Sully and Kang advanced down the hallway. Bernice and Dr Sturgess were close behind. Mara looked from the doorway back to Dot unsure.
Rolf turned back.
One of the hybrids was down and moaning. Another limped. The biggest — a black haired beast towering over seven feet tall — advanced on Dot. A growl rumbled through its chest, fangs gleaming white through the gloom. She raised her gun. “Suck on this, Fido,” she said before pulling the trigger.
A click was the only thing that escaped the gun; her clip empty.
“Shit.”
The beast took to the air, its claws poised to strike.
Rolf squeezed off four sets of three-round bursts, hitting the hybrid in the eye, neck, chest, and abdomen in quick succession. It whimpered as the bullets tore into it. Dot dove aside as it landed with a thud. She fumbled for a fresh clip. Rolf slammed a boot on the hybrid’s neck holding it in place. Another three round burst ended its life.
Gunfire sounded from beyond the door. As Rolf looked over, a howl echoed through the stairwell from above. Dot shoved him aside just as a grey and black-haired hybrid swung at him. Rolf hit the wall and spun toward the door. The remaining two hybrids had Dot pinned down. She struggled beneath their weight. A brown-haired hybrid reared back and tore out her throat.
“NO!”
“C’mon,” Mara said, pulling Rolf by the sleeve. She led him through the door and straight into a pile of Bernice’s entrails. There was a blood stain on the wall above what was left of her.
Rolf expelled his empty clip and traded it for a full one. He turned toward the door expecting the hybrids to follow. They didn’t. Probably too busy snacking on Dot.
A shotgun blast sounded from somewhere in the distance.
“Where’s Dr Sturgess?”
Mara shrugged.
“Nine o’clock!” Sully shouted from somewhere ahead.
Gunfire sounded soon after.
Mara and Rolf hurried toward the sound. A door off to the side opened as they passed. It was too dark to see how many hybrids emerged from the room beyond.
Kang and Sully advanced slowly, Dr Sturgess close behind. She directed them toward an unfinished section of the complex. Sully turned and dropped a hybrid in a tattered black uniform, its rifle still slung over a shoulder. The doctor knelt and retrieved it. Yellow light reflected in the sweat covering each of them.
“Whatever you’re going to do, you better do it fast,” Rolf yelled from behind. He and Mara sprinted to catch up, numerous hybrids bounding after them.
Dr Sturgess pointed at a door. Kang opened it. The five of them hurried through, howls following them.
They found themselves in a spacious and mostly empty room. A pile of dead bodies had been stacked in a corner. Various medical supplies lined metal shelves on the other side of the room. Pipes and ducts lined the walls and ceiling. It looked as if the contractors ran out of supplies and left this section as bare as possible.
“Failed experiments,” Sturgess said moving past the rancid pile of corpses. She ran to the back corner and a door marked ‘ventilation access’.
Rolf and Mara pulled a metal shelf lined with disposable gloves toward the door. They slammed it in place just as it started to open.
“This isn’t going to hold long!” Rolf yelled.
The shelf rattled as the hybrids pushed and pounded on the door. Rolf and Mara pushed back but both knew they weren’t strong enough to hold back a pack of genetically-altered hybrids. The shelf was forced back a little with each blow — the gap between the door and wall widening.
Dr Sturgess slid a keycard through a slot then punched in a five digit code. A clicking noise preceded the door opening.
“Go,” Rolf said to Mara. She sprinted across the room and skidded to a stop as Dr Sturgess opened fire.
Kang took most of the barrage. He dropped to his knees, a look of disbelief on his face. He fell a moment later. Sully returned fire, hitting Sturgess in the leg before she disappeared through the door.
A hairy claw punched through the door. Rolf pushed back with everything he could muster, the tread of his boots squeaking as he fought for every inch. A multitude of howls sounded from the stairwell, hunger bleeding into their frenzied cries.
“What I wouldn’t give for a grenade.”
“Hey,” Mara said.
Rolf turned and she tossed him a fire extinguisher. “I could kiss you right now.”
She cracked a smile before helping Sully limp toward the ventilation room door.
The door flung open, the metal rack swept aside. Several sets of glowing eyes peered from the half-light beyond. Rolf tossed the fire extinguisher. It hit the first hybrid in the chest and clanged to the floor. Pistol in hand, he squeezed the trigger.
The hybrid squealed as the extinguisher exploded in a white cloud.
Rolf ran across the room to find Mara and Sully pounding on the ventilation room door. “What’s the hold up?”
“Door’s locked.” Mara said.
Rolf took Sully’s shotgun and obliterated the keypad and door handle. The wires fizzled as the first hybrid entered.
A howl resounded around the room.
A multitude of howls answered back.
The ventilation room door opened.
Mara helped Sully through. Rolf followed the bloody trail. He slammed the door shut and leaned on it. Much of the space in the small room was taken up by different machinery and a trio of air ducts. A trail of blood led to the rear of the room and the furthest air duct. A metal grate had been tossed aside.
Mara stuck her head in. “There’s a ladder.”
The air coming from the vent was noticeably cooler.
Sully limped over and slid down the door next to Rolf.
“Get over there and start climbing.”
“Not this time.” Sully moved an arm. Blood leaked through a hole in his chest. He flashed a toothy smile. “I survived the werewolves, but not the old lady.” A bitter laugh escaped him. “Fucking werewolves, man. Can you believe it?”
Rolf handed him his gun.
Sully nodded, much spoken between the two in that one action.
Rolf slid through the opening in the vent and started climbing. He didn’t look back when he heard gunshots, or Sully’s screams before a single shot echoed through the vent.
The crisp mountain air felt good on Rolf’s sweat covered skin. He emerged from the shaft to a setting sun that normally would have taken his breath away. A light dusting of snow covered the rocky ground beneath them. Mara shivered, clinging to the side of the mountain. She slammed the heavy grate closed behind them. Neither of them thought the hybrids would be able to fit in the shaft. Still…
They followed the trail of blood to a helicopter pad and made it just in time to see a helicopter whir away.
“Looks like we missed our ride.” Mara’s head followed the helicopter as it sped away.
“We better get moving. The temperature’s going to drop as soon as the sun sets.”
They moved past the landing pad and found a narrow path leading down. “Thanks, you know, for getting me out of there,” Mara said.
Rolf looked down and noticed a few drops of blood. “We’re not out of the woods yet.” A few steps later they found a discarded gun. “It looks like the good doctor missed her ride too.”
“We might be able to catch her if we hurry.”
A few steps later they found a tattered lab coat and the same flash drive Dr Sturgess showed them earlier.
Beside the flash drive were footprints. Hybrid footprints.
“Damn,” Rolf said.
Mara came closer. “What is it?”
Rolf pointed down.