My stomach rumbles and it feels like it’s time for the third meal of the day. It feels long past time for a bathroom visit, but my guard never appears. I eye the unused bucket in the corner.
Both Cole and Jane told me to keep an eye out for something happening. Cole was a little vague, but with their information put together a larger plan unfolds. I guess the question for me is who will get to me first. My fate may be decided for me.
I stand and go to the door. “H
ey,” I yell, slapping my palm against the cool metal. “Can I get some food down here? I missed lunch!”
I wait for movement. The echo of the guard’s boots, but I’m met with silence. Pressing my ear against the door, I’m sure there’s no one out there.
“Perfect,” I say to the empty room. “There’s a revolution starting up somewhere and I’m locked in the freaking basement.”
I don’t have to wait long before I’m startled by the shrieking alarm echoing down the hallway, bouncing off the walls. I press my ear to the door and hear a muffled voice—no, an announcement—issuing directions.
“This is not a test. This is a code one emergency. All members of the community should follow the evacuation procedures.”
Jane was right. It’s happening and there’s little I can do but wait.
Footsteps echo down the hall and I scramble to my feet, wondering if it’s smarter to get their attention or wait. In the end, it’s a decision I don’t have to make—the door flings open, revealing a Fighter in full black, chin and nose covered. The stitching over his heart says, Rowe.
“…not a test. This is a code one emergency. All members of the community should follow the evacuation procedures…”
“Move!” he yells, over the ear-splitting alarm, while waving a massive gun at me. I do what he says.
There’s only one direction to go, down the hall and toward the elevator. I really don’t want to get in that thing. Fortunately, there seems to be an alternative, and he faces the wall and lifts the cover for a key pad I hadn’t noticed in my limited time out of the cell. A quick swipe makes it light up green and a door slides open.
“That way. Go.”
We pass through the door and it slides shut behind us, the alarm is louder here, or at least it seems to be. We’re in a hall that looks vaguely familiar. I grab Rowe by the arm. “Where are we going? Can you just tell me that?”
“Follow me and maybe you’ll get out of here alive.”
He charges forward and we pass windowless rooms, including one with a warning sign over the door. “Is this the firing range?”
“Yeah, along with weapons R&D,” he replies, stopping at a corner. He peers around the side. He jerks back and holds his gun in two hands. A line of workers, identified by their uniforms, race down the hallway. Over the alarm, my ears are barraged by a series of rapid shots. Two gun-toting, black-clad Hybrids follow the workers. I have enough sense to duck and hide.
…This is not a test. This is a code one emergency… the voice drones on and I exhale when the Hybrids pass. Rowe reaches into his pocket and offers me something. “Take it.”
I hold out my hand and raise an eyebrow at the weight. It’s a gun. “You trust me with this?”
“Like I said, if you want to get out here alive you’re going to need to follow me.” He looks at me. “I’m one of the good guys, Alexandra.”
I shake my head and check the gun for bullets. This guy has no clue that there are no good guys anymore. Just different shades of bad.
We go the opposite direction of those that just passed, edging down the hallway. Training rooms line the hall and a hint of copper lingers in the air. Rowe tenses and hairs prickle on my neck. We turn the corner.
“Oh God,” I say, covering my mouth, trying not to vomit. Two dying fighters are sprawled on the floor. But that’s not what makes my stomach recoil. Four severely decayed Eaters gnaw at their flesh, so consumed by their need to spread the infection they don’t even notice us.
Rowe takes them out, including the Fighters, with a bullet to the brain before I can react. More blood spills on the floor, pooling under the bodies, and the stench is horrific, amplified by the sterile environment. The alarm shrieks overhead but I hear more howls from more Eaters nearby. Raising my weapon, I search down the hall and see dozens milling around an open door.
“What’s happening down here? I don’t understand.”
Rowe gestures to the sparring room ahead. “The Hybrids have taken over the upper floors. The basement had to be compromised for us to make our escape.”
“Who let them in? How did they get here?” But I know Eaters are brought in for fights in the room in front of us and there are holding areas behind the room. “This was intentional?”
“It was necessary to buy the Director time to escape. She placed you in the basement quarantine cells for a reason.”
There’s nothing like the feeling of being one step behind while a bunch of infected monsters wait between you and possible freedom.