Virulence Immune

~ Chapter Thirty-Six ~

Luke approached Gavin, Norman and Skeet.

"You three need to come with me. Now." Luke whispered.

Gavin and Norman shared a glance.

"Why?" Asked Gavin, crossing his arms over his broad chest.

While Norman asked, "Who are you?"

"My name is, Luke. Perri told me I had to get you guys outta here."

"Wait, hold on a sec—" Gavin raised a hand as he interrupted, but Luke was quick to cut him off.

"Look, there's no time! Stop questioning me and just come on!" Luke demanded impatiently before starting to head toward the exit.

Gavin looked to Norman, who nodded in response.

The trio hurried to catch up with Luke. He'd already covered the majority of the space between them and the door.

"What's this?" Asked one of the two soldiers on guard by the exit, as he examined the three civilians behind Luke.

Luke opened his mouth to reply but suddenly the building quaked and all the lights went out.

People shrieked, and a had panic began almost instantly.

The soldiers sprang into action, trying to fix the situation, shouting for everyone to calm down and to return to their bunks.

Very few of the soldiers were lucky enough to have been given flashlights. Though, having some light was better than nothing.

"What's going on?" Skeet asked, hoping someone, anyone, would give him a reasonable explanation.

"Wait here." Ordered one of the soldiers near the exit, before he began to walk away. "I'll be right back."

From what they could see, most of the soldiers were rushing toward the quarantine area.

"Must have been an explosion." The remaining soldier said aloud, the tremble in his voice was more than noticeable.

"We need leave." Luke said to the frightened soldier. "Step aside."

"W-what? N-no." The soldier was caught off guard by the request. "No, you can't go. I'm not supposed to let anyone leave. You know that, Luke. I'm sorry."

"No. I'm sorry."

And before the soldier could question what Luke had said, Luke removed the pistol from his holster and clobbered the young man over the head.

Gavin caught the unconscious soldier and laid him down gently on the ground.

"Let's go." Said Luke.

~~~

Soldiers were crowded around the space in front of the decontamination chamber.

The light above the door blinked, casting a flash of red over the area, periodically illuminating it.

Standing in silence, the soldiers stared, waiting.

Until, finally, the door slid open and, in the darkness, a figure leapt out of the chamber and attacked.

Grown men yelped and shouted. Trained soldiers taken by surprise.

There was a single gunshot before Sergeant Bradman's voice boomed, "No guns! Don't damage the chamber!"

Their flashlights were verging on useless, and many had their torches smacked out of their hands.

There were too many bodies scrambling about the dark room for them to differentiate the attacker in the chaos.

A soldier grunted when he received a blow to his side, powerful enough to send him staggering into the chamber.

Alone in the chamber, when he straightened, he heard the light clinking of several metal things hitting the floor.

The shriek that involuntarily erupted from him, drew the attention of the remaining soldiers and all movement ceased.

Someone who still had their torch, shone their light on him.

He was whimpering and grasping frantically at the grenades that he kept on his waist belt.

The light reflected off a handful of little objects by his boots.

A soldier realized what the gleaming metal bits were, and he shouted, "Get down!"

Another soldier caught on to the hint and called out, "Run!"