"Let's move." Half a minute later... Theresa carried Tania on her back as she walked out of the suffocating sealed chamber. A mechanical voice rang out overhead. "Two subjects detected." The steel door slid open without delay. Two went in. Two came out. No alarms. Theresa's lips curled into a bitter smile. A spark of grim delight flickered inside her. Gabriella's stupidity had worked in her favor. Without that idiot's access, carrying someone out would have set the system off. Tania, though, was nothing but weight in her arms. Her strength had been drained dry. Theresa had pressed an Emergency Pill into her mouth and dusted her wounds with pain relief gel, but her legs still could not move. Theresa did not even know the full scope of what they had done to her. With her aunt clinging weakly to her back, Theresa pressed forward. Her eyes landed on a massive yellow bin. It reeked of rot. It was used for hauling out zombie corpses. Inside a nearby lab, Fabian hunched over a new subject. He jammed a needle into its arm. The body convulsed as the serum burned through its veins. Fabian's eyes widened in disbelief. This batch was far stronger than the last. He lifted the vial toward the light. His breath hitched when he saw the stamp carved into the metal. "1106."His heart skipped. 1106 was supposed to be lost. The truth crashed down on him. His body went rigid, then bolted toward Tania's chamber. His legs pumped furiously. His chest heaved with panic. He shoved open the reinforced door with trembling hands. A roar split the air. Gabriella, her body broken and twisted into a zombie's shell, hurled herself at him. "Gabriella!" His cry shattered into despair. Meanwhile, Theresa moved like a phantom. She kept her power cloaked as she pushed a cart stacked high with corpses toward the main gate of the restricted zone. People brushed past. Their eyes slid across her without recognition. They dismissed her presence as if she were smoke in the air. No one stopped her. She pressed forward, opening cages as she went. Iron locks fell away. The zombies inside staggered free. When she neared the gate, the loudspeakers blared. "Warning! Warning! Intruder detected! Seal the exits! Capture the target!" The shrill voice rang through the underground. Heads snapped around. White coats swarmed the hall. Theresa stood at the gate. Her figure was unremarkable. But the cart with Tania slumped inside drew every eye.That cart should not have appeared here. A furious voice shouted, "Who are you? What are you doing here?" Theresa turned slowly. Her face was calm. Her smile sharp. Her voice rang with clarity. "Take a look behind you." The words had barely left her lips when screams burst down the corridor. "Ahhh! Someone let the zombies out!" The white coats froze in place. Fear widened their eyes. From the shadows came dozens of withered zombies. Their shrieks tore through the hall, sharp and merciless. Theresa swiped Gabriella's stolen card across the elevator lock. A beep followed, and the doors opened wide. She shoved Tania inside first. The researchers charged forward. Theresa darted toward another cage and ripped it open. Chains crashed to the floor. Three zombies staggered out. Their moans shook the walls. Their skin was stretched tight over bone. Their hollow eyes burned with hunger. The growls filled the air as they charged. White coats screamed, stumbling back as the creatures ripped into their lines. One skeletal zombie lunged.Its claws clamped down on a man's face. Its hardened fingers pierced flesh. The thumb burrowed into his temple. The forefinger sank deep into his forehead. The middle finger drove into his eye. The last two stabbed into his cheeks. Blood sprayed in hot streams. His scream rang through the hall, raw and endless. His face tore away in one savage pull. The sight of gore sent the horde into frenzy. Zombies shrieked, thrashing harder, chasing anything still alive. The underground turned wild. The floor ran red. The walls echoed with screams. Most of the researchers were helpless. Ability users were rare, and even those few lost their powers the moment they neared Theresa. Even the zombies were just regular zombies. The fight became primal. Just humans against monsters. Zombies lunged at every corner, attacking the researchers. Flesh tore. Blood poured. Out from the chamber, Fabian stumbled into the chaos. He dragged a zombie by the leg. His gift was control. He could bend humans or low-level zombies, but never more than three at once. Now he hauled his sister's broken body. Gabriella's bones had shattered piece by piece. Even as a zombie, her frame could not stand.