In a panic, all the agents burst through the door and began sprinting towards the exit. Charles took a detour to the weapon room.
The artillery room was bathed in harsh fluorescent light, rows upon rows of weapons gleaming like steel teeth. He went straight to the specialized weapons section, his footsteps echoing against cold concrete floors. Since the outbreak of this infectious bacteria, people had become aggressive, attacking one another as if trying to satiate a vicious hunger as they feasted on civilians.
The code name for these people who had reached Stage V of the infection were Undead. They were to be gunned down immediately.
"Hey Charles, I knew you'd be here. Haha."
Charles turned his cold gaze to the entrance of the artillery room. A decently built soldier named Elias stood there, his shadow stretching long across the floor.
'Urgh, Elias. He's a well kept guy but he's always sticking around me. Such a nuisance.'
Though that was his initial thought, he enjoyed Elias's company from time to time. It made him realize he wasn't the only one with a drive to save humanity, for whatever that was worth now.
"So I see you're suiting up." Elias smiled and began packing his own bag full of supplies.
Charles grabbed military rations, loads of ammo, and plenty of handguns. He found them convenient, though they got lost easily. Having more than one on hand always seemed sufficient. The metallic smell of gun oil filled his nostrils as he worked, methodical and precise.
His fingers closed around a specialized pistol with an incredible fire rate. Not only that, it had a special kind of bullet. When shot, the bullet spread out four wing-like blades that shredded the target's insides just the same as a real explosive would.
But the gun Charles wanted more was the prototype of a new kind of weapon. It had no name yet. It was a long rod and incredibly heavy, the weight of it solid in his grip. The end of the gun was rectangular, the scope was large. It would be impossible to miss. Not only that, but the bullets were larger than his whole hand.
They were long too. But the downside was there were only 15 bullets of this special sniper, meaning every shot would count.
Elias grabbed similar armory to Charles. After the two were done gearing up, they made sure to put on bulletproof shoulder pads as well as knee and chest pads.
the kevlar pressing tight against their bodies before running back out of the room and straight to the exit.
"So what do you think will happen? My gut feeling is that the outbreak of Stage Five has already spread all throughout Greenland."
Charles scoffed, his breath misting slightly in the cold air.
"We'll be fine. I just have to go against the Head Agent's orders and get the hell out of here."
The two emerged from the Base and were met by an oddly eerie sound. Crows and different kinds of birds alike were turning the sky into an ocean of black, writhing feathers. Their caws were deafening, desperate, as if they too knew what was coming. The air itself felt wrong.
Heavy with the stench of decay carried on an unnatural wind.
"What the hell...?" Elias said with a nervous expression, his face pale beneath the darkened sky.
Charles had a premonition and couldn't help but worry for Lucy. His stomach twisted into knots.
Before Charles could get a car, however, he heard a grueling scream from behind the armored walls around the gate.
As a matter of fact, it wasn't just one scream. It was multiple, or at least it sounded that way. They were agonizing, raw and wet, as if vocal cords were being shredded with each cry. The sound clawed at his ears.
Charles immediately darted off toward the control room of the armored gate.
"Wait, Charles!" Elias tried to stop him but there was no use. Charles had put his mind to something and when he does that, it means he'll get it done no matter what.
Charles entered the control room and was hit by a foul stench, yet it was terrifyingly familiar.
It was overwhelming. The stench of opened bowels, of meat left to rot, of copper and bile and something else, something chemical and wrong. It made his eyes water, made his throat close up. He pressed his hand to his mouth, fighting the urge to vomit.
He glanced down toward the smell too a grueling sight.
The corpse of a guard lay sprawled across the floor in a pool of congealing blood that looked almost black in the dim light. The guard had been completely devoured to the point where his insides were spilling out onto the floor like discarded rope, glistening and purple-grey. Ribs jutted out at odd angles, white bone stark against red flesh. It looked as if someone had been feasting on him, tearing chunks away with bare hands and teeth.
Charles quickly slammed the button to open the gate, the mechanism groaning to life. He rushed through the door.
Another sight awaited him. Compellingly grueling.
It was an agent. She was being devoured by a Stage V. Code name: Undead.
The creature hunched over her like a grotesque parody, its jaw unhinged impossibly wide as it tore into her stomach. Wet, tearing sounds filled the air. Slick. Organic. The agent's eyes were still moving, still aware, tears streaming down her blood-splattered face.
Without hesitation, Charles pulled out his handgun and fired.
The bullet struck true.
The creature screamed. Completely distorted and inhuman. It was high pitched, like metal scraping against metal amplified a thousand times. It felt as if his eardrums were being destroyed from the inside and out. The sound vibrated through his skull, through his teeth, through his very bones. It was agonizing. It made him actually wonder how a singular virus could do anything like this.
Despite the agony, the scream stopped. He opened his eyes, his vision swimming with black spots.
The creature had escaped, leaving a trail of bloody footprints and something darker.
He turned his gaze to the girl who had been devoured. She was mumbling something under her breath over and over and over nonstop, like she was in some kind of trance. Her lips moved mechanically, puppet-like. Not to mention her eyes. They were widened as if they were going to pop out of her eyelids.
"H-hey, uh, you alright?"
Charles approached the girl after releasing a heavy sigh. His hands were shaking, though whether from adrenaline or fear, he couldn't tell.
He couldn't tell if he was relieved he didn't have to fight that thing or terrified it might come back and strike him from behind. Every shadow suddenly seemed menacing.
"Hello... Ma'am!"
"Charles!"
Elias came running toward him, his boots pounding against concrete. Charles had completely forgotten that he left Elias behind. It would've been on him if he got killed.
'Crap, I can't afford to be careless.'
Elias arrived in front of the girl as well and gently placed his hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright, ma'am? We're going to get you to safety."
But she immediately tried to bite his hand on impact, her teeth snapping together with an audible click. Her chanting got louder, more frantic.
"DON'T LOOK."
"DON'T LOOK."
She repeated it over and over, screaming it with that exactly same high pitch scream as before that made Charles' skin crawl. Her voice cracked and broke, raw and desperate. Spittle flew from her lips, tinged pink with blood.
"Argh, I think she's turning!" Elias said, covering his ears from the noise, stumbling backwards. His face had gone white.
"DON'T LOOK."
"DON'T LOOOOOK."
Her voice began to distort, deepening and warping like a record played at the wrong speed. Her body puffed up as if being filled with something, her skin stretching tight and translucent. Veins bulged black beneath the surface, spreading like cracks in porcelain.
Then her eyes exploded from their sockets.
The sound was wet. Blood and vitreous fluid sprayed everywhere, warm droplets spattering across Charles' face. Before her skin did the same. Flaps of skin flew everywhere, revealing the corrupted muscle and bone beneath. The smell was indescribable. Sulfurous. Rotting. Revolting.
Charles felt bile rise in his throat. This wasn't supposed to happen. Not like this. Not to another agent.
"F-forgive me..."
Charles pointed his specialized pistol toward the creature's head right before it could advance to Stage V. His hand was steady now. He had made his choice. There was no saving her. There never had been.
He took the shot.
The bullet entered just above where the bridge of her nose used to be. The back of her skull erupted outward in a shower of brain matter and bone fragments.
The once human girl screamed out one more time. It was agonizingly loud, piercing through the air like a siren. A cry for help that would never be answered. A final moment of desperate, terrified humanity trapped in a body that was no longer her own.
But it stopped as her lips moved one last time. She whispered, barely audible beneath the ringing in his ears:
"Thank you..."
Before falling to the ground to accept her fate, her body crumpling like a puppet with its strings cut. Blood pooled beneath her, spreading slowly across the concrete, reflecting the darkened sky above.
Charles stood there, gun still raised, staring at what he had done. At what he had been forced to do. His chest felt tight. His breathing shallow.
Elias stood beside him, pale and shaking. Neither of them spoke for a long moment.
The crows continued to scream overhead, their shadows dancing across the ground like dark omens.
"We need to move," Charles finally said, his voice hoarse.
'Lucy's still out there.'
Elias nodded slowly, unable to tear his eyes away from the body.
Charles holstered his weapon and turned toward the parking area. His mind was already racing ahead, calculating routes, survival odds, time remaining. Two hours. He had two hours to get Lucy and her kids out of Greenland before everything turned to ash.
He wouldn't let them become like that girl.
[ 2 HOURS AND 38 MINUTES REMAINING ]