I hoisted myself up through the narrow gap in the elevator and carefully crawled out onto level 2. In the shrouded darkness, I took a deep breath, attempting to steady my pounding heart.
“Here,” Karen whispered from below, passing up the phone we were using as a flashlight. The light filtered out to reveal a wide corridor which ended at a set of doors. Behind those doors was the main laboratory, a place I had never been to before but was rumored to harbor smallpox and anthrax, among other deadly viruses.
“What do you see?” Karen asked.
“Not much,” I replied, then glanced nervously at the dead body beside her. “Come on. Let’s get you out before that soldier has a second resurrection.”
Karen accepted my hand, and I helped her crawl out of the elevator shaft, careful to make as little noise as possible. Once we were both out, we crouched and stared nervously down the passage. There appeared to be no immediate danger, but the atmosphere was tense, as if in anticipation of impending doom.
“What’s the plan, then?” I asked, because I sure did not have one.
“I believe there should be emergency stairs on this level that lead to the ground floor,” Karen said. “I inquired about them when I first started here, when I was worried about the elevator failing and being trapped underground. I was told the emergency stairs were only built to level 2 and no lower. Finding them is our best shot, even if it’s not guaranteed.”
I nodded, and as we were about to make our way towards the entrance, a terrifying scream came from inside the laboratory.
“Turn off the light!” Karen hissed, as more screams joined in like they were competing against one another. Then came the sound of scurrying feet and the smashing of glass.
“Infected,” I muttered bitterly. “After the horrors on the other levels, though, I can’t decide if I’m relieved or terrified that Virus X-93 is back. What’s our move now?”
“We have to find those stairs still.”
“What! With the infected in there?”
“Yes!” Karen hissed. “Unless you have any other ideas?”
No … I didn’t … so remained quiet until the screams faded and gave way to an eerie silence.
Karen tugged at my shirt. “Let’s go. We are going to have to risk it.”
In the stuffy blackness, we crept forward. No matter how silently we moved, our footsteps seemed to bound around the passageway like they wanted to attract attention. Here they are! Over here! Come get them! Come eat them! Near the entrance, I flicked the flashlight on and cupped my hand over the phone to dim the light. The doors stood right before us. Various hazard labels were printed on the front and a message that read: authorized personnel only. I pushed the door lightly and breathed a sigh of relief as it gave way.
I looked at Karen, whose nervous face broke into a weak smile. She squeezed my hand. “Whatever happens in there, Frank,” she said. “I want you to know that I’m sorry for what happened between us. And—”
—a loud clanging sounded inside the laboratory—
I blinked. “And …?”
“And nothing … I’ll go first with the torch and lead the way. If we come across any infected, you shoot them to high hell, okay?”
“Sure.”
Using a fraction of light to guide the way, we pushed the doors aside and entered. The silence in the room was deafening. I wanted to scream and shatter the weight of it, let it come crashing down and quicken the inevitable that the infected would find us. I felt like they knew we were there, and acting in a group were slowly creeping towards us, grinning while they circled and cut off any escape.
As we crawled on our hands and knees between the lab stations, we had to be careful to avoid the broken glass that covered the floor. There were also the mutilated bodies of dead scientists. I couldn’t see much because of the dim light—but you sure as hell shivered when your hand pressed against a body part lying on the floor. An outstretched arm. A torn leg. Pools of blood still warm and beginning to dry on the vinyl flooring.
Karen led the way deeper into the laboratory. Rows of benches, fume hoods, and various analytical instruments—that two hours earlier might have been stationed and fully functioning, were now silent, as if a museum of the past. Every creak and breath seemed amplified, every footstep a loud foghorn. Occasionally from out the blackness came the whimpering of the infected, and in these moments, we stopped, listening to the pit patter of feet scurry by, listening to them pass mere inches away.
When it seemed we were about to make it across without attracting attention, we came out into a long passageway, and were greeted by a pair of pale luminous eyes. Instinctively, I raised the gun, ready to shoot—until Karen directed the flashlight in that direction to reveal a scientist slumped against the wall—injured, but very much alive.
His face bore a vacant, haunted look. “Help …” he mumbled, the words turning into a gurgle as blood spilled from his mouth.
I tightened the grip on my Glock, but Karen moved towards him and knelt at his side.
Wincing from pain, the scientist gathered enough strength to speak. “So… others are alive… I’m guessing you’re from another level since I don’t recognize your faces?”
Karen nodded. “Level 5. What happened here?”
“Everything went to hell, that’s what … one moment I was working … the next Dr Lima started attacking everyone … we isolated him in a room … but not before he had … bitten others … who turned…” he panted, and his hand moved to a bite-mark on his neck.
Karen and I exchanged wary glances. “We’re trying to get to the emergency stairs,” Karen explained. “Do you know where they are?”
The scientist nodded, his eyes darting nervously toward the darkness behind us. “Yes, I do … down the hallway on the right. Those creatures… they’re everywhere… you need to help me …”
“We’re going to ground level,” I said in a voice fractionally above a whisper. “We’ll be back with help.”
“No!” the scientist hissed, gripping my arm with whatever strength he had left. “You can’t leave me here! Is that what you were working on? Did you create those monstrosities?”
I pulled away from him and his accusations—and in the laboratory the whimper of an infected sounded.
“Shhhhhh, you’re going to attract them! We will be back. Just … stay alive. We will bring help.” I knew it was bullshit, but I had to tell him something.
“Wait …” the man said, his eyes beginning to bulge in terror. “Help me! Please!” As his voice became more urgent, the desperation strengthened his vocal cords. “Don’t leave me!”
Karen gave my shirt a tug—and I understood what she meant. We could not help him, and together, with the flashlight turned off, we began to inch backwards into the blackness.
The scientist’s voice called after us. “No … Don’t! Why?”
The man’s anguished cries rang out, attracting the attention of the infected. I grabbed Karen’s hand and pulled her against the wall, hoping to evade the marauding infected who were bounding from both directions now. To our terror, as we stood there, I could feel the stuffy air moving as they made with a frenzied urgency towards the scientists’ pleas. I could smell the perfume that still lingered on the female infected, a scent tainted by the metallic smell of blood.
Three, four, five bodies scuttled past—and just when I thought we were going to get away with it, disaster struck, for an infected collided blindly with me.
That was the moment I knew the game of hide and seek was over. I tumbled to the ground, and Karen let out a terrified scream. The creature, seemingly as surprised as I was, let out an irritated growl and began to thrash in my direction.
Instinct took over, and I raised my gun. A burst of gunfire illuminated the corridor like a strobe light, and, for a brief moment, I saw the horrifying scene: six or seven infected were tearing into the scientist. The light vanished as quickly as it had come, but not before the bullet found its mark, whistling through the infected’s skull and causing it to slump to the ground.
“FRANK!” Karen shouted, grabbing my arm and pulling me to my feet.
That is when everything descended into chaos.
The infected, now aware of our presence, abandoned their attack on the scientist and charged toward us. Fleeing down the passageway, we ran for our lives. Fortunately, Karen kept her wits about her and guided us towards the emergency stairs, conveniently tucked into an alcove at the end of the corridor. We reached the alcove and slammed the door shut behind us, leaning against it as the infected pounded on the other side.
“Just hold!” I shouted. “They have poor memories, so should move away soon!”
“Yes, I know that, Frank,” Karen said through gritted teeth as she struggled to hold the door. “Have you forgotten that I worked on the virus for nearly as long as you?”
Panting and trembling, we held the door with all our might, our bodies straining against the relentless force of the infected on the other side. Slowly, however, the scratching and beating on the door became less, until finally the last infected person behind the door slunk away, leaving us alone in the dark staircase.
I gave a sigh of relief and slunk to the floor. “Well, that’s level 2 completed. But that was close. Waaaay too close.”
“Yes,” Karen said. “Now all we have to do is climb the stairs to the ground floor … and see what awaits.”
I looked up at the spiraling staircase, and aptly named it the stairway to heaven.