Suit up! PKA Spin Off 1 (Jeran/Matt)

[Jack Lexington]

MATTHEW DUNHAM

I feel the sun and cool breeze dry the sweat on my forehead as I wipe the back of my hand over my mouth. My sandwich is almost gone.
"I could use another one of these." I complain because I'm used to bigger portions than what they handed us here. "They make us work out like horses and feed us like mice."

Jeran finally answers my question about Jins and it does sound true that he doesn't know who the guy is. So Kyanite really never shared her fear with her brother. But she did with me. She opened up to me in a way she doesn't do to others. That makes me feel special and like I'm better than him.
"Actually, I think I remember his name from when I was younger. Just in passing from a few kids here and there. With a name like that, it's hard to really forget that kind of a name. Bit sad, really."
"Never mind."

I finish my sandwich and have a drink of water.


Then it sounds like he's actually trying to have a real conversation with me when he says. "What do you think they are going to make us do? When we arrest someone? They are actually going to let cadets shoot the suspects?"
"Are you kidding me? They just put a weapon in our hands an hour ago. How many casualities do you think they want?" I shake my head with a light hearted laugh.
"No, I don't think we're getting live ammo."

I place my elbows on my knees and try to relax a little while we can. Last night was exhausting.
"I know you don't like me, Jeran, but if we both want to score points here we have to work together." This time my voice sounds much more sincere as I actually plan to be a good partner for him even though I can't stand him. That only means that my chances will be better.

[*]

The sandwiches are devoured in a short amount of time, but it's Dunham that actually makes a comment on it. I pass off his words and dont' react, but silently wish for the same. A measely meal for the people that want to serve the capitol. You'd think that we'd be fed good in order to perform to the best of our abilities. Whatever... I pick up the water bottle and down it in a a few quick gulps, and use the back of my hand as a napkin.

Even after my partner mentions the name and I give my answer, he throws everything I tried to make into a conversation into nothing. He passes off the subject with 'Nevermind'. I shrug to his reaction to the answer. With what time we've got left, I lay back against the grass, propping my head on my hands and try once again to get along with this guy since I'm forced to.

"Are you kidding me? They just put a weapon in our hands an hour ago. How many casualties do you think they want? No, I don't think we're getting live ammo."

That's actually kinda sad. They expect us to do their bidding, but even after an hour, they won't trust us with the real things. "You'd think, we'd be more careful with the real shit rather than any kind of fake ammo. With fake ammo, people are going to become more careless. Maybe they should do psych evaluations on all of us. I don't want to be partnered with someone a few screws loose." I throw that image to him, and look at the sky while we're still just sitting here.


"I know you don't like me, Jerean, but if we both want to score points here we have to work together." Why is this guy even trying to get me to be relatively nice to him? Even as a partnership? An audible grunt comes from me as I push myself off the ground and look him dead in the eye.

"You've got that right. I Don't like you and there's no changing that. BUT, for the sake of our careers here and I really don't want to get shot, I'll play your game. As long as the head haunchos are watching, expect me to be on my best behavior. Outside of studies, don't even think about it."

[Jack Lexington]

He lays down in the grass to rest while he's talking. For some reason I can help but notice the similarities in him and his sister. The same little gestures, the way they pronounce things, some facial features..hair color. It disgust me to think that they're related and that similar...except for their attitude towards me.

"You'd think, we'd be more careful with the real shit rather than any kind of fake ammo. With fake ammo, people are going to become more careless."
That part is probably true.
"Maybe they should do psych evaluations on all of us. I don't want to be partnered with someone a few screws loose." There- a low blow directed at me for sure.
But I give it right back to him. "That would probably be a good idea...single out the weak ones, who can't handle shit, too."

My offer to work together backfires on me partly.
"You've got that right. I Don't like you and there's no changing that. BUT, for the sake of our careers here and I really don't want to get shot, I'll play your game. As long as the head haunchos are watching, expect me to be on my best behavior. Outside of studies, don't even think about it."
I get up and brush the dirt of my very light colored pants. Why would they make combat gear this light...just to look immaculate, which is almost impossible?
"Suit yourself. I don't plan on being friends with you either."
With my garbage in hand I look for a trash can just to turn back at him. "Although a friend might serve you well...maybe talk some sense into your thick skull."
With that I walk away to dispose of my garbage and make sure not to return to him before I have to. The hostility might just become too much.
So I go to the bathroom and then talk to some of the others about what they're expecting out of this.
One informs me. "I've been here before. Last year they send us all into a large warehouse. Whoever caputered one of the 'suspects' scored points. This was actually the first day that people got kicked out for bad performance. One guy broke down crying inside that building because of the darkness and noise and gunfire."
"That's what's getting me excited." I share with him.
"So you didn't make it last time?"
"No, not enough points. Man I wish I was your partner." He gives me a clap on the shoulder because he probably knows my name from the games, which does make me feel a little proud now.




Half an hour later we have to gather with all that damn gear on again. I contemplate taking off the vest because it's too uncomfortable and hot and if we're not using live ammo I won't need it. I can't be sure though.

"Listen closely cadets because you will only hear this once. Each team will be send to one abandoned house, in which one or more suspects will be hiding. They will be armed and ready to attack you. You task is to go in there and overwhelm them and take them into custody. If you do that you'll score points. If you let them get away, you don't get any points, if they somehow manage to overwhelm you, you will loose points you might or might not have gathered during your first days here. Work together, be tactical, be smart. Any questions?"
The Lieutenant Commander looks at our scared or eager faces with some weird satisfaction playing on his lips.
"Guess it's his day today." I whisper to Jeran, who is standing next to me again now.

[*]

I leave that last sentence completely open, waiting dilegently to see what his reaction will be. Every part of my mucles ready to react if this guy wants to start a fight right here in the yard. I'm all too ready to take the physical punch if it means that he'll be reprimanded for it or kicked out due to the hostility, but actions speak louder than words. Maybe, if I find the right motivation, he'll become a loose canon and he'll get sent home. As it is, he suddenly gets up and dusts himself off.

"Suit yourself. I don't plan on being friens with you either. Although a friend might serve you well... maybe talk some sense into your thick skull."

I want to laugh. I try to hide the grin creeping on my face, but a second later, watching him walk away, was the best thing to happen to me so far. I'm not sure if he's the coward, or if I'm being a bully toward him.

"Who cares." I state out of the blue to myself and do the same as him and get up, dusting my suit off. What time we've got left before the next practice isn't too long, but enough that I keep myself anxious for what's to come. When everyone starts gathering again in order to start their pairings for the arrest, my vision sets out for that one guy and find him immediately but when the commander starts to tell what's about to occur, I hold still so that I may listen intently to what's going on.

"Listen closely cadets because you will only hear this once. Each team will be send to one abandoned house, in which one or more suspects will be hiding. They will be armed and ready to attack you. You task is to go in there and overwhelm them and take them into custody. If you do that you'll score points. If you let them get away, you don't get any points, if they somehow manage to overwhelm you, you will loose points you might or might not have gathered during your first days here. Work together, be tactical, be smart. Any questions?"

Adrenaline already starts forming throughout my body. My fingers flex up and down on the gun, warming my muscles up. I find myself next to Matthew in a quick motion and look over at him when he speaks to me. I give him a good solid nod of my head.

"Don't know about you, but perhaps, this will be entertaining. Should we start coming up with a plan? I say we split up. Surround the house." Then with an idea in my head, I put up a cocky attitude. "You want to the distraction?"

[Jack Lexington]

We're not even close to our mission or the houses but Jeran's already got a plan. I'm not sure whether I should command him for it or diss him.
"Hold your horses. let's see what the set up is first, assess the situation and then come up with a plan...plus if anything you can be the distraction."
Out of the corner of my eye I can see one of the peace keepers watching us so I move closer to Jeran and lower my voice.
"C'mon, let's do this. We both want the points right?"
I'm still not sure whether I can trust Jeran because his dislike for me seems hard to hide, even here, while I'm ready to leave our differences at least for now.
"Do you think we need the vests?"

That's when the peace keepers interrupts our conversation. "They're part of your gear. Even though today we'll only use rubber bullets you have to maintain proper gear."
He gives us a stern look to make sure we agree.
"Okay." I state solemnly.
"That's yes, sir." he corrects me so I repeat his words.
"Plus those rubber bullets can cause as much as internal injuries."
He claps Jeran on the back and then moves on to the next recruits.

It doesn't take long until we're getting our 'fake ammo' and are being transported to a training area outside of town on the back of some jeeps.
Out there, in a fenced in area, is a whole street with abandoned houses to the left and right. Some are boarded up, some have their windows smashed. It looks quite creepy to be true.
My eyes never leave the houses and quickly scan every inch of the windows, doors, rooftop, chimney for possible access routes.

After we unload from the truck we once again are told to check our partners gear, which I endure because I have to and then do the same for Jeran before I nod. "You're good."
Eagerly we await our assignment.



"The street with the houses is long and lined with possible traps. Make sure no sniper gets you and nobody has set up a trap. Expect the worst. First recruits up are ..." I don't listen anymore since it's not us which means we have to wait.

The ones of us who have to wait their turn are asked to gather in a boarded up area so we can't watch what's happening. What we can hear though are the screams of the other cadets. "They communication is way too loud." I whisper to Kys brother.
Sure enough it doesn't take long and both of them get escorted back with their hands above their heads by their 'suspect'.
"That was a pathetic display!" The commander scolds them. "Both minus 2 points. I've never seen anybody fail faster."
The two do look pathetic and I almost feel sorry for them as they get loaded on the truck again to be shipped away.

The next ones up take much longer. Almost half an hour until they succeed.
"Cadet Ruze, Cadet Dunham. Bad time to fall asleep. It's your turn."

Instantly my heart rate jumps to 180 and my gun is in my hand and I'm ready to go.
"Show time." I cheer and step up.

[*]

Being prepared is one way for peacekeepers to know the situation and deal with things accordingly. It's no mistake, that I was made for this line of work, because without even wasting time, I just right into the conversation with my partner about what what this mission needs to go. Tactics is what will make or break us both. Methods and conversation is also another set that will end up saving us and earning us points, but when Matthew seems to tell me to hold off until we get to our destination, I begin to wonder about our partnership.

"We need to know some sort of plan when we first get there. We can always alter it as the situation unfolds. We need to find a happy medium though. How to start. If both of us just go in without a starting method, we're bound to lose points instead of gain. You don't know if we're going to be ambushed." I try to tell him, but then his voice gets a little lower toward me and he tries to cope with who he's given. Me. I follow Dunham's gaze to the peacekeepers watching us, but it don't bother me at all. Matthew, on the other hand, seems to be watching his every move and for that, I'm clueless as to why. With an eye roll, I pass him off as he mentions something about taking the vests off.

"yes." I state right before the peacekeeper interrupts us and tells us that the vests are part of our gear and that the rubber bullets are still going to cause some damage. That thought alone sends a wonderous little thought through me about shooting Matthew without the vest on, but if I did that Kya would kill me. Best to keep on her good side, though. Even if she does think I hate her right now for getting back together with this fool.

Matthew agrees with the peacekeeper and I also nod my head to give them the sign that I will follow their guidelines as per stated. It's funny, how Dunham don't know how to speak with the uniformed. I learn the first day about who to call what. Then the peacekeeper hits my shoulder pad and walks off to go make an impression on another group of people in line for this mission.

As we go along with getting ready, we're given our guns and the rubber bullets and we're loaded up on a bus and taken to some remote location with several sets of old and abandoned houses. From the outside, they look rather creepy. One of the houses looks like it's two sitting beside each other, but is there anything special as to why they are so close together? Any sort of plank you can walk from one window to the other? Any kind of underground tunnel that links the two? Even with the windows busted out of one window on the top, just the eerie feeling of this place is hyping me up. I glance over to Matthew.

"There's your setting. Ready for planning now, Dunham?" I hiss out with attitude, but replace the tone with a slight grin as we check each others gear and given the go ahead from each other. I'm more than ready to just get this exercise going, but first... we have to wait. And wait.

The first group goes in and I watch as the two scrawny looking men take their turn and return faster than I could barely even blink. The commander is thoroughly disappointed in them and deducts points, and sends them off to sit in the truck to be sent back. The next group goes in and comes out like heros.

"Cadet Ruze, Cadet Dunham. Bad time to fall asleep. It's your turn." I jump up immediately and make my voice loud and clear for them to hear me out.

"Sir, sleep is the last thing on my mind." I feel absolutely giddy for some reason. Almost like a child at christmas who has found one gift under the tree. This is my gift. I hear Matthew beside me as he says 'Show time' and I nod my head, flanking him as we make our way to the house. The officer in front of us stares at us with a sense of wonderment. His gaze goes from Dunham to me and then back to Matthew. I want to know what's going through his mind at a time like this.

"Follow me Cadets." The name on his uniform says Sgt. Unders and I barely get it memorized before he starts walking down the street to the same house I had orginally thought that they just might have been conjoined at one point, but are now just two houses that sit so close to each other.

"Keep your partner safe. He is your lifeline in the line of duty. Eyes open. Mouth - SHUT!" I wonder if he's referring to the other group that was talking way to loud in their commincations to be able to relay messages the right way.

"Lets go, Dunham." I push forward past Sgt. Unders and take the lead without Matthew's say so. In front of the house, it looks so dingy and old. Cracked and peeling paint litter the outter appearances. "I wonder if it's even stable inside?" I whisper out, and get my gun at the ready incase I need to bring it upward and fire at the target. My eyes are already surveying the windows, looking or possible movement or anything out of the ordinary. On the porch, I touch the door knob and look to Matthew.

"Plan?"

[Jack Lexington]

Adrenalin is cursing through my veins as we near the house that oursuspect is supposed to be in. It look old, abandoned and creepy with lots of room sot hide in.
I pull the gun from my holster and thumb the safety off. Having it ready will be essential.

Jeran takes the lead and steps up onto the cracking old porch that's in front of the house. The thing looks like he will break through the old planks any moment.
"Plan?" he asks in a low tone.
The worst thing I can possibly think of is to enter this house through the front door should it even be unlocked. But I'm super excited and just want to storm inside. Yet I whisper.
"Not the front door!" I motion for the right side of the building as I slowly step away from the porch with my eyes searching every window.

A curtain on the first floor moves and makes me freeze as I train my gun on exactly that spot.
The curtain stops moving but I never let it out of my sight.
I point up to the window with my free hand before I slowly start side stepping away from the sight of the window and closer to the house wall.
"Let's search for a back door." I whisper barely audible.

My guns always at the ready and rests in both of my hands.
On the ground in front of me I can see a patch of grass that looks a little browner than the rest, which makes me wonder whether it could be a hidden door.
Carefully I walk around it and stop waiting for Jeran, who still has to make his way around and cast a look back at that particular patch of grass to see if there's anything underneath it.

[*]

"Plan?" My fingers are grasping the door very lightly before I feel a bit of heat radiating off the metal and I pull my fingers off the metal and turn to Matthew who seems to think that the front door is going to be a trap or something. In any normal arrest, the front door would be ideal and keen, but here in the academy, this is set up to be anything but ordinary. Thus, we have to be extra keen on our senses as Matthew seems to have some good instincts, despite wanting to follow him.

It is our career on the line though. I don't want to lose points, so, like I told him, I will have his back. I follow him, slowly. He seems to be watching the windows very intently but I don't get out my gun just yet. There's no reason to. If the time comes for it, I will reach for it faster than a rattlesnakes strike. I also, don't want my prints to be on the gun if something goes wrong. I flank Dunham. Ready to strike should someone make an appearance.

Then nothing.

I watch Matthew's ever expression, while keeping my senses keen around me. Listening. Watching. Waiting. Any sign of movement, my fingers are already on the gun at my hip.

"Let's search for a back door." Comes his almost inaudible whisper and I nodd my head in agreement and he's gone in an instant, leaving me behind when I hear a board creek behind me. I turn quickly, pulling the gun from my holster and pointing it toward the house and anywhere around me. My heart is thumping like crazy. Absolutely going crazy within my chest, but I slow my breaths to calm myself down. No crazy moves. Keep an eye out.

A second later, the coast is clear and I rush to meet up with Matthew when he points out the old and browning grass. It's curious and it makes me wonder what it's about. Why only one square of the grass is this color. I give a silent nod to my partner and bend down, keeping an eye on the windows of the house and let my gloved fingers touch the grass. It moves. I take a handful and pull at it, and the chunk just pulls up easily revealing old boards.

"Another way in." I tell him in a whispered tone. "cover me." I also manage to whisper out as I take both hands and begin pulling away at the grass for the entirety that is brown and sure enough, the old boards seem to hide away a passage with a small circular metal ring that I pull on and move the door upward and away. Inside, the wooden stairs goes down into complete darkness. I ready my gun and reach into the belt looped around my waste for a tiny penlight and click it on.

Cobwebs and dust cover everything. I take the first step to go down while Matthew is covering me and the third step down, the board gives out and breaks through the middle, throwing me down into the abyss as darkness swallows me whole.

[Jack Lexington]

As expected there is something underneath the grass. Jeran has picked up on it as well and start peeling away the green and soil. Soon enough we see the old boards and he's ready to go down while telling me to cover him.
I can hear my heartbeat in my own ears above everything else like birds and sounds from further away.
With my gun still aimed my eyes never leave his form as he's decending down the stairs when I hear something behind me.
I quickly look around but can't see anything. A second later I hear a shot ring out and duck my head. My eyes dart around like crazy but I can't see the shooter nor do I know where the bullett went.
My hands are shaking though and when I turn back to the hole, now ducking low with my back against the wall Jeran's gone.
All I can hear is a crashing sound.
"J?" I whisper as loud as I can but can't spot him.
Instantly I grab my own flashlight and shine it into the hole just to see a few broken stairs. I'm flat on my belly searching for him in the hole. I can only hope the suspect isn't down there with him or he'll be in trouble.
I reach my hand down the hole as far as possible until I can see his shiny white uniform down there in the dirt.
"You okay?" My voice is a mere whisper.
The shot that had been fired has me worried though because the next time it could be aimed at me and right now I'm a sitting duck so I reach out my hand hoping I can pull him up.

[*]

Complete darkness swallows me up whole. My need to know what's up and what's down is all that's making me want to move and for a moment I don't feel anything but the dust in my lungs that burns through my back but I manage to start pushing myself upward against the ground. My head feels like it's spinning out of control, but a moment later the sensation is gone, leaving me to stare into the blanket of blackness. Above me, I hear a whisper and see the tiny light moving around, but it's kinda far up there. How far did I fall?

Luckily with the helmet on, I know I didn't injure myself beyond repair, but my back burns a little, though I'm not sure why.

"J" I hear the whisper above me until he finally seems to pinpoint my location with the little light and it begins to make me realize just how far I had fallen. Good thing I had something soft to land on. I swipe at the boards below me, and use my hands to fish around for the penlight I had in my hands a moment.

"You okay?" I hear him ask me. With a renounced grunt, pulling myself upward to a standing position, I call out to him in a louder voice just above a whisper so he'll hear me.

"Great. I can't get back up though. The stairs are a no go." I kick my feet at a few boards and find my penlight shining as I reach down and pick it up to survey the area down here. "I'll see if I can't find a way out of here." I tell him and shine my light upward and click it twice so he'll see me. From there, I keep my hand on my gun, looking around at the old part of this cellar. Cobwebs cover everything and if it wasn't creepy enough, a magnitude of weapons and old tools line the walls of this place. I shake my head. It's nothing but a danger zone down here.

[Jack Lexington]

Down there Jeran's getting back on his feet and tells me "Great. I can't get back up though. The stairs are a no go."
"Shit" Escapes me because I don't fancy going down there...what if there's no other way out?
I'm growing instantly nervous up her flat on my belly with a possible shooter running around while Jeran's playinh hide and seek in some dodgy basement.
"I'll see if I can't find a way out of here." He tells me loud enough that others could hear him and starts moving away from the hole he fell into.
"No." I order him.
"We can't split up."
But then he's gone and the hole lies dark beneath me so I push myself away silently cursing him out for not trying to climb back out. For a moment I wonder whether I should climb down to stay with him but what if we both can't come back up.

I press my back against the stones of the house and look above me towards the roof, the windows, left and right but can't see any movement.
By now my hands have started shaking so I force them against my legs to keep them still while I wait for Jerans return.

[*]

Down here in this basement of sorts, it's almost as though this was how it was suppose to be played out. Seperate the team and now the officer's were probably watching with bated breath to see what I was going to do. I can hear Matthew as he tells me we can't split up, but what choice do I have? I'm stuck down here. He has more of a chance of getting his arrest than me at the moment cause I'm a sitting duck. Hopefully, he's smarter than that to follow me in this mess and he goes in the house to help me find an exit out of this place. Somewhere beside me, a cricket chirps and I hear the sudden clang of metal on metal.

Instantly, my heart is in my throat, threatening to come out because here I am about to be taken down like a dog if I dont' get control of the situation. My penlight in my left hand goes underneath my right hand that supports the gun in my hand as I turn full circles in order to get my bearings and quickly about what's around me. On the wall, a shovel swings back and forth and then behind me the metal clings again.

"Dunham." I let my voice come out the moment something forcefully hits me on the shoulder, knocking me over into the wall as I make an audible groan. "Dunham, He's down here. Find a way in." I shout upward to the man and in a split second, the light in my hand shines brightly in the eyes of a man wearing some sort of night vision goggles, I presume.

"Stop. Your under arrest for assaulting an officer." The shovel gets slammed into my shoulder again and my gun suddenly goes off, nailing the attacker right in the shoulder, but that doesn't stop him. He takes my moment of pain to escape through the mirrored wall that I saw was nothing beforehand.

"He's going topside, Dunham. I'm in persuit." I take off quickly after the attacker, my gun and penlight lighting my way as I push through the fake wall.

[Jack Lexington]

"Oh shit, oh shit." I jump up and down like somebody electrified me when I hear Jeran fight and scream down there. "Dunham." He calls out for me and a second later I stand on the edge of the hole. "Dunham, He's down here. Find a way in."
If I jump down I might break my leg or something. I hear them struggle and am about to jump into the hole when two more shots ring out. One down in the hole, the other above my head, which has me pinning my own back against the wall again.
Now I can see the shooter, too. He's on top of the other building aiming for me but at this angle he can't get me.
Is he the one we're supposed to be taking into custody? I thought there was only one but Jeran screams something about being in pursuit of another one.
So I can't do anything but aim my gun at the guy on the roof and shoot.
Instantly he dissapears.

With bated breath and my heart rate at 200 I wait for him to show his face again so I can shoot him off that roof but he doesn't so I do what Jeran told me. I run for the back door to help him inside the house. Since he's struggling with the guy inside I should be in the clear.

"I'm with you." I holler to let Jeran know I'm not letting him down.
As fast as the slippery ground with the leaves and grass allows me, I round the house. once I slip but catch myself before I fall.
Then my hand's on the knob of the backdoor.
Slowly I turn it, my fingers tighten around the butt of the gun. Then I pull it open quickly sticking my hand in first before I completely step inside the boarded up house.
Only little light falls inside making it hard to see anything but the dust that the few sun rays falling in iluminate.
I listen intently for sounds.

[*]

Through the fake wall, I run through it, holding the gun and the light together, giving myself a clear view of where I'm going. This is no time at all to be sleeping and definately not a time to be worrying if Dunham is going to make it in or not. This is suppose to be happening. All of this could happen in a real situation and I'm falling for it. It's not longer a fun thing. It's not longer a 'Lets plan it out and see what happens' kind of moment. THis shit is real. The numbing pain in my shoulder is real as well as the stinging in my back from where fell that long way down on the wooden boards. I can only imagine that it might have scraped me up, but I simply can't focus on that right now.

Silence rings out the moment I reach a small inclined ramp. A handrail on one side, and as it assends upward, one side is a complete drop off into another abyss. I know for a fact, I don't want to end up there, so I stick close to the wall where the handrail is, and slide on it with my back, my gun and light focusing on the three open spots. In front of me, and my two sides. With each quick step, I finally come to a fork in the road. The wall in front of me makes me either go left or right to a straight path on either side. I shine my light down the left side and see nothing but darkness and a huge spide that decends from the ceiling but on the right side, I turn the moment I hear a hoarse breath and I duck quickly the moment the shovel is brought toward my head and hits very loudly on the rocklike wall. It echoes clearly through the cellar and he takes off again.

"Halt, I SAID! YOUR UNDER ARREST!" Not only do I yell to alert the escaping suspect, but to hopefully give off my position should Matthew be near. Without another thought, I aim the gun down the dark hallway and shoot, letting the sound ring out. One way or another, he was going to go down. With no sound, I make my way down the vacant hallway until an open door shines light on my situation.

He's entered the house.

[Jack Lexington]

With bated breath I stand at the entrance of the house listening carefully for sounds of Jeran or the suspect. Somewhere below me I can hear shouting and a shot being fired. They must be down there.
My eyed dart around for the stairs but they only lead up, which doesn't help me. So I keep my back closely against the wall to search for some way down to help Jeran. Usually the kitchen would be a good place.
The first door I push open is the living room, the next just a den and finally the kitchen door swings open...or what used to be a kitchen.
Setting one foot in front of the other very carefully I walk around the kitchen and find a small door that leads into the darkness.

What I'm not aware off is that the other shooter has entered the building exactly the same way I did and is now listening just as closely as I am.

Just when I shine my light into the darkness the kitchen door behind me swings shut and is getting locked from the outside.
"What....?" I spin around to stare at the door. How is that possible?
Instantly I search for another door, which I find on the other side of the kitchen. So I make a run for it because the guy I'm trying to catch is out there and right now roles are reversed.

--
The door is open but little did the new cadet know that the 'suspect' hadn't left the basement yet but was hovering on a ledge above the door just waiting for him to set foot outside. It seemed like somebody was up there. Maybe the other cadet. If they were stupid enough they'd shoot each other.