people, some wearing thin hospital gowns. They groaned like a hungry mob and paced the floor in search of a meal.
“What the hell is going on in there Dixon? Human experimentation, I thought this place was on the up and up,” Arthur yelled.
Dixon shut the door then pinned Arthur against the wall. “I’m sorry. Did you forget I’m in charge here? Just in case, let me refresh your memory. You do what I tell you. You do not draw attention to us. You do not ask questions. Are we clear?”
Arthur nodded, the thick forearm against his throat making it impossible for him to respond verbally. Dixon moved his arm and lifted his Sig.
“We need to clear them out before they form a group and overtake us like last time,” Dixon said.
“Why are we wasting time killing these things? They’re slow, can we run by them and access the other stairwell and keep moving?” Benson asked.
Dixon looked up with an expression bordering on murderous. “We don’t know what’s beyond the lab doors. There could be a hundred people in there, and if we need to turn back, we have to face a room full of them because we didn’t clear it. Not to mention these things can open doors when enough of them lean on it and all the exits open outward, get it, genius?” Dixon stood, raised his weapon and stared down at Benson. “Does that answer your question? If not, feel free to run ahead and let us know how that works out.”
Dixon shook his head and pulled open the door. Arthur followed with Smith and Benson in the rear. The start of gunfire was instantaneous and Smith had to be reminded not to fire in panic mode or she’d run out of ammunition in seconds.
Arthur lifted the Baby Eagle when he didn’t have time to get a new magazine for the XM-25. The sound it made caused his ears to ring, but the head of the contaminated blowing into a hundred tiny pieces along with the one behind it made it worth it.
The air filled with smoke, and as the visibility decreased to almost nothing, since the lights kept crapping out, so did the accuracy of their shots. Arthur moved so he was closer to Smith. He knew she would be distracted looking for her husband, and if he turned out to be contaminated, which was looking very likely, and came at her, she might not be able to handle it.
Half of the horde had been taken down, but as Dixon pointed out, there was no way to know what was behind the door on the other end of the lab. Arthur watched as Dixon downed several with a head level spray from his gun. He ejected the magazine and fired his Makarov intermittently as he reached for a new magazine. Once he had it, Arthur watched as he slid it into the Sig with ease and started kicking ass anew.
Arthur glanced around for Benson and saw a huddled shadow in the corner. He knew it was Benson, and he knew the bastard was hiding, looking for his opportunity to take off and leave them on their own. For some reason, Benson gave Arthur the creeps, something about the guy didn’t seem right. For the moment, it was the fact he wasn’t helping them. He seemed quite content to let the others do the dirty work. Arthur focused on the matter at hand and he aimed at the heads of the contaminated. When he had clear shots, he took them. Moments later, the room was clear and everyone took a moment to reload their weapons.
“We should go back down and refill our stock. This is taking a lot more ammo than I anticipated,” Dixon said as he walked toward the stairwell entry. The handle didn’t turn.
“Crap, whatever they’ve done, there’s no going back.” Dixon punched the door.
Arthur used the time to peruse the desk at the end of the room for any sort of information as to what Sunset Inc. was doing in here. The bodies were skeletal, skin hung off them in flaps. They resembled the people from downstairs, but the rate of decay seemed quicker.
The only bit of information he found was on an empty vial, bearing a sticker that read
Arthur fumbled around for his gun, but the thing was coming at him hard. He tried to scream out for help, but fear stole his voice. The two tumbled to the ground and he reached over and grabbed his weapon as drops of liquid fell onto his mask from the mouth hovering above him. The thing opened its maw and brought it down on Arthur’s chest.
He felt the teeth, and panicked. In the rush, he pushed the dead doctor off him, fired the Baby Eagle without thinking, and put a hole the size of a baseball in the man’s chest. Arthur noticed it then, the nametag,
The noise echoed throughout the room and Dixon ran over. He took in the scene and seemed to come to some sort of silent conclusion he didn’t feel like sharing.
“What the hell happened? You okay?” Dixon asked as he reached a hand out to help Arthur up.
Arthur accepted the offered hand and nodded. “Just peachy.”
Benson arrived and they glanced back at Smith who checked the bodies of those on the ground. Arthur slid the patch into his backpack and hoped he could convince her that her husband must have been able to survive somehow and went for help.
“Smith, we need to get going. Clear whatever’s on the other side of this door and then the next floor shouldn’t be too bad. On my map it’s marked as ‘monitor room,’” Arthur said.
Dixon paled as he spoke. “Your map isn’t exactly right. There are monitors, along with soldiers in full protective gear.”
“We can’t take them on if they’re contaminated, we’ll be overrun. There has to be another way,” Benson pled.
“I hate to say it, but the weenie’s right. I’ll lay down cover fire and you three run like your life depends on it,” Dixon ordered.
“Our lives do depend on it,” Smith mentioned absently.
Arthur put a hand up. “Before we start doling out medals to people for stupidity, why don’t we see what’s on the other side of this door, take care of it, go up the stairs and actually look at the other level. Once we have an actual idea of what we’re up against, we can come up with the kamikaze martyr missions, okay?”
XM-25 loaded, Arthur opened the door and was greeted by – nothing. A dimly lit, short hallway to the stairwell entrance at the end, about five offices, and one observation room stood between them and their current goal.
“Well, this isn’t so bad is it?” Arthur asked the others. From the expressions on their faces, he knew doors were opening as they had on the level below them. “Right, start shooting then.”
Arthur found it difficult to aim since visibility was so poor. He pulled the trigger when he felt his shot would hit at about the average height of a man. Dixon stood beside him firing away. Benson and Smith stayed in the back passing them new magazines when needed.
Arthur’s ears rang due to the constant sound of gunfire and his hand ached, but he didn’t stop. At one time, he looked up from reloading, into a skeletal face, with bite marks covering the skin of what might have once been a beautiful woman. The thing moaned and lunged for Arthur, and he put his hands out to stop it. The momentum caused him to lose his balance and fall into the hallway they were trying to clean up.
With his shoulder leaning against one wall and the contaminated snapping at his face, then deciding to latch onto his right arm, Arthur freaked. “Dixon, I need some help here.”
“Kinda busy, take care of it,” Dixon yelled over the sound of his weapon.
Arthur felt himself slipping. The strength to hold the thing off and himself up at an odd angle were too much. He slumped to the ground, his limb still the main focus of attention of the dead woman.
Arthur brought his left arm out and grabbed the hair on top of the contaminated’s head. The scalp peeled off her head and he gagged at the smell permeating his mask. Thick dark fluid oozed down the sides of her face, but she paid no attention. Arthur let go and closed his eyes as he jammed his thumb into the eye socket as far as possible. The things mouth went slack and Arthur stood with his gun at the ready.
Dixon looked at him. “You’re supposed to be a doctor. Where the hell did you learn all this stuff? You fight like a…”
“I fight like a man who wants to live. I have kids that I’d like to see again someday, even if they hate me. As
