Page 5 of Glass Rose
“Run!” I grab Mia’s arm. “We need to seal this section!”
Alex is already moving, sprinting down the corridortoward safety. The subject that killed Peter shuffles out of the cell, head cocked like it’s listening. Mia’s feet finally catch up with her brain, and we run after Alex, her breath coming in ragged gasps. Behind us, low moans fade beneath the pounding of our footsteps and the shriek of an alarmIdidn’t trigger.
“In here!” I shove them through the door, slamming my palm against the emergency lockdown button. The reinforced door slides shut with a pneumatic thunk, security bolts engaging with a series of metallic clicks.
What have I done? What the fuck have I done?
TWO
SOFIA
My hands shake so badly I can barely punch in my access code to activate the observation window shield. The metal panel glides down just as Jack’s killer rams against the other side, making the reinforced glass rattle.
I reel backward, vision tunneling to pinpricks as my knees fold, and I drop hard to the floor, teeth clacking together as sweat turns ice-cold against my skin.
“What the fuck is that?” Mia presses herself against the far wall, chest heaving. “What the actual fuck?”
Alex points a small camera at the subject, who is hammering his head against the door. “You said they were dead.”
“They were. Clinically. No pulse, no brain activity. They weren’t supposed to be… active. The logs said?—”
“Those are zombies,” Mia says. “Actual fucking zombies.”
“Not zombies.” The scientist in me rebels against the term, even as my lizard brain screams that she’s right. “Post-mortem neuromuscular activity triggered by the BC-7 virus.”
Alex lowers his camera. “You knew.”
“I didn’t.” My throat constricts. “I swear I didn’t.”
“But you suspected.” He steps closer, voice dropping. “That’s why you were nervous about the cells.”
“No. I?—”
The pounding stops. Silence ripples through the corridor like a held breath.
Why? I pull myself up, legs still quaking.
Fisher, the only guard who ever bothered learning my name, moves down the hallway with caution, service weapon raised. His shoulders are squared beneath his security uniform, head swiveling as he checks each cell. Our buddy, who wanted to eat us, shuffling toward him.
“Fisher!” I slam my palm against the door. “Get out! They’re not?—”
Alex yanks me backward. “Are you fucking insane?”
“He doesn’t know what’s happening!”
“And you making noise will bring that thing back to us.” His voice drops low, almost tender. “We’ll all be dead.”
“I can’t just—” I wrench free, lunging for the control panel.
Alex blocks my path, his body a wall between me and the door. “You want to save him? Or feel better about yourself?”
I freeze, hand outstretched.
“You think I’m being cruel?” His eyes soften even as his stance remains immovable.
“He has a gun,” Mia whispers, her mascara running in black rivers. “Maybe he’ll be okay?”
Fisher turns—Peter?
