For Your Eyes Only

I met up with the Sergeant and Private Starch outside of the kitchen, and we made our way back to the entrance.

“Where’s the doctor?” Sergeant Flathoof asked as we turned a corner.

“She ran off. Probably got herself killed. Good fucking riddance.” I replied gruffly.

We stopped and looked down the hallway.

“Isn’t this where we came in?” I asked.

“I’m not sure. All these hallways look the same to me.”

I took the torch and leaned into one of the open rooms, recognizing it as one the doctor had torn apart earlier that day. Without a word, I sprinted down the hallway, stopping at the end.

“Fuck!” I shouted as the others caught up to me. “The damn door’s closed. There’s no way to open it from in here.”

“What?!” shouted Starch, beginning to pace back and forth. “You mean we’re trapped in here?!”

“Stow that noise, Private.” The Sergeant barked. Starch stopped in his tracks and sat down, staring at the wall.

“What do we do now, sir?” He asked.

“We rally everyone together first. We’ll figure out a plan then.”

“Get up Starch. We’re moving out.” The Sergeant said, prodding the still panicking Private.

We found Shore and Speedy quickly, standing in another small bedroom waiting near their scientists. They perked up when we entered into view.

“Sir! What was that shouting about?” Speedy asked, stepping into the hallway.

“We’ll talk later, Private. We have a problem here, and we need to get everyone together fast.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Any idea where Ironside and Glass are?”

“They went further down this hallway. I think they’re around the corner somewhere.”

“Good.” I walked into the room and addressed the scientists. “Alright you two, playtime’s over. We’re moving out and regrouping. Get your toys and let’s get going.”

“But Dr. Opal-“ one of them started.

“The doctor isn’t here, is she?” the Sergeant spoke up. “So why don’t you do exactly what the Captain says before I have to use my blade here.”

The scientists looked at each other and then quickly gathered up their tools.

“We’ll be waiting in the hall. Shores, on me.” I said, moving out of the room.

I walked a little ways away from the door and gestured for the Sergeant to come over. “Flathoof, I swear to Celestia. We make it out of here, and I am going to get you promoted for that little show back there.”

“Just doing my job, sir.” He said, smirking.

I turned around to find the two scientists waiting next to Speedy and Shores. “We’re moving out now. Keep close together.” I started down the hallway and turned the corner, listening for voices.

After a few dozen yards, I noticed a soft glow coming from a room on the right side of the hallway. I motioned for silence, and slowly moved towards the open door, peeking inside. I breathed a sigh of relief, and called into the room. “Ironside, Glass, get your flanks out here.”

The two walked out into the hallway, placing their knives back in their sheathes. “Glad to see you, sir.” Glass said, stepping forward. “We lost our science crew about twenty minutes ago. No idea what happened.”

“We turned out backs for a moment and when we looked back, they were gone.” Ironside finished.

“We’ve had a similar problem.” I replied. “We’re getting out of here, now.”

“Sounds like a plan, sir.” Glass said, looking down the darkened hallway.

“There’s a hitch to this plan. The main entrance was closed by someone. We’ll have to find an alternate route out of here.”

“Shit. Always a catch…” Ironside said.

“That’s how this job works. Nothing comes easy. Let’s move”

We began searching the hallways for any sign of an exit.

“Whatever those things are, they were getting out of here before we opened that door.” The Sergeant said.

“Yeah. They got Twigs…” Speedy replied.

“Not just that. We were seeing something walking around the camp yesterday.” Shores interjected.

“Well, we’ll just have to use their secret exit.” I said, staring ahead into the black.

“Who knows how long that will take!” Complained Starch. “This place goes on forever, and we’ll probably get caught before we even find the escape…”

“I thought I told you to belay that shit, Private.” Sergeant Flathoof growled, glancing back at Starch, who shied away.

“He’s right, Private. That kind of thinking will get us killed. Just keep looking for anything that might get us out of here.” I said, trying to steer the conversation to something less hopeless.

We walked in silence for a while, listening for signs of movement. Every clang sent us jumping, every creaking floor plate made our skin grow cold. The torches were beginning to dim, and the mood was growing worse.