Chapter 97: The Corridor of Blood

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The Swiss Alps. Genesis Sanitarium.Sector 4: Containment Hallway.Altitude: Unknown (Deep inside the mountain).

The roar was deafening. The six Rejects charge. They didn't run like men; they scrambled on all fours like skinless spiders, their claws screeching against the pristine white floor. They had no eyes, but their ears twitched at the sound of Harper’s breathing.

"Don't let them get close!" Sebastian yelled.

Harper didn't hesitate. She leveled her sniper rifle. At this range, it was basically a cannon.BOOM. The Cryo-Round hit the lead monster in the chest.CRACKLE. Liquid nitrogen exploded on impact. The monster’s torso froze instantly, turning blue and brittle. It tried to take another step, but shattered into a thousand frozen bloody chunks.

"One down!" Harper shouted, cycling the bolt.

But the others were fast. They leaped off the walls, dodging the clumsy rifle shots. One monster lunged at Sebastian.

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[The Dance of Death]

Sebastian had no armor. No exoskeleton. He only had a Monofilament Wire (a razor-thin carbon fiber thread) wrapped around his gloves. He didn't dodge away. He stepped into the attack.

The monster swiped at his head. Sebastian ducked, the claw tearing the shoulder of his arctic coat. He wrapped the wire around the creature's extended arm and pulled.ZIIIP. The arm was severed cleanly. Black blood sprayed the white walls.

The creature screamed. Sebastian spun around, wrapping the wire around its neck. He pulled hard.THUD. The head rolled on the floor.

"Behind you!" Harper screamed.

A third monster had flanked them. It tackled Harper, knocking the rifle from her hands. Its drooling jaws snapped inches from her face. Harper pulled a combat knife from her boot and jammed it into the creature's sensory gills. It shrieked and thrashed, pinning her down.

Sebastian couldn't reach her. Two more monsters were blocking his path. He looked at the fire suppression system on the ceiling.Halon Gas. Just like in Avignon. But he didn't have a bottle to throw.

He pulled a grenade from his belt.Flashbang. "Close your eyes!"

BANG. Blinding white light filled the hallway. The monsters, sensitive to sensory input, screamed in agony as their auditory nerves were overloaded by the bang. They flailed blindly.

Sebastian sprinted through the chaos. He kicked the monster off Harper. He grabbed her rifle from the floor. He didn't aim. He used the rifle like a club, smashing the creature's skull.

"Reload!" Sebastian tossed the rifle back to Harper. He drew his pistol.BLAM. BLAM. BLAM. Headshots. Double taps.

For thirty seconds, the hallway was a meat grinder. Blood painted the white walls red. Finally, the last monster fell, twitching.

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[The Dead End]

Silence returned. Heavy, panting silence. Sebastian leaned against the blood-slicked wall. He was bleeding from a cut on his forehead. Harper checked her ammo. "Two rounds left. We can't do this again."

"We won't have to," Sebastian looked at the elevator at the end of the hall. The light was red. [ LOCKEDDOWN ].

"The Chairman is watching," Sebastian wiped blood from his eyes. "He won't open the door." He looked up. The air vent. "We go up."

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[The Secret]

Ventilation Shaft.10 Minutes Later.

Crawling through the vents was claustrophobic. The air smelled of chemicals and ozone. They reached a grate looking down into a Laboratory Office. Two scientists in white coats were arguing. They looked terrified.

"His vitals are dropping!" one scientist whispered, looking at a tablet. "The Chairman is using too much energy to mock them."

"If he dies..." the other scientist wiped sweat from his face. "The Containment Field fails. And Subject Lazarus wakes up."

"We should initiate the purge," the first one said. "Flood the lower levels. Kill it before it breaches."

"We can't! The Chairman has the only key. If we try to kill it, it might sense our aggression. It's telepathic, remember?"

Sebastian and Harper exchanged a look in the dark vent.Subject Lazarus. Telepathic. The Chairman wasn't just hiding. He was guarding something.

"We have to keep moving," Sebastian whispered. "Before they flood the place."

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[The Abyss]

They crawled until the vent opened into a massive vertical maintenance shaft. They looked down. It was dizzying. The shaft went down into the heart of the mountain. Maybe 500 meters deep. At the very bottom, a purple light pulsed.Thump... Thump... The heartbeat sound was louder here. It vibrated in their teeth.

"Zero," Sebastian tapped his comms. "Do you read?"

Static. Then Kenji's voice, breaking up.ZERO: ...interference... massive energy spike... at the bottom...

"Where is the Chairman?"

ZERO: He's... inside the energy field. Level B-10. The Throne Room.But Sebastian... be careful. The readings... they aren't fully biological. It's like the Meteorite, but... conscious.

Sebastian looked at Harper. "One last jump?"

Harper looked at the rappelling cables hanging in the shaft. "After you, old man."

They hooked their carabiners to the cables. They jumped into the dark. Descending toward the purple light. Toward the truth. And toward the man who had pulled the strings for a century.