Nik hid a grin. “We’re all sharing the pay at the end.”
“It’s not about the e-creds. I want the recognition.”
“You’re young. You’ll get it. It just takes time.”
“I don’t have time.” Jonas stepped out into the lobby, leaving Nik wondering what the kid was so desperate to prove. And to whom.
Overhead, beautiful golden rays of sunlight filtered through the dome casting bright stripes over the floor.
“The other team is coming from the Special Exhibitions Hall. They’ll be here in a moment.” Avril sighed. “I didn’t want things to turn out like this.”
Nik felt a pang of sympathy for her. He’d once lost a young trainee astro-archeologist on what should have been an easy, safe dig. It had been a horrible experience. He opened his mouth, planning to offer something sympathetic, but just then Nera stiffened, and his attention zeroed in on her. She was staring at the collapsed eastern wing, her head tilted slightly.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Something…” Nebula eyes met his. “Something’s coming.”
Damn, her hearing was good. He lifted his laser pistol. “Avril? Galen? Something’s heading this way. Eastern wing corridor.”
The agent frowned. “I don’t hear?—”
The first of them shambled out of the doorway and into the lobby. It was moving faster than Nik would have thought possible, with an uneven gait, like it no longer had full control of its muscles. Despite the mottled skin and gaping mouth, it was clear that it had definitely once been a man.
A part of Nik had initially hoped that whatever had attacked and killed the team had been some sort of mutated animal, like the mutant cat he and Nera had fought.
But as more zombies flowed into the lobby, he knew he’d been wrong.
Some humans had clearly survived the nuclear bombs of the Great Terran war…and over time had become something else.
Laser pistols whined, green laser fire filling the room. Nik aimed and pulled the trigger. He saw even more of them pouring out of the eastern wing.Dammit. There were too many of them. He was vaguely aware of the other security team arriving, adding their weapons to the fight.
Zombies fell, but more kept coming. Nik heard the sound of a blade swishing through the air and looked to his left. Nera was leaping and twirling, her sword swinging in dangerous arcs. Heads were lopped off, and zombie limbs hit the ground. She had a focused look on her face—no horror, no strain, just focus. But he knew even she couldn’t keep this up forever.
They kept fighting. Some of the Institute agents were shouting. He saw one get pulled into the horde of zombies.
“Get him!” Galen yelled. “Concentrate fire around Mahmood.”
The creatures scrambled over each other to get to their prize. The agent’s screams were abruptly cut off.
Nik shot another zombie in the head. Suddenly, something slapped against his chest, splattering black blood over his armor. He saw a severed zombie arm drop to the floor.
He spun…and saw Gunn grinning at him. The treasure hunter tossed another zombie body part in Nik’s direction. Several hungry zombies raced after the trail of blood, rushing toward Nik, eyes glowing and jaws open.
Asshole. Nik pushed Gunn out of his head and focused on shooting the zombies racing at him. They herded him across the lobby, but he took them down.
“Everyone, get to the exit,” Galen roared. “Get back to the ship!”
Nik looked up and realized he was now a long way from the door. There were a lot of zombies between him and the exit.
He caught Nera’s gaze through the mob of zombies. Then a creature rushed at him, making a horrible moaning growl.
He kicked it. As it fell, he kicked it again. As it hit the floor, it turned its head and he swore the damn thing smiled at him.
“Niklas! Watch out.”
Nera’s shout came a second too late. Another zombie flew into him, and together they crashed into the floor. Pain radiated through his back and he skidded across the tiles, the zombie sliding with him. Fuck, the first one had been a decoy. These things had some sort of intelligence and had been working as a team.
He wedged his hands against the zombie’s chest and fought to keep it away from him. It gnashed its gruesome teeth furiously. Its eyes looked soulless in its bald head that was covered by that ugly, mottled skin.
