While most soldiers had either escaped or been killed due to the monster that was let loose around the entire army, some remained inside the building either unable to move or hiding away. This included Pat and Paul, who had heard the alarm but due the fact Paul was temporarily immobile due to getting ill earlier on, Pat didn't want to carry around pure dead weight and have a higher chance of being caught by him.

Pat gulped as he felt a sweat droplet travel down his temple, making sure he had the best gun he could get in that office. He wanted to have some protection, he had heard gunfire earlier but he hoped that they had just missed and that he could be put down through gunfire, or at least immobilised so they could get him back in the chamber to research further.

He couldn't be invulnerable, he just couldn't be. He had hoped that the members in the room had escaped, he assumed they'd have injuries but he just didn't want them dead.

One of the pros he listed off was less death of soldiers during war, but he didn't list a con. This con being that soldiers could die from his own two "hands". Could he even call them hands? That transformation, the mutation... they completely ruined his hands, the bone and the muscle. Then again it had done that to his entire body, like his spine, his rib cage, his jaw.

Remembering it, it would make any normal person sick to their stomach, especially with the crunches. However, Pat had a better stomach than others. Paul did have more issues with it however, which is probably why he lost all the contents from his meal that day. Pat did feel slightly nauseous, however he didn't want to hurl. Besides, he didn't want to.

He shook his head a bit, like that was going to help with the feeling as he cocked the gun, it was loaded and hopefully, it didn't decide to jam and cause him to be left helpless and/or dead. He turned his head to Paul, who was holding the bridge of his nose, rubbing it as he slowly groaned. He felt dehydrated, since when his body ran out of food to get rid of, it turned to getting rid of whatever drink he had. "Fuck.." he muttered, annoyed as he kept his eyes closed.

Pat sighed as he stood up, holding the gun firstly with two hands before he switched it to his right, he patted Paul on the shoulder to grab his attention. "Come on, we can't sit around. We have to evacuate." Pat said, he couldn't give a usual smile or reassurement, this was a dire situation and they needed to leave right then and there. They couldn't wait.

While going out could cause their death, it wasn't a complete guarantee. They could have a chance to get out without running into him which was the best they could hope for. If they stayed, they'd more than likely die through Tord finding them in the room. He did have heightened senses, especially if he was suspecting that more were in the building. That's from what they knew though, about how the prototype acted.

Paul opened his singular, good eye as he looked at Pat and huffed, pressing his palms on his knees before coming to a stand. "Alright.." He mumbled, stretching slightly. "Don't you want to bring a gun?" Pat asked, though it did sound more rhetorical than like a legitimate question.

Paul looked at him, blinking before gesturing to the wall full of weapons momentarily, as if he was dumbfounded. "Do you really think I'm gonna go out with no gun?" He asked, which made Pat roll his eyes however, not in the mood. "Just grab one, alright?" Paul trudged past him, grabbing one off the wall and turning. "Who's going out first?"

"What?" Pat asked, cocking a brow at Paul who seemed like he was silently judging him. He repeated himself. "Who's going out first?" He paused, waiting for a response which Pat didn't give. He let out a huff before further explaining. "Outside the room? Which one of us is opening the door?" Pat seemed to have it click. He wondered why he asked that at first before realising. Tord could easily see whoever opened the door and go after the first person who did, if he was there. If it was Pat, he'd need to be on immediate guard, same went for Paul.

He thought he was more on guard and hadn't just gotten ill earlier which could make him more reactive to Tord trying to ambush him. Though while Paul wasn't reactive like Pat, he definitely had more years in him and better aim. He could hold his ground if he was determined enough, he did during that zombie attack, even when he lost his eye and was being cornered. He stayed in thought, time ticking away, towards certain doom since he wasn't saying it fast enough. As Paul went to talk again, Pat interrupted.

"I'll do it." Paul blinked and mumbled a simple "okay. Then open the door." That was easy, normally; but as Pat went towards the door to open it he felt his stomach start twisting. His body didn't want him to open that door, he felt like he'd get a nasty surprise by opening the door. His hand fumbled, his body wanted to freeze up. It seemed like it was easier said than done, which caused him to squint his eyes in frustration due to the fact he couldn't perform the simple action. Tord wasn't behind the door... He hoped he wasn't.

He took a few seconds before he finally grabbed the handle. "Don't just shove it open." Paul warned, to which the taller male nodded quickly, slowly pushing the door. Thankfully, this wasn't a creaky door, so it could be pushed open. Pat felt sweat starting at his forehead, he felt as if at any moment, he'd hear growls of what used to be his leader. He stepped a bit out, immediately grabbing the gun with two hands as he swiftly pointed it down the hall which is when he saw... nothing.

He didn't even hear him anywhere near, maybe he hadn't reached it yet? He felt Paul grab his wrist and pull him along, whispering. "Come on, don't stand there." He tried to keep his footsteps light, though he was quite a heavy walker. He knew it'd mean the death of him if he dared to do that. Pat didn't walk as heavy but even then he tried to keep them light as well.

As they walked along, he just felt nervous. He didn't want to just face forwards, he felt as if he'd show up behind them. As they walked, they began reaching a hallway and just as they did, Paul could see something on the floor. Shells. From guns.

Paul began to slow down, crouching a bit as he cautiously approached the corner. He kept a grip on Pat, slowly peering and what he saw was enough to make him stop breathing for a moment. What he saw was a carnage.

There was blood all over the walls, even with the bodies heavily spaced out. They looked as if a bear had mauled them, some had their throat ripped so wide open their muscle was barely having the head hang on, others had their torso ripped open exposing their inner workings which were no longer in service and a couple were just torn apart. One was near Paul, which were a pair of legs and the hips, the rest was gone.

Paul held his breath as his eyes shot up, making sure they hadn't walked in on a recent one and his heart skipped a beat, seeing the familiar tail disappear into another hallway. He paused before slowly pulling pat along; god he wanted to run so fast and so far but if he did he'd hear them. Pat seemed confused but as he looked over, his eyes widened as he momentarily saw what Paul had just looked at, however he didn't get too exposed to it since Paul seemed to be forcing him to not look at it for an extended period of time, weather that be because of Tord or because he didn't want him to stare at their fallen soldiers.

It was quiet, almost dead silent as they walked. All they could hear was their own footsteps, they were getting closer at least to the evacuation exit. They felt relief, just a few more turns. Pat hadn't even realised Paul had seen Tord. They took a few more turns and Pat turned to look behind them as they rounded a corner and he expected it to just be his mind wanting to check. That's before he felt his entire body grow cold, seeing Tord just barely begin to round the previous corner. Had he sensed them?

Pat stayed silent and gripped harder, just one more turn.. he stared behind him several times, dreading the moment he'd see Tord round it. He didn't want to see his face, for even the thought of it made him feel dread. It felt like forever to get to that rounding, even if it wasn't that long but when Paul rounded, he suddenly halted. Pat almost smacked into him and looked and could feel what Paul was feeling. Confusion.

The door... it had bodies piled in front of it. Paul, while not saying verbally, did make a gesture as if to say "what?" Paul walked towards it and tried to shift the bodies as Pat stood at the corner, not fully rounded. He processed, why would there be bodies in front of the door? It wasn't locked, they'd be able to escape. It was there for a reason. That's when his brain began to think further.

That prototype. The meeting. Animals had a smaller consciousness than humans, humans naturally had intelligence. Animals, while they were also very intelligent, couldn't think to pile bodies in a specific area unless it was for food. Though if that was the case, they'd see them being eating, wouldn't they? Humans still had intellect, they could make traps if they really wanted to, for more "intruders" to be caught. What if this was purposeful? Had Tord purposely placed these bodies here to block them?

...didn't that mean...

Just then, Pat heard loud footsteps, claws scraping against the ground as if something was bolting towards him. He quickly turned and pointed his gun and it was him, that monster. Fuck, he knew they were coming. Maybe not them, but people. He must've figured out that's where the exit was. "PAUL!" He shouted quickly to grab his attention, which led to Paul turning and hearing loud gunfire, with Pat trying to hit Tord which. He had. It got him directly in the shoulder and he growled out, stumbling as he stopped momentarily. "GET THE DOOR OPEN!" Paul stared at him for a moment before trying to quickly move the rest of the corpses, he felt like it'd be easy, just a hassle, that's before he realised something as he looked down.

"Fuck." Paul said out loud. He had actually jammed their bones and flesh under the door, acting as wedges. He'd either have to break them off clean or use brute force to have the door open, either way it'd take him some time and he knew they couldn't just shoot at him constantly with how he was acting, and the fact there was a massacre of soldiers, who all would have shot him down by now. They weren't gonna survive if they stayed. "PAT HE WEDGED THE DOOR!"

"SHIT—" he cocked the gun as he shot again, now landing it in Tord's leg which left him temporarily immobile. Before he could go help, Paul grabbed his arm harshly and yanked him as they went sprinting past him, earning a horrific roar full of anger and hatred. The male's feet slammed against the hard floor, with Pat looking back to make sure he could shoot Tord if he so happened to get back up.

"What the fuck do we do, Paul?! That's our exit!" "It's not our only exit!" Paul reassured, continuing. "There's plenty more, we just have to hope he didn't think to block those fucking doors either and wedge bones under them-" just then, Pat heard a crack along with a thud, leading him to whip his head around to see Tord, who had slammed into the wall, bleeding from the shoulder and leg. He wasn't giving up that easily, he wanted to kill them. Pat cursed, trying to run as fast as he could, he didn't even care that his lungs were beginning to hurt, he wasn't dying now.

They ran down several hallways, making sharp turns so Tord could be postponed by the wall for at least a few seconds so they'd always stay ahead. That's when Paul finally made it to an exit, he let go of Pat and ran towards it. "Make sure he doesn't come near us!" He shouted as he quickly ran towards the door. He needed to enter the damn code for this one, which he cursed about. He needed to remember the proper code, there were so many codes for this damn place, for him to memorise.

Pat looked down and saw Tord stare, letting out a loud growl as he stared at him. He looked hateful for a moment before his lips began to curl, revealing a toothy grin. Pat realised that this wasn't him being purely hateful, he wasn't thinking these were intruders he needed to exterminate as soon as possible. This was also malicious, he enjoyed killing all those people. Before Tord didn't show much emotion towards this, for he didn't care much for murder unless it was of a solider close to him, which lead more to anger or annoyance. He could be cheerful, but he never showed full on, noticeable malice like he was presenting now.

This parasite did more than make him assume they were intruders, which he hated. It made him want to hurt them in the worst way possible, there was no reasoning for this beast. Paul cursed out loud as he got a code wrong, quickly typing in another. Wrong again. He had one more chance and he could hear Tord suddenly begin running again, roaring which is when he haphazardly wrote it in and as if by pure luck it was correct, the door wasn't just one he could push open however. It was like a garage door, it seemed so slow due to the situation.

"COME ON PAT!" He shouted as he heard a shot fired from Pat, who quickly ran over as Paul army crawled under the door as quick as he could, before turning and grabbing Pat, having him follow through being basically dragged across the ground. He went to stand up which caught Tord's attention as he finally reached them, seeing he was in reach. He couldn't let him escape. He then heard the loud slam of Tord's head connect with the door, which was still opening, he couldn't react in time to his claw, which violently swatted at his leg, he tore the fabric of his pants instantly which left a massive gash on the back of his shin, starting to bleed.

Pat felt the pain instantly and hissed out in pain, barely holding back a curse as he somewhat stumbled forwards,trying to hold his leg instinctually. Paul quickly grabbed his arm. "We'll get that fixed in a bit-" he said quickly as he forced him towards him, seeing Tord forcing the garage door to be more open, he bit his lip. "Just not now!" He yanked him as he hightailed it away with Pat, who limped along due to the new injury.

Tord created dents inside the door, trying to force his way through instead of crawling at first. His tail violently swished from side to side before he lunged outside at nothing, scowling, now angry that he couldn't find those two intruders. They were long out of his sight and hearing range. He went to go down, as if he was going to begin running before he heard rustling and stopped, snapping his head over to the source of the sound.

An animal was staring dead at him from beyond the trees, a rabbit. Its nose twitched in curiosity; but also because the blood it could sense and see. Bullet wounds drizzled the darkened red blood which coursed through his body, seeming to look more like it was as thick as ink. He fixed his pin pricked, red eyes onto the prey just feet away away from, shoulders rising from the amount of work he had just done.

He began to drool slightly, despite the fact he had all those humans inside and ate some of them, such as their flesh, he could hear his stomach let out low grumbles. His tongue slowly trailed across his lips, licking off the blood that was around his mouth before his lips quickly curled.

He began to lurch at an awkward angle, seeming to be going downwards before he broke out into a sprint towards it, keeping that hungry smile across his face. Of course, the rabbit flinched and quickly began hopping away due to its prey response, further into the forest as Tord followed, forgetting that he was chasing two intruders. He wanted this. He knew very well he had food before but it wasn't enough for him. He wanted this one, he didn't care if it was smaller, less fat then the intruders. It was food.

—-

"Pat! Paul!" Liam exclaimed, almost in awe as he saw the two males begin slowing down as they reached them, huffing due to the amount of running they had to do. "We thought you two died!" Wayne shouted, pushing past Liam, who did a low, annoyed grunt at the sudden shove. "We heard you screaming and we came over to see the bones and flesh under the door- we heard you run off!"

Pat huffed as he held his leg, groaning. Liam scoffed, shoving Wayne's hand away rather aggressively, beginning to storm over. "Are you two stupid?! The announcement went off earlier! Why didn't you fucking leave earlier?!" "Liam-"

Paul stepped towards Liam, staring him dead in the eyes. "Not a good time, Liam." It actually seemed to make Liam stop and back off slightly. He didn't expect that from Paul at all. "Also, Someone go check on Pat's leg, Tord slashed his leg while we were escaping." He ordered, closing his eyes to rub his forehead.

Wayne immediately got the medical kit, walking over as he knelt down, checking the injury he had. "Jeez, that's horrible." "Thanks for pointing out the obvious, Wayne." He mumbled, rolling his eyes slightly as he tried to keep his weight onto his other leg. "Just stay still, I have to disinfect it first." Pat sighed as he tried to stay still, even if it'd hurt due to the alcohol contents. It was for the best.

Paul sighed heavily before something came into his mind, his eyes shot open. "Wait..." he suddenly shot his head up and turned his head. "Where's Tord?" The members looked over and they seemed to be thinking, though Pat seemed to turn around as if they were back in those hallways. "Did. Did he lose sight?" Pat asked, raising a brow, it seemed to distract him from the stinging sensation on his leg as Wayne began to apply bandages.

Liam looked over to Paul, who instantly shut down Pat's question. "No, he has heightened senses, faster speed, he couldn't have lost us." He said and just then, Yuu spoke. "What if he went back inside?" Liam looked back and blinked before shrugging. "It's a possibility, he knows this place the best. Since he owns it." He rolled his eyes. "Probably wants to protect his "territory" or whatever."

"Then what do we do? Sit outside and wait?" Yuu asked, throwing his arms out a bit in frustration; this was a question that needed to be answered, which it was shortly after by Pat. "Well we aren't going inside now aren't we? He'd probably take us all out very quickly." Wayne nodded. "I agree with Pat, though we may need to find somewhere else to go before we can actually go back inside. At least for tonight." Everyone looked at each other and seemed to be thinking, before Alex, who had stayed silent this entire time, spoke.

"That's the best plan we have right now, it'd be a massive risk to go back inside only to be killed. We'd lose more lives. We can sort out what we bring inside by tomorrow, or not even. Though it isn't my call to make."

Yuu turned over. "Not your call to make?" "I'm not the one left in charge. Before he went in there, he said Pat was the one in charge. Pat can decide whether we do that or do something else." Before even thinking, Pat immediately nodded. "You're right, I can't think of any other as of now. We just need a house to go to, somewhere we have resources such as food.."

"Couldn't we try and find a hotel??" "Well the forest is rather dense, Yuu. You think we're gonna magically find a hotel in the forest?" Liam asked, waving his hands and looking at him as if he was stupid.

"The forest isn't that bad, we could just take on duties in staying awake and keeping watch. The worst that could happen is getting bitten by bugs." Wayne said, which had everyone agree with him. They all decided that it'd be best to hide out there, leading them all to walk, outside of Alex due to his leg, into the forest beyond to stay there for the night.

They didn't know that there wasn't a need for that, for the base no longer contained him. He was out there, where they couldn't monitor him.