'Wait,' said Greaves. 'You have to check the thermostat before you release the container's lid. Otherwise the pressure could…'
Anna held up her hand to hush him. 'That's alright. Like I said, I can take it from here.'
The door to the booth slid open as Anna approached and slipped inside. The air was still and cold but it also felt somehow turbulent. The lids to the containers popped open by themselves.
The virus itself was doing this. Anna could suddenly sense it crawling on every surface.
There is always a point of no return when we commit ourselves to a course of action, Anna thought. This is mine.
As in all those moments, Anna felt a sense of dread for every unknown thing this might mean. And a sense of loss for everything it wouldn't.
She opened herself up to the virus, took it inside her as though she was drawing breath through every orifice and every pore of her body. A million unseen microbes fell on her, hungry to feed. And like a mother suckling her young, she nourished them.
Tears ran down Greaves' face as he watched through the visor of the suit. It was happening. Everything he had planned over so many years was coming to pass. Humanity's salvation, he had really made it happen.
The moment was broken by the noise of footfall getting closer. It sounded like there were lots and lots of men heading their way.
'They're on to us,' said Colt. 'They knew the first place we were gonna head would be straight for the Doomsday Virus.'
'You didn't think they'd give it us without a fight did you?' Hiamovi said.
'No-one gives up a weapon like this without a fight.'
Greaves saw Anna fall to the floor. She was entering the transitional phase of symbiosis. The virus was attacking every single function of her body and mind. Breaking it all down so it could rebuild and replicate it. She would come close to a state of total death before it brought her back to eternal life.
Anna was incredibly vulnerable. If anything happened to her in this state it could jeopardise the whole process.
'We have to get them away from here,' said Greaves. 'We need to draw their fire to protect Anna. She needs time to recover. If anything happens to her now it could mean her life. Then everything we've fought for will be pointless.'
'What're you suggesting?' said Colt.
'If we cut across the main corridor they're coming down, we can double back and attack them at the rear. They'll be caught off-guard and we can draw them back the way they came.'
'Is the position defensible?' said Colt's henchman Simon Peter. 'More importantly is there somewhere to retreat to if it's not?'
'There's a staircase just around the corner,' said Greaves. 'If we make it a quick hit-and-run operation, we could cut along the floor above to throw them off our scent and head back down another staircase to pick Anna up again. But we have to go now!'
Cortez looked at Colt and Hiamovi, who both nodded. Then he motioned with his head for everyone to follow him.
As they ran out of the lab Greaves took a last look over his shoulder at Anna, writhing on the floor. He hadn't told her about all the pain. He hadn't know it would be so great.
Hiamovi ran shoulder to shoulder with Colt and a step behind Cortez. He was an intriguing man this Latin American. A fearsome warrior who quickly took control of a situation. Yet he reinforced Hiamovi's authority with his men. Unlike Colt who tried to undermine it.
Hiamovi would make sure Cortez fought with the UTN when they got back up top. Cortez would make a great general and he would bring the girl and the Doomsday Virus with him. Whatever they had planned for the virus Hiamovi would make sure the UTN was a part of it.
They turned the corner and saw a line of about thirty guards heading away from them. They fell into formation in the corridor. Hiamovi and Colt stood either side of Cortez and aimed their semi-automatics. Akecheta, Hastiin and Simon Peter knelt beside them, weapons levelled.
They opened fire. Four guards fell in the first volley. The men jerked and threw themselves into a crazy war dance, spraying blood from multiple wounds as the bullets smacked into them.
The guards in front froze at the sound of gunfire. They spun round and tried to find cover as they groped for their rifles. Three more of them fell in another salvo as they turned. Two of them to body shots. The last to a spectacular and bloody head shot.
Before the guards had a chance to return fire Hiamovi and the others took off round the corner. At the edge of his vision Hiamovi saw Hastiin collide with Greaves. The little guy was having trouble keeping up. Cortez dragged Greaves to his feet and pulled him along with them.
Hiamovi's heart was racing. Killing was something new to him. He'd fought in one way or another most of his life, but only now was he learning to kill. To his alarm he found it addictive. Like political power, once tasted it was hard to put down.
The stairs slowed them down and their pursuers gained ground on them. Shots rattled around the stairwell as they ran through the door onto the next level.
'The… canteen and the… kitchens are this way…' Greaves said, trying to catch his breath. He looked ready to drop. Cortez grabbed the little man's collar and dragged him in the direction he'd pointed.
The next few minutes were a blur. Hiamovi heard the guards coming up the stairs. He remembered racing into the kitchen when three figures jumped out at them. Everyone pointed their weapons but the middle figure called out.
'Wait Great Chief it's me.'
It was Ahiga with Colt's men.
'We have to get to the staircase just the other side of the kitchen,' said Hiamovi.
'No, Great Chief.' Ahiga said. 'We've just checked, there's about twenty guards on their way up it.'
'We're trapped,' said Greaves.
'No. You can take the elevator.' Ahiga said.
'Elevator?' said Greaves. 'What are you talking about. There's no power, or haven't you noticed? How could we take the elevator?'
'We did dickwad,' said Fitch. 'And something's powering it. I dunno, maybe they got a back-up generator.'
'What in hell's happened to your eyes?' Colt said. 'And where have you been?'
'We're blind,' said Golding. 'Bomb did it.'
'They came back for me,' said Ahiga. 'We didn't get out in time. The bomb caught us all. Guess I just got lucky.'
'You got that right,' said Fitch.
'Wait, it's their elevator,' said Greaves. 'It stands to reason they'd have a secret one installed, powered by a secret source. You must have stumbled on it.'
'Hold on there Einstein,' said Colt. 'Who the fuck are 'they'?'
'The masters of this place. The men who bankrolled the whole operation. The twisted old men who've been hiding down here waiting to regain control of a world their families have run for generations.'
'Great Chief,' said Ahiga. 'There isn't much time, you have to leave now.'
Ahiga took them through a hidden door to a small alcove where an elevator waited. It was tiny. There was room for only four or five of them at best.
'We'll have to take two trips.' said Hiamovi
'There isn't time Great Chief. There is room enough for the seven of you at a push.'
'What are you saying?'
'Someone has to stay behind and take care of all these men on your tail. I think that job falls to us three.' Ahiga cocked his thumb at Fitch and Golding. 'These two would only slow you down.'
They reminded Hiamovi of hunting hounds brought to heel.
'Now hold on boy,' said Colt. 'Ain't nobody tells my men what to do apart from me.'
'Mr Colt sir,' said Golding. 'It's okay, the redskin's right.'
