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James' body tingled. The strange sensations had been getting steadily worse for the past three hours, ever since he had left the Sphinx's company at the end of his shift. Part him couldn't hope but wonder if he had accidentally contracted some form of disease.

He gazed up as the moon poked through the angry clouds scudding across the dark sky, breathing in the night air stained with the acrid smells of diesel and Sulphur. Trying to keep his mind off the strange sensation, he adjusted his headphones to a more comfortable position and changed the song. Heavy metal music poured out of the old MP3 player, the small scavenged device had costed him almost all the scrip he had saved, but with their escape plan on the works, he was hopping he wouldn't stay in the Compound for long enough to regret it.

William had been quick to shut down his original escape plan, James had been brave in his original preparations, but the scientist knew much more about the Compound's structure and managed to point several and critical flaws on James's plan. The escape was still going to happen, but they would need more than just a bag filled with food and some clothes if they expected to not only escape, but survive on the outside.

James increased his pace, jogging on a steady pace as he circled the Compound's wall. He felt the warm night breeze making him sweat even at eleven o'clock at night. He glanced toward the open windows on the dormitory. The air-conditioning system probably had gone out again. The maintenance teams were always busy trying to keep the old installations working.

He sipped cold water from a small glass bottle and increased his pace, he would need to get in a better shape for their escape plan. A sudden cold breeze felt heavenly on his skin, these days his skin seemed strangely sensitive. His attention strayed to the security walls a few yards ahead.

They towered ten meters high and guards armed with heavy assault rifles patrolled the perimeter on the catwalks overhead. In regular intervals there were the lumbering shadows of the big anti-air guns that were ready to blow anything out of the sky.

The anti-air canons had been scavenged from old military bases at great cost, the best technicians still working for Ubisphere had reconfigured the guns to be able to track gryphons and other flying abominations with cybernetic precision, the 50mm bullets were jacketed in depleted uranium and, at least in theory, capable of piercing even the armor of a main battle tank. Or so it was constantly told during the weekly motivational hour.

The Compound was deemed to be completely impregnable to chimeras, probably one of the last safe spots outside of the Walled Cities above the arctic circle. Ubisphere was certainly pouring millions of dollars in its operation, certain that the creatures they were breeding on the underground laboratories would bring them victory against the gryphons.

And their competitors.

James took another sip of water, he was passing by the garages where armored cars were being armed and fueled in preparation for the next raid. Each of the vehicles was a stripped-down APC, armed with a pair of 7,62mm machine guns on the roof and a powerful 12,7mm autocannon on the front.

Since the start of the Gryphon Apocalypse, the Walled Cities had been content in their isolation, using their corporate armies to guarantee their protection as the crisis worsened and entire countries simply fragmented. However, things had changed during the last months, simply protecting and studying the crisis wasn't good enough anymore, the armies were set to march and recover territory that had been abandoned since the start of the crisis.

Ubisphere had its plans for the region and the Compound was to become a fortress in their expansion into the Southern United States. Day and night planes had been parachuting supplies and specialists for the last two months, scavenging missions to old military bases had received priority status, and they were now being trained in how to fight other humans.

The ring of his Ubisphere-issued cellphone brought him back to reality.

“James Brower, Maintenance," he answered promptly.

“Mr. Brower," Alice Shani said. “You have been personally requested in the Meeting room Four."

James gruntled. “Can't you get anyone else? I'm out of my worker hours."

“I understand, but you have been personally requested by Doctor William," Alice's voice was tired. “He is in the middle of an important presentation for the Middle-Managers and requested you personally. “

James swallowed dry. William wouldn't have risked contacting him so directly unless it was really important. “I'm going."

James stuffed the phone in his pocket and stared down at his outfit: running shoes, the black, cotton pants and a light-blue shirt. His hair seemed to have grown at least two fingers in the past day, he would need to cut it soon or he would need to learn how to tie it. He knew he probably should change to something more professional but a glance at his watch assured him there wasn't enough time. He had to run to make the meeting.

The administration buildings were secured away on the back of the Compound, the tallest structure of the complex, with a constant armed guard patrolling the place and dedicated generators. He ran for the front double doors. He slowed to a walk when he spotted the armed security guard posted near the door he was seeking.

“Hello. I'm James Brower from the Maintenance. I was called here by Doctor William."

The man tensed and his hand gripped the weapon at his hip. James slowly reached into the front pocket of his pants to pull out his security card. He stepped closer to hold it out for his inspection.

The guard accepted his card, examined it carefully, and then handed it back. “They are waiting for you, get in and out fast. You don't have the credentials to stay here."

“No problem, thank you."

James grabbed the handle, gave it a firm jerk to open the heavy door, and stepped inside.

The darkness of the room surprised him. Most of the lights were turned off, with a couple of them offering a dimly illumination. He couldn't see well but the soft rumble of many voices filled the room.

“Finally, you are lateI" William spoke from his place in the front of the room. “Come here and fix this damn machine at once."

James walked quickly to the front of the room, quickly glancing around at the people inside the room.

He could recognize two of the senior scientists responsible for the chimeras, Anthony Baxter and Connor Mills. Most of the others wore the sharp black suits of the security department. Security Director Michael Ortega was on the front row.

“The computer has frozen again," Willian explained when James got closer. James didn't need more than a cursory glance to find its was working perfectly fine, but he played along, pressing some keys and messing around with the cables for a while before declaring it fixed.

William smiled. “Great, but stay around in case this damn machine freezes again, I don't want to lose any more time."

“Are you ready?" Director Ortega sighed. “Some of the council members have more to do than to hear your foolish plans."

“I can guarantee that my plan is completely reasonable," William turned and held the gaze of the Director.

The director shrugged and relaxed in his chair. “Then be quickly about it."

William pressed a button on the computer and behind him appeared a series of images showing an old naval base that had been occupied by a dangerous clad of survivors. The images showed in great detail the tall wall that now circled the base, made out of metal scavenged from the old battleships. Above the walls were three powerful naval cannons, ready to destroy any approaching force.

“This is the Saint Lucia naval base, known by the name of Hell-mouth by the locals," William said. “They are the most well defended and armed settlement of the regions, besides our own of course, previous attempts to raid it had been a complete catastrophe. The locals not only seem to have some military training, but they know how to operate the cannons and seem to have access to a large storage of ammo."

There were a few murmurs of agreement from the room, the two failed attacks had weighted heavily on the last security Director to the point he ended committing suicide instead of spending the rest of his days on the labor camps to pay back to the company the resources he had squandered. Director Ortega was now the one tasked with conquering the naval base, but he had been doing his best to postpone the third attack.

“To make matters even worse, it seems the soldiers of Hell-Mouth have been expanding their zone of influence, intelligence reports from the near villages show they have been hiring a group of mercenaries known as Blue Devils to capture slaves and acquire salvage. The movement of troops and goods seems to indicate they are reading themselves for an attack."

“Any chance they intend to move against Adams?" Anthony asked from his place on the back.

“No, they unfortunately seem to be in good terms. Our intelligence reports show that recently a caravan was sent to Adams with gifts and slaves. It seems much more probable the two of them are getting ready to move on us."

The self-styled high king James Adams was the current ruler for most of the Southern United States, his cruel regime had been expanding quickly and some even rumored he was receiving material assistance from some other company.

“We already know all of that," Director Ortega grunted. “Unless you have something new to add, I have serious work to do."

“I propose a non-conventional attack," William spoke quickly. “So far, we had managed to assume control of all local settlements simply because we were fighting against little more than child soldiers armed with whatever they had managed to loot from their local supermarket. Hell-Mouth poses a real threat to us, not only they have the hardware, but also the training to meet us from equal to equal. If we want to survive and turn a profit, we will need to use every resource at our disposition."

“You can't be talking about…" Director Ortega gasped, but was silenced by the opening doors.

James turned around in time to see the Sphinx being brought into the room, she was shackled and escorted by four armed soldiers, in her neck there was a heavy metallic collar.

“She has been fitted with the latest in sonic deterrence technology, the collar around her neck can be set to incapacitate her using ultrasonic frequencies, all it takes is the press of a button."

James swallowed dry.

“Tell me more," Director Ortega said.