“I want you to wait here,” Jones said. The doors slid open, and he started to turn.
Reese stopped him. “If you see them, don’t do anything aggressive.”
“I won’t do anything aggressive as long as they don’t.”
“Haven’t you been paying attention?” Reese waved a hand at the mess on the floor. “That was nothing, cutting through you would be nothing. And they could do it before you even saw them move. So if you see any subjects and you want to stand a chance of surviving them, no matter what, keep your weapons pointed to the ground. If you stay still you don’t act like a threat, and if you’re not a threat, you might have a chance at walking out of here.”
Jones led his other team members through the door. After a long moment, he motioned for Reese to follow.
Here the doors to each of the rooms had its own biometric lock and no keypad. Security cameras were posted over each door and corners of the hall.
At the far end of the hall, the large containment area built of smoked glass. One cell in the center with rounded walls, and another in a U-shaped configuration running the length of the room.
Beyond the first wall of smoked glass, bodies lay scattered on the floor. Across the center cell wall, a splash of crimson.
Reese walked on numb legs.
Jones said his name, and Reese walked faster. He had his hand on the door when he was nearly yanked off his feet and spun around.
A hard shove slammed him against the door.
“Goddamn it. Which part ofaskdid you not understand?”
“They’re dead.”
“You think they’re dead. What if you’re wrong?”
Reese shook his head. “Please, I have to know.” And looking at them from the outside wasn’t enough. Reese needed to be in there.
He tried to pull away, and Jones grabbed his arm, but the bulk of the suit kept him from getting a grip on Reese’s limb before he yanked back. Fabric hissed and a gaping hole formed in the material. The purified air pumping into Reese’s suit soured with rot and the distinct scent of old ground rich with the remains of the dead.
Jones froze, and Reese tore the hood off his suit. The man didn’t try to stop Reese again when he opened the automatic sliding door.
Reese knew. Without looking he already knew, but he still had to see. Tears burned his eyes, agony clawed his chest.
Koda looked just like Reese remembered, rich brown hair, golden skin, small in frame, and young. A damn kid, still nineteen years old. Death had stopped the aging process, and the Anubis didn’t restart it. Koda’s fogged gaze held Reese in an unyielding grip. Blood turned the front of his scrubs black. The remnants of his throat hung in strands.
Reese clenched his eyes shut and bit back a sob.
Koda.
Thorns grew in Reese’s chest and pulled him to his knees.
Koda.
His insides twisted and he couldn’t stop himself from folding over.
Koda.
Reese clawed streaks through the congealing blood.
Koda was gone.
The sorrow shredding Reese tore loose, filling the silence of the chamber with his screams.