Firing rapid, three-round bursts, the Gen-Y team riddled the Hydra with bullet holes. Chunks of flesh burst onto the walls, floors, and men’s bodies. The water still rolling across the floor becoming red. The beast roared and twisted, flailing its tail. Computer terminals exploded from the impact. Desks shattered. Equipment flew across the room. One of the Gen-Y guards nearest Knight was caught in the face by a gene sequencer. The heavy metal unit compressed his skull upon impact. The man dropped his weapon. Knight snatched it up.
Bullets continued to pound the Hydra in a relentless assault. Then, one by one, the Gen-Y guards ran out of ammunition. Several hundred rounds had been fired, nearly all of them striking the large target. Silence filled the room as the men frantically reloaded.
Knight peered over the granite tabletop. The Hydra was bent inward, all its heads facing the floor. It shook. Blood oozed from hundreds of small holes and a few large ones. But despite the wounds, the body grew larger. Knight’s eyes widened as the wounds began to heal.
The small wounds disappeared within seconds. The large ones began to fill in from the inside out. But the Hydra didn’t wait for its body to become hale again before lashing out. Two of its heads snapped out like striking snakes, snagging men on either side of the room, pulling them screaming toward the ceiling and then smashing them down to the wet floor. Their screams cut short as powerful jaws opened and closed, peeling away chunks of flesh, bone, and organ and swallowing them whole.
Gunfire began to ring out again as the Gen-Y team tried to make their way back toward the exit. But it appeared the Hydra had no intention of letting any of them escape. It launched itself across the room, smashing one man against the wall and bashing another into the air with its tail. Seeing an opening, Knight ran for the exit side of the room, but a burst of gunfire sent him to the floor. He caught sight of Reinhart standing by the exit, aiming his weapon at him while the two remaining Gen-Y guards continued to pepper the Hydra with Metal Storm rounds.
Knight looked up as the two men ran out of ammo and fled out the doors. The Hydra roared at them as they left and as it did, Reinhart pulled a grenade pin and tossed it into one of the creature’s open maws. He ran from the room, closing the doors behind him. Knight ran for the doors again. Being the only human being left living in the room, he wasn’t concerned about being shot. He leaped over desks, rounded columns, and did his best to move quickly without getting too close to the Hydra. But it had other plans. One of the Hydra heads shot out toward him, snapping shut a moment too early. It missed clamping down on his arm, but managed to knock him to the floor.
Knight hit the floor, rolled back to his feet, and unloaded the Metal Storm weapon. He got off four three-round bursts, pegging the central Hydra head square between the eyes. The head reared up with an awful shriek. But the sound was cut short as an explosion in the head on the right blasted it clean off, halfway down its neck. Reinhart’s grenade.
The Hydra staggered back, shrieking while its ears vibrated. Knight made for the door and slammed into them, gun at the ready in case Reinhart had stayed behind. But the doors were locked solid and sent Knight sprawling back to the floor. He stood quickly and began kicking the door. They weren’t budging. He turned to face the Hydra. What he saw made him forget all about escaping for a moment. The severed neck was not only regenerating, it was splitting, like a cell dividing. The flesh stretched, split, and continued to grow two separate necks. The myth was true. As the nubs of two new heads began to form at the end of each new neck, Knight focused on the door again. He kicked at it, then fired his weapon at the lock. That proved just as fruitless. As he slammed a new clip into his non-Metal Storm handgun, Knight turned again to face the Hydra, and just in time. He dove to the side, narrowly avoiding one of the new heads striking out at him. The impact sent the door flying into the outer hallway. As the head pulled up and a second prepared to strike, Knight dove for the door. When the second head lunged at Knight, he twisted in the air, aimed, and fired a single shot. The head snapped crazily to the side as Knight’s round smashed into its eye. Knight landed on his back, sliding to a stop on the floor. He moved to stand but a third head struck out for his legs.
The teeth snapped just short of his feet as he was pulled away from the door. It shrieked at him as the other heads still inside the lab joined in the rattling roar. Yanked to his feet, Knight found himself standing next to a wide-eyed and petrified Anna Beck. “Which way!”
“Follow me,” she said, dashing through the hallway. He ran behind her, looking over his shoulder as three Hydra heads spilled into the hallway writhing back and forth. The floor shook as the creature slammed its large body into the door frame, trying to break free of the lab. The slamming continued as they rounded a series of corners and approached an elevator.
“Where’s Reinhart?” he asked.
“Saw him head in the other direction when I came down. We’re safe.”
“I’ll need to find him when we get topside. Ridley, too.” Beck nodded.
The elevator chimed as the doors opened. Weapons raised. Fingers gripped triggers. But no one fired. King lowered his weapon. Bishop, too. Knight smiled. “‘Bout damn time.” A boom and roar echoed through the hallways. King’s brow furrowed. “What...was that?”
Knight and Beck entered the elevator. “You remember the artifact recovered from the Nazcan desert?”
King cocked his head to the side, eyes widening. The Hydra.
“Yea, well, it got wet...and now it’s pissed.”
A corner wall burst into chunks of plaster as the four-headed Hydra slammed into the hallway. Heads searched in every direction. When one saw them standing in the elevator, side by side like sardines ripe for the eating, all four heads snapped in their direction and roared. The sound hit them like an explosion. Then the beast launched forward, bearing down on them.
Beck was already pushing the floor button, then she hammered the close door button. The doors began to close as Hydra closed the distance. They slid shut and the elevator began ascending. Elevator music replaced the Hydra’s roar for a moment before a massive force struck the doors below them. The elevator shook and screeched but continued to rise. A second, but less powerful blow shook them again. Then silence and the music returned.
King turned to Beck. “Are there any other ways up?”
“Four stairwells.” Knowing where King’s questioning was leading, she added, “All big enough for the creature. I doubt it will be contained.”
Knight slouched against the wall, out of breath. “And it can’t be killed. King, it can heal faster than any regen, and its heads...the legends are true. If you take one off, two grow back. If we try to fight this thing on the ground it’s going to make a quick meal out of us.”
Bishop knelt down in front of Knight and drew his knife. He cut a small slice into his thumb and held it up for Knight to see. A drop of blood slipped away and fell to the floor. By the time it struck the wound was healed.
Beck saw this and moved away from Bishop. Knight just stared at the healed thumb.
“Leave the fight to me,” Bishop said. “You could die, but I won’t.”
Knight looked at King, who said, “We have an agreement. If he loses control—”
“Shoot me in the head,” Bishop finished. “It won’t grow back.”
56
New Hampshire
Reinhart barreled through a set of double doors and sprinted down the following hallway. He was followed closely by six men, all armed with Metal Storm handguns and Metal Storm rifles, which were more accurate than the handguns and carried twice as many rounds. Each man also carried an assortment of fragmentation, stun, and incendiary grenades. Reinhart wanted them ready for any potential enemy, human or beast.
The occasional shake or distant scream of some scientist signified that the creature had escaped the lab level and was making its way up, toward them. Soon there wouldn’t be any place left to run. And after what he saw, he didn’t think all the bullets in their arsenal wou
ld do much more than piss the creature off. But he couldn’t act without Ridley’s say so, not to mention that Ridley’s welfare was his number one priority. Not because he cared about the man. He just wanted to keep getting paid.
After having his men take up positions outside Ridley’s office, he gained entry by swiping his key card, having his eye and thumb scanned, and then letting Ridley know it was him. Ridley alone had complete access to the office. The door unlocked and slid open.
Maddox sat in a love seat, sipping Ridley’s damned mint tea. Whenever either man was stressed, they clipped some mint from the plants in Ridley’s office, brewed a pot, and sat around like a couple of five-year-old girls at a tea party. Didn’t even use sugar. Despite the tea, Maddox’s leg bounced and his eyes shot to the door as Reinhart entered.
“What’s happening?” he asked quickly. “Are we under attack again?”
Ridley was leaning against his huge, solid mahogany desk, gingerly sipping at his china teacup. Seeing such a large, commanding man sipping from a teacup always looked odd, but it wasn’t until he spoke that the sight became surreal. “I’m assuming we have Delta issues again? King and his merry men?”
Reinhart nodded. “As best we can tell there are three intruders. Heavily armed and not taking prisoners. We have nearly twenty dead already.”
Maddox sat up straight. “Scientists?”
“No...just my men.” He looked at Maddox. “But seeing as how you’re such a key player in all this, I’m sure you’re on the hit list. As am I.” He looked at Ridley. “I suggest we leave right—”
“I will not be abandoning another facility,” Ridley said. “Not yet. Not when we’re so close.” He looked at Maddox. “How much time until the final batch is complete?”
Looking at his watch, Maddox said, “Two hours. Then we need to test it. Another two hours. But if they reach the lab...”
A smile stretched across Ridley’s face and he clapped his hands together. “Four hours. I think you can handle these three men for four hours, Reinhart. Yes?”
Actually, sir. There is a bigger problem, a much bigger problem.”
His smile disappeared. “And that is?”
“The Hydra sample—”
“Is of no use. If the Delta team has it, destroy it with them.”
“Sir, the sample got wet.” Reinhart crossed his arms and waited for Ridley to put the pieces together.
As he raised the teacup to his mouth once more, Ridley stopped. His hand shook briefly. He placed the teacup down. “How...wet?”
“Very.”
“It’s alive?”
As though in answer, a distant boom shook the floor slightly.
“Very.”
“What’s alive?” Maddox asked. “The Hydra.”
Ridley paced back and forth in front of Maddox, who put down his tea and placed his sweaty hands on his bouncing knees. “Is it contained? Where is it?”
“No, and we don’t know.”
“How can you not know?” Ridley barked. “Every room in this facility is monitored by your men. How can—”
“The surveillance system was sabotaged.”
“King.”
“I...don’t think so.”
Ridley’s bald head turned red with fury. “This is unacceptable, Reinhart.”
Through the floor they could hear people screaming. Then, more distant, Hydra’s inhuman, rattling roar.
Reinhart looked at the floor with a frown. The creature was moving through the facility faster than he would have guessed. Probably following a terrified sea of humanity. “I agree, but there is nothing I can do to remedy what has already happened. Right now I am concerned about your survival and the welfare of the project.”
“Yes. Yes. Very good.” Ridley turned to Maddox. “You have the most refined sample with you, yes?”
He nodded and lifted his briefcase off the floor. “Everything we need is in here.”
“Give me one of the vials.”
Maddox looked at him with suspicion. “This has yet to be tested...don’t do anything...” He didn’t finish the statement, as doing so would insult Ridley. His point was made, though.
Ridley reached his hand out. “I want to make sure your legacy does not die with you...if something unfortunate should happen.”
Maddox blanched, popped the briefcase, and handed Ridley a sealed test tube. He scribbled some notes on a sticky pad, tore it off, and handed it to Ridley. “These are the two genes currently being tested. One is regeneration. The other is unknown. If something should...happen to me, pick up the testing there.”
After taking the note and pocketing it with the test tube, Ridley turned his attention back to Reinhart. “And you must destroy the creature at all costs. If our competition or, God forbid, the U.S. government were to get their hands on it, they may be able to duplicate our formula.”
“It’s worse than that,” Maddox said. “They may find a way to undo it.”
Ridley looked panic-stricken. The idea had never occurred to him. Immortal life achieved could be stripped away? “That’s possible?”
“It’d be a simple matter of blocking the function of the new gene.”
Ridley glared at Reinhart. “Reduce the creature to slurry. Then burn it to ash.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Now, how do you recommend we survive the next four hours?”
“Open the doors and run like hell,” Reinhart said with a lopsided grin. “Being outside will allow us to use heavier weapons against the Hydra. It might be enough. But more than that, it will provide time for Maddox’s computers to finish their tests. The results can be sent to you wirelessly, I hope.”
“If I’m within range of the virtual private network, yes.”
“And the Delta team?” Ridley asked.
“We’ll have a mountainside buffet of science personnel in need of saving. And below that is the campground. Once outside, the Delta team will be preoccupied with saving themselves and the civilians. If they show, they’ll get the same treatment as the Hydra. We’ll prep the helicopter and have it ready to leave in four hours. In the meantime, we need to open the gates and get the race started. If the creature makes it to this level before we leave, well, we don’t want that to happen.” He looked Ridley in the eyes. “Once we’re gone we’ll level the site. The mountain, Delta team, and Hydra will all be destroyed.”
57
New Hampshire
With Beck leading the way, Knight, King, and Bishop made their way to the main level. As they entered the loading dock area Knight had used to enter the facility, they saw a crowd of people rushing through the main tunnel, toward the glow of daylight beyond. The exits had been opened.
“Something isn’t right,” Beck said.
“What is it?” Knight asked.
“There’s no security.” She looked at King. “They’re using these people to lure the Hydra outside. They’re bait.”
“Probably for us, too,” King added, then sighed. He looked at Knight, now armed with his MSG3, and Bishop, who held his machine gun toward the ceiling. “Knight, Bishop, take up position at the end of the tunnel. If the Hydra shows up, slow it down. Give these people a head start.” They nodded. He looked at Beck. She was one of them for now, and received the call sign any temporary member of the team had to live with. “Pawn, you stay with me.
Beck flashed a grin. While most people took the call sign as an insult, she recognized it for what it was, a chess piece. She was on their side, on the right side, for the first time in a long while. It felt good.
“We’ll cover your backs outside,” King added, “and make sure Gen-Y isn’t setting a trap for us. Go.”
With that, all four descended the small staircase that led into the loading tunnel, merged with the moving mass of humanity, and continued to the end. Upon reaching the exit, Bishop and Knight split up and took positions on either side of the door, aiming their weapons back down the hallway. Knight knelt behind a fallen tree, steadying his aim. Bishop place
d his machine gun on top of a boulder, letting its bipod hold the gun’s weight while he took aim. They knew at that moment that the people fleeing the facility had seen the Hydra in person. Not one of them looked at the armed strangers with fear. One even said “good luck” as he passed.
Outside, the flow of people didn’t continue down the road. People seemed to know that staying together was a bad idea. They split up, some in small groups, some on their own, fleeing into the woods in different directions. Rounding them all up, let alone eating them all, would prove a challenge.
King knelt to one knee, scanning the area for Gen-Y security. Beck stood behind him. “I disabled the security cameras and sensors. They won’t be able to track us so they’ll want to be more organized before launching an attack.”
King lowered his weapon and took his PDA out of his pants pocket. “Cover me for a minute. Just in case.”
After switching on the PDA, it connected to the satellite network, then sent a request signal to Deep Blue. Forty seconds later, the line picked up and Deep Blue’s silhouette appeared. “Sorry for the delay, King.”
“Check the satellite imagery. Infrared. You should be seeing something.”
The screen went blue for a few moments as Deep Blue worked things on his end. A satellite image of the area emerged on the PDA, along with his voice. “It looks like the mountain is bleeding people, King. What happened?”
“You feeling open-minded?”
“Your friend looks like an alien and has a body bonded by heavy water. I’ll believe whatever you tell me.”
“The Hydra is alive. Back from the dead. Fully regenerated and hungry as hell.”
Deep Blue’s image appeared on-screen again. “Funny you should mention that. I’ve got Rook and Queen inbound. ETA one hour fifteen minutes. They say they have a potential cure for your friend. Something used by Hercules to stop Hydra’s regeneration abilities long enough for him to sever its immortal head. Activate your GPS transponders. I’ll get them to you ASAP.”
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