"This will be quicker than you think, promise."

McCormicks hand ghosted across Zoeys hair, in a mockingly loving touch. She was stripped bare, down to nothing but a hospital gown. Her hands twitched, trying to pull free of her bindings. When she least expected it one of them slipped loose. She tried to conceal her excitement so as not to reveal what had happened, but the man was too wrapped up in his own inane ramblings to notice.

"Really, it's much better this way, sweetheart." he said.

She seethed at his use of petnames. His treatment of her. As if she were his lover. Disgusting. Throughout his ranting and raving he neglected to notice what he was doing. She smiled inwardly to herself as her fingers curled around the scalpel he set down. He then made the mistake of turning around, giving her a change to shake her wrist loose. Quickly she reached over, swiping through the plastic holding her other wrist, freeing it. She reached over, grabbing onto the surgical saw placed on the metal rolling table. The clatter drew his attention, but she had all the preparation she needed. Drawing back she jammed the saw into his neck, making a good inch or two in. He fell over blood spurting forward from around the blade. His throat gurgled as he hit the ground, but she paid no mind. She began to quickly saw through the binds on her ankles, falling over as she placed her feet on the cold ground. Her head began to swim as she walked forward towards the door. She ignored the grabs her made at her, clutching the scalpel in her hand for reassurance.

She needed to find Natasha.


Ellis wanted to be sick, the screams ringing in his ears. He would never be able to get it out of his head the thins he saw. But he couldn't move to turn it off, as if it was some extremely realistic horror movie that he was watching through his hands. He wanted to scream at the things that man had done. But he could find no words. Not even to ask someone to shut it off for him. Stef had left the room, Nikki lingered at the door. She seemed to be debating and some part of Ellis wondered if she enjoyed seeing what he had done.

"I've got to give him one thing," Nick said, reaching forward to shut it off. "He's creative with knives." Ellis would thank the man but he was still frozen. His face set in a mask.

"Ellis," Valarie said. "We need to go, it is off now." Her warm hand on his shoulder worked to melt the ice in his system, giving him strength to move. He stood up, wiping his hands across his face.

"Alright," he said. "Let's get out of here and find Natasha. Then hopefully kill that bastard and make sure he stays dead."

"Sounds like a good idea," Johann spoke up from the doorway. He moved out of the way as they all filed out into the hallway. They began to continue walking down the hallway they were in, this time making more progress as they passed glass windows revealing labs. They peered into each one looking for a sign of Natasha. Nick stopped at one, making note of the blood pooled on the floor, leading out the door. Whoever it was had made a point to clean up their footsteps so as not to be followed. Inside the room it looked like a typical lab. The surgical table, wash bins, tools. The one thing to stand out was the stasis chamber tucked into the back wall.

"What's that?" Nikki asked. Out of all the things McCormick had used when they were around, that wasn't one of them.

"Stasis Chamber," Johann said, squinting at it through the glass.

"What's it for?" Nikki asked. The thing looked like something from a Syfy original movie.

"Regeneration mostly," he said. "It puts the body in a state of limbo, a deep sleep. I'm guessing he's had people in them for his experiments."

"I saw one in those tapes," Ellis said. He couldn't get the image out of his head. Particularly the ones of McCormick constantly shoving Zoey into one. Sometimes she fought back, but most of the time she was too injured to even try. The things he did… he didn't want to ever think about again.

"Not to change the subject or anything, but which one of you has that walkie talkie?" Nikki asked. The military had supplied them with one end of a pair of Walkie Talkies to contact them. "I mean, when do we contact them? When McCormicks dead, or for backup?"

"I would say for back-up," Nick replied. "I'd rather not get killed like we almost were last time."

"I suggest we call soon then," Stef said, moving forward.


Zoey crept along the hallway until she reached her destination, a non-descript door tucked neatly in the corner. She looked around quickly, making sure there was no one around as she opened the door and slipped inside. She flipped the light switch, illuminating the long, thin room lined with cupboards. Moving along the doors she located the one she needed. Inside were plain black shirts and jeans. It wasn't her old clothing but it was something at least, and not a cat suit, this she was happy about.

As she changed, she tried to plan her next move.


Val hung back, staring in the direction of the blood to where it trailed off. The others had moved on farther from her. They stopped at the sound of mechanics groaning to life. Val whipped around just to see a large shadow descending from the ceiling. What resembled a large garage door was being lowered at a moderate pace, already halfway down. She ran forward trying to see if she could squeeze herself through to the other side but to no avail. She was trapped.

"Val!" she heard Nicks muffled voice on the other side. She threw her hands up in frustration at being isolated. There was no coincidence about this. This was McCormicks doing.

"I will try to find a way around!" she yelled, and before anyone could object she ran off in the direction of the blood.

She zig-zagged around corners, going in the only direction available until she reached the end of the corridor. There before her was the only unlocked doorway around. She reached forward gripping the handle and turning it. The room was pitch black apart from the light coming in through the doorway. She stepped inside with the intention of finding a light switch only to have the door slammed shut behind her as several pairs of hands gripped her tight to force her into what felt like a chair.

"Well it's nice to see you again," a familiar voice echoed in the darkness. The man before her was revealed as he switched the light on. Ian McCormick stood with his hands folded behind his back, a smug look on his face despite the noticeable amount of blood staining his lab coat.

"It looks as if you've had a bit of an accident," she said. He wiped his hand across part of the stain as if it were nothing, maybe even a badge of sorts.

"It's nothing I'll be dealing with right now," he said. Oddly his face seemed to almost look sad, in an instant. "What happened to you, Val? You've changed. You're weak." He seemed to switch almost immediately over to anger.

"I do not know what you are talking about," Val said, turning her head away.

"Oh come on Val," he said, putting his finger under her chin to turn her head back towards him. "Valarie." She still refused to look him in the eye. The anger bubbled underneath until it spilled forth in one angry shout, drawing her glaring eyes towards him. "VALARIE!"

"What!" she snapped. He was in no place to demand her attention in her eyes after what he had done. But then again she was in no position currently to deny him.

"You used to be…. So strong," he said, curling his fingers around her shoulder. "So ferocious. What changed?"

"Nothings changed," she said.

"That's a lie," his breath wafted across her face, hot with the smell of nicotine. "You were strong with hatred. Hatred for Nicolas, the man who left you."

"Hatred does not make you strong," she said, voice shaking. "It makes you weak."

"Don't tell me you love him again?" he asked. She froze, refusing to answer his question. "You do? Oh! This is wonderful. I'm touched. Really I am. HA!"

He leaned back from her, no longer directly in her face. He couldn't help but laugh. She seethed with anger as her cheeks burned. Embarrassed. Yes, she was embarrassed. Exposed by her enemy. She truly did love Nicolas. But the thing was, she never stopped loving him. She always did, her hatred for him was fueled by her hatred of herself for still clinging to those feelings. A vicious cycle that kept her going through all the tasks McCormick set out for her to do. But now her hatred was solely for him, the man who had taken her daughter. Val shut her eyes in frustration before opening them moments later. The men were standing along the wall facing her, her arms handcuffed to the arms of the chair. She sighed until she noticed the figure in the doorway brandishing a surgical saw. Clad in a longsleeve black shirt and jeans Zoey crept up slowly behind McCormick somehow unnoticed. She braced herself swinging the saw forward aimed at Ians neck. Not surprisingly he caught the blade in his hand, drawing blood and almost cutting off his fingers. He pulled the blade forward, dragging her with it until it slipped out of her hands. He grabbed her roughly by the shoulders bringing her forward like a trophy.

"Awww look what we have here," he said. "That's the second time you attacked me with a saw. I didn't appreciate it the first time and I don't appreciate it the second time!" To emphasize his point his pushed her to the side, sending her to the floor. Without a second thought he reached into his pocket pulling out a small thin remote no bigger than a business card. He pushed one of the many small buttons on the tiny device triggering Zoey to gasp in shock. She twisted onto her back, obviously in pain. Val stared open mouthed as the young woman writhed in pain.

"Stop," she said.

"Stop?" he asked. He pressed another button but the girl only continued to curl and uncurl on herself as she clutched at her chest. The only difference was she began to open her mouth like a gaping fish occasionally spouting pained noises and gasps.

"Stop it now!" Val yelled.

"Oh, but I'm having fun." he said.

"You are sick, sick bastard! Damn you to hell!" Val yelled even louder.

"And you're just now figuring this out?"

And that's where I'm leaving you. Mwahahahaha. Writing this has gotten harder and harder but I'm determined to finish it. For those of you that still read it and find it interesting, I want you to finish it. So I'm keeping on for you guys even though my love for Left 4 Dead has been quashed by outside parties and I'm moving on to more mature topics.