H λ L F - L I F E: Bishop's War✔️

CHλPTER 17: Bio-Research

"Holy crap," Eric muttered as he finally caught full sight of the security checkpoint that served as the dividing line between the administration complex and Bio-Research. It was an absolute, bloody, sparking wreck. Consoles and workstations were shredded and smashed, furniture broken to bits, bulletproof glass bashed in by the fighting. It gave him haunting flashbacks to the Security HQ, as there were bullet-riddled security guard corpses and dried blood everywhere. The far door that led into Bio-Research had been forced open.

"What the hell happened here?" Vanessa asked quietly.

"From what I've gathered, the creatures broke containment. That was the first slaughter. Then the Marines swept through here some time later and killed several of the survivors that had gathered here," Laidlaw explained.

"Jesus," Bower muttered. He sighed. "Did you search the area?"

"Yeah, we already picked it clean in an earlier run, there's nothing left," Laidlaw replied.

"Then let's get on with it."

They passed through the massacre and the damaged door, coming into a broad lobby done up in white tiling that reminded Eric of hospitals. It was vaguely unsettling. The scent of antiseptics and blood sure as hell didn't help. He shook off the bad vibes and secured the area. There was a ripped-open door to the left that obviously led to a tram station, so it was probably a dead-end. The way to the right was a broad opening that led into another room, a larger antechamber that seemed to lead to the rest of the complex proper.

"Where are we going?" Eric asked.

"Dead ahead," Laidlaw replied, pointing to another security checkpoint doorway, this one firmly closed.

"No reason to go in there?" Bower asked, pointing to the rest of the Bio-Research area.

"No, not at present. It's, I imagine, very dangerous in there," he replied.

"Fair enough. I've had enough danger recently," Bower said.

Eric glanced through the broad opening as they passed by it, making hastily for the opposite checkpoint. He saw the unmoving shapes of corpses, a few humans and some alien slaves and maybe a few zombies as well, and other signs of conflict. Something growled deeper in, and he heard uncertain footfalls somewhere out of sight. Yes, it would be a welcome situation not to have to march through every damned monster-infested corridor and shadow-saturated room where any number of horrors from beyond time and space might dwell.

And then Laidlaw tapped something on the keypad, and it buzzed angrily at him, and he said: "Uh-oh."

"What the hell do you mean, 'uh-oh'?" Bower demanded.

Laidlaw swallowed, then tried again. Once more, it buzzed. "Crap."

"What's the problem?" Eric asked.

"It's locked down."

"Okay...so how do we unlock it?"

"We'll need an appropriate keycard, unfortunately," Laidlaw murmured.

"Wait, why can't you just call up your friends on the radio? They're on the other side of this checkpoint, right?" Maria asked.

He sighed and shook his head. "We only had one, and it was destroyed in the fighting. We scoured that other checkpoint for another, but..." He shrugged.

"Goddamnit," Bower snapped softly. "So we need to go into the Bio-Research complex, don't we?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so."

Bower growled and stared at the locked door. "Why is it locked?"

"I don't know. It shouldn't be. I mean, not locked down this hard. I had the code, but it's telling me it's an executive-level lockdown. Meaning we need a black-level keycard to get through it. Maybe something happened while I was gone..."