CHAPTER TWO: M42

The elevator had taken an age to arrive at the floor above. Now, it takes even longer to get into the lowest bowels of the station. Carter can feel the shuddering of the cage around him, and wonders when the last time it was used. Before Evora and his team, of course. It is becoming obvious that they have ventured down here. The tracker is guiding them further down into the shadows, and the little marker-dot is getting closer and closer. Carter tries to push down his frustration at Evora. He should have left straight after deactivating the guns. He shouldn't have pursued a quest to find the missing survivors. He shouldn't have brought his team down to M42. But Carter can't reprimand him yet. Locate him first, then let him know why he had been wrong.

The anxiety is radiating more and more off Todd and Etienne the further they drop. It is like this place has a stranglehold on them, squeezing out all their fears. An atmosphere like no other they have encountered seems to be bleeding out of the walls. Carter doesn't let it get to him. It's a technique he has perfected.

But, when the elevator finally grinds to a halt and the doors struggle open again, he is glad to feel the tension alleviate for a moment.

Only for a moment.

"Jesus!" Todd is the first to react. He has his gun aimed in an instant. The green laser-sights point out of the elevator and into the dark space they have stopped at. Carter reaches back and makes him lower his weapon. He steps forward, though his legs suddenly feel unsteady. Get it together, William, he scolds himself.

The tracker stops transmitting at last. Its target sits at Carter's feet. A desperate hand reaches out for it, smeared in a dark pool of blood. Carter swallows. His eyes reluctantly follow the red trail. Agent Harvey Lewis' frozen expression stares right back at him. He is collapsed upon the floor, body bent and broken. His limbs and torso are covered in a wet sheen, bits of weird black resin sticking to his torn clothes. A big, oozing wound punctures his throat. But worst of all is the look on his face. His wide eyes, his gaping mouth, the stark, unbridled terror... Carter has to turn away. He barely knew the guy, but he didn't deserve this.

"He's got Evora's tracker," Todd finally says, just to break the silence.

Carter nods.

"What happened to Evora?"

"I don't know. We need to find him."

"We're just gonna leave Lewis here? Just - lying there?"

"There's nothing we can do for him now. He's dead. Come on." It sounds harsh but it gets Todd and Etienne moving. They step cautiously out of the elevator and around their fallen brother, barely able to keep their eyes off him. Etienne has turned a sickly pale shade, and doesn't seem able to say anything. "Come on," Carter insists, firmer this time.

They abandon the poor guy for now. There is another door just along the passage, and Carter hopes it doesn't lead to another maze like up above. The darkness is far warmer down here. The further they go, the more he can feel sweat prickling his forehead. He wipes it away and makes sure his hands are dry about his rifle. If there is anything on the other side of this door, he has to prepared. He hasn't seen the Outsiders inflict wounds like the ones on Lewis. There were no burn-marks about his throat from the plasma weapons, no fractured limbs from their hand-to-hand combat. The only thing like what he has witnessed before is the black resin. That could be a Silacoid attack. They have forced their way out of survivors' mouths before, or even gone the other way down their throats. But not like that ugly, bloody injury.

And as for Lewis having Evora's tracker... It doesn't look good for the rest of the team. Carter can only think of one reason for Evora giving his equipment to a subordinate squad-mate.

They reach the door. Following protocol, Etienne and Todd go ahead of their commander, though Carter realises how much they don't want to. "Stay alert," he says. "And stay close."

Like the elevator access panel, the security has been destroyed and hot-wired. The door is already slightly ajar, but not enough for Carter to see anything. Todd pushes it open, and it aches with a deafening whine. Their guns go first, plunging into the unknown. There is silence until Todd utters a strangled, horrified, "holy shit -"

Carter emerges onto a metal platform. The first thing he sees is the sheen of the walls. They glisten as though they have just been painted, but with a stark black coat. The room below him is huge, yet somehow, it feels constricted. He realises why. All corners and lines have been taken out. The whole place looks like the inside of a round, diseased throat. Or maybe it would be better to describe it like a gigantic dark honeycomb, the kind that festers inside the cavities of houses without people realising. A thick, hard material is sticking to the walls, giving them that slickness and a jagged, ribbed structure. It reaches out, trying to consume the abandoned power converters and consoles. This is... not right.

Todd and Etienne are paralysed. "What the hell happened here?" Todd asks, and his voice echoes down the tunnel of the room. "Is this... You think the Outsiders did this?"

Carter has no idea. They have seen black substances like this before, starting to consume farmhouses in Nebraska, or creeping along the basements of laboratories in Pennsylvania, but nothing on this scale. And what's more, it feels different. It is even warmer in here and more humid. The rising heat is almost oppressive.

"If Evora's anywhere, he's down there," Carter says. "We can't turn back now."

Before they can protest, he starts to lead them down the steps into the bunker. He knows he should let them go first but he has to set a precedent. He watches his feet carefully, making sure not to tread on the creeping resin. This must have been the stuff on Lewis. It is wrapping around the handrail as if trying to consume it. All around, sickening globs of saliva-like liquid are dripping from the bizarre structure. Carter avoids them as though they are the plague.

On the ground floor, he can barely see what this room used to be. There are still rows of switchboards and voltage metres, and in the distance, there are the rising curves of the rotary converters. But they have become mere shapes beneath the alien corruption. Only a small aisle in the centre remains untouched. Carter walks it now, one hand on his rifle, the other on the flashlight. He lets it skitter over the bumpy walls. Forms are starting to emerge from the gloom. At first, he thinks it is just the ridges of the resin. His heart gives a jolt as he realises how wrong he is.

An agonised face stares down at him. Eyes bulge nearly out of their sockets, the mouth slackened in a frozen scream. He almost expects noise to erupt from it. But the poor bastard stays silent. Whatever he has seen has been and gone, and taken his life with it. The rest of the corpse hangs, half-eaten by the growths on the walls. Carter's throat clenches. He gladly shifts his light away. Only for it to fall on another victim, and another, and another, poking out from the dark material, all along the room, tens of them, maybe even hundreds, all brought into this... cocoon. The word brings another wave of cold dread rushing over Carter's skin. A hive, he thinks. It's a goddamn hive for the missing people. They've been brought here for a reason.

"Jesus Christ," Todd murmurs, sounding nauseous. "This is too much. This has gone too far."

Carter doesn't say anything. What the hell can he say to this? He just has to keep moving. He has to find Evora, and his other squad-mate, Lee.

He doesn't have to search for long. As he turns a corner around a ruined console deck, his feet hit against something. He reaches down and picks up Evora's plasma pistol. A mucus of black goo won't let go. He shakes it to try and detach it. Shudders vibrate up the wall. They disturb something lodged above him.

"Fuck!" Carter drops the weapon and instinctively staggers back. Todd and Etienne are at his side in a second.

He should have prepared for it, but the sudden sight of Agent Francesco Evora punches into his stomach. The agent is suspended as the other victims are, but unlike them, Carter cannot see his face. His head is drooped down, hanging over his chest. Carter lowers the flashlight onto it. He is barely able to believe what he is witnessing. Barely wants to. His abdomen is... not there anymore. There is a red, pulpy void in his torso, the flesh tattered. At first glance, Carter thinks it is an especially terrible blaster wound. But the more he stares - and Jesus, he cannot look away - the more it looks like something has come out of him. His broken ribs are bent outwards, and there are heavy spatters of blood on the resin around him.

Todd doubles over beside Carter, hand clamped over his mouth. Etienne is muttering a string of broken French curses. Carter makes himself turn away. He takes a breath and tries to expel the taste of blood. He can't start cracking up. Evora was a good man, he didn't deserve this, but... There is no 'but'. He didn't deserve this. Period. This is one more reason to battle the Outsiders, one more gallon of fuel to Carter's fiery anger.

They still have to find Lee. There might be some slim hope that he is alive somewhere.

Carter puts a hand on Todd's shoulder. "Come on, up," he says. "There's nothing we can do."

Todd shivers and reluctantly nods. He gradually rises to his feet, keeping his eyes down. Carter goes to Etienne and the man has an eerie distant look in his eyes. "Don't break on me, agent," Carter orders. It feels good to retreat back into the cold persona of a commander.

Together now, they move through the aisles, sweeping methodically, as if there isn't a whole hive of bodies looming over them. Carter wonders if the resin isn't somehow sucking the power out of the machinery, dormant or not. He knows nothing about any of this. Doc Dresner, back at the Bureau HQ, would be having a field day here.

Nearer the back of the room, the corruption begins to pull back a little. Carter finds himself walking on the normal tiles of the floor. There are odd smears of unknown liquid, and the occasional spattering of blood, as though something has been dragged. He follows it for a moment, before spotting something else. There are forms rising from the goo. He gets the sickening idea that they are people, bent over, crouched onto their knees. But the closer he gets, the more he sees that they are some natural extension out of the resin. Maybe 'natural' is not the right word. None of this natural. It is a parasitical invasion, perverting everything it touches.

Carter approaches with his rifle drawn. He makes a wide perimeter. The shape is roughly ovoid, tapered at the top and fat in the middle, ending in a maze of tentacles which anchor it to the ground. He raises his head and sees a cross pattern on its peak. The first thing he thinks of is an egg. He is not sure if comparing it with such a familiar object makes him feel better or worse.

Todd and Etienne meet him. Etienne halts by Carter's side, but, driven by curiosity, Todd moves forward a little way. "Careful," Carter suggests.

"I thought I saw something move," Todd explains.

Carter doesn't like the sound of that. He makes sure there is a full energy clip latched into his weapon. "Don't go any closer."

Todd obeys. Carter sees he is almost on top of the sprawling tendrils at the egg's base. He looks at the top of it, like Carter did, maybe trying to find an opening. If there even is one. Carter's doubts are answered when suddenly, the peak begins to tremble. There is a slick, wet sound as four flaps peel open. Thick discharge dribbles down the side of the egg. Todd doesn't need to be ordered to move back. All three of them watch a form swill and writhe in the thing's belly. Carter raises his gun, ready to fire.

Something stops him. A bizarre force sparks inside of his chest. For a fraction of time, he feels the urge to go forward. Two sets of instincts seem to battle for dominance within him. Or maybe it is just some sick curiosity to know what the hell the Outsiders have cooked up next. In the next second, he knows that it's a bad idea. But, by then, it is too late.

A creature bursts from the egg. Carter sees legs flail through the air, spider-like, flying like a open hand towards Todd. He staggers for his gun. Carter fires a burst, misses. The alien slams into Todd's head and knocks him right off his feet. Its legs clench possessively around his skull. A long, whipping tail lashes about his throat. His cry turns into a muffled choke.

"Christ!" Against his better judgement, Carter runs to his side. Todd writhes on the ground, clawing desperately at the thing on his face. Carter grabs at it. It has clamped as hard as a goddamn vice. No matter how hard he pulls, it doesn't even budge an inch. It seems to be getting tighter, choking Todd. His body arches frantically.

"Etienne, for God's sake, help me!" Carter shouts over his shoulder. Etienne hurries, drops to his knees, tries to get a hold on the creature. Todd begins to slump. Carter makes one last effort. He grips the tail, manages to lift it a little way off Todd's throat, but it constricts again. Todd falls away from him. His convulsions are fading. In a last-ditch effort, Carter pulls the knife from his tactical pack and cuts across one of the thing's legs. A spurt of greenish liquid splashes his hand. He shouts as it burns his flesh. It drips onto Todd's neck, and then the animal encloses possessively around the wound. In seconds, Todd is out.

It's all happened too fast. Etienne leans back, hand to his mouth. He is murmuring obscenities under his breath. Carter stares at the scene before him. Not a minute ago, Todd was standing here, looking at the egg. Now, he is comatose on the ground. Carter is used to dealing with screwed-up situations, used to working under heavy fire, but... not like this. His stomach rolls.

"The hell is that?" Etienne finally splutters, breaking the awful tension.

"I don't know. We need to get him back to HQ."

"He's - he's dead."

"No. No, he's still breathing."

Etienne forces himself to look at the downed agent. Sure enough, Todd's chest is still rising and falling normally. What Carter can only assume are airbags expand and contract on the side of the creature. "What's it doing to him?"

"I haven't got a goddamn clue," Carter spits. "Help me get him up."

"What about Lee?"

Carter doesn't answer. He swings one of Todd's arms over his shoulder, and Etienne does the same. With some mercy, his head lolls forward, keeping the animal (or whatever the hell it is) away from them. His feet bump and drag on the creeping resin as they pull him along. More than once, he gets caught and Carter has to tug at him forcefully. All around, the faces are still staring down at them. It as if they know something - or rather, knew something - and Carter, Etienne and Todd have just walked right into it.

"I'm gonna radio up to Barnes as soon as we can," Carter says, if just for something to occupy his mind with. "We need immediate evac back to HQ. We've found our answers anyway. Evora came down here to find the missing people, and...something else found them. Etienne - I need you to - Christ's sake, keep moving."

Etienne has suddenly frozen. His head is turned up towards the cocoons on the walls. At first, Carter thinks he is trying to say something. But that weak voice is not coming from him.

The thing in the resin barely looks like Jiang Lee anymore. It takes Carter a few seconds to realise it actually is him - or what has been left of him anyway. He is strung up, like they all are, and he is sweating, face a sickly contrast to the black goo. His mouth moves, though his eyes don't seem to register anything around him. Blood glistens on his Commando's uniform. "Commander -" Carter catches. "Commander - you - you have to get out of - here -"

Carter forces himself over the nausea growing in his stomach. "What the hell happened here, agent?"

"This thing... something... It found us. We didn't - have a chance."

"What thing? The Outsiders?"

"No, no. God - no. Something else."

There it is again. 'Something else'. Carter has had enough with just one type of invader, he can't bring himself to believe there could be anything else here too. "It got Evora and hung him up," Lee continues in a rasp. "It hung me up too. Lewis broke out - but - I don't know - I heard him screaming... There was nothing - nothing I could do."

"No one's blaming you, agent. We're gonna get you out of here."

"No!" Life suddenly slams back into Lee's eyes. They fly open wide, horrified. "No! No, you can't take me back. It's already - got me - I haven't got a chance."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"The creature... from the egg... I saw what it did to Evora. Now the same thing's - gonna happen to me... I'm s-scared, commander. I'm f-fucking terrified. You need to get -"

Something moves in the dark distance. Carter turns and swears he sees shadows shifting at the other end of the basement. Etienne stiffens beside him. "Get out of here," Lee insists. "Before it gets you too. You can't run. Get out..."

Carter sees he has no choice. He grips his rifle in one hand, secures Todd with the other, and turns away from Lee. The elevator shaft is just up the stairs and through the corridor. He suddenly feels a sharp urge to get there as quickly as they can. If that will be quick enough.

Etienne follows him. They stagger through the maze of crawling black tendrils, causing too much noise. Behind them, Lee is being even louder, frantically yelling, "get out of here! Go! Go!" And then, making Carter's stomach lurch, "leave Agent Todd! Leave him! It's too late!"

Carter ignores his mad cries. He and Etienne clamber up the stairs. Todd's knees bump numbly on the metal slats. At the top, Carter dares to look round into the dark tunnel of M42. In the far-off shadows between the power converters, he can hear people waking and screaming. Their voices carry like an echo chamber, jostling others to life. Something is coming. He feels his insides prickle like a fire has been set in his gut. The closer the thing gets, the more his skin tightens and sizzles.

"Commander!" Etienne grabs his arm and pulls him off the platform. He turns away and leads Etienne back into the corridor. Lewis stares at them from his spot near the elevator. Carter tries not to look at the wound on his throat. Something had violently stopped him from getting to safety. If they don't return to the higher levels again soon, Carter thinks the same thing might happen to him and Etienne.

They half-throw Todd into the cage. Carter pushes Etienne in beside him. Whatever is trailing them is getting closer. He can feel it approaching around the corner. He raises his rifle and reflexively fires a round into the far door. In the blinding flash, he sees a shadow emerge. Carter feels a hot sickness in the pit of his stomach.

He yanks back the elevator control lever. The doors slam shut. Their pursuer smacks into the other side, denting them, making the cage shake. Carter staggers back into the wall. He thinks for a horrible moment they will be stuck here with whatever that is. But then the elevator starts to rise in painful, jerky movements.

He should be prepared for this after all that has happened with the Outsider invasion, yet he still feels his heart pummelling his throat and sweat sticking to his palms. He disassociates from himself and forces his concentration onto his other agents. Etienne is bowed over Todd's inert body, trembling. Todd is still breathing at the moment, but who the hell knows for how long. Lee's words pound at Carter's head - "leave Agent Todd! It's too late!"

No. He has already lost three agents. He is not losing any more. Nothing can change his mind about that.

Carter pulls Etienne to his feet. He looks dead-eyed. Don't break on me, Carter thinks. There is more than one way to lose an agent. And Carter can't do this alone right now.

All they can do now is wait to get back to the top. It is the longest few minutes of Carter's life. They have plenty of time to prepare for what might be lurking for them. But, he fears that, when those doors open again, they will never be as ready as he hopes. They are only three - a single commander leading a shell-shocked agent and one with an organism wrapped about his face. None of this situation is anything Carter could have ever expected. Danger is pressing down on them from above, and clawing at them from below. And maybe it is riding along with them too.


A/n: So thanks for the reviews and follows and faves so far! I was originally going to have extra scenes in this chapter but it would have got too long so those scenes will be in the next chapter ~ As for the characters so far, obviousl, Carter is the lead of The Bureau but the other agents are ones I created (apart from Evora who was a pre-installed name in the agent roster when I played the game).