Claire gritted her teeth as she felt her body being thrown into the back of a truck. The momentary pain spread along with the sound of her body hitting the cold, rusty metal.

Her breathing was calm, but she could smell too much iron, to the point where she didn't know if it was the rust of the vehicle or blood.

She had been awake for most of the journey. Her small superhuman attributes allowed her to build up a resistance very quickly. In a few hours, she was able to move. She could break those restraints.

However, apart from the fact that she might bleed a few arteries, the noise, the heavy machinery, the voices... no matter how strong and fast she was, she couldn't go against an entire group. She heard probably more than thirty different men. Men and women.

Perhaps if it were Chris in her place he would have been able to react against so many enemies, to escape even though wounded. But he did that for a living, she didn't.

But all she needed was an opportunity, a chance, and she would risk everything.

She heard two of the men say to take her to the lab first, and another complain that it was too close to the infected area. Oh great, she'd be used as an experiment.

The woman grunted again, they were on a dirt road. Probably a long way from her home. She was disturbed for a long time by the noise of the plane, more voices, helicopter noise, another plane... she could only imagine where she was.

An isolated place, that was obvious.

Time passed, the voices began to diminish, great, that meant a chance was appearing. She swallowed some saliva. She was alone in the truck, she couldn't hear Neil's grunts from beside her.

The vehicle stopped. She heard the driver talking to another man, the sound of something moving, and the truck started up again.

After a few minutes, the truck stopped and the two men got out of the vehicle, turned around and opened the back doors. One of them stood up and walked towards her, lifting her up and pulling her out of the vehicle with a certain amount of force and violence.

Claire let out another grunt as she hit the ground. Her ears heard a crab running not far away. A seagull landing on a rock a few meters away, just above their heads. The sound of the sea was loud, but the climate was rather cold. A northern country. She doubted it was on the American continent.

Which left her with the continent of Europe... most likely.

She was forced to walk, almost tripping over her own feet as she was pushed forward. The sound of concrete invaded her ears, and the sounds of rats caught her attention.

The smell of dust irritated her nose, but when they pushed her into a new area, she realized that the sound of voices was no longer so present. It was just her, and the two soldiers who had pushed her who knows where.

No decision needed to be made, it was obvious what she needed to do. In one swift movement, the woman turned her hands, making her fingers grasp the small chain, and with a certain amount of force, she snapped the handcuffs that bound her.

In the blink of an eye, she turned to the man on her right and punched him in the stomach, frightening the other man on her left. She then deftly turned her body and landed a kick to the side of the other man's torso, throwing him to the side and causing his body to crash hard against the wall.

She quickly removed the cloth covering her eyes and stepped on the head of the man she had hit with the punch. She crouched down and picked up the knife at his waist, plunging the blade into his neck shortly afterwards. Turning to the second man, still dazed, she quickly stabbed him twice in the chest, until she was sure he was motionless.

She blinked a few times, slightly dazed, digesting all that information. Her eyes went down to her bloodstained hand, and her ears perked up when the red drop hit the floor.

It had been a while since she had last killed. She still hadn't controlled her skills very well at the time. A slight tingling sensation spread through her hand, but it soon passed, and she bothered to grab the men's weapons.

They were both equipped with a combat knife. The model used by the Russian army, an NR-40 with a black blade.

The pistol was a model MP-443 Grach and the assault rifle was an AN-94. Weapons used by the Russian army, but considering that the serial number was scratched off, she would say that they were stolen weapons.

They both had an extra magazine in their pockets, in addition to the one already in each gun. Not to mention that she wouldn't be carrying two rifles, so she would have an extra magazine for the assault rifle. Looking around to make sure she was alone, she picked up the shorter man's tactical vest and put it on herself. The vest had gotten a little big, since she had a petite build, but it was better than walking around with nothing. She took the other man's pistol and tucked it into the hem of her pants, just in case, and raised the one in her hand.

There was no camera there, which was a bit strange. She turned and walked in the same direction she had come from. As she opened the door, her eyes scanned the apparent warehouse of the facility. A rather dusty warehouse, it even looked abandoned, despite the lights being on.

With her pistol raised, she walked through the warehouse and reached a staircase leading down to the lower floor. As soon as she did, her eyes scanned the long corridor, lit only by a lamp above the door ahead.

She walked down the corridor at a slightly faster pace than she wanted, but she couldn't contain the anxiety in her chest. She wasn't afraid, she hardly ever was in those days, but she wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. It wasn't because she was stronger than an ordinary human that she was invincible. A bullet could still kill her, a knife, a bio-weapon, a terrorist...

She took a deep breath and opened the door, scanning the small room quickly and focusing her eyes on the next door. It looked like a small waiting room.

She walked quickly to get out of there. As soon as she opened the door, she felt a sense of relief when she saw the truck parked in the garage just ahead. It was a rather large garage, but it also looked abandoned.

But the moment she took the first step, her eyes widened and her heart raced as she saw the garage doors close. Sturdy iron doors. An alarm sounded, causing enormous discomfort in her ears.

She crouched down with her hands to her ears because of the noise, and concentrated to reduce her hearing capabilities.

"As expected... Krauser was right, I have to give him credit." A loud female voice echoed from the speaker, and Claire's eyes focused on the security camera in the corner of the garage.

"But... who the fuck are you? What do you want with me?" She asked angrily, her ears still ringing with uncomfortable sensations.

"In case you haven't noticed, this was all planned. You weren't sent to a laboratory, you were sent to a test site. And the fact that you broke the handcuff chains and got here proves our suspicions." Claire straightened her posture, her eyes still fixed on the security camera.

"Krauser... so he works for you. You must be that Alex." She said, running a hand across her chilled skin. This place was cold, and she wasn't exactly dressed for the weather.

"I can't go against your reasoning. Now, I recommend that you turn around and enter the facility. You won't be able to get out through these doors, and in case you're somehow more special than we anticipated, there are some explosives on the wall that will detonate the moment you leave." Claire shook her head, she knew her abilities.

How? She'd never used it in front of anyone but Sherry, and the times someone had seen it, the shock had been so great that many thought they were hallucinating.

Was someone monitoring her? Shery had mentioned that this Ghost had information about them... maybe he knew too... but then, did that mean he was working with Krauser?

It didn't make sense... if that was the case he would have taken her and Sherry with him at that moment...

"Oh, don't waste your time thinking too much. Krauser already suspected you long before his supposed death. Now go." Alex said, and the place fell silent.

So it was Krauser... how did he find out? She had never done anything unusual in his presence.

Well, it didn't matter, she had to get out of there.

Her eyes wandered to the garage doors, wondering inwardly whether she should try to force her way out with the truck or do what that woman had said... well, she had no reason to lie, and even if she did...

Argh, what the fuck.

She clucked her tongue in frustration and ran a hand through her hair. She didn't have much to do, her hands were tied.

She opened the door with some force, for fuck's sake! The whole situation was fucked up, and she had no idea how long it had been since then. Chris must have gone crazy, surely he must have been looking for her by now.

She walked down the corridor. Ahead was another door, to her right was a small corridor that led to a kind of garage, from what little she could see through the bars. With a sigh, she walked forward and tried to open the iron door. However, she was frustrated to see that the door was closed. She tried to force it, but as far as she knew, she still couldn't destroy concrete like an ordinary G-virus infected. Just to test this theory, she took a step back and kicked the door with all her might.

Surely made of some sturdy metal alloy, the door didn't even dent. Claire began to worry about that little moment when she had been unconscious during the journey there.

The last time she had been unconscious for a matter of minutes, she had been infected with a virus that had changed her DNA.

Turning around, she headed down the small corridor and into the "garage". The place had two floors, and there was a workbench next to the wall on her right. To her left, there was a handrail leading down to a ladder, where there was a type of table.

There was nothing much in the room. Apart from the strong smell of blood, and the dead body that had been stuck in the thorns on the table for some time. It was a torture device.

Claire turned her head to the side and left the room as soon as possible. She didn't want to think about what they were doing there.

She entered another area after passing through the door. She walked a few steps forward and turned left at the end of the corridor. Her eyes immediately went to a machine with blades all over it. On the floor, there was a certain path, the thing moved, but at the moment it was deactivated.

She bent down slightly and passed the object, noticing that in the corridor just ahead of her there was a machine just like it.

She walked to the center of the room and realized that this was the entrance to a prison. Behind her was a locked fence that led to locked gates. Straight ahead was the way to the prison cells and she could see the control room above.

What kind of place was that?

Claire took a step towards the locked gates. Apparently, that was the way out. The moment she touched the handle of the chain-link gate, she grunted loudly in pain and surprise as she felt an electric current spread sharply through her hand.

Her wide eyes alternated between the gate and the two machines with Blades that started spinning at incredible speed. If she approached, she would surely be cut in half.

The woman shook her injured hand. It hurt, but not that much, what made her grunt was a different sensation... it was strange, as if needles were running through her veins, but without the pain it would cause.

She simply shook her head and turned away. There was no way out at the moment, apparently, so, with no choice, she would have to go further into the prison. She hated it; she was being forced to follow a path that had already been planned in advance.

She entered the cell corridor. The light above the metal doors was red, and she could see movement inside the cells, as well as hear disgusting grunts and frightening breathing.

Whatever was in there, it wasn't human. Their hearts were beating strangely, and it seemed that some of them had more than one heart. Infected, for sure, which kind she didn't know yet.

Sighing, she began to climb the steps towards the control room above. As she entered, she noticed that the monitors and the system were still on.

She approached some of the monitors. There were cameras inside the cells, and the creatures she saw were bizarre. They were all humanoids, some larger than others, but if the quality of the cameras was any worse, they would just look like very strange people.

Next to the computer above the desk was an entry for a key. Above the entry was a piece of paper written "electrical panel". She alternated her gaze between the key entry, the monitors and the security system.

If she could get the key, she would be able to turn off those machines with those blades by switching off the power, and make her way down the now-blocked corridor. And it didn't take a genius to realize that the key was in one of those cells. Hell, maybe it was with one of those creatures.

She had to know which one.

Claire looked at the creatures inside. There were some very large ones... and she had the slight impression that the key would be with one of these infected.

Claire straightened her posture and tapped her vest a few times. She shook her head, slightly pleased to find what she wanted.

She left the control room and went back down the stairs until she reached the front of the cell of one of the infected. Crouching down, she took a small, very thin, transparent line and tied it to one of the pipes from one corner of the door to the other, attaching the grenade to the end of the line.

She got up again, went back to the control room and opened the infected man's cell. The sound of the door opening echoed loudly through the room, agitating the other infected who began banging on their metal doors.

The huge monster roared. It was at least two meters tall, burly, with bulging muscles. It was wearing old pants that were dirty with both dirt and blood. His bare torso bore a few scars and stitched wounds, and on his head was a kind of metal helmet with an elongated tip. In his hands, a huge axe. Too heavy for an ordinary human to use.

Claire left the control room and waited for the creature to leave the cell. The huge monster grunted, and as soon as it put its first foot out, the grenade pin was pulled out and the grenade exploded at its feet.

The monster staggered to the side and knelt down, using the handle of the huge axe as a support so it wouldn't fall.

Claire raised her rifle and started firing. The metal helmet protected it from her bullets, so she had no choice but to shoot its body.

The creature stood up, putting one of its arms in front of its body to protect itself. A muffled roar echoed through the room, and the monster tilted its body backwards and, with great force, launched the huge axe towards Claire.

The woman's eyes widened slightly and she threw her body to one side as she crouched, dodging the huge blade that would have decapitated her.

The infected began to run towards her, and after gritting her teeth slightly, she ran towards him.

As she approached, the woman leapt onto the railing beside her and, using her momentum, jumped over the monster that was already in the middle of the stairs.

She spins her body while still in the air and lands with her finger on the trigger of her rifle.

The monster advances towards her and tries to hit her with a kick. Claire dodges it by backflipping, and unloads the clip at the same time as stepping backwards.

She clicks her tongue when she sees that she has run out of bullets and the creature is still standing. She quickly reloaded her weapon, watching the monster run towards her.

The huge infected tried to grab her. However, Claire was quicker and dodged to the side, counterattacking by plunging her knife under the monster's exile. With a firm grip on her knife, she pushed the monster aside while kicking the back of its leg, sending the creature crashing to the ground.

Stepping heavily on the monster's back, she placed the barrel of the rifle against the back of the infected's head and pulled the trigger until the creature remained motionless.

She took a deep breath as she took two steps away from the infected. A sigh escaped her lips... this situation wasn't unusual, but... argh, everything was so complicated.

She crouched beside the infected man's body and checked him over. There was no key, nothing.

But of course it couldn't be that easy.

She turned and went back up to the control room. She didn't want to waste so much time opening the cells one by one, so she reloaded her rifle and opened four cells at once.

She ran and stood in front of the stairs. One more of that giant infected, and the other three were smaller, more like ordinary people.

They were dirty and bloodstained, with several wounds visible on what little bare skin there was. Those weren't wounds from fighting each other... they looked like torture wounds. It was sickening.

She grabbed the last grenade she had and threw it into the center of the room. The infected ran towards her, ignoring the noise the grenade made as it hit the ground.

The grenade exploded, causing the largest infected to stagger to the side, the closest one to be thrown back and the other two to stagger.

She raised her rifle and fired at the smaller ones, hitting them in the chest and head. The largest of the infected approached and tried to cut her in half with his axe, a vertical attack from top to bottom.

Claire dodged by throwing her torso to the side, and jumped over the railing, landing on the side of the stairs. She raised her rifle again and finished off the smaller infected. The woman's eyes widened slightly, and she crouched in reflex, dodging an attack from the infected's huge axe.

The woman put the rifle on her back and grabbed the two pistols she had, firing at the huge infected. The monster placed the axe in front of its torso as a form of protection as it approached.

Claire snorted and ran towards it. The monster attacked her again with the axe, and she dodged it by throwing herself to the ground and letting herself slide under the creature's legs.

She raised her arms and unloaded the pistol magazines into the infected's back, which staggered forward two steps. With a roar, the infected grabbed the handle of its axe with both arms and turned its body. A swift, powerful movement that would surely cut Claire in two.

The woman fell to the ground, hearing the air being cut off just above her body. Claire moved quickly and drove her knife into the side of the monster's knee, making it kneel on its stricken leg.

Quickly, she plunged her knife into the creature's neck, just below its metal helmet, and forcefully pushed it to the ground.

The infected was still alive, but wounded, and reloading her weapon, she stepped on the creature's back and shot it until it lay motionless.

She lowered her arms and gasped slightly, those things weren't hard to kill, but they were very resilient.

The woman crouched down again and checked the creature's body. Nothing.

She then checked the other bodies and found a scar on one of the smaller infected, a scar in the shape of a key. She snorted in disdain and picked up her knife. With strong movements, she began to cut into the creature's tainted skin and flesh. The blood was thick and black, and the smell was horrible, more than horrible to be honest. But after a few moments, she managed to get the key.

Back in the control room, she turned the key and switched off what was the power to the place, and the machines with those blades had stopped spinning, and the electrified gates had most likely been switched off too.

Good, she could get out of there now.

The woman went downstairs and ran her eyes quickly around the place, wanting to make sure that there was nothing and no one else there. Then she noticed a metal door that was still locked. There were no bars, nor any opening that could serve as a window to observe what was inside, but considering that she couldn't hear anything coming from inside the room, she just assumed that there was nothing there.

However, while she couldn't hear anything coming from that room, she could hear something coming from the corridor ahead. Claire raised her rifle and stood at attention, her heart pounding with anxiety.

The grunts were surely from some infected, the footsteps were heavy and she couldn't hear a heart.

The creature appeared in her line of sight. It was taller than a normal person, but smaller than the infected she had faced earlier. It walked in a curved manner, its arms were long and thin, and there was a huge claw at the end of its right arm. Its head was small, but the lack of flesh on the sides of its cheeks made its mouth appear larger than it actually was, a mouth decorated with sharp teeth.

The creature turned towards Claire. It wore shabby, old and dirty clothes, and the little that still resembled a human showed that this person had once been a woman.

The creature's eyes were small, but exactly like the eyes of creatures infected with the G-virus, yellow and slit-like.

Claire and the creature stared at each other for a few moments, until the creature roared and advanced towards the woman.

Claire's eyes widened in surprise, the thing was fast, and in a matter of moments it was in front of her with its arm raised to attack her. The woman dodged by throwing her body to the side, and gritted her teeth slightly as she saw the creature's claw destroy the concrete of the floor.

She fired at the infected, which ignored her shots and tried to attack her again. An attack with the back of its claw, which Claire dodged by throwing her torso backwards and taking a few steps away.

She raised her rifle and fired again, only to be forced to dodge a piercing attack, so strong that the creature's claw smashed into the wall.

The woman countered by plunging one of her knives into the side of the creature's head and kicking it backwards, taking her distance. The creature staggered back two steps but attacked again. It was a fierce monster, and it attacked with ferocity.

The creature tried a slashing horizontal attack, which Claire dodged by crouching down. However, the monster didn't give her time to react and tried to punch her with its other arm, and in reflex, Claire jumped to the side, avoiding the attack that cracked the concrete of the wall.

What the fuck was that thing? It was a question that crossed her mind only briefly. From the wound on the side of the infected's head, a tentacle emerged and advanced towards Claire. The tentacle was fast and had a mouth at the end with small but sharp teeth.

This took Claire by surprise, and she was bitten on her forearm as she shielded her face.

A grunt rose from her throat, and with her knife, she slashed the creature's tentacle with a swift strike.

The bite wound stung a little, her forearm tingled, but the sensation soon faded and she fired once more at the creature while backing away.

The creature roared once more and leapt towards the wall, climbing the concrete as quickly and skillfully as a Licker. As it climbed a few meters, the creature advanced fiercely towards Claire, who jumped to the side, dodging the attack.

The infected stood up and, from its back, a kind of tail, a tail with a sharp claw at its tip, advanced towards Claire in a piercing attack.

The woman gritted her teeth. The attack was fast, very fast, and she grunted in pain as she felt the claw pierce the side of her torso. Blood oozed from her wound and dripped to the ground.

The woman grunted angrily and grabbed the tail, pulling the creature hard towards her. When the distance decreased, she dodged a vertical attack and plunged her knife into the creature's chest. Without giving the infected any time to react, she raised her body and drove her blade into the thing's head, kicking the creature away.

The monster took a step back and quickly turned its body, hitting the woman's body with the back of its fist, then leaping towards her.

Claire held the creature's head, preventing it from biting her, but soon moans of pain escaped her mouth as she felt the tentacles that came out of the back of the thing's head bite into the side of her arm, tearing off small pieces of flesh.

Claire screamed in rage and threw the creature hard to the ground. Quickly, she plunged her knife into the creature's mouth, forcing its mouth open, and finally, Claire placed the barrel of her rifle inside the creature's mouth and pulled the trigger, unloading her clip down the monster's throat.

The creature roared and attacked Claire in the side of her body, an attack so strong that it sent the woman flying to the side, and she grunted as she felt her body drag on the ground.

The woman stood up quickly, ignoring the pain spreading through her body. The creature in front of her roared, and several tentacles flailed violently from the damage caused.

Claire raised her rifle, but something beside her caught her eye. Her eyes focused on the handle of the huge axe that was lying on the ground.

Raising the weapon, she ran towards the creature and, before the infected could do anything, anything at all, in one swift movement, she decapitated it. The axe was too heavy and large to be used efficiently, but for execution, it was a perfect weapon.

The creature's body fell to the ground, blood dripping with intensity, but despite this, the body was still struggling, the tentacles moving as if in some kind of frenzy.

Not wanting to give the creature any more chances, she turned her body and raised the axe above her head, moving the blade downwards with extreme force and speed.

Claire gasped a few times with her hands still on the axe handle. She grunted in relief and pain as she saw the creature's body remain motionless.

She looked at her wounds, they burned, tingled, caused a strange sensation... what was that creature? What was it infected with?

"The result is as expected." Alex's voice echoed through the room again. And Claire looked at a nearby camera. "It was one of our prototypes. This infected only fought you because he was ordered to."

Claire shook her head.

"You want to control infected? Then you don't work with Albert." She said, checking the ammunition she still had. It was running out faster than she thought.

"My brother's a fool... you have an incredible body, Miss Claire. You'll make a great replacement." The woman said, and Claire made a confused face.

"Replacement?"

"You'll see." Alex said, and at that very moment, the metal door that had previously been closed opened.

Claire turned around quickly, eyes wide and rifle raised. The metal door opened slowly, revealing some people still healthy inside.

The people were wearing clean hospital clothes... they hadn't been there long. They had been put there...

Claire looked around once more before approaching at a fast pace.

"Are you all right?" She asked as she approached, there was a woman, two children and a man in there. A small family, it seemed.

She saw them cringe as she approached.

"No, no, I'm not going to hurt you, okay?!" She exclaimed, raising her arms high in the air and slowing her steps.

"Can you walk?" She asked, crouching down at the entrance to the cell. The man stepped forward, his frightened eyes fixed on hers.

"Y-yes... yes..." He said quietly, the scars on his body showing that he had also been the target of some torture... or, perhaps, some kind of experiment that required some physical trauma.

"Good... I'll help you get out of here, okay? We-" She felt her body lock up, something move in her throat.

Her eyes went wide, the corners of her vision turned red, her veins turned dark, standing out against her pale skin. She felt as if something was moving through her body, as if worms were crawling through her head.

And then, she felt her body move, she saw her body move as if she were a spectator of her own actions.

A voice echoed low in her head, a kind of whisper in her mind.

She tried to scream as her hand wrapped around the man's neck. She opened her mouth in terror as her body broke his neck. And she watched in horror as she shot the woman and the children.

Tears streamed down her expressionless face, and she walked out of that cell with coordinated steps, as if she were some kind of robot, as if she were being... controlled.

And with that thought, she snapped out of her trance. Her wide eyes immediately went to her hands, and then, still reluctant, she looked back. Blood now stained the cell.

Her stomach churned and she could no longer stand up. Her body bent forward and she vomited what was in her stomach.

"Your body is strong... you're fighting my virus... it happened on the plane while you were unconscious... and it's happened again now. I was able to take control of you for just a few brief moments." She could hardly pay attention to the woman's voice, her body was trembling, her hands were still numb.

"You're special, Miss Claire. The key to what I want... and I can't let you go."


I felt that Claire deserved a chapter all to herself.