Into the Hive

Beep, Beep.

The lights flickered back on as we began the silent journey back to the others when gunshots were heard. We rushed towards the sound to see Rain cradling her injured hand while JD looked remorseful and confused.

"What happened?" Kaplan questioned.

"We found a survivor." JD explained, Kaplan's eyed widened in disbelief.

"And you shot him!?" He shouted.

Something isn't right. It feels wrong.

"She was crazed, she bit me." Rain looked irritated as she glared at him. I flinched when I noticed the chunk of her skin missing from the side of her hand. The blood was starting to drip on the pipe-covered floor. I ripped a piece of cloth from the sleeveless dress shirt I was wearing, ignoring the looks Alice and Matt gave me as I walked towards the feisty woman.

"Let me help." I mumbled, snatching her hand and held it gently in my hands. She stared at me with a mixture of annoyance and curiosity, tilting her head to the side cutely.

"How do you know how to take care of a wound?" She asked.

"I took a few first-aid classes back in highschool and my cousins were in the Army. Learned from the best." I answered, shrugging. I was starting to notice the looks I was getting from the others as I swiftly pulled out a bottle of rubbing alcohol from the Medic's bag and began to treat Rain's wound.

"Where did you get that from?" Rain asked me, seriously. My hands froze for a split second before I continued bandaging her hand. I refused to look at her when she grabbed my wrist and pulled me closer.

"She's gone! She disappeared." Fortunately, JD's voice broke Rain's stare as she walked away from me.

"That's bullshit!" Rain exclaimed, looking at the spot.

"She fell right there! I must have shot her seven times!" JD shouted. Matt walked over and kneeled down with his hands still cuffed behind his back. I quickly followed after him as Alice's curiosity got the better of her.

"There's blood but not much. It's coagulated." He informed. My mouth dropped as I stared at the blood on the ground.

"I can't believe this." I whispered, collapsing on the ground.

"It's not possible." Matt whispered loud enough for everyone to hear while shaking his head.

"Why not?" Rain snapped.

"Because blood doesn't do that until after you're dead." Matt said as he looked her dead in the eye.

That's means there is more of them walking around. We are in some deep shit.

"Can we go now?" Spence asked obviously freaked out just as I was.

"Not until the rest of the team gets here." Rain replied, checking her wrappings around her wound. Kaplan physically paled in an instant as he swallowed and glanced at Alice, Spence, and I.

"There's no one else coming." He said softly nevertheless Rain snapped her head towards him.

"What the fuck are you talking about?!" She snapped, walking closer as if she was about to pounce. I quickly stood half beside Kaplan and half in front while JD pulled her away.

"Let go, JD!" She shouted, shrugging.

"Wait!" JD said, looking around, "Be quiet." I tensed as I heard the sound of metal sliding across the floor inching closer towards us. My eyes widened as the disfigured faces of The Hive employees slowly appeared around us. Pieces of their skin were ripped from the bone, some had limbs broken but were still inching towards us, and others only had blood stains but no physical wounds. Their eyes were glazed over with white film, skin was considerably paler, but they all looked the same – hungry.

The one that JD and Rain supposedly took care of suddenly appeared in front of Rain, I step closer only to see Rain twisted the woman's neck with one hand. My mouth dropped in respect and amazement.

Wow, I didn't know you could actually do that!

Rain stared down at the body before she reloaded her gun and pointed in the direction of the zombie mass in front of us. We all gathered closer together as the former residents moved closer, surrounding us in a circle.

"Don't come any closer!" Kaplan shouted in fear. Of course they did not listen, they could only understand one thing – eat and here we are free food, we were the sirloin steak to a pack of starving hunters.

There's so many. All of them are dead. That means….

"They're behind us too." Alice shouted over her shoulder. I felt my eyes tear up as I thought about my aunt before I shook the thought away. I had to survive.

"Shit, this fucking sucks." I mumbled wrapping my arms around myself. Alice pulled me closer as the corpses continued to inch closer to us. Her face was full of concerned when she heard my breathing pick up that's when they sprung forward.

"It'll be okay." She tried to soothe me, I shook my head.

"No, they're not going to stop." I whispered, tears poured behind my eyelashes as I closed my eyes.

"Fuck!" Spence shouted as a zombie tried to pull him down. That's when the soldiers started firing rounds of bullets, missing the only venerable place on these creatures – the head.

"They aren't they dying!?" JD shouted, firing.

"The tanks! Watch the tanks!" Matt shouted. I was pulled away from Alice's grasp and came face to face with Catherine Anderson, a computer technician that I particularly didn't like. Though I couldn't stand her personality and actions, she didn't deserve this, no one did. The left side of her face was chewed off, revealing muscle tissue while blood was caked on her neck, and her blouse was covered in blood. I pushed her away from me only to hear a crunch when Rain slammed the butt of her gun into the side of her head. Her body dropped and didn't move again. Rain pulled me up on my feet and pushed me towards Spence and the others.

"Thanks." I whispered, she only glanced at me.

"You waited?" Kaplan asked in surprise.

"Didn't know the code." Spence replied not taking his eyes off the former residents.

Spence was leaning against the wall while Kaplan was unsuccessfully trying to open the doors. Alice and Matt disappeared when I was separated from them. I stood close to Rain and JD as the duo fired into the swarm of zombies coming closer.

"What's taking so long!?" JD shouted over his shoulder without taking his eyes off them.

"Hurry up!" Rain shouted.

"Come on." Kaplan whispered. JD became frustrated and pushed Kaplan away who started to fire at the nearest zombies.

"What's the code?" Kaplan repeated the code wrong twice before he finally got it right. JD signed in relief before he smirked at Spence.

"See? That wasn't so hard was it? Ahhh!" He teased before being dragged into the staircase by the undead waiting there impatiently for their next meal. Rain ran towards him with tears flowing from her dark eyes.

"JD!" Rain screamed as his deafening screams echoed in my head. Rain reached to grab his hand as they dragged him father away, she was so distraught that she barely noticed one biting her arm before I managed to pull her away. We ran until we re-entered the laser room and collapsed on the ground.

Every single person down here was killed and reanimated… Those people weren't themselves anymore.

"Where are the bodies? Where did they go? Fuck!" Spence shouted, walking back and forth. I, myself, found that extremely insane. I couldn't think of a reason how they disappeared even if they were eaten, the blood would still be in the room and perhaps a former resident as well.

"What are those things?" Rain asked, through gritted teeth. Her hand wound was bleeding more while the one on her arm was left unnoticed by her and the others.

"Whatever they are, there are too many of them." Kaplan said.

"Whatever they are? I think it's pretty obvious what they are! Lab coasts, badges; those people use to work here!" Spence shouted.

"All the people down here are dead." Rain said.

"That doesn't stop them from walking around, does it?" Spence shot back.

"Where did they come from then? Why didn't we see them on our way in?" Kaplan shouted, while walking around the room.

"When you cut the power, you unlocked the doors – you let them out." Rain replied, furiously. I sadly looked at Kaplan's pale horrified face. Rain was right but she didn't have to put it like that. I stood up when Spence started complaining.

"Damnit! We're never going to make it to the surface!"

Suddenly, the door was slammed open as Matt and Alice stumbled in with a few unwelcomed guests.

"Don't shoot!" She shouted, trying to close the door as Matt helped her.

"Close the door!"

"Obviously." I muttered to myself. Spence shot past me to help when an infected person's hand closed around his arm and pulled him close to his gaping mouth. I ran over and elbow the man's head hard enough for him to let go as the door was firmly closed shut.

"Son of a bitch!" Spence freaked out, wiping his arm.

"You okay?" Matt asked.

"Yeah." Spence replied.

"We need to get out of here. What about this door?" Alice asked, powering walking to another door that was keeping the dead away. Kaplan rushed past her and shook his head while blocking the door.

"They're waiting there too." Alice signed in frustration before looking down the laser hallway.

"And that way?" She questioned, nodding her head in the direction.

"Dead end, there's no way out of the Queen's chamber." Kaplan shook his head.

"So, we wait. If someone doesn't hear from you, they'll send a team or something, right?" Spence asked Rain and Kaplan who were both oddly silent. Alice, Spence, and Matt exchanged a look while I stared at the two soldiers.

"What? What's wrong?" Spence asked after a few minutes.

"They aren't sending anyone are they?" I asked, breathlessly. Rain and Kaplan refused to look any of us in the eye.

I fucking knew it! Shit!

"We don't have much time," Rain spoke, moving her hand around, "you know those blast doors we passed on the way here? They seal shut in under an hour. If we don't make it out of here by then, we aren't getting out of here." Rain said, biting her lip.

"Are you saying that they'll cover this up?" Matt asked.

"They can't just bury as alive down here!" Spence shouted.

"Containing the incident is the only fail-safe plan they had …against possible contamination." Rain informed, clenching her fist.

I don't like how she's talking in past-tense like we're already dead.

"And you're telling us this now! We're trapped a fucking mile underground. Shit! Then it's a worse when she's dragged into this!" Spence said, pointing at me; however, I was looking into the Queen's chamber. Without saying a word, I picked up the black bag and walked down the hallway.

"Adrienne?" Alice called.

"What are you doing?" Kaplan asked as the rest of them followed after me.

"I'm turning her back on." I answered.

"That isn't a good idea." Kaplan said.

"She'll know a way out." Alice agreed with me.

"That homicidal bitch killed my team." Rain argued, stepping forward. I glanced at her, my face was unreadable. I didn't care about dying but I couldn't have these people on my concession – far too many people have died already today.

"That homicidal bitch maybe our only way out of here. You wouldn't want to have her death in your hands would you?" Alice shot back, glancing between Rain and I. I was focusing my attention on the motherboard computer even though I could feel the dark intense stare into my back.

"Considering the way she's been treated, I bet she'll be jumping for joy to help us out." Matt said, trying to lighten the mood while also putting thought of possibility the Red Queen wouldn't help us. I gave him a smile at his attempt which he returned.

Alice was sitting next to me as we began to press the same buttons Kaplan did to turn her off.

"That circuit breaker you mentioned, can you bypass it?" Alice asked.

"Yeah."

"So, do it" With that Alice and Kaplan started working on resetting the Queen as I stood off to the side staring at where the holographic image of Angie would appear. Rain stood behind me and off to the side, I could feel her body heat despite how far apart we are.

"I don't want you to die. I don't want anyone to die. I just can't believe this is happening. Shit." Rain whispered, I noticed I was the only one who could hear her.

"I don't want you to die either. That's why we have to do this. At least we have a chance, that's all I want." I said, giving her a sad smile. She stared intensely into my eyes before looking away.

"How old are you anyways?" She asked. I blinked.

"Eighteen, why?" I asked, titling my head to the side. She smirked.

"Just making sure you're legal." My mouth dropped.

"Wha?-" An electric shock flickered in the room after the static image of the Red Queen appeared before disappearing when Kaplan spoke.

"The circuit breaker's disabled. This time, if I hit the switch, she'll fry. The charge must have damaged her boards."

"Ah, there you are," The Red Queen's voice rung out, "Things, I gather have gone out of control."

"Give me the switch, I'm gonna fry her ass!" Rain shouted, running towards Kaplan who pulled the switch away from her grasp.

"I did warn you, didn't I?" The Red Queen said in a mocking tone. Kaplan looked pissed.

"Tell us what's going on down here." Alice demanded.

"Research and development." Was the simple answer.

"What about the T-Virus?" Matt asked, I tensed which didn't go unnoticed by several people.

"The research was a major medical breakthrough. Although it clearly possessed highly profitable military applications."

"How does it explain those things out there?" Spence asked.

They aren't things! They were people! They were apart of someone's family and friends!

"Even in death, the human body remains active: hair and fingernails continue to grow, new cells are produced, and the brain holds a small electrical charge that takes months to dissipate. The T-Virus provides a massive jolt to the both cellular growth and those trace electrical impulses. To put it simply, it reanimates the body." The Red Queen informed.

"It brings the dead back to life?" Matt asked.

"Not fully. The subjects have the simplest of motor ability and perhaps a little memory. They are virtually driven by the basest of impulses, the most basic of needs."

"Which is?" Spence asked impatiently.

"The need to feed."

Fuck me.

"How do you kill them?" Rain asked.

"Severing the top of the spinal column or massive trauma to the brain are the most effective methods."

"You mean shoot them in the head?" Rain clarified while also looking a bit confused.

"Why did you kill everybody down here?" Alice asked.

"The T-Virus escaped into the air conditioning system and an uncontrolled pattern of infection began," The Red Queen stated, "The virus is protean; changing from liquid to air to blood transmission depending on its environment. It's almost impossible to kill. I couldn't allow it to escape from The Hive. Soo, I took steps." She finished.

"Steps?" Alice asked but I could tell she already knew where this was going.

"She killed everyone down here in order to protect the rest of the population above. It's a part of her programming, keeping a majority of the people alive even if it means sacrificing a few hundred. It's not uncommon actually, that's how viruses are usually contained." I spoke for the first time in a while. I understood why she did it but she could've simply informed Umbrella or even the personnel instead. I couldn't understand her logic for her choices.

"What?!" Spence said.

"Correct. You must understand those who become infected, I can't allow you to leave."

"We're not infected." Alice signed, completely forgetting about Rain's wound who was secretly rubbing.

"Just one bit, one scratch from these creatures is sufficient and then you become one of them. A check of my systems indicates my main drive circuit breaker has been disabled, may I ask why?"

"Insurance. We need a way out of here. If you refuse to help at anytime, we flip the switch. Understand?" Alice informed.