(BL) Hunting The Field Guide novel Chapter 102

Chapter 102: The poison gate

Just as Kellen had suspected, Brent didn’t wake up to his phone call. So, fully dressed, he headed down to the conference room on his own. AS he passed the A Class gym, he noticed that there were some people up and working out, and it was strange to see people behaving as if everything was normal, when Kellen knew he was going to walk into a firestorm once he was a floor down.

When the doors opened on the conference room floor, Kellen was overwhelmed by the sounds of the people moving around and shouting. It was clear that the whole floor had been taken over by the employees, with tables set up along the hallways filled with coffee and tea cup stations. Kellen took a bold guess and assumed that the tables inside of the conference room had been filled up with either people or documents. Or both.

Kellen made his way towards the main doors of conference room 1, and peeking inside he found that the state of everyone inside wasn’t good. The regular employees looked exhausted, and when he spotted Hill, she was looking completely unwell.

She had deep circles under her eyes, a garbage can by her side almost full of lollipop wrappers, and was typing rapidly on a laptop. As he watched her, she pressed to hard and he heard a loud snapping noise, followed by her bellowed, "fuck!" She grabbed a laptop from a stack he hadn’t realised were beside her and opened it, pushing the other one to the side. A fellow Esper grabbed the damaged laptop and moved to a separate table, a table that had held snacks before, and set to work repairing the damage she had done.

Kellen turned his gaze away from her to try and find the others. Casper wasn’t here yet, but that made sense. He had to commute from his home, where he was pretty sure Hill just jumped here, or slept here last night.

Gunther was away still, but given the situation, the trip was probably going to be cut short. He was sure the older new recruits were going to be upset about that.

"Yes, I agree. Have we had contact with Captain Sergei yet?" The Captain’s voice shook Kellen from his thoughts and Kellen felt his body move towards his voice without much thought.

The Captain was at the end of the room, in the same spot he had been before with the large screen projecting the faces of half of the Captains grimly staring back at him. Sakura and Uncle Tom looked exhausted, and Kellen bet it was for different reasons.

Uncle Tom had to be anxious because the D.E.C./the government were in charge of this gate. If word got out about the gate, and about the scouting team being spat back out in bits, it wouldn’t look good for him. Sakura on the other hand...he had no clue what had her upset. He had a feeling he was on the right track to find out though.

As he was making his way towards the Captain, one of the black squares began projecting a blurry image. Just as Kellen was coming to a stop beside the Captain, the image cleared up and Captain Sergei came into focus. Or, at least it was easy to tell it was Captain Sergei, the image took a few more seconds to get into clarity.

"Captain Sergei, can you hear us?" Uncle Tom asked, as Captain Sergei’s grim face came into view. He looked tired, with dirt and muck on his face. As the video became clear, Kellen could tell he was in one of the hazard tents that were usually set up around gates. The image shifted before it settled again and Captain Sergei sighed.

"I think I can. Can the other two speak, just so I can make sure?" He responded, his voice coming out quietly.

"Can you hear me?" Sakura asked first, and he gave a nod, before turning his gaze to the Captain.

"Can you hear me?" The Captain asked, his face set into grim lines. Another firm nod. Captain Sergei’s gaze dipped to behind the Captain’s shoulder, where Kellen was, and he gave a nod.

"Morning Kellen. I’m sorry for your loss." All eyes turned to Kellen, who admittedly probably had the closest relationship with those lost to the gate. The other two Captains turned to Kellen as well, and his Captain turned to face him. His expression was tight, and Kellen swallowed, before turning to the others.

"Thank you for your kind words. How long till we can notify the families?" He asked, unfortunately familiar with the protocol. Captain Sergei sighed, shaking his head.

"It’s going to be a while. Unlike the usual cases, we are going to have a tough time identifying what we’ve received from the gate, and the cause of death. I have some of my team up, but I’d like to request some of your team, Captain Thatcher, since they have better powers suited to identification." The Captain nodded, glancing at an Esper nearby who nodded in return. They began rapidly typing on their computer.

"Even with the hazard suit on, and a filtration mask, the air here...smells." Kellen and the others found that odd.

"How so?" Uncle Tom asked and Captain Sergei scratched his head.

"Well, it’s not rotten eggs, but it’s...something. It’s floral, but I’m not good with flower scents, or names. Neither is anyone else who can smell it." Kellen, who didn’t have a lot of experience with that kind of stuff, wasn’t sure what to say. It was Captain Sakura who reacted.

"Captain Sergei, evacuate everyone until you can’t smell that scent. That’s a poison, and it’s seeping into your suits. Until my team gets there, you need to make sure everyone is doing okay. Get the medical team to run blood work and full scans. If anyone has to be near the gate, get them on oxygen. Fuck. With everything that is going on near that damn gate, I’m only getting more worried as time goes on. Have you seen the updated images yet? They’re terrifying. The area is as big as an A Class gate."

A shiver ran down Kellen’s spine.

With everything that was going on, Kellen had a gut feeling that the gate was going to jump to A Class. He was sure the others thought the same as well. Everything was pointing to it, and that only made Kellen more afraid. How were they supposed to fight a gate that hadn’t been cleared before at a lower level? Who was going to do it? Kellen couldn’t think of one person who was suitable for the role, outside of his Uncle who had been dead for almost 8 years.

Kellen didn’t want the Captain near the gate. He knew he was powerful, just like the other Captains, but he just had a gut feeling that if the Captain went near the gate, he would get sucked in. Kellen didn’t want to risk it.

In fact, it was selfish of him, but he wanted no one he cared about near that gate. Something told him that if he did, he would lose them. The gate seemed...hungry. For pain, for fear, for outright terror, and Kellen wanted no part of it. Anything that bright and pretty only made the hair on his skin stand on end.