Bodies writhed and squirmed, but not in the pleasant way. Someone howled a slow wail of pain that varied rhythmically in pitch. Another voice rapidly questioned, reassured, and swore. Finally, a sweet voice, that of an angel to the ears of Denton, whispered in accompaniment to a soft hand on his arm, “This way.”

Denton didn’t need much more than and scrambled to his feet, kicking, kneeing, and otherwise mauling whomever was under him. Unintelligible swears in a foreign tongue echoed after them as they felt their way a little more quickly than was safe down a dark hallway. A latch clacked, a door creaked open, and the soft hand led Denton into a stairwell lit in all red by emergency lights.

Following her in ascent, Denton nearly lost all track of the situation at hand.

She called back, “Have you seen Jack?”

“Huh? Ma’am, I don’t even know who Jack is.”

“You don’t know Jack?”

“Yeah, I get that a lot.”

She snorted a giggle, and Denton tried to conceal the fact that he sorely needed his inhaler.