Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek or Doom

Chapter Nine

"No, no," Duke muttered staring ahead in horror. "No, no, I don't do nanowalls."

"Yes," Goat answered. "You do."

Reluctantly Duke moved forward towards the nanowall and Goat watched from where he was supporting Doctor Carmack. The nanowall had already been activated and Duke walked through it, weapon raised, only to be greeted by the sight of Reaper and Sam standing over a blonde women lying unconscious on one of the examination tables.

Duke quickly turned and gave Goat the all clear signal and watched as he stepped through the nanowall supporting Doctor Carmack.

"Shit," Sam cursed as she caught sight of the state Doctor Carmack was in.

Duke and Goat quickly lifted him up onto one of the other examination tables.

"Doctor Carmack, I'm going to take your blood pressure," Sam hurried over to him and he whimpered.

And as Sam was preparing the medical equipment, Doctor Carmack suddenly sat up and grabbed Sam by the shoulders.

"Hey!" Duke yelled and tried to pull Sam away from the crazed doctor but he wouldn't let go of Sam.

"It's okay," Sam told Duke before looking back at Doctor Carmack. "It's okay."

"I can feel it," Doctor Carmack whispered.

"What happened in here?" Sam asked.

"Shut it, shut it down. Shut it down. S-Shut it down," Doctor Carmack whispered. "It's inside."

And with that Doctor Carmack fell backward and lay almost unnaturally still on the table.

"I'm going to take a blood test," Sam announced as she moved reaching for a needle.

She quickly drew a syringe full of blood, only to almost drop it as she noticed the black lumps in his blood. She quickly removed the needle and pressed a cotton pad over small hole left in Doctor Carmack's arm and unnoticed to her the wound healed itself in seconds.

"What it God's name is that?" Goat asked, staring at the back lumps in Carmack's blood.

"I do not know," Sam answered as she moved away from Doctor Carmack and set down the needle, whilst she searched for a sedative. "It is possible he's been exposed to something. But I have no idea what kind of exposure would do that to his blood."

Across the room from them, unnoticed, Helena was beginning to stir. Her eyes moved under her closed eyelids and her breathing was beginning to get stronger and slower. Her blood pressure began to return to normal and her pulse also began to return to its normal rate and strength. The wound on her side hadn't healed though. But by stitching up of the wound, it had allowed her C-24 enhanced body to recover.

Suddenly Helena's eyes snapped open and she slowly sat up, careful not to put too much pressure on her side. She looked round and noticed she was in the infirmary, which unlike when she had first passed it, was empty of imps. But in their place were… Soldiers?

)o(

"Sam?" Helena called across the room to her friend, her voice slightly raspy. "What's going on?"

Sam spun on her heels and faced Helena.

"You're awake," Was all she said.

"Umm," Helena replied. "Yeah."

And before Helena had a chance to repeat her question Sam was running across the room and throwing her arms around Helena's neck.

"You're awake," Sam repeated as she hugged Helena. "You're okay. Thank God."

Helena returned the embrace only to wince as it pulled at her wound. Sam instantly let go of her and took a step back and studied her for a moment, before turning to look at the screen displaying Helena's vitals.

"How-" Sam began to ask, only to be cut off by the arrival of Portman and the Kid who were carrying a naked body between them.

The rest of the RRTS who were present lowered their weapons as they saw it was two members of their team and not a threat which had entered the infirmary. Duke let out a whistle as he saw the state of the body they were carrying. Even with the bullet holes, the naked women was still something to look at.

"What happened?" Reaper demanded as Portman and the Kid manoeuvred the body onto a table.

"She attacked us," The Kid answered.

"Attacked you?" Duke asked eyeing the body on the table.

"Yeah," Portman answered. "Bitch just went crazy… It was insane, man, she was just stood there and then she attacked us like a rabid animal."

"That's Hillary Tallman," Helena said as she moved over to the table to examine the body.

Sam followed Helena, having given up on her attempts to keep Helena on the examination bed to rest. She was injured for god sake and shouldn't be walking around, but Helena had completely ignored her. Sam covered her mouth with one hand as she stared down at the body, before turning away to find something to cover the body of Hillary Tallman with.

"What happened to her arm?" Helena asked, noticing part of Hillary's left arm was missing.

Helena quickly moved round the table and smiled at Duke as he moved out the way for her. Reaper couldn't help but feel slightly jealous at the sight and watched as Helena gently lifted the part of the arm remaining and examined it.

"It looks like it's been cut off…" Helena muttered.

Sam approached the table once more with a blanket in her arms.

"Here," Sam said, trying not to stare at the goriness of Hillary's death. "Help me cover her."

Helena reached for the blanket, only to almost double over in pain as it pulled at her injury. Duke reached for her shoulder and Reaper nearly glared at him, before he schooled his expression. He didn't even know Helena… He hadn't even spoken to her. He had no reason to feel jealous of Duke. Who she had smiled at twice now in a matter of minutes.

"I'm okay," Helena hissed out as she straightened whilst smiling at Duke. "I'm okay."

The RRTS raised their weapons again as a noise sounded from the other side of the nanowall. Seconds later Sarge and Destroyer appeared through it with their weapons raised. They lowered their weapons and Sarge nodded to his team before turning to look at Helena and Sam.

"Who are you?" Sarge demanded staring at Helena.

)o(

"I'm Doctor Helena Engel-Sato," Helena answered.

"Angel-Sato?" Duke questioned.

"No," Helena replied. "Engel. My last name is Engel-Sato."

"Whatever you say, Angel," Duke grinned at her, causing Helena to roll her eyes and smile slightly.

"Helena is my lab partner and roommate," Sam explained. "We've worked together since this project started… She's also the reason I wasn't locked down in the labs."

"What'd'ya mean?" Reaper asked.

"Helena pushed me through the door before it closed," Sam answered. "If she hadn't, I would have been locked down in here… You saved my life, Helena."

Helena smiled slightly, "You're my friend, Sam. That's what friends do."

"That doesn't change the fact you saved my life when you could have easily gone through yourself and left me trapped in here instead," Sam pointed out.

Helena shrugged and winced as the movement pulled at her injured side.

"I knew I had a better chance of survival," Helena finally answered.

"How?" Sam asked confused.

"Because I had a very good idea as to what could have caused the lock down to begin with," Helena answered honestly. "The morning before the labs were locked down, I hacked into Doctor Carmack's classified files… It was part of the G.O.D. Project, but a part I didn't have access to. Doctor Carmack and his specialised team have been doing experiments… Using C-24… On humans."

Sam went pale.

"They've been testing C-24 on humans…" She couldn't quite believe it.

Helena nodded and shut her eyes.

"Something happened to the people C-24 was injected into," Helena explained. "It changed them… It caused them to mutate. When the evacuation alert began I knew something must have gone wrong."

"But why did you save me instead of yourself?" Sam asked. "How did you think you could stand a better chance than me?"

"Because I can run faster," Helena answered simply opening her eyes and staring at Sam.

Because saying 'I accidentally injected myself with C-24 and didn't mutate' wasn't at option. Sam stared at Helena for a moment before sighing. Then Sam laughed in disbelief, before she realised Helena was being serious.

"I was right both times," Helena answered. "The only reason I'm alive right now is because I've been able to out run them… But then they and the… And the bodies just disappeared."

"Bodies?" Goat asked.

"Yeah," Helena answered. "They killed everyone… I can still hear the screaming. There was blood everywhere… And bodies… I knew so many of them… Had worked with so many of them and they were just dead."

Helena almost stumbled as Sam pulled her into a hug, it was only then she realised she was crying.

"What do you mean 'the bodies just disappeared'?" Sarge asked.

Helena sniffed and wiped her eyes.

"One moment the hallways were filled with bodies the next they weren't…" Helena answered. "There were blood trails, though… It looked like the bodies had been dragged away."

)o(

Hey, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.