Up on the fourth floor I can see Addison's door slightly open. I walk up and push it the rest of the way with my hand. Addison is sitting on her bed cross-legged with the remote beside her, facing her television which seems to be showing a never ending loading screen.

“The internet is spotty here. Of course, there's nobody paying the bill, but sometimes, just sometimes, I can connect to Netflix,” she said.

“How can it do that?”

“I don't know, but I'm not going to question it, might just jinx it.”

“Ah, I see.”

“You can set your bag down over by the dresser,” she said, pointing.

“All right, thank you,” I reply.

I walk over to the other side of the room and lay the bag down on the floor. I also reach into my pocket and take out my broken ID. “Such a shame, I actually really liked my picture here, too,” I lie.

“Oh?” She asked, looking over. I flash the pieces of my ID and she cocks her head. “Did that just happen?”

I walk over towards her and lean on the side of the bed, “No, it was when I came into the building, I had to rush because I had caught the attention of one of the Vultures outside,” I said.

“Vultures?”

“That's just what I call the people out there.”

“Oh, makes sense...wait, if it broke right when you came in, then how did you get past the door near the security desk?”

“I went behind the counter and manually opened the door from the computer,” I said.

Outside of the room I hear the ding of the elevator.

“By which you mean you shut off the scanner?”

“Well...”

“Fuck, we've got to move,” she said, standing up. “God damn it, why'd you have to do that? Especially...now of all fucking times.”

“I had no way else in here,” I said.

“Then you should have left.”

“Ugh, damn it,” I said, running over to my backpack. “Do you have your gun ready?”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“I've never had to use it before, I don't know if I can really use it,” she said.

“You almost used it on me,” I said.

“That was the adrenaline...that's long gone,” she said.

“All right, give it to me, then, I'll use it,” I said, in the vain hopes that she actually listens.

“What? No, it's my gun! You're the one who fucking allowed it to come up here, I'm not rewarding you with shit,” she said, standing her ground.

I'd said I was amazed with her sudden bravado if it didn't mean a chance at the loss of my own life.

“Okay, okay, fine. But there isn't anything that said we need to confront it now, stay quiet,” I said, closing the door and walking over to my backpack, putting it back on.

She moves off of the bed and bends down, her skirt not quite covering as she reaches underneath her bed and pulling out the pistol. I hear the elevator door open. Whatever is outside is definitely in, and it is on our floor.

“Stay there, I'll shoot it if it comes in,” Addison whispers, moving slowly in front of the door, holding the gun out in front of her, cocking it and breathing heavy.

I hear heavy footsteps outside, they are slow and methodical, not like the stumbling and rushed that had come to meet me outside. Is it maybe another one that managed to find its way in, or maybe something worse? The footsteps stop, I can see the shadow of whatever is outside crawl underneath the door and stop right at Addison's feet, she's sweating bullets, I'm sweating nukes. There is a knock on the door, once, twice, and then three times. I'm absolutely silent, she swallows hard. There is another knock, a single hollow knock that seems to last for an eternity. Then something smashes against the door, it shakes a little bit, but holds. The sound makes me jump.

“Whoever the fuck it is you better leave, I have a gun and will shoot you!” Addison screams, she's hyperventilating.

There is a silence, and then a low voice growls out, it is distorted by some sort of voice modifier to sound almost robotic, “You don't have the guts.” Then the door flies off of its hinge right into Addison, sending her to the ground. Standing in the hallway is a robed figure wearing a gas mask. It jumps into the room with incredible speed and stamps onto the door frame, snapping it in two and picking Addison up off of the ground.

I run to pick up the gun she'd dropped, and I raise it, leveling it with the intruder's head, “Let her go, now,” I said.

The robed figure utters out a low and hollow laugh, and from underneath the robe comes a long blade that digs itself into Addison's abdomen in one swift motion. Her head flies back and her eyes go wide as I feel my fingers pull the trigger. The bullet catches in the side of the figure's head, but it doesn't detract it from pulling the blade out of her. I see that there are spikes on the side of the blade, and they rake out her intestines as they pool onto the floor before me.

“I was wrong. Now...she doesn't have the guts,” the figure said, turning to me.

I unload the rest of the clip into the figure, its body recoils from each shot, but after I finish the clip it bends back around and looks at me as if nothing had happened. It moves to crack its own back, stretching as it reaches into the robe, most of its body hidden by the cloak it wears, even the back of the head masked by the hood of the robe. It pulls out a small cartridge, square in shape and it presses a button on the face. Smoke begins emitting from it. The figure drops it to the floor and it explodes into noise and sound. I fall to the ground as my muscles start to fail, everything is numb, but I can still see.

The figure's gloved hand breaks through the smoke and grabs me by my collar, the only thing I can hear now is the sound of the television, it must have finally connected. On screen is a clip from a historical documentary about World War II. The figure pulls me up and holds me in front of it. I must be losing it, because before I pass out I think I can see the mask begin to smile.

“...And on that cold day in January of 1945, Great Britain became the world's largest superpower...”

Everything goes dark.