Dolls of the Red Zone(Girls Frontline)

Chapter 27 - Complications

The X-Lab dolls waited impatiently for the decontamination cycle to finish, they were already far too late to get Haz out of the situation she put herself in. Once it did finish, the group all got back inside and hunkered down, the ELIDs would move eventually, and chances are they couldn't figure out the decontamination room's lockdown that had been forced on by Ayako. 

But they were proven wrong, after a couple minutes the door on their side closed, meaning the entrance from the other side had been opened. A matter of seconds separated X-Lab and what was likely ELIDs numbering in the hundreds. Weapons came up, deep breaths were taken, solemn vows were made. Then the cycle finally finished and the door opened up, it was time...

For Haz to walk calmly out of the door and back towards the group, surely they were seeing things. But no, Haz was there and certainly real, and not a single ELID followed her, stares were exchanged before a question was asked.

Ayako: What happened?

Haz: Killed them.

Ayako: You just killed them? Nothing else?

Haz: They're dead, rather they weren't?

Ayako and the rest of the group all stood back up and joined Haz before going back into the decontamination room to exit, but something felt off. That something was quickly found once the door opened and showed what was on the other side, what Haz had done. A mist of green-tinted haze rested over the entire area. 

The ELIDs that once numbered in the hundreds had been reduced to corpses, corpses that were actively having their flesh eaten away by the mist. It was a scene of horror to Springfield and Doctor J, neither had seen just what Haz was made to do, and they had finally seen it. 

Ayako: Haz, we agreed not to use this again.

Haz: Would you rather be trapped inside the bunker with those things pounding on the door for days straight?

Ayako couldn't help but go silent, to a scene like this Haz was indifferent, but any human would find this terrifying, bodies were dissolving just from being exposed to the gas. This was the problem Haz had, she had less humanity left compared to the rest of X-Lab, it was weight that was eaten away in her mist, the same as these corpses. 

Ayako: You and I are going to have a talk when we get back to base. 

Now Haz had to go quiet, it was rare for Ayako to actually scold any of her teammates beyond a disapproving glance, Haz had reason to be scared. She certainly had fucked up with this one, but she did allow everyone to escape, could have been worse at least. 

Eventually, after getting over the scene Haz had caused, the group all moved on, coming out of the bunker and seeing the sky again. The field they were in was now empty, nearly every ELID in the area was just wiped out. Ayako was sure to secure the main blast door again when they left, it was best this tech didn't get into anyone's hands, doesn't matter what side they worked for. 

So they all made their way out of the valley the same way they had came and went back towards where they had been dropped off. This area had been mostly cleared of ELIDs as well, no surprise with how loud X-Lab's entrance was. Ayako went for her radio in hopes of getting the exfil here now instead of several hours from now, but it was out of commission, radiation density had fried it. 

So they all found a nice comfy building and sat down to wait, they knew their rescue would come eventually, and dodging the ELIDs that did still roam this area would be relatively easy, so Ayako decided to reschedule Haz's scolding to now. She cut off her radio from the rest of the group and only let Haz hear just how pissed she was.