One to Won

Chapter 9: Eradication

After several hours of driving, they finally reached their destination. The gate of the city welcomes them with a large sign stating its name. Buildings that once stood firm are now in rubble and ruins. The road was filled with rotten bodies of both humans and infected. Not only that, but the road is also covered with infected Zombies, roaming around the entire city. Seeing how many there were, it's already wrong. The city's total population before the disaster didn't reach this amount of people, slightly moving towards their guesses on what's happening. The reactor is still active in one way or another, producing more infected than ever before. "I think this is where we put our masks on..." "Agreed..." They put on their gas masks as well as their jackets and gloves to make sure they limit their exposure to the infected. Slowly driving on the road, making sure the infected Zombies don't get startled by them, they make their way through the ruins of the city. Mei was getting nervous and rushed with the slow driving while Ezar just wanted to keep their attention low. "At this pace, it'll take days to reach the place!" "Shh! Mei! Keep your voice down! If they get startled, who knows how many will come!" "We built this thing like a tank, we can take it! Just ram them all!" "Better safe than sorry, Mei!" "You know, Mei's right. We need to rush, right? Just ram everything." "Lyn, you too?!" "Just floor it, and we'll rush there. Besides, the entrance to the reactor itself is a hatch, right?" "We have to find it first." "I don't think we have to find it anymore..." Lynara points at a maroon beam glowing and shooting into the sky, making the sky dark. "That... Is concerning..." "No choice but to ram everything. If we fail, you both owe me." "Pfft, whatever you say. Let's get this party started." Ezar pushes the pedal to the floor, driving quickly towards the maroon beam. Lynara and Mei can only sit still, watching all the chaos happening around them. The car could take the damage, but not for long. They had to get out of the horde somehow, so Ezar had to be quick. In the distance, he spots a truck trailer designed for carrying cars, noticing its ramp is down. Quickly lining up to the trailer, the two girls in the back are instantly nervous. "Are you sure about this?! We're taking a big risk here!" "Lyn, the only risk here is the reactor! If we can't even handle this, who are we to venture into a horde multiplier itself!" "Lyn, it's alright! The building in front is mostly glass, we should be able to survive it!" "I just hope you know what you're doing!" "Trust me, I know what I'm doing! I'm just not sure!" "What other choice do we have?!" "None! That's why I'm taking this one!" As soon as they finish their conversation, the car hits the ramp, jumping up in the air.

They fly into a building that was almost entirely glass, shattering the glass and landing in it. They slide for a little bit before being stopped by a wall, smashing their side into it, leaving the car slightly damaged at the side of impact, and thankfully nobody is injured. Disoriented, they stepped out of the car to take a breath and found a person lying down in shock. It was a woman in the same lab coat from the city. She wasn't injured, not covered in anything, and she lay there clearly shocked. The only person who spoke up to her was Ezar. "Hey there..." "Hi..." "This is... Awkward..." "A little..." "This your place?" "Yeah, it is." "Sorry for wrecking it..." "It's fine..." "Anyways, who are you?" "Doctor Iva, good to meet you?" "Ezar, Mei, Lynara. What happened to you?" "Me and many friends were in the reactor room trying to shut it down, but we had to run. I was left behind because they thought I was gone for good." "Well, that's exactly what we're going to do. Shut that thing down." "You can't! It's too dangerous in there, you'll get killed!" "Tell us, is the reactor the reason the infected Zombies are still produced?" "Well, yes it's helping with speeding up reproduction. I took a sample back to a secret lab and tested it." "And you found?" "It has the genes for quick multiplication without skipping any phases of cell division perfectly." "Incredible... Also scary... That's why we're going." "I'm warning you, it's dangerous." "That's why we're going." "Then let me come with you." "You said it's dangerous." "That's why I must go with you." The tension between them both was clear and present, both Mei and Lynara could do nothing but watch. "Lead the way then. Show us how to get this thing shut down. Get in the car." "You're not thinking about jumping out of here with that thing, do you?" "You have a better idea?" "... No..." "Get in then." Without hesitation, Iva gets in with them, bracing herself. Ezar slams the pedal, ramming themselves through another wall of glass, jumping out of the building, landing on top of several infected, grabbing their attention. He keeps driving towards the maroon beam while Iva keeps watching. "That's it! That's the way! The entrance is blocked, so you'll have to ram your way through the wall!" He keeps driving, getting them closer to the building the beam is coming from. "Why is there a beam anyways?!" "It's unstable! It's shooting everything up into the air! If you breath it in, you'll turn into an infected!" "Well, looks like it's a good thing we brought an extra mask! Give 'er one!" Mei nods and gives Iva a gas mask, gloves, and several other things that can help. "We're getting close, everyone get ready!" "Ezar, we have a high chance of crashing here!" "What other choice do we have, Lyn?!" "I'm just saying, but not complaining!"

In a few seconds, they feel their speed suddenly slowed as the car smashes into a wall, sending them sideways then into a roll, crashing into the other side of the building's wall while clearing many infected Zombies on the way. "Ugh, my back hurts..." "Mei reporting for duty..." "That's leaving a mark..." They crawl out of the badly damaged car, thankfully with minimal damage to themselves. Quickly, they enter the hatch and seal it, going down the familiar ladder. "Ew! What is this gross stuff?!" "That's saliva of the infected... Good thing you have gloves on." "That's Ezar for you. Always thinking ahead." "It's still gross with gloves on!" Mei was at the verge of throwing up when reaching the bottom of the ladder, trying to keep it together. "Wait! We need to get something from my lab!" "What is it?" "Just follow me!" Iva runs the opposite way of the reactor into a closed room. As the rest entered the room, they found several test tubes and flasks, all different colors. Iva picks up a large test tube with a bright blue liquid that has been sealed. "I assume you were the guys who tried to blow up this place with the Emergency Airlock Self-Termination method?" "EAST? What's that supposed to mean?" "It refers to our secret underground research lab." "Been there, and it's doing well." "I won't question it, but that button won't work twice since the explosion heated up the mixture and made reproduction even faster." "Wait... You're that scientist from the journals record in the safe!" "You found my journal? Seriously?" "Sorry, we forgot about the heating stuff." "Don't worry, I would've done the same regardless." "So, what does this test tube have?" "I found a way to use their own blood against them. I don't know what I added, but it must've been a mislabeled concentration of a chemical, and this will quickly infect the infected, then instantly activate apoptosis, which is a programmed cell death." "You tested this already?" "For several weeks now, and it worked every time. I tried with human blood, and no reaction." "You used your own..." "Yes, I had to cut myself, but it was for science." "Well, let's feed this thing, shall we?" They finally head towards the reactor, slowly entering the glowing, maroon, and murky liquid lying around. They were absolutely disgusted and were more so when they saw a large maroon blob beating and moving. It was spitting maroon liquid. "What... What is that..?" "This, my friends, is the heart and brain of all the infected, growing inside this very reactor ever since it entered, making itself at home..."

They look at the 'heart' in awe and disgust but keeping their distance. The reactor was mostly destroyed, but the fuel loading system was still feeding it more fuel. Each new pump of fuel lets the heart spit out an infected, and it did exactly that. An infected, no more than a normal one they face, comes running at them, but was shortly shot down. "So, this thing has been eating whatever fuel it's been given..." "The rest of the pores are outside of the building, so all we got to do is cut the heart open and pour this test tube in it." "Sounds simple enough..." "But... We need to get ready for both a fight and a flood. The blood will come spilling out, and Zombies will absolutely notice what you did." "Well, this is why we're here." Lynara shoots at a nearby pipe above them, and it disables the fuel pump entirely. "How'd you know what to shoot?" "Instincts. Pipes mean something important, so I shot it." "I like how it makes sense, but also doesn't." Iva picks up a crowbar from nearby, getting ready to stab the heart. "It's time we put this thing to sleep." "Wait, are you sure about this?" "Are you with me or not?" The three of them stay silent, but they all nod with one another and get to an elevated surface with weapons out. Once they were ready, Iva stabbed the heart, pulling the crowbar down, releasing all the insides and murky liquid while she tried to avoid it. There can be a roar heard as a horde is felt fast approaching. Iva doesn't waste any more time and threw the test tube in the heart, then smashing it open with the crowbar. She then makes a run for it to Mei and the others, getting to safety. A large horde barges in, trying to approach Mei, Lynara, Ezar, and Iva. They worked tirelessly to keep the infected away from them, shooting them all. The floor was slowly filling with dead infected bodies and murky maroon liquid. During the long and intense fight, the reactor bursts into steam once more, before finally powering down for good as the once maroon liquid quickly turns blue, reaching and rusting several parts of the reactor. One by one, infected Zombies scream and groan in pain before falling and dying. Relieved, all four lies down, panting and laughing in exhaustion, talking to each other. "Well then... That was something..." "Did... Did we win..?" "Yes Mei, I think we won..." "*Sighing in exhaustion* It's finally done..." "None of this would be possible without you guys..." "Iva, we owe you a big thanks for this too." "I'm glad I can help... You think I'll get that promotion?" "Hah! Heh... Thinking about your job now of all times?" "I was just joking, heh."