Chapter 12: Access to the Laboratory
Richard arrives out of breath, sweating. He quickly attaches the portable scanner to the console.
VALIDATION SUCCESSFUL. INITIATING UNLOCK...
But the door doesn't open. Only a progress icon creeps across the screen, moving painfully slowly. Too slowly. Behind him, the hallway trembles. He hears heavy footsteps, sounding like metal plates slamming against concrete, and a deep growl vibrating through his chest. Richard staggers back a step, raising his shotgun.
"Come on, come on... go!" he growls under his breath.
DOOR UNLOCKED.
The lock pops open. The heavy hatch creaks hydraulically as it swings inward, releasing a blast of icy air. Richard bursts through. He slams the close button.
BANG!
A violent impact shakes the door just as it seals. On the other side, a massive shadow falls over the security viewport. Another blow — harder this time — rattles the structure. Richard peers at the lock. For now, it holds... but not for long.
Inside the Medical Laboratory
The lab is a frozen wreck. Tubes lie burst and shattered; display cases are splintered. Charred documents are scattered on the floor, all dusted with a thin layer of frost that crunches under Richard's boots. In the center, a gurney rests with a charred corpse on top — its torso torn open, not by a surgeon's scalpel but by something that exploded from within.
Richard barely glances at the grisly sight. He strides straight to a secondary console, where a nearby screen flickers weakly:
SAMPLE REVIEW – DECONTAMINATION CYCLE IN PROGRESS
In the center of a sealed chamber behind reinforced glass, a metallic container cradles Serum D. Next to it lies a specialized cryogenic syringe. The blue liquid pulses with a life of its own, bioluminescent — slow and steady, as if it were breathing.
Richard hits the open button.
Nothing happens.
The screen blinks a response:
ACCESS DENIED – ENGAGE EMERGENCY COOLING SYSTEM
Below, a panel slides open, revealing an electrical puzzle: nodes, circuit lines, and spinning blocks. An alarm flashes: WARNING: OVERHEATING IN 60 SECONDS!
"Yeah, right..." Richard growls, dropping to his knees instantly. He twists the connectors with shaking fingers. The circuit lines glow briefly... but one circuit won't close. He tweaks it again. It fails once more. The system grinds ominously.
But then...
BANG!
The rear hatch behind him shudders under a colossal impact. Richard barely glances back. The armored glass trembles. And beyond it... a shadow.
The Prototyrant.
Its silhouette fills the viewport slowly. It stands two men tall and horribly disfigured. Its left arm has mutated into an organic blade; the right arm is still human but clad in torn, hanging flesh. One eyelid is missing, exposing a lone wide-open eye that stares directly at Richard.
Suddenly, the console beeps: SECURITY SCAN – OPENING PROTOCOL INITIATED.
"What?! No, no, no!" Richard screams.
The console shows a progress bar:
98%... 99%... SCAN IN PROGRESS...
CRACK!
The hatch buckles inward. A massive claw smashes through the barrier. Richard whirls and aims his shotgun.
"Come on, you bastard! I'm right here!" he shouts.
BOOM!
The first shot slams into the protruding arm. A spray of blackish blood erupts. The Tyrant roars, enraged, but it doesn't stop. Another shot:
BANG!
The door explodes into twisted metal fragments. The Prototyrant bursts into the lab, hunched over and roaring, panting like an unleashed beast. Lights flicker wildly as it advances. Each of its steps thunders like a hammer strike.
Richard scrambles back and takes aim at its chest. He pulls the trigger.
BOOM!
The Tyrant staggers, wounded, but presses on. A gaping hole in its torso hardly slows it down. Richard's rifle is empty; the spent weapon droops uselessly on his back.
He glances at the scanner: 99%... PROCESSING...
Too slow.
The Tyrant charges. Richard leaps aside, crashing through shards of glass. He scrambles up with a cut on his eyebrow, blood seeping into his eye. The Tyrant whips around, its ragged chest heaving. He fires the last round directly into its wounded leg.
BOOM!
A muffled roar. The Tyrant collapses to its knees... then lunges back up, relentless.
At that moment, the console flashes: ACCESS GRANTED! A metallic click and billowing cold vapor mark the release as the cryogenic capsule swings open.
Richard bolts forward, racing to the console. He snatches the vial of Serum D and the syringe. He spins just as the Tyrant's claw swipes at him —
CRASH!
The console explodes in a shower of sparks. The blast hurls Richard into a shattered display case.
The vial is still clutched in his hand.
He glares at the monster, panting. He knows he can't kill it... not with what he's got. The Tyrant lurches forward again, dragging its wounded leg, eyes blazing with blind fury. Richard pushes himself up.
"Then come get me!" he challenges fiercely.
He hurls a metal tray at the overhead lights. Sparks fly! Thick steam condenses into a blinding fog. The Tyrant falters, confused by the sudden haze.
Richard seizes the chance. He bolts toward the back exit. He fires one last shotgun round at the auxiliary lock.
BANG!
The door unlocks with a clang. It swings open, revealing a dark corridor beyond.
Behind him, the Tyrant bellows and crashes onward, tearing through everything in its path.
Richard doesn't look back. He clutches the vial to his chest and plunges into the darkness.
Safe Room – Sublevel ALPHA
Cold. Darkness. Silence.
In the far corner of the room, Rebecca sits crumpled on the floor, knees hugged to her chest. She breathes unevenly. Sweat drenches her forehead, but her skin feels ice cold. The emergency light overhead flickers erratically, casting the room in a cycle of shadow and red light. Each heartbeat thunders in her temples like a broken drum.
She doesn't know how much time has passed. Minutes? Hours? Maybe even days? Her thoughts fray, slipping away like vapor. She tried to write down her symptoms, but the words on her paper no longer look like her own. Her fingers tremble. Her vision blurs.
Fever.
Dizziness.
A pain behind the eyes.
Double vision.
Sounds that aren't… there…
The paper slips from her trembling hand. On the floor, black smudges spread — blood? She blinks, and they vanish.
"Richard..." she whispers.
Silence.
"Richard… where are you...?"
Shaking, she pushes herself to her feet. She takes one step... then another. Her leg catches on a chair, and she falls against a padded wall. A low moan escapes her lips.
"SHUT UP…! SHUT UP!" she cries, pressing her hands to her ears.
A movement flickers in her sight — a shadow crossing the glass of the observation panel. But she's utterly alone.
She peers down at her hands: her fingernails have grown longer; her veins... are they black?
She begins to sob.
"Richard... please…"
She drags herself toward the door and pounds on it with all her might.
"Richard! Don't leave me alone!"
Nothing.
"RICHARD!"
Her voice cracks into ragged sobs. Panic, rage, and fear consume her.
Suddenly, a metallic click sounds from the other side. A hand slaps against the reinforced glass.
Rebecca freezes. She holds her breath.
Then... a voice.
"Rebecca..."
Her heart stops.
"Richard..." she whispers, incredulous.
A silhouette appears behind the peephole. His profile. She hears the bolt retracting; the door swings open. Richard steps in, blocking the hallway light with his body.
His hair is soaked, his clothes torn. In one hand, he still holds the vial of Serum D; in the other, the cryogenic syringe. Blood streaks his eyebrow, dirt smudges his hands.
He's bruised and battered, but it's him.
Rebecca collapses to her knees, trembling.
"I thought... you'd never come back..." she whispers.
Richard hurries to her side. He kneels and holds her in his arms, panic and relief etched on his face. "I'm here. You won't get any worse. I promise," he says urgently.
"No... don't leave me..." she pleads weakly.
Richard carefully opens the syringe. "I will never do that," he vows.
As Rebecca's eyes flutter closed and she swoons against him, Richard injects the Serum D into her. The blue liquid flows into her veins. For now... everything calms.
(But the nightmare is far from over.)
The serum will only buy them a fleeting moment of peace, a fragile truce against the transformation until, inevitably, time runs out and Rebecca again succumbs to the change.
"I swear, I'll get us out of here safe and sound," he whispers.
Richard gently strokes Rebecca's trembling face, wiping the tears that stream down her beautiful cheeks. He holds her tight, determined to keep his promise — even if the horrors around them are only beginning.
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