Parasite Lost

Parasite Lost Chapter 10

 "It must be some mistake. I never opened the doors in that wing. I didn't open any doors, I just gave us access to them," Apate stammered as she checked the monitors frantically for what could have possibly gone wrong. Flashing icons poured into the hallways and turned into a mass of blinking red. They stared in disbelief as the floating display in front of them exploded with warning messages. It didn't take long before it was impossible to distinguish specific icons.

"What is your problem? First you 'forget' to tell us about working for this facility, then you fail to mention that you are trying to save your kid instead of help us complete the mission and get out of here alive, and now you are actively trying to get us killed?" Bren roared as he watered the seeds of distrust Apate had planted. "How did you even get accepted for this mission? Wasn't your name in a 'do-not-let-this-crazy-chick-enter' list or something?"

Apate remained silent for a moment as she struggled to focus on what could have gone wrong and how she could fix it. She met Bren's accusatory glare with stoicism and tried to forget that her former colleagues had left her for dead, and probably erased her and her family from any formal documents to cover their tracks.

"It was a mistake," she said in the calmest tone she could manage, hoping Bren wouldn't go off on another tirade. Both Dante and Alistair exchanged nervous glances.

"Mistake or not, the fact remains those creatures are loose. We need to move. Now," Dante said, his voice no more alarmed than if he were ordering a meal at a cheap insta-food joint.

"Agreed, let's get on with it," Alistair said as he lifted his weapons in preparation.

"Fine. How do we get to the data banks?" Bren asked.

"We might be able to get what we need in the lab we found those women in," Apate said as she stood up from the console. Dante and Alistair grumbled. Apate looked around and wondered how to buy herself some trust. It would not be easy, but maybe if she kept them alive long enough to reach the main lab they would trust her enough to not let her get eaten alive by the mutant monstrosities en route to their position.

"They are in the main lab. All of their research passes through there at some point before being backed up in the data banks. It's entirely possible that they have information in that lab that hasn't been backed up, assuming they can even still make backups to the server," she explained. None of the men seemed convinced. "They will also have supplies in there and I know for a fact I'm almost out. What about you? Do we have any medi-gel left?"

Everyone patted down their pockets, gear and holsters. Resources were sparse. Whether or not she had an ulterior motive, Apate was their best chance of getting where they needed to go and getting out alive. Maybe the lifted quarantine was a mistake, and she truly was innocent. They weren't getting any closer to finding answers arguing in the basement of a facility swarming with things trying to kill them.

The team quickly gathered what was left of their belongings and left the security bay. Together they jogged back down the long hallway from whence they came. Everyone hoped that the mutated creatures wouldn't have time to fan out and reach the basement. If they were lucky, they could get to the laboratory that was their next objective unmolested. As they approached an intersection with a sign directing them to the elevator, their spirits rose. A second wind took them and they all moved faster, Apate's promise that the elevator exited close to the main lab fueling their flight. That hope was quickly shattered when a crescendo of scratching claws and enraged howls echoed around them.

"Anybody got a bright idea?" Bren asked as the noises suffocated the hallway. A pair of large mutated dogs jumped out of the stairwell at the end of the hallway. Hungry teeth gnashed and their bodies twitched and convulsed as if there were a separate beast inside each of them fighting to break out of the spiny black carapace encasing it.