The darkness engulfed the empty corridor like a suffocating blanket. Rebecca's flashlight beam cut through the gloom, illuminating only a narrow path ahead. Precise footfalls whispered against the hard floor as she crept forward, hyper-aware of every faint noise. Rooms lined the sides, their purposes mysterious in the dimness. Only one door hung open, drawing Rebecca's scrutinizing gaze.

She approached cautiously, her senses on high alert. With a steady hand, she eased the door closed, sealing off whatever lay within. A low moan reverberated down the hall, raising the hairs on the back of her neck. Rebecca froze, straining to pinpoint the source. The ghoulish sound seemed to emanate from one of the sealed rooms. Swallowing hard, she inched onwards until the corridor forked into three black offshoots.

Another tortured groan slithered out of the rightmost passage. Rebecca instantly killed her light, enclosing herself in absolute blackness. Flattening her back against the wall, she waited with bated breath. A crimson, spasming figure lurched into view, jerking with unnatural movements. Rebecca shrank against the wall, her finger poised on the trigger. The mutant monster's head swiveled erratically until its soulless eyes locked onto her hiding spot.

Rebecca's heart pounded in her ears as their gazes met across the abyss. Agonizing seconds ticked by. Then, astonishingly, the fiend continued shambling forward, oblivious to her presence. Not daring to breathe, Rebecca crept along the wall, following the path the horror had emerged from. Dread coiled in her gut, but she pressed onwards into the unknown darkness, ready for whatever awaited.

The dark corridor stretched endlessly, a chaotic trail of shattered glass, scattered notebooks, and office detritus. Rebecca picked her way carefully, head lowered, each step taken with impeccable smoothness as she evaded the crimson heads that didn't seem to notice her in the poor visibility. Several of the grotesque creatures were scattered throughout the hall, their guttural sounds making Rebecca freeze momentarily before continuing her stealthy advance. Her boots avoided every shard of glass, every can, every potential noise-making obstacle.

Surrounded by the monsters, a faint sound behind her made Rebecca turn slowly. HUNK stood just steps away, their eyes meeting briefly before he resumed his approach. Rebecca looked ahead, scanning for a way through the crimson head gauntlet.

She altered course, angling left step-by-step, HUNK closing the distance behind her, his breathing behind the gas mask acted as an alarm . For a moment she lost herself in his presence, the soldier obscured by clustered crimson heads. Then his imposing figure reappeared at her back, so near she could feel his breath on her neck.

Though nervous, Rebecca didn't accelerate her pace as she neared what seemed a dead end - wall to her front, crimson heads flanking, HUNK bearing down. Boxed in against the wall, she rested the shotgun and whirled to face her aggressor. HUNK's powerful hands clamped around her throat, choking, suspending her in the air with her back against the unyielding surface.

Rebecca clawed futilely at his grip with one hand while the other patted along the wall. No sounds but their muted struggle and the scrape of Rebecca's kicking boots on the wall. Her searching hand found its target - a fire alarm lever. Gripping it, she brought the lever halfway down, halting HUNK as he registered the threat of alerting every crimson head. Rebecca held his gaze, keeping up the implied promise to pull it fully if he didn't release her.

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HUNK lowered her to the floor and let go. Rebecca, adrenaline spiking, stayed planted by the lever, glaring at the soldier as he began backing away without breaking eye contact. When a few meters separated them, Rebecca didn't relinquish her grip on the alarm. Instead, she grabbed her flare gun and fired at the wall behind HUNK.

The brilliant flare illuminated him and raised the alarm for the crimson heads. HUNK shoved one aside and took off running for his life as Rebecca flattened herself against the wall. The awakened monsters stampeded past, their shrieks fading as they gave chase down the corridor.

Alone again, Rebecca snatched up her shotgun and trotted forward at a steady pace. She transitioned from the flare's crimson glow, to the sickly yellow of a hallway light, to the stark bright white of fluorescents further ahead.

The communications room lay still, the hissing gas having long dissipated. Rebecca's boots thudded down the steel stairs, her shotgun gripped tightly as she made for the veterinary door. A shuffle of footsteps behind her spun her around. Linda shambled forward, eyes vacant, skin pallid and mottled with decay's crimson kisses. A guttural moan slipped from her cracked lips as clawed hands raised towards Rebecca.

Rebecca recoiled, the shotgun wavering. "Linda..." The torn flesh at her friend's neck mocked her, stringy gore clinging to shredded tendons. Linda's jaws parted, another tortured groan escaping. Steadying her aim, Rebecca's finger tightened on the trigger.

A tear slipped down her cheek as she forced out the words. "Forgive me." The shotgun's roar drowned out Linda's final rasp. The impact flung her backwards, limbs akimbo, a fountain of viscera painting the wall. With a ragged exhale, Rebecca moved on, Linda's glassy eyes following her descent into the mouth of hell.

The antiseptic stench of the veterinary clinic assaulted Billy's senses as he jolted awake on the cold metal examination table. Disoriented, he blinked against the lights glaring down on him. Across the room, Rebecca slouched against the wall, her head lolling to the side in fitful slumber. Billy's gaze fell to the empty vial and spent syringe clutched in his hands, remnants of the lifesaving antivirus Rebecca had administered. A tremor coursed through his body as memory flooded back, the agonizing fever, the grotesque mutations erupting across his flesh.

He shuddered, grateful to have narrowly escaped that nightmarish fate. Slipping off the table, Billy's boots struck the tile floor with a muffled thud. He scooped up his belongings - the loaded pistol, HUNK's serrated combat knife, and the map Rebecca had scavenged, its creases and smudged contours betraying the harrowing journey that led them here. A rustle of movement drew his focus to Rebecca, who was now blinking awake,

her brow furrowed in concern. "I'm glad you're okay" she murmured, pushing off from the wall.

"I didn't know if it would work." Billy turned to face her, the map crinkling in his calloused grip.

"How long was I unconscious? "Rebecca glanced at her wristwatch, mouth twisting in contemplation. "A couple of hours. Why?"

"We should be on the move." The words tumbled out in a low rumble, edged with urgency.

Nodding, Rebecca crossed the room, a dented aluminum can clutched in her hand.

"You should take a minute," she said, offering him the soda.

"Soda?" For a beat, Billy eyed the can, the condensation beading its metallic surface. A reminder of simple pleasures in this waking nightmare. With a grateful nod, he accepted it.

"Thanks." He settled back against the wall, relishing the crisp hiss as he cracked the seal.

The first sip flooded his mouth with a sugary effervescence that was both nostalgic and grounding. Rebecca mirrored his stance, perching on the edge of the examination table.

"Billy..." She paused, worrying her lower lip. "I'm sorry for the things I said to you. It was impulsive of me."

He shrugged, the lingering ache of his restraints a grim souvenir. "Don't sweat it. It's not the first time I've been yelled at with a gun."

Her gaze strayed to the angry red wheals encircling his wrists, mementos of his sins.

"But I need to know..." She met his eyes, her own brimming with a desperate need for truth. "Did you really kill all those innocent people?"