A thunderous boom like Thor’s hammer striking the anvil of creation ripped through the air. The whole building rocked and shook, tremors crackling up through the walls as we all swayed together, first to one side, then the other. The doc grabbed hold of my bed with his free hand and tried to steady himself while one of the technicians screamed in fear.

“Jesus Christ, what was that?” asked another, a tremor of fear running through her voice.

“Holy shit! Was that an explosion?”

Yes, I realized, that was an explosion. That was Peter, probably causing a distraction or a choke point so he could move in.

At the door, the guard that had remained behind when Mr. Finney left went on high alert.

“Everyone okay?” Schneider asked his staff as he frantically looked around, the overhead lights flickering dramatically as the world seemed to settle back down into place. “Anyone hurt? Was that an earthquake or something?” he asked, turning around, completely forgetting about the injection he was about to give me.

“I don’t think Colorado has any fault lines like that,” said one of the techs.

“I don’t think,” the doctor said, straightening his spectacles on his nose as he turned around, his voice professorial as he cut the younger man off, “you have to lie on a fault line for an earthquake–”

“Quiet!” yelled the guard as his radio crackled to life.

“North side!” came a static-filled voice over the comms. “North side! We have contact!”

Whatever hardware they were using, it was clearly designed to work on a frequency their jammer didn’t affect. “It wasn’t a goddamn earthquake, okay? Doc, you keep an eye on her, all right? I’m going to check on it. Stay in here, stay down.”

“Felix,” Dr. Schneider said, “are you sure? You can’t leave us with her, can you?”

“She’s locked up, Doc, you’ll be fine.”

And then he was out the door as the sound of gunfire erupted outside. It was sustained, punishing gunfire, the kind you heard in war films, not the little pop pop of hunting or street violence. This was serious stuff, and the technicians and doctor knew it.

“Okay,” Dr. Schneider said, turning his back to me so he could focus on his assistants. “Okay. What we’re going to do is stay in here, just like emergency protocols say. We keep the subject under observation and finish up the procedure, then we maintain her until this incident is over.”

I touched the tip of my pinkie to the tip of my thumb, slimming my hand down as much as I could, and began to pull violently on my left hand, the one that was farthest from the doctor and his people.

Pain lit up in my hand like I’d stuck it in fire as the skin began to tear from my flesh, blood streaking down my hand as I eased it out through the restraints.

I didn’t make a noise or move a muscle in my face. Any change in my demeanor and they’d notice.

“This is bullshit,” said one of the techs, a younger man who looked young enough to be fresh out of grad school. He was pacing back and forth, his eyes switching between the ground and Schneider’s face, notes of accusation and betrayal in every look he gave the older doctor. “I didn’t sign on with you, Dr. Schneider, so I could get shot at. What the hell is this?”

“We all recognized that we may be in some high-risk situations,” Schneider said calmly. “I’m sorry you didn’t read the fine print, but this is exactly what you signed on for.”

Gunfire continued outside, with more guns and calibers being added to the symphony.

“I’m scared, Dr. Schneider,” said the woman, her voice trembling now.

“I know, Sophie, but there’s nothing to be worried about. We’re safe in here, and they’re dealing with the threat. This will all blow over in just a little while, and we can get back to our research.”

The pain in my hand continued to grow and had spread to my knuckles. Just a little bit further on that side and I’d be free. I started to work with the other side,  beginning to pull my hand free.

All the while, I heard more gunfire outside and shouting now. Without any radios in the room, though, it was hard to tell what was happening outside, what maneuvers they were performing to try and protect the compounds.

“This is bullshit,” said the fresh-faced kid from grad school. “I’m out of here, Dr. Schneider.” He bolted for the door, right into my field of vision.

Schneider met him halfway, though, and grabbed him by the shoulder. “Douglas! You can’t just abandon this!”

Douglas reached up and tried to dislodge the doctor’s hand from his shoulder. “What the hell does it look like I’m doing? It’s not safe here! Get your hands off me!”

“Hey!” Sophie called as the two men began to struggle, with Douglas trying to make a break for the only exit, and Dr. Schneider trying to keep him there. “Stop it! Stop!”

With all three of them distracted, I worked harder on my right hand and finally tore it free.

Douglas, not one to be held back, began to fight harder and tried to push Schneider away. The old man flailed back, hit my bed, jarring it roughly. But, immediately, he was back on Doug, fighting like a middle-aged man who’d never had a physical altercation in his life.

I’ll give him one thing, though, he had spirit.

“Stop it, you two!”

Fists began to fly, sounding like raw meat slapping down on a cutting board as each one connected with a chin or head. Bullets flew outside as both men were locked in a tackle and tumbled to the ground, growling and yelling at each other.

“Let me go!” Doug shouted. “I’m leaving!”

“No!” Dr. Schneider screamed over and over. “You can’t! They’ll kill us!”

Finally, my blood-soaked hands were free. With Sophie dancing around the two men  on the tile floor, rolling around back and forth like teenage boys fighting over a girl, no one even noticed as I silently sat up on the bed and began to undo the restraints on my ankles.

“What are you doing? Stop it! Stop hitting each other!”

I popped the leather cuffs free on first one ankle, then the other, breaking a nail as I did. Now wasn’t the time for subtlety or being worried about how my hands looked, especially considering they were both sticky with blood.

To my delight, though, I could already feel the pain of the abrasions fading away. Not because of numbness to the trauma, but because the skin was healing, closing up the fissures and stripping.

I grinned, my teeth bared like a wild animal as Sophie continued to scream at the two men.

“Dr. Schneider!”

She didn’t even turn around as I hopped off the bed, my footfalls silent and of no concern as gunfire continued to rip through the Colorado mountain air. I crept up behind her and locked an arm around her neck in a sleeper hold, another gift from Ivana, as I shoved her head forward with the other hand.

Immediately, her voice gagged, cut off as her hands reached back and frantically tried to grab at my face. At our feet, Schneider and Douglas continued to wrestle, their pants and heaving breaths filling the makeshift examination room.

Finally, my victim stopped fighting, her body going limp as I briefly cut the flow of blood to her brain.

Unfortunately, so did Dr. Schneider and his assistant.