When they finally reached the front lobby, the bright headlights of the van outside were shining in through the glass doors, lighting up the large space with ghostly white rays. The lobby seemed enormous and desolate, intensified by its massive six-storey ceiling, where from the ground floor you could look up and see the mezzanines of all six levels. Every level appeared dark and foreboding. Even Quinlan took a moment to grasp this spectral ambiance. Mia let go of Quinlan's hand and slowly walked out towards the centre of the lobby, her every footstep echoing softly in the silence. She looked around as if she could actually see the place, and she did, in her mind – in her memories.
"There's a security desk near the front entrance. All you need to do is reboot the computers. The light switches are on the wall to the right."
Quinlan followed her instructions, as she stood there gazing around the lobby, distracted by her thoughts.
"The password?" Quinlan asked.
"Atlas 1960," she replied.
Moments later, all the lights inside the building turned on. The sudden brightness caused a glare in Mia's eyes, and she squinted, shading them with her hand. After a moment to adjust, she looked up and saw the outline of a tall figure walking towards her. He seemed to move with a sense of dignified confidence, like a victorious warrior marching home through the gates of his city. His posture was strong and powerful, like that of a young man in his prime. But his voice and his words possessed a much older tone and wisdom. She wished she could see the face of the man who saved her life, and look into his eyes to see the kind of man he was. But this was as close as she would come to seeing him.
"Anything else?" he asked.
"No," she averted her eyes, blushing slightly, "that's it."
Outside, a blanket of snow had covered the ground, and falling snowflakes could be seen drifting in the rays of light from the van's headlights. A layer of snow had also covered the van. Every now and then, the windscreen wiper cleared the white dusting from the front window. When Fet saw the lights inside the building turn on, he gave the security pass another try. This time, the sensor buzzed and the heavy gate began to slide open, its rusty metal squeaking as it dragged itself through the thick snow. The van drove in through the gates and pulled up outside the glass doors at the front of the building. Without wasting a moment, Fet hopped out of the van stormed inside.
"What happened? I heard gun fire."
"Strigoi," Quinlan replied. "There were five of them in the building."
"Strigoi?" Mia repeated, confused.
"Yeah, official name for the infected," Fet answered dismissively.
Official? Mia wondered.
At this point, Ephraim walked in carrying a large and seemingly heavy cardboard box, with a duffle bag slung across one shoulder, and a laptop bag across the other. "Can someone give me a hand?" He called out with slight frustration. Fet quickly walked over and took the box from his hands.
"The lab's on level three," Mia urged impatiently. She scanned around for Quinlan's presence, almost expecting him to take her arm, but before she could find him, Ephraim placed his hand on her back.
"Ok, let's go," he said, with a smile that could be heard in his voice.
In the elevator, amidst the silence, Quinlan could hear Mia's heart pounding, and he understood the reason for her anxiety. But the others seemed oblivious. As soon as the elevator door opened, Mia rushed out ahead of everyone. "There," she pointed towards the swinging doors at the end of the foyer. "East wing."
Quinlan took the lead and the others followed close behind. He pushed open the swinging doors into a long, sterile-looking white hallway with laboratories on either side. As they walked down the hallway, they passed windows that looked into each room, and there was something very unsettling about peering into these empty laboratories. Overhead, several of the fluorescent lights were broken. One in particular produced a buzzing hum as it flickered constantly. The flickering light played tricks on the eyes, creating illusions of moving shadows and strange reflections in the windows. Ephraim caught a glimpse of his own reflection, and for a split second, he thought it was another person on the other side of the room. His heart jumped. He felt as though he was walking through a scene from someone's nightmare, of eerie labs, mad doctors and monstrous creations.
In his mind, Ephraim questioned whether they should turn back. But the two warriors, the hunter and the ex-mercenary, only knew to go forward, regardless of the peril. Ephraim kept his fears to himself. The four walked silently and cautiously down the hallway. When they reached the lab they were looking for, the third room on the left, it was evident that someone had been there not long ago – the computers were switched on and there were equipment left out on the benches. But then, upon closer look, there was evidence of a violent event, as much of the equipment on the bench was tipped over, broken and shattered. There was also a tipped over shelf with its contents strewn across the floor, and loose sheets of documents everywhere, as if they had been thrown into the air and then rained down upon the floor.
"Graeme?" Mia called nervously.
"There's nobody here," said Fet.
They stood suspended for a moment, looking around and taking in the sight in front of them. Then Quinlan proceeded wander across the room, examining various things, while Ephraim eagerly collected the scattered documents, hoping they contained valuable information to the research. Vasiliy Fet, not to anyone's surprise, had disappeared out of the room to pursue whatever idea he had at that moment. Mia was left standing on her own, close to the doorway, where her mind had wandered to other thoughts.
Suddenly, a violent interruption startled everyone, even Quinlan. Out of nowhere, a strigoi launched itself at Mia, shrieking and gurgling as it tackled her to the ground. She hit the floor hard, with the creature on top of her. It pushed down on her with incredible strength, thrusting its face in hers. She pushed back as hard as she could, unable to free her hand to reach for her gun. She could feel its breath on her face and its corpse-like skin under her fingernails. She groaned and cried out as she fought back with all her strength, but it was too strong. She didn't know that the creature's stinger was beginning to emerge from its mouth. She would have been just seconds from doom, but a pair of strong hands peeled the creature off her and threw it to the ground. Quinlan stood over the creature with one foot on top of its chest, holding it down as it writhed and struggled. He then slid his blade into its heart, and with a final shriek, the creature laid motionless.
Mia gasped to catch her breath. She sat up from the ground and frantically brushed the hair off her face, patting herself from her face to her neck, making sure there were no marks. From where he stood, Quinlan also examined her carefully; she was clean.
As Ephraim walked nervously to where the fallen creature laid, his eyes widened and a look of dread spread across his face.
"Oh shit..." he uttered under his breath.
He looked at the creature on the ground; it still resembled a man. He could make out that it had once been an old man with grey hair, and its face was one that Ephraim recognized, except now with sunken cheeks, deathly white skin and a gaping black hole where the mouth had been. Its expression was twisted in agony, and its bloodshot red eyes were staring wide open at the ceiling. Quinlan looked at the creature and understood Ephraim's reaction.
"What is it?" Mia asked, her voice trembling.
Ephraim didn't know how to answer. He stood there, speechless, breathing a long, despairing sigh. But Mia's expression told that she did not need a reply. The moment that she realized, she felt as though her heart stopped. The expression on her face changed from fear, to denial, to anguish. She trembled as she crawled over to the creature that lay in front of her and kneeled beside its body. She slowly and carefully extended her hand to touch it; to touch him. Her hand landed softly on his forehead, as she gently traced the outline of his face; it was a face that she recognised, despite its disfiguration. Her emotions seemed distant at first, but then she found the creature's hand and she took it into her lap, and held it tenderly in both her hands. At that moment, Quinlan briefly saw a deep sorrow in her eyes, before she quickly hung her head down, hiding her face from view. She stayed silent and motionless in that position. Quinlan looked down at her with a glim of sympathy in his eyes… or perhaps it was empathy. Behind the warrior's seemingly cold eyes was a sorrow of his own, appearing for only a brief moment and then it was gone. He tilted his head to see her face; he wanted to understand what she was experiencing in that moment, but she was giving nothing away – no words, no tears. But Quinlan understood.
"I'm sorry about your friend," Ephraim finally spoke.
Mia took a final moment before letting go of her friend's hand, and looking up and standing to her feet. "We've all lost friends," she said, surprisingly cold and emotionless. She took a deep breath and swallowed. "Now let's do what we came here to do."