Race for Safe Haven - Labs pt2

[Posted by Ted H]

Not many updates to go until November. Anyone else excited?

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[Race for Safe Haven - Labs pt2]

            "I thought this place would've been zombie central?" Tara said as Brandon impatiently paced around the room, waiting for the spontaneous cigarette break to end. "It was," he said after a moment "I was hoping at least a few of the Guard people successfully cleared it out. They were trying to contain it when Williams and I fled. It didn't look good at the time but maybe they were successful."
            "Then where are they?" Tara asked. Brandon shrugged. "Maybe in one of the labs," he suggested. "You aren't the National Guard," Steve said suddenly "And it's obvious you aren't a scientist. So who the hell were you and why were you even here originally?" Everyone but Mike looked to Brandon for an answer. "Let's not worry about that right now," Mike said as he flicked his spent cigarette away. "I want to know," Steve said.
            "It's not important," Mike quickly responded "All I care about is that he knows where the inoculations are." Steve made a face as everyone gathered near the other door. Brandon opened it and reeled at the smell that hit him. "Holy crap," he said as he coughed and put a hand to his face. He slowly made his way into the hall as everyone followed. The hall was lined with blood and dead bodies. A battle had taken place with bullet holes and limbs everywhere. All the bodies had bullet holes in their heads.
            "Jesus," Brandon said as he looked to each corpse as he made his way down the hall. "These things were inside?" Rhett asked. "Yeah," Brandon responded "They tore through before we realized what was happening. Williams and I grabbed what we could and ran when we could."Rhett looked about at the blood and bodies, half expecting one to get up and attack. "How'd they get in?" he asked "The front entryway was practically pristine when we entered."
            "So?" Brandon asked, trying to ignore him. "So," Rhett said "In case you didn't notice, these things make a huge ass mess, especially when they're in a group. There wasn't even a bloody footprint back there. And not a single one wandered off down a different hallway?" Brandon motioned towards Mike, who turned to Rhett and said "Not important. At least right now it isn't."
            Rhett made an obscene gesture as Brandon caught sight of a familiar body and walked over to it. Sitting against a wall near a pile of bodies was a man. His head was down and a handgun was in hand after being used against himself. The other arm had bites all over. "Damn, Makhew," Brandon said as he began searching the body for something. He took the handgun but couldn't find any other ammo. "Friend of yours?" Mike asked.
            "Here we go," Brandon said as he pulled out a keycard and held it up. "He always had this on him," he said. "And what is it?" Mike asked. "The end of hallway number three is a weapons stock," Brandon said "The only way to access it is this card. I guarantee you Makhew here never had a chance to get inside and load up, meaning no one has had a chance to raid the guns."
            "That...actually sounds promising," Rhett said. "After we get the drugs," Mike said, ushering Brandon to get up and continue on. "Really?" Tara asked "Later?" Mike sighed. "The weapons room is on the ass end of this complex," Brandon said "The quickest way there now is through the main lab. Might as well get the inoculations first, then hit up guns on the way out."
            "Besides," Mike assured "We haven't run into trouble yet. Best to get what we came for before embarking on any side quests." The group pushed their way down to the end of the hallway where a large door stood; the entrance to the lab. The door had no handle and the panel next to it was flashing red.
            "Brandon?" Mike asked as Brandon was already looking over the panel. "That would be the main lab," Brandon muttered as he slapped buttons on the panel and turned back to Mike. "So auxiliary power is keeping the building lit up, but main power is needed to work the lab doors. Not just this one but the one we're trying to get into as well. Emergency protocol bull shit."
            "...And the generator you mentioned before?," Rhett asked. "Right, there's a generator that should suffice," Brandon quickly said "But the generator shack isn't inside the complex, and the fence protecting it from the outside was torn down in effort to fortify the fence for the main complex."
            "Christ almighty," Steve said with an annoyed look. "It won't be that bad," Brandon assured "It's not like the dead are just waiting for up back there. This isn't a video game." Everyone looked to Mike, but all he could do was shrug. "Not like we have a choice," he said as he nodded to Brandon, "Lead the way."
            Brandon took them down a side hallway leading to a metal door. "Okay, get ready," he said as he unlocked the door and slowly pulled it open. Rhett stood ready with his shotgun as the outside was slowly revealed, but nothing was waiting on the other side. "Clear," he said as he stepped outside, followed by Tara and Steve. Brandon crept out next with Matt and Mike shut the door behind him as he followed.
            "Which way?" Tara asked as Brandon wordlessly walked forward, constantly checking around for any threats. The back area was mostly wide open pavement. The perimeter of the yard was lined by the tattered remains of a fence hastily torn down. Brandon was making a straight line for a wooden shack on the far side. A large building to the far right of the yard caught Mike's attention. "What's in there?" he asked. "Vehicle depot," Brandon responded.
            "We could use a ride out," Steve said. "The keys aren't in there," Brandon responded "They moved the keys inside the main complex when we tore down the fence. I don't know where they are. If I did, Williams and I would have driven out of here...and a lot more people would have survived..."
            "Heads up," Steve said as he pointed to a zombie that spotted them. "Pick it up," Mike said as they ran to the shack, a lone moan behind them soon joined by others. "Do they lock that shack?" Tara asked as they approached. "Let's hope not," Brandon said as he reached the door and tried the knob. "Shit," he said as he fruitlessly tried turning, but the locked door would not budge. "Out of the way!" Steve yelled as he rushed by and threw his full weight into the wood door.
            Inside was a large metal box that extended passed the ceiling with a small panel on the side with a flashing screen. "I just gotta fire it up," Brandon said "Cover me." Mike ushered everyone inside the shack. "How fast can you work?" Rhett asked. "Shouldn't take long," Brandon said while biting his lip "Just shut up and leave me alone." Rhett looked back to Mike, who was nervously watching the dead outside as they slowly made their approach. "They know," he mumbled to Matt who was standing next to him "They all know we're here."
            Steve had wandered to a far corner of the shack and Tara followed. "Are you okay?" she asked as Steve sat down against the wall, a stressed and miserable look on his face. He checked to see if anyone else was looking and motioned Tara closer. Tara sat down next to him and Steve turned his left arm to reveal his bloodied sleeve. "Oh no," Tara said as she covered her mouth and looked to Steve as he pulled his sleeve up to reveal the injury. "Those things were clawing at us when we were trying to escape the car," he said as he covered the injury back up "I wasn't sure if it's infected or not. I'm trying to wait and see."
            "How do you feel?" Tara asked. Steve shrugged. "I don't know," he said "I feel a bit warm, but maybe it's all in my head. Maybe I got only a little infected, but the drug can keep me alive. I don't know, and it's killing me not knowing." Tara put a hand on Steve's shoulder. "We gotta move!" Mike said. "Almost there!" Brandon shouted "Just shoot them!"
            "We start shooting, we'll attract the rest," Mike said.
            "I start this generator, every corpse within a mile will come anyway. Just shoot them!"
            Mike bit his lip and contemplated for a moment with his gun ready. Rhett looked to him and Brandon waiting for one of them to make a move. "Keep him safe," Mike said as he yelled for Tara and Steve to join him. "What are you doing?" Rhett asked. "Just keep him alive. We'll meet up back at the building," Mike said as he jumped out and started shooting. "Oh fuck!" Steve yelled as he ran after him.
            Tara and Matt hesitated a moment. "Go," Rhett said as they looked to him "We'll be right behind you. Matt nodded and left while Tara lingered a moment longer. "Don't do anything stupid," she said and was off. "Feel free to move your ass!" Rhett yelled at Brandon. "You're not helping," he responded.
            Rhett heard gunshots and turned to try and look outside. The rest of the group had successfully diverted the dead away from the shack. "They better not be leading those things back the way we came," Brandon complained. "Just shut up and work," Rhett snapped "How long does it even take?"
            "This is a fucking process," Brandon yelled. "Well you suck at it!" Rhett yelled back, impatiently waiting to join the others. The shooting outside continued as the chorus of moans approaching only seemed to increase. "There," Brandon announced "That should do it."
            "I don't hear anything," Rhett said as he strained to hear signs of life from the generator over the moaning nearby. Three metallic clicks sounded before the generator began to power up. "Let's go," Brandon said as he jogged to the door "It's about to get really loud." The generator began to make a low buzzing sound that quickly grew louder. "How loud?" Rhett asked as Brandon pushed passed him and out the door. The buzzing grew even louder and Rhett covered his ears as he followed Brandon.
            "Holy shit!" Brandon screamed as Rhett took stock of the mob of zombies outside. "I don't hear shooting," Rhett said as Brandon broke for the complex. Most of the zombies were ganged up by the vehicle depot, but many were taking notice of the generator buzz and now the two fresh meals that ran into the open. "They gotta be in that garage!" Rhett yelled as he fired at the closest zombie.
            "We'll never make it!" Brandon shouted as he motioned Rhett to follow him "You don't even know they're there, or if they're alive! C'mon!" Rhett contemplated the wall of corpses between him and the vehicle depot, more dead constantly on the way. There was no way he could get through, and even if he did, there'd be no way out. "Fuck!" he said through his teeth as he sprinted to catch Brandon as he shot his way back to the complex.
            "They're too many!" Brandon announced as he tossed an empty magazine from his rifle and frantically searched for a new one to load. Rhett came up behind and fired a path with his shotgun. "Just shoulder passed," he said as he went forward and fired again. The dead were closing in from behind and they couldn't afford to get bogged down. "Hope that door didn't lock us out," Rhett said as he reached the complex and grabbed the handle.
            "Open the fucking door!" Brandon screamed as Rhett pulled and threw open the door, allowing Brandon to race through. He paused before entering, hearing a couple nearby gunshots. "Son of a-" he said as he grabbed the inside handle and swung it closed behind him as he entered the complex. "Lock it," Brandon said as he tried to catch his breath. "What if the others try to follow?" Rhett asked. "They're not going to follow us," Brandon said as he reached over and locked the door "They're dead. We're all that's left."
            "I heard shooting," Rhett said.
            "There is no going back!" Brandon shouted with a frightened look on his face, the sound of banging hands on the door echoing in the hallway "Let's just get to the lab and figure things out from there." Rhett paused a moment and shook his head. He wasn't stupid enough to go back outside, but he didn't like leaving everyone behind like this. "Let's go," he finally said as Brandon reached over and locked the door.