Lorenzo gave a dismissive snort, as if he had seen through what she was thinking, but he still cooperated and continued working.
Soon, several more unsettling messages appeared on the screen.
[//Level B7: Cryogenic Biological Sample Repository. Status: Maintaining Special Activity. Codes: Alpha to Delta.]
[//Warning: Abnormal metabolic activity detected in sample tissue. Non-dormant state.]
[//Protocol: Unauthorized access will trigger ultimate decontamination measures.]
"Cryogenic Sample Repository, abnormal metabolism, non-dormant state..." Bossie had returned to the group at some point. He repeated the words in a low voice, his expression grave. "Whatever's frozen down there might not be dead."
A chill crawled up everyone's spine.
Sentinel Station was a facility researching the virus. What kind of biological samples would they freeze?
The team bypassed Levels B5 and B6 entirely and headed straight for Level B7 first.
According to the fire escape map on the wall, B7 was the lowest level of Sentinel Station.
The temperature in the passage leading to Level B7 dropped sharply. Thick, dust-laced ice crystals began covering the metal walls.
Calista's nose had turned red from the cold.
She sniffed, quickly pulled a pair of tactical gloves from her pocket, and put them on. Every breath she took came out as a thick white mist, rolling and fading in the beam of her headlamp.
"Fuck, I feel like my blood's about to freeze," Turner cursed under his breath, hunching his shoulders and pulling his collar higher. The rifle stock against his shoulder felt like a block of ice.
"Wow. Cryogenic Sample Repository. Name says it all." Bossie's voice remained calm, but his breathing had clearly grown heavier. "Stay alert. Extreme environments usually mean extreme... contents."
At the front, Carver gave a hand signal, indicating they had reached the bottom.
At the end of the stairs stood another heavy alloy door covered in white frost. The writing on the sign was blurred, but still barely legible: [B7 - Cryogenic Biological Sample Repository. Authorized Personnel Only. Extremely High Biohazard Risk.]
There was no electronic lock on the door. Instead, it had an enormous mechanical wheel, now frozen solid by the frost.
Carver and Mike had to work together, muscles straining, before they managed to force open a narrow gap in the door that seemed fused to the wall of ice.
An even sharper cold than the passage outside rushed out at once, mixed with an indescribable sickly-sweet, bloody smell.
Everyone shivered despite themselves and squeezed one by one through the gap they had opened.
Behind the door was an immense space, even more shocking than the central hall above.
The ceiling was astonishingly high, its dome swallowed by darkness and freezing mist.
Filling the entire space were hundreds of huge cylindrical metal cryogenic chambers, arranged in neat rows.
Most of the chamber indicator lights had gone out. Thick frost covered the observation windows, making it impossible to see inside.
But some of the cryogenic chambers were still stubbornly running.
Their door indicators flickered with faint green or yellow light, and the frost on their observation windows was thinner.
"Jesus Christ," Carver muttered.
Calista signaled for the team to spread out and stay alert, then slowly walked toward one of the chambers that was still running.
She wiped away the frost and condensation blocking the observation window with her gloved hand.
Then Calista saw it.
What was trapped behind the transparent reinforced glass was not the tissue sample she had imagined, nor a sleeping animal.
It was a humanoid creature.
Or rather, it had once been human.
Its body was twisted and swollen. Muscle fibers bulged and knotted like twisted steel bars, tearing the ruined restraint suit on its body into scraps.
Its skin was the blue-black of a walker, covered in thick, raised purple-black veins that looked as if something alive were writhing inside them.
Its ten fingers had mutated. The finger bones were sharp and elongated, ending in black, hook-like claws.
Most horrifying of all, its shoulder blades, elbow joints, and parts of its spine were covered in a rough, newly formed grayish-white keratinous exoskeleton, like some kind of unfinished armor.
The creature's face was hideous. Its jaw hung open as if torn apart, revealing saw-like fangs, and its eye sockets were hollow.
"Holy shit!" Mike sucked in a sharp breath. The cold air seemed to freeze his lungs.
Daryl moved closer to another lit chamber. The frozen mutant inside had slightly different details.
He was deeply shaken. "I've seen countless animals out in the wild, but nothing like this..."
Shane's face was ashen. He spoke through gritted teeth. "This isn't natural. It's more disgusting than the walkers. We have to destroy them."
"Calm down, Shane!" Calista snapped, though her voice carried a faint tremor she could not fully control.
She could not pull her eyes away from the mutated walker. In her mind, the "Wildfire" experimental vaccine and the coordinates in France flashed by like lightning.
Was this where "Wildfire" had ultimately been heading?
Just how deeply had Silas Norton been involved?
"Danny!" Calista suddenly turned around. "Record everything. Every cryogenic chamber still running, the condition inside, the external markings, every detail. Film it and store it all. We're taking this data back. Dr. Jenner needs to analyze it immediately."
Calista had to know the truth. She had to know whether there was some terrifying connection between the Project Wildfire that had created these monsters and the experimental Wildfire vaccine inside her own body.
Damn it. She was not going to mutate into this thing, was she?
"Copy!" Danny forced down the horror in his chest, immediately took out a high-resolution camera and scanner, and began working with extreme care.
While everyone's attention was locked on the horror beyond comprehension before them, Lorenzo, under Leah's close watch, had a nearly sickly flush of excitement on his face.
His burning gaze swept over every cryogenic chamber that was still running. Then he suddenly noticed the crimson eyeball of the mutant inside one chamber move.
At the same time, its claws began twitching slightly.
Whether it had been drawn by the scent of humans, or Sentinel Station's power was beginning to run low and the cryogenic chamber had started thawing, no one knew.
In any case, this mutated walker was slowly waking up.
Taking advantage of the moment Leah's eyes were drawn to an especially hideous mutant directly ahead, Lorenzo shifted half a step to the side without a trace, blocking Leah's view of that mutated walker.
The tiny indicator light on that cryogenic chamber door flickered blue three times, so faintly it was almost imperceptible. Then it went out completely, entering standby synchronization mode.
It was utterly unremarkable, like a drop of water falling into the sea, and drew no one's attention.
The feverish excitement on Lorenzo's face faded slightly, but deep in his eyes, a long-awaited smile lingered.
He murmured to himself, "Truly the perfect foundation..."