Page 13 of Abraxas

Win, in his usual way, led the charge. They immediately ran into guards. There were several of them, which was unusual in an Origin facility since they had lost a lot of their money. They quickly took out the four guards and restrained them while Pedro's guys took them away. They moved in deeper as a group, finding the kitchen first and then the medical area. There were rooms that the guards probably stayed in, and after three empty ones, the fourth contained a guard that they quickly restrained. It was clear to Abe that the prisoners were held on a lower level, and they would find none of them here.

They continued until they got to an elevator. Now the question was, did they feel safe enough to go down to the next floor in it? It was decided that they should do it and go quickly. None of them had any idea how many floors were in this facility. Once they stepped in the elevator, it was marked for three other floors besides the top floor. They went to the bottom floor first, and half of them got off. Abe was one of them. It was dark and dingy, and the smell was horrible. It was rotting flesh, a smell he knew all too well. He and Poseidon headed in different directions, went to the end of each hall, and started there.

When he opened the first door, he was horrified. The intensity of the smell had increased 100%. The person lying in the bed looked half-starved and had sores all over their body. He wasn't sure if they could even be saved. But he intended to try. Abe slid a blanket under them and used it to lift them up. He hurried to the elevator and got up to the top floor quickly. Hoping all the enemies had been removed, he called for the helicopter. Thisperson needed to get to Risa immediately. As the helicopter landed with Risa on it, no one came out to challenge them. As soon as he laid his precious bundle on the floor of the helicopter and pulled back the blankets, Risa's eyes filled with tears.

She wasted no time on her emotions and immediately started administering the medication. Abe hoped some of it would control the person's pain. He couldn't identify whether they were human, god, or demon. Since he had dropped the patients off with Risa, he needed to go back and see who else needed assistance or to be restrained. Now that he wasn't carrying a load, it only took seconds to get back down and start in the next room. It was empty, so he moved to the next one. He'd have preferred it was empty, but it wasn't. This patient was equally bad, and he didn't know how they had survived in the condition they were in. He used a blanket to carry them out the same way, putting them on the helicopter on the other side of Risa. Too many patients would be a problem. There was only one doctor. Some of them were trained as medics, but the aid that they could provide would not help somebody in this kind of condition.

He hurried back, but he was surprised that Poseidon had not found anyone in this kind of condition. Maybe the serious patients had been left on his side of the hall. When he walked off the elevator and looked down to the other side of the hall, he saw prisoners gathered. Finally free, it was clear they had no idea what to do. That was all right because they would help them to find a much better life. Abe cleared two more rooms, relieved he had not found anyone else in such terrible shape. His relief was too quick, and the next room had someone else needing a doctor. All he could say was that at least this person wasn't in as serious a condition as the other two. Maybe a medic could give them what they needed until they arrived home. The problem was, he wasn't through all the rooms on his half of the hall yet.

Poseidon came over to speak to him. “I saw you carrying someone outside.”

"I had two in bad shape. This one also needs help, but I'm hoping they can wait. I still have four rooms and fear what I may find."

"I'll help you with those rooms. Those waiting at the end of the hall may also get the opportunity to help. One of them can carry this patient outside."

“Come over here. I need you to carry this patient outside to the chopper.”

Poseidon had picked one of the largest guys in the group. He leaned down, picked up the patient, and hurried outside. Abe went to the next room and saw Poseidon going to the one next to it. They both brought patients who required assistance. Neither of these was as bad as the first two, and he was grateful. Poseidon called for two others standing at the end of the hallway who looked in good shape and strong and had them carry these two out. He hesitated in the last two rooms of the hallway and saw that Poseidon did the same. Afraid? Damn right, he was afraid of what he might find in there.

There was really no choice. Pedro's men were already picking items to load. Soon, there wouldn't be anything left of any value. That probably included the beds that they were clearing of people. It was hard to believe that used hospital beds would be worth the cost of moving them halfway across the country or even more, depending on where the buyers would be. It was time to suck in a deep breath, enter the room, and see the condition of the person in it.

Maybe it wouldn't be too bad? He opened the door, and the smell was overwhelming. Abe thought it was too late to save this one as he stood by the bed, looking at an almost unrecognizable body. He started to turn away when a hand reached out andgrabbed him, and he almost jumped out of his skin. Dear Father Cronos!

"Help me," a voice croaked.

He only hoped they could. Anyone surviving everything he saw deserved the right to be healed and have a better life. The blankets worked so well with the others that he used them again. He worried that any unusual movement might break or even break something off. This was the worst that he had seen anyone who was still alive. Abe could only imagine the unbelievable will to live they had to survive. Hurrying as fast as he could without causing undue jostling, he got to the elevator and straight up to the top. From the front door, he could see the helicopter, and he saw that Risa had gotten one of the critical patients fixed up and moved away from the helicopter door.

"I wish I could help you because this patient needs everything you have and a lot of prayer," Abe explained.

As the doctor got a good look at the patient, she couldn't fight the tears that streamed down her face. While she cried, she also worked and did everything she could with her supplies. There was nothing Abe could do. He went back to see if there was any work he could do there. Another helicopter was coming. He assumed they had rented one. With so many critical patients, they would need it. Pedro's guys were dismantling the facility. Some were working hard on every level. That's what they did the best. They came in and got everything out fast. Then sold it for top dollar. In Abe's opinion, unless there was information that would help them find more facilities or a system identifying people who had been killed, there was nothing in here that would be worth moving across the continent.

Anything they got out of the sale of the items here, or possibly the sale of the facility if Origin owned it, would be worthwhile and help them help those they had just freed.

Chapter 6

The Inhumanity of it All

There was no way to explain the type of cruelty they saw. They never had a way to explain it when it was also directed at them. Those who did this did not consider themselves cruel or sadistic. It was amazing, but they didn't. Pedro's guys took the employees for ransom and a ton of furniture and other items that were there. Lu managed to get some information and took a few laptop computers that he hoped had even more information.

They would hear from Pedro later about how much had been made and the split. Abe was sure it couldn't be much. The main thing he was concerned about was the victims they had pulled out of the facility. Lu had considered pulling out of the next concert, but they would lose a lot of money and possibly lose some of their fans. Risa said that she could give them adequate care, and they would even improve slightly before they left, which might not be bad since they had a long flight. That decided everything, and they would do their concert and then leave afterward.

Those that were the worst would only be able to have broth or juice, and even that was not guaranteed. She had them on IVs. Hopefully, that would help. It was worse, the victim in the worst condition was a human female. He had not realized that and still found it hard to believe. She looked so horrible that she barely passed for human. Maybe the time they'd had to recoverhad softened the memories of what they and other demons had gone through. Many had not survived, and they'd been starved, beaten, and experimented on. It looked like she had gone through all of that and maybe more.

Thankfully, the victims from the facility were in the care of people who knew how to help them. It would have been nicer for them to have hospital beds, but at least these beds were comfortable, which would have eased the pain that the beds they'd been in with the thin mattresses and rough blankets had not. He would assist Lu in going through the information that had come from the facility. That was something he was much better suited to.

“Find anything yet?” Lu asked.

“Nothing since you asked ten minutes ago.”

“Why does it feel worse that they had a female that they abused?”

“Probably because she refused to die, and they just kept abusing her. I hope everyone involved in that dies a horrible death," Abe admitted.

“I don't know if we got any of them. Several employees and the manager were not there because it was the weekend. I'm sure they'll figure out what happened and won't return. If Origin gets upset, they may take them all out."

Abe thought about that, and he knew it was true. That company was not a kind one, and someone usually paid. Since the only ones from that site who were left were the ones who ran it and a handful of employees, they might be the ones who paid. That wouldn't bother Abe one bit.

“I found something. There was a doctor and a new hire. She refused to experiment on people who clearly had not given their consent. Her name is Charlene. I suspect that is our victim.”

---