*Ding*

The elevator reached the third sublevel with a quiet ding as the doors slid open. The corridor inside was a mess of activity, many bodies crowding into the elevator as soon as the doors opened forcing Leonard to have to push through the mass of bodies to get out.

The corridor was bright red, various lights lining the ceiling flashing as loud alarms blared. In the mass exodus of people leaving, Leonard attracted little attention as he forced himself the other way, no one looking too closely at his unfamiliar face, the uniform being enough to convince them that he was one of them.

“There are alot more White Skulls than I thought,” Leonard eyed the mass of people evacuating, at least 30 were crowded into the small hallway, and this was only one of three sublevels he had heard of. “It might be a little dicey getting out, best be quick so I can blend in with the crowd.”

As soon as he got past the main crowd, he pulled out the ID for the warehouse manager and scanned it against the first door, the door clicking open shortly after. Leonard cracked it open slightly and took a peek inside. What he saw almost made him rip it back shut and puke, however he had a job to do.

The inside was covered in blood guts, three decomposing carcasses were strung up by thick chains, the lower half of their bodies completely gone as a sea of rats slowly nibbled away at their flesh.

“This is disgusting,” Leonard frowned as he closed the door and moved onto the next, the bodies were far too decomposed for it to be Willam, who was just brought in a few hours ago. The next room was much the same, however one of the men inside was still alive, groaning through a hoarse and rough voice, weeks, months even years of screaming had completely ruined his vocal cords. Leonard shut the door, sending a quiet apology to the man inside. “I'm sorry, but I don't have time to stop and help right now.”

The man wouldn’t live for much longer, but Leonard still wanted to put a bullet through his head to end his pain, however such an act would draw unwanted attention. And so he reluctantly moved on, opening another door further along, luckily the inside was bare of prisoners however the ever present blood and gore still coated the walls.

The next door turned out much the same, however a small collection of bones was present in one corner.

“How long has this been allowed to operate?” Leonard forced the constant threat of bile back down his throat. While death was no stranger to a mech pilot like him, such brutality was. “The White Skulls are controlled by the Rochester’s. How can they do this to people from their own nation?”

Leonard reached for the next door, however before his hand could get the handle the door swung back, opening up.

“Huh?” He didn’t have much time to think before a fist was inches from his face. He jumped back, hitting the opposite wall in the cramped corridor. Leonard took a look at his attacker, the man dressed in a White Skull uniform bearing iron knuckle dusters on his fist. Further into the room Leonard could see a half naked man lying lifeless on the floor. “Interpret something did I?”

The man swung out again, however it was clumsy and slow, letting Leonard easily duck under the fist and tackle the man back inside the room, not wanting to fight in the corridor where he could be seen.

“Urgh!” The man stumbled back and tripped over the limp body on the floor, arms wrapped around Leonard pulling him down with him. “Get off me you bastard!”

The two tussled on the ground, however Leonard was on top of him and was far stronger than the exhausted Willam. He was able to quickly pin the man to the floor, pulling out his gun and shoving it in his face. The man quickly stopped his resistance in the face of the gun barrel.

“Who's this,” Leonard flicked his head to the limp body next to them. Willam made a confused face, not understanding why a White Skull wouldn’t recognize one of their own.

“How the fuck should I know?”

“What?” Leonard was confused, how would this White Skull not know the name of the man he was imprisoning? Maybe he wasn’t told the name Leonard guessed. “When was he brought in then? Was he the one just brought in a few hours ago?”

“What are you even talking about? How am I supposed to know? You're the White Skull here.”

“I'm the White Skull?” Leonard blanked, “Wait a second, who are you?”

“What? I'm the prisoner here,” Willam was just as confused as Leonard, who slowly retracted his gun from his face. “Who are you?”

“I came here to rescue someone” he answered as he got off him and stood up, offering a hand for Willam. “Why the hell are you wearing that uniform? It's confusing.”

“I could say the same thing,” Willam said as he grabbed Leonard's hand and pulled himself up. “Why are you dressed like that?”

“So I could sneak through,” Leonard holstered his gun. “What did you say your name was again?”

“Willam,” Leonards eyes widened at the name. He didn’t know what he looked like, only what he did.

Willam was tad shorter than Leonard, with shaggy blonde hair and blue eyes. Leonard wasn’t sure what he expected him to look like, but for some reason he knew he looked right. Probably his memories influencing him again.

“Anna’s brother?” Leonard asked just to confirm. Willam for his part looked alarmed that he knew that name, stepping back defensively.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Why do you know my sister?” He asked accusingly.

“Woah woah,” Leonard held his hands up. “She just asked me to help you out of here, nothing else.”

“She did?” Willam relaxed some, and then became slightly panicked. “She's not here is she? Please tell me she’s left like I told her to.”

“Don't worry,” Leonard reassured. “I told her I’d handle it. She said she’d go to that safe house you two had set up, though I have no idea where that is.”

“That's good then,” Willam relaxed again, leaning against the wall. “If you don’t mind me asking, how do you know her?” He questioned. “I don’t remember Anna having a friend that is capable of infiltrating the base of a criminal organisation such as the White Skull’s.”

“Err..” Leonard paused, not exactly having an answer for such a question. “Why don’t we focus on getting out first, I have an air taxi waiting a block away. But we still have to get out of this place first.”

“Your right,” WIllam pushed himself off the wall. “After you then.”

Leonard led the pair out into the still flashing red corridor, the alarms not yet having been disabled. There were still a couple people fidgeting near the elevator, it being the only way in and out, not even a set of emergency stairs being installed. Leonard guessed it was to increase security by only having one way in and out, however in times like these all three sublevels were fighting for space, and there was far little to go around.

The pair reached the back of the small group impatiently waiting their turn, catching the tail end of their conversation.

“-pened?”

“No idea, probably just some dumbass was playing with fire again in one of the cells.”

“Heh, that was cool though. Remember when we used a flamethrower to burn that chick that tried to steal the boss's money? That was crazy!”

“Sure it was, but it set the alarms off like what’s happening here,” the man speaking noticed Leonard and Willam’s approach, raising his eyebrow that there was still someone behind them. “What took you two so long?”

“The boss wanted us to secure the prisoner he was working with before we could leave,” Leonard spoke up for the pair, recounting some of what Willam had briefly told him on their short trip down the corridor. “The bastard tried to fight the moment the alarms went off.”

“Ah, the blonde that was just brought in?” The man hummed in understanding, and Willam shuffled a little more behind Leonard, trying to stay out of sight as much as possible. “That why your friend there’s face is all busted up?”

“Yeah, he was quite aggressive, so I had to step in to help.”

“Uh huh.” The man stepped up to have a closer look, suspicion growing in his eyes. “Say, you two don’t look familiar. What section did you say you were part of again?”

Leonard’s eyes scanned the narrow corridor, the five White Skulls had now turned around and focussed their attention on Willam and him. Leonard normally wouldn’t be comfortable in a fight against such numbers, even if he had Willam’s help, the already battered man would be of little assistance. The only thing in his favour here was the narrow confines of the corridor meant that Leonard wouldn’t have to worry about being encircled.

He already knew that whatever answer he could give the man wouldn’t get them out of this situation, he didn’t have enough knowledge on the internal workings of the White Skulls in order to guess at a section he should be assigned to. The only available option he had was to fight it out.

His fingers briefly brushed over the handle of the gun he had tucked in his waistband, however he dismissed using it here. While it would make things simple and easy, the limited bullets he had didn’t give him the luxury of using it whenever he wanted. The situation topside wouldn’t be any easier, and so he wanted to save them for their dash out of the warehouse.

If worst came to worst he wouldn’t hesitate to use it, however Leonard decided to use one of the other few advantages he had. Surprise.

Leonard unleashed a furious assault on the first White Skull, lashing out with a direct punch to the face before dropping his shoulder and rushing into his chest.

“What!?”

“Oi what are you two doing?”

“Stop it.”

The others weren’t as bright as the first man, not yet fully understanding what was going on. Leonard could hardly blame them, and hoped to use the confusion to his advantage. No one ever accused these gangsters of being smart, only the one had smelt something fishy. Leonard assumed he must’ve been in a higher standing than the rest.

“What the fuck are you bastards doing!?” The man Leonard was assaulting yelled out, his arms tucked up against his head defensively. “Get them!”

They all looked at each other in confusion, however orders were orders and so they rushed forward. However the tight confines of the corridor meant they ran right into the back of the man Leonard was fighting.

Leonard saw this coming and took a step back, the man in question didn’t however, and when the rush of four men hit him from behind he tumbled over.

‘Urghh!” The group all tumbled over one another, and the man at the bottom yelled out in rage. “What the fuck are you fucking idiots doing!”

Leoanrd didn’t give them any time to right themselves, sending a crashing kick into the man’s face stuck at the bottom. His jaw cracked, and his consciousness faded, a second kick sealing his fate. The men piled on top tried to stand up, but only the one on the very top could get off, the rest tangled together.

“Stay still!” He pulled his gun out in threat, and everyone froze. He didn’t plan to shoot but the threat was still very real.

“Willam, go.” Leonard looked at the man behind him and motioned with his head towards the elevator. The man slowly made his way over, tiptoeing over the tangled and still mass of men on the floor. The one White Skull on his feet wisely backed off and hugged the side of the wall, giving Willam as much space to pass as possible.

“Now all of you, get up.” Leonard ordered and they obliged, now that they weren't in a rush they were able to easily disentangle themselves from one another. “Give me your comm units.”

He didn’t need them calling for backup the moment he turned his back, and so when they all threw their comm units to him he stomped them underfoot, destroying the fragile electrical components. Leonard skimmed his stolen ID card on the closest door, taking a step back and swinging the door open.

“Now, everyone in,” the group looked reluctant, clearly not wanting to be locked in a room filled with blood and gore. They were very willing to lock others in such spaces, however the same could not be said about themselves. “And that one on the floor too, drag him in.”

“This is going better than I thought,” Willam said as he leaned against the wall near the elevator, already having hailed it and waiting for it to arrive. “Glad I have you with me, I would’ve never been able to do that.”

“Aye,” Leonard sighed as he slammed the door, sealing all the men inside. “This has been a lot more work than I first thought it would be. Let's just get out of here, I need a drink.”

“You and me both.”

Leonard made his way over and the Elevator dinged in place, its doors swinging open.

And luckily for them, its interior was empty.