Belize

Chapter Twenty

Truthfully, Billy didn’t know if they were going the right direction. When he tried to go think back in his head and retrace their steps, he couldn’t remember all the turns they had taken. For all he knew, they were walking farther away from the elevator with each step. But Shen thought they were going the right way, and Billy believed him. He just had a hunch that they were going to make it.

They were cutting it close, though. How much time did they have? Less than half an hour, surely. It took all his willpower not to just run full-speed down the hall like a maniac in search of the elevator. He wanted to grab Rebecca’s hand and just run down every hallway, heedless of the danger, in hopes of finding the elevator in time.

All of the little problems and frustrations in his life lately seemed so meaningless now. Worrying about money, worrying about Rebecca, worrying about the future. Billy realized that he had been so focused on the past and scared about the future that he hadn’t really appreciated the present. He should have been happy with what he had. He was free, he was alive, and he had someone he cared about to share his life with. But all his fears and concerns had been eating him up inside and spoiling what should have been a joyous time in his life.

He should never have doubted Rebecca. She had given up everything for him, and he felt terrible about doubting her and unconsciously trying to push her away. It all seemed so stupid and childish now. He couldn’t believe that he had to fight side by side with her again in the middle of an outbreak to realize that.

If they made it out – when they made it out – Billy swore to himself that he wasn’t going to dwell in his own worries anymore. He and Rebecca both deserved better than that. He was going to make sure that she knew every single day how much she meant to him.

With frustrating slowness, they made their way down the long, straight corridor, passing more lab rooms on the left and right. Like the others, they were full of equipment that Billy couldn’t name, strange devices like DNA-scanners and cellular-accelerators and gene-splicers and who knew what else. It was like stuff out of Dr. Frankenstein’s lab. But there were no survivors, and no zombies either.

Ahead, the hallway branched off to the left and right. The six of them stood at the crossroads, looking each way in indecision as the seconds ticked away. Finally, Shen pointed to the left.

“Let’s go this way.”

Marco looked at him. “You don’t sound so sure, man.”

“You want to go the other way?” Shen asked. “We got a fifty-fifty chance, right?”

Billy urged them forward. “Come on, we don’t have time to stand here arguing about it. He said go left, so we go left.”

Unfortunately, the hallway going left branched out once more, this time continuing forward while a second hallway went to the right. The hallway to the right had a pair of restrooms with a water fountain in between them, some other rooms on the other side of the hall, and then went ahead for a short distance before splitting left and right again.

“God damn it,” Marco hissed. “This place is a maze.”

“W … wait … wait a minute,” Serena said, her voice shaking.

“What is it?” Shen asked her.

She pointed at one of the rooms across from the restrooms. “Can we … can we look in that room, please? I think … I think I’ve been to this part of the lab.”

The rest of them quickly agreed and they hurried down the hall. Shen pushed open the door but it was dark inside. He fumbled for a switch and found one, lighting up the room.

It was some kind of small lecture hall, with about forty chairs with small desks, and a projector screen in front. Serena poked her head into the room and nodded excitedly, raising her voice. “Yes, yes, I’ve been here! This was where they did our orientation lectures!”

“Which way?” Marco asked. “Which way to the elevator?”

Serena looked at the room and then turned around to face the restrooms, pointing at them absentmindedly to help orient herself. “Okay, I think we must have come from that way,” she said, pointing down the hall. She closed her eyes and said, “We had the lectures and we went that way, and it must have been left again back to Blue Lab.”

Shen took her arm. “All right, you heard the lady,” he said. “Let’s get out of here.”

This time, they did run down the hall, making no effort at stealth. The hallway split left and right, and they immediately went left, Shen in the lead with Serena right behind him, and Marco and Njabulo backing her up. Billy and Rebecca practically had to chase after them.

“I told you,” Billy said, nearly overcome with relief. Next to him, Rebecca was beaming with a huge smile on her face. “I told you were we were going to –”

Serena screamed and stumbled to a halt as Shen shouted, “Back! Back!”

“Shit!” Marco cried, a split-second before he pulled the trigger. Serena fell to the ground, covering her ears with her hands.

One of the insect monsters was at the end of the hall, climbing on the wall like some kind of alien spider. It chittered madly at them, gobs of pus-like saliva spewing from its mandibles and dribbling to the floor. All around it, the wall burst apart with gunfire, and it launched itself off, spinning around in midair and landing solidly on all six of its feet. It scurried at them in a blur as Marco kept shooting, and Njabulo opened fire as well. Shen knelt down and fired with his pistol and then grabbed Serena and crawled back behind the others.

“Go!” he shouted. “Go back!”

They retreated as Marco and Njabulo kept firing. Like before, the insect creature took the shots and kept coming, spurts of translucent fluid spurting from the bullet holes that marked its hideous body. They backed up and finally turned the corner and ran.

“Here!” Shen shouted, slamming his way into one of the lab rooms. He waved the others inside and as soon as they were clear, he swung the door shut and got down on the floor to hold it. There were cabinets on each side of the door, so Billy got down beside him and stretched out his legs, pushing hard against the cabinet to wedge himself in the doorway.

“What are we going to do!” Marco yelled.

The door rattled and a blood-curdling chittering scream came from the other side. The creature struck at the door violently, slashing with its claws. Shen and Billy held it shut, but just barely. Billy felt his body push slightly, the door opening just a fraction of an inch.

“I’m out of ammo,” Njabulo said despairingly. “We’re trapped in here!”

“Grenade!” Shen ordered through gritted teeth, pushing on the door with all his might.

“Are you insane?” Marco shouted.

Billy could feel the door giving way as the creature launched itself at it, over and over, slashing and screeching relentlessly. There was no way they could hold it much longer.

“Do it!” Shen bellowed.

Marco raised his gun and fired his last few shots in a tight circle right in the center of the door, less than a foot over Billy’s head, creating a small hole about three inches wide. On the other side, the creature screamed and backed away, just for a second. Njabulo rushed in and shoved the team’s last grenade through the hole and then ran for it. Rebecca grabbed Serena and pulled her to safety.

“Now!” Shen shouted, and shoved himself away from the door and against the cabinets. Billy dove for cover just as the grenade went off with a thundering explosion, shaking the entire room. The door was ripped clear off its hinges, folding in half like a sheet of paper blown by the wind. It sailed into the room and smashed into a row of computer consoles. A wave of smoke and debris flooded into the room and some of the overhead lights shattered and went out.

Billy coughed and rolled over, his whole body tingling with the force of the blast. His hears were ringing and his chest hurt. He’d never been that close to a grenade going off before, and he didn’t ever want to do it again. Suddenly, he felt hands on him, and looked up to see Rebecca, her face twisted in fear. She pulled him to his feet and wrapped his arms around him. She kissed him on the side of his mouth and held him tight.

“Billy, oh my God, please tell me you’re okay,” she whimpered.

“Yeah, I think so.”

Shen groaned and got to his feet. “Everyone, sound off.”

Marco and Njabulo were okay, and Serena was alive but a trembling mess, sobbing uncontrollably once more. Still dazed, Billy wandered into what remained of the doorway and looked to see a blackened crater in the middle of the hall. Splattered everywhere around it were chunks of greenish-orange insect flesh. The lights in the hall had all blown out and a few others flickered uncertainly, making the entire hallway pulse like a strobe light.

“Jesus,” he mumbled. Rebecca was still holding onto him. He placed his hand on the broken door frame and leaned out, looking outside the door at the carnage spread everywhere.

“What’s ...” Rebecca breathed.

Then Billy heard it. A clacking, growling noise. At the other end of the hall, about sixty feet away, another insect creature came into view from around the corner. Its claws clacked loudly on the floor. It glared at Billy, its eyes glowing with hate, and let out a furious roar before launching itself at them.

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