Memories of Yesterday

Chapter 7 - Into Hell

Alex slammed the drawer shut and stood up. There was nothing left in Bate's office worth taking. She suspected that it might have been raided, especially after seeing the zombies wandering around the elevator room. She sighed and stepped back outside. She glanced at the train sitting atop the platform elevator, then turned her head and glanced at the emergency elevator. She'd have to head for the synthesis lab, which meant that she would probably run into more of her former co-workers. Her eyes shifted to the zombie that lay in front of the emergency elevator. If it hadn't been for the uniform, she never would have recognized Keith.

"This is worse than I imagined." she mumbled, heading through to her left.

She moved carefully across the catwalk, well aware that she was an easy target in this large open space. Quickly she made a right, at the red lighted doorway, headed across the second catwalk then through the door.

She had to head to B5. Ordinarily it would be a simple trip, but the moment she saw the closed shutter, she knew things were worse down here than she had originally thought. Which only reaffirmed her decision to wait a couple days to enter the labs. The emergency shutters only closed in the event of a Level 3 Outbreak. A Level 3 meant more than zombies were running loose, a prospect that did not reassure Alex in the slightest. Taking a deep breath, she pulled the magnum and switched it to her left hand, before slapping the shutter with her right.

The shutter railed and Alex's worst fears were confirmed, the plant subjects had escaped their labs. The Plant 43's, created after analyzing the data from the Plant 42 project at the Spencer mansion, were still in their original forms. Alex was relieved to see that no one had tried the experimental P-E gas on them. If they had, she might have had even more of an issue. As it was, they were blocking her way. She knew form lab reports, that a gun wasn't really going to do her much good...even loaded with hollow points.

She retreated down the hall. Keeping a close eye on the plants, she hit a nearby key pad. Blessedly the room was empty of any threats. Excluding, of course, the plant tendrils flapping around in the air vent. She ignored them, just as she ignored the dead lab tech on the floor. She slid the magnum back into the shoulder rig, as she opened one of the biohazard lockers.

The lockers had been her idea and despite Bates' bitching, they had been installed. Their purpose was simple, in the event of an outbreak they unlocked giving techs or security personnel access to the guns, ammo, anything else they might need to contain said outbreak. Alex was relived to see that a least on of the lockers was unpillaged. She yanked the door open and her eyes brightened behind her dark sunglasses. Sitting inside, in all its pristine glory, was a fully fueled flamethrower. Her one contribution to the Plant 43 project, a flamethrower specifically designed to combat the Ivy's and other Plant 43 hybrids.

"Time for a bit of gardening."

Ales stepped back into the hallway, pleas to see the Ivies hadn't moved an inch. She stepped forward, pulling the flamethrower's heavy trigger. Flame shot out, hitting the first Ivy dead center of its bulbuls head, which looked more like an open flower than anything else. It writhed, swiging its vines wildly and emitted a high hissing sound, like escaping gas, as it toppled to the floor. Without missing a beat, Alex turned slightly and hosed the second Ivy. It went down as easily as the first.

Moving quickly, she stepped around the two dead plants and opened the door to the main shaft. She was unsurprised to see an Ivy waiting patiently for her by the ladder. A split second before the Ivy could spit, Alex fired it. She stepped around the still dying plant and climbed down the ladder to the platform below.

The vines climbing up the shaft did not escape her notice, but she had a limited supply of fuel and the vines had made no move to do her any harm. Therefore, she ignored them completely. After all, she had a mission, one the did not include the eradication biohazardous threats in the labs. Her only directive was to get a G-Virus sample and once she reached the synthesis lab that part of her mission would be completed.