The guard had hauled them into a small conference room. The guard
paced around the room while the other two listened.
"We've lost the entire air crew sir." The guard said over a radio.
Nick and Rodney watched in silence.
"No sir. I do not believe there would be any survivors." The guard said quietly. "What?" The guard asked, his eyes suddenly wide. "Sir, that area is completely unstable, it's suicide, sir." A tinny voice replied after him, loudly. "Affirmative sir." The guard clipped the radio back to his belt. "They're inside the base. We have to save as many people as we can."
"Who are they?" Nick asked, curiously. He never worried, Rodney thought to himself.
"Humans, with less brain function. At least in most cases. To be put in lament terms, zombies." The guard pulled out a sub-machine gun.
"You're serious?" Rodney asked, not expecting an answer.
The guard turned around and walked out one of the room's doors. The other two followed close behind him. The hallways were completely bare, no people at all. The guard made a turn, his gun raised. Nothing. Another hallway, once again it was empty. Rodney pulled his USP from his pocket and loaded it with the only clip he had.
The guard found a door, it appeared to interest him. There were the sounds of hands banging on the other side.
"Are they normal or are they... them?" Rodney asked as he aimed the pistol.
"No way to tell. We just open it up." The guard flipped an emergency switch on the wall, the door slid up into the ceiling. There was an older scientist who fell into the arms of the guard, more soldiers and people came out. Behind them, were the undead. Them. The guard threw the switch down again, the door shut. The heavy metal bolts they had seen on the other door closed this one off also.
Now there were at least fifty people crowded in the hallway. All of them were scientists or soldiers. The old scientist stood up.
"Thank you." He said in a cold manner. "I'm Dr. Whitfield. You are now under my command."
"Affirmative. We are to continue to sector thirteen." The guard replied.
"Thirteen, isn't that the one...the abandoned one?" Whitfield asked.
"Yes, but it was also designed to take care of the zombies."
"You two," Whitfield looked at Nick and Rodney. "Watch this man, he may try to attack us."
Two soldiers pushed Erik toward Nick and Rodney.
They met minor resistance on the way to sector thirteen, just a few zombies.
A few of the soldiers huddled around the door, painted with the number thirteen and large bold letters reading 'Off-Limits.'
"Lovely, thirteen, the luckiest of all numbers." Nick said with sarcasm.
"I don't believe in luck." Erik said coldly.
The door slid open, slowly, and silently. Everyone began to file through the doorway.
"Everybody in, everybody in." A soldier chattered as he pushed reluctant scientists through the doorway.
Eventually everyone was inside. Whitfield stood in the back, next to the door, watching the soldiers typing a code into a control panel.
"Sir, do you want the door closed?" The soldier typing asked.
Before Whitfield ever had a chance to respond the door slid down.
"Oh shit." Whitfield turned around, the door at the other end of the hallway shut also. "Oh shit."
"What?" The soldier asked.
"Did you do that?" Whitfield asked, nervously.
"No, but—"
"Do you have a computer?" The soldier nodded in reply, "Give it to me, now."
The soldier gave Whitfield his small laptop. The soldiers huddled around the computer.
On the screen Whitfield typed: WHAT ARE YOU DOING?
Nothing happened, for a moment.
VIRUS DETECTED. Came back the reply.
Whitfield hammered the keys
AIDAD, DO NOT ATTACK.
I MUST NOT BE INFECTED NATHAN.
"What is this?" One soldier asked.
"It's AIDAD. He's locked us in."
I HAVE DONE SO. The screen blinked.
AIDAD, LET US ENTER. THERE ARE ANTIDOTES INSIDE.
NO. I WILL BE INFECTED.
"Tell him we'll shoot him if he doesn't let us in." One soldier said.
"Shoot him? That's impossible."
"Why?"
"AIDAD, isn't a human, it's an artificial intelligence. It's designed to assassinate or destroy all intruding life forms. Only normal and healthy humans can enter."
I AM GOING TO KILL THE VIRUS.
AIDAD, THESE PEOPLE CAN STILL BE TREATED.
I WILL BE INFECTED NATHAN. I WILL DIE.
"You aren't human damn it! That's your programming! You only think you're human!" Whitfield shouted at the computer.
I WILL DIE. I WILL DIE. I WILL DIE.
"SHUT UP!"
I AM SORRY.
Whitfield sighed, took a few deep breathes.
"AIDAD, let us in. You do understand we will die if we cannot get in."
I DO NOT CARE. I DO NOT WISH TO BE INFECTED NATHAN.
"This doesn't agree with his programming, he must be going insane from isolation." Whitfield shook his head. "We never should've gone in here."
NATHAN, THERE IS A WAY YOU CAN GET IN.
"How?"
LET ME KILL THEM. I MUST. I DO NOT WISH TO BE INFECTED.
"Kill who? Everyone?"
THE INFECTED, NATHAN.
"Who the hell does this guy think he is." Nick peered at the computer, he had just walked over.
"It's an artificial intelligence, how many times do I have to say it!?" Whitfield shouted.
YOU ARE CORRECT.
"Be quiet, let me think."
SOME OF THEM WILL BECOME EFFECTED SOON. LET ME KILL THEM NATHAN.
"You bastard, you're supposed to help us." Whitfield sighed.
"Now you know how I feel." Erik Gowin stood next to Nick, also watching.
"Don't bother me right now, I'm trying to get inside without him killing everyone."
"Just let him. It'll save us the trouble." Erik said carelessly. "And the ammo."
HE IS CORRECT NATHAN. IT WILL ONLY BE IN YOUR FAVOR.
"Stop it!" Whitfield sat down on the floor, the computer on his lap. He sat there thinking.
"Is there any other way, AIDAD?"
STAY IN THE HALLWAY AND DIE OR LET ME KILL THEM. I DO NOT WISH TO BE INFECTED.
"How many are not infected?"
LESS THAN HALF OF YOUR ENTITIES ARE UNINFECTED.
Whitfield did some math in his head. "That leaves us with about twenty people, correct?"
YES.
Everyone turned to face him. Some knew which category they were in.
"AIDAD, start the countdown at thirty seconds." Whitfield shut the computer and stood up. "I'm sorry I led you in here. I'm sorry it had to end this way."
Twenty seconds.
Some people were crying, mostly the scientists. Others closed their eyes or covered their faces. Some watched the guns' doors open and aim at targets from the ceiling.
Ten seconds.
"Bye..."
"I'm sorry..."
"I know..."
Whitfield, Erik, Nick, and Rodney listened to those who were about to die, their last words.
Three.
Two.
One.
The machine guns in the ceiling rained fire on the people below. Blood flew in every direction. Corpses lay everywhere on the floor.
Erik looked around, he had covered his face up in the chaos. A person ran away from the gun targeting him. As he was about to run into Erik, his head shattered and skull fragments went everywhere. The dead man lay at his feet. Others stood still, some were hugging. Their craniums bursting and corpses falling in streams of blood everywhere.
Whitfield vomited on the floor, he watched it mix with the blood and vomited again, and continued to gag, but nothing was left for him to vomit. He noticed others had done the same, including Rodney.
The guns finally stopped.
Whitfield opened the laptop up again. He could see the countdown on the screen.
"AIDAD, you son of a bitch."
I AM TRULY SORRY.
"You aren't sorry. You don't even know what sorry means." Whitfield glared at the screen, he was suddenly very tired.
NATHAN, I SUGGEST YOU STOP. I AM THE ONE WHO GRANTS LIFE AND DEATH.
"Is that a threat? He's programmed to threaten?" Nick asked, curiously.
"No, I'm sure he's learned about threatening."
"learned?" Nick was surprised.
"Be quiet. AIDAD, open the door."
I DID NOT HEAR THE MAGIC WORD.
"Please."
The door into sector thirteen slid open. The people filed inside. They were inside a twenty-foot wide rectangle. It ramped downward, heading for yet another hallway, it was dark, and the soldiers used their flashlights.
"This ramp won't take long if we run, and AIDAD doesn't try any tricks." Whitfield said as he took the lead and watched the screen on the laptop.
"I'm just curious, why was it me?" Erik walked next to Whitfield.
"I'm sorry about that. It wasn't my idea. You were actually supposed to be killed."
"I'm going to kill you." Erik muttered and walked away. Whitfield ignored him, completely unaware of what had just developed.
The twenty people continued walking in silence for some time.
"Everyone, stop."
The screen of the laptop displayed: I HAVE BEEN INFECTED.
"RUN!" Whitfield burst off running. Everyone followed as close as they could.
A woman scientist tripped and fell. They watched her disappear in the darkness. Moments later her screams filled the air. Everyone knew why they were running.
Whitfield stopped right in front of the next door.
"AIDAD, open up!" He yelled.
I HAVE BEEN INFECTED NATHAN. I WILL DIE.
"Shut up! You're not human!"
NATHAN, YOU SON OF A BITCH.
A soldier hammered away at a keypad on the wall.
"I got it!" He yelled. A zombie, either a B-type or C-type, lunged onto him as the door opened. Other people were grabbed and pulled backward into the crowd of undead.
Erik grabbed Nick and Rodney's shoulders, the crowd pushed them into the hallway. They all fell over, lots of people walked on them or over them. The door behind them closed.
Rodney yelled, "Get off of me!" Then he looked up and realized it was a zombie standing on him. He aimed his USP but it's body practically exploded so many bullets hit it. The other soldiers held their sub-machine guns up, the nozzles smoking.
The three crawled away from the corpse and stood up. There were no other zombies.
Whitfield leaned against a wall watching the computer.
"AIDAD, open the door." He watched the computer, it said nothing. "Please."
The other door opened up. The remaining sixteen people came into the room. It was a barren room. It was cold hard metal all around, there were five doors. Two lead to food supplies, enough for three years. Another was a bathroom, and then an armory/bomb shelter. The last one lead back into the upper facility, it, without a doubt, was flooded with zombies. Some people sat down. One scientist held his hand up and watched it shake, he gave a nervous laugh to the person next to him. A soldier lit up a cigar, he put it in his mouth and reloaded his MP5. Erik watched from an unemotional state. To him this was all a movie he was watching on TV. AIDAD is going to help me, and just me.
Erik watched as one soldier dropped his backpack. A computer, Erik thought. He walked over, seemingly unnoticed. He bent over and examined the contents of the backpack. The soldier had left his pistol in the backpack. He took it and stuffed it into the back of his pants and covered it with his shirt. He took two clips, one for each pocket. One was already in the USP so he had plenty of ammo. He explored a little more, he found some matches, tossed them aside. After pushing some clothing out of the way he found a lighter. The soldier came back from the bathroom, he found his backpack the same way he found it. Across the room he noticed a man watching him, but the man looked away the same instant. The soldier thought nothing of it and sat down.
Erik had grabbed the computer with moments to spare. He lifted the screen up.
He began typing.
AIDAD, I CAN GET RID OF ALL THE INFECTED FORMS.
WHAT ENTITY IS THIS? Came back the artificial reply.
ERIK GOWIN.
YOU OFFER TO ELIMINATE THE HUMANS?
YES, ISN'T THAT WHAT YOU WANT?
I ONLY WISH TO ELIMINATE THE VIRUS.
THEY ARE A VIRUS.
INCORRECT.
NO, I AM CORRECT. WHAT DOES A VIRUS DO, AIDAD? He typed, grinning at the computer. He lowered the screen as a few people walked by.
AN infectious agent that replicates itself only within cells of living hosts. AIDAD replied.
THEY ARE THE VIRUSES YOU ARE THE HOST. Erik keyed, smiling.
I UNDERSTAND.
I WILL LEAD YOU TO KILL THEM. BUT YOU MUST HELP ME GET OUT.
I UNDERSTAND.
WILL YOU HELP ME?
YES, ENTITY ERIK.
Everyone but one soldier decided to go through the weapons in the armory. Fredrico Aldanez decided he was going to get something to eat instead of helping. He stood in 'Food Containment 2' gazing at canned food. He'd been hungry every since he'd helped out Nick and Rodney. (He was the guard.) He picked up some canned food and opened it up. After glancing inside he put it back on the shelf.
"What a bunch of garbage..." He muttered going through a few other cans.
Though no one had realized it, AIDAD and Erik had already begun their plan. Erik walked in, he turned around and pressed a few buttons on a keypad.
"Thanks AIDAD." Erik said, pressing a couple more buttons.
"You're talking to AIDAD? Shouldn't Whitfield" Fredrico noticed the knife in Erik's hands. "What're you doing?"
"I'm getting out of here. But in order for that to happen, I have to kill you." Erik said, cutting the air with the knife.
Fredrico flipped his backpack around, opening it up. His weapons weren't inside. Erik swung the knife before Fredrico could say another word. He held up his hand to block the incoming knife, it took off three fingers and slashed through his throat. He fell to the floor, blood spurting from his neck, his half fingerless hand clutching his throat.
Erik slid Fredrico along the floor and stuffed him under one of the shelves. Fredrico fell into unconsciousness.
"Poor bastard." Erik said as he turned around and grabbed a mop. He got up as much of the blood he could, although it was pretty much useless. Some still ran down the shelves and cans of food.
Erik put the mop back and pressed buttons on the keypad.
"AIDAD, continue." He said and walked out.
Back inside 'Food Containment 2' AIDAD released the T-virus through the vents.
Whitfield carried an MP5 out of the armory, he was the last one to leave. Everyone now had a weapon of some kind. He examined the weapon. He made a mental note that he needed to use controlled bursts whenever firing a machine gun.
He took his gaze from the weapon to the people around him. They looked sad, scared, and like they were going to die. Except for one of them, it was Nick. He never seemed to notice how bad the situation was, what an odd character, Whitfield thought.
Then he saw Erik walk out of the second food area.
"Who let him go by himself?" Whitfield asked, glaring at Erik.
"We didn't sir, there was a soldier in that room." A soldier responded.
Whitfield did a quick head count, they were one man short.
"Someone is missing." Whitfield said aiming the machine gun at Erik.
"What the hell are you doing!?" Erik said, acting terrified. "Don't let him shoot me! He's gone nuts!"
"Get him!" Three soldiers tackled him to the floor. "Take the gun."
Whitfield sat against the wall, his hands behind his back in handcuffs. Erik sat next to him.
"I recommend we all eat something, even if you don't have an appetite. We may have to move with a second's notice. The T-Team is currently on their way and we'll be out of here soon." A soldier yelled, everyone went into 'Food Containment 1' to eat. Everyone left, except Erik and Whitfield who still sat against the wall.
"Well Dr. Whitfield, you try to kill me, I try to kill you." Erik said, grinning.
"You can't open any doors, I directly told AIDAD not to listen to you." Whitfield said, looking tiredly at Erik, his head slowly turning.
"Oh really?" Erik said rhetorically. "AIDAD, open the door."
The food area 2 door slid open, and closed. Whitfield and Erik both got a glimpse of a soldier zombie crawling along the floor.
"We've lost the entire air crew sir." The guard said over a radio.
Nick and Rodney watched in silence.
"No sir. I do not believe there would be any survivors." The guard said quietly. "What?" The guard asked, his eyes suddenly wide. "Sir, that area is completely unstable, it's suicide, sir." A tinny voice replied after him, loudly. "Affirmative sir." The guard clipped the radio back to his belt. "They're inside the base. We have to save as many people as we can."
"Who are they?" Nick asked, curiously. He never worried, Rodney thought to himself.
"Humans, with less brain function. At least in most cases. To be put in lament terms, zombies." The guard pulled out a sub-machine gun.
"You're serious?" Rodney asked, not expecting an answer.
The guard turned around and walked out one of the room's doors. The other two followed close behind him. The hallways were completely bare, no people at all. The guard made a turn, his gun raised. Nothing. Another hallway, once again it was empty. Rodney pulled his USP from his pocket and loaded it with the only clip he had.
The guard found a door, it appeared to interest him. There were the sounds of hands banging on the other side.
"Are they normal or are they... them?" Rodney asked as he aimed the pistol.
"No way to tell. We just open it up." The guard flipped an emergency switch on the wall, the door slid up into the ceiling. There was an older scientist who fell into the arms of the guard, more soldiers and people came out. Behind them, were the undead. Them. The guard threw the switch down again, the door shut. The heavy metal bolts they had seen on the other door closed this one off also.
Now there were at least fifty people crowded in the hallway. All of them were scientists or soldiers. The old scientist stood up.
"Thank you." He said in a cold manner. "I'm Dr. Whitfield. You are now under my command."
"Affirmative. We are to continue to sector thirteen." The guard replied.
"Thirteen, isn't that the one...the abandoned one?" Whitfield asked.
"Yes, but it was also designed to take care of the zombies."
"You two," Whitfield looked at Nick and Rodney. "Watch this man, he may try to attack us."
Two soldiers pushed Erik toward Nick and Rodney.
They met minor resistance on the way to sector thirteen, just a few zombies.
A few of the soldiers huddled around the door, painted with the number thirteen and large bold letters reading 'Off-Limits.'
"Lovely, thirteen, the luckiest of all numbers." Nick said with sarcasm.
"I don't believe in luck." Erik said coldly.
The door slid open, slowly, and silently. Everyone began to file through the doorway.
"Everybody in, everybody in." A soldier chattered as he pushed reluctant scientists through the doorway.
Eventually everyone was inside. Whitfield stood in the back, next to the door, watching the soldiers typing a code into a control panel.
"Sir, do you want the door closed?" The soldier typing asked.
Before Whitfield ever had a chance to respond the door slid down.
"Oh shit." Whitfield turned around, the door at the other end of the hallway shut also. "Oh shit."
"What?" The soldier asked.
"Did you do that?" Whitfield asked, nervously.
"No, but—"
"Do you have a computer?" The soldier nodded in reply, "Give it to me, now."
The soldier gave Whitfield his small laptop. The soldiers huddled around the computer.
On the screen Whitfield typed: WHAT ARE YOU DOING?
Nothing happened, for a moment.
VIRUS DETECTED. Came back the reply.
Whitfield hammered the keys
AIDAD, DO NOT ATTACK.
I MUST NOT BE INFECTED NATHAN.
"What is this?" One soldier asked.
"It's AIDAD. He's locked us in."
I HAVE DONE SO. The screen blinked.
AIDAD, LET US ENTER. THERE ARE ANTIDOTES INSIDE.
NO. I WILL BE INFECTED.
"Tell him we'll shoot him if he doesn't let us in." One soldier said.
"Shoot him? That's impossible."
"Why?"
"AIDAD, isn't a human, it's an artificial intelligence. It's designed to assassinate or destroy all intruding life forms. Only normal and healthy humans can enter."
I AM GOING TO KILL THE VIRUS.
AIDAD, THESE PEOPLE CAN STILL BE TREATED.
I WILL BE INFECTED NATHAN. I WILL DIE.
"You aren't human damn it! That's your programming! You only think you're human!" Whitfield shouted at the computer.
I WILL DIE. I WILL DIE. I WILL DIE.
"SHUT UP!"
I AM SORRY.
Whitfield sighed, took a few deep breathes.
"AIDAD, let us in. You do understand we will die if we cannot get in."
I DO NOT CARE. I DO NOT WISH TO BE INFECTED NATHAN.
"This doesn't agree with his programming, he must be going insane from isolation." Whitfield shook his head. "We never should've gone in here."
NATHAN, THERE IS A WAY YOU CAN GET IN.
"How?"
LET ME KILL THEM. I MUST. I DO NOT WISH TO BE INFECTED.
"Kill who? Everyone?"
THE INFECTED, NATHAN.
"Who the hell does this guy think he is." Nick peered at the computer, he had just walked over.
"It's an artificial intelligence, how many times do I have to say it!?" Whitfield shouted.
YOU ARE CORRECT.
"Be quiet, let me think."
SOME OF THEM WILL BECOME EFFECTED SOON. LET ME KILL THEM NATHAN.
"You bastard, you're supposed to help us." Whitfield sighed.
"Now you know how I feel." Erik Gowin stood next to Nick, also watching.
"Don't bother me right now, I'm trying to get inside without him killing everyone."
"Just let him. It'll save us the trouble." Erik said carelessly. "And the ammo."
HE IS CORRECT NATHAN. IT WILL ONLY BE IN YOUR FAVOR.
"Stop it!" Whitfield sat down on the floor, the computer on his lap. He sat there thinking.
"Is there any other way, AIDAD?"
STAY IN THE HALLWAY AND DIE OR LET ME KILL THEM. I DO NOT WISH TO BE INFECTED.
"How many are not infected?"
LESS THAN HALF OF YOUR ENTITIES ARE UNINFECTED.
Whitfield did some math in his head. "That leaves us with about twenty people, correct?"
YES.
Everyone turned to face him. Some knew which category they were in.
"AIDAD, start the countdown at thirty seconds." Whitfield shut the computer and stood up. "I'm sorry I led you in here. I'm sorry it had to end this way."
Twenty seconds.
Some people were crying, mostly the scientists. Others closed their eyes or covered their faces. Some watched the guns' doors open and aim at targets from the ceiling.
Ten seconds.
"Bye..."
"I'm sorry..."
"I know..."
Whitfield, Erik, Nick, and Rodney listened to those who were about to die, their last words.
Three.
Two.
One.
The machine guns in the ceiling rained fire on the people below. Blood flew in every direction. Corpses lay everywhere on the floor.
Erik looked around, he had covered his face up in the chaos. A person ran away from the gun targeting him. As he was about to run into Erik, his head shattered and skull fragments went everywhere. The dead man lay at his feet. Others stood still, some were hugging. Their craniums bursting and corpses falling in streams of blood everywhere.
Whitfield vomited on the floor, he watched it mix with the blood and vomited again, and continued to gag, but nothing was left for him to vomit. He noticed others had done the same, including Rodney.
The guns finally stopped.
Whitfield opened the laptop up again. He could see the countdown on the screen.
"AIDAD, you son of a bitch."
I AM TRULY SORRY.
"You aren't sorry. You don't even know what sorry means." Whitfield glared at the screen, he was suddenly very tired.
NATHAN, I SUGGEST YOU STOP. I AM THE ONE WHO GRANTS LIFE AND DEATH.
"Is that a threat? He's programmed to threaten?" Nick asked, curiously.
"No, I'm sure he's learned about threatening."
"learned?" Nick was surprised.
"Be quiet. AIDAD, open the door."
I DID NOT HEAR THE MAGIC WORD.
"Please."
The door into sector thirteen slid open. The people filed inside. They were inside a twenty-foot wide rectangle. It ramped downward, heading for yet another hallway, it was dark, and the soldiers used their flashlights.
"This ramp won't take long if we run, and AIDAD doesn't try any tricks." Whitfield said as he took the lead and watched the screen on the laptop.
"I'm just curious, why was it me?" Erik walked next to Whitfield.
"I'm sorry about that. It wasn't my idea. You were actually supposed to be killed."
"I'm going to kill you." Erik muttered and walked away. Whitfield ignored him, completely unaware of what had just developed.
The twenty people continued walking in silence for some time.
"Everyone, stop."
The screen of the laptop displayed: I HAVE BEEN INFECTED.
"RUN!" Whitfield burst off running. Everyone followed as close as they could.
A woman scientist tripped and fell. They watched her disappear in the darkness. Moments later her screams filled the air. Everyone knew why they were running.
Whitfield stopped right in front of the next door.
"AIDAD, open up!" He yelled.
I HAVE BEEN INFECTED NATHAN. I WILL DIE.
"Shut up! You're not human!"
NATHAN, YOU SON OF A BITCH.
A soldier hammered away at a keypad on the wall.
"I got it!" He yelled. A zombie, either a B-type or C-type, lunged onto him as the door opened. Other people were grabbed and pulled backward into the crowd of undead.
Erik grabbed Nick and Rodney's shoulders, the crowd pushed them into the hallway. They all fell over, lots of people walked on them or over them. The door behind them closed.
Rodney yelled, "Get off of me!" Then he looked up and realized it was a zombie standing on him. He aimed his USP but it's body practically exploded so many bullets hit it. The other soldiers held their sub-machine guns up, the nozzles smoking.
The three crawled away from the corpse and stood up. There were no other zombies.
Whitfield leaned against a wall watching the computer.
"AIDAD, open the door." He watched the computer, it said nothing. "Please."
The other door opened up. The remaining sixteen people came into the room. It was a barren room. It was cold hard metal all around, there were five doors. Two lead to food supplies, enough for three years. Another was a bathroom, and then an armory/bomb shelter. The last one lead back into the upper facility, it, without a doubt, was flooded with zombies. Some people sat down. One scientist held his hand up and watched it shake, he gave a nervous laugh to the person next to him. A soldier lit up a cigar, he put it in his mouth and reloaded his MP5. Erik watched from an unemotional state. To him this was all a movie he was watching on TV. AIDAD is going to help me, and just me.
Erik watched as one soldier dropped his backpack. A computer, Erik thought. He walked over, seemingly unnoticed. He bent over and examined the contents of the backpack. The soldier had left his pistol in the backpack. He took it and stuffed it into the back of his pants and covered it with his shirt. He took two clips, one for each pocket. One was already in the USP so he had plenty of ammo. He explored a little more, he found some matches, tossed them aside. After pushing some clothing out of the way he found a lighter. The soldier came back from the bathroom, he found his backpack the same way he found it. Across the room he noticed a man watching him, but the man looked away the same instant. The soldier thought nothing of it and sat down.
Erik had grabbed the computer with moments to spare. He lifted the screen up.
He began typing.
AIDAD, I CAN GET RID OF ALL THE INFECTED FORMS.
WHAT ENTITY IS THIS? Came back the artificial reply.
ERIK GOWIN.
YOU OFFER TO ELIMINATE THE HUMANS?
YES, ISN'T THAT WHAT YOU WANT?
I ONLY WISH TO ELIMINATE THE VIRUS.
THEY ARE A VIRUS.
INCORRECT.
NO, I AM CORRECT. WHAT DOES A VIRUS DO, AIDAD? He typed, grinning at the computer. He lowered the screen as a few people walked by.
AN infectious agent that replicates itself only within cells of living hosts. AIDAD replied.
THEY ARE THE VIRUSES YOU ARE THE HOST. Erik keyed, smiling.
I UNDERSTAND.
I WILL LEAD YOU TO KILL THEM. BUT YOU MUST HELP ME GET OUT.
I UNDERSTAND.
WILL YOU HELP ME?
YES, ENTITY ERIK.
Everyone but one soldier decided to go through the weapons in the armory. Fredrico Aldanez decided he was going to get something to eat instead of helping. He stood in 'Food Containment 2' gazing at canned food. He'd been hungry every since he'd helped out Nick and Rodney. (He was the guard.) He picked up some canned food and opened it up. After glancing inside he put it back on the shelf.
"What a bunch of garbage..." He muttered going through a few other cans.
Though no one had realized it, AIDAD and Erik had already begun their plan. Erik walked in, he turned around and pressed a few buttons on a keypad.
"Thanks AIDAD." Erik said, pressing a couple more buttons.
"You're talking to AIDAD? Shouldn't Whitfield" Fredrico noticed the knife in Erik's hands. "What're you doing?"
"I'm getting out of here. But in order for that to happen, I have to kill you." Erik said, cutting the air with the knife.
Fredrico flipped his backpack around, opening it up. His weapons weren't inside. Erik swung the knife before Fredrico could say another word. He held up his hand to block the incoming knife, it took off three fingers and slashed through his throat. He fell to the floor, blood spurting from his neck, his half fingerless hand clutching his throat.
Erik slid Fredrico along the floor and stuffed him under one of the shelves. Fredrico fell into unconsciousness.
"Poor bastard." Erik said as he turned around and grabbed a mop. He got up as much of the blood he could, although it was pretty much useless. Some still ran down the shelves and cans of food.
Erik put the mop back and pressed buttons on the keypad.
"AIDAD, continue." He said and walked out.
Back inside 'Food Containment 2' AIDAD released the T-virus through the vents.
Whitfield carried an MP5 out of the armory, he was the last one to leave. Everyone now had a weapon of some kind. He examined the weapon. He made a mental note that he needed to use controlled bursts whenever firing a machine gun.
He took his gaze from the weapon to the people around him. They looked sad, scared, and like they were going to die. Except for one of them, it was Nick. He never seemed to notice how bad the situation was, what an odd character, Whitfield thought.
Then he saw Erik walk out of the second food area.
"Who let him go by himself?" Whitfield asked, glaring at Erik.
"We didn't sir, there was a soldier in that room." A soldier responded.
Whitfield did a quick head count, they were one man short.
"Someone is missing." Whitfield said aiming the machine gun at Erik.
"What the hell are you doing!?" Erik said, acting terrified. "Don't let him shoot me! He's gone nuts!"
"Get him!" Three soldiers tackled him to the floor. "Take the gun."
Whitfield sat against the wall, his hands behind his back in handcuffs. Erik sat next to him.
"I recommend we all eat something, even if you don't have an appetite. We may have to move with a second's notice. The T-Team is currently on their way and we'll be out of here soon." A soldier yelled, everyone went into 'Food Containment 1' to eat. Everyone left, except Erik and Whitfield who still sat against the wall.
"Well Dr. Whitfield, you try to kill me, I try to kill you." Erik said, grinning.
"You can't open any doors, I directly told AIDAD not to listen to you." Whitfield said, looking tiredly at Erik, his head slowly turning.
"Oh really?" Erik said rhetorically. "AIDAD, open the door."
The food area 2 door slid open, and closed. Whitfield and Erik both got a glimpse of a soldier zombie crawling along the floor.