“Yes, very clear.” She smoothed out her lab coat. “Allow me to make myself clear. The only hope you have of getting out of here is escorting me down to the fifth level. There’s a ventilation shaft that leads directly to the surface. A helicopter will be waiting.”
“Fine. But we play by my rules. I say stop, you stop. I say go, and you go.”
Sturgess nodded.
“Any objections?” Rolf asked looking from person to person.
“What about everyone else?” Bernice asked. “Are we just going to leave them?”
“They’re already dead,” Dr Sturgess said. Rolf could almost see her breath from the iciness of her words.
Another scream preceded running footsteps, the sound coming from the stairwell.
Cruz moved closer to the wall and raised his Desert Eagle. Rolf motioned Sully over to support him. “Cover our six,” he whispered to Dot. She moved a few paces away from the group, her rifle pointing off into the gloom.
A guy in a blood streaked lab coat burst through the stairwell door and tumbled over Cruz. The guy came to a stop a few paces from the door as it closed behind him. Heavy breathing could be heard from the stairwell. Someone, or something, was coming after him.
The guy’s face blanched. “It’s right behind me. We have to get out of here!” He clutched a shredded arm to his chest, blood staining the polished white floor below. “They all started changing. Costello. Beck. Coates. Don’t you see? They’re all infected!”
“Whoa, take it easy, buddy.” Sully moved toward him but the guy inched back.
“Don’t come any closer!” He looked down at his wound and grunted.
“Dot, get them in the lab,” Rolf ordered, seizing command. “Keep your heads down and don’t move until I give the signal.”
Without a word Dot gathered up the scientists and did as instructed. The wounded scientist refused to budge.
Cruz backed away from the door as a pair of feet slapped to a stop on the other side. They all heard something sniff the air the way a dog would.
“Oh, God, she found me.” The wounded scientist leaned against the wall and staggered a few steps down the hallway leaving a bloody trail. After another two steps he fell, sweat pouring from his body.
The door burst open.
The slender hybrid stood silhouetted in the doorway, a confused look on its face. It sniffed at the air as Cruz retreated. A tattered lab coat clung to her shoulders. The badge identified it as Ashley Costello. In her little photo she had much less hair and smiled. With one giant stride, the thing that had been Ashley was at the puddle of blood, lapping it up.
“Holy mother of God,” Cruz mumbled.
Sully eased up behind her, and double-tapped the beast. Ashley’s body slumped to the floor adding to the crimson puddle.
Rolf ran past the carnage and stepped into the stairwell. Gunfire from below. Someone was still alive down there. As he turned to head for the lab, the injured scientist jumped up to his feet, his body changing from normal to hybrid in about a minute. Cruz turned just in time to catch a claw to the jaw. He tried to scream but only a garbled whimper escaped. The hybrid was on him and biting as Sully opened fire. Two shotgun blasts tore chunks out of the thing’s back. It stumbled forward trying to stand, but fell.
Rolf hurried to his fallen comrade. Cruz was a mess of shredded flesh. Blood poured from his ruined mouth. He clasped Rolf’s hand and choked. Rolf squeezed back knowing it wouldn’t be long. “Hang in there, Cruz.”
With another shotgun blast, the infected scientist was no more.
“Sully, get one of those scientists over here. Now!”
By the time Mara ran over, Cruz was gone. Rolf handed her the Desert Eagle. “I hope you know how to use it.”
“I don’t understand,” she said, a frown creasing her brow. “He wasn’t part of the experiment. How did he change?”
Dot and the others turned to Sturgess.
“We don’t know,” the doctors finally replied. “It happened shortly after the first successful splice. One of the technicians got too close while recording a hybrid’s vital signs.”
Realization washed over Mara’s face. “Oh my God, Natalie.”
Dr Sturgess nodded. “Yes. We covered it; said she had a family emergency.”
Mara slapped Sturgess, snapping the older woman’s head sideways. “You son-of-a-bitch! You knew. All this time you knew what could happen to us and you said nothing!”
Sturgess responded with a smirk then moved to within an inch of her assistant. “Don’t be so naïve, Mara. You knew the risks when you agreed to work for TriGen. We all did. What happened to all that talk of changing the world? The first sign of trouble and you’re ready to throw in the towel. You’re pathetic and weak.”
Rolf pulled Mara back as she lunged. “Easy now. We need the good doctor in one piece.”
Mara yanked free and pushed past to the stairwell. Rolf motioned for Sully to follow.
“I want details,” Rolf said to Sturgess. “What makes people change?”
Sturgess hesitated a moment. “As far as I can tell it’s the scratches and bites. Unfortunately, we haven’t had much time to discover why. I’m afraid that’s all the information I can provide.”
“Things just keep getting better.” Rolf looked into the doctor’s eyes but wasn’t sure if she was lying or not. The old gal had a pretty good poker face. He supposed she had to in order to keep so many secrets from her staff.
Kang stood there scratching his head, taking in the scene. All eyes went to him.
“What? Why’s everybody looking at me like that?” He took a step back and raised his hands. “Take a look. My shirt isn’t ripped. No scratches.”
“Check him,” Rolf said to Bernice.
She jumped up and inspected Kang. “He’s clean.”
“Good. We need you.” Rolf handed Kang his weapon. “You and Sully have point. We move easy and slow down to five.”
Kang nodded and hurried to the stairwell.
“Let’s go, ladies. Time to leave.” Rolf herded Dot and the two scientists to the stairwell. When he saw that Kang and Sully were in position, he waved them down.
They made it down to four without incident. As they neared the door to five, a chorus of howls sounded from above and below. Sully gave the sign to stop and Rolf made his way to the front. “We’ve got company,” Sully said.
“We’ve got to clear that door,” Kang whispered.
Rolf nodded. He put an ear up to the metal and listened. Another howl cut through the gloom. There was no telling how many of those things were on the other side. Kang stood off to the left, weapon ready. Sully stood a step behind Rolf who was in position to turn the knob. When he did, Sully would be the first through with his shotgun immobilizing any immediate threat, Kang right on his heels.
Rolf held up three fingers. He brought one down.
Sweat trickled down Kang’s freshly buzzed head. Each infected person he had observed thus far started off sweating. Could Kang have ingested some blood earlier? Would it be enough to cause an infection? In the end he decided to trust his squad mate and Bernice’s evaluation. Still, he’d have to keep an eye on the guy.
Another finger fell. Rolf’s muscles tensed.
As the final finger fell, the door to the fourth floor crashed open above them. All eyes turned toward the sound.
Five hybrids poured into the stairwell.
“Go!” Dot yelled. She opened fire, spraying all five creatures as they closed the distance.
Rolf opened the door to the fifth floor and prayed it would be clear enough to make a stand. What he saw looked like a slaughterhouse. Blood and gore painted the walls and floor. Two hybrids ripped at a corpse fifteen feet away. The sound of them smacking and chewing was audible over the firefight in the hallway behind them. Three others fought over what looked like an arm a short distance away. More creatures stirred in the darkness beyond.