Of Lambs and Lions (invite only)

Midnight. A convoy of three German made Boxer APC's were making their way through the winding mountain roads of rural China, towards a remote mining village with a medical research facility. The rugged vehicles toughed it through the howling snow storm, making good time on their trip.

Inside one of the APC's, a squadron of four black armored Templar sat on one side of the transport, opposite mercenary auxiliaries. Rosa sighed as their APC trundled along the Chinese count road. Climate change meant snows had lingered even into mid april.

5 years of hard training. There were so many crises in the world now, problems where they could make a difference. Terrorism. Metahuman violence. Oppression and Tyranny. Instead, Rosa let out a melancholy sigh, as they were transported to a “job” alongside mercenaries.

“We may be going to China, but there are no dragons to slay there, Axe Knight.” Rosa's seatmate, a pale platinum blonde of a young man teased her. Klaus his name was, the son of a German energy baron. He manifested his talents much earlier in life than Rosa, and therefore had this superior smugness in his tone and face. A smugness Rosa has wanted to remove. With his fists.

She sneered at the alias she'd been given. Where most of these noble born Templar wielded rapiers or longswords as their side arms, she had chosen a Dane axe, a large and brutal weapon. “If you can read my mind so well Klaus... we should be using our powers for good. Honorably. To defend the innocent! Tyrants murder their own people, monsters stalk the wilds, metahumans plot to overthrow governments. Not this... hushed mercenary work for some private corporation.”

"...You should stop listening to Bohemond, Rosa. You're starting to talk like him." Her two other Templar squadmates, a pair of female twins, offer her a comforting pat on the shoulder. They carried smaller daggers, but also bore powerful long rifles. These were the Templar Hunters- who used their power with psionic armaments.

She shot the mercenaries they rode with a derisive stare from her seat. Rosa was clearly uncomfortable with this... rabble.

= = =



Above the APC convoy a single helicopter flew ahead, serving as their eye in the sky, as well as the command center. Inside was one of the chief scientists of the facility, an older graying man wearing a thick fur coat, his hands absently swiping reports he'd read four times over. His bespectacled eyes however, were focused on the two figures before him. One was an older gentleman, hair and beard gray with age, the lines in his face showing a long and difficult life. He eyed the scientist back, his piercing stare making the academic uncomfortable.

Marshal Bohemond "The Lion" Lowenherz. An infamous figure among those in the know of German metahumans, with ties as far back as the Nazis, or so the story went. He carried a machine pistol in a side holster, as well as his own phone, keeping in touch with his Templar on the ground.

"We'll be arriving shortly, Doctor Van Mordenheim." The pilot spoke over the noise of the helicopter, into their earpieces.

"G-g-good." The scientist stammered, "G-g-g-gentlemen we'll be on the ground... ground... soon." He turned toward the second figure, one of the chief partners and investors of the project.

Cold. Dark. Groans. Ashford wasn't actually sure about that last one. Might have just been the wind.. Actually it was, but he liked to think a wraith was around and about, kept him on his toes. The first two however. He was very sure of that. Once more Ash found himself in a land he didn't know and he knew why, but the why didn't matter. He was here and it was cold. Sure, it wasn't sand, or hot. But snow, the man had decided, was just as freaking bad.

But when he wasn't complaining about those small things, it was mostly the dark that annoyed him. He already had trouble with his sight, the dark made it so he walked into many ditches. Shaking his head, Ashford sighed to himself. That was still all so small. Really, he was just happy to be away from the desert. But wherever he was now was a mystery and that needed to be solved soon. Otherwise, he might have another strange problem on his hands that he just didn't want to get into right now.

And sure enough, it seemed Dot answered his prayers. With sounds leading him onwards, giving him a sense of location and so he ran towards that sound. By the sound of it, two very loud things, or multiple, he couldn't really tell. But by the time he had made it and the road was in sight, he thought nothing of it as he jumped right into the center of the path, happy to just have the hard stone under the snow, under his feet.

But in his haste, that loud sound seemed even closer, in fact it was very much so, the large metal box right to his side, he in it's path. Much like a deer, Ashford had suddenly appeared on the road to whoever was driving, and much like a deer, he vanished under the APC when seemingly contact was made. However, rather then let himself become road kill, Ashford had quickly dived away and flattened himself to the ground so that it would pass over him, but rather then let it do just that, he dug his claws into the steel of the APC. The result left him being dragged along the snow till the large vehicle stopped, whenever that may be.

And he was mighty okay with that, be it now or later, these things had a place to go and a place to go meant he was bound to be in contact with someone which also meant he was going to get out of the cold. Right after he got rid of all the snow that was gathering around and in the collar of his coat. That was already starting to get to him.

The APC's driver barely steps on the break as Ashford suddenly came into view. The sudden stop was quite jarring, were it not for the warriors inside being strapped to their seats.

"What was that?!" Rosa banged on the driver's window.

"I... I don't know, someone just showed up in the middle of the road." The driver said, then proceeded to continue driving toward their destination. Everyone in the APC looked at each other and chambered their weapons. It was a satisfying gun lock n'load chorus.

Unfortunately for Ashford, Lenny, the male twin of the sniper-spotter duo of the Templar, possessed clairvoyance. Their uninvited guest was plain as day for him to see. The bottom escape hatch was quickly opened and Ashford came face to face with the Templar squad, the mercenaries, and their H&K assault rifles pointed at his face.

"You may not vant to make any sudden moves, ja?" He said nonchalantly.

"You vill be coming with us now, mein freund." With an iron grip, Rosa reaches for the trouble maker, intent on bringing him into the APC.

The large vehicle had stopped for a moment, but just as quickly moved on, which was good. What was really surprising however, was the hiss of something opening among the sound of the snow bashing against him and forced Ashford to move a bit to see what happened. Looking up, he found he came face to face with a squad of armored people and some more, less armored sort.

And they all carried those thing called guns. Wonderful. What was interesting was that one of them carried a mighty fine looking battle axe among other things. At first, he thought he was going to get shot, and while these things proved to be faster, him somewhat faster, he wasn't sure he could stop them this time. Yet, rather then riddled with those deadly bullets, he found a hand come towards him, owned by what was perhaps the strangest accent he had ever heard before.

But rather then resist, the one eyed man looked rather thankful, and used his bandage covered hand to grab a hold of the hand that was reaching for him, helping the woman to get himself into the metal box vehicle, his metal claws scraping along the bottom of the APC as he came inside, till finally he could bring his metal hand in. "Thank you kindly strangers. I was a little lost when your strange car almost hit me. Good thing for metal hands huh? Just glad to be out of the snow right now." Ashford announced once he was safely in the box and in a seat of some kind, be it a actual one or the floor. Not looking to perturbed by the many weapons aimed at him.

"Name's Ashford. Can call me Ash for short." Ashford felt that maybe he should at least offer his name, as uncaring he was for the guns, he knew the danger they presented, offering his name and expecting theirs was at least going to keep his and hopefully their minds off using them.

The 'facility' was not very far from where they were. It seemed like a modest looking health center, though still unusually large for such a remote and rural town. All the signs were hand-painted in chinese, faded from the weather, though the town having armed guard towers and barracks conveyed a feeling of "stay away from here."

Ashford's trip was short and quiet, with the Templar escorting him to a cold, damp cell inside the gray, boxy facility itself. They were kind enough to lend a wing to be converted into barred cells, seeing as the town lacked even a police station. Ash shared his cell with some drunk reeking of some strong drink, sleeping it off. He was of coursed, searched thoroughly for any weapons and disarmed... though the destination storage was within line of sight of the cells.

They had a window view across the hall into the common ward, but curtains afforded the patients privacy. The common ward was unusually busy tonight, which meant the ward was completely curtained off. But even here, the patients' discomfort was... audible.

Rosa had drawn the short straw among the four Templar and was relegated to minding this prisoner in the meantime. She uncuffed Ash, then gave him an ultimatum. "Until we can determine you are no threat, you vill stay here. Try not to stir any trouble... Unless you wish to be riddled vith bullet holes." She said, inspecting Ashford a bit, before receiving a message on her phone. His coat seemed inadequate for the weather, and she was not the sort to deprive an amputee a prosthetic, strange his appearance may have been.

She went to the prison cabinet and grabbed a thick wool blanket, tossed it to Ashford, and left him in the care of the facility's normal guards. Rose went to rejoin her fellows in the ward, but not before being stopped by sudden banging coming from the solitary confinement cell at the end of the hall. It was a much smaller space, sealed with a heavy steel door. The banging was followed by a hoarse wailing and moaning, definitely not an animal, but definitely inhuman.

"Vat ze hell is in there?" Rose asked the two guards stationed in the prison wing.

"Honestly? we don't ask, and we don't want to know." They replied, their accents sounding quite american. Rosa gave the cell one more look, and decided to leave quickly.

The trip was dull and somehow managed to be even colder in the strange box vehicle. But hey, he was making ground more so then he would on foot... He still wished on these people would talk to him.

Thankfully, it was short, and soon enough Ashford found himself in a cell with someone who had a little too much to drink it seemed. So now here he was, alone, kinda. Stripped of his weapons, which he would need to get back soon. Sure, he could wait for them to return to him themselves. But he was more inclined to get the rapier back before someone dumb enough killed someone else with it.

Thankfully, their location was pretty much in sight. Hidden in storage. He wondered if he should go get them now... His plan was paused when the armored woman, the one that helped him into the metal box car. Came by with a few words, a warning in sorts. Don't leave, no get shot, he'd be free to go once it was decided he wasn't dangerous. "Don't worry bout me. No way I'd get shot here." Ashford attempted to joke with the woman, perhaps only receiving silence in return, but that was okay. She wouldn't know that Ashford wasn't joking anyway.

When she was gone, and Ashford was with a source of warmth, he walked over to the drunk and threw it atop the man, before walking back to his cell bars. This facility had a few guards from what he saw, but none of them were too preoccupied with him. Most likely they didn't see him as dangerous. A mistake to the wrong people.

Taking his clawed metal hand, Ashford held two of his metal fingers together and swiped the cell in four quick motions, fast enough the human eye might have mistaken it as a strange blur of motion, but the sound of metal cutting metal was undeniable. As the metal bars fell to the ground, Ashford stepped out of his cell and walked towards the storage. Only to hear a lot of yelling in a accent he didn't even want to know where it came from.

Looking to the facility's normal guard, who had a normal looking side arm in his hands, Ashford held his own hands up, that seemed to be the move that everyone did when under threat, what the guard and his sudden friend behind him made the mistake of, was getting close to him. When he felt a hand on his metal one, Ashford twisted and grabbed the guard by the collar, before using his gripped metal arm and momentum to twist and throw the guard at the one that first called Ashford out, knocking the two to the ground.

"Sorry bout this." Ashford said as he walked over and quickly knocked the two on the head till he was sure they were passed out. Damage to their head was not a concern for him right now, but he didn't mean to kill them. Not yet at the very least. Hopefully not at all. But it wasn't long till he was reacquired with his weapons and stepped out into the hall. It seemed no other guard was aware of his... 'escape' yet.

But now that he had some time, he walked to the end of the hall, where their was banging, wailing and more banging. Something was trying to get out, and someone had put something in their that wasn't meant to come out. "Huh... I was going to leave... But now I'm curious.." Banging his own metal fist on the solitary door, he began to walk the way the armored woman went. Her squad would have answers, and if they didn't... Well. Someone would. And he'd get them eventually.

Isaac Silverstein wasn't one for long trips or cold weather, but sometimes, when the money was good enough, he would make exceptions. This was one of those exceptions. Parasol Industries was wanting to buy in bulk, but they wanted a demonstration before they committed. Sadly, the facility in which they wanted the demonstration to be done was all the way in China. It better be worth it, having to come all the way out here to show off his weaponry. They were at least paying for the trip so...small blessings. Though, he can't say he didn't deserve it. He was Isaac Silverstein after all. He did deserve respect. So often, people forgot that. They forgot their class and where they belonged, trying to step outside their normal route and enter something they had no right to enter. It was sickening to say the least. There was nothing worse than that. Nothing.

Isaac peered outside of the window of the helicopter he was riding in on and down at the town and facility below. They were close, only a few minutes before landing. He grabbed the large metal case he had brought along with him and opened it up, looking through the contents briefly, nodding, then closing the briefcase again. He let out a short breath as the helicopter touched down onto the landing pad of the facility. The door of the helicopter slid open and there was two armed guards standing there, waiting to escort Isaac to where he'd be demonstrating his weapons. With a quick adjust to his jacket, Isaac hopped out and followed the two guards. He didn't bother making talk with them, nor they with him. He wasn't one who liked casual talk, especially with people who he felt were below him. They had their job, and he had his, there was no reason to mingle past that.

The guards led him into the ward and down a long hallway. Isaac could still feel the chill of the outside in here, but he did his best to ignore it. He tried to peer into a few of the rooms they past, but most of the windows had covers over them or some divider preventing outside eyes from glancing in. There were on or two rooms without this divider and what Isaac saw inside was a bit...off putting. Medical tables and series instruments, none of which looked especially painless. It looked like something from those old torture movies or horror flicks with the insane doctor. He decided it was best to not  look into anymore windows after the third room like this. Instead, he just continued to follow the guards who eventually led him into a small room with a long table in the center of it. A set of chairs surrounded the small table and on the other side there was a large metal door which seemed to be heavily secured. Locked. Sealed. A tinge of curiosity touched Isaac, but it was quickly displaced as one of the guards spoke and told him to wait here. He was informed that the people he'd be making deals with would be in shortly and that he would have to wait. So he did.

He found a seat around the table and sat quietly, setting the case down on table in front of him. He went to pop it open, but he stopped. There was a sound. A strange sound he hadn't expected to hear. A Slump, followed by abump! and then came the BAM! As something slammed against the large metal door across from where he was sitting. It sounded like something had run up against the door. More than that, it sounded like it hurt. He could hear a long moan coming from whatever hit the door. "Idiot..." Isaac muttered, not realizing how badly that had scared him. He didn't even realize he had stood up, his hand at the butt of the revolver he kept on a strap underneath his business jacket. He looked around the room, looking to see if anyone else was there, but the guards had left him alone. He looked back to the door and took a step forward, then another, and another, and before he knew it...he was at the metal door. Slowly, he raised his hand put it on the cold handled of it, squeezed it and...the door behind him swung open and four men walked in. One looking to be a scientist, another in a fancy business suit, not too different from Isaac's, and two armed guards. Isaac quickly let go of the handle and turned around before they could notice what he had tried to do. He smiled that sly, businessman grin he had and nodded. "Gentlemen." He said in authoritative tone, "it's an honor to be here. Now. Shall we get started?"

PRISON WING NEAR THE MAIN WARD

Ashford's curiosity would not pay off, as the sound of a security door opening was followed by the footsteps of the cell occupant leaving through some unseen passage. Ashford was left there in quiet solitude, his escape yet going unnoticed.

A SECURE, SOUNDPROOF LAB NEAR THE MAIN WARD

Isaac was seated behind a sturdy stainless steel desk, a thermos of warm water available for his drinking, as well as some warm Chinese pastries. He and non-science personnel were secured behind bulletproof glass, while the eggheads in the labcoats did scientist-things in the lab proper, a table with straps prepared. He was guarded by two of the regular base personnel, and Klaus, one of the Templar warriors.

The scientist they flew with, the old man Victor Von Mordenheim, directed the scientists to their stations and had instruments readied. Beside him was a younger blonde lady scientist.

"We are ready for the demonstration. Bring in the test subject, Valeria." He said to her daughter.

"Yes father." The blonde scientist obeyed with little emotion.

The far end of the lab where no one else deigned to stand had a glass cell that led to the isolation room in the prison. The lights came on and highlighted the cell, and for a moment there was a tense silence, as the "test subject" came into view.

"He" couldn't have been more than a teenage boy of twelve to fourteen, a malnourished Chinese villager in a hospital patient gown, whose small frame made him seem younger. His wrists and feet were bound with plastic packing twine. Although he rubbed the skin off around his bonds, there was no blood. Neither was there blood on any of his wounds, like an obvious bite mark on his neck, or some of the sores on his legs. His skin was stretched, cracked and gray, and much of his hair had fallen out. He writhed like an animal in the cell, clawing at the glass, a low, inhuman moan escaping from his mouth. He seemed more a predatory animal than human, challenging the onlooking humans to make eye contact with him. When his gaze met Isaac's, it was like a predator gazing at its prey.

The guards, former american army veterans, took a step back. "That's just fucked up." One of the guards near Isaac murmured. The Chinese staff muttered something about a "curse", that this boy was a demon of sorts.

Doctor Valeria, the blonde, was the only one who still had presence of mind. "Well? Restrain the subject and bring him to the table!" She scolded the orderlies. Neither they, big burly Chinese men who towered over the petite blonde doctoress, nor the guards, who were armed and armored to the teeth, felt any great urge to approach the cell.

"One moment. We are having technical difficulties." Valeria begins typing away, leaving Isaac to look on in awkward silence, most eyes in the room on the ... thing... banging on the glass.

BARRACKS AND SECURITY CENTER, AWAY FROM THE MAIN FACILITY

Marshal Bohemond was frustrated with the facility's directors. Not only were they not briefed on arrival, none of the present security were exactly sure who they were supposed to talk to. They were left in the dark, and it didn't help that half of the cctv cameras on base were broken.

"Unprofessional. Completely unacceptable... What's wrong, Initiate?" He asked one of his Templar, who was sitting and clutching his head in pain.

"I have... I can hear them... so many sick... not just sick, dying inside there... and something... wrong..." The spotter said, clutching his head as a migraine seared through his psychic mind.

"Marshal. I said it before, I say it again. I do not like this assignment. Rosa voiced her opinion for all to hear.

"Neither do I... Lexi, Lenny. Find a guard tower and provide Overwatch. Perhaps fresh air will do you good. I need to speak to ze good doctor. Rosa, hail Klaus on the radio and meet up."

"Sir!" The twins were quickly off and relocated to a guard tower.

"Yes, Marshal." Rosa marched off into the cold and towards the main facility once more.

"Oh. Bugger! Screw that." Ashford groaned as he came to a stop, right before the exit to this facility. Well, not right, right before, but close enough he could see the endless cold. He was sure this was the way madam armour went... Less she was outside. There were far easier, and warmer people to find that seemed important, inside this facility. No way was he getting uncomfortable if he didn't have too.

Turning a one eighty, Ashford briskly walked all the way back towards the cells, planning to find a new route from where he started... Fun thing, when he got back, everyone was still in place, the drunk, the two sleeping guards... Everyone but one. The door to the heavily defended cell, was open and a quick peek inside told him no one was home. And seeing as the door didn't look... Too broken, someone let that thing out and didn't die.

"Hmmm... That... Is problematic." Looking towards the hall that lead deeper into the facility, Ashford clicked his tongue and proceeded down it, moving a little faster then a brisk walk. Answers were not going to so easily wait for him round the corner, he needed to catch them quick, and throttle them till he got the answers he needed. "If it isn't gods, it's people."

Isaac gave a strong nod to the scientist as he mentioned the demonstration. The sooner it was over with the sooner he could be out of this frozen hell. When the lights came on to show the young boy Isaac was unfazed. He felt no moral dilemma in seeing this, the farmer boy was beneath him and this was his place. The banging on the window had caused Isaac to jolt back for a moment. He hadn't expected such a noise so suddenly. He really wanted to begin with the demonstration the sooner he'd be able to put the boy in his place...frozen hell and a noisy child. This place really was hell.

Isaac walked over to the table and popped open the case he brought. No one else in the room seemed terribly worried and there was no reason for him to be either. Sure, technical issues were a problem, but they seemed competent enough to handle it, if not the guards would take care of it, and if they couldn't then they'd probably be fired. It was a good cycle. It worked. He took out the first gun, it looked to be a handgun, it was a good sidearm for any guard. It was stronger model, military grade. This would be the first demonstration. After that he had a new model sniper, and last month's AR. He had also brought a new taser model, it was still in the works, but it was effective so far. It could be better though, and it would be by the end of the month.

Isaac looked back to the group. "Alright, how long will it take for the issues to be solved? We're here to demonstrate weapons, not stand around listen to some kid throw a tantrum. We have three weapons to go over tonight. Well, four, but it doesn't seem like the kid would be feeling anything." He took out the clip for the pistol, checked it and slipped it back. He looked around at them. They weren't doing anything. He blinked once. "What's going on?" Something seemed wrong, they were all still quiet. The room was quiet. Well, except for the banging, that damn banging. What the hell was the hold up?

A SECURE, SOUNDPROOF LAB NEAR THE MAIN WARD

Silence filled the whole lab, save for the feral groaning of the infected boy. It was almost a minute before the Orderlies finally mustered the courage to do their job and move in.The boy stopped his odd behavior just a moment and allowed the orderlies to lead him to the table. There he was shackled again.

A guard was courteous enough to bring Isaac's weapons to Dr. Valeria. "Yes a mutual product demonstration. I shall now show you ze resilience of a mere civilian subjected to ze serum..."

Without hesitation, the lady doctor began emptying Isaac's weapons into the boy's center mass. Pistol rounds, rifle rounds, submachine gun fire- the pale boy screamed in pain, yet, remained conscious. He pulled on his restraints but did not break free. It wasn't blood that poured from his wounds either- but some strange, viscous brown goo.

"How do you find ze serum so far, mister Isaac?"

"Who thought to design something so damned big? Bloody the family home is easier to walk around in then this." Ashford complained, rather loudly as he rounded another corner, which lead to another hallway with more doors. To think this was over, that he wouldn't suffer the maze like buildings was not to be. Oh how he was wrong.

At least this time he had people to... Expertly avoid. If by that he meant making sure they wouldn't wake up for a bit, dragging them into what seemed like a unused room and then moving on. He had a few close encounters and had noticed some machine like things on the walls, but wasn't really sure what they were. Yea, he did take one down but all it had was wires. Strange things.

But most of all, he wasn't finding anything, anyone in particular. Some doors wouldn't budge, others took some... Persuasion. Most were compliant, but didn't really help him. Maybe he should look for armored and armored friends. They might have an idea... But then he'd have to go outside... What if he made some noise... Nah, still plenty of those guards around, which would take too much time. Ashford could do it, time isn't a factor really. But he didn't want to waste said time. He wasn't looking to stick around forever.

So not noise... But he couldn't... "Bugger... Crap baskets. The heck am I... Hmm... This one." Ashford would move right to a door and kick it open, only to find it a storage closet. "...Hmmm..." Ashford took in a deep breath, closed the door and moved on, deciding doors didn't work out for him.. He'd find a open one... Or maybe question one of these guards next time.

Isaac didn't flinch as the boy was shot, nor did he show any signs of concern or disgust. The boy was disgusting, there was no doubt in that, but Isaac would lose no sleep over this. However, in the same moment, it was a bit...off putting. He was used to seeing his weapons putting down people, but this boy was still standing, screaming yes, but still standing. Whatever they injected in this boy might be worth a look into. If they could be trained, they'd make an excellent bodyguard.

He looked to the scientist and gave a half nod. "It's interesting, but I would like to know about the function of this and how you came to its discovery." He eyed the goo for a moment, then...took a few steps forward towards the boy. He didn't enter the range of the boy's reach, but just closer. "And what's with his blood? What happened to it?" He turned away from the boy and looked at the scientists. "I want to know exactly what you did. If we're going to be making this deal, I want to know everything."

He walked back to the scientists, paying the strange child no further mind. He had no real reason to, but he stopped a few feet from the scientist and turned. He looked at the child for a moment and let out a breath. "Could we perhaps talk somewhere where that thing isn't? The smell is awful." He looked back to the scientist and went to say something else, but he stopped himself. Another a thought entered his head. Another question, probably a more important one. "Say...how many of those do you have? How many people have been turned into that? And are the well contained? I can't imagine that thing likes being tied up. Are we safe here?"

LAB

As all the proceedings went on, Klaus the Templar who'd been standing by and 'protecting' Isaac all this time, had been using his psionic powers to control the turned boy, making him docile and compliant. He had been using this power for awhile now, all throughout the demonstration and on the other patients in the ward who had turned.

"Of course. We will furnish you and your R&D with all the pertinent research and samples. If you look at zis report, this will summarize the effects of..." Good lady doctor Valeria began the technobabble sales pitch to Isaac, the scientist quite strangely amoral as the serum quickly attacked the central nervous system and effectively killing parts of the brain.

Klaus decided it was time. He leaves a mirror image of himself by Isaac, no one in the room all the wiser, while quietly and invisibly, he went over to the restrained subject and ever so loosened up his restraints. He returns to his spot and watched as the gates of hell opened...

The boy was shaken out of his stupor and began growling and roaring again. Thought to be restrained, he quickly grabs the forearm of an orderly in a steel grip and bit down, taking a couple of fingers in a single bite. "AAAUUGHH!" The orderly's screams of pain silenced the room, and it seemed everyone else just stood still as the orderly collapsed in pain clutching his hand, and the boy going for the second one.

Dr. Valeria was completely aghast. Her orders could not come out of her mouth faster than she ran. "...Code Red! Terminate ze subject! TERMINATE ZE SUBJECT!"

Two orderlies went down, and armed guards moved in. Another one gets bitten for his trouble trying to hold the boy, at which point the submachine guns are emptied into him until one stray shot hits him in the head, putting him down instantly.

But the worse was not over. The alarm started to blare. PA system began announcing. "Attention all personnel. CODE RED has been declared. Evacuate towards the nearest exit immediately. THIS IS NOT A DRILL."

"Mister Isaac this way please..." Klaus was quick to evacuate the VIP with research documents and samples in hand. The Lab had been compromised and it was time to leave. Isaac's vision was narrowed down on the account of his coat being used by Klaus to cover him.

WARDS

Ashford would eventually happen upon the Wards at the worst possible time, likely bursting through the doors into a slaughterhouse. The infected and deceased patients had suddenly gotten up and started attacking everyone- security and medical personnel. Blood was everywhere. Not three feet away from Ashford, an elderly Chinese woman half-nude in a hospital gown was squatting over the remains of a soldier, his entrails wrapped around the woman's arms like some disgusting sausage.

She turned around and her dead eyes met Ashford's gaze. Her hospital gown and mouth was covered in blood, and she let out a blood curtling, unholy scream as she lunged for his throat. "RAAAAGGGH!"

It took a while, but Ashford was finding his way across the maze like facility. He could feel it in his bones that he was close. Might have been all the noise.

And seeing as he didn't make a loud bang, that whole alarm thing wasn't his fault. Which meant something else was at fault. Not that he had much to think on that, his mind was on other things. Like how the other noise he could hear was screaming, yelling, crying. Growling. Kicking doors in to a ward. Huh, a hospital. He didn't remember these things having so many guards.

He was also sure that elderly woman were not meant to be eating people, nor in general was anyone meant to be eating anyone.

Only Four did that. And she didn't look as bad as these people did. "Hi..." Ashford attempted, not that it seemed this woman would respon-

Ashfords metal hand shot up to catch the woman mid lunge by her throat, leaning back as she attempted to claw him, fruitlessly prying at his metal hand, any attempt on his coat was fruitless and his face was away enough that he was mildly safe. "Look... Lady. Please stop... Stop yelling... Look, I don't wanna kill anyone right now but ahhh... You're making this.... Very hard. Oh..." Attempting to talk to the obviously very sick woman, Ashford looked behind her to find that she wasn't the only one that was starting to pay attention to him.

Careful not to rip the woman's throat out with the drills of his hand, Ashford swung her to the side, before throwing her at another sick looking person that lunged at him, knocking the two down, he backed though the doors he had kicked open and closed them, before attempting to keep it closed with his own strength, which seemed it would work, only seconds later, it was as if everyone in that room was entirely focused on knocking this door down, growling and screaming. Bracing against the door, Ashford looked behind him and back to the door, frowning. "I'm... Going to be here for a while... Arn't I? Bollocks... Err, help!"

Prepared to be here for a while, Ashford braced agaisnt the door more, right before realizing something. If these people were sick, what were the chances others were sick... Maybe he shouldn't have knocked all those guards out. He was gonna need help with containing these people, cause he really didn't want to kill all those people.