Sector 54 led Riley and his Dad through the abandoned warehouse. Riley glanced around at the dust-covered boxes stacked against the wall. Even the ground was covered in dust, with the exception of the path they were taking. It was almost shiny and looked like it had been polished it'd been walked on so often.

She paused in front of a latch in the ground and punched in a code. The floor shook as the door slowly opened.

"This way," Sector 54 said as she pointed into the hole.

Riley glanced at his father. Mr. Kilhan kissed his cross necklace before following after the girl down.

"Be sure to close the latch behind you," she called back to Riley.

He hesitated over the stairs before taking a deep breath and lowering his leg to the first step.

"Here we go," he whispered under his breath.

Riley followed after the pair down a long cement hallway. It didn't look like it went anywhere but Sector 54 suddenly stopped.

"Here we are," she said.

Riley glanced at his dad, who appeared to be just as confused, then back to the girl. She pulled a long pin out of her sleeve and pushed it into a crack in the cement wall.

A light began to glow and the rock wall shifted revealing a metal room.

"After you," she said as she waved them in.

Riley's dad went first. He twirled and looked around the metal compartment. When Riley and Sector 54 entered it felt cramped.

Now what? Riley thought as he pushed his way to the wall to get some space.

"Careful," Sector 54 warned as Riley leaned against the wall.

He raised an eyebrow in question but when the walls started to shudder he backed away. It took him a few moments to realize the walls weren't moving -- they were. They were going down.

There was a static sound then a man's voice boomed into the elevator.

"Name and destination."

"Agent 474, Sector 54," the girl said.

Riley rolled his eyes when he heard Agent 474's response. For a second he had thought he'd finally get to know her name. At least Agent 474 was better than calling her Sector 54.

The elevator picked up speed and Riley spread his legs to keep balanced. The fast drop flipped his stomach and he took deep breaths to calm himself. When the elevator finally rumbled to a stop he nearly hugged Agent 474.

"Oh thank the good Lord," Mr. Kilhan said.

The doors opened and Agent 474 adjusted her bag and squared her shoulders before walking into the room.

Riley couldn't believe his eyes -- they were underground in a space large enough to fit a football field. Bellow, him was a control room where men in long white coats pulled knobs and dials that moved a machine behind long glass windows. As he looked closer he could see dozens of people behind the glass.

"What is that?" he asked.

"You mean those," Agent 474 said. "They are mutts. What's left of them anyway."

Mr. Kilhan stepped in front of her. "What do you mean?" He looked at the scene before him. "H...how did the one escape?"

"There was a security breach and someone left the hatch open." She paused as she looked around her. "No need to worry, security measure have been put in place, it will not happen again."

When she was finished she turned and started down the stairs to the floor where the men in white robes worked. The way she reassured them didn't make Riley feel any better. In fact, he felt worse. It seemed like she was only telling them part of the story. He knew it was something she did -- she hadn't told them that mutts are contagious. He had to overhear to find that out.

As they reached the floor a man turned and smiled at Agent 474.

"Hey Sector 13, since when do they let you wander around the facility?" he asked.

Sector 13? She'd told me she was from Sector 54, Riley thought.

"I've been assigned the mutation case." She said it in a way that silenced the man.

It made Riley curious as to who she was and why this scientist thought she was from Sector 13.

"How many Sectors are there?" Riley asked, interrupting the awkward staredown with the scientist and the girl.

"Sixty," she replied without hesitation.

"Holy crap! Does that mean there are 60 different breeds of mutts running around?" Riley asked.

Agent 474 snapped her head towards him. "They're not all mutts," she said, her eyes full of anger. It was the first sign of open emotion he'd seen in her and it made him take a step back.

"Agent 474," a voice boomed across the room.

Riley turned to see an older man, with a bald bulbous head, dressed as the others, in a long white coat, walking towards them.

"We've been expecting you," he finished.

She gave Riley one final glare before heading towards the man. Not wanting to be alone, after what had happened and in this strange place, Riley and his father followed after her. When they got closer the man peered over his glasses and took them in.

"These were the mutts targets?" he asked, his eyebrows raised.

Agent 474 nodded.

"All right, this way," the man said.

He led them into a small glass room inside the large one. It was outfitted with computers and TV monitors but had enough window access to oversee the whole operation before them.

He turned to Agent 474 and started discussing things Riley didn't understand. He wondered if they had forgotten him and his dad.

"What happened to the team then?" she asked. Her voice wasn't the calm unemotional one it normally was -- she had rushed her words. Riley stepped forward so he could better hear.

"They're dead." The man looked at Agent 474 with genuine sadness in his eyes.

"All of them?" she asked.

"Yes, I'm afraid you are the last of your..."

She nodded over her shoulder, at Riley and his father, and the man stopped talking.

Riley could scream he was so furious. He wanted to know what the guy was going to say. The last what? What was the girl?

"We have the video of the event," the man added.

"Show me," Agent 474 said as she turned to face the wall of monitors.

https://youtu.be/t7ZCayLJY54

Despite all the gore Riley had seen recently, that video still made him feel sick. And Agent 474, she was shaking. Her whole body vibrated. Riley wondered if it was from sadness or anger.

"Take me to them," she said through clenched teeth.

The man nodded and escorted her out of the room, leaving Riley and his father behind in the strange glass room.