Webb and Doc rotated to cover their backs in case any came up or down the stairwell. Priest and Shaw took a knee while Lia and Shin stayed standing. Neville joined Webb a
nd Doc, protecting the rear.
Shaw began dropping infected left and right as his M48 was dealing out some serious devastation. Bodies shredded, limbs torn off, and heads exploded. The hall was awash with blood, guts, bone fragments, brain matter and bodily fluids. Everything you need for a nice slaughter soup. Priest added to the bodies stacking up in the hallway.
“Reloading,” Shaw yelled. Neville swung around to help with the oncoming infected. The dozens were slowing down to a trickle.
Priest ended this while clearing some bodies. “Grenade,” he yelled. Everyone squatted down for cover. Priest pulled the trigger on his M203 and Foomp! The grenade launched into the doorway. Priest got down just in time as the explosion rocked the building and debris rained down all over the Team.
“Let’s move,” Priest urged. A substance covered the hallway which could only be described as “human paste”. Shaw turned the corner through the doorway and came out into a lab space. The lab showed signs of killing and mutilation. Blood smears and handprints which couldn’t have come from the grenade explosion, along with human remains littered the lab floor and counters.
Webb pondered as he looked around, “What makes them kill as opposed to just try to spread the virus? How do they decide who gets infected and who is slaughtered? There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to how they select.”
“Not sure, but when they choose to kill, it’s not a clean, quick death,” Priest responded. Looking around, Priest could see Shin visibly shaken.
Shin was a Buddhist, and everything could be explained through enlightenment. Things were evil or divine. Even those things that are evil have a certain amount of humanity in them. Shin was trying to find the sense in what he was seeing, but he couldn’t find meaning or purpose for what was going on. His faith was being stretched to the breaking point, so he kept trying to use meditation to center himself. To ground his thinking in order to wade through all the pain and destruction. To find a place of peace and renewal. He didn’t know how much longer he could go on without bringing his being to focus.
“Shin, Shin…” Priest was talking to him, “Shin, you okay?”
“Yes-yes I am well.” Shin looked at Priest and tried to show a calm appearance.
“You sure?”
“Yes, I am fine.”
CHAPTER 28
The lab didn’t look used much and definitely not used recently. A door on the far side of the lab was in poor condition. An exit sign dangled from the ceiling in front of the door.
“There must be another stairwell somewhere. This lab is definitely not the only one they have been conducting their research in,” Webb pointed out.
“Agreed,” Priest said as they moved forward toward the door.
Shaw penetrated the door. “It’s another stairwell going down,” Shaw observed. They started down the stairwell and heard a scream, but they couldn’t determine whether it was the same scream they heard earlier.
The rest of the Team trotted down to the next landing as Shaw looked through the small window. “Short hallway with three doors, Two on the right, one at the end of the hallway. No sign of infected. The door at the end has some significant damage to it. Looks like the infected were trying to gain access to it.”
“Maybe the scientists are holed up there?” Priest said. They entered the hallway and Priest and Shaw checked the first door. Supply closet. They moved to the second door on the left and it turned out to be a compact locker room for the scientists.
The door at the end was a sturdy steel door that had severe damage from what looks like an axe. Shaw knocks on the door. “US Army, is there anyone in there?” They waited a couple minutes. Shaw knocked again, this time a little harder. “US Army. Are there any survivors in there?” After a couple minutes they could hear a muffled voice.
“Who is it?”
“US Army, Ma’am.”
“I need to know who,” the voice replied.
Shaw turned to Priest, he nodded. ”It’s Shaw, Priest, and Webb.”
The team heard running toward the door and moving of items. The lock unlatched, the door slowly opened, and a disheveled Dr. Costa’s face peered out. She looked around at the team until she locked on Captain Webb. She rushed out the door and into Webb’s arms and broke down, weeping uncontrollably.
Neville and Doc performed security while Shaw, Priest, Lia and Shin continued into the room. Webb and Dr. Costa entered the room, and he spoke to the two scientists. “Dr. Caulfield, Dr. Choi, it’s good to see you again.” They both greeted him.
Priest called all three scientists and Webb over to him. “Ok, I don’t know how much they compromise this compound, but it’s pretty obvious this place is toast. How much of your samples and data are still viable? Remember, we have the samples of the original strain.”
Dr. Caulfield’s face lit up, “You have the originals?”
“Yes, and a prisoner. One of the ISIS members. Where do we go? Are there other facilities like this? Maybe one that is not compromised?”