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The winding tunnel seeo on forever Every time they rounded a turn, Rebecca expected to see a sealed door, a slot set next to it for the key card that David carried As the corners continued, the hanging lights going on for another stretch of tunnel, each as empty and featureless as the stretch before, she stopped wishing for the door A sign would suffice, an arrow painted on the wall, a chalksuspicion that they&039;d been ht

Tired sarcasm aside, Kinneson had been weird, but had definitely seehtened to the point of hysteria Could he have been confused in his panic, pointed to the wrong passage? Or was the lab just better hidden than they thought?

Or did he send us off on a snipe hunt, soerous, meant to keep us out of the hile he

while he did sohtened her eveninto a trap Karen was desperately ill, she wouldn&039;t be able to defend herself, and Steve

no, Steve&039;s okay He&039;d be able to take Kinneson in a heartbeat

Except that Karen ith hiht

Their jog had slowed to a shag, David and John both breathing heavily, frowns deepening across their exhausted faces David held up a hand, stopping them "I don&039;t think it&039;s this way," he panted "We should have seen so by now And the piece of paper with the key card said southwest, east - I&039;m not sure, but I think after that last turn, we&039;re heading west"

John bobbed his head, his short, tight hair glisten-ing with sweat "I don&039;t knohich e&039;re going, but I know I think Kinneson&039;s full of shit The guy works for U deeply "I think we should go back We have to get to the lab, soon I don&039;t think"

Clank! They froze, staring at each other Fro made of heavy metal had just been moved "The lab?" Rebecca said hopefully "Could it" A low, strange sound cut her off, the words dying in her throat as the noise picked up strength It was like nothing she&039;d ever heard before - a dog howling, co whine and the sound of a newborn baby&039;s desperate cry It was a lonely, terrible sound, rising and falling through the tunnel, finally building to a warbling, mournful shriek - then it was joined by several others She was suddenly absolutely certain that she didn&039;t want to see asup, his face pale and eyes wide "Run," he said, training his Beretta on the e until they had stu to follow Rebecca felt a burst of incredible energy as adrena- line gushed into her body, sent her sprinting through the shadowy tunnel to escape the rising shrieks of whatever was behind thes pu steps of David on her heels The hoere getting louder, and Rebecca could feel the stone vibrate beneath her flying feet, the heavy, galloping steps of the shrieking beasts thunder- ing after theonna make it -

Even as she realized that they&039;d be overtaken, she heard David gasp out, "Next turn" and as they reached the end of the eain, Rebecca whirled around, raising the Beretta in her sweating, shaking hand, training it back on the last turn they&039;d taken John and David flanked her, gasping, nine-side hers Twentycries of their unseen pursuers As the first of the into the creature that at first Rebecca thought was a lioness - then a giant lizard -

- then a dog She caught only aparts of it that her iant snake head, a gaping, slavering jaw filled with bladed teeth The squat and powerful barrel-chested body, sand-colored, thick legs bowing in front,it toward them at an incredible speedand even as the bullets found its strange, reptili-an flesh, there was another behind itand the first explosive rounds that smacked into the thick body of the closest creature knocked it off of its clawed feet, staggered it backward as blooms of watery blood spattered the tunnel wallsand, shaking its head, screaain

- oh shit -

Rebecca squeezed the trigger again, four, five, six, heras loudly as the two ht, nine, tenand the first went down, stayed down, but there was still the second and now a third, tearing down the tunnel, and the Beretta only held fifteen rounds

We&039;re gonna die

David ju fire An empty clip skittered across the floor, and then he was next to her again, ai smoothly in his practiced hand Rebecca counted her last round and stu that she could do it as fast as David and saw that the third ani thin streamers of red It collapsed into the puddle of watery fluid it created and stayed there Nothing in the tunnel moved, but there were at least twocries continued to wax and wane through the tunnel, but they stayed back, out of sight - as if they knehat had happened to their siblings, and were too s death "Fall back," David said hoarsely, and still aie backward, the shrieks of the hybrid creatures rolling over them in lonely, terrible waves Griifith moved quickly away fro to be too close to who He had Thur-ready, just in case there were any suddenman and his passive partner step into the lab, he doubted he&039;d have any trouble

What&039;s this? A few too many drinks, perhaps? An unseenfor him to speak or for the woood hu since he&039;d talked to so, and the fact that his fine plan had worked made him all the merrier Behind hi teapons on the unlikely pair The young aze settling on the wide airlock win- dow in so across her chest

He had the deep, natural tan of a Hispanic, or perhaps soh Yes, he&039;d do quite nicely and since this ht even have been the one to destroy Athens, there was a certain poetic justice being served The youth&039;s darting gaze finally rested on Griffith, curious and not altogether as frightened as Griffith would have liked

We&039;ll see about that "Where are we?" the young man asked quietly "You are in a chemical research laboratory, approx-imately twenty meters below the surface of Caliban Cove," Griffith said "Interesting, yes? Those clever designers even built it inside of a shipwreck, or they built the shipwreck around the lab, I forget ex"Are you Thur his head "No That fat, hopeless creature standing to your left is Dr Thurht be?"

Before the youngwhite face looking around in fixed, helpless hunger