The corridors were silent, save for water dripping from the pipes along the wall. Goat, Mira, and Reaper were making their way back towards the Genetics Lab. Mira was on point, leading the way through the dark corridors. Goat followed several feet behind her, leaving Reaper to take up the rear. Nothing needed to be said between them to know that tensions were high. Finding Carmack in a crazed state, cradling a severed arm, had put everyone on edge. Adding tension to the mission, was the fact that Carmack was the only living scientist discovered since their entrance into the lab complex when there were still four more that needed to be accounted for. One alive, one dead. If any more were alive, what were the odds they would share a similar state as Carmack?
Mira came upon the staircase descending down into the black corridor, just coming up near the Genetics Lab. her gun light plunged into the darkness, only illuminating a small diameter below them. She pressed her body against the railing and took the first step down into the darkness. Her steps echoed lightly through the silent halls. She hit the seventh step when Goat began his decent. Goat eased himself toward the lower step when...CRASH! His foot kicked a hidden canister and sent it tumbling down the stairs. Mira gasped and spun around rapidly as the canister tumbled down beside her. The canister clattered down the stairs until it hit the bottom. goat cursed under his breath. All breathing ceased, waiting if something would be roused from the noise. The silence following the clatter eased a fraction of their tension. Mira exhaled deeply and leaned against the railing. Despite the high alert, Mira found herself smirking at hoe jumpy she was. Nothing more than a can had startled a bunch of marines. Reaper seemed to find the situation less amusing than Mira, but he still hid a smirk. Goat though, had taken the even personally, taking out his knife. Mira looked to Reaper and motioned for him to take point. Reaper nodded and silently moved past them. Goat drew up his sleeve and pressed the tip of the blade against his skin.
Goat paused and looked down at Mira. "I took his name in vain."
"On proshchaet." Mira said. She turned and followed Reaper down the staircase.
Goat said nothing as he finished cutting the small cross into his arm. He placed his knife back into its sheath and started down the staircase. Reaper and Mira were waiting from Goat at the bottom. Both stood a few feet from the staircase and each other, watching the opposite ends of the corridor.
"Clear right." Mira said.
"Clear left." Reaper repeated.
Mira glanced quickly over her shoulder. "Reaper."
"What?" he asked.
"Any chance Sam knows what we're dealing with?" Mira asked.
Reaper turned to look at Mira. "Care to explain?"
"This is an alien facility, Reaper." she began. "They've barely scratched the surface of what was once here. They could be experimenting on anything."
"If Sam knew anything, she would've told us." Reaper replied.
"Like she told you about the dig?" Mira asked.
"Mira, I swear to god if you don't watch your mouth I'll make sure up top discharges you." Reaper threatened. Whether she had a point or not was beside the point. Sam was his sister and he had to believe his sister wouldn't hold any information like this from them.
Mira smirked bitterly and turned back toward the hall. "Right, because six months on leave isn't long enough for saving your ungrateful ass in Russia. You're going to discharge me for questioning your fucking sister."
"Quiet!" Goat interrupted. Reaper and Mira both turned to Goat, remembering that they were not alone. But Goat wasn't watching either of them. His focus was down the hall, toward one of the labs. "Did you hear that?"
Each one became silent, listening. At first, they could only hear the occasional drip of water and hiss of the pipes. Nothing more than the eerie sounds that accompanied the eerie darkness. Then there was the sound of creeping metal on metal echoed through the corridor. The door opening. The Genetics Lab door.
"I heard that." Mira whispered.
"Let's move." Reaper ordered, taking lead.
Mira took rear as Goat followed Reaper.
"We heard something in Genetics, we're reentering." Reaper said.
"Copy that Reaper." Sarge confirmed.
Reaper entered the lab first. "Looks like we missed the party."
"We were just in here." Goat said. "What happened to all the animals?"
Mira came up behind them into the silent. She turned from the door, facing the interior of the lab. The steel bared cages, once carrying dogs, rats, monkeys, were in pieces. Every last cage had been ripped open by something or someone. Whatever had done it had done so quickly, ripping the creatures inside to pieces. ragged flesh hung from the bars. blood was splattered over the walls behind the cages and tables. Pools of it covered the floor as Reaper stepped through the puddle. They walked through the line of battered cages toward the back of the lab. Reapers gun light fell on a white lab coat, similar to Carmack's. The personnel had their back to them, scrounging at the mouse cage in front of him. A low, gurgling sound echoed in front of them.
"Sir RRTS, we're here to help." Reaper said.
The man looked over his shoulder toward them. His skin was ghostly white, much like Carmack had been. The front of his face was covered in blood and pieces of torn flesh. He looked back down at the mouse cage and grabbed a scampering mouse.
"Sir are you okay?" Reaper asked.
The man bit the mouse's head off with ease. His teeth easily crushed the mouse's skull with each motion. He bit into the rest of the body, slurping the tail in, like it was spaghetti.
Mira cringed with repulsion.
"Okay?" Reaper muttered.
The man swallowed the mouse and picked up a large serrated knife from the table. He raised it to his head level and snarled.
"Shit!" Mira snapped, bringing up her weapon.
"No, no, no. Sir put it-"
The man charged them.
"No!" Reaper yelled.
Instincts kicked in and three triggers were pulled. Three different weapons tore through the doctor's body, sending him flying backwards. He cracked through the glass window sectioning off the lab. He hit the ground, crunching broken glass beneath his body. The knife fell from his grasp and clattered to the floor beside the bullet ridden body.
"Dammit." Reaper muttered, lowering his weapon. He reached for his radio. "Sarge, we found one of the missing scientists. There's some weird shit going on."
Mira approached the body was extreme caution. The doctor was lying completely still on the floor. Black blood poured from the wounds of his lab coat around his body. Mira kicked the knife from his body, just in case it was playing dead. But given the state of his body as the rancid stench he produced, the man had to be dead. She placed her fingers on the man's neck, searching for a pulse. His flesh was cold and slimy. She drew her fingers back, covered in black blood.
"Is he dead?" Sarge asked.
Mira looked up at Reaper and nodded.
"Yeah, very." Reaper replied.
"Can you ID him?" Sarge asked.
Mira checked the tag on the bloodied coat. "Doctor Olsen."
"He rushed us, crazy just like Carmack." Reaper explained.
Except Carmack wasn't eating the several arm in his hand.
Mira thought. She looked at the blood on her fingers. Yet.
"Should we bag him and tag him?" Reaper asked.
"Negative. Continue you're search." Sarge ordered.
"Let's move." Reaper said. He turned from the lab and headed for the door.
Goat took point moving toward the door along side him. Reaper waited until Goat was in position before following Goat. Mira rose from the body and lifted her weapon. She headed toward the door after the boys. As she drew closer toward the door, a deep raspy growl caught her attention. She stopped abruptly, and turned back toward the lab. The stations were still shut down, the screen were splattered with blood, but there was no sign of anything else.
"Mira, move out." Reaper ordered.
Mira turned back to move out. A split second later, a massive force dropped from above, onto one of the tables. Mira dove out over the nearby desk. She rolled on her back and dropped to her knees, ready with aim. Goat and Reaper spun around, weapons ready. A massive dark figure leapt across the table and raced through the room. It stood taller than everyone on the team. It was big, hulky muscles. Yet it moved with great speed, racing from the room and out into the halls.
"Contact!" Reaper yelled. He moved after the figure. Goat followed him. Mira leapt to her feet and followed them out of the lab.
They rushed out of the lab and into the hall. The limited lighting severely hindered their sight, but Reaper caught sight of it running down the hall. Mira quickly took lead, being the fastest on her feet. She rounded the corner, pressing her back against the wall and fired at the figure vanishing around the next one. Mira sprinted after it just as Reaper and Goat came around the corner.
"Reaper what've you got?" Sarge asked.
"We're chasing something." Reaper said. He watched Mira race ahead of them, keeping close tabs on whatever the hell they were chasing.
"What do you mean something?" Sarge asked.
"Something big! Not human!" Reaper replied, sprinting after Goat and Mira.
"Goddammit give me a confirmation on what you see!" Sarge ordered.
Mira rounded the corner and stopped dead. It was a dead end, and it was empty. There was no way it could have shot past them or taken a different turn. Mira had kept close pace with it. But it was wasn't there. She walked down the hall, cautiously pacing the corridor. Goat came around next and stopped. His eyes scoured the corridor, searching for their target. Reaper came around last. He quickly saw the corridor was empty. His eyes met Goat's, who had come to the same conclusion. Mira slowly began returning to the corridor entrance.
"Reaper." Goat called. He motioned to the ground.
Reaper followed his eyes on the floor. "Mira."
Mira stopped and looked to her partners. Both were looking at her, or at least, in her direction. She looked down at the floor. A large manhole grate lay on the floor just in front of her. The metal was bent and contorted by a strong force lifting it from its place. Reaper and Goat slowly approached the open hole. Mira knelt by the hole and looked down into it. She shined her gun light down into the darkness. There was nothing.
"Sarge, it's in the sewers." Reaper replied. "All units, all units. Southeast corridor, near the med lab."
"Copy that. All units, converge on Reapers position." Sarge ordered.
Mira shook her head, breathing heavily. "Dammit."
wahoo, the fun begins.
translation
On proshchaet.- he forgives
