All Shadows Fall
12
Vlad slithered carefully along the wall counting each step in a vain attempt to remember where he was. The corridor turned five feet from here if he remembered correctly. There was a short hall after that with two doors on the right side, and the exit at the end. He paused to catch his breath, squeezing his knife reassuringly. He was too wired to use any magic now. His wide eyes scanned every shadow for something, anything out of place.
Nothing.
Two choices. I could go back. He had to go back. Ms. Johnson told him to keep the team intact. They're probably dead by now. If he went back he'd be dead too. Vlad listened for the roar of gunshots. The sounds were closer now and much less frequent. By that he had to assume that if the others were still alive, they'd already made a break for it. Going back would be suicidal and pointless. Two choices quickly became none as he heard the kitchen doors slam open back the direction he had come. Vlad surged onwards towards the exit, rounding the corner quickly. He didn't notice the man in front of him until after he'd nearly ran him over.
Seconds slowed until they felt like hours. The man in the Ares Firewatch jacket tumbled backwards with a soft grunt. Vlad's momentum carried him forward, his knife coming free from his hand and clattering noisily to the ground.
The Firewatch officer regained his balance immediately. He fell back on his hands and sprang upwards into a crouch position. He drew his pistol and leveled it at the runner. Vlad used one hand to struggle to his knees. Instinctively his free hand wrapped itself around the spare blade housed in his boot.
"Free-" The blade cut through flesh and cartilage as easily as it would have whipped through thin air. The officer was dead before the warning could leave his throat.
" Nine, do you have containment at your twenty?!?" Voices lit the silence. Footsteps echoed in the hall around him. He didn't have time to think. Vlad hurriedly stripped off the man's jacket and threw it on over his own. He broke into a run, slamming through the exit door and out towards the Range Rover.