"I can't believe you build a tunnel straight to the lab.", JD mumbled and pulled his head in to avoid a stone.

Marcus huffed.

"It comes in handy now, doesn't it. I gave a promise back then.", he pointed at a door. "I vowed to protect (Y/N) like my own child. Now get going and safe your beloved chicken."

Now it was JD who had to smile mildly.

"You know it's not like that. My love is capable.", he said and pushed the door open to step into a hallway. "Does (Y/N) know about the tunnel though?"

"We build it together. As a safety measurement. After you went Outsider, our home was the closest option for an evacuation."

"Ah. So that's why is wasn't allowed to come over for a couple weeks."

"Smart little fella knew we would tried to slice each other's throats."

"Yeah... I really have a smart better half..."

Carefully, they walked down the escape hallway up to the next door that would lead to the small platform that connected the stairs to the upper floors with the small ones that led down into the lab. Everything was made of metal, causing their heavy steps to echo through the silence.

If something was here, it would know they going to join the party.

Tense, JD positioned himself at the opening of the door, while his father started to work on the mechanism that would force the tons of steel to open.

But as Marcus' gaze wandered over the many individual locks, he noticed something.

"It's activated.", he said. "Something was here and made the automatic security system go off. James. Expect the worst."

With his eyebrows pulled together, he nodded and raised the riffle. His finger already twitched on the trigger.

He expected the worst, but as the door unlocked with a clicking sound and slowly swung open, Berle enough for the two to slip through, he froze in surprise.

A shaky breathe escaped him before JD froze. With his eyes wide open he down looked at what once had been your best protected secret.

The lab looked like a battlefield, even worse than that. Wherever he looked, everything was shattered, ripped apart and broken.

"What the fuck..?", with his mouth wide open, he jumped down the stairs.

"James, wait!", Marcus grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him back. "We don't know what happened here. The threat might still be around."

But as his grey eyes fell into a puddle of shimmering red on the floor, JD forced himself free and rushed to it to take a closer look. The smell of iron struck him. It filled his nose and chased a shiver down his spine.

"Dad.", his voice was shaking as he raised his bloody fingers to show him. "That's human blood."

Marcus eyed it for a moment.

"That's too much for one person.", he finally said. "At least... if that person is still in one piece."

"You're not being a great help."

"I'm just trying to be realistic here."

"Then don't!"

But before JD could get caught up in another argument with his father, his eyes fell onto the cool room.

The lights had changed from bright white to a deep red, bathing everything in terror.

Covered in this deep red lay a body, motionless and covered in a thin veil of bluish frost. Only a small cloud of white stroked over the floor, barely visible and even less a sign of life.

A gasp got stuck in JD's throat as he crawled across the lab to press his hands against the glass door.

He started shaking. His entire body was about to break down. Something tied his throat shut.

"(Y/N)...", he gasped, as if he was about to shatter to pieces. "(Y/N)!"

As his fist hit the door, the glass trembled. But despite the brutal force nor his efforts, the door did not shatter. He reached out again, almost unable to breath and hit as hard as he could.

Tears burned in his eyes, but he refused to cry before he had tried everything.

A sharp pain stabbed into his wrist, making him scream in pain.

"James.", Marcus grabbed his son to drag him away. "Don't. It's useless."

With all his might, JD fought himself free to try one more desperate attempt.

"James! The door won't shatter."

"There's blood, dad! It's everywhere."

"The cold keeps the flow down."

"Help me open this door!"

"James, the door won't open. It has a mechanism that protects the samples inside. Unless we have a code or it's opened from the inside, we won't get in."

"I can bomb it open!", he grabbed a grenade from his pocket.

"Don't be ridiculous!", Marcus could snatch it from his hand before anything could get out of control. "You can blow up the door, but everything inside will be damaged too. Do you want to tear (Y/N) to pieces?"

"I need to get in there!", his voice was shaking as he threw himself against the door once again. "It's too cold! (Y/N) will die. I- I can't let that happen. Dad, I need to find a way in."

"James, James listen!", Marcus grabbed JD's face with both hands to force him to calm down. "As for now, this is the best situation. The cold temperatures will keep the blood pressure low. It buys us time. Bleeding out will take a lot longer."

"But we need to do something before time is running out!"

"But we can't! James, we need to get back to the barn. Now!", with all his force, he managed to push his son back towards the tunnel.

JD tried to fight against him with everything he had. But ultimately, the sight that his eyes were glued to took all his strength.

"No. No!", he screamed, tears running down his face. "(Y/N)!"

With your eyes wide open and frozen limbs, you lay locked away in the cool room. A weak breath escaped your frozen lips.

"James...", you whispered as the darkness swallowed the world again.