The Beginning of An Apocalypse
Twenty-Five

Gabriel saw what they were trying to do. Whoever was leaking this information was hoping to have the world and the government turn against them. And it may work, he thought, but where was the proof?

They needed proof.

Gabriel hit himself for that thought. It didn’t matter if there was any evidence, when you gave fish bait they took it. They didn’t think and they didn’t care if it was dangerous or not. They will take this bait and they will destroy everything he’s worked hard to do.

No, Gabriel thought. He wasn’t going to let that happen. Not, after all, he’s gone through. After everything, he’s done in the past to even think about getting this far. After all the deaths, the fails, and the torture, he wasn’t going to let a few headlines destroy him.

Gabriel threw the iPad back to Danes and crossed his arms. He held one hand to his mouth hoping he wouldn’t go out on a rant. “How many people have seen this?”

“Millions,” Danes said. “It’s trending on… everything. Twitter, Instagram, Tik Tok, Facebook, and every news channel. There are not only these few articles but there are others on more central stations and they are getting more in-depth.”

Someone came running in with a phone in their hand. “Sir!” He said. “The FCC is on the phone for you. Also, the white house office is trying to get in contact with you. They are very angry sir. What do I tell them?”

“Sir?!”

“Sir?!”

“Si–”

“Enough!” Gabriel shouted. He clenched his fist so tight his nails dug into his palm. He felt like he couldn’t breathe while another part of him was laughing at him. Another part of him wanted to break every neck in this room. He wanted to ignore all the phone calls. He wanted to get rid of everyone besides him.

He just wanted to complete his mission and get it done.

What was so hard about that?

Nothing. Nothing was hard about it, but it all got out of hand. All because of that kid. All because of Marcus Tyler. All because of his urge to get away. All because of his fear.

All because of him.

Gabriel spun on his heel and stormed over to Cas. Cas continued to try and get out of her restraints but he could see the look on her face.

He could see that she was enjoying this way too much. She liked seeing him all worked up. She didn’t even know what it was truly, she may have guessed, but she didn’t know.

Gabriel knew her smile would get bigger if she did know what he was reading.

Gabriel grabbed onto the metal piece of the chair and got his face close to hers. “Listen to me,” he said. “When I deal with this, you are not going to be spared another second. And while I do what I did to your mother, to your brother, now you, I’m going to go find Marcus and I will end that failure. I’ve gone easy on him, I won’t do that again.”

“You kill him and I swear to everything on this earth I’ll kill you!” Cas snapped back at him. She pushed her body forward until her nose was just an inch from his. They looked at each other without no to little fear of each other’s threat. But Gabriel knew his words hit her. It hit her like he threw a spear right into her heart.

He was going to let that fester inside her. She’d never be getting away anyway.

Gabriel moved away from the intense stare contest. He fixed his hair and brushed his sleeves down. “Take her,” Gabriel said to one of the people who was once taking Cas’s vitals. “Take her in there,” Gabriel pointed to the room that was heavily guarded. The room that she has only seen a few people go into.

The room where the deafening roaring continued to come from. But it wasn’t from any animal Cas could identify.

“Are you sure sir?” The one asked. “It’s going more restless.”

“That’s not my problem to deal with,” Gabriel said. “The only way it would get out is if you screw something up. So go. Now.”

“What is ‘it’?” Cas asked. She hated being stuck in the dark. They knew something and by the looks in their eyes, it wasn’t good. Whatever was in there, whatever she was being brought to, isn’t good. It’s dangerous and she didn’t want to be brought there. It was worse enough here. “Gabriel!”

“Have fun in there!” Gabriel called out as he speed walked out of the room, down the hallway, and to the elevator with Danes following close behind him.

They stood a few feet apart from each other in silence. Gabriel couldn’t stop thinking about who had done this. Who leaked the information and gave it to the press? Who would be brave enough to cross him? He had leverage over everyone that worked for him. He did his utmost to make sure that this never happened. No one in the entire history of his being in charge has this happened.

None was brave enough and yet now someone was? That doesn’t make sense.

These people would never just suddenly grow conscious after this long. Especially when Gabriel held all the power.

In that second of thought, Gabriel stopped.

It wasn’t any of his workers. There was no insider.

His eyes widened and he couldn’t help but let out a laugh. His laugh continued to hitch from a high to a low laugh. Danes looked at him confused, but he tried to ignore it.

Gabriel was done laughing soon enough. He was done laughing because somehow his mind wrapped around the answer.

It wasn’t anybody who worked here.

It was Liza. She did this.

Since her mom died, she’s been going after him. Whether in friendly threats or to put up with him. She never went after him because she was never really given the opportunity. But that idiot Shane gave her the opportunity. That stupid idiot.

He’s no idea what a nightmare she is. He’ll find out soon enough.

The elevator door opened and he walked out to see people that weren’t his employees walking toward him. And in the second he gave a tight smile. Right as he expected, Liza was walking beside them with that smirk on her face.

She did this. She spread the rumors about him, it didn’t matter that they were true.

“Hello, What can I do for you?” Gabriel said when he stopped. He gave him a smile to try his best to be polite. But he gave Liza the hidden look they would give each other throughout their childhoods that meant death.

Liza just gave him a cheerfuller smile and moved closer to one of the men beside her.

“Gabriel Everett,” One said. “I’m Daniel Johnson, and I’m here within Internal Affairs. There are many other branches here because of the alleged crimes you’ve committed.”

“And what are these crimes?” Gabriel asked. “The last I’ve checked the only thing I did wrong was accidentally forget to update my equipment last year.”

“Cute,” Johnson said. “As soon as the articles popped up you must have read them. We got rid of them all but it’s everywhere now. And if it’s true, we can no longer let you work here and you’ll have to come with us.”

“You’re going to arrest me because of some articles?” Gabriel said. He got why they were doing it even though he didn’t want to face it. It’s just their job, but this was not going well. He couldn’t be arrested now. He was so close. “With no proof behind it?”

“There’s an insider,” Liza said stepping in. “Like in the article.”

Yeah, there was, you, Gabriel thought. He looked over at her with a forced smile plastered on his face. It was getting hard to hold his own patience. “What are you even doing here? You’re not even going back into the military with your injuries.”

“She’s with us,” Johnson said. “She’s giving us some more insight into what we’ve neglected to see. First of all, where is Cassidy Tyler? Once you answer that question, we can begin tearing this place down with you.”

“The disease-ridden kid’s sister?” Gabriel asked. “I have no idea.”

“You don’t?” Johnson asked. “You kidnapped her. Miss Locken witnessed it.”

Gabriel snapped his head to look at Liza. “She did, did she?” He asked. He knew she didn’t because she was in a hospital bed barely able to move when he had taken Cas. And he covered his tracks, no one knew.

Liza’s really overstepping.

“May I talk to my delusional cousin for a second?” Gabriel asked.

“No you may not,” Johnson said. “That’s the last thing that will happen. Once you answer our questions, we will consider some requests. Where is Cassidy Tyler?”

“I don’t know,” Gabriel said. “The last time I saw her was in the hospital. We said our goodbyes and she left. You should look near the woods, where her brother was last seen. She’s very insistent on finding him. Have a good day.”

Gabriel turned around and tried to leave. Before he could even get five feet away, his arm was grabbed and he was pulled back. And they didn’t just pull him back, they grabbed his arms and bent them behind his back.

They read him his rights as they cuffed him.

“This is an overreaction,” Gabriel said. “I’ve done nothing wrong.”

“We’ll make this assumption for ourselves,” Johnson said. “We need all access codes to the entire building. No one is to leave, we’ll be questioning all of you!” He said to everyone that was standing there watching the confrontation. Gabriel looked at all of them and saw them do nothing. He didn’t expect them to do anything, he didn’t even know what to do himself.

First, he had to remain calm and think of a plan. The people around him had no idea what they were messing with. By doing this they put the entire world at more risk than it already was. Opening up this place would be a trillion times worse than Marcus.

“Anyone who has passes or codes into this building, please stand forward,” Johnson said. He looked at everyone around him. All the employees stood there like they could not understand the English language. “Unless you want to be brought out of here in cuffs like your boss here.”

Even still, they didn’t move.

“Just do it!” Gabriel snapped at all of them. When he ordered them to, they all moved their feet and walked over to Johnson in a huddle.

Gabriel looked back over at Cas who stood there still staring at him. Liza mouthed words directed at Gabriel that he didn’t understand. He almost kept his eyes on her and glared at her and hate her more, when someone who walked by him caught his attention.

Johnson got codes for the building and was having the people he brought over investigate them. But the person who looked straight at him and kept walking wasn’t an official. He was not a police officer, nor was he military.

He was Shane Wilgate. He was dressed up in a military outfit. His hair was up in his hat and a gun halted on his side.

Gabriel watched Shane leave to the elevator where they were starting to pile inside. “Stop!” Gabriel shouted.

Johnson stopped and everyone behind him and himself included turned around. They looked at Gabriel who stood there with two officers standing beside him. “I’ll take you to that girl,” he said. “Cassidy Tyler. My employees don’t have the right authority to go down there.”

A smile lit on Johnson’s face as he was happy he finally got compliance out of him. He was happy that they were going to have things done the easy way instead of the hard way. Johnson walked only a few feet back to Gabriel and Liza when he ordered the officers to bring him along.

With a humble smile, Gabriel walked when the officers pushed him. Before he could continue walking, Liza walked and stood beside him. She kicked out one of the officers that were holding Gabriel and made him walk. “What are you doing?” she whispered.

“You really shouldn’t have gotten involved Liza,” Gabriel whispered back. “I know you’re doing this because you think I killed your mom, and you put her on the track when you forced her into my business. And not only with her death be on our hands, but the deaths of everyone you just brought in here.”

Liza almost stopped. The threat wasn’t the thing her mind was replaying yet. It was, ’... Because you think I killed your mom, but you put her on the track when you forced her into my business.’

Only when that played in her mind a thousand times did she finally realize the threat? And by that time, Gabriel and all of them were already piling on the elevator. Liza pushed herself to get into the elevator with them. She didn’t know what she was doing. She knew they were all going to die, and yet she was coming down here too.

If it was because of what Gabriel said, she didn’t know. All she knew is that she couldn’t leave this the way they were going to.

When they were younger, after Gabriel’s accident when he was seven, he started acting weird. And then he was a teenager and he was experimenting on dead animals. He was messing with things he shouldn’t. He was taking his blood and putting it into tubes and feeding it to the dead animals.

By then his parents were gone or mostly gone and Liza could only tell her mom. Wasn’t messing with dead animals, animals in general a sign of a psychopath? Wasn’t psychopaths dangerous?

That’s what Liza heard at least.

So she told her mom about what she saw Gabriel doing and her mom went to deal with it. She went into the garage which Gabriel claimed as his. And the next thing they all knew was that he was on the ground and her own heart stopped working and she was gone.

Liza looked at Gabriel and she knew that he had done that. And now here they were and so many more lives going to be lost.

For what?

For who?

Liza didn’t say a word though. She only waited for the time when it could just be her and him. Where she could get the answers she wanted since she was sixteen years old. The answers she didn’t ask him when they were kids. When they worked together. And even now.

Because she waited. Maybe if she didn’t wait, maybe if she stopped him in his tracks, then this wouldn’t be happening.

Liza shook all those thoughts out of her head. She had one mission and she was going to complete it. She didn’t care for the others. That’s not how she got here and it won’t be how she gets out.

The elevator doors open and Gabriel leads them down a narrow hallway to a metal doorway. He got the door open and let them inside. “This is my main lab,” Gabriel said. “Or whatever you want to call it. She’s in here.”

“Good,” Johnson said. “Let’s clean this place out.”

The quicker the better, they all thought, and not all for the same reasons.

Gabriel kept a close eye on Shane who was pushing to look around more than anyone else. Gabriel knew what Shane was doing and why. Did they really think that even the US Government was going to keep someone alive who knew too much? Were they really going to risk so much information getting out when it was only one homeless person’s life?

They’ve done it before and they will do it again. They will kill her as quickly as they find her.

Unless someone or something kills them first.

“Everyone,” Gabriel shouted to his employees. “Would you like to go back to the main floor and wait for instruction please?”

Everyone in a white lab coat stopped what they were doing and started to leave. They all curiously watched to see what was going on. They wanted to see why Gabriel was handcuffed and why soldiers from the military were close behind him.

Were they finally found out?

Were they finally getting shut down and soon to be arrested? None of them wanted that to happen. They left even though they felt like they were walking to their doom. Gabriel asked them to and no matter how bad it was going to be when they walked up there, it would be worse if they stayed.

Once all of Gabriel’s staff was gone it was just him, Liza, Johnson, Shane, and seven other military soldiers. As well as other people that were sent from some branch of the government. Gabriel didn’t know from where and he didn’t care. They’d be gone soon he knew and he had people to find that out for him. It was them and his own military personnel that guarded the prize.

“Where is she?” Shane, disguised as a soldier said as he skimmed every inch of the room. He wasn’t doing a very good job of staying hidden. Of pretending to be professional.

“Yes,” Johnson said. “There’s no one here.”

“In there,” Gabriel said. He lifted his cuffed hands and pointed to the guarded room. While he walked with the guards behind him he took a step to the side and fell into a desk. The files that were set on the table fell and with a groan, Gabriel got down on one knee.

“What happened?” Johnson asked.

“These men can’t decide where to go,” Gabriel said. “Pushed me into the table.”

“Well, you may just deserve it,” Johnson said and turned back around. “Get up,” was the last thing he said to Gabriel. Gabriel grabbed one of the standard files and set them on the table. He held onto the paper clip in his palm.

The officers pushed Gabriel to stand by the rest of them. The guards at the door looked at Gabriel and Gabriel nodded twice. They stepped away and Gabriel was able to open the door for them. He swiped his card into the red light and then put in the passcode only a few people knew.

Gabriel looked up to his side where Shane stood there watching him intensely. He smirked at him and Shane saw it.

Shane took a step back when he saw the look in Gabriel’s eye. That was not the face of someone who was defeated. It wasn’t the look of someone who lost everything besides their life. But the red light turned green and the door opened. He didn’t know if he could worry about that when he was so close to finding Cas.

He was so close to making sure she was alright.

He looked at Liza and the anxiety inside him from Gabriel’s look doubled. She was counting the men with guns here. She didn’t have that normal, relaxed, playful look on her face. She looked like she was actually worried about something for once.

The door opened and Shane pushed to be beside Gabriel when they walked in. They walked into three scientists who were walking around a large water tank-looking thing. They couldn’t tell what was in it as it was covered with a large red cloth.

They looked around the black and blue room that had one large light on the top. There were more people with guns in here. All of the original people turned and looked at them. They gave the same expression when they saw that Gabriel was in handcuffs and people who did not work there, stood beside them. No one who didn’t work here was allowed to be down here.

All they could ask was, What’s going on? Why?

“If everyone would stand back please,” Johnson said. “This entire building is now under investigation and so are all of the employees working here. If you’d head up to the main room, that would be fantastic.”

They looked at Gabriel and didn’t move without his answer. Gabriel nodded and with his permission they left.

“There she is,” Gabriel said. “As promised.”

It wasn’t hard to see where Gabriel had pointed. This room wasn’t big, it was only tall. Besides the large tank, there were a few tables with some monitoring equipment. The only thing in this room that was too much was the people in here.

And when they looked, they saw Cas. She was strapped down to a chair facing toward the metal tank. Her hands and legs zip-tied to the chair. A cloth in her mouth stopped her from saying anything besides jumbled noises.

“Someone get her out of there,” Johnson said and no one had to ask. Shane ran over before anyone else could even raise their hand to volunteer. He set his gun down on the ground and took off his hat. He got down on one knee and grabbed the knife he had in his pocket. Liza gave it to him before they intercepted the soldiers that were coming to raid this place.

Shane looked up at Cas and saw her staring at him. He saw that she knew who he was and it was playing in her mind. Not only that he was here to save her. That he was even looking for her. Shane took off the gag in her mouth and let her breathe. A long strand of her hair fell from her mouth and she took in a sharp breath.

“Shane?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Shane said. “I’m here. I got you.”

“Now isn’t that so romantic,” Gabriel said. Shane and Cas both look to the side at Gabriel who was now free of his cuffs. He held them in one hand and spun them around his finger. “Good to know the military is even a failure of keeping their men from being impersonated.”

“Everett,” Johnson said. “Careful.” He snapped his fingers at the officers who were supposed to be watching him. They went to grab him when he stepped away.

“Now since you all wanted to interrupt my business you all have to sadly die. You too, Shane, you too Cas, and even you, Liza.” He looked over at Liza and sighed. “I had hopes for you, maybe we could have been friends. But you have to try to cripple every move I make.”

Liza didn’t have any words to say to him. No, that wasn’t true. She had so many words to say to him, but whenever she tried to, all that came out was air. She tried to force herself out of this paralyzing state, but all she did was stand there.

“No matter, I have other worries to attend to besides mellow-dramatic family drama,” He said. He threw the cuffs in a separate direction and sighed.

“Get me out of here,” Cas said without a tremble, without any other emotion besides slight anger. She turned to look at Shane and when he looked at her, she said it again. “Get me out of here.” Shane didn’t fight her on this. He used his knife and he cut the ties that bound her there. Shane raised his hand to help her out, but she didn’t use it. She pushed herself out of the chair and stepped away. She moved her legs in an attempt to make them wake up again.

With no avail, she moved on.

“Gabriel,” she said. “Just stop. It’s over now.”

“How is it over Cassidy?” Gabriel asked. “Tell me because from where I stand, it’s over but not for me.” He looked around his arms up making his upper body into a w. He looked around himself with a smile and back at her. “I have more men, with larger guns. And I have Agatha. I have everything.”

“Who’s Agatha?” Johnson asked.

Gabriel spun to look at him. “Who’s Agatha? This is Agatha.” He moved to the side, his hands up as if that would make a difference. He walked sideways to one of the tables to their right. He moved past the table and to the metal tank. He grabbed onto the large blanket-like fabric and clenched it around his fist. With one giant thrust the blanket came down and they all stood there and stared at the thing Gabriel called Agatha.

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