Claire peered around the corner of a dark mess hall. The gap between the wall and the perimeter fence was narrow, but empty. What gave Claire the real creeps was the gap between the hall floor and the ground. Anything could be crawling around under there, waiting to grab her ankle and bite.

"What is it?" said Ada.

"I don't know, that's the problem," said Claire, mad that she'd been forced to take point even though she wasn't the one who knew where they were going. Two machine pistols had more stopping power than one, Ada had argued. At least now Claire knew why she'd wanted the guns so badly in the first place.

"Go, before something finds us."

Now there was a mantra Claire wished she had learned before riding into Raccoon City. How could she have forgotten? She took a deep breath and went trotting down the alley, wary of the dark gap to her right. They hadn't run across many zombies since getting away from the watchtower. Maybe Steve would be alright after all.

They were near the end of the alley when they heard a low, wet growling. "Run!" Ada shouted, as a pair of sleek Dobermans came crawling out from under the bunkhouse. They had already chewed through the wire mesh meant to keep rats out. One got its neck caught on the jagged edge and tore completely out of its rotting skin.

Claire didn't run. She raised both machine pistols, one on each dog, and fired two bursts each. The bullets didn't have much stopping power, but there were a lot of them, and Claire's groupings were tight. Both animals went down, but the skinless one got up. Claire gave it a spray from both pistols. It let out a sharp yelp and fell, twitching.

She ran to Ada, who was at the end of the alley. "I really wish you hadn't done that," she said.

"It was that or get my butt chewed off," said Claire. "I hope there aren't more of those things."

A high, powerful screech filled the air. It was joined by a chorus of others. As alarming as the noise was, it wasn't as terrifying as seeing the color drain from Ada's face right before she bolted. Claire followed. The door to the bunkhouse was right around the corner. Ada vaulted the wooden railing along the stairs and forced the door open. Claire was less graceful going over the rail, but was inside before Ada slammed the door closed.

The zombies in the mess hall had all been prisoners. They were definitely faster than the ones in Raccoon, but they were jittery as all heck and had trouble getting around the dining table. Ada downed three of them right away with single pops to the center of the head. Claire took down the other two.

"I thought shooting was bad," said Claire.

"Doesn't matter now," said Ada.

The high, inhuman screams were getting closer. Ada ran across the mess hall to the pantry, yanking Claire inside and slamming the door closed. She turned on her flashlight and found a jug of vinegar which she poured all over the floor by the door.

chorus of screams was taken up once more. The pack of monsters was closing in on them, Ada was clearly improvising. She ran across the room, leaping over tables and corpses, and opened the door to a spacious closet, slamming it shut behind her.

She turned off her flashlight just as whatever had been screaming for their blood came crashing through the doors and windows. Ada pulled Claire close, spoke straight into her ear. "Hunters. A type of B.O.W."

"No crap," said Claire as the monsters tore the mess hall apart. She'd seen Hunter B.O.W.s before, in live storage tanks in the lab underneath Raccoon City, but these sounded bigger.

While their screaming was terrible, their sudden silence was infinitely worse. Ada held her, stopped her from trembling. The hunters weren't completely silent. Their reptilian nostrils were working overtime. One had found the body of a zombie and was slowly tearing it apart.

Claire knew she was in real trouble when Ada's fingers suddenly slipped into her mouth. All she could do was grab Ada's shoulders and plead with her touch as Ada's other hand undid the button on her jeans. Claire didn't dare squirm or push back. In the pitch black she couldn't even mouth the words "Are you insane!?"

Ada's fingers found her shamefully wet. Claire held her close, whispered into her ear pleas for sanity. One of the monsters screamed, causing Claire to suddenly tighten around Ada. She was about to relax when a pack of infected dogs came running into the mess hall.

Ada's fingers relished Claire's tightening body as reptilian screeches and canine snarls shook the walls. She knew right where to push, where to slide and where to linger. Claire held her mouth shut with her hand to keep from screaming. The dogs were getting the worst of it just outside the pantry door, but they didn't care, biting and snarling at the reptiles as they were torn apart.

Claire bit down on the back of her own hand as she felt herself spill out inside. A scalding sheet of bliss overwhelmed her, rolling down her legs and steaming back up her spine. She held onto Ada as if she were drowning, her body pleading for mercy as every last moment of ecstasy was pulled from it.

The last of the dogs was dead when Ada finally pulled out of her and let her sink to her knees. She leaned against Ada's legs as the hunters screamed and tore their prey into smaller pieces. When she'd caught her breath, she was gently fed Ada's wet fingers and obliged to suck them clean.

The hunters all began to scream as they went out of the mess hall, in search of more things to rip apart. One brushed against the pantry door on its way out, but the vinegar on the floor hid their scent and they went unnoticed. When all was quiet, Ada cracked open the door.

"Looks like they're gone," she said. "Let's go, before they come back."

Claire rose on wobbling legs and did her pants up. The hunters had painted the mess hall in putrid blood and clumps of dog. The air was heavy and it stank. Claire could taste herself. There was no point in asking Ada if she was crazy. The real question was, had Claire joined her in madness.