The convoy rolled to a stop outside the entrance of Black Eden Facility Two.
The mountain towered above them.
The steel blast doors were half buried beneath rock and vines.
One thing was obvious.
Someone...
Had opened them recently.
Colonel Graves raised his binoculars.
"No movement."
Breddy wasn't convinced.
"There never is."
Raven looked at him.
"You thinking the same thing?"
He nodded.
"Someone's watching us."
The soldiers spread out, securing the area.
Breddy unclipped the military radio from his black Walmart AP tactical vest.
"Ethan..."
He pressed the transmit button.
"This is Breddy."
Static.
Only static.
He tried again.
"Ethan."
"If you can hear me..."
"We're outside."
Several seconds passed.
Nothing.
Then—
SSSHHHH...
The radio crackled.
A familiar voice answered.
"...Breddy..."
He smiled.
"Ethan!"
Raven immediately moved closer.
"We heard your transmission."
"We came for you."
There was a long silence.
Then Ethan spoke again.
His voice sounded exhausted.
"You shouldn't have."
Breddy's expression hardened.
"What happened?"
Another pause.
Then—
"Everything."
Deep underground...
Ethan sat against a damaged control console.
His clothes were torn.
Fresh wounds covered his arms.
Around him...
The laboratory was in ruins.
Broken containment pods lined the walls.
Some...
Were empty.
Back outside...
Breddy gripped the radio tighter.
"Ethan..."
"Talk to me."
"What happened after the laboratory collapsed?"
Ethan took a slow breath.
"The explosion didn't kill everything."
"It woke something else."
Raven exchanged a worried look with Breddy.
Ethan continued.
"The First Failure..."
"...wasn't the strongest experiment."
Breddy's heart sank.
"What do you mean?"
"Black Eden wasn't trying to make zombies."
"They were trying to create the perfect human."
"They kept experimenting."
"They kept failing."
"Until..."
"...they made something worse."
The radio suddenly filled with heavy breathing.
Then...
A distant roar echoed through Ethan's microphone.
Not a zombie.
Something deeper.
Older.
Hungrier.
Ethan whispered,
"It's here..."
Breddy immediately stepped toward the laboratory entrance.
"Ethan!"
"Where are you?"
"I'll come to you."
"No!"
Ethan shouted.
"You have to listen."
"If that thing reaches the surface..."
"...the outbreak you've been fighting..."
"...will look small."
The entire convoy fell silent.
Even Colonel Graves lowered his weapon.
Breddy spoke calmly.
"Tell me where you are."
Ethan answered.
"Level Omega."
The words hit Breddy immediately.
He reached into his vest and pulled out the Level Omega keycard Ethan had given him.
"I still have it."
Ethan laughed weakly.
"I knew you would."
"But listen carefully..."
"Whatever happens..."
"Don't trust everyone wearing a Black Shield uniform."
Colonel Graves slowly turned toward Breddy.
"...What did he just say?"
Before Breddy could answer—
The radio erupted with static.
Gunfire echoed through the speaker.
Then Ethan yelled,
"MOVE!"
A deafening explosion shook the transmission.
The signal cut out.
Silence.
Breddy's grip tightened around the radio.
"Ethan?"
No response.
Raven stepped beside him.
She rested a hand on his shoulder.
"We'll find him."
Breddy looked toward the dark entrance of Black Eden Facility Two.
His scar caught the morning sunlight.
He chambered a round into his rifle.
"Nobody gets left behind."
The massive blast doors slowly creaked open on their own.
Darkness waited inside.
- Into Omega -
The massive blast doors groaned open.
CRRRRRR...
Cold air rushed from the darkness.
Breddy tightened the straps on his black Walmart AP tactical vest.
His rifle was ready.
Raven checked the magazine in hers.
Colonel Graves raised a hand.
"Black Shield."
"Move in."
Before the soldiers could take a step...
Breddy held out his arm.
"No."
The Colonel frowned.
"You questioning my orders?"
Breddy looked into the darkness.
"Ethan warned us."
"If we rush in..."
"We're dead."
Raven stepped beside him.
"He's right."
"We clear every room."
"No shortcuts."
Graves hesitated.
Then nodded.
"Proceed."
---
The squad entered slowly.
Flashlights cut through the darkness.
The facility looked...
Perfect.
The white floors shined.
The walls were spotless.
The lights still worked.
There wasn't a single drop of blood.
No bodies.
No zombies.
Nothing.
Tyler whispered,
"This place is cleaner than Walmart."
Breddy looked around.
"I don't like it."
Raven nodded.
"It's too quiet."
---
The team moved deeper into the facility.
Every hallway looked exactly the same.
Rows of laboratories.
Glass observation rooms.
Locked security doors.
Everything appeared untouched.
Then...
A loud metallic clang echoed above them.
CLANG!
Everyone looked up.
Nothing.
Mason laughed nervously.
"Probably just old pipes."
Another clang.
Closer.
CLANG!
Then silence.
---
Without warning...
One of the Black Shield soldiers disappeared.
One second...
He was there.
The next...
Gone.
His flashlight rolled across the floor.
The entire squad froze.
"Where did he go?"
Nobody answered.
Only his rifle remained.
Still lying on the ground.
Breddy slowly picked it up.
"He didn't walk away..."
"He was taken."
---
A deep growl echoed through the ventilation system.
The ceiling tiles shifted.
Raven immediately raised her rifle.
"There!"
A pale figure dropped from the ceiling.
It wasn't a zombie.
Its body was lean and muscular.
Its skin was almost white.
Its eyes glowed bright blue.
Before anyone could react...
It slammed into another soldier and disappeared into the shadows.
The screams lasted only seconds.
Then...
Silence.
Colonel Graves shouted,
"OPEN FIRE!"
Gunshots filled the hallway.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
The creature moved faster than the bullets.
It ran across the walls.
Across the ceiling.
Vanishing every time someone aimed at it.
Breddy watched carefully.
"...It's learning."
Raven looked at him.
"You see a pattern?"
He nodded.
"It attacks from blind spots."
"Watch each other's backs."
The two moved together without another word.
Back to back.
Covering every angle.
The creature lunged again.
This time...
Breddy was ready.
He ducked beneath its claws.
BOOM!
His shotgun blasted the creature into a laboratory window.
Before it could recover...
Raven fired three controlled shots.
Each round struck its shoulder.
The creature shrieked and retreated into a ventilation shaft.
It was wounded...
But alive.
---
Silence returned.
Everyone stood breathing heavily.
Mason stared at Breddy.
"That..."
"...wasn't a zombie."
Breddy shook his head.
"No."
"It was hunting us."
---
The squad finally reached a massive reinforced blast door.
Stamped across it in faded red letters were the words:
OMEGA SECTOR
Everyone stopped.
Breddy slowly reached into his vest.
He removed Ethan's Level Omega keycard.
Colonel Graves looked at him.
"This is it."
Breddy inserted the card.
ACCESS GRANTED
Heavy locks disengaged one by one.
CLUNK...
CLUNK...
CLUNK...
The enormous doors slowly opened.
Inside...
Rows upon rows of cryogenic chambers stretched farther than anyone could see.
Hundreds of them.
Most were empty.
Some still contained sleeping human figures.
Tyler whispered,
"...How many people did they experiment on?"
Nobody answered.
Breddy's flashlight landed on one pod standing alone in the center of the room.
Unlike the others...
Its life-support system was still active.
A layer of frost covered the glass.
Only one word could be read through the ice.
PROJECT PHOENIX
Breddy stepped closer.
"...Who are you?"
Before anyone could investigate...
A loud mechanical voice echoed throughout the chamber.
«"Unauthorized personnel detected."»
«"Omega Sector lockdown initiated."»
The blast doors behind them slammed shut.
BOOOOM!
The lights instantly turned blood red.
Every cryogenic chamber in the room began to beep.
One...
Then another...
Then dozens.
Something inside them...
...was beginning to wake up.