Skeet, Sam, and Gale move dthorugh the halls wihtout a sound. They kept no more than three steps from each other. Gale kept her eyes toward the ARC chamber while Skeet watched the corridor ahead of them. The halls were silent around them, but no one dared to hope they were free and clear. If anything, they had leanred that the Imps had some sort of plan to stay out of sight until the team walked into their midst.

Gale took a quick glance behind her. "Where to?"

Skeet shook his head. "Hell if I know."

"Infirmary."

Everyone turned down toward the chamber, raising their weapons. Reaper stepped into their line of sight, carrying a severely injured Vera in his arms. Vera was conscious, but only just. Her eyes were half open and her breathing was still uneven. She still gripped her pistol in her hand. Sam lowered her gun and sighed with relief.

Reaper joined the group. "We need to get Vera mobilized and get Gale to a terminal."

"It's just around the corner." Sam explained, pointing toward the hall.

"Skeet."

"On it." Skeet took off ahead of them, clearing the way. The others quickly followed behind him. Skeet hugged the wall as he reached the corner. He rounded the corner gun first. He stared down the empty hall, his nerves on high alert. "Clear."

Sam came around the corner next with Reaper close behind her. Gale brought up the rear. Skeet moved a few paces ahead of Sam, heading toward the nearest door. Their steps were nearly silent as they traveled, barely a squeak or a scrape echoed through the hall. Reaper kept his hears on alert for the hissing breaths of Imps or the grunts of the Hell Knights.

"There's the door." Sam whispered.

Skeet came to a stop, bringing the entire team to a halt. He opened the door and stepped inside. The infirmary had a different set up in comparison to the Mars set up, but it had the same amenities. Gurneys lined the walls next to monitors. Several rolling carts were dotted throughout the room, some bearing supplies. Skeet moved through the room, sweeping for anything that could be hiding behind the tables or gurneys. He lowered his gun, finding nothing.

"Clear." he called.

Reaper entered and made a beeline fore the closest gurney. Sam raced toward the supply cabinets. Gale entered last. She sealed the door behind her, locking it. Sam piled gauze pads, antiseptics, and bandages onto the rolling tray. She pushed it across the room to Vera's gurney. Vera was sitting hunched over on the gurney. Her weapons were settled beside her while Reaper worked on her back. The cuts were deep into the tissue.

"Shirts gotta go, Vera." Reaper stated. He ripped the remaining fabric apart and reached for the antiseptic bottle. Vera reached up with her right arm sand held the fabric against her chest. "Gale, hack into the system. See if you can get around the security hack and see how many more of theses fuckers there are."

"On it." Gale shouldered her weapon and moved for the closest console. She quickly set to work, tapping away at the keys, trying to beat around the security hack. Whomever had done it was good, they knew just what they were doing, but then, Gale was better. She'd hacked the FBI system and that was child's play. This hack, was nothing.

Reaper shook his head. "Shit."

"Not...a good...sign." Vera gasped.

Reaper reached into his vest for the field kit. He pulled out a packet of QuickClot and ripped it open. "I was hoping I wouldn't have to use QuickClot, but you love being the stubborn patient."

"Guilty."

"Sam, find me an IV bag and Kenalog. We gotta get her breathing stabilized." he ordered. He spread the QuickClot over the wounds and watched as they instantly coagulated, finally stopping the bleeding. Reaper exhaled deeply and grabbed one of the gauze pads. He rolled it out over a section of the claw marks, covering her right upper shoulder, but only managing a quarter of the cuts. He picked up the adhesive tape. "What I wouldn't give for some super glue."

"That bad?" Vera asked.

"Yeah, course it's you so I shouldn't be surprised." he answered. He tore the adhesive strips with his teeth and secured them to her back.

Sam returned carrying an IV pouch and a small bottle. "Which arm?"

"Right."

"The one...that isn't...fucked yet." Vera answered. She traded arms holding up her shirt and held her right one toward Sam.

Sam worked quickly. She cut the sleeve up to Vera's shoulder, exposing her arm. She cleaned the inner elbow and tied Vera's upper arm. Sam pressed the needle it into the skin, sinking it into the vein, and untied the band. The IV immediately began flooding Vera's system. Sam took a syringe and drew several milliliters. She injected it into the IV bag and set the needle down. "IV in."

"Sam give me a hand." Reaper said.

Sam walked around the gurney. "What do you need?"

"Gauze pads. At least three more." he answered.

Sam quickly ripped open several gauze packs and passed them to her brother one by one. She glanced over toward Gale and found the soldier still at the console. but Skeet was nowhere near her. Sam looked around the room and found him several gurneys away, investigating the supplies on the nearby tray. Reaper took the gauze pads from Sam and continued to tape them over Vera's gashes.

"What is t?" Sam asked. Her question caught everyone's attention. Gale turned from the console. Vera and Reaper looked up.

Skeet turned toward them. He motioned to the tray."Someone was here."

"It's an infirmary." Gale replied, turning back to the console.

"No shit." he replied. He reached down onto the gurneys and lifted a tattered black vest. "But how many RRTS soldier's have been through here lately?"

Reaper's eyes widened. "Sam finish this." he walked away from Vera's gurneys, toward Skeet.

Skeet held up the vest for Reaper as he reached the gurney. "Vest is Hazard's. Son of a bitch made it through."

Reaper shook his head. He looked down at the table where Hazards belongings were laid out. Weapons, belt, radio, everything was laid out. "They must've brought him when he passed through."

"Right before he killed 'em" Skeet finished. Reaper nodded. He picked up the pistol and mags. His eyes scanned over the black covered gauze pads before they caught something else. Reaper picked up Hazard's comm. The unit had an extra component connected to it. Reaper detached the component and immediately heard the break in the comms. The damn thing was a comm jammer. "Son of a bitch."

"What?"

"He had a jammer connected to his comm unit." Reaper smashed the unit onto the tray, breaking it into pieces. "That's why you couldn't call through."

Skeet shook his head. "What good does that do him?"

"Kept everyone out of contact." Vera said, her breathing finally stabilizing. "Not long, but just enough to screw with you."

"That was plenty of time for him." Reaper answered. He tossed the mags to Vera, who easily caught them. "Gale, status."

"I got good news and bad news." she answered. "Which one do you want first?"

"I vote bad." Skeet replied. "Day can't get any worse than now."

"I'll keep that in mind. "Gale stated. "In the search I've discovered that every single person in the facility was infected by Hazard."

Skeet shook his head.

"And the good news?" Reaper asked.

"I cracked the hack." Gale answered. "And a large portion of the infected are near the fusion reactor."

Sam looked up. "If we lure them to the decontamination room, we can use the reactor to kill them."

Gale smiled. "I already did. In twenty seconds, every infected being in that room will die. Anyone care to watch?"

Everyone stared at the tech in disbelief.

Skeet chuckled. "Hell yeah." He moved from the gurney to Gale's side.

"Done." Sam said, pressing the final strip against Vera's back.

"Great. Mind taking out the IV for me." Vera asked.

Reaper walked over to the gurney. "We should keep in for a few more minutes."

Vera shook her head. "It's don all it can. Why waste it?"

Sam gave Reaper a questionable look. Reaper nodded in response. Sam grabbed a small gauze pad and pressed it against the needle. She slowly removed the needle and set it aside. Sam secured the gauze to Vera's elbow and stepped back, giving her brother and Vera some space.

Vera tested her range of motion with the bandages. Unfortunately, it wasn't much. The tape tugged at her skin and the clotted blood pulled before the tape. She'd be lucky if she could stand straight, that is, if she wasn't afraid of flashing everyone. With her shirt in two, there wasn't anything holding it over her body expect Vera's hand.

Reaper unclipped his vest and slid it off his chest. He pulled his uniform jacket, revealing his black wife beater. He pulled the tank off his body and held it out to Vera. "Here."

Vera looked down at the black tank. "Thanks." She took the tank and eased her left arm into the sleeve first. Reaper watched with intrigue as Vera turned her back to him and easily managed to pull the tank over her body, without dropping her shirt, until her chest was covered. She reached behind her back, trying to pull down the tank, but it got caught on the bandages. Reaper reached out and pulled it over her back, his eyes scanning the burn.

The tank virtually swallowed Vera, hanging off her body, making her look even smaller. but it provided some coverage for her. Vera turned around and met his eyes. Those damn beautiful defiant eyes that haunted him. Her braid hung behind her back, barely holding together. Sweat glistened and rolled down her body. Even without trying, Vera was always able to screw with him. Standing in front of him, wearing his shirt, Reaper could barely resist the urge to take it off her. Those eyes, those damn eyes. Vera could talk like any other woman, but those eyes always did him in. They could break him down, piss him off, plead with him, all with a simple glance.

"Damn girl." Skeet muttered. "I ain't doubting you again."

Reaper turned toward the others. "They dead?"

Gale smirked. "Yes sir."

"Any sign of Bio?"

The smirk disappeared. "Nothing yet."

"What do we do about him?" Skeet asked.

"We find him, and kill him." Reaper answered. He slipped his arms back into his jacket and zipped it up. "We can't let him get to the surface."

"Shouldn't be that hard now." Gale said. She stood up from her chair. "Taylor's team consisted of eight, plus another seven already here. I took a count and there were ten in the room. All that remains is-"

BANG! A single shot rang out, cutting off Gale's sentence. Gale's head jerked back as the bullet ripped through her skull. The force knocked her to the ground. The sound of her bodies impact echoed through the infirmary. Skeet watched in horror as Gale lay on the floor, blood pooling around her head. Time seemed to slow to an agonizing crawl for everyone but Reaper. He lifted his weapon and turned toward the door. His eyes fell to Bio just as Bio got off five rounds. Each bullet ripped through Reaper's chest, all around his heart. Blood splattered from Reaper's wounds, spraying Vera in the process. Reaper slammed backwards into the gurney and collapsed. Vera screamed in horror. She spun around toward her weapons, her action slower than Reapers and slowed by her own hindrance.

Another shot caught Vera on the arm, barely grazing her. Vera pulled back from her gun and looked at the door. Bio stood in front of them all. His neck was bloodied from the infected. How in the hell did he get inside without them knowing? The door had been locked. He stood tall, staring at Vera with a cold, heartless gaze. "Don't."

"You son of a bitch." Skeet snapped. He reached for his gun, only to have Bio put around into his right shoulder. Skeet cried out in pain and slumped against the console.

"I warned you, dumbass." Bio said. He pointed the weapon at Sam. "Alright blondie, put all the weapons on the gurney and push it toward me. Now!"

Sam jumped at Bio's volume and quickly moved into action. She removed Skeet's weapon and picked up Gale's. She heaved them up onto the gurney beside Vera's pistol. Sam turned toward her brother. He was lying just a few feet from Vera and her, unmoving. Five bullet holes were dug into his chest. Blood had soaked through his jacket. Without the vest to stop them, he was healing on his own. Lucy had been able to heal nearly instantly, why hadn't John? She grabbed the strap of his gun and lifted it onto the gurney. Sam dropped her gun onto the gurney and slowly pushed it toward Bio. Her eyes drifted back toward Reaper.

"Thank you doll." Bio said.

Skeet shook his head. "I don't get it."

Bio shrugged. "What's to get?" He lifted the pack. "I got what Taylor wants, and now he's seen what it's capable of."

"What are you talking about?" Sam asked.

Bio chuckled darkly. "The recovery opt, this entire mission, was all to see what C24 was capable of. Taylor's been watching the entire time. Unit 2 was the test subjects."

"The comm jammers, the feed hijack." Skeet stated. "Gale traced it back to Earth."

"All Taylor's doing. Simply for show." Bio said. "And now he's seen enough for his liking. So, shows over."

"You have no idea what you're doing." Vera stated.

Bio turned the gun to her. "Wanna bet Russian? I've seen what this stuff does, this Chromosome. I can feel what it's doing to me now. And what it's done to Hazard. And now, Taylor gets to see for himself. Video feeds one, but you can't beat the real deal."

"If that gets loose on the surface-"

"What do you think Taylor's plan is?" Bio asked. "It certainly wasn't for the soldiers. Spread a little C24 behind enemy lines and you save your soldiers. The enemy will be too busy killing each other."

"That's insane." Skeet snapped.

Bio turned toward his former teammate. "And what are you doing to do to stop it?" He turned toward Vera. "You gonna try Russian? You gonna take one last shot for your fucked up team?"

Vera seethed in her place. Her hands clenched into tight fists, itching to have her gun back in her hands. Just one shot would be nice to get off, if only to make the smug bastard shut up.

Bio grabbed the gurney and dragged it to the pushed the gurney out into the hall and stepped out of the infirmary. "Sit tight. Taylor will be with you guys in an hour."

Vera sprinted for the door, trying to beat it. The door hissed shut in front of her, cutting off Bio's smirk. The door locked behind him. Vera slammed her fist into the door furiously. The son of a bitch was gonna get away.

"Son of a bitch." Skeet muttered. "He played us from the start."

Vera exhaled deeply. "I'd tell you not to take it personal, but I think this is pretty well personal."

"I'm gonna kill that bastard." He muttered, still clutching his bleeding shoulder.

"Get in line." Reaper groaned, sitting up.

Vera turned toward him. Reaper winced as he rose to his feet. His uniform was soaked with blood and now sported five holes in the fabric, but there were no wounds that she could see. "Took you long enough."

"Hey don't bitch at me, bastard shot all around my heart. Lucky he missed it completely or I might not have gotten back up." Reaper explained. He grabbed a gauze pad and moved to Skeet. "It's through and through. QuickClot will patch that up."

Skeet took the gauze and pressed it against his shoulder, he couldn't take his eyes off Reaper. "The fuck are you doing alive? Bio just put five rounds into your chest!"

"Remember when I explain C24 works two ways?" he asked.

"Hell no."

"It either mutates you, or it makes you superhuman." Sam explained.

Skeet shook his head. "Fucking insane."

"Doesn't do us much good." Vera replied. "We have no weapons and no way to stop Bio."

Suddenly, from the other side of the door, a strangled roar sounded loudly. The loud, inhuman sound rattled the door behind Vera, causing her to slowly turn toward it. The roar died away, leading into an uncertain silence that added ten tons of tension. All eyes shifted to the door, waiting nervously for what was next.

Reaper quietly came up behind Vera. He could hear Vera's uneven breaths, Sam's nervous gasps, and Skeet's pain breaths. But he could hear more beyond the door. He could hear the low, gurgling breaths in the halls. The claws scraping across the floor with each step, the heaviness of the creature drawing closer to the door. With a quick motion, Reaper caught hold of Vera around her waist and pulled her from the door, just as a massive fist slammed into the door where her head had been moments ago. The door warped beneath the pressure.

"Shit." Skeet muttered. He stepped away from the console and grabbed Sam's arm. "Bastards trying to get through."

"Trying implies he'll fail." Vera commented. "These fuckers busted through a nanowall, steel's not going to stop him."

"We need to move." Reaper said.

"How?" Skeet demanded. "Bio's blocking the one way out."

"The ventilation system." Sam answered. She stepped from Skeet back t Gale's console. She climbed up onto the table and pulled the cover from the vents. "The system leads to the elevator."

"The elevators west of us, back through infected territory." Reaper informed.

"Bio and Hazard are all that's left." Sam reminded.

"We don't have any weapons once we get into the elevator." Skeet stated.

Another fist slammed into the door, causing another warp.

"Vents sound good." Skeet said. He hopped up onto the table and pulled himself up inside.

John climbed up onto the desk beside Sam and lifted her up toward the vent. Skeet took hold of Sam's arm and pulled her into the vent. John turned and took Vera's hand, pulling her up onto the desk. The door groaned under the pressure. It wouldn't be long before it gave way to Bio's mutated strength.

"You ready?" John asked.

"I'm not staying here." Vera answered.

John nodded and lifted her into the vent. He watched as she took hold with her one good arm. John pushed her even further into the vent until Vera managed to pull herself inside. The door shuddered, finally ready to give. John jumped and took hold of the vent edge. He pulled himself into the vent just as the door was forced open.

almost done! man that was a long one. don't worry, the next one won't be short either. yes, I am aware I started typing John. I felt that 'Reaper' was done anyways. I hope that didn't cause any confusion or irritation.

note: yes there's a tiny edit.