Approaching the body ahead, Linda was distracted by a vibrant purple flower hanging from a nearby tree. It seemed strangely out of place in this forgotten underground space. As Rebecca stared in morbid fascination at the corpse—which she now recognized as Carla's—Linda gasped as slender vines snaked around her ankles.

The exotic flower abruptly released a puff of pollen into Linda's face, making her recoil. At Linda's startled cry, Rebecca whirled around, only to feel the vines tangled around her legs constrict and yank her to the hard ground. Her gun slipped from her fingers, skidding away across the uneven floor.

Before she could react, the corpse of Carla reanimated with a violent spasm and hurled itself at Rebecca. She grappled desperately with the ravenous infected woman, her hands slipping over Carla's mottled skin and tangled hair.

"Help!" Rebecca choked out through gritted teeth.

Linda scrambled for the fallen gun and took aim at Carla's thrashing form.

"Be careful where you shoot!" Rebecca warned urgently, not daring to take her eyes off the snarling infected woman's teeth snapping perilously close to her throat.

Linda spun around at the sound of low moans behind her. Three more infected shambled out of the foliage, their bodies covered in the same invasive roots and fungus. Gripped by panic, Linda fired wildly as she backpedaled away from the approaching horde.

Rebecca managed to wedge her elbow pad into Carla's mouth, the rabid teeth clamping down uselessly on the hardened material. Taking advantage of the distraction, Rebecca yanked out her knife and plunged it deep into Carla's neck. Dark blood spurted out as she withdrew the blade.

Maintaining her grip on the hilt, Rebecca used the embedded knife to maneuver Carla's head to one side. But while Rebecca was focused on controlling the infected woman's snapping jaws, one of the strong, ropy vines encircled her throat and began to tighten. Gasping for air, Rebecca thrashed in its viselike grip, finally managing to kick Carla's body away. The knife remained embedded in her neck.

Rebecca clawed desperately at the constricting vine, her face turning red as she fought to draw breath. Abandoning her attempts to pull it loose by hand, she fumbled hurriedly in her fanny pack with her free hand. Carla had already begun dragging herself back to her feet, dark blood streaming from her mutilated neck.

Just as Rebecca's vision started to darken, her fingers closed around a bottle of isopropyl alcohol she saved as an antiseptic . With great difficulty due to the choking vine, she managed to uncork it with her thumb and splash the contents directly onto the vine. It immediately began smoking and slackened just enough for her to tear it away from her throat.

Rebecca collapsed to her hands and knees, drawing in ragged breaths. But she had no time to recover before Carla lunged for her once more. This time Rebecca rolled out of the way and yanked the knife from Carla's neck, ending the infected woman's undead existence with a final stab through the eye socket.

As Rebecca regained her feet, coughing violently, a panicked scream rang out from deeper in the underground garden. Clutching her knife, Rebecca sprinted toward the sound. She arrived to find Linda suspended from another vine, kicking futilely at the three Shamblers tearing at her clothes as they tried to drag her down.

Spotting Linda's discarded gun on the ground nearby, Rebecca knew she needed to find another way to deal with the infected horde. Her eyes landed on a dusty glass-paneled cabinet on the wall. Within was coiled a heavy red fire hose.

"Hang in there!" Rebecca shouted to Linda. Keeping a wary eye on the ravenous infected, she smashed the cabinet glass with the pommel of her knife. Grabbing the hose, she hurried over to angle the heavy nozzle at the shambling figures.

As soon as she turned the squeaking metal handle, the powerful jet of water nearly knocked Rebecca off her feet. She struggled to control the recoil as she began picking off the infected like rows of gruesome bowling pins. Once all three were washed away in the deluge, she hastily shut it off again.

Rebecca helped the soaked and shaking Linda down. "Come on!" she urged, grabbing the discarded gun off the floor.

A thought struck her. "The briefcase!"

Linda doubled back to snatch up the metal case holding the plans they had come for while Rebecca provided cover. As they turned to hurry back the way they had come, their path was blocked by yet more vine-wrapped shamblers emerging from the foliage.

"Where are they coming from?!" Linda cried, panic edging back into her voice.

"There!" Rebecca spotted the double doors they had passed earlier. She sprinted over and threw her shoulder against them, but the tangle of vines only allowed the heavy doors to budge open a couple inches.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"They're getting closer!" Linda warned, glancing back at the approaching horde.

Grunting with effort, Rebecca scanned the area until she spotted the pair of pruning shears lying a few feet away. "Use those shears, I've got your back!" she yelled.

Linda gave her a bewildered look. "What?!"

"Now!" Rebecca barked, firing at the nearest shambler to keep them at bay.

Trusting her judgement, Linda ran for the shears while Rebecca provided covering fire. She squeezed through the narrow gap of the doors and began hacking at the first wiry vine she saw. With each cut, the doors opened fractionally wider.

Rebecca's gun clicked empty after taking down only one of the relentless infected. "is it done?!" she shouted over her shoulder.

"Not yet!" Linda called back. Her hands were slick with vine sap as she chopped through another one.

With no ammo to reload, Rebecca holstered her gun and pulled out her knife again as the shamblers closed in. "Linda, I'm out of bullets!" she warned urgently.

The first gnarled hands grasped at her clothes from all sides, foul breath washing over her face. Rebecca slashed desperately with her blade, but she was dangerously outnumbered.

"Linda!" she screamed.

With one final snip, Linda cut through the last fibrous vine. "Done!"

Together they scrambled through the newly opened passage, slamming and barring the doors shut behind them against the furious pounding and clawing of the creatures outside. Panting, they leaned against the mossy wall and looked at each other with stunned relief.

"Are you all right?" Rebecca finally asked between gulps of air.

Linda nodded, still too shaken to speak. They had survived another perilous encounter, but who knew what other nightmares this strange, overgrown place held in store?

The monitoring room was almost empty, the glow from the wall of surveillance screens providing the only illumination. The Scientist stood with his arms crossed, his face creased in a worried frown as he watched the flickering images. Beside him, the blonde man sat in a rolling office chair, leaning back with a casual arrogance.

"Is she going to be a problem?" Birkin asked, his voice tight.

The Blonde smiled, the expression not reaching his cold blue eyes. "Relax. A few million in the right hands and her accusations disappear. Besides, she'll be dead by dawn. "

The Scientist tensed, his frown deepening. "Can we trust this mercenary you hired? Will he actually do the job?" The Blonde scoffed.

"Of course. Unlike the other disposables, this one is committed. Believe me, he always delivers.

"The Scientist shook his head, clearly unconvinced. "And if he doesn't?"

"Why don't you go back to the lab, William?" The Blonde suggested, a patronizing lilt to his voice. "Maybe it'll help occupy your mind."

"All this nonsense won't let me work properly," William grumbled even as he turned towards the door.

The Blonde called after him, "Like I said, don't worry. Let me handle this." He paused, lowering his voice. "In the worst case, we have Plan B.

"William hesitated, glancing back over his shoulder. "Plan B?"

The Blonde met his gaze evenly. "Blow the place to smithereens."

A chill went down William's spine at the nonchalant words. Without responding, he left the monitoring room, the door hissing shut behind him. The Blonde watched him go, then swiveled his chair to face the screens once more. His icy blue eyes narrowed, glinting in the monitor's glow like those of a patient predator.

An elongated room illuminated only by the yellow of a single lightbulb hanging from the center of the ceiling. Shadows danced in the corners, concealing most of the cylindrical cages stacked precariously in the back. Billy crouched down beside the body of a fallen soldier with a hole in his head, he snatched a shotgun and colt 45. from the dead man's limp hands.

"You went your own way huh?" Billy mumbled, pocketing extra ammo and shotgun shells off the corpse.

As he rose, dizziness overcame him. Billy staggered, clutching his throbbing temple. Blinking hard, his vision blurred for a few seconds. He checked his left shoulder, noticing a dark splotch on his skin.

"Fuck" Billy cursed through gritted teeth. The wound must have come from his skirmish with that monstrous arachnid.

Billy stumbled to the electronic door. He tried the handle to no avail before realizing he needed a keycard. Desperate, he grabbed Dr. Shaun Everett's ID card and swiped it through the sensor pad. A high-pitched beep sounded, followed by a red light. Locked. Billy swiped again but met the same result.

"Come on, fucking garbage!" Billy slammed his fist against the cold, metal door.

A sudden noise drew Billy's attention to the stacked cages. Squinting into the darkness, he cautiously approached them. A label reading "For Elimination" came into view. Without warning, a rabid baboon crashed against the bars, baring its fangs as it tried to break free. Billy leapt back as more agitated shrieks erupted from the other cages. More infected primates crawled into view, clawing and slamming themselves against their confinements.

"Wow, sorry to bother" Billy said, swiftly backing away. The deafening sound of the denting metal bars urged him into action. He rushed out through a different door just as one of the cages burst open.

The veterinary room had seen better days. Double doors with an electronic lock stood opposite Linda. A large metal table cluttered with magazines and anatomy textbooks occupied the center. Jars of organs suspended in formaldehyde lined the shelves, interspersed with sharp surgical tools.

Linda grimaced at a human brain displayed in a jar on the shelf. Meanwhile, Rebecca was thoroughly reading over some blueprints laid out on the table.

"Can you read them?" Linda asked nervously, glancing back at the sealed exit.

"I think so...it's harder to decipher than a map," Rebecca mumbled, tracing her finger along the technical sketches. "We should be able to access the communications room through there." She tapped her finger on the double doors across from them. Carefully rolling up the blueprints, Rebecca tucked them into her medical kit.

She gave the handle an unsuccessful jiggle before noticing the electronic lock panel. "I don't suppose you have any access cards on you, do you?" Rebecca turned to face Linda with a sheepish smile.

Linda shook her head solemnly right as a loud banging noise erupted from behind her followed by a man's voice.

"Who's there?" Rebecca called out, her muscles tensing.

"I'm not infected, open the damn door!" The male voice shouted from behind the locked door, his words oozing with desperation.

"Billy?" Rebecca blinked in surprise.

A brief pause. "Rebecca?"