Necropolis

the wrong way. It would obviously have been crazy to have tried taking the elevator, but wouldn't the emergency stairs be somewhere nearby? Lohan was taking them ever farther into the building and away from what was surely the only way out.
    But nobody argued. Scarlett still had no idea who Lohan was or what authority he had over the others.
    He had said that he belonged to an organization that had been looking out for her from the day she had been born, but he hadn't told her what it was called, who ran it, or anything like that. It seemed that he and his people were some sort of resistance, fighting against the Old Ones, the last survivors in a city that had been attacked from within. But they weren't the police. They weren't the army. What did that leave?
    It was too late for any more questions. Lohan was moving a little faster, still on tiptoe, making no noise, as if he expected one of the many doors to spring open and someone to jump out. How high up were they? How long did they have before the elevator arrived? The end of the corridor was about a hundred feet away with ten doors on either side. A row of lightbulbs hanging from the ceiling lit the way ahead.
    Scarlett heard a loud, metallic click and risked a glance back. The man with the machine gun had released the safety catch. Lohan muttered something under his breath.
    There was the ping of a bell.
    The elevator had arrived.
    Scarlett was still watching as the doors opened and yellow light flooded out. The man with the machine gun had positioned himself directly opposite with his shoulders planted against the wall. Without any warning, he opened fire, sending a firestorm of bullets into the elevator. The noise in the confined space was shocking. She could actually feel it, hammering into her ears. But she couldn't see what the man was shooting at. The entire corridor blazed white and red and she heard a high-pitched scream like nothing she had ever heard before, as whatever was inside the elevator was pulverized.
    Then something appeared, stretching out of the open doorway. It was impossible to make it out clearly between the gloom of the corridor and the brilliance of the gunfire, the two of them strobing — black, white, black, white — turning everything into slow-motion chaos. Some sort of tentacles, extending themselves into the corridor. They reached the man. One slammed into his face. Another curled around his throat. But it was the third that killed him, punching right through his stomach and dragging him up the wall, a great streak of blood following up behind him. The man was screaming, his legs writhing in agony. But his finger was clenched around the trigger and he was still firing. His last bullets went wild, tearing into the ceiling and floor.
    Something spilled out of the elevator. It seemed to be partly human, but there was smoke everywhere now, adding to the confusion. A second creature followed it. The two had come up together. A huge pincer snapped open and shut. Black eyes on stalks. Straight out of a nightmare. It saw Scarlett and the others and began to move with frightening speed.
    "Hurry!"
    It was the first time that Lohan had raised his voice. He broke into a run. Scarlett followed him, convinced that they didn't have a chance. There was no emergency exit, nowhere else for them to go.
    Red turned round and fired twice. The bullets had no effect. Then Draco dragged something out of his pocket, brought it to his mouth, and threw it. A hand grenade! The pin was still between his teeth. A door to one of the other apartments opened and Lohan threw himself in, pulling Scarlett with him, just as there was a deafening explosion and an orange ball of flame in the corridor behind.
    Scarlett leaned against the wall on the other side of the door. She was choking and there were tears streaming down her face. She wasn't crying. It was the dust and the plaster that had cascaded down, almost blinding her. She wiped a sleeve across her eyes. Red slammed the door shut. It had about half a dozen locks, chains, and bolts, which he fastened, one after another. Lohan snapped out another command. Draco muttered something in reply.
    The apartment they were in was very similar to the one they had left but more run-down, with even less furniture. There was a woman living here. She had opened the door to let them in and Scarlett recognized her. It took her a moment to work out where they had met, but then she realized — it was the fortune-teller from the