The Long Dark

XVI:

Eve of Destruction

Remote Alaskan Caves - 9:37 a.m.

Jill was still swallowing that nugget of new information when Rebecca sighed happily, "I think it's working."

Right, her mind said, do what you do best and focus on the job.

Jill wandered to her side in the entrance to the cave as they studied the wilting plagas neophyte behind the ice. It was half the size it had started. It looked drained dry, almost like a husk, reminding her of a prune with teeth.

"Looks that way."

"Where're the men Chris sent with us?" Rebecca turned to write in her notebook and adjust her machines.

"Outside standing guard. Where else?"

"Why isn't he here?"

"He had to sit in a conference call with Washington with Leon. Apparently, this is where they pitch their plan together to the big wigs."

"Yikes."

Jill chuckled, "Right? Chris, forced to be diplomatic. God help us."

Rebecca grinned, "Leon will hopefully toe the line for him."

"Fingers crossed." Jill tapped the ice with a gloved finger, "you think this will work on the whole cave?"

Rebecca sighed. "Not with the machines I have with me, no. Simply not enough," she did air quotes, "oomph. You know?"

Jill nodded. "Need more power."

"To nuke the whole cave from top to bottom? We're talking about the equivalent of a nuclear power plant. And the levels need to be pitch-perfect. Skewing them will melt instead of radiate. So, it's delicate work."

Jill made a raspberry sound with her lips, "Still...it's working. That's good news."

"For sure."

Jill studied the wall, "How likely is this to work, Becs?"

Rebecca sighed, "It's science, so I've collected some decent data to suggest we're on the right track. But there are no guarantees, Jill. We're working with so many unknowns."

Jill twisted her mouth to the side, "What do you know about curing infection in a subject?"

Rebecca eyed her as she replied, "Not as much as I'd like. It's hard to evaluate without an actively infected specimen."

Jill shifted her weapon and set it on the table as she touched the ice wall with her fingers. "And what if I knew someone who might be willing to submit to some preliminary testing?"

Rebecca wiped her hands and kept her voice light, "Any reason he hasn't had a battery of tests before now?"

Jill gave her a look, "He has. Of course, he has...White House approved tests."

Rebecca arched a brow. "Ah. So, nothing terribly trustworthy."

Jill sighed and studied the monsters beyond the ice. Is there where they were all headed? If this got out, would it activate something inside of Leon? Some residual link simultaneously protected him and made him a risk.

Jill turned her gaze and admitted, "If they left something in him...maybe they did it on purpose."

Rebecca gave a nod and leaned on the table. "It's possible. If we're right, the plagas restructures the physical host to suit its regenerative capabilities. Meaning, of course, that if they gave Leon the right plagas...they'd want him to keep the residual effects after its destruction."

Jill crossed her arms over her chest like she was trying to get warm and remarked, "If he turns, we can't take him."

Rebecca tilted her head. "Is that likely?"

Jill shook her head. "The laser did the heavy lifting...but what I saw on that screen before it started...Rebecca...it was hatched, and it was fused. If he had a handful of hours left before he became one of them, I'll eat my shoe."

Rebecca nodded, "And it left pieces."

Jill blew out a breath. "Apparently. They left it in him. Why wouldn't they go in and clean it out?"

Rebecca shrugged a shoulder, "Maybe it's too risky. It attacks the central nervous system and eventually gets into the spine. If it's attached to his vessels or heart, trying is probably fatal. Tell me what you know, and let's see what we can do."

Jill inhaled hard, felt like she was betraying Leon, but finally said, "He's hearing them."

Rebecca widened her eyes. A flash of scientific curiosity echoed on her young face. "Is he? Full words?"

"...I guess."

"Is he seeing apparitions?"

"Not that I'm aware of."

Rebecca opened the phone in her hand and started typing as she replied, "Ok, so we assume there's a connection between all plagas and the hub. If we're right, and this hub predates mankind, what he's hearing is the language of the hive."

Jill shifted on her feet. "How bad is it?"

Rebecca shook her head. "Might be nothing more than giving him a very, very useful window into their communications." When she lifted her eyes and met Jill's, she clarified, "...think of it like being tuned in to their phone calls, and Leon might have a tap on their wire."

Jill nodded, "And if it's bigger than that?"

Rebecca pursed her lips and replied, "Then he's in danger of losing his free will. If they can whisper and coo at him, they already know he's connected. So the element of surprise is lost. But they don't want him dead."

When Jill looked surprised, Rebecca nodded, "Yeah. They want him alive. We both saw that in the city below. They don't want him dead, and the question is why. Will he let me run some tests?"

Jill nodded, "I think so. He's scared, and I think he'd do anything you asked to avoid the risk."

"Good," Rebecca eyed her phone, "I've got a message in to George Hamilton at BioTech. If anyone has access to what we'll need, it's him. He'll hop the first plane when I get the ok to bring him in on these caves."

Jill mused, "The doctor who survived Raccoon?"

"Yep. He was a surgeon. Now he's in research like me, and he's done projects for the government and private institutions. He's a good resource. And he's off the map enough that he'll be able to dig around without raising any red flags."

Jill nodded again. "So, what now?"

"I've sent him my research fairly regularly since we've been here. He's aware of the situation. If I can get some blood from Leon, do some imagining, run some diagnostics, I think I can get George to find what we might need to use what Leon has in him and find a way to suppress any further growth."

When Jill nodded again, feeling the first pangs of hope, Rebecca added, "We have to assume they infected him with some form of the dominant strain. You said he could still speak even when his eyes changed, right?"

"Absolutely. He fought it."

"Good. They wanted him to, and they wanted him to be able to function as a human. My guess? To send back with Graham as a secondary insurance policy."

"...Saddler mentioned making him a bodyguard."

"Right. But I'm figuring he meant Leon to be one for Graham back home. Both were likely infected with the kind that allowed them to retain human traits. After all, what good is a coup if your vessel is spotted as being obvious right away?"

"But they'd have tested them both. They'd have tested them immediately."

"Of course, but with what? We didn't have tests for it before Leon came back from Spain. Even what we know now is limited. Out of the UK, Dr. Gibson is working with what he can. And George. And myself. But honestly? It's still so limited," Rebecca eyed the walls, "what's in here is what we need, Jill. To really, really get at this, this is a goldmine."

Jill studied the walls. "If they'd seen what we had...if they'd been there...they wouldn't want any of this left standing."

Rebecca returned, "Yes, they would. You kidding? What's in these caves, if weaponized, would be enough to cow the rest of the world into submission. Don't kid yourself; the U.S. is out for one thing - global superiority. And having a guy like Leon lead the charge, carrying pieces of the power that comes with plagas infection and subsequent removal? It's exactly what they want."

"...all the benefits, none of the drawbacks."

"Exactly. Think Blade- he's faster, stronger, able to heal, and doesn't feel pain like we do. So, what if he's hearing voices or losing touch with his feelings? That's the risk you take with a bioweapon. As long as it's obedient, does its reasons really matter?"

Jill shook her head with a burst of anger on his behalf. "After everything he's done for them, they'd just let him suffer...I don't get that."

"It's business," Rebecca shrugged, "the business of the greater good. And Leon being what he is, it's good business."

"I'm gonna find a way to stop them," Jill decided coldly, "one way or the other."

"Me too," Rebecca eyed the wall, "because what's in this cave should never, ever be exposed to the public. It should be studied, but only to stop it. I'm gonna do what I can to ensure it stays in the right hands."

"Let's figure out how to help Leon first and see if we can get the right oomph to shut this place down."

"Absolutely. One step at a time. I made a preliminary inoculation with what I had to work with," Rebecca shifted and wrote something in her notebook, "it's guesswork mostly at this stage, but if I'm right, it would offer a retarded maturation process on the plagas. With enough tweaking, I might be able to use it to target what's in Leon and create a cure."

Jill blinked at her, "... Jesus, you're brilliant."

"You got the wrong guy there, not Jesus, just Rebecca. And not brilliant, I'm afraid," Rebecca teased, "just smarter than the average bear. I have yet to walk on water or turn it into wine. I'll leave that to guys who heal lepers."

Jill pressed a kiss to Rebecca's forehead and made her grin. "Smarter than the average anything, you pint-sized genius. Jesus' got nothin on you, my love. "

"Then, could you get him to turn this water into coffee for me?"

Jill laughed.

"Bec, how likely is it that Leon could resist another infection?"

Rebecca tilted her head, "Why would they reinfect him?"

"...global superiority?"

Rebecca chuckled, "That's what they want, no doubt there. But my guess is they want Leon to resist to a certain degree and display himself as capable of independent thought. If what you told me is true, the plagas feeds on the feelings of the host. With Leon, they'd have an uphill battle on their hands because the guy doesn't have anything but good intentions. So, even if they wanted to ride around inside of him, so to speak, he'd still be able to control what they wanted him to do."

Jill blew out a breath, "He tried to kill me before the suppression pill kicked in once."

Rebecca held her eyes and challenged, "Did he?" When Jill frowned, Rebecca added, "from what you've told me, he's unstoppable. If he wanted you dead, you'd be dead. He didn't try to kill you, Jill; he tried to give you time to stop him."

Jesus.

Jill froze. She blinked twice, and Rebecca nodded, "Yep. Noble. He knew you could stop him. He probably figured you wouldn't kill him. Sure, he was hedging his bets, but he did it on good authority. He was doing what the plagas can't - playing to the human side of you both. The side of you that would save him and the side of himself that wouldn't kill someone who trusted him."

Jill shook her head, "Why didn't he say anything?"

"My guess? Just in case he was wrong and you had to kill him. He didn't want you to get to that place and doubt yourself if the time came. It's what I would have done."

Jill sighed, "...how do you get that fucking noble?"

"Born that way...good parenting...personal choice," Rebecca had never quite understood the concept of a rhetorical question, but she answered honestly, "he's made of all three, I think. The plagas has to assimilate into its host. I'm guessing if it were to try, it would find a wealth of things it didn't understand in him. And if he's smart, he figured out quickly that feeding the plagas was as simple as surging his adrenaline. There's a good chance fighting and surviving was just enough to keep him from turning."

"He almost turned."

"Did he? Or did he almost die?"

Another good question. This is why Rebecca was so fucking important. She saw things on a plane that the rest of them kept side-eyeing. Jill mused, "You saying it would have killed him if he hadn't submitted?"

"I'm saying he made damn sure it almost did. To me, that says he fought it to the end. I think that parasite met its match."

Jill laughed softly and returned, "...that makes two of us. Right when I think I'm starting to figure this guy out, I find another pocket of emotion in him that I can't get my head around."

"Ah, the joys of the mating habits of earthbound forms."

Jill chuckled, "Just in case, can you shoot us all up with your experimental compound? Just in case?"

Rebecca started to say something else when there was a chatter outside the cave—a rustle of sound and then silence.

Jill and Rebecca held eyes a second before Shenmei came into the cave - held at gunpoint by Nikolai with three men flanking him. He grinned as he mused, "Funny, isn't it...they give you a guard and then don't bother to remind them not to stop guarding to smoke or take a piss."

He nudged Shenmei in the back, and she kept her hands on her head with a look of guilt. Jill shook her head and reassured, "Not your fault."

To which Nikolai laughed, "Nope. Not hers. She was a good girl. She was standing guard and killed one of mine before we got her." The bruise on Shenmei's face and the blood on her mouth spoke volumes.

He shoved Shenmei to the side so one of his men could zip-tie her hands behind her back and leveled the gun at Jill and Rebecca. "So, what do we say, ladies? Shall we take a trip into the caves together?"

Rebecca jerked. Jill gave him a cold look. "Why? You looking to go home, you fucking parasite?"

He kept the gun on and tsked with his tongue, "Don't get a smart mouth, Jill."

"Kiss my a-"

Her bravado was short-lived as he whipped the butt of his gun into Rebecca's face. She went down, smashing into her table and sending her machines squealing in rage. Teeming with anger, Jill reached for and shielded her as she helped her sit up. The look she gave Nikolai would have leveled lesser men.

He shrugged, "I don't like smart mouths on my women, Jill. It didn't help you before; it won't help you now. You talk back, and I...I just lose my patience. So shut yours and sit there and look pretty. And we all end up happy."

He gestured with the gun. "Start walking." He gestured at his men. "Destroy these machines."

Rebecca shouted, "No! Are you crazy!? We need them!"

He went to hit her again, and Jill caught his wrist. "Don't."

Nikolai's eyes flashed as he used his left hand instead to punch her for her bravery. The hit connected and doubled her over as it landed in her gut. She went to one knee, Rebecca gathered around her like a mother hen, and he warned, "Women...you're always trying to be heroes. Stop trying." He looked at the machines and the walls, and his eyes started to sparkle instead.

"Oh...oh oh oh...you're freeing them?"

Rebecca, wise beyond her years, said, "Of course."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "...lying bitch."

He aimed the gun at her face, and Jill gasped, "Don't!"

Head tilted, he considered, "Right. She's smart even if she's a lying bitch." He gestured with the gun, "Reverse the polarity or whatever this does. And set them free."

When she just stared at him, he aimed the gun at Shenmei and remarked, "Do it. Or I start filling her full of holes."

Curious, Jill thought he didn't threaten to shoot her. Just the other two women. Why? Revenge?

Rebecca hesitated, and he sighed. "Stubborn women." He grabbed Rebecca's arm and flung her behind him. One of the other men grabbed and held her as Nikolai grabbed a handful of Jill's hair and tilted her face up to him. "Tell her to do it. Make her believe it. Or I will send these boys back into that goddamn town and burn it to the ground."

Rebecca whispered, "...don't. Please. You don't understand. If we set them free, the village is doomed anyway."

Nikolai leveled the gun at Jill's temple, and she could see it all over him. He wanted to kill her and fairly salivated at the mouth for it. And yet, he didn't. Why? Drawing out the pleasure of torturing her?

What?

Nikolai studied Rebecca in a way Jill was starting to dread. There was a cleverness on his near-hollow face that left her mouth dry. Jill breathed, "You're here for me, right? Just me. Let them go. Let them go back."

Nikolai tilted his head at her. He turned his eyes to her face and away from Rebecca, so that was ok. She wanted him looking at her. If he was, he wasn't looking at anyone else. She could handle him. Rebecca? She was scrappy and trained, but when was the last time she'd had to fight? She was a scientist, not a warrior. The one thing Jill knew for certain: she didn't want anyone alone in a room with Rebecca.

Nikolai started to answer, and one of his men stated, "We need to go."

Surprised, Nikolai shifted his focus, "Why?"

The man returned, "Someone set off a silent alarm. My guess? It's alerted whoever is on the other end of this beacon."

Nikolai's eyes flashed as he glared at Jill. "You little bitch...who'd you alert? Hmm? That himbo you're running around with?"

One of the other men answered, "My guess is that mountain she works with."

Nikolai's eyes flashed again. "You're forcing me to change plans here, Jill. I don't like changing plans."

Jill said nothing. Apparently, you could teach an old dog new tricks after all. Silence was rarely ever not your friend when it came to men who beat on anything smaller than themselves.

He jerked to her feet and bound her hands behind her back. Jill tried one last time, "Leave the other two. Leave them. You don't need them. Please?"

This time he spat, "You kidding? That one is a genius, right? And this one?" He studied Shenmei and flashed a toothy grin, "She's an American intelligence agent. She's worth her tits in gold for trade. Next time you decide to beg, do it on your knees, Jill. It looks so much nicer."

He shoved her forward. She stumbled and joined Rebecca on the walk from the caves. They'd found the silent alarm Rebecca had triggered on her equipment, and that was fine. Jill did not doubt that Shenmei had rung her own before she'd been taken. This way - Chris was aware, and so was Leon. Backup was imminent; they just needed to stall for time.

Jill wondered as they walked toward the far side of the snowy horizon, "Do you know what's in the depths of that cave?"

He shoved her again, and she stumbled as he answered, "Of course I do. It's the future."

Jill blinked. "What?"

"The future, you stupid cow. The beginning of a new world. They told me to free them, so I will."

Jill hesitated. She finally blinked and breathed, "You're hearing the voices."

He paused and glanced at her face. His gaze narrowed. "...what?"

Jill gave him a piercing look. "You hear them. What do they promise, Nikolai? Power?"

He jerked on her arm to move her along again as she queried, "Freedom?"

He shoved her into the back of the van they came across, and she scrambled to turn back and face him as he tossed Shenmei and Rebecca in with her. She told him, voice calm, "They lie, Nikolai. They're lying."

The look he gave her was fanatical as he disputed, "No. They understand. This world? It's doomed. It's plagued by pussy and power and money. The only way to free it is to destroy it first. Letting them loose...it'll restructure humanity. We'll all work together, finally, for the good of the world."

Jill gave him a pitying look. "...monsters lie, Nikolai. You know that, and you've lived it."

He gave her a roll of his eyes and remarked, "So do people, Jill. At least the monsters know they're monsters."

He slammed the doors. The engine fired up. Rebecca whispered, "Anyone have a locator?"

Shenmei gave them a steady look, "The guy up front took my watch. If he still has it, they'll find us. If they tossed it...?"

Jill nodded and added softly, "So we play along. Ok? Everybody plays along. We don't count on backup, but we hope for it. In the short term, I will try to get free."

Shenmei nodded and returned, "They'll separate us."

Jill nodded. "Yeah, they will. First thing. Don't reveal anything important, but don't hold your tongue and risk being damaged beyond repair either."

Rebecca cleared her throat, "We all had interrogation training, Jill. We know."

Jill gave her a soft look. "You never really thought you'd have to use it, B. Admit it."

Rebecca smiled sadly. "That's life, right? Shit happens."

They were unloaded after about forty minutes of travel. The first guy jerked Shenmei from the van and licked the side of her face like a dog. When he laughed with his comrade, Shenmei gave him cold eyes. This earned her the butt of a rifle in her gut that doubled her over and caused her to cough. Jill snapped, "Is this necessary?"

Nikolai grabbed her to pull her clear. She went to one knee in the snow and tried to determine where they were. Caves again, but these were closer to the ocean. She could smell the water in the distance and the salt. He shoved her forward into the chilly dawn.

As they walked, one of the men remarked, "This one tastes so good...can I-"

"No!" Nikolai smacked the back of his head, "No. Idiot. You don't eat them. You hear me?"

What?

Did he mean euphemistically or literally?

Jill was relatively certain they weren't talking about sex, and she wasn't sure if that was a small comfort or a huge red flag. Neither, both - deciding if your virtue was more important than your life and limb was hard. But what had Rebecca said? That's life, right? Shit happens.

One of the men licked Rebecca's throat and nibbled at her jaw. She showed some bravado and stated cooly, "I'm not very meaty, I'm afraid. You could find a better meal somewhere else."

And he returned, "That's ok...you stink of fear, little lady. And that's the best spice."

Jill laughed lightly, and he whipped those eyes to her as she decided, "Fear. I don't think you understand the word."

The man started to answer, and Nikolai shoved Jill so hard she hit her knees as he pushed her into a cell built into the side of the cave. They'd taken them down flights of stairs and circled through hallways. Someone had made some prison in these caves. It was well constructed if a little alarming, as she tried to decide if it was human built...or plagas. Either option was terrifying in its own way. But this close to the surface, if it was plagas, meant they were closer to stepping into the light than first anticipated. It meant they were nearly ready.

She was hoping like hell this was built by people.

Or they had bigger things to fear than being eaten by Nikolai's monster friends.

As Nikolai started swinging the door closed, Jill tried again, "Don't do this, Nikolai. Don't. Whatever you think they're offering, they're not. They'll hollow you out and make you a puppet to them, and you'll be nothing but a shell."

He met her eyes and returned, "You left me to die on that rooftop, Jill. Didn't even have the fucking balls to finish me. Ask me how I survived."

She said nothing, holding his eyes.

Finally, he told her, "Monsters, you stupid woman. It was monsters. They offered me a chance when the humans left me to die. I don't care what they want...I'm going to give it to them. Loyalty...sometimes it's bought in blood."

She shook her head, "Like you even know what that word means. Fear? Loyalty? I think you guys need a better vocabulary."

He shut the door on her cell and answered, "We won't need any words when it's done because we'll share one mind. And great minds...they think alike."

Jill started working on her bonds the second his footsteps receded. She used the jagged walls of the cell to work at the zip tie holding her. The rocks cut against her delicate wrists a little but it was nothing she couldn't handle. She was in mid-movement when someone screamed.

Though scream was the wrong word for it, they let out a sound that raised the hair on the back of her neck. Torture. Who? Shenmei? Rebecca? It didn't matter. Not at that moment. It was irrelevant.

They couldn't count on a savior here; they had to figure this out independently. She had a moment of hating these fucking villains in their world and their penchant for kidnapping. Whatever happened to a good old fight to the death? Why were they always snatching and grabbing and trying blackmail?

She was on borrowed time here. Cliche, bad guy habits or not, she had to find her own way out. She was hoping like hell it happened before Nikolai found a way to set loose what was in those caves.

The screaming chased her around as Jill worked on her bindings. She hoped it wasn't Shenmei or Rebecca, but how would she know? She was considering drawing attention to herself to make the screaming stop when the jangle of sound drew her attention to the man approaching her cell.

He leaned on it with a leer. It was the same asshole that had kept licking Rebecca.

Jill eyed him quietly as he cooed, "You want out, pretty lady? Come give me a kiss."

What was it with bad guys and rape? Honest to god, she'd have traded her left hand for a simple psychopath at the moment. Of course, there was no telling if this guy wanted to fuck or eat her - literally. So, she was going to stay exactly where she was...and hope to goad him into opening that damn door and getting close enough she could take him down, even with her hands behind her back.

When she said nothing, the man waggled his tongue between the bars. Jill sat there, eyeing him with a dull look on her face. He finally jerked at the bars and spat, "I want your fear!"

Without missing a beat, she replied, "You're about six years too late for that, buddy. Trust me."

Krauser had gotten the fear out of her. But he'd been huge, skilled, and sane enough to know he held the power over her. This idiot was a grunt, a nobody, an underling with, what was becoming rapidly apparent, plagas in his blood. How long until he turned?

With Leon, the change had been fostered by high emotion - adrenaline, survival, sex. Could she get him to turn faster by pushing him? If he turned, could he rip open those bars and free her?

But could she take in him with her hands behind her back?

She wasn't quite ready for full-on monster fighting.

To buy herself time, she decided to get this asshole to talk. He hissed at her again, and she queried, "Why are you working for Nikolai? You look like a leader to me."

That worked. He puffed up like she'd stroked his ego with her words. He leered at her and shrugged, "It's temporary. When they awaken, we'll all be rewarded."

Curious, she tilted her head, "Yeah? Why's that?"

And the guy said, "Because we're chosen."

Her blood chilled. Chosen. That thing had said that to Leon - chosen. What did that mean? Infected? He'd been cured. How could he still be chosen? Maybe the plagas didn't care about previous or current infestations. Maybe it just felt it in your blood. He'd said it was still in him. Could it be activated somehow?

That seemed impossible with the core of the parasite dead. It didn't regenerate, and the laser eradicated most of it. All that was left in him was dead weight.

It was a hive mind. Maybe it could sense the other parts of itself even when that part was gone. Leon wasn't at risk. Was he? She considered it as she asked, "How do you know? Did it tell you that?"

The man giggled like a girl and sighed, "Not me. Not yet. I have to ascend first. But Nikolai. He's ascended, and he's ready. He's chosen."

More and more curious.

She studied the man and asked, "What about me? Am I chosen?"

He looked at her face and grinned, "Not yet. You will be if you're suitable. But you're better. You've got more in you, and you're special."

She tilted her head. "Why?"

He shrugged again. "I just go where the voices tell me."

"But you don't hear them..."

The man jerked on the bars and spat, "I will! You hear me!? I will!"

Jill shrugged herself. "Sure. I believe you. But maybe you can't...unless you take care of Nikolai. Maybe that's the point...to test your strength by overthrowing a false leader."

It might buy them time if she could turn these jackals on each other. She just needed long enough to get these bonds off and find the others. The man eyed her and remarked, "If I do that, you'll be mine instead."

Jill smiled at him, "Sure. Why not?"

He licked his lips and breathed, "No fighting?"

"Nope. All yours."

The man nodded and backed up. He rubbed at his crotch and made her shudder as he promised, "I'll love you nice first. Nice. Then...I'll bring you over."

Jill smiled again. "Sounds good."

He backed up further and giggled. "I'll be back." When she just looked at him, he added, "Like Terminator, right?"

She winked at him. "Right. Good impersonation. Perfect."

He preened and turned, half dragging his feet as he left the room. He didn't have long. The change was almost on him. She'd caught flashes of red in his eyes as he'd talked to her. That seemed to be the warning sign, the red iris. How close had Leon really been before they'd stopped it?

Too close.

She could still feel his breathing on the side of her face as she'd mostly dragged him to that final room. Her mind had been racing. Her heart pounding. She'd had a handful of seconds of thinking - this is it, it's over. But he'd been stronger than she could have known. He'd held on. He'd made it.

Had he come back whole?

The question loomed as large as one of those damn things in the caves. Was he human? Completely? But that was unfair. It just was. None of them really were anymore. She'd survived the Nemesis and the T-Virus. Was she even human anymore?

She chewed on the thought as she prayed with all her might she got these bonds off soon. She wasn't sure how much time any of them had. But she knew it wasn't long enough. They were on a countdown, and what happened at the end was never good.

The screaming started again, and her blood grew colder, her hands working faster. Please, she prayed, let it be someone else - anyone else. Not Rebecca. Not Shenmei. Anyone else.

The guilt chased around her heart at the thought, but it was still there. Hopefully, it was one of Nikolai's men eating another. She liked that thought and kept it close as she cut her hands, trying to free herself and prayed it wouldn't be too late.