A/N: Thank you all so much for reading and supporting my story! I truly hope my story continues to please you.

Welcome new and old readers! And I hope all of you are safe with all the horrible weather happening.

Please enjoy!

Song of the Day: "Ghost Song" by Max Ablitzer

(Young-ja)

I should've guessed that when Father Martin said I will 'shed my mortal form', he meant I was going to die.

And he must've known that after his death, the three of us would try to escape together and that is the reason he rigged the elevator so it would separate us.

I should've expected this, so why was I so surprised?

Hadn't I learned anything by now?

'What else could Father Martin have in store for Miles? If the elevator brought him to the main floor, he would've come back for us already, but it was going too fast for that, so he must've gone….to the basement…'

My breath hitched at the realization, and I could only pray that we would find Miles and escape before Billy got his hands on him.

Or before this deluded man chopped us to bits.

The Variant crept closer until his shadow loomed over us, his cleaver shining in the dim light.

"When you ascend to the Heavens, please welcome Father Martin into your arms." With the blade raised high the air, he was about to swing it down….when Waylon suddenly grabbed me and rolled out of the way.

"Wh-?"

"Run, you idiot!" Waylon yanked me up to my feet and dashed back down to the 2nd floor.

"Get back here!"

The gate to the bottom floor was locked, so we raced back out to the translucent window hallway and searched for a place to hide.

"Slide down that and keep going!" Waylon pointed to a pile of stacked shelves and tables before throwing me to the top and was about to follow suit when the Variant busted into the hallway and yanked Waylon back by his hair.

"Ah!"

"Waylon!" I gasped, about to climb back down but Waylon screamed for me to run away.

"Go, Young-ja! Get as far away as po-!" The Variant kicked Waylon in the face before he could finish and climbed on top of him.

"You have no place here." The Variant sneered, raising his cleaver up high. "May the Walrider have mercy on you."

Without a second thought, I leapt off the barricade and tackled the Variant from the side, causing him to drop his weapon in the process.

Seizing the opportunity, Waylon grabbed the cleaver and charged forward.

"Young-ja, move!"

I had barely a second to roll out of the way when Waylon jumped on top of the Variant and brought the blade down.

Over.

And over.

And over.

(Miles)

"Fuck, fuck, fuck." I stared at the remains of Murkoff scientists smeared across the ceiling and walls as I opened the basement's metal door. 'If I die here, Waylon, don't let Young-ja see my body. Take my camcorder and leak the evidence to the world. Trust no one and tell everyone. Tell them we weren't crazy and don't call the evidence a gospel; call it a mockery of reason. Let the world know it was Murkoff's fault and bury the bastards' with my dead body.'

As I crept further into the room, I noticed a security camera blinking in the corner and realized it was same one that I first saw Young-ja in.

'She was down here. What did she see? How did she get back? Young-ja, please. Don't come back for me, just get out of here and go home to our daughter. I promise I'll try to escape, but I beg of you! Leave now! '

With no exit in sight, there was nowhere for me to go but deeper, so I steadied myself and continued down the cold hallway.

Nothing but dead bodies and blood caked the walls, and I knew I was staring at the results of the Walrider's outbreak.

'What more do I have to see? Haven't I fulfilled my duty as your apostle? Or…is there more?"

Then I saw it.

A sign pointing to the left, brandishing the words: Morphogenic Engine Chambers

'Does he expect me to meet the Walrider face to face? Or does he want me to meet its host?'

I shook my head and continued forward, my ragged breath echoing off the walls.

The labs I came across were full of chemicals, lab reports, and the remains of their former occupants.

And, in one of the smaller labs, I found the Morphogenic Equation. A few lines of mathematics, an algorithm. Nothing but a few numbers on a dry erase board.

My stomach turned at the sight, and my hands clenched into fists.

'It was made to reprogram us, turn us into nightmare factories. Give me a hacksaw and a few hours alone with Wernicke's corpse. I feel like I owe him a debt.'

I had seen nothing but horribly mangled corpses during my trek through the asylum, but here, in this empty, white basement, the sights unnerved me.

Like when you were a little kid and were walking down a dark hallway in your house, glancing back every few seconds because you felt someone or something was following you.

Hair standing on end, I dashed forward until I reached the end of the hallway and as I peeked through a dirty window, I saw something wonderful.

An exit.

Beautiful, bright sunlight was pouring from an open delivery door, and I didn't waste a second in hurrying towards it.

'How long has it been since I felt the warm sun on my face? It feels like centuries.'

But, just as I reached the connecting door, the buzzing sound tore through my skull and I crumbled to my knees.

It was ripping my mind apart.

The static.

The buzzing.

It was tearing my sanity limb from limb.

Then….I heard the whispering and I slowly gazed up to see the Walrider climbing out from beneath the doorway.

'Shit!' I stumbled to my feet and ran, ignoring my headache and attempting to navigate the hallways through my blurry vision.

I dashed towards the metal double doors and reached out for the handles….only for it to be opened up by Chris Walker.

I didn't have a chance to scream before I was plucked up and slammed against the floor, knocking the wind out of me.

"Little Pig, Little Pig," Walker growled, walking towards me as I tried to crawl away but to no avail. "No more escape."

But, before he could lay a hand on me, he was suddenly thrown back and smashed against the wall.

'What the?!' I quickly picked up my camera and turned on the night vision to see the Walrider attacking Walker.

Then just as it had begun, it swiftly ended.

The Walrider lifted Walker up and dragged him through an air vent, spraying his blood and remains across the wall.

"Oh God…" I put my hand to my face and stared at the blood that came off. "After everything you've done, this is how you die. Ripped to pieces from the inside, and having your marrow scattered on a concrete wall. You've done nothing but cause me and all the other patients' misery, but…who's to say it was your fault? You've escaped one Hell, Chris Walker. God help me, but I somehow hope you didn't find another."

Still feeling breathless, I stumbled to my feet, my limbs like Jell-O, and continued down the hallway.

As I passed by the Morphogenic sign once more, I…heard someone call out to me.

"Over here! I must try to…explain!"

'Someone is still alive?!'

Following the voice, I eventually found myself in a room split in half by a glass wall.

On my side, there was a pile of dead soldiers and puddles of blood.

On the other side, there was a small office with a painting and an array of bookshelves. And in the middle of the room, there was an elderly man in a wheelchair. His skin was transparent, a breathing tube was sticking out of his nose, and a white blanket covered his lap.

'My God….could this be….But isn't he supposed to be-?'

"I know, I know. I should be dead." The man said with a thick German accent, as if he could read my thoughts. "No….no such luck. I am older than sin, but somehow…the only one left. Because of Billy."

"You must be….Rudolph Wernicke." I whispered, still trying to comprehend what I was seeing.

"Yes, Herr Journalist. I am Doctor Rudolph Wernicke, creator of the Walrider." He wheeled his chair over to where I was standing, the machine making a whirling sound as it moved.

"How the fucking hell are you still alive? All the documents said you were dead!"

"Billy….he takes care of me. He may think I'm his father. Heh. He certainly loves me, the poor idiot."

I didn't know what to think. For the longest time, I thought this bastard was dead, and now that he was here, alive, I felt something in my head snap.

I punched the glass wall, splitting my knuckles back open, but he didn't seem surprised.

In fact, the bastard laughed.

"Heh. As I recall, your wife did the same thing when I said that."

"WHAT?!" I slammed my palms against the glass, my heart in my throat. "You met Young-ja?!"

"Was that her name? Yes, she was looking for you. She said you received a tip from one of the employees and that you never came home. The fraulien blamed me for everything, even tried to slam through the wall to strangle me. But, I told her everything and gave her a chance to end it all."

"What did you tell her?!" My nails scratched down the glass as I pressed myself closer. "What did you do?!"

Wernicke backed his wheelchair up and sat in front of a large insignia of the Walrider logo.

"Do you know what this symbol represents? It warns of a Nanohazard. Microscopic machines. Technology we have had for decades but have never mastered. Murkoff discovered, in my research, a workaround. Turning the cells in the human body to nano factories. It's the natural function of the cells to produce molecules, but through psychomatic direction, we engineered the precise molecules necessary. Mind over body." He then moved back in front of me, his gray eyes piercing my soul. "It was foolish of us to think we could control it."

"You are damn right! You psychotic fucks used innocent people, people who needed help, as your guinea pigs!"

Wernicke let out another laugh.

"You and your wife are truly alike. But, perhaps you can succeed where she failed."

A hole formed in the bottom of my stomach at his words.

"What do you mean?"

"Tell me, did you ever reunite with your wife? Is she still…alive?"

"Yes! We were separated near the Administration Block exit, but she is still alive."

"The exit, you say?" He touched a button on his wheelchair and I could hear sirens in the distance.

"What did you just do?!"

"Nothing that concerns you. Herr Journalist, you…have to stop this. You have to kill Billy."

"…What?"

"Turn off his life support, his anesthesia. You have to undo what I've done."

"So you want me to do your dirty work? To kill the kid and you walk away scotch free?!" I punched the glass wall again, wishing it was Wernicke's face. "Haven't you hid long enough?! All of your scientists are dead, and here you are, hiding from your mistakes!"

"Billy won't let me leave. I'm as much a prisoner as you are. No one can get out of this place while he lives. Not me, not you, and not your wife. You must kill him…and bring an end to all of this. The Morphogenic Engine is self-perpetuating. I pray to God you have the strength to end it all here…with your death."

"I don't plan on dying here. I will cut off Billy's life support, claw my way out of here, and be free to expose Murkoff and you to the world. And I will thoroughly enjoy watching you get torn to pieces."

"Do you really think Billy will let you end his life so easily? Heh. Perhaps you will be the victor. Yet I can only hope," As he spoke, he pulled a severed arm out from underneath the blanket on his lap and tossed it against the glass window, "that Billy will treat you better than he did your wife."

(Young-ja)

I watched Waylon sit on top of the Variant, panting heavily with his face covered in blood.

His eyes were so wide and his face so pale, I was afraid to approach him. I could barely move myself anyways.

'What are we going to do? How will we get to Miles if the elevator won't work?'

However, I didn't have time to dwell on that for long.

A siren blasted through the speakers and the barricaded door in the lobby shattered open moments later.

I crawled to the translucent window, and even though the image was distorted, I could still make out a large group of people charging in with weapons. They wore the same uniforms as the dead soldiers scattered across the asylum, and a lump appeared in my throat.

It was Murkoff's Tactical Unit.

"All teams authorized for deadly force!" The commander shouted out to his men. "Repeat, all teams authorized for deadly force! Kill anything that moves!"

"Waylon." I whispered, turning back towards him as he continued to stare blankly ahead. "We…we need to hide. We have to hide until they go away, then we can go get Miles."

He still said and did nothing.

"Way-."

"Corporate cops, mercenaries, private military contractors, whatever they call them now. They're as helpless as the rest of us." Slowly, he looked at me, the blooding dripping down his face. "We need to escape. Now."

A/N: Please look forward to the next chapter! :)