Ten minutes earlier.

The Gamma captain halted as they came upon an intersection. "Beta's target is down that way. If anyone else has survived down here…"

"Then that's our best chance of finding the commander. Yeah, I think we find McNally, if you're game."

The captain paused. "That was a lot of blood in that lab. And those guys in the back…something's being fed from in there." The man sighed. "Segers, I heard on the flight that Delta stopped a Tyrant from overrunning your unit. Is she actively hostile?"

Segers opened his mouth, then closed it again. "Sir, she flipped Davies like it was nothing."

"Yeah, and I been thinking about that. Between what you said and the order, it kind of sounds like you guys were just something in the way there. This BOW's been quiet since we got down here, but we might trip over it at any minute." Why would Delta run here?

"You didn't see her face," Segers said. "She's one of them. The pictures in that lab were- " he broke off getting frustrated. "Everything about this mission is getting crazier by the second. I haven't even bothered to worry about that - " he pointed to the black material all over the walls, "and we probably really fucking should." he exhaled noisily. "And fucking Alfred Ashford is still fucking alive in here somewhere."

The captain stared at him. "We had no warning about a rogue BOW," he said slowly. "The contact contacted us less than a day ago. If the T-virus was loose - and we knew that it was - there's a protocol for dealing with it. And there's all of this shit everywhere, as you put it. A lot of things changed all at once here."

Segers listened with increasing concern. "You think McNally set us up?"

"I think it'd be unwise for both of us to corner the bastard right now until we can definitively say no to that," the captain said. "Beyond that, I got no fucking clue. Do you think you can put up a defensive position in that lab, if I can bring him out?" he laughed nervously at Seger's face. "We may, ah, have to run."

Segers had followed his orders, and left the captain to go roust McNally out of his hidey-hole and get his ass out of this hellhole. He backtracked the few minutes back to that old lab, gun drawn against a phantom monster that never appeared - then stopped, listening hard. Someone was rustling around in there. Soft footfalls approached the open door. He glanced down, noting that someone had been sick out here in the corridor, the mess already starting to freeze.

'Delta' stepped out, hooded and wearing a gaiter mask. She was looking the other way towards the elevator, seeming as at ease as if she were in her own living room.

Well, fuck, Segers though sourly, so much for not engaging. He cocked the hammer on his weapon. The loud click it made had the satisfying result of making Delta whirl around, going still with what he presumed was surprise. "Hello, 'Delta'," he said, keeping his weapon trained at her head. "I think it's time we had a little chat."

Delta blinked, then held her hands out where they were out in front of her, but not quite raised. "Another bloody codename. You were on Rockfort," she said, voice low. "You're not going to kill me. That wouldn't be the order, no matter how angry I made him on Rockfort."

She said it as a cool statement of fact, like she'd checked a balance of accounting and confirmed that yes, her life was still something of tangible value here. Segers adjusted his aim to her midsection. "I saw the aftermath of all of that. Bet you take about as long to heal if it's nasty enough."

Something tightened in Delta's expression. There was just a touch of fear there now. "I didn't do that to the team back there," she said gesturing behind her. "I saw what did."

"And the commander? You go for round two?"

Delta gave a short laugh. "Here? That?" She gestured behind her at the remains of carnage. "No. That…I don't have a lot of real combat training. I think he tried to rush it and got hit." Her mouth firmed. "He's alive, if that makes you feel any better. It was supposed to be sealed in that room, and it's not, so I think whoever released it collected your commander."

Segers gave her a hard stare. Delta was making no moves to rush him. "Where the fuck were you that you know all of this?"

"Hiding, mostly." She glanced back into the room, looking nauseated. She winced a little, looking at Segers. "Ah - there was one still alive back there a minute ago. His heart just stopped."

Segers stared a moment longer, then clicked the hammer back and lowered it. "Lady, I'm pretty pissed at you, but I got orders not to be an idiot - assuming you didn't take another run at the source of those orders. You gonna take a swipe at me, or can we get the fuck away from the butcher's block?"

"We? I'm not going back," she replied abruptly. "And I'm not going anywhere near that other man if I can help it. It'll only make things worse, I'm almost sure of it. The cameras were tracking Beta right before it took them apart."

"Yeah, no, I saw what you did to Davies, kindly fucking do not." Huh. She might actually be a civilian, but she was still fucking dangerous. "What the fuck are you doing down here, then, scavenging?"

Delta watched him for a long moment. In the low light, the woman's eyes were reflective, like an animal's. She seemed to be doing a quick calculation. "Your hands are steady."

"Sorry I'm not shaking in my boots for you, here," he retorted.

That seemed to amuse Delta. "You probably should be, but that wasn't my point. This corridor is exposed, and we're on camera. It's actively hunting - at this point I think it's pure territorial aggression. I'm getting off this floor. Do what you want."

"Can't you stop it?"

Delta had started to turn away from him, but halted at the words. "I don't know," she said. "I ran away and hid from it, the last time."

Segers opened his mouth to ask more questions, but an echoing scream shattered the eerie silence of the halls, followed by the sound of something inhuman. The scream was cut short abruptly. "Fuck," he hissed. The Gamma captain's luck had just ran out.

Delta looked at him. "If you're quite finished threatening to shoot me, I have somewhere I need to go. Stay here, and you'll be next. Follow if you want. Your choice." With that she turned and started down the corridor at a fast walk towards the elevator.

Cursing, Segers jogged to catch up.

At least he was getting off of this level, anyhow.

Marigold listened as the man scurried to keep up. "What were you doing in there? Seems like you really know your way around."

"Maps are grand," she said, voice dry. "I'm not the one trespassing."

"Be glad it's not a bullet after what you put Davies through."

Marigold stopped, annoyed. Her eyes flicked over his name badge. "Segers, is it? We're probably the last living nummy treats left out in the open for the thing that's actually been killing your men. Kindly stow the threats for later and shut it." She turned on her heel and kept walking.

Segers was quiet for a few moments, but couldn't seem to be able to keep it in. "How do you know what happened, if you were hiding?" She ignored the question. The labyrinth of corridors in here all went in the same direction towards the exit, but they could still be cut off. Segers persisted. "There was a picture of you in that lab. Looked like you, anyhow. You're one of then, aren't you."

"You seemed to have a pretty good idea of the answer to that in Rockfort. Don't be coy on my account." She turned her head, listening hard for the skitter of the creature's legs. "I doubt your radio is secure, by the way, if he's not picking up. He's not conscious. Not dead either." she cleared her throat, the sound turning into a cough.

Segers voice turned suspicious. "Are you sick?" His voice held a tinge of worry.

"Allergies. The air's full of spores."

"Think we got antihistamines on the jet."

"Oh, I see we're trying for funny, well done." Marigold rolled her eyes. "At least I'm fighting them off, rather than just absorbing them like a sponge."

Segers stopped again, and Marigold groaned. "Come on, if you're coming."

He was staring at the hyphae with renewed interest. "Spores from these?" What the hell are they anyhow?" He looked back at her, uncertain. "So you're a cousin or something? Is that why you went after our unit?"

"Your survival instincts are awful, do you realize that?" Marigold snapped. Shoving the mask down, she swiped a hand over her mouth in frustration, replacing it before she pressed the tips of her fingers to the hyphae on the wall next to her. The tendril shrank back, turning white and shrivelling. The whole corridor seems to shudder. Segers stilled, and seemed to pale. "What the fuck did you just do?" His voice had gone small.

"Annoy a virologist, mostly. These things like me about as much as I like them, but they're useful. Still feel comfortable making idle threats, or can we get out of here?" The last words came out in a hiss. "It can't see, but we're announcing ourselves with every minute you need to chat in its hunting ground."

She started walking again, faster now. Running would lead to panic, and it was on the move. Staying sharp was more important than speed, here in the dark. She drew one of her sidearms, just in case. They walked in silence before they stopped again, not twenty feet before the frozen massacre. Really looking at it now turned her stomach all over again. "Very glad I already threw up earlier," she said quietly.

Something moved up ahead, suspended from the ceiling. It had hauled a body up into the corner of the ceiling, taking its time to feed.

Oh god no, Marigold thought numbly, feeling the panic begin to lock her muscles once more. Segers looked at her and began to ask, "What-" before she slapped a hand over his mouth. "It found us," she said quietly. Segers' eyes went wide. She wasn't sure how much he could see in the darkness, but the shape of the spidery form climbing down from the ceiling must have been clear enough. "Don't do anything foolish."

"Al…Fred?" The creature rasped, finding its footing on the slippery floor. "A…Lexia."

"No," Marigold said, very softly. Segers looked at her sharply. "Not here." The creature began to move down the hall toward them with heavy steps. She tensed, firing a shot at its feet while pushing at it to go away in a wall of negation. She forced her voice into something stern. "What did I say about pissing off the men with guns?" She fired another round at a spidery leg that was reaching forward. It seemed almost curious, in a reptilian way. It flinched back, using the legs to skitter off into a side corridor.

"Let's move," Marigold said, voice going flat. "Please. I don't know how long that will work." The minute tremor in her hands was back again, and getting worse. When she took his arm, Segers offered little resistance as he stared off into the dark where the creature had gone.

Segers stared after the creature. Delta had held it off - pretty easily, from what he could see - but there had been a look in her eye like the guys who had seen their first BOW on that island only a few short days ago. This was the same woman who had held off a Tyrant without hesitation, maybe a day ago.

Still, in this confined space, the creature had made short work of an entire team, and the commander was still MIA. Inexperience and the gore combined might cause that kind of panic. Segers allowed himself be led away as the creature rustled its chitinous limbs from a safe distance. It spoke once more as they moved away from it down the corridor, and he felt Delta's hand tighten when the word drifted down towards them.

"Mari?"