Chapter 9

Only small things seemed off in the entrance foyer. The plastic container from a water fountain was spilled across the far end floor. A selection of paper was slashed on a message board, plastic cups crushed. And there was of course the faint specks of blood and what appeared to be a fingernail lodged into one of the tiles. Kagura leant down, looking at the nail, a thin chunk of flesh stuck to it, a trickle of blood around nail.

"Very nice" groaned Yukari. Kagura turned to the sarcastic soldier.

"Where's the person that goes with the nail?" she asked.

"I dunno" replied Yukari. "But she must be pissed- that's a well manicured nail. What a waste."

"Uh-huh" replied Kagura. She made a mental note not to turn to Yukari if she came across any problems.

"Well still…"

GARRGHHH!

"What the crap was that?" asked Yukari turning as Minamo ran across to a corner of the room.

"Get over here now!" called out Minamo.

Kagura pushed herself up off the floor. Yukari shrugged as Kagura joined her in marching across to Minamo. Kagura guessed Yukari didn't see her as getting in the way at the moment. Obata had reached Minamo already, and looked uneasy as a woman thrashed around on the floor. The bottom of the shirt was unbuttoned and Kagura could see the familiar large bump of a pregnant woman. The woman continued thrashing, growling and baring her teeth at the others. Kagura backed away in horror as she kept biting down on empty air, teeth clicking loudly against one another.

"What's going on?" asked Obata.

"I think she's giving birth" said Minamo, "Try and hold her down! Now listen Miss, this is going to hurt but I'm a trained professional. I'm here to help."

Obata gripped hold of the woman and held her down strongly, the attempted bites nowhere near him.

"She's so cold" he commented.

Kagura noticed the mottled grey colour of the skin, purple veins running the length of the bump. She looked on in shock as a faint bulge suddenly appeared on the bump. It vanished slightly before bulging up again, as though something was pushing from beneath.

"Did you see that?" asked Kagura.

"Did I fuck!" said Yukari. "What the hell was that?"

"Baby?" suggested Kagura. She didn't know if that was right. This was the first time she'd seen a woman giving birth surrounded by soldiers in an underground facility guarded by a supercomputer. She guessed you had a new experience every day.

"Well if that's a baby" said Yukari as something thrust up from beneath the skin again, "I'm never having one."

"Please just try to calm down" said Minamo as the woman growled again. An arm reached out, gripping Obata tightly.

"Woah, she's pretty strong" said Obata grunting as the woman tightened her vice like grip. "You want to stop that now?" he asked. He backed away slightly as it paused and stared at him with dead eyes, a thin white film covering the eyes.

"Hey Kurosawa I think something's up here" he said.

"Yeah that's probably…"

"Holy Crap!" called out Yukari pointing.

The stomach bulged again and ripped open in a mess of flesh, fat and blood, spilling across the floor. Kagura and Yukari paused, with similar comedic looks of pure disgust and horror. In unison they backed away so blood didn't soak their shoes. The woman didn't even seem to notice the gaping hole in her stomach as a small grey baby started chewing down on the ripped stomach, gums chewing against flesh where teeth had yet to come through.

"What the fuck!" called out Minamo, shocking even Yukari who wasn't used to hearing her friend swear.

The small thing paused and turned to Minamo. It opened its bloody mouth, a faint sliver of flesh hanging from its gums where it had pulled loose flesh away. It slowly turned its head and hissed.

"What's going on over…holy crap!" said Kubo suddenly appearing.

"Shouldn't that woman, be like dead now?" asked Yukari as the woman continued trying to escape Obata's grasp, shaking the small baby around and spilling her intestines onto the floor.

"I don't know what's going on here" said Minamo, "I've never seen anything like this!"

Kubo took a pistol from Yukari and glanced anxiously at Minamo.

"Should I, should I put her out of her misery?" he asked.

"She should be dead now anyway" replied Minamo, "I don't know what's keeping her going."

Kubo held the gun up as the mottled being sloshed blood around the floor as it tried to escape. Kagura stood as the man paused.

"What are you waiting for?" asked Yukari.

"Is this the right thing to do?" he asked desperately.

"She's got a hole where her stomach and stuff should be" said Yukari, "She should be dead, look she has more blood on the floor then in her."

The woman broke free of Obata's grip and turned over, crushing the growling baby with a loud crack. Obata jumped back as she clawed out at him. It stood up, intestines and umbilical cord hanging down from the red raw mess, the white spine partially seen through torn muscles. It stepped forwards howling, dragging the smaller dead thing with it.

It jolted back as the back of its head exploded, splattering brain matter across the white wall. Kagura turned in shock to see Kimura standing with a look of panic.

"I-I was putting her out of her misery and protecting all of you" he started desperately.

"Don't defend or explain yourself" said Yukari. "You did what we should have done."

"Yeah" said Kubo handing the borrowed pistol back to Yukari.

"How did she keep going?" asked Obata.

"How did she have the strength to push herself up?" said Kimura aloud. "There was nothing there, she should, she must, how wasn't she…?"

"Dead" said Minamo finishing his statement. "She was dead. No pulse, rigor mortis and her body temperature- this person had been dead for a period of time."

"Nyamo, she was walking around and growling at us" said Yukari nonchalantly, "Therefore she can't have been dead." She was quiet for a moment. "Right?"

"This person has been dead for several hours" replied Minamo. "I'm certain of that."

"Then how…?"

"I don't know" replied Minamo.

Kubo nervously patted the volume of Hellsing resting in his pocket. It would be crazy to think something like that. Kagura slowly moved away, the once white floor now covered with blood. Due to the highly polished nature the blood continued to trickle along the floor towards her. Yeesh, what was going on down here? One 'survivor' found, and already a floor was bathed in blood, a wall splattered with brains, and there were four confused soldiers and three nervous civilians.

"So what now Kubo?" asked Yukari.

"Leave her here" said Kubo. "And remember to wash your hands before you have anything to eat or drink. We'd better try and find the only employees done here. There might be more like that" he said pointing the mangled mess, "And it might be putting survivors at risk."

"What if they're all like that?" asked Kimura. Kubo was silent for a moment, thinking.

Kagura had the same nervy feeling too. This whole place seemed off. She'd seen something outside, Mr Sadamoto's death. There was something wrong with this place, something unwholesome. More so then that, she felt this place was almost…well even though she felt stupid thinking it…evil. She felt this place was evil. She had a strong feeling many more dead people would be found down here in a place ruled by a computer with the appearance of a young girl who liked to cut up men.

"If they're all like that we get the fuck out of here. But survivors may be trapped down here, even more scared then we may be feeling. Be careful around possible survivors, but don't shoot first and then ask questions" said Kubo.

"They just better not screw with me" said Yukari.

"I wouldn't want to screw around with her" said Ohyama to Kimura.

"I wouldn't say no" whispered back Kimura, turning away as Yukari gave him a glare that could melt walls.