June 10th 2020 – Lab 3, 17:30

You’re a complete idiot, Dean thought to himself, curled up as small as possible under the lab desk, making sure those things couldn’t see him. He couldn’t bring himself to call them people, not after seeing the dead glaze in their eyes and hearing the feral sounds they made as they attacked.

First real mission and you’ve thrown yourself on a live grenade, he replayed the moment he had made the decision in his head once again. Watching that thing tear a chunk off of Chris and swallow it down like candy, grabbing it from behind, realizing his mistake as he broke into the Lab with it and hearing them leap to life behind him. He saw the look in Chris’s eyes as he slammed the thing’s hand onto the biometric scanner.

Well, at least I’m not cramped under here, he thought as he slowly stretched out one leg, feeling the pins and needles setting in as the adrenaline left his system. He listened carefully, straining to hear every movement the creatures around him made. What the hell were they? If they were zombies, like he had thought at first, he would expect them to be grunting, or groaning. That wasn’t necessarily a fact though, he probably shouldn’t be expecting this situation to be anything like the sci-fi books and movies he squandered his time on. Maybe they should be moaning and wailing? Or was that ghosts? He listened closely for a sound.

There it was, a chuffing noise. Almost as if they were trying to get something out, but couldn’t quite make it. He heard it from one side of the room, then something, almost like a response, from the one closest to him.

There’s no way these things are communicating, that was the last thing they needed, smart zombies. He heard the one nearest to him sigh, almost wistfully, as if frustrated at its inability to communicate. They seemed so helpless, he actually felt sorry for them, until he remembered the bared teeth, hooked claws and snarling as they raced towards him. He shut his eyes and thought back to the trip in on The Bus.

He was glad the Captain had decided Dante was his partner on this one, he liked Chris, but the man could be a handful at times. Dean remembered Dante clapping him on the shoulder as they left the loading dock this morning.

“Don’t sweat it kid, we go in, we save some people, easy. You might even meet a pretty girl,” the man had nodded towards Divya and winked at him. Dean hadn’t realized how transparent he had been about that little bit of information.

“Not before me!” Divya had smirked at them both, causing Dante to bark out a laugh at her forwardness. Dean hadn’t known what to say to that, but he had smiled, checked his bag again and ran through the plan once more in his head.

Dean let out a quiet breath and checked that his weapon was secure. He leaned back into the lab desk, his head coming to rest without a sound. The Captain had said she would get him out, and he trusted her. The only thing he could do was be ready when she made her move. The thing near him chuffed once more, starting up a new round of conversation in the room. Maybe he could learn a thing or two while he was in here.

#

“‘The subjects showed increased levels of aggression in response to unexpected stimuli, most notably, any movement faster than their own speed,’” Divya read out to the team, “‘with an immediate lack of response once the stimulus was removed from sight completely.’”

“So,” Anna began, “basically they react until they lose sight of their target?”

“Basically.” Divya responded as she scrolled through the documents she had found.

“That explains what happened with Dean,” the Captain mumbled as she read over her shoulder.

“Listen to this: ‘No noted reactions to sound, other than general curiosity. No reaction to scent stimulus. Once exposed, there is no sense of self-preservation. Trials have been conducted. No survivors.’” Divya opened the file link on the screen before her.

“Thrall stim test 11; Upon introduction of the element there is no visible reaction to smoke and heat. No response to visual cues.” They heard as they watched the animals on the screen before them burning, with no reaction. The flames in the room grew higher and higher. “As with previous tests, once the subject has exceeded the capacity for pain of a normal, healthy subject, there is a response before termination.” The animals on the screen began to wail and screech, before abruptly going silent. Divya snapped the window shut, bile rising in her throat.

“Did he call them Thralls?” Kara asked, after a moment of silence.

“Well I guess they had to call them something,” came Chris’s voice through the glass screen behind them. Anna had moved away, fidgeting with something by the lights, Divya knew the woman loved animals.

“It’s as good as anything,” Kara responded, “at least we won’t be calling them ‘things’ or ‘creatures’. Divya, anything in there about how it’s spread?”

Divya scrolled through the files, stopping to read when she needed to, “Yes Captain, ‘Currently the virus is not communicable. Subjects must be exposed directly to the gas, which disperses over the course of four hours.’ I think Chris is safe.” She continued searching for any updates on that information.

“Well there’s some good news at least,” Kara motioned for Anna to let Chris out of containment. Anna complied and checked his bandages once more before freeing him.

“Feels good to be out,” Chris said, stretching as if he’d been trapped in a small cell, as opposed to a large room. “So ‘Thralls’ huh?” He asked, making his way to the computer she sat at. Divya nodded, continuing her examination of the files.

“Captain, there’s nothing in here about how to change them back,” Divya said quietly, the implications sinking into the team.

“Alright, I’m authorizing the use of deadly force from here on out. We need to get Dean out of there. Any eyes on the bodies you saw before Divya?” Kara asked as she grabbed her weapon and made her way over to one of the cases they had brought in.

“Nothing Captain, the building is too dark,” Divya flipped through the CCTV screens again, “There doesn’t seem to be anything on this level though. And from what I can see of the sub-basement, there’s nothing there either.”

“Alright, then we go down and get our man out.” Kara dug three small, cylindrical objects out of the case and tossed one to Dante, one to Chris and kept the last for herself.

“Concussion grenades Cap?” Chris asked, turning his over in his hands, “You really know the way to a man’s heart.” He slipped the grenade onto the belt he wore.

“Flattery gets you nowhere Chris, and you’re not going to be using that I hope.” Kara pointed to Dante, “Dante, you and Anna are with me. Chris, you’re on guard duty up here, we can’t rely on those cameras right now.”

“What’s the plan Captain?” Dante asked as he stored the grenade and checked his weapon.

“We can’t get Dean to open that door for us without endangering himself, so we lure them out. Last time it reacted to sound.” She said as she checked the safety on her gun and patted her holster. Divya knew she was checking for her Ruger, “So we make some noise.”

“You two stay safe. No one leaves this room until we’re back.” The Captain said, glaring at Chris and Divya in turn, making sure they understood the order. Divya nodded.

“Yes Ma’am” Chris saluted, clicking his heels together. She knew he understood the underlying order in her words.

They watched as the small team made their way out of the room and down the hall, checking shadows with their lights as they went. They had forgone the headlamps, not sure whether they would attract too much attention or not. Divya sat back at the computer, her attention shifting between the files before her, and Dean, trapped in Lab 3.

#

Kara looked around at the two members of her team, she would have liked Chris in place of Anna, only because she hated the idea of their only trained medic being in the heart of fire. Unfortunately, with Chris’s injury, he’d be more of a hindrance than a help at the moment. Anna was a fantastic marksman, she had no issues there, but if Anna was the one injured, there was no one on the team who knew any more than basic emergency triage to help. The lights in the elevator flickered as it descended.

“Do you think they know how to use these things?” Anna asked quietly.

“What?” Kara had been so focussed on her musings she had almost missed the question.

“Well, it’s just that, the one that attacked Chris opened the door right?” Anna sounded unsure of herself.

“If they do, they do, there’s nothing more we can do but be prepared for it right Anna?” Kara asked, sounding sure of herself. Anna straightened her shoulders and stood taller.

“Right.” She affirmed as the doors opened on the dim basement hallway. They stepped out into the stale air, six days of no circulation did nothing for the feel of the room, it was stifling.

Kara’s team swept the shadows with their tactical lights, painstakingly slowly, not wanting to trigger anything hiding in the shadows.

“All clear,” she heard from Dante, followed by Anna and her own confirmation. She walked to the ComBox and radioed to Divya and Chris.

“We’re all clear down here, how are you doing up there?”

“Just peachy Cap, spending a little quality time with my girl here,” was Chris’s response. The tension in his voice gave lie to his light tone though.

“Do you have movement?” She gripped the mic tighter.

“Not so much movement as shadows Cap,” He responded seriously, “We can’t see much on the other floors but something is out there.” That almost sent a chill through her, almost.

“If you’re done being ominous Chris,” she chided, “We’re going offline for a few minutes.”

“What’s—” She interrupted him before he could ask.

“It’s basic, we set off the fireworks and see what comes out.”

“Short and sweet, I like it,” She could almost feel his grin through the speaker.

“Captain, should we fill Dean in on the plan?” Divya asked over the speaker. Kara had forgotten that she couldn’t radio him. A small mistake but a stupid one, she couldn’t afford to miss things like that, not today.

“Affirmative Divya, can you warn him over the P.A.? We don’t want to spook him once they start moving.” She paused to listen for the announcement and mentally berated herself for missing that detail.

No more mistakes from here on out Kara, she thought as she heard Chris’s voice over the loudspeaker.

“Dean, if you can hear me I need a thumbs up buddy,” there was a pause as Dean responded, “Good job, good job man. We got half the team outside that door right now, we’re coming to get you. The Captain is using concussion grenades to draw them out, once they’re out in the open it’s a free for all, deadly force, so you stay the hell out of the way. If you get shot, I’m killing you myself, alright?” Another pause, and then a chuckle from the loudspeaker.

“I don’t think the Captain would appreciate a rude gesture like that when she’s coming in there just for you kid!” Kara shook her head at them and turned to Dante as Chris signed off.

“So we just lob this down the hall and hope it attracts them?” He asked, tossing the grenade in his hand lightly. Kara nodded.

“That’s the idea, nothing fancy. Get them out, clear them out and find Dean.” She studied the hallway, “our best bet is to make it around that corner of the stairwell before it goes off.” They looked over to the darkest corner of the hall as she pointed. Dante nodded and shouldered his weapon, using the tactical light to guide his way. He reached the stairwell and slowly shone his light up the stairs, coming to rest on a white figure at the top of the stairwell.

“Captain,” he whispered. Kara shouldered her own weapon and gestured to Anna to stay readied in the safety of the lights. She made her way to the stairs and her own light caught on two more figures, higher up on the stairwell, “How do we do this with them at our backs?” Dante spoke softly out of the corner of his mouth, afraid to catch their attention.

Kara had to think, if they took a shot at these three, they weren’t sure what else they would bring down on them before they had the time to get Dean out. They couldn’t see the whole upper stairwell either, so they had no idea how many Thralls they were actually dealing with here. As she thought it through, she slowly swept her light across the stairwell, hoping to get a better view. They couldn’t move quickly, but the notes hadn’t said anything about these things seeing in the dark right?