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'Left. Left. Left. Left. Ah shit!!!'

An explosion to my right threw me left as if I were a ragdoll. Both sides of me burned. The right from searing heat and the left from my skin being scraped off by the bloody ass wall.

Scrambling onto my feet with the help of the bloody ass wall, I took off down the hallway as fast as I could. No matter how fast my feet pounded the polished tiles, the men in suits only gained on me. The doors in my way were heavy on my arms. Each needed to be pulled, further slowing me down.

'...The fuck...? The fuck happened to the Puppet armory!?! Why is it another long ass bloody hallway!?!'

No time for dawdling.

They're right behin –

Agonising pain crashed into my body, my ears heard the crunch of my breaking bones. My knees nearly gave out at the sudden force against the bottom of my feet. My lungs screamed for air but coughs choked the flow.

To my side was the statue of Sergeant Barnes. Lit up in the night time air of the Genevan courtyard. No walls around me. The fresh air a biting cold on my skin.

Yelling behind me pulled my attention away from that familiar face. I took off running again, exhaustion taking over the muscles in my legs. My body bounced right off the now revolving main doors. Not matter how hard I shoved at the glass, they only moved achingly slow.

Cornered, I tore the monitoring bracelet off, blindly entering the code for the explosives. It'd buy me some time. Flinging it as far as I could, I saw it fizzle between the dress shoes of the suits on my tail.

"Oh bloody hell...."

They swarmed me. I couldn't keep my limbs to myself, feeling them tear away. My skull caved with a loud crack before the glass did.

Gasping for air, I found myself right next to Sergeant Barnes' statue. I didn't wait for the thundering footsteps behind me and ran for the building.

'Please be open. Please be open. Please work. Please – YES!!!'

The fire escape stairwell worked. Though I lost some seconds to pick the lock.

If the armory wasn't where it was supposed to be, I'd just have to find a lab and blow those bastards sky high. The five labs I managed to locate on the first floor were empty of any equipment. Utterly bare.

Time to check the fifth floor. Where most of the floor plan was dedicated to lab space. Hopefully some luck there.

I couldn't be bothered with the steps and climbed onto the railing, hauling myself from floor to floor.

On the eighth door, I finally hit a lab, which was supposed to be a fucking broom closet. But instead, it's a fully equipped lab with chemicals and all. Along with a little redhead straight up climbing on the shelves like some monkey.

"...."

"Who are you?!" the kid demanded.

Ignoring her, I tried to find the button for the lockdown procedure. Except there was no big red button behind a glass box by the door. Or anywhere for that matter. So a chair shoved under the handle would have to do.

Before I could get working on dragging a shelf in the way of the door, I felt something shatter against the back of my head. Everything spun. I barely dodged another breaker aimed at my face. That would have hurt a hell of a lot more.

"Hey! Stop that!" I snapped, rubbing at my head to find blood there. "Really not the time."

"You're not supposed to be here. So who are you?!" Not at all stopping with the rain of beakers.

"One of the scientists."

"No, you're not. I know everybody who works here."

"There's about a hoard worth's of men about to break in here."

"What?"

I plucked her off the floor before she could check and let them all in. My arms felt rather numb from trying to use strength to counteract her struggling, and that's when it hit me.

'I'm dreaming....'

I could feel it in my legs now. The slight numbness as I walked around the island counter. It sure explained why H.Q. was empty except for this random kid and those suits. Or how easy, yet numbingly weird, it was to lift the little kid.

Tossing various chemicals onto the counter behind me, I grabbed a big beaker and a hot plate.

"Are you trying to blow us up?!"

"Eh. Go open the vent, would you?" I asked as I dumped the chemicals together.

The little kid huffed, bounding off in a different corner than I expected, but that was where the vent cover was.

'Navigating this is going to be hell...' I grumbled in my head.

Not much was where it was supposed to be. This room was supposed to be a stupid broom closet.

I flicked on the hot plate, racing into the vent. Not much time before the reaction turns violent.

The kid had already climbed a distance... on her back using her limbs against the top to push her forwards, which was how I was moving. It saved me from wasting energy to hold myself up.

A banging against the door echoed into the little space, making my ears ring. I could barely hear the door giving way over a whoosh of flames. The little kid screeched as searing pain danced across my own nerves.

'Oh come on! At least have realistic reactions, damn it!'

That explosion wasn't supposed to be so damn fiery.

With a sigh, I ran into the building again, going straight for the lab with the kid.

This time I forewent the explosives, and closed the vent grate behind me. The kid wasn't moving fast enough with her little limbs, and most definitely wasn't enjoying the shoves I gave her. Should have just gone first and had her hang onto my leg to drag her along.

But we didn't have time to switch places.

They were coming. The metal sheets rumbled with their movements, getting closer and closer.

"Move it!" I barked, only to scramble over the ninety degree drop I shoved the kid down.

'This is the second floor! Why is there a long ass chute here? To go to hell?! What the actual fuck!?!'

It wasn't as long of a drop as I thought.

'So it's one of these dreams...' I thought, waiting to die and respawn, as how these types of dreams seemed to always go.

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Author's Note:

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