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of here.” The building shook again. She grabbed his arm. “I want to get
out of here really, really bad.”
    “Yeah, me too.” Gideon murmured. “I’ve
got you, don’t worry.” It was time to go. He didn’t know what was making the
place shake or what had happened to the power, but it couldn’t be good.
    “I’ll go into the hall first,” Theo
said, moving past them.
    “Theo, wait.” Gideon slipped his
hand under his shirt and unholstered his Bersa, handing it to Theo.
    Theo took it, grumbling something
about guns the size of his palm.
    “Just take it and shut up,” Gideon
told him. “It’s better than nothing, Mr. Cranky.”
    Bea snickered. Gideon patted her
arm reassuringly, then guided her behind him.
    He strained to see as Theo moved to
the doors, checking as best he could for intruders. There was some natural
moonlight coming in the windows, but all the streetlights were out, so it was
still really dark. Weird points of light flashed here and there against the
night sky, but he wasn’t sure if they were stars or just his vision going wacky.
And he didn’t even want to imagine what the hospital across the street was
dealing with. He followed Theo onto the wide passageway, Bea’s hand tucked into
his belt. The building shook again, straining his nerves.
    “I can’t see a damn thing,” he
said, trying to see something. Anything.
    Theo shook his head, then abruptly
shoved them back. Gideon flattened himself against the wall, making sure Bea
was protected. A large shape chittered down the hall at the opposite end of the
corridor. It didn’t look human.
    “What the fuck was that?” Gideon
whispered.
    “I have no idea,” Theo said, moving
forward cautiously. “We need to get to those stairs though, and the door is
down that hall.”
    “Of course it is,” Gideon sighed.
He tensed as another low boom sounded in the distance. What could
possibly be happening?
    Bea tightened her fingers in his
belt. “I think we’re on the second floor. At least we’ll only have to go down
one flight of steps.”
    Gideon nodded. “True.”
    “Okay, I’m going to check it out,”
Theo said. “We need to get moving.” He inched forward cautiously, then stuck
his head out to look down the hall, whipping it back immediately.
    Gideon heard nothing except the
rumble of the building moving again.
    “I think it’s clear.” Theo eased
around the corner.
    Gideon tugged Bea behind him and
followed. The hall was a long stretch of darkness. He eased down, following
Theo to the stairwell door.
    Theo paused.
    Gideon looked at him, then nodded. “Gotta
do it.”
    Theo rubbed his face, then eased
open the knob. Thankfully it didn’t squeak. He moved in, then gestured to them
to follow. Gideon drew Bea with him and the three of them headed down. The
stairwell was pitch black so they had to feel their way around the mid-point
landing. When they reached the bottom, Gideon waited. Theo had their only
weapon, so he got to go first again. Bea’s hand trembled slightly on Gideon’s
belt, but otherwise she betrayed no nerves. He admired her courage.
    When Theo opened the door, Gideon
didn’t know what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t what he actually
saw: cars overturned, streetlights flattened, and the flicker of an enormous
fire against the brick of the building. He sucked in a breath, willing himself
to focus. There were bodies everywhere. As he watched, a large insect-like
creature stooped and picked one up. He clamped his mouth shut. Behind him, Bea’s
breathing picked up, but she didn’t make a sound, thank God.
    In the distance, the hospital was
on fire, like something from a disaster movie. He saw a few people running in
the hospital parking lot. More of the black insect creatures mowed them down
with what looked like a cattle prod. The device buzzed and even this far away
it made something in the base of his skull hurt. The people running fell down
and the creature picked them up like so much meat and