Chapter 13: The Place I Stayed Was You
Secure Room – Minutes Later
Rebecca was breathing. That was enough for now. Richard remained kneeling at her side, watching her chest rise and fall—irregularly, but steadily. The fever was beginning to break, and the tremors in her limbs were easing too. The D serum was working. Not fully—not yet—but... yes. It was bringing her back.
For a moment, the world was nothing more than her breathing and the silence. Rebecca opened her eyes. It wasn't a weak blink; it was an instinctive jolt, as if she were waking from a nightmare.
—Richard?
He didn't answer right away. He just stared at her. Her voice... her eyes... her skin regaining color. She was alive.
She looked at him in confusion, then relief, an emotion flashing across her face as quickly as a bullet.
—Did you get it?
—Yes.
Richard cleared his throat; his voice sounded rougher than he expected. He took a deep breath.
—I've got it. You're stable... for now.
She tried to sit up, but he gently held her back.
—Don't rush.
—I'm fine... Well enough, at least. Richard... I thought you weren't coming back.
Richard looked away for a moment.
—Me too.
Rebecca sat up, breathing hard. She brought a hand to her face, touching her skin—sweaty and still hot. Her eyes filled with tears, but none fell.
—What did you do...? Where did you get this?
Richard fell silent for a few seconds. Then he sat down beside her, back against the wall. The floor was cold; the air heavy with humidity and a chemical tang. But none of that mattered.
—I had to get into the medical wing. The serum was in a sealed chamber... sealed. It required a double fingerprint scan. I had to go to the morgue.
Rebecca just stared at him, motionless.
—Was there... anything?
—The bodies were torn open. Some were empty. Not all of them remained.
Richard ran a hand over the back of his neck. He could still feel the cold metal of the scanner, the seconds ticking by, the alarm roaring.
—And it wasn't alone. Something followed me.
—Something?
—A huge thing... humanoid, but twisted. As if someone had tried to build a soldier out of raw flesh. Skin missing in patches. No eyelids. Its right arm was... a living blade. It didn't move like a human. It didn't think like one. It just... hunted.
Rebecca went even paler.
—Did you fight it?
—Not by choice. I only fought it to buy time while the system released the serum. I didn't defeat it. I just ran.
Silence.
Until Rebecca leaned forward. She looked at him closely.
—Why did you do that?
—Did I have a choice?
She shook her head, then managed a faint smile.
—Yes. You could have left me.
Richard held her gaze.
—And you could have given up.
For a moment they said nothing more. The air between them vibrated, tense and charged.
And then, without warning, Rebecca kissed him.
It wasn't gentle. It wasn't timid. It was rage and relief and pain and gratitude, all compressed into a single instant.
Richard responded just as fiercely. He kissed her as if this moment was borrowed, as if what they had now was only this one moment—a moment that might never come again.
When they broke apart, she pressed her forehead against his shoulder.
—Thank you, she whispered.
Richard closed his eyes.
—Don't thank me yet.
They sat for a few seconds, just breathing—living.
After a moment, she spoke:
—And now?
—There's an exit. An elevator on Sublevel ALPHA, across the main corridor. But if that thing is still out there...
Rebecca sat up, regaining her strength.
—I've got my pistol. Limited ammo, but enough to cover us. You...
—Shotgun. Three shells. Assault rifle—no bullets.
—Then we'll fight our way out. Together.
He looked at her. There was fire in his eyes again—not fever, but will.
—Together.
They both got to their feet and checked their weapons. The corridor remained silent but tense, as if something were breathing in the shadows.
—Rebecca...
—Yes?
—If this goes wrong...
—It won't, she interrupted. Not after everything you've done to save me. Not after this.
With that, he opened the door.
A dim hallway greeted them. Long shadows clung to the walls. Steam hung in the air.
Service Hallway
The corridor swallowed them in darkness. Long shadows flickered on the walls, stretched by the intermittent lights. Warm steam hissed up from the floor vents, curling around their boots as if the complex itself were breathing heavily.
Richard walked ahead with his shotgun in hand. Rebecca followed close behind; despite her condition, her steps were firm. There was no time to falter.
They had barely gone a few meters when they heard it: a muffled, guttural moan, more animal than human. Then came the sound of something dragging. It wasn't the monster. It was them.
Two figures emerged from around the bend. They wore white lab coats splattered with old blood. Their bodies seemed to stay upright only by force of habit. Flesh hung from their cheeks like loose skin. Their eyes were dull—empty.
Richard fired first.
BOOM! One of them went flying backward, dismembered by the blast.
Rebecca shot the second one, twice, right through the chest. It fell, arms flailing, still searching for prey.
—Are you okay? he asked without turning around.
—Yes. But we don't have many bullets left...
—The armory is close. Two more corridors. If we can just reach it...
Then the ground shook.
They both stopped dead in their tracks.
A dull, deep roar reverberated through the walls. Slow and growing. Like enormous footsteps dragging something too heavy.
—It can't be... she murmured.
Richard gritted his teeth and quickened his pace.
The corridors grew narrower, and the air grew thicker. They passed destroyed bodies—soldiers impaled on pipes, others hanging from the ceiling by their own straps. Death here wasn't an accident. It was the work of something. Something deliberate.
At a fork in the hallway, three more figures approached. They weren't staggering—they were running. Infected soldiers.
Rebecca fired first, aiming at their legs. One of them fell.
Richard raised his shotgun.
Click. Empty.
—Run! he yelled.
They ran.
Containment Hallway – Armory Door
The metal gate of the armory was at the end of the corridor, like a promise of salvation. Rebecca rushed ahead, searching for the access keypad.
—Come on, come on...
Behind them, the hallway trembled. This time, not from footsteps.
It was as if something enormous were breaking its way toward them.
Richard turned. A shadow appeared at the end of the hallway. First a silhouette, then an arm. A deformed monster, built from torn flesh and exposed tendons. Skin missing in places. One eye was wide open without an eyelid, pulsing as if it saw everything.
And that blade.
It was an extension of its arm—alive and pulsating, born to cut.
It wasn't running—it was advancing, as if it knew nothing could stop it.
—REBECCA!
—Almost there!
CLANG!
A claw from that creature struck the wall, tearing out chunks of concrete as if it were paper.
The armory door opened with a hydraulic hiss.
They both rushed inside. Rebecca hit the close button.
SLAM! The gate closed just as the creature hurled itself against it.
The metal groaned, buckling under the impact. But it held.
For now.
The room was cold and sterile. A refuge of steel.
Weapons hung on the walls. Ammo magazines labeled by caliber. Vests, flashlights, medical syringes. The silence here felt heavier than in the corridors.
Richard moved to a locker. Inside was an assault rifle—half-used, but fully loaded. He grabbed it quickly and checked the magazine. At his side, Rebecca was breathing hard, propped against the wall.
—We're lucky, he said.
She didn't answer at first. Then she stepped up to a lit control panel. A blue screen flickered.
—Look at this...
A map spread out on the screen. The layout of the underground complex, blocked corridors, sealed doors. And, in the distance, a blinking green light.
EMERGENCY ELEVATOR – ACCESS TO UPPER LEVEL
—If we reach it, we can get out, Rebecca said breathlessly.
—What about the system?
—It has to be activated from two different terminals. Manually.
Richard exhaled.
—We can't split up.
—Then we'll activate them in sequence. Together.
They looked at each other.
In that silence, clearer than any scream, they said everything they needed to.
Then Rebecca spoke in a quieter voice:
—Thank you... I'm counting on you.
Richard was checking his rifle, but he looked at her from the corner of his eye.
—You still owe me a second date... so we have to get out of this.
Richard smiled, trying to lighten the mood.
A heavy thud rattled the door.
They both tensed up.
Another heavy thud.
Stronger.
The thing was still out there.
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