Brett felt the cold hands wrap around his face, covering his mouth and eyes as he was dragged backwards. He was quickly spun to face his grabber, he was met by the blue eyes of his closest friend. "Luke." Brett sighed deeply.

"Thank you Screamers. We thought you were dead. Where is Cade?" Luke's expression changed from gladness to sorrow in a heart beat, he watched as Brett dropped in posture his eyes staring at the floor.

"He fell and I had to leave him." The words were hard to say, almost choking to admit he had left his only surviving brother behind. "I tried to reach him but the monsters were too close, they would have gotten me if I stayed." A series of tears ran down his check and Luke wrapped his arms about him, sobbing into his friends shoulder the events of the night flooded back and the emotion was just over whelming.

"It's ok dude, Cade is one tough cookie, he's probably managed to find somewhere to hide out until morning. So lets worry about you, lets get that foot cleaned up and sorted." Luke had noticed the blood stained rag and knew it needed urgent attention. He managed to get his friend calm enough to sit him down and painfully peel the rag from his foot. "This is in bad shape mate, might just be easier to take the whole foot off." Luke looked up at his friend and the faintest of smiles began to creep onto his face. Seconds later they both were laughing quietly between themselves as Luke patched up Brett's foot. "Done. No more self harming." Luke got back to his feet and Brett nodded to agree. Taking the bloody rag, the swabs and needle he had used to clean and seal the wound, Luke placed them in a large metal bin then set them on fire. As he walked back toward Brett the door of the building burst open.

"Luke we have to move, like now." An almost identical match to Luke burst through the door, yet her body was far more shaped, and her long flowing red hair made her look ferocious. In her hand she held a rifle and on her back a long blade, Brett knew her instantly, Luke was not alone, he had brought Lacy to.

"Where are the others Lacy?" Questioned Luke as he stuffed everything he could back into his backpack.

"We've seen no sign of Cade, Hunter and Igor followed the west alleyways, Maverick, Courtney and Duke took the main street, while Giles and I took the east alleyway. There are almost thirty of them out there Luke. They took Giles." Closing the door she quickly reloaded her rifle, the look on her face said it all, she was not happy to be there which meant that they were here without orders, and Lacy would be in trouble when they returned home. "I'm glad to see your ok Brett but we must go, this place will be swarming with screamers soon." She peered out of the door only to be knocked backwards as more bodies piled into the building.

"Numbers have fallen, they seem to be heading back down the main street." A stocky but well kept lad slumped as he came to a halt near Luke, he was panting heavily while sweat was pouring from him. "MCD are bunkered down a few buildings away picking of a few strays. They gave us cover fire to break from the alley and get here." Taking a moment to catch his breath he turned to Brett and smiled "I told them you'd be ok."

Lacy grabbed him by the shoulder "Igor, tell me how many are still out there?" Her eyes were angry she wanted answers and she waned them now, another of her team was now in enemy hands and she waned to change that.

"Lucky guess, three maybe four at the moment, most of them have followed those carrying Giles back down the main street, is he a pureblood?" Igor now looked flustered, even the stocky build of Hunter had moved from the door to listen in.

"Yes, Giles is, like all of us here, a pureblood, which makes this even more dangerous. We cannot leave him or Cade in there with them, two purebloods in one night is not good, but at the same time losing ten of us will be catastrophic but we can't leave them behind. So gear up we take the fight to them."

Luke grabbed his own rifle and reloaded his clip then handed the weapon to Brett "You still remember how to use one of these?" He playfully asked his friend.

"Point the long end at the bad guy" he started then Luke joined in to finish off the quote "then pull the trigger until its dead." They passed smiles between them and Luke help Brett to his feet. "Let's go get Cade and Giles." Luke said before heading for the door.

Progress had indeed been slow, almost every step down had creaked under her weight but while it was slow going she had managed to get most of the way down without detection. Both her mind and her heart raced frantically as the last step bowed beneath her, as luck might have it there was no sound. Something was different about this situation, normally there would be watchers keeping an eye out for intruders but there had been none. It was as if they had all sulked away to be involved in what ever was going on, Salt stopped to think for a moment, then it hit her, she hoped she was wrong as if she was right and that the monsters were all preparing, that would mean their victim was a pureblood, and if it was Brett, that would mean Cade was likely to be a pureblood too. Things had suddenly escalated and she felt out of her depth, a ritual drinking would mean an entire hive of the creatures would be waiting for her, she felt her heart sink, this was suddenly useless and she needed to get back to Cade and get him out while they creatures were busy.

Taking a chance she moved up the stairs as quickly as possible, her blade was in one hand and the other she used to balance herself up the stairs. Once she got to the double doors she noticed a small shadow shift from one wall to another, Cade she thought, clearly he didn't listen to her, but this would make things easier. She pushed he doors open and started to run, she grabbed the shirt of Cade and dragged him back to the door of the safe room. Once she had stopped she glanced down and saw a stunned look on a lads face who was not Cade. She let go of the shirt in surprise.

"Who are you?" She asked through panted breath.

"Who am I? You just grabbed me and your asking who am I?" The lads tone was more shocked than commanding, he looked her over quickly, "Your not part of my team. Why are you here?" He got to his feet and dusted himself down then pulled the rifle from its holder he pointed it at her, his finger on the trigger.

"I live here and If you don't leave now then you put us all in trouble." She eyed the weapon, she hadn't seen one since she was a little girl but she knew all too well what it was for. "You said a team, where are the rest of them?"

The lad stopped for a moment to consider answering. "There are eight of us, we came looking for two friends of ours, brothers by the names of Cade and Brett. Have you seen them?"

Before she could answer he fell through the door as it had been opened from the inside. With a surprised look on his face he looked up "Cade?"

"Hello Giles." Cade reached out his hand to help him from the floor. "What on earth are you doing here? Have you found Brett?" Cade wrapped his arms around his friend "I'm so glad to see you."

Salt rushed into the room and closed the door. "Right, Giles is it, start talking." After a short and some what rushed account of what had happened no one seemed any wiser as to what was going on.

"So you're telling me that Luke and Lacy are somewhere in the area looking for me and Brett, you managed to get caught and brought here, only to escape and wound who you think is their queen and no one is any wiser about Brett." Cade rubbed his head "I think I've got a headache coming on."

Salt looked at Cade then at Giles "So the scuffle I heard earlier was them carrying their wounded queen, that makes as much sense as them capturing a pureblood I suppose but that was my first thought. You are armed with several high explosives enough to bring this building down, we have a limited window before the queen is healed so we have to move now and find the others. So any bright ideas?" Salt had an idea but she wanted to know what they thought.

Giles smiled "We blow this place sky high and get the hell out of here."

Maverick stood over Duke as Courtney wrapped a wound on his leg. "You big baby, next time look before you leap." Maverick was one of the last people to have a solid accent of any kind, his family had tried to keep their Scottish heritage as strong as possible. "I tell you now little Duke next time you might not be so lucky." Duke smiled at his burly friend.

"At least I have Courtney's hands all over me." His chuckle made the others smile.

"Hold still you buffoon, otherwise this won't hold in place." Even trying to sound tough Courtney's voice was like a mouse, she hardly spoke at the best of times but she enjoyed ribbing Duke when ever the chance arose.

Just as the bandage was being fixed into place Lacy and the others turned the corner "Ah the cavalry have arrived." Joked Maverick as he lowered his gun.

Lacy ran up the alley "Everything ok?"

Courtney nodded "A minor scratch, he caught his leg on some razor wire, I've rubbed some anti-septic cream on the wound." Duke couldn't help but interrupt "Which felt really good." His smile however couldn't hide the pain as Courtney tightened the bandage. "Watch it."

"I'm now just wrapping it up ready to go." She added fixing the bandage in place finally."

As the other huddled around Brett was given several hugs and words of welcome, he looked around and for the first time remembered that his rifle was back with his rucksack where he had taken it off to rest a moment before he was forced to run for his life with Cade.

"We need to go back, If we hit them suddenly I don't think they'll expect it." Brett looked at each of them in turn. None of them had lost as much as he had, and the thought of losing Cade as well had started to become real. "If Cade and Giles are alive then we must act now."

No one said a word but their actions spoke volumes as they all double checked their weapons, shouldered their stuff and fell into formation ready to move out. Seconds later Lacy gave the order to move out.

Every corner or building they passed was handled with military precision, the group taking up four points of fire, one on the knee, the other standing tall behind them, then one off to each side able to over lap fire if needed. It had been a tactic that had seen them through impossible odds in the past, they trusted it, completely. The old hotel and supermarket came into view, still a little way off, enough to observe without intrusion. Luke took point and scanned the area through the scope of his rifle. "Looks all clear to meee..." his voice faded off in a confused tone as he watched three figures run from the buildings main doors. Before he could relay what he could see a mighty bang like a million grenades going off tore the silence apart, following the sound was the flash of yellow light, visible for miles around, then came the fire, ripping through the building like it was cinder wood. Everyone could now see the building burning, the explosion crashing through every level now ablaze in the night sky. The horrid, desperate cries of the creatures caught in the inferno was painful to endure. Luke turned to the others.

Without another word the group high tailed it down the street until they came as close as they could to the burning building. A few creatures danced in the fire light before they collapsed into the flames, the group looked on in surprise and horror as the building crumbled in on itself.

The plan was simple, Giles had four charge packs left however only one trigger, Cade had remembered that his rifle and backpack was left along side Brett's near the freezer isles of the store. Salt grabbed as much as she could in several of her own backpacks and handed the boys one each.

"Right Giles set the charges and make sure the trigger is on those double doors at the top of the stairs. Me and Cade will go and retrieve the rifles and sacks and meet you back here."

"Got it." He replied as he headed off to place the first charge, it needed to be against a main support he had told Salt who had directed him to the furthest of them, the idea would involve taking out three supports to cause the building to fall in on itself, a risky plan considering they would still be inside when the first charge goes off. He turned the last few corners and stumbled, looking back he could just make out the remains of a body. He stopped for a moment to look for anything he could salvage, then grabbing a few little items he placed them in his pocket and finally shouldered the rifle that was a few feet away from him. He carried on until he found the support then he quickly placed the charge and headed off toward the second support he needed to find.

Meanwhile Cade led Salt back down the gangway passing small abandoned shop units between the lower level supermarket and the hotel above. Brett had said to Cade that many of them would have been ransacked a long time ago and he mentioned it briefly to Salt, she agreed, knowing that many of them she had searched herself in the long years she had hidden in the building.

"Why have you never left?" Asked Cade at a whisper, to him she seemed too smart to willingly stay here without reason, maybe she hoped her parents would return.

"I don't know the world outside, here I know every room, hidden space, locked door, which areas of the building are not safe, this place has been my home for longer than I remember." Her smile tried to hide the pain but her eyes struggled to hold back her tears.

"I'm sorry." She looked at Cade after he apologised, she gave him a massive hug.

"You won't leave me will you?" Cade hugged her back for a minute then pulled away shaking his head.

"No I won't leave you, so let's get round these few last corners then we can get the hell out of here."

When they got back to the safe room Giles was already waiting. "We are set ready to go." A smile wide across his face. "I managed to find all the support beams you directed me to, I've already placed the charge and the igniter on the double doors. All that's left now is for us to make some noise." The thrill and excitement of what they needed to do made his statement sound almost child like.

"Ok, but not here, we won't outrun the blast, we need to be at the gangway, if we use the broken section to climb up and make as much noise as we can there, we would have plenty of time to get out before the other charges blow." Salt grabbed Cade's arm. "Remember your promise." She said as she headed off first.

Cade followed closely behind while Giles stayed at the back, it only took a matter of minutes to reach the gangway, however their movements had not gone unnoticed.

In the kitchen area below them their activity was causing small parts of the ceiling to fall away, it had gone unnoticed for a short distance but when a section the size of a dinner plate fell onto the head of the injured queen the hive stirred to action. Their clawed hands dragging across the floor while their almost hoof like feet propelled them forward. Someone was in the building above them, some food unaware it's walked into their home, the hive collective thought for a moment about the pure blood that had wounded their queen, maybe it was still here, maybe it was trying to hunt them. However it was too late now, they knew it was there, they spread out like a plague leaving the kitchen through every tunnel they had created, a small group moved quickly for the stairs and ultimately the door.

Just as Salt reached the gangway the building shook, the explosion behind them shattered the remaining windows above them, dust and stone flew toward them as a rolling cloud of white rushed at them. "Run, get up there now!" she screamed.

Helping Cade grab hold of the upper supports she pushed his leg until he was safely on the gangway, he stayed crouched with his rifle in hand pointing it down the gangway he had been travelling earlier. For a moment he though it's come full circle, he had been here earlier in the same situation running for his life, this time however it wasn't his brother escaping with him, but two friends. His finger hit the trigger as a grey figure peered from the corner. "We got screamers up here."

Giles was climbing up and as soon as he was upright on the gangway his rifle opened fire into the shadows. Salt had Brett's rifle in her hand, as she slowly passed the bags up to Cade. The second explosion knocked them all to the ground and the screamers darted from the corner toward them, all three rifles burst to life cutting down the front few, the others slipped back into the shadows to wait. Fire was now roaring through the far side of the building the heat already intense and the smoke growing thicker. The race against time was well and truly over, the second of the three supports exploded sending stone everywhere. The sheer weight of the building was already causing it to collapse in on itself. Cade reached down his hand "It's now or never."

Salt took hold and between them managed to get her onto the gangway leaving two of the bags behind. They all got to their feet and ran for the door. As soon as their backs were turned the screamers rushed forward, thick dark smoke almost hid them from sight but Giles kept firing back under his shoulder hoping to slow them down. They reached the door and were down the front steps and across the road just in time as the building went up in a blaze of fire and the final charge went off and the building crumbled completely, as they stood catching their breaths eight figures charged into view and stood watching the building burn. Cade and Giles smiled, the plan had worked and now the team were back together and they could go home. They walked up behind their friends.

"Not bad for a few well placed Charge Packs don't you think." The group turned and as they did they were greeted with hugs and smiles from both Giles and Cade.

Cade hugged his brother "Did you miss me?"

"Like a hole in the head." Replied Brett as he looked at his brother "But how?" The puzzled look of bewilderment was priceless and Cade turned away from him.

"Guys this is Salt, Salt these are the Owls. We'll explain everything."