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Description
As the roughly-cobbled army marched north on the streets of San Alejandro, their blunt and scrounged weapons held tightly in defiance, a small alley leading off of Gaslight avenue remained mostly unnoticed.

At first glance it was completely normal-looking, the entrance to it mostly obscured by overflowing garbage cans. There was a small electric light halfway down it, giving the thin, dark passage a modicum of navigability among the litter. Beneath this light was a tan metal door, completely unremarkable and nearly invisible in the low light.

Were one to take an ultraviolet light to this door, though, it would have revealed in glowing blue a crudely-scrawled image of a coiled snake around a sword.

Behind this door was a long hallway with almost no light at all. The door used to be an emergency exit to a long-abandoned apartment building, at one end of the first-floor hallway. At the other end was the boarded-up front door, a closed kiosk for the front desk, and a decidedly unsafe-looking stairway.

The stairs led up to the fifth floor before they were blocked off by rubble halfway to the sixth, and the fifth floor hallway's ceiling was collapsed halfway to the end, leaving only two doorways accessible. One of these led to the barren and abandoned room 501, and the other led to one of the most well-hidden secret places in the entire city--the "Central."

Through the door marked 502 was one room the size of an entire apartment, originally intended by the apartment building to be a sort of small rec room for the floor. It was illuminated entirely by a large ceiling light wired to a car battery, which was also bolted to the ceiling. The floors were laid wall-to-wall with hardwood and about a half-dozen posters stenciled with the pattern on the alley doorway, a snake coiled on a sword, were hung on the chipped walls around the room.

In the middle of the room, about twenty chairs were assembled in an oval shape. Many of them were empty, but one in particular, larger than the others, was left vacant and sitting at one end of the oval.

None of the people seated in the room were saying anything. Most were looking at their feet worriedly, or staring into the dimly-lit space.

To the right of the empty chair sat Samson "Hangman" Adler. In the dark room, his thickly-bearded chin which rested in his callused hand and shoulder-length brown hair nearly completely obscured his face. His jacket made his silhouette seem wide and tree-like, his wide black shoes making him seem to be rising from the rotten floor.

To the left of the chair was Elizabeth Harris, her head propped on her folded hands in a morose and hunched posture that made her seem tiny beside Hangman. She was staring into the distance of the room from behind her short bangs, her face frozen in resigned sadness. She sighed and put her forehead on her hands, looking downward into her lap.

For a few minutes they exchanged awkward and unsure glances at each other, not knowing which of them should say something first.

Hangman was the first to finally stand up, brushing the dust from the old room off his long jacket as he did so. He cleared his throat. "We all knew this could have happened to any of us at any time," he began, his voice low and sad. "We all accept the risks this work brings us every day. But even staring death in the eye every time we go on a run doesn't lessen the shock we get when one of us finally gets caught by it." He looked down at the empty chair. "Especially not when it takes someone like old Ted."

Around the room, the others nodded slowly.

"But that doesn't mean we're defeated," he continued with more force. "Look at it out there." He pointed to the window overlooking Gaslight Avenue. "Right now, we are up against something that we can only overcome if we keep ourselves together."

"So why are we in here?" a young man in a leather jacket asked. He had combed dark hair and looked a little like the Fonz in the low light. "Why aren't we out fighting these thugs?"

"Because New Halogen isn't just a gang of thugs, Terry," Liz said, looking up from her lap. "They're organized; there's an army out there, and the Guards are their prime targets. We step onto the streets now and we're fried for sure." She held up the back of her hand, showing the insignia tattoo. "See these? Might as well be big red bulls-eyes."

"So, what?" asked Luisa, who was sitting next to Hangman. "What do we do now?"

Hangman threw up his hands. "I don't know!" he exclaimed loudly. "I don't know what to do!"

Luisa, startled, looked down at her feet again.

Hangman sighed, pinched the bridge of his nose and paced around the oval for a few seconds, breathing slowly in the quiet, musty meeting room. Finally, he sat back down. "I don't know what to do," he muttered. "We can't take them on right now, that's for sure." He looked at Liz. "You got anything?"

"Just waiting," she said, shaking her head. "That's all we can do. Just wait until we can get a better shot."

There followed another long period of silence before another man's head perked up near the back of the oval. "Did you all hear that?" he asked.

"Hear what?" Hangman asked, looking at him.

"It sounded like..." He paused, staring at the floor.

In the deep quiet, Liz and Hangman both heard what the man had noticed-there was a barely-audible sound of a creaking metal door opening and closing near the bottom of the building, as well as thumping noises like running footsteps.

"It's them!" Hangman said, looking with panic at Liz.

"Everyone move!" Liz shouted in alarm. "We've got to get out of here!"

The entire room jumped to their feet, opening a window and then quickly filing out of it onto a fire escape leading into a small courtyard.

"How'd they find us?" Hangman asked, looking frantically toward Liz.

"Must have interrogated some we lost on the 11th," she responded as she watched the door. The thumping noises were becoming noticeably louder.

"Remember, once you get underground, scatter, then as soon as it's safe we meet at the rally point," Hangman shouted down as he followed a group onto the fire escape.

Just as Hangman had left and Liz was climbing out through the window, the door on the other side of the room opened halfway. A hand quickly stuck itself inside and threw a small device that looked like a sealed pipe into the room. Immediately after, the door slammed shut.

Liz looked at the bomb for a second, stunned, before she snapped out of it. "Hurry!" she shouted to the others on the fire escape as she began to run down the thin metal stairs. "There's a bomb!"

Liz sped down the stairs, expecting at any second to hear a tremendous explosion. Looking down, Liz saw the last of the group get off the bottom of the escape. She was still about two stories up, and was about to turn the corner to go down one last stairway when the bomb went off above her.

Flames shot in all directions from the fifth. Pieces of rubble and metal flew in all directions like shrapnel from a grenade. Liz lost her balance and fell onto the metal platform as the whole building shook.

Just then, there was another jolt in the platform accompanied by the sound of bending and snapping metal from above. Liz looked up and saw that the fire escape had come loose from the top of the building and was starting to peel off of it, snapping the bolts that tied it to the stone and brick walls.

"Liz!" Hangman shouted. He had stopped when he heard the blast. "Hurry! It's breaking away!"

Liz, terrified, jumped down the stairs in one hop, twisting her ankle slightly when she landed. She got to the end of the escape, where instead of a ladder there was an open dumpster filled with bags of packing peanuts beneath the hole to break the half-story fall. She jumped into it, but landed awkwardly because of her ankle and rolled off onto the ground on her back.

As Liz stared upward, the fire escape separated completely from the building, and started to fall into the courtyard on top of her. She closed her eyes and held her breath.

While she definitely heard a crash, she felt nothing. After a moment, she opened her eyes.

The escape had fallen, but had become stuck on the building across the alley and had not yet totally collapsed. However, it was still making loud groaning sounds and she could see it bending under its own weight.

Quickly, Hangman pulled her up and walked her limping away into the doorway across the courtyard leading to their escape route. Liz looked back as the fire escape finally bent and collapsed onto the ground, covering several small gardens.

Liz was breathing heavily as the two of them stopped for a second. "Thanks, Sam," she said.

"You alright?" he asked, looking at her ankle as he let go of her.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." She rolled her ankle around, working out the pain.

"Well," Hangman said, as he looked back at the abandoned apartment building, "I think we'll need a new headquarters."

Liz nodded, chuckling lightly. "You might be right."

Hangman looked at her. "I know I'm not your brother, Liz, but I won't let you down. We're gonna get these bastards."

Liz nodded, smiling. "You're a good friend, Sam. I'm glad you're on our side." She slapped him on the back. "C'mon, we're getting out of here."

Description
As the roughly-cobbled army marched north on the streets of San Alejandro, their blunt and scrounged weapons held tightly in defiance, a small alley leading off of Gaslight avenue remained mostly unnoticed.

At first glance it was completely normal-looking, the entrance to it mostly obscured by overflowing garbage cans. There was a small electric light halfway down it, giving the thin, dark passage a modicum of navigability among the litter. Beneath this light was a tan metal door, completely unremarkable and nearly invisible in the low light.

Were one to take an ultraviolet light to this door, though, it would have revealed in glowing blue a crudely-scrawled image of a coiled snake around a sword.

Behind this door was a long hallway with almost no light at all. The door used to be an emergency exit to a long-abandoned apartment building, at one end of the first-floor hallway. At the other end was the boarded-up front door, a closed kiosk for the front desk, and a decidedly unsafe-looking stairway.

The stairs led up to the fifth floor before they were blocked off by rubble halfway to the sixth, and the fifth floor hallway's ceiling was collapsed halfway to the end, leaving only two doorways accessible. One of these led to the barren and abandoned room 501, and the other led to one of the most well-hidden secret places in the entire city--the "Central."

Through the door marked 502 was one room the size of an entire apartment, originally intended by the apartment building to be a sort of small rec room for the floor. It was illuminated entirely by a large ceiling light wired to a car battery, which was also bolted to the ceiling. The floors were laid wall-to-wall with hardwood and about a half-dozen posters stenciled with the pattern on the alley doorway, a snake coiled on a sword, were hung on the chipped walls around the room.

In the middle of the room, about twenty chairs were assembled in an oval shape. Many of them were empty, but one in particular, larger than the others, was left vacant and sitting at one end of the oval.

None of the people seated in the room were saying anything. Most were looking at their feet worriedly, or staring into the dimly-lit space.

To the right of the empty chair sat Samson "Hangman" Adler. In the dark room, his thickly-bearded chin which rested in his callused hand and shoulder-length brown hair nearly completely obscured his face. His jacket made his silhouette seem wide and tree-like, his wide black shoes making him seem to be rising from the rotten floor.

To the left of the chair was Elizabeth Harris, her head propped on her folded hands in a morose and hunched posture that made her seem tiny beside Hangman. She was staring into the distance of the room from behind her short bangs, her face frozen in resigned sadness. She sighed and put her forehead on her hands, looking downward into her lap.

For a few minutes they exchanged awkward and unsure glances at each other, not knowing which of them should say something first.

Hangman was the first to finally stand up, brushing the dust from the old room off his long jacket as he did so. He cleared his throat. "We all knew this could have happened to any of us at any time," he began, his voice low and sad. "We all accept the risks this work brings us every day. But even staring death in the eye every time we go on a run doesn't lessen the shock we get when one of us finally gets caught by it." He looked down at the empty chair. "Especially not when it takes someone like old Ted."

Around the room, the others nodded slowly.

"But that doesn't mean we're defeated," he continued with more force. "Look at it out there." He pointed to the window overlooking Gaslight Avenue. "Right now, we are up against something that we can only overcome if we keep ourselves together."

"So why are we in here?" a young man in a leather jacket asked. He had combed dark hair and looked a little like the Fonz in the low light. "Why aren't we out fighting these thugs?"

"Because New Halogen isn't just a gang of thugs, Terry," Liz said, looking up from her lap. "They're organized; there's an army out there, and the Guards are their prime targets. We step onto the streets now and we're fried for sure." She held up the back of her hand, showing the insignia tattoo. "See these? Might as well be big red bulls-eyes."

"So, what?" asked Luisa, who was sitting next to Hangman. "What do we do now?"

Hangman threw up his hands. "I don't know!" he exclaimed loudly. "I don't know what to do!"

Luisa, startled, looked down at her feet again.

Hangman sighed, pinched the bridge of his nose and paced around the oval for a few seconds, breathing slowly in the quiet, musty meeting room. Finally, he sat back down. "I don't know what to do," he muttered. "We can't take them on right now, that's for sure." He looked at Liz. "You got anything?"

"Just waiting," she said, shaking her head. "That's all we can do. Just wait until we can get a better shot."

There followed another long period of silence before another man's head perked up near the back of the oval. "Did you all hear that?" he asked.

"Hear what?" Hangman asked, looking at him.

"It sounded like..." He paused, staring at the floor.

In the deep quiet, Liz and Hangman both heard what the man had noticed-there was a barely-audible sound of a creaking metal door opening and closing near the bottom of the building, as well as thumping noises like running footsteps.

"It's them!" Hangman said, looking with panic at Liz.

"Everyone move!" Liz shouted in alarm. "We've got to get out of here!"

The entire room jumped to their feet, opening a window and then quickly filing out of it onto a fire escape leading into a small courtyard.

"How'd they find us?" Hangman asked, looking frantically toward Liz.

"Must have interrogated some we lost on the 11th," she responded as she watched the door. The thumping noises were becoming noticeably louder.

"Remember, once you get underground, scatter, then as soon as it's safe we meet at the rally point," Hangman shouted down as he followed a group onto the fire escape.

Just as Hangman had left and Liz was climbing out through the window, the door on the other side of the room opened halfway. A hand quickly stuck itself inside and threw a small device that looked like a sealed pipe into the room. Immediately after, the door slammed shut.

Liz looked at the bomb for a second, stunned, before she snapped out of it. "Hurry!" she shouted to the others on the fire escape as she began to run down the thin metal stairs. "There's a bomb!"

Liz sped down the stairs, expecting at any second to hear a tremendous explosion. Looking down, Liz saw the last of the group get off the bottom of the escape. She was still about two stories up, and was about to turn the corner to go down one last stairway when the bomb went off above her.

Flames shot in all directions from the fifth. Pieces of rubble and metal flew in all directions like shrapnel from a grenade. Liz lost her balance and fell onto the metal platform as the whole building shook.

Just then, there was another jolt in the platform accompanied by the sound of bending and snapping metal from above. Liz looked up and saw that the fire escape had come loose from the top of the building and was starting to peel off of it, snapping the bolts that tied it to the stone and brick walls.

"Liz!" Hangman shouted. He had stopped when he heard the blast. "Hurry! It's breaking away!"

Liz, terrified, jumped down the stairs in one hop, twisting her ankle slightly when she landed. She got to the end of the escape, where instead of a ladder there was an open dumpster filled with bags of packing peanuts beneath the hole to break the half-story fall. She jumped into it, but landed awkwardly because of her ankle and rolled off onto the ground on her back.

As Liz stared upward, the fire escape separated completely from the building, and started to fall into the courtyard on top of her. She closed her eyes and held her breath.

While she definitely heard a crash, she felt nothing. After a moment, she opened her eyes.

The escape had fallen, but had become stuck on the building across the alley and had not yet totally collapsed. However, it was still making loud groaning sounds and she could see it bending under its own weight.

Quickly, Hangman pulled her up and walked her limping away into the doorway across the courtyard leading to their escape route. Liz looked back as the fire escape finally bent and collapsed onto the ground, covering several small gardens.

Liz was breathing heavily as the two of them stopped for a second. "Thanks, Sam," she said.

"You alright?" he asked, looking at her ankle as he let go of her.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." She rolled her ankle around, working out the pain.

"Well," Hangman said, as he looked back at the abandoned apartment building, "I think we'll need a new headquarters."

Liz nodded, chuckling lightly. "You might be right."

Hangman looked at her. "I know I'm not your brother, Liz, but I won't let you down. We're gonna get these bastards."

Liz nodded, smiling. "You're a good friend, Sam. I'm glad you're on our side." She slapped him on the back. "C'mon, we're getting out of here."