A dozen glowing eyes stared up at me from the bottom of the stairwell. I needed more light. There was no way I was going to get a clear shot without more light. I pulled out a road flare and lit it, letting it fall down the stairwell. As soon as the flare landed amid them, they screeched and scattered. Light! They were afraid of the light! "Loni pop your flares! Light up the stairway. It's our only hope." She nodded and lit her flairs, throwing them to the landings, making an avenue to the first floor.

I could see the glowing eyes of these things watching us from the shadows. I knew that as soon as the flares went out, they'd come back for us. We needed to get to the infirmary before then. When we finally reach the first floor, I instructed Loni to leave a flare at the door. Just in case these things could open doors like raptors.

We raced down the hall till I could see the door marked Infirmary. I pushed the door open. Inside was a single operating table with some chairs. Along the walls were shelves and cabinets full of medical supplies. "Loni, you'd know better than me what we're looking for. "

She nodded and ran to the shelves, flashing her light on every box and bottle. LB was shivering and hot to the touch. He kept muttering under his breath, but I couldn't understand him. "I think he's getting worse."

"I know," Loni said. "I don't know what I'm looking for, JJ." There was panic in her voice now.

Just then, our radios crackled. "Hello? Can you hear me?"

I almost collapsed with relief. "Yes, we can hear you," I said into my headset. "One of my team has been bitten by the creatures. Can you help us?"

"Troodons. They're called Troodons and yes, I can help you. Where are you?"

"We're in the infirmary," I told him.

"The Infirmary? Good. There should be a bottle with a green label on it by the operating table. It should be labeled OCM21."

Loni shone her light around the operating table and set the bottle sitting on a tray just behind the table. She picked it up and dug into her bag for a syringe.

"We got it. What do we do now?" I asked.

"If your friend recently bit, then 10 milligrams should be enough."

Loni drew out the suggested amount and administered it to LB. At once, we could see a change in him. His shivering stopped, and he lay silently. I checked his pulse to find it strong. "Thank you," I told the stranger over the radio.

"You're quite welcome. Troodons are nasty little things, aren't they? Their eyes are very sensitive to light, so as long as you have any flares or flashlights, you should be fine. Are you another rescue team?"

"That's correct. How many are you?"

"There's ten of us here. The last team I'm sorry to say got was killed by the Troodons before we could warn them. My radio doesn't have much range on it. I can only talk once a person is in the building. Even then it's spotty if there not on the same floor."

"Then you're on the first floor?" I asked him.

"Yes. If you're in the infirmary, take the hall to the end. We're past the armored door at the end."

"We're coming. What's your name?"

"Edward. Edward Carson. I'm the head of development here."

I turned to Loni. "Here's the plan I'll carry LB. You throw a flare right outside the door incise they're waiting for us. Then I want you to throw two more ahead of us till we reach the end of the hall."

Loni nodded and took out a flare. She stood by the door, ready for me. I picked LB up and slung him over my shoulder firefighter style. I drew my pistol and nodded the go-ahead to her. She lit the flare, opened the door, and tossed it into the hall. We heard more of the loud screeches from the Troodons. I was right. They were going to dog us every step of the way. Once out in the hall, Loni lit two more and threw them in the direction we were going. I could see the dark shapes of the Troodons scatter. I took a savage delight in their suffering. If I could, I'd kill them all before I left this place. So this is what Biosyn was up to. I could only imagine what kind of chaos they'd bring into the world with these creatures.

We ran down the hall, throwing flares ahead of us. Each of us carried a dozen flares. More than once extra light or setting a perimeter to ward off anyone who might stumble into a dangerous situation. Never thought we'd need to use them for this, but I was glad we had spares.

At the end of the corridor was saw a heavy metal door. It was marked Emergency. Well, this called for an emergency. I banged on the door to let him know we had arrived. The door swung open, and we quickly ran inside, helping them close the door behind us. Inside was an employee's lounge with sofas and bunk beds lining one wall. Along one wall was a kitchenette with a fridge. A pair of men in white lab coats helped me lower Lb to the couch. Edward Carson looked like his photo from his file. He was a balding man in his fifties. He was of medium build, soft hands and wire-rim glasses on his face.

He shook my hand warmly. "I'm glad you made it. I'm doubly glad we could help your teammate."

I nodded my head. "Thank you, Dr. Carson. What happened here, exactly?"

He shook his head. "I don't have the foggiest idea. I laid down on my bunk, prepared to get some rest before going back to the grind. Then alarms started going off all over the facility. Because of the dangerous nature of our work, quarantine procedures took effect immediately. The Maglocks' engaged shutters went down, then power shut off to ensure no one leaves or gets in. How did you get in? The last team had a master code for the garage door and that's how they got in."

"We entered through the maintenance hatch at the top of the building. That's how we'll get out." I told him.

"No arguments here. I'm more than ready to leave this place." Dr. Carson said.

"What about our research?" One woman in the room asked.

I shook my head. "It's not worth your life. If you want to risk your life getting it that's your business. Mine is to get the rest out alive. I was told that was a top priority."

"Then how do we get out?" Another researcher asked.

"We're going to light the way up to the maintenance room on the third floor with flares. Once outside, we'll walk to the Helipad where our chopper will pick us up. We'll need to move fast. Once we start, we can't stop or the Troodons will surround us. I don't know how many there are, but I don't want to risk running out of ammo in this place. Everyone understand?"

They nodded their head solemnly. "Good. Gather anything you can carry and that's all. We leave in ten."