The officer assigned to watch me did not appreciate my plan.
GHCA Officer: "You're not moving her."
I looked from him to Kira, then toward Arcadia. Gunfire still echoed from below, but it had changed. Fewer weapons were firing now, and every pause between bursts seemed longer than the one before it.
Leona: "Your captain told everyone to evacuate."
GHCA Officer: "He told you to evacuate. You're unidentified, she's sedated, and I'm supposed to keep both of you here until command sorts this out."
I pointed toward the bunker.
Leona: "There is an S-Class organism under that hill producing swarms, tiny copies of itself without sex, several thousand of those children are currently eating your coworkers. This is not the place where command sorts anything out."
He tightened his jaw but didn't move. Fair enough. From his perspective, I was still a suspicious stranger who had appeared from an abandoned biolab with impossible footage and an extremely questionable explanation involving internet videos.
Then something struck the inside of Arcadia's entrance. The sound was enormous. Everyone in the clearing turned. A second impact followed, and this time part of the damaged hatch frame shifted outward. A black limb appeared briefly through the opening before rifle fire from somewhere inside drove it back.
I looked at the officer.
Leona: "You can stay here and guard me if you want."
Another impact shook the hill.
Leona: "But if those things reach this clearing, I am leaving with her whether you gave me permission or not, and you should be several hundred meters ahead of us."
His radio erupted before he could answer.
Radio: "ALL SURFACE PERSONNEL, WITHDRAW! REPEAT, WITHDRAW FROM PRIMARY SITE! AIR RESPONSE INBOUND!"
The officer stared at me for half a second. Then professional survival instinct finally defeated paperwork.
GHCA Officer: "Take the east trail. Don't stop until you hit the road."
He started away, then turned back.
GHCA Officer: "And don't disappear."
Leona: "Wouldn't dream of it."
I waited until he was twenty meters away.
Leona: "Now let's disappear."
Now I had Kira. That was the next engineering problem. I grabbed beneath her arms and pulled. I'd expected resistance. Kira was enormous even by lamia standards, with a long body composed mostly of muscle, and memories of helping her move furniture had taught me that tail weight was not hypothetical.
Instead she slid toward me so easily that I nearly sat down in the dirt. I stopped. Tried again. Same result.
Leona: "...right. New body."
Kira's head lolled against my arm.
Kira: "Mmmm..."
Leona: "Yes, very insightful."
Dragging her several kilometers home was technically possible now. It was also stupid. Fortunately, the Authority had brought vehicles. Most were already moving down the trail, but one dark utility truck remained near the equipment staging area with its rear doors open. Whoever had been loading it had apparently decided that fleeing an emerging spider swarm ranked above finishing the job.
I dragged Kira toward it.
Leona: "I am going to call this borrowing."
She remained unconscious.
Leona: "If anyone asks, you agreed."
The driver's door was unlocked. The keys were still inside. I stared at them. Sometimes luck really did apologize.
Loading Kira was harder than dragging her. Her upper body went in easily enough, but the tail kept accumulating outside the truck like someone had ordered far too much snake. Once I was certain nobody was watching, I finally gave up pretending to be entirely human. Four black limbs unfolded from my back beneath the oversized shirt, tearing two already damaged seams wider.
Leona: "This stays between us."
Kira snored. Using all six available limbs, arms included, I lifted coils of orange tail and packed them into the rear compartment one after another until the vehicle visibly settled lower on its suspension. The final section barely fit.
I looked at the result.
Leona: "You need to lose weight fat ass."
One red eye opened perhaps two millimeters.
Kira: "...bitch..."
Then closed again. I grinned.
Leona: "There she is."
I retracted the limbs, climbed into the driver's seat and threw the backpack onto the passenger side. Six crawled out just enough to look over the zipper.
Behind us, Arcadia shook again. This time something screamed from the entrance itself. Closer. I started the engine.
Leona: "Okay, Six. We stole a government truck."
The drone stared at me.
Leona: "Borrowed."
I put it in gear.
Leona: "We're going home."