14. Stan.

We drove up and started getting ready to go inside. We arrived at the border near the fence, and Ruby cut a hole in the mesh fence for us again. I went through the hole, hunkered down in the deep shade, and took the drone from my pack.

This was small but powerful and had built-in protection against camera surveillance; plus, it had the latest smart technology, making it almost invisible, and it was important for me to only look at the screen where I was controlling the drone because it was so invisible.

Once I had the route figured out the Destroyers would go ahead and guarantee us access inside, then I would have to start finding the victims. I launched the drone. The drone also had a thermal camera, and this was state-of-the-art military technology. Not so easy to detect. I tried to locate the victims first.

The destroyers had their own monitors, and they watched as I flew the drone along a pre-planned route so they could get all the information they needed; I moved the drone wherever I needed it and when everyone thought it was clear I pulled the drone back and put it in my backpack.

We had found the victims according to the thermal camera Penn showed me. Bingo. They were on at least three floors, and now I knew where to go to begin with. The remaining teams would start going through the other floors and let me know if we were needed. There were probably three floors at least for collectors to work on, and this facility also included a morgue and crematorium.

A couple of collectors would go through the morgue first and take pictures of the victims, and we knew we had an enormous pile to play with. Now we can't take the dead with us.

There were four rescuers. Two, me and Claudia, she was a vampire. We would go to the top floor first. That's where most of the people were when Ruby and Sapphire would start taking care of the lower floors.

 The building was a large, gloomy brick building; maybe it had once been an office building or something. Even a small factory or manufacturing warehouse would have been a possibility. There were windows, and the movers had already figured out where to put a padded pipe in the window that would reach down to the ground, a bit like what was once shown on Facebook about how to escape from a tall building.

Magnum had developed this from that, and Dresden and Constantine had put spells on it, so it was easy to put in place and really safe. It was wonderful to have friends and allies like that who, when I told them about something I'd seen, they got the idea and did it. 

The Destroyers took off after I had called the drone back and recovered it. We waited inside the fence but in deep shadows, as the team quickly turned off the cameras or rendered them useless, making sure no guards were still visible anywhere and cutting the tripwires that ran across the yard so the motion detectors wouldn't get any alarms.

After a few minutes, we got the order to move. The whistle sounded. Showtime. We crossed the yard in the shadows quickly and undetected. The door was already open for me. I went with Claudia through one door and Ruby and Sapphire through the other. Penn was my backup while Joshua was Claudia's backup. 

I went to the staircase and walked up the stairs to the fifth floor. We didn't go to the lift as there were cameras, and at these gigs, you had to be fit to walk up the stairs; I didn't go at vampire speed this time, but Penn went with me. But I was quite tuned up myself.

I had my gun ready in case there were guards when I went upstairs through the fire door. The door was locked. I waited for Claudia and Joshua to arrive, and then I started to act.

Fine, I took a small ball of very powerful explosive from my thigh pocket and pressed it against the lock. I attached the detonator to the explosive and backed off slightly when I pressed the button. The explosion was just enough to break the lock and get the door open.

Claudia went left, and I went right. Penn walked with me, his face tight and ready for action. I went to the ward, and there was no one there yet.

I said into the microphone, " Flealeader here, this is clear, no movement. For now, I'm starting the rescue."

I heard a couple of crackles to indicate that my message had been heard. This floor was huge, and this wasn't like a normal hospital where there might be 20-30 people, but here, the big rooms were packed to capacity. There might be 10-12 beds in one room, and there were about 10 rooms on the main floor. I noticed this when I opened the door to the first room, and I asked Ruby via comms, and she confirmed the same thing.

I said into my microphone, "Flealeader here, more transport required, estimated rescue number three hundred or over."

The reply came back, " Roger, leader, additional transport ordered."

I slipped into the room and started on the first one. A team of movers came into the floor. The tube was ready and Ruby and Sapphire's side also had their own team moving people to safety. They had put another tube in when the casualty rate was so high to get this done quickly. I could already hear the movers starting to work on Claudia's side.

I left the bed that was closest to me. Everyone was unconscious. This was a young boy, human maybe 16-17. I disconnected the drip tube. It was a pretty strong cocktail, so my blood was needed. I quickly searched through the victim's body. I felt the dressings, but no broken bones.

I took the syringe from my belt and injected its contents into the boy's mouth. I put my hand over his mouth and squeezed his ear. The boy opened his eyes. He looked at me sleepily, but my blood had woken him up.

I said, "I came to save you. Now I'm going to take my hand away, and you'll be quiet, or I'll knock you out."

The boy nodded, and I removed my hand from his mouth.

I said, " Now go with those people. They will take you to safety."

The boy nodded. It was clear he was still somewhat dazed, but I said to the movers, " Stitches and bandages." 

I helped him to sit down, and the movers came to guide the boy away. They gently helped the boy to walk over to the tube and go into it. It was helpful that the boy was still quite drugged and couldn't yet understand how to resist.

 I went on. All the people being rescued on this floor were human beings, young boys, and from what one boy explained to me, the children of politicians, obviously some politicians, had been blackmailed at the expense of children. The boys had also been tested for fertility by the same measure of their intelligence quotient, and I sighed in my mind as this sounded again like someone was trying to make superhumans or the best humans they could when it didn't quite work like that.

I acted quickly. Quite a few had stitches and wounds, some of the boys also had their balls examined so their walking was a bit more difficult, but there would be medical people in the ambulances who could give first aid, painkillers, and so on. I didn't take even a minute with one victim, and then when Claudia announced that this floor was clear, we went on to the next.

I went one lower, and Claudia went to the lowest; when I got to the next floor, there was already another rescuer, Ruby, setting up the victims. I continued to the other end of the corridor and started there. This floor was supernatural, and these were vampires. Same again: break free, wake up, and get cooperative.

These vampires were feeding on humans, and my blood would have been a full anesthetic, so I wouldn't give it to them but would direct these to the transporters. There was plenty of human blood reserved in the cars. Everyone was more or less drugged with vervain, so they were weak, not bloodthirsty at all.

We continued through the entire facility, and the final victim count we rescued was 304. The victims were only found on these three floors, and the job was over in four hours. It was another day of good work.

I, too, had to shoot my gun, and after we had gotten almost everyone free, we had been at it for four hours. A changing of the guard had occurred, and someone had noticed a hole in the fence. The alarm echoed through the whole satanic building. 

I said into the microphone, "This is Flealeader; now, everyone pulls back as fast as you can. Enemies are coming."

Ruby and Sapphire got the rest of the victims and themselves out of the building while me and Penn gave them fire support. Joshua had gone to secure the move, and as soon as I heard that everyone had been rescued, we headed out the same way we had come in, shooting anyone who came along.

Then the guards started coming. And die. We had bulletproof vests and lots of other safety equipment as standard equipment, and everyone knew what could happen if you decided to be lazy and not put on a vest. We ran to the nearest car, through a hole in the fence, and got to safety. The destroyers fired the charges, and the few guards that were alive escaped the building.

 Eventually, I watched the series of explosions with satisfaction. They had had some nasty experiments and had plans for me, too. No more. I sat in the car, still feeling the adrenaline flooding into my system, and I let myself be fucking satisfied. No one was talking much. We were all still so excited and it would be a while before the tune would drop.

We went straight to the base after the gig as the drivers took the victims to the predetermined safe hospitals, and they had been notified which victims were coming in. Often Colin was on the job, helping the victims, and was surprised when Joshua said that Samuel had been on duty now. Well, at least they were getting proper care.

When we got to the base, we left our gear there. I showered and changed my clothes. I often had spare clothes either with me or reserved for the base. We carefully went through the entire job again. Anything that could have been done differently, any mistakes, comments, anything that came to mind.

It didn't have to be an issue, but we did. I laughed out loud when one of the movers kept complaining about how badly the windows are done in these buildings so high up that it's not easy to help everyone all the way down the tube. Well, I guess the bad guys don't want to make things easy for us. 

Then we finally went to the bar for drinks and toast to a job well done. I made sure all the upcoming gigs were in order and plans were made for them. Penn had taken a shine to the new guns and taught the others how to use them. I was very pleased when I got into my car and got back to pack life again.