Disclaimer: Don't Own. Don't Sue.

A/N: Apologies for the 4-5 month hiatus. It was unexpected and hopefully won't happen again so long as something doesn't come up again.

Chapter 11: The Race

The car Jess and Becker had been in lay on the side of the road, overturned and hissing from the impact.

Both were unconscious.

Jess was slowly coming to when something pounced onto their overturned car. She opened her eyes wide and forced herself to not unbuckle just yet.

She turned to see that Becker was still unconscious and looked to have been injured; judging by the blood going down the side of his head.

"Becker." She whispered, hoping the creature wouldn't hear.

"Becker." She said again, slightly louder this time, shaking him.

Becker groaned quietly as he came to.

"There's a creature on the car." Jess conveyed in a strained whisper.

Becker was about to stay something when the creature started jumping up and down and the car began to buckle under its weight.

"I need to find a gun or an EMD at the very least." Becker grunted, trying to twist about in search of a weapon.

Jess opened the glove compartment and just managed to grab a small EMD that fell out.

Becker grabbed it, but when he tried to move his legs so that he could unbuckle and take care of the problem, he found himself trapped.

"If I can't get my legs free, we're going to be crushed." He stated.

Without a second thought, Jess unbuckled and fell to the roof. She snatched the EMD from Becker and readied it.

"Be careful." He cautioned.

Jess nodded before crawling warily out of the vehicle. As she turned, she saw the creature looming over the edge staring her down, growling. Jess aimed and pulled the trigger, hitting the creature and sending it backwards to the other end of the car.

Becker turned to see the creature hit the ground and then back to Jess. "Nice shot."

Matt and Abby slowly climbed the scaffolding and steel beams as they looked for the anomaly to seal it.

"There." Abby pointed across the way once they were high enough.

Matt nodded. "Let's seal it and then get to Prospero."

A sharp cry pierced the air and both glanced around to find several baby Anurognathus not 30 feet away from them.

Abby shot at one that got too close as she and Matt made their way toward the anomaly.

"Keep going, I'll hold them off." Matt spoke, finding his footing and prepping to shoot.

Abby got no more than a few yards when she heard Matt shout something that sounded like 'look out!' and found three Anurognathus headed directly at her.

She managed to dodge the first and Matt shot the second, but in dodging, she began to loose her footing and the third had delivered the slight push necessary to knock her off the ledge.

Fortunately, Abby was able to grab hold of the ledge just in time.

Matt made his way to Abby as quickly as possible, looking out for his own footing along the way.

"I think I'm slipping." Abby called as Matt was making his way to her rescue.

She was certain of it. There was that sweaty feeling in her palms and it was clear that it was causing her hand to slowly but surely slide across the steel.

She tried to pull herself up multiple times, but to no avail.

Matt reached her just in time, flinging himself onto the beam to grab her hand, but losing his EMD in the process.

"I've got you." He said in a strained voice as he began to haul her up.

Abby raised her EMD and shot at an oncoming Anurognathus.

Matt finished pulling Abby up to her feet and minutes later were sealing the anomaly after containing the creatures before heading off to Prospero.

Becker and Jess entered the ARC, armed and cautious.

After taking care of the creature problem, they armed themselves and procured a car to get back to the ARC, but by the looks of things, too late.

Most of the power was out and not a soul in sight.

"Keep your guard up." Becker said as he and Jess simultaneously readied their EMDs.

A low whimper echoed off to the right.

As they rounded the corner, they found Amanda with a small EMD.

"Where's Lester?" Jess asked.

"He's—he's in his office…injured." Amanda answered shakily.

Becker hunkered down next to Amanda, setting his EMD down to check her for any visible injuries.

"Are you alright, Amanda?" Becker asked.

"I'm fine." She answered shakily. "Creatures came here through an anomaly. Only a couple, but we fought them off and managed to lock them up in a storage closet."

"What kind of creatures?"

"Fast ones." She muttered fearfully.

"We should make sure there's no more loose in the ARC." Becker said to Jess.

"What about Connor and the others?" Jess questioned.

"They'll be fine for a bit longer." Becker replied.

"They told me you were both dead." Amanda said suddenly, breaking the silence.

Jess raised an eyebrow. "Who did?"

Amanda said nothing.

Becker put his hands on Amanda's shoulders. "Tell us."

"Phillip and his…associate…they told me that you were both dead; that Abigail Temple was located and brought back to London after having been kidnapped."

"My daughter was not kidnapped." Jess said, venom lining her tone.

"You're coming with us, after we check on Lester." Becker stated, meeting Amanda's eyes.

"Gallant?" Connor asked puzzled. "What are you doing here? How did you get here?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" He smiled wryly.

"No need to fret, Connor. All will be revealed once we get New Dawn started." Phillip interjected brightly.

"I want my daughter first." Connor demanded, not taking his eyes from Gallant.

Something was very wrong here.

And it's his fault that it had taken this long for him to notice.

"I won't do anything else until you let me see my daughter." Connor demanded once more.

"Once New Dawn is started, you'll be free to do as you wish because our vision will be realized." Phillip said as he stepped in between Connor and Gallant. "You'll need both hands free."

More soon!

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