Mateo and his men quietly crawled through the air duct above the open scene below, where the few remaining creatures who managed to escape the wrath of the mutants, walked about. Archer looked at the camera fixed on Frank and his other three original proteges, and using a walkie talkie, he spoke the instructions into Mateo's earpiece.

Using the Head Scientist's directions, Mateo stopped at the air shaft around the corner from where Frank and his posse were located. The plan was for one of Mateo's men, preferably the quickest, to lower himself and lure Frank and the other creatures to the nearest quadrant. After Jackson's electrical blanket, the system had enough power to reboot, and the locking mechanisms in the quadrant doors were restored, except for quadrant Dina. Once the creatures were locked in the quadrant, Michael would administer a second dose of intravenous tranquilizer for Frank and his three proteges, and the rest of the creatures would be eliminated just as Archer had instructed.

Victor was Mateo's choice. He had great strength and even greater speed. Leaving Victor at the door, Mateo and the rest of his soldiers made their way to quadrant Exa, where Victor was to lure the creatures. Each quadrant had four ventilation grills, each located in a corner of the quadrant, and one main ventilation door. Mateo placed one man in every ventilation grill, then he and Michael waited at the door. Once they were in position, Mateo gave Victor the signal to go.

The command center was once again holding it's breath. Everyone stopped working, and focused on the giant monitor, to witness this heroic act Mateo and his men were going to attempt.

On Mateo's command, Victor attempted to open the shaft door as quietly as possible. Once he did so, he made sure to perform a full 360 scan of the area and ensured that there were no creatures near him. Feeling his worry and anxiety breathing down his neck, Victor gulped and took a moment before he used the small ladder to descend onto the floor. Once he was on his feet, Victor chanced a look around the corner, and noticed the last few creatures snacking on the burnt corpses which laid about on the ground. Victor began breathing heavily, the horror from seeing the creatures so up-close causing his heartbeat to spike and send a petrified dose of adrenaline pumping through his veins. But saying a quick prayer and giving his head a quick shake, Victor removed his body from behind the wall, and completely revealed himself. He placed to index fingers into his mouth, folding his bottom lip, then he blew out a sharp whistle, causing every creature to turn with a snarl.

The moment they noticed the human, they growled and launched after him. Victor didn't spare a moment. He began to run.

"HEADING YOUR WAY!" Victor spoke into his headset, as he pumped his legs faster, his lungs quickly heating up at the sudden change in pace.

Frank and his band of animals roared, growled, and snarled after the escaping human. And each note they grunted, was felt in Victor's heart, and that only amplified his fear.

Victor could hear their thundering steps closing in on him as he turned a corner, and hopped over a dead body, not having the chance to pay his respects. At some point Victor could've sworn he felt the heat of a snarling breath on the hairs of his neck, and that caused another shock of fear to buzz through his system, and as a result goosebumps tripled over his skin.

Victor's lungs began to pulse with please of mercy due to the abuse and toll of sudden exhaustion. They burned, and his throat was drier than day old fried chicken. He was breathing through an open mouth, and the clothes on his back began to feel heavier than usual. Victor's muscles started to protest, and just as he felt one of the creatures drool over his neck, he turned one last corner and quadrant Exa was finally in his sights. Slipping a gas mask onto his face, Victor gave himself one last push, and dived headfirst into the quadrant.

The moment Michael saw Victor, he released the gas. The creatures who noticed Victor on the ground prepared to tear into his body, but as soon as the last of the creatures entered the quadrant, Archer signaled for the tech to close the door.

Victor curled his body into a ball, his arms covering his head, his knees up to his chest. He closed his eyes tight and waited for the creatures to tear him into pieces, except the excruciating pain he expected, never came. In fact the only thing he registered was the chaotic scream which travelled from one creature to another, as they realized that they were trapped, and there was a poison entering their lungs which began to paralyze their bodies with an excruciating pain, with every passing second.

The creatures began to thrash and shriek, a sound so horrible, Victor knew that he would never be able to sleep soundly again. The creatures' eyes began to water and burn, causing them to use their claws to tear into their skin and dig their eyes out.

"My God, just look at them." Archer breathed, amazed, and everyone else agreed in silence, awed by fear.

The sleeping gas seem to aggravate the creatures instead of sedate them. The weakest members of the bunch began to ram their heads into the glass walls, and one by one, their bodies dropped to the floor. The original four creatures were the last to fall, and once Victor was sure that he was safe, he stood to his feet and gave to all clear for Mateo and Michael to enter the quadrant. Mateo handed Victor a gun, and both men began executing the sleeping creatures. Michael saw to his task of giving Frank and his gang the tranquilizer, and once they were all sedated, the other men Mateo had stationed entered the quadrant, and a few more men joined in to carry the four creatures to the quarantined room located in the command center.

Mateo ensured that all the other creatures were eliminated, then he joined his men at the command center, and was pleased to see Vivian relieved, even if it was from afar.

Outside of the lab, the sun had just risen above the horizon. Jackson was the first to wake up, to find Adina was leaning on his shoulder, and he felt a small smile creep on his face. Valerie was leaning on Adina. Khairo had his head resting against a tree branch behind him. Lauren leaned against Khiran, and Matthew rested his back against a branch behind him as well.

After Jackson woke up, Adina was the next one to wake up. She instantly blushed when she realized that she had leaned against Jackson's arms.

"Good morning." Jackson murmured softly, and Adina smiled as she replied quietly.

Jackson prepared himself to speak when Khairo groaned and stretched out with a yawn. His eyes instantly fell on the other awake Test Subjects, but it wasn't until he noticed Lauren lean on Khiran, did he frown. Adina noticed his expression and smiled knowingly.

"What are you looking at?" Khairo fired before he could stop himself.

"Nothing." Adina shrugged, though she couldn't stop herself from smiling.

Khairo rolled his eyes as he said "Whatever."

At his words, Matthew stirred just as Khiran and Lauren woke up simultaneously. When Khiran realized that Lauren had leaned against him through the night, he sent his twin an apologetic frown, but in return Khairo simply shrugged him off. Lauren stretched, then scratched her head as she turned to Khiran and smiled.

Khiran feeling slightly awkward, looked over at Valerie who also started to wake up.

"Morning peoples." Matthew greeted as he stretched then yawned.

"Morning." Jackson and Adina stated at the same time, causing them to share a split second of eye contact, which had both their hearts skipping in their chests.

"Good morning." Valerie greeted, and smiled up at Adina.

Khiran replied "good morning."

"Khairo?" Valerie turned to Khairo, as she noticed his grumpy facial expression.

"Yes Valerie?" Khairo answered.

Valerie asked genuinely "what's wrong?"

"Nothing." Khairo replied quicker than he should have.

"But you're the only who hasn't said good morning?" Lauren teased.

Khairo's fists tightened, and he snapped "Well how would you know? You woke up after me. I could have sang and danced the entire 'Good Morning' anthem, and you wouldn't have known."

At his twin's words, Khiran frowned, and so did Lauren. She could feel that Khairo was frustrated, and she had a feeling that it was directed at her. She figured it was because she fell asleep and left him on night duty alone, but then again he had no right to be angry, he was the one who destroyed the small conversation they were making, so technically, it wasn't her fault.

"Okay, does anyone else need to use the restroom?" Matthew jumped in, feeling the tension escalating way too quickly so early in the morning.

"I do!" Khiran jumped, needing to escape the pressure he felt sitting between his brother and Lauren.

Khiran was aware that Khairo had developed feelings for Lauren, and the last thing he wanted to do was come between them. If its one code they never broke as twins, it would be to never get involved with their brother's significant other, or exes. And though Lauren fit neither category, Khiran knew that there was plenty of time, and anything could happen between Khairo and Lauren.

"Wait a minute," Adina spoke, then she looked between Khairo and Lauren as she said, "weren't you guys supposed to be watching the area overnight?"

Adina's question caused all eyes to shift toward Khairo and Lauren, who in that instant moment, both their cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

"Well, technically, it's not my fault." Lauren said quickly, "Khairo said I could go to sleep." Lauren explained in haste, saving herself, and as a result, all eyes then shifted to Khairo.

Seeing this, the explosive twin simply shrugged and replied, "I stayed up most of the night, but since I didn't have a reliable partner," Khairo emphasized as he sent a quick glance towards Lauren, before continuing, "I fell asleep close to the morning hours."

Adina looked between Lauren and Khairo, then shook her head as she said "whatever."

"Frankly, I'm disappointed," Matthew shrugged, and all eyes turned to him, and he explained, "well because I actually expected to wake up to the sound of Lauren and Khairo tearing each other apart."

"Really? That's what you're disappointed about?" Lauren remarked, her tone snarky.

"Well, yeah." Matthew confirmed.

He wasn't intimidated by Lauren, and when she glared his way, Matthew simply kept his gaze cool.

Khairo looked between Matthew and Lauren and actually smiled. At least he wasn't the only one over Lauren's act.

"Alright now I really have to pee." Khiran stated, wanting to break the heavy tension in the air.

"Me too." Adina stated, and after a few final glances, and Adina flying above to make sure they were in the clear, the group of Subjects climbed down the tree, everyone seeing to their personal businesses, then they met back up at the tree.

"Alright, so, what's the plan?" Khiran asked.

Adina chose to speak, "so the road is only a few minutes from here, we'll just walked there and once we reach it, we'll walk along it until we hopefully reach a city or something."

"And if that city is like 20 miles away?" Lauren asked, always looking for an opportunity to argue with Adina.

"Then we walk for 20 miles." Adina replied, her eyes strong and meeting Lauren's challenge.

"Alrighty then, let's walk." Jackson clapped, as he pulled Adina away, and Khiran encouraged Lauren to walk with him.

As they trekked through the forest, neither of the subjects spoke. Instead ach individual chose to focus on what kind of life they'd return to, following their trip to the Warlord's lab. The subjects weren't sure for how long they've been missing, and they didn't know if their loved ones were still looking for them.

In about thirty minutes, the subjects reached the road. It was two lane road, and the subject weren't sure just how often someone traveled through, but still keeping the idea of heading north, the subjects began their journey on the road.

"Alright, favorite ice cream flavor, go." Matthew stated, as he tried to create conversation.

"Ooh Vanilla!" Valerie stated excitedly.

"Uh huh, rum raisin." Adina pushed.

Jackson smiled as he said "strawberry."

"Chocolate." Khairo blurted out.

"Nah, pistachio," Khiran argued.

"Rocky road," Lauren stated, and when the group turned to her in surprise, she only shrugged as she said "what?"

"Nothing," Matthew replied quickly, wanting to avoid an argument, then he said "alright, favorite fast-food item, go."

"Pizza!" Valerie cheered.

"Heck yeah!" Matthew agreed as he high fived her.

"I'll go out on a limb and say anything with bacon in it." Jackson hopped in.

"Right on brother." Khiran clapped.

Khairo shook his head, "man that's nothing," then he added, "Stadium nacho bowls."

"Ooo yes." Matthew pointed.

"Right?" Khairo smiled back.

"Chicken nuggets." Lauren chimed in.

Adina then added with a deep voice "buuurgers," which earned laughter from her fellow companions, then she added desperately, "God I could kill for some meat right now."

This comment earned her complete silence, with a curiously sharp look from every man in the group.

"What?" Adina asked.

Jackson cleared his throat awkwardly as he said "nothing."

Adina furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and squinted her eyes slightly, and that's when she noticed the blush on Jackson's cheeks.

Realizing they way her words sounded, Adina groaned and shook her head while saying, "guys, chill."

"Alright moving on," Matthew commented, then he snapped his fingers and said, "favorite movie classics, go."

"Oh I know!" Lauren jumped in, catching everyone by surprise but she ignored them as she blurted, "Jurassic Park trilogy".

"The Mummy from 1999, and The Mummy Returns." Adina added, and Lauren nodded in agreement.

"Um, no," Khairo said, raining on the girls' parade as he said, "the James Bond Collection."

"The Rocky collection." Khiran voiced his opinion.

"Harry Potter collection, Lord of the Rings, and Percy Jackson." Jackson said, not ashamed that his choices sounded like that of a seventh grader.

"Every Jackie Chan movie ever created." Matthew closed the deal, and everyone nodded in agreement.

"Shazam." Valerie shrugged, earning a look from her older companions.

"I'll give you that," Matthew agreed, then he asked, "favorite movie genre, go."

"Comedy, hands down." Adina spoke first.

"Crime and thrillers." Lauren raised her hand.

"Action, all day." Khairo said.

"Science fiction." Jackson stated.

"I can vibe with horror, but I do love a good mystery." Khiran added.

"I like sports movies, and documentaries." Matthew pointed.

"I like the thrillers that say 'Based on true story' and shark movies." Valerie pointed with a bright smile, and once again, her older companions looked at her quizzically.

"Alright, favorite sport." Matthew kept the conversation going.

"Soccer." Jackson smiled, he was definitely a soccer fanatic.

"Hockey." Khairo declared.

"Baseball." Khiran added.

"Dancing," Adina said, then she added sharply, "and yes dancing is a sport."

"Volleyball." Valerie chimed in.

"Wrestling." Lauren admitted proudly, once again catching the other members in her group off guard.

"Chicago..." Adina suddenly declared.

"What? Adina we're naming sports, not states." Matthew pointed, confused.

"No, I really mean, Chicago." Adinapointed, and the other subjects followed her finger to the green sign which read,CHICAGO 2 MILES.

_________________________________________

Hey guys!

Long time no update, and per request of an awesome reader I decided to pop in and release a quick chapter!

Let me know what you think by VOTING, COMMENTING, AND SHARING!

Lots of ❤❤❤

-Tania.