Page 13 of Alpha Infected
Together they took down the office workers turned monsters in a hail of bullets. They dropped, their suits and power dresses ripped up with bullet holes and wet with black, infected blood.
“Damn, those fuckers are fast,” Hazard said on a rough exhale once the last infected had fallen.
Ortiz growled. “Regular people given inhuman strength and speed so a fucking drug company can make more money. And now we have to put them down like rabid dogs.”
The pissed off note was clear in Ortiz’s tone. Ice was pissed too. None of them were happy that they’d had to kill so many civilians today. But that was the job. They’d sacrifice the people in this building in order to save the people of the city of Tulsa.
They ascended the next flight of stairs, stepping carefully to keep the sound of their boots meeting the stair treads to a minimum.
Floor thirty-one was unlike the first two levels they’d passed through. Instead of offices, the floor was set up as a relaxation area for the employees. It was a huge, wide open space. There were lots of big cushy sofas, several massage chairs, a few cardio machines, a rack of yoga mats with space to practice, and even several billiards and other game tables. Toward the back there was a juice and coffee bar with a small seating section.
Near where they’d come up the stairs was a loft, enclosed by a frosted glass wall, with ladder like steps leading up to it. They couldn’t see what was up there behind the thick, frosted glass but Ice didn’t detect any movement.
The entire floor appeared to be completely empty. Ice didn’t trust what his eyes saw however. He stayed on high alert as they moved through, Ortiz in the lead, Jax and Hazard behind her, and Ice bringing up the rear.
Suddenly, the hairs on the back of Ice’s neck rose. His Instinct stirred, confirming his feeling that this room wasn’t as clear as it seemed. But he didn’t see anyone. Until he looked up. An infected hung off the massive art installation on the ceiling. It let go of the art piece and dropped, just as Hazard passed beneath it.
“Hazard, look out!”
Ice rushed forward, shoving his mate out of the way. Hazard cleared, but the infected landed on Ice’s back, wrapping its legs around his waist to hold on. Snarling, it grabbed Ice’s mask, trying to rip it off his head to get to his face.
“Get off me, you fuck!” Ice gripped the thing by the neck. Heaving with all his strength, he flung it off him in an overhead throw. It went flying across the room, taking his mask and balaclava along with it. The infected crashed to the ground, landing on its back. But it swiftly flipped over to get on its feet. Before it had a chance to come at them again, Ortiz fired twice in quick succession, killing it.
“You okay, Royce?” Hazard asked.
He’d just opened his mouth to answer in the affirmative when Jax shouted a warning.
“Behind you!”
Ice spun to face the threat. Four infected were making a beeline for him. He fired, killing the first one. Bullets from his teammates took out two more. But before he could squeeze off a second shot, the one directly in front of him leaped and slammed into his chest with the force of a Mack Truck, knocking him to the ground. Acting on reflexes drilled into him until they were second nature, he got his gun up, lodging it just beneath the infected’s chin. With a quick pull of the trigger, he blew the top of their head off. Blood, brains, teeth, and viscera rained down on his bare face in a foul shower of death.
His lips twisted in disgust, Ice shoved the corpse off him and got to his feet. He swiped his sleeve across his mouth, spitting on the floor to make sure he didn’t swallow anything that had fallen on him.
“Where the hell did they come from?” Ortiz asked.
“Right there.” Jax gestured with his gun.
Ice, Ortiz, and Hazard all looked to the loft where Jax was staring. The area had appeared empty when they’d passed it. But now, the sound of their gunfire had drawn multiple infected in the space close to the glass. The infected that had attacked them had figured out how to escape their pen, but the remainder were so focused on staring down at the members of the 448 that they either didn’t realize or didn’t care that there was an exit.
One of the infected started banging on the glass. Others followed his action. The noise of their banging drew more infected over, until there were dozens piled up on the other side of the wall. Hissing, snarling, their drool smearing on the glass. Under their fists, the glass splintered. Cracked. It wouldn’t hold them back for much longer.
“We need to go. Now,” Ortiz urgently ordered.
They were on the move before Ortiz finished giving the order.
Ice looked back over his shoulder in time to see the glass wall shatter. The infected burst through the jagged opening they’d created in a furious swell of hairless, black-veined bodies. Some of them simply leaped down from the loft, landing in a beast like crouch. Others found and descended the narrow spiral staircase. They were all coming for the 448.
Adrenaline zinging through his veins, Ice ran with his team to the far end of the level. They were about to turn the corner to reach the next staircase when over the sound of his thudding heart and their boots pounding on the floor Ice heard something else. Footsteps. Lots of them. And it wasn’t the footsteps of the infected behind them. These footsteps were above them, moving toward the same staircase they were racing to.
Thanks to his omega speed, Hazard was out in front as they ran. Ice reached forward and grabbed the back of his mate’s tac vest. He yanked him to a halt, preventing him from climbing the steps.
“Ice, what the fuck?” Hazard asked in surprise.
“Don’t go that way!” he warned sharply.
At his shout, Ortiz and Jax both skidded to a stop. They backed up just in the nick of time. An infected catapulted itself down the stairs, hands curled into claws, hissing and swiping at them like a feral cat. Directly behind it there were more. Lots more.
“Oh, shit!”
