DISCLAIMER: Ain't mine. Period.
Krappkarmin: I'm telling you now… I'm so sorry… I just had to do it… *sobs painfully at the background*
Alexia: Eheh, thanks. The people at the hotel? You'll know… *evil grin* Fujima? Eheh… Well… *runs away screaming*
Chris: Gashed? Nah… read on… you'll find out… ^_^
Sereneione: Nyaha… two words: You're right… Please don't kill me… ^_^
Chapter Six: Another One
It took the group about half an hour to reach the end of the tunnel. Huge, electric metal doors were found at the end of it. Jo proceeded near the security lock and motioned Chris to take the other side. Both stood tensely at either side as Jo pressed a couple of keys on the lock. When the monitor turned green and the metal doors automatically opened, they quickly but cautiously entered and aimed their guns forward, searching. When they made sure it was safe to enter, they beckoned the others to follow.
"Where are we?" Kiyota asked as he looked around the room. The room had four walls, both walls at either side having another door. There were seats directly infront of them, but were disarranged. There was circular wood table at the center with a computer on it, though the computer was hopelessly bashed.
"Reception room." Jo answered quietly but clearly while checking out the contents of the table.
"What are we doing here?" queried Sakuragi, who was poking the computer like it had some sort of disease.
"We need to have a copy of the map of this place so we can find its control room."
"Why do we need to find the control room?"
"So we can close down all routes toward civilization thereby trapping the motherfuckers inside the lab and mansion, and then activating the self-destruct system of this lab so they'd all blow up." Maya stated smugly.
"You make it sound so simple." Fujima interjected smoothly.
"Who do you guys work for anyway?" inquired Sendoh.
"Why, the government of course."
"Why didn't they give you the map along with your guns?"
"They're kinda tightlipped about it. Although my guess is the Doctor only allowed them to finance the experiment and she reported to them the progress in return. Hell, maybe she did not trust the government wholeheartedly, and she was right. Look at what happened."
Sakuragi coughed nervously, still caught up with the previous subject. "Aren't we… uh… like… going to blow up with them?"
"Naw." Jo laughed. "I may be a li'l bit extreme but I ain't suicidal."
Maya grinned with her. Chris said nothing.
"Found it." Chris announced a few minutes later, holding up a piece of paper taken from one of the bulletin boards.
"Alright then." Answered Jo brightly, taking the paper from her. She studied the map for a while then folded and placed it in her pocket. "This way." She directed, walking towards the left door. She took out a plastic card, which she found on her earlier search. She ran the card along the security lock and the door opened…
… revealing the dead ones, who were coming out from an open door on one side and filled every inch of the wide hallway.
"Fire!" She screamed as she aimed her gun and fired at them. The other two did the same, stepping infront of the men.
"Step back!" Maya shouted to the others above the deafening sounds of gunfire and moans and screeches. They immediately obeyed.
"They're too many of them!" Maya complained.
"I'm running out of ammo." Informed Chris while reloading her gun.
Jo ran her eyes frantically ahead of her, then an idea struck her. She handed her gun to Sendoh, who was staring at the gun shoved to his hands blankly.
"Shoot them between their eyes. It's a weak spot." She advised as she took out a long rope from her backpack followed by a state-of-the-art bow and arrow.
"Excuse me?" asked Sendoh uncomprehendingly. "You want me to shoot those creatures?"
"What's wrong? You afraid to kill? Don't worry, they're already dead."
"But… but… I've never…"
"Aw, for Christ's sake!" Maya burst out exasperatedly. "Just aim and shoot."
He obeyed mutely, wincing at the sudden impact of firing the gun.
Jo tied the end of the rope to the arrow, then placed the arrow on the bow. She trained it on the ceiling, then released. The arrow fully embedded itself on the ceiling.
"What's up?" questioned Chris, watching Jo at the corner of her eye.
"Give me a minute, then close the doors." She ordered, testing the rope then backing up.
"Got it." Glancing at her watch strapped to her wrist, she took note of the time then went back to shooting the dead with precision.
"What are you doing?!" asked Sakuragi, horrified.
"Watch." She instructed as she ran fast forward, jumped, then shot her legs forward, making some of the dead infront of her topple and fall. When she reached the door on the other side, she jumped off, landed, and took out her knife. She sliced off every hand that clawed at her, then quickly punched numbers on the security lock. When the door opened, she swiftly got in and closed the door.
Hundreds of cameras filled the room, each covering every inch of the lab and mansion's interior and exterior. Wasting no time, she looked for the camera that showed the hallway filled with the dead. Finding the right one, she waited for the other door, where the rest are in, to close before releasing the toxic gas to the hallway and the other room where the dead came from. Within seconds, all of the dead was lying to the ground.
Chris waited for five minutes before reopening the door. The familiar hideous stench greeted their lungs. She wrinkled her nose in distaste.
"God." Maki whispered as he placed his hand over his nose.
"What happened?" Kiyota mumbled from under his shirt, which he raised and covered almost half of his face.
"I gassed them to death." Answered Jo, stepping out from the other room. She motioned for them to follow her, then took them to the room she just vacated.
"Oh, wow." Sakuragi whispered in awe, staring around him.
"Man, what's this?" Sendoh asked suddenly, pointing to a particular camera view. The view was grotesque. Hundreds of the dead were trapped in one big room, screaming and howling angrily yet painfully.
"The doctor managed to trap almost half of the population of the dead in that room before she and the others shot themselves." Maya explained.
"Alright then. Let's gas them."
"Why don't we gas all of the rooms so we can be certain that they all die?" Uozumi suggested.
"Yeah." Sakuragi agreed.
"We can't gas all the rooms." Maya countered drily. "Some rooms do not have a gas vent."
"Yeah, but we can kill almost all of them by gassing." Argued Uozumi.
"Point taken." Said Maya as she watched, along with the others, Jo push the button releasing the deadly gas. Everybody mercilessly watched through the cameras as the white gas came out from above the damned creatures and made their way to their lungs. The dead writhed and cringed and screamed as the poison slowly infected their bodies and took out the remaining breath in them.
"Run!" Maya yelled as she took aim and fired. Her gun fired for a few moments, then stopped. She took out its ammo and swore. She quickly turned around and ran along with the others.
It had been a few minutes ago when they all stepped out of the security room and found the remaining dead advancing towards them from where they came from.
"Why are they still alive?" Kiyota bewilderedly asked before running with the others. Jo had taken the front while both Chris and Maya had taken the rear, the guys in between.
"I told you some of the rooms have no gas vents!" Maya shouted, really pissed off now. Her mood would have been good if only her trusty gun had not ran out of ammo.
Chris, realizing her predicament, tossed Maya her handgun. "Take this."
She caught it and fired at the zombie who was running towards them with a dangerously fast speed. The zombie tumbled over and was instantly dead.
"Faster! Move it!"
They were at a long bridge now, fast currents of water running below them. The zombies were still behind them.
Sendoh, remembering Fujima's difficulty with his leg, glanced back…
… and his eyes widened in shock and horror.
Fujima's hands were waving frantically as his feet slipped from the bridge and towards the fast-moving current. Desperately attempting to regain his balance, he took hold of Kiyota's sleeve. Kiyota, who was surprised at the sudden burden, was jerked towards Fujima. Together, they fell with a splash into the water, the currents dragging them downwards.
"NOOOO!!!" Sendoh screamed while trying to head towards them. Chris effectively blocked him as she fired at another zombie.
"There's no use going after them! Run!" she shoved him roughly towards the direction that they were heading.
Sendoh reluctantly obeyed, allowing himself to shed a tear for another two comrades lost in a battle they had no intention of stumbling into.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: How's that? Sorry guyz, but it was part of the plot… nyahaha… Please don't kill me… *smiles weakly* You'll know soon enough… I promise… And I won't kill anyone anymore… except for one maybe …*holds out the peace sign*