?”