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As he&039;d suspected, that dead end shrine was a door, and the tiny leech statue that Rebecca had found fit perfectly in the door&039;s "lock" There was a soft, hidden click and the door unlatched

Billy studied the front of the door athat the profile was, in fact, that of Dr James Marcus He wondered why the leech man they&039;d seen on the train had looked like Marcus; the leeches had been controlled by that obviouslyoutside Was the real Marcus still around? It didn&039;t see, paranoid that Spencer was co to take his work, and that had been ten years ago People that nuts usually weren&039;t able to hold down day jobs

Rebecca aiting He set the ant door with the barrel of the shotgun A quick scan forfarther inside

"Wow," he said, hushed, looking around the rooe, expensively fitted with built-in shelves and cabinets on one side, all dark, polished wood and beveled glass, an ornate fireplace opposite The antique wood furniture--a low table, chairs, a big desk--was beautiful, the carpet plush, silencing his steps He saw a door at the back of the rooers that it would turn out to be their escape route

Much of the rooe aquarium that do everything atery bluish light, though the aquarium itself was empty--

--Billy frowned, stepped closer Not empty There were no fish, no rocks or plants, but there were a nunizable but no less grotesque They appeared to be pieces of human flesh, but shapeless, boneless, like deformed, amputated body parts Billy quicklyobjectsOne of the wall cabinets stood open, and Billy walked to it, scanning the books inside An ancient photo albuet back to Rebecca but he was curious, wondering if the bust on the door meant he was in Marcus&039;s office

The photos were old, yellowed and curled He turned a few pages, decided it was a waste of time He started to put the album back--and a loose picture fluttered out He stooped to pick it up, held it up to the blue, rippling light

The picture itself wasn&039;t particularly interesting, a trio of youngclean-cut and well scrubbed, s at the picture taker On the back, soraduation, 1939"

Billy studied the photo, decided that the youngabout the shape of the headHe looked fa to hier from the train They hadn&039;t seen him well, but he had the same stance, the sarandson"

There was a puzzle here, and he was starting to think he&039;d just found another piece If Spencer had overthrown Marcus, taken his work, wouldn&039;t Marcus&039;s son, or his son&039;s son, want revenge? Maybe the viral outbreak hadn&039;t been an accident Maybe the guy with the leeches had done it

Billy sighed, setting the photo on top of the albuood and well, but for all practical purposes, who gave a shit? He needed to be looking for a way out

He checked the desk for keys or , and went to the room&039;s second door, thankfully unlocked He pushed it open, felt his hopes dwindle; there was no big tunnel with a flashing exit sign It was an art storage rooainst walls, a few statues draped with sagging dropcloths One statue was uncovered, a white ods, seated against one flocked wall, its dusty gaze uplifted, a hand cupped near its belly:--

--and holding soreen

Billy walked over and took the s faintly when he realized what it was It was another carving of a leech, this one in green instead of blue

Another key, perhaps to another secret door And this one ht really be their ticket out

Day One Ady makes them perfect candidates for this research, but they es observed

The word four was underlined In the e sequence" in a spidery hand, and circled it

It was part of a lab journal, mostly dates and numbers Rebecca had been about to set it back dohen she&039;d seen that several phrases and words had been underlined on one of the last pages She read on, looking for rowth to double their for successful, their numbers doubled, but cannibalistic behavior has been initiated, presument food supply, but lost two

Numbers doubled and tere underlined

Day 12 Provided theht back However, they are learning froroup attack behavior Evolution is exceeding expectations Lost half was underlined

There were no more marked entries, but Rebecca skie experier exhibit individual traits, canat a fantastic rate, eating everything offered now

The last entry painted clearly for her just how far into madness Dr Marcus had slipped

Day 46 A day worthy of renize their father, I believe I feel such strong affection for them, from them Do they love? I think they do It&039;s us, now, only me and my brilliant children No one will take them away from me

With all that I&039;ve learned, they wouldn&039;t dare

"Hey!"

It was Billy, calling up through the floor Rebecca set the papers down and walked to the hole, kneeling next to it

"Did you find anything useful?" she asked, looking down at hi sht it It was another of the leech keys, this one green

"Is there a door up there with a bust of Marcus on the front?" Billy asked

Rebecca shook her head "I don&039;t know Not in this roo o take a look around?"

Billy hesitated "Why don&039;t I come up, we can both look Just let"

"I&039;ll be careful," Rebecca said "Didn&039;t you say there was another door down there? Maybe you should try and get it open while I see if I can find the keyhole for this thing"

"It&039;s a combination lock," Billy said "Unless you have a set of picks handy, I don&039;t think we&039;re going to get it open"

Rebecca sighed Too bad Jill Valentine wasn&039;t with the to Barry, she could break into anything

"change sequence" "Wait Coed back fro to the desk with Marcus&039;s notes She quickly read through the es, did the math as she hurried back Four leechesDoubledLost two Lost half"Tryfour-eight-six-three," she said

"Wild guess?" Billy asked

Rebecca sreen leech carving "I&039;ll see if I can find where this goes"

Billy nodded, reluctantly, and Rebecca stood up, started for the roo brave or stupid She didn&039;t really want to do anything alone, not since her encounter with the pri as she was already on the first floor, it made sense for her to take a look

The lab&039;s door opened into a short corridor, three doors besides the one she&039;d coht, was locked The second door, around a corner and also to the right, was open, but a quick glance inside showed nothing but a large, empty room, a small office set to one side It was too dark to see much else Rebecca closed the door, relieved that she was already two-thirds of the way through her little search, and went to the last door, at the end of the corridor

Also unlocked Rebecca pushed it open, saw yet another door only a meter in front of her; to the left, the room opened up into what appeared to be the same lab she&039;d started fromIt wasn&039;t, but with the way the rooms were oriented, it had to be connected to the first lab Maybe they&039;d split it up at so wall, was one of the infected, a gaunt, sallow ry He shuffled toward her,sound in the back of his throat

He was slow, very slow Rebecca looked between hiht of the leech-key war a chance, she stepped forward and pushed at the door, was through and quickly closing it behind her before the too-thin zombie could take another step

She&039;d stepped into an operating rooht fil about on tilted wheels And there, across froreenish door with a profile of Dr Marcus on the front

"Gotcha," she said,a closer look at the operating table set in the roolimpse of the heavy restraints attached She had an idea of what Marcus had been up to; she didn&039;t need to suffer the details