12 Code:Search

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Varin went over to the man that fell out of the tree to finish him off only to discover that he was killed by the fall, having hit his head on a rock. Varin looked around the area one last time to make sure no one saw where he hid Dagen. Taking a deep breath, he walked over and lifted the camo cover to walk back into the devils den.

Oddly enough, the inside hadn't yet exploded into chaos upon realizing their escape. Granted they did make sure to leave as quickly and quietly as possible but it was still odd that no one seemed to notice yet. Perhaps the remaining personnel were too busy helping the doctor.

Following the path they used to leave, Varin briefly checked the bodies of the guards that Dagen had shot. He collected some more darts and a taser. As one of the guards showed signs of stirring, Varin took his knife and quickly erased any possibility of them waking up, ever.

Standing back up, Varin was hit with a wave of instability and darkened vision. His head pounded with every heartbeat. Steadying himself against the wall he took a couple deep breaths and blinked to clear his sight. His eyes felt heavy and his body ached everywhere. All of this sudden activity was catching up to his malnourished body.

'I suppose I shouldn't push myself too much. I'm practically running on nothing but spite right now. Can't afford any more wasted movements.'

He looked around the corner to see a hall the same length as the one he was in. The end of this hall turned to the left. Not seeing any guards, Varin turned around and walked back into the cell hall.

As he walked to the other end he glanced at the beasts and shells that used to be people without stopping, the smallest hint of pity entered his eyes.

Reaching the door on the other end he paused briefly, then cracked it open to see where it led. This was the door they always came from, and the door they took the unconscious doctor through. So he assumed that the "lab" was somewhere on this side of the facility. Like last time, 2 guards stood at this door as well. Unlike last time, Varin now had actual weapons.

Wasting no time, Varin whipped the door open, went low, and darted the guards in their thighs. After they hit the ground he searched them, unfortunately these 2 didn't have anything useful on them.

One had a picture of a beautiful lady tucked in his chest pocket, she had a lovely smile with her left hand raised to show off a ring. Written on the back was 'My love, future Mrs. Wright.'

'I wonder if she knew she was going to marry a demon? Oh well.'

Dreading how much this was going to take out of him, he decided to drag the guards into the cell hall. Then he sliced their throats. Now both ends of this hall were decorated with the bodies of guards. With a huff he stood up, walked into the hall and closed the door.

This hallway seemed to be the same length as the second hall, with the left end leading left and the right end leading to the right. The door was smack in the middle.

'So… this place is just a big square with a line through the middle?'

Standing in front of the door, Varin could see that there were smaller halls leading somewhere midway down the left and right sides. Both of these halls had quite a lot of electrical wires and cords coming from them. He was sure that one of these led to the lab, why else would they need so much power? But which one? After thinking for a second, he decided to go to the right.

The floor going down the right hall seemed to get more foot traffic, and if his mental map was accurate, this would lead furthest from the entrance. What better place to put the lab?

At the end of this small hall was a door with another, even shorter hall next to it to the left. No guards were in sight but he did hear muffled sounds coming from the left end.

Switching from the tranquilizer gun to the hunting knife, Varin quietly began down the hall and peaked around the corner. This hall also ended with a single door. This door had a plaque on it kindly labeled "Laboratory" with a name, Dr. Donn.

'How kind of them to label this door. So… Dr. Donn is the name of the devil that runs this place. If that is his real name, I doubt it.'

Before continuing, he tried to open the door next to him, but it was locked. Luckily, this door had a small vertical rectangle window with metal wires running through it. He looked in to see a small room chalk full of smaller equipment and lab supplies, no people.

Creeping up to the door of the lab, Varin crouched down and reached for the handle, conviction burning within his eyes.