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Snake came behind him, and moved to the other corner of the shed, checking it out. He dropped to a knee beside Dan.

“The shed door is down and locked,” Snake said.

Dan signaled him to move to a large tree twenty meters away. He moved to it, disappearing into the shadows beneath it.

Sherlock dropped from the wall with Sharp and ran toward Dan with Books on their heels. He signaled them to follow him as he moved toward Snake. They covered each other as they moved from tree to tree.

Dan saw movement in a tree just before a Variant dropped from a tree onto Snake. He fought it off while Dan ran toward him and kicked it away then fired a stream of bullets into it. Snake regained his feet and opened fire as more Variants dropped from the trees and scrambled from the deep shadows. In less than thirty seconds, they found themselves being charged from all sides and fighting to clear a path to the dock.

“On me,” Dan yelled and Sharp moved toward him. They turned to face the building while Sherlock, Snake and Books continued firing at the Variants that climbed over the bodies of the dead to get to them.

“Multiple contacts on the roof,” Sharp yelled and the distinctive sound of his MK11 echoed around them as he picked off the Variants, blowing them to pieces and misting the air with their blood.

Dan continued firing, clearing a path between him and Sharp. Snake raced through the opening and leapt onto the dock then backed against the wall, away from the roof overhang, and laid down covering fire. Books and Sherlock jumped onto the dock next to him with Dan and Sharp coming last.

Snake and Sherlock fired at the Variants that clung to the edge of the roof and scurried toward them on the ceiling, hitting them in midair and moving to the next target before they dropped to the dock.

“Books get that damned door opened,” Dan yelled while firing another burst at the Variants.

“The code doesn’t work,” Books said.

“Move to the emergency exit” Dan yelled.

# # #

“Grace, come quick,” Luke yelled. “There are soldiers outside fighting the creatures.”

Grace dropped the book she was reading and ran toward the security room. The cadets crowded into the room behind her.

Mark pointed to a view at the back of the building. Five soldiers dressed in full armor were fighting for their lives as the Variants swarmed them.

“We can’t just let them die,” Megan said.

“Are you sure they aren’t marauders?” Grace asked.

“They’re the real deal,” Mark said. “Marine Raiders like my dad.”

“Okay, then let’s let them in,” Grace said, knowing every second counted she pushed through the cadets and ran for the elevator with Luke behind her. Unlocking the door, she let Luke raise the shutter then keyed in the code and the doors slid open. “Lock the shutter then get the others and lock yourselves in the solar battery room. Stay there until I come for you. If anyone else but me opens that door shoot them.”

“Neil will stay in security and tell you when to open the outer door,” he said as the doors closed.

She pushed the up arrow and moved her NVGs and headset into place. A few seconds later the elevator stopped and she opened the sliding doors. She expected to hear the sound of gunfire. When she didn’t she wondered if they were dead already. Taking a deep breath, she held her pistol in one hand and locked the elevator at that level. Bruce or the creatures might get into it but they wouldn’t be able to move into any other area.

“Grace,” Neal said, “Open the door right now. It looks like they’re leaving the dock.”

She keyed in the code and pulled the door up as fast as she could.

A medium height, stocky man dressed in armor that gave him the appearance of an alien warrior pointed a rifle at her. She started to raise her hands then asked herself what the hell she was doing and beckoned to him. “Come on.”

He turned sideways and she knew he was keeping her in his sight while the other four men continued firing, the sound of their rifles suppressed as they backed toward the elevator.

Grace stepped to the side, giving them room to fight and keep the creatures at bay. As soon as the fifth man stepped in, she keyed in the code to close the heavy steel door. It began to slide down and one of them grabbed it and forced it down. The others dropped to one knee and continued firing.

One of them grabbed her and shoved her to the back of the elevator. She lost her balance and fell to the floor against the second set of doors. Pissed off, she climbed to her feet, questioning the wisdom of letting them into the bunker. The man who’d grabbed her pulled a machete and chopped off the clawed, bloody talons of a creature who’d been reaching under the door—reaching for her.

Before the door locked into place, he kicked the remains through the narrow opening. One of the men reached for the down arrow.

“Wait, I have to secure the shutter and the sliding doors,” she said.

The Marine moved back. She reached passed him and keyed in the codes. He pressed the down button. She slipped through them as it began to descend. All five of them tracked her. She couldn’t help but stare at them. They were spattered with blood and gore. Even their rifles and the goggles they wore over their eyes were filthy. The stench of rotten fruit and hard-fighting men filled the small space.

The tallest one pushed his night vision goggles up and looked down at her. “Ms. Walker?”

She had to tip her head back to see his face. “Yes, I’m Grace Walker.” The doors behind her opened. She backed up the few inches until she was against the closed shutter. “Who are you and what are you doing here? Didn’t you know about the creatures?” She stood her ground, blocking them.

“Variants,” he said.

“What?” she asked.

“The things you call creatures are Variants. The first people were infected with Ebola and another substance called VX-99. We called them the infected until we killed them and the ones who survived evolved into these things. Now we call them Variants. They’re strong and extremely dangerous but not infected.”

“When did you kill the ones who were infected?”

The stocky guy spoke up, “May second, but some of them out in the boonies are still infected.”

“I think they’re changing back to whatever crawled out of the muck millions of years ago,” Grace said.

“Lady, they already—.”

“Grace. My name is Grace.”

“Grace,” the leader said, putting emphasis on her name. “We’re going to discuss that later but right now open the shutter or I’ll have my man do it.” He pointed to the stocky guy.

She glared at the leader. The last man who’d bossed her around like this had been her dad. She hesitated then turned and keyed in the code. He pushed it up then sent a signal to his men and they scattered, searching between the shelves while the leader stayed with her.

The guy stocky guy returned. “All the doors are locked and the codes have been changed.”

“Your doing, Grace?” the leader asked.

“Yes.”

“Who else is here with you?” the leader asked.

“Who’s asking?”

“Gunnery Sergeant Dan Perryman, United States Marine Corps. Now, where are they?”

“What do I call you? Dan or Gunnery Sergeant?” she asked, buying time. “Or, Gunny?

“Dan.”

“Okay, Dan, nice to meet you.” She added the last four words just to irritate him.

“Unlock the door to the shelter,” Dan said, his voice hard.

“Be glad to—all you had to do was ask.” Grace unlocked it, stepped in and moved to the side.

Dan signaled one of his men to stay with her while he and the other three scattered, checking the galley area and then disappearing into the short hall that led to the sleeping rooms, shower and utility. They returned a few minutes later.