Chapter 3: Death Valley

Lain Meiers looked behind her and saw what could only be described as a giant 24 foot alligator. Even as she said it she couldn't bring her mind to accept it. Parts of its flesh had rotted and fallen off, because there were patches where all you could see raw decaying meat. The smell also had intensified as the thing started swimming for her. Lain knew that she didn't have enough firepower even with Tom Burgess's help. She turned around without waiting another second dove into the water. She didn't dare risk another look back as she swam as hard as she could toward the ladder. Please, just let me make it the next couple of feet to the ladder, she said willing herself to go faster. Lain could actually feel the rough skin of the alligator on the heels of her feet when something yanked Lain straight out of the water.

Tom, knowing that they both didn't have enough firepower to kill whatever the hell that thing was, had rushed down the ladder to be ready to get Lain out of the water as soon as she got close enough. As she neared the ladder, the alligator was so close to her that Tom could actually imagine the gator biting at the soles her feet. He pulled her up in what must have been the nick of time, because the gator had been so close that when she "disappeared" from his sights it had not been able to stop in time and hit another tank, shattering the glass. "Shit, with that glass broken it is going to feel up this room pretty quick. We have to find a way out of here," Tom said not wanting to think about what had just happened. Lain looked up to see that the ladder led to a catwalk above all of the tanks. "Unless you want to go for a refreshing swim it looks like the only way is up onto that catwalk," Lain said trying to lighten the mood a little.

Pierre Dupree made sure that he got ahead of Jon Noto to get through the white door before he did. Pierre noticed that the white door was made out of what looked like white tile that seemed to have an hour glass engraved on it, or maybe that was just his imagination. He quickly drew a line through the imagination idea, since he had never been known to have one.

As he stepped through the door an intense heat along with a stench that would have raised the dead washed over him. The room was not just a room; it was more of a desert, complete with dunes. Jon, as if unafraid of him stepped right in front of Pierre. "You might want to get your ass back here until we make a scan of the room, Jon," Pierre said letting his agitation and anger purposely show in his words. "We have ten minutes, not ten hours, Pierre," Jon said seemingly not noticing that Pierre had stopped focusing his berretta on the room and moved it to face Jon.

"Come on, maybe there's a door in the back," Jon said as he started walking across the hot sand. Pierre looked up to see that the intense heat was being generated by hundreds of lights lined up all the way across the ceiling of the room. Come on, it's not worth it Pierre, just suck it up now and get the job done, Pierre breathed to himself as he reluctantly followed Jon's lead.

The lights above Jon felt twice as hot as the sun on any day, but not even the lights could compare to the heat at which Pierre's eyes glaring into his back was giving him. The room was easily the size of a football stadium, both in height and length. Pierre slowly jogged up to meet Jon's pace and to get ahead of him. The last thing Pierre wanted was to be stuck in this room because Jon locked him out. As they stepped into the middle of the make shift desert something black against the hot sand caught Jon's eye. "Hey, what's that?" Jon notified Pierre as he walked across to where it was. "Umbrella is going to have to do a little better than this," Pierre said as he crushed the small black scorpion under his boot. As if on cue, the ground started to shake and split.