Degeneration Read Online Free Page B

over onto its back .
    Beneath the white-suit’s facem ask, the man’s eyes were rolled- up in their sockets and his skin was pulled tightly against his face. His skin was ashy and his lips were blue.
    Lloyd’s eyes trailed down to the oxygen canister attached to the man’s hip; the needle was all the way in the red. He’d rather suffocate then take off his goddamn mask, Lloyd thought. What kind of hell is ‘ PT-12 ’ ? Without ano ther moment of hesitation, he fired two shots into the man’s forehead. He knew that he couldn’t let the virus make it to the surface.
    “ Repo rt!” Cpl. Andrews shouted from the hall , hearing the gunshots .
    “Clear,” Lloyd said as he walked over to the Novell servers.
    “We’re clear out here, too. P lant the thermals and let’s go!” Cpl. Andrews shouted, coughing.
    Lloyd unslung the black duffle from his shoulder. He brought out one of the charges and attach ed it to one of the server s . He pressed th e button on the side of the charge. It beeped and the green digital readout flashed 00:05:00 as it started counting down . Once he activated the primary charge, the secondary charge self-activated.
    He slung the duffle back over his shoulder, ran out of the server ro om, and joined the other s in the hall.
    “Done?” Cpl. Andrews asked, gritting through the pain.
    Lloyd nodded, uneasy.
    “Alright , let’s get the last one planted,” Cpl. Andrews said , clutching his bleeding neck. T he blood had soaked th rough the thick gauze bandage and h e was coughing violently.
    The soldiers maneuvered back through the hall back into the laboratory.
    Cpl. Andrews, coughing, pointed at the refrigeration unit that had the metal table rammed through its glass doors.
    Lloyd walked over to the refrigerator and pulled t he second charge out of the duffle. He stepped carefully around the metallic table that had been rammed through the fridge and carefully slid his arm though t he shattered glass door, reaching towards the back of the fridge , gripping the charge tightly .
    Inside the refrigerator he saw a veritable arsenal of pack aged microbial death. He froze as he read some of the labels on the sealed containers inside: Anthrax, Botulinum Toxin, S axitoxin, Tularemia, A/ W- H5 N1, A/W-H1N1, Black Rain, PT-13, PT-14, PT-15–
    “Hurry!!!” Cpl. Andrews shouted.
    Lloyd jumped, startled out of his trance, and his right forearm struck again st t he shattered refrigerator door frame . A small shard of broken glass that was still stuck in the doorframe pricked him; he felt it despite his thick white-suit.
    “Those goddamn charges have a five minute timer on them, so we really don’t have time for you to drag your ass! Move! Plant the charge and l et’s go!!!”
    Lloyd shoved the charge between ‘Anthrax’ and ‘Botulinum Toxin’, turned, and rejoined the group.
    “Alright, fall back to the elevator,” Cpl. Andrews ordered, coughing, gripping his bite .
    They ran past the corpse of their fallen, Patrick. Lloyd glanced down at Patrick as they ran and felt ashamed for his thoughts. Better him tha n me.
    They pried open the lab’s inner-door–
    “ Danger! Inner- door has been forced open . Proper decontamination procedures were not followed. Security has been notified ,” the pleasant female voice calmly announced overhead.
    The team ran towards the open elevator with a sudden slight hesitation–
    Ins ide the blood-stained and bullet- riddled elevato r, lifeless corpses with pale faces were slouched against the wall, gazing out accusingly at the soldiers.
    Cpl. Andrews fired a round of automatic gunfire into the motionless corpses for good measu re and then stepped inside, dropping his empty magazine to the floor.
    The other white-suited soldiers slowly stepped in to the elevator, carefully stepping over the cor pse's outstretched limbs.
    Cpl. Andrews pushed the 'L' button, coughing loudly, but nothing happened.
    He pushed it again, frantic.
    Nothing happened.
    “ This is Colonel