AMATEURS

"Sir, I can't get in contact with [Fox]…!" said Private Connor.

"Something might have happened to him... We need to get up, and quickly!" replied Captain Isaac, while reaching for his radio. "HQ, this is Alpha team. We lost contact with [Fox]. We've managed to get inside the hospital through the basement. All stairs are blocked, but we've found an elevator shaft that seems to have been used to access the upper levels. The area has recent signs of activity."

"Understood, Alpha. Charlie and Delta teams are reporting hordes of stingers approaching the hospital, expect contact in a matter of minutes. We'll get everything ready for your extraction, you need to finish the mission as soon as possible."

"Roger that."

Isaac heard gurgling sounds coming from the elevator shaft.

"Shit, the stinger nest must have broken through the barricades… Inhibitors out!" he said, prompting all the team members to reach for their belts.

All of them had a belt lined with small metallic canisters, about the size of a hand grenade. As soon as the pin on the top was pulled, a thin, white mist began oozing from the canister and spreading into the air.

"Alright, come on, come on! Everyone up!" ordered Isaac. "Watch out for hostiles! We're sitting ducks on this ladder!"

The entire team flew up the shaft, with the gas cloud masking their presence. As he ascended, Isaac took note of the elevator doors. Some of them were wide open. The dark hallways were clear of stingers, but he could hear them wandering around the vicinity. They were most likely following the most straightforward path up, the stairwells.

The clock was ticking. Hibernating stingers would only wake up from their slumber under powerful influences. A severe enough disturbance that pushes them to retaliate, a fresh outbreak that drives them into a feeding frenzy… Regardless of the reason, once awakened, they'd spend every remaining ounce of strength in their bodies in order to subdue the threat; with no regards for self-preservation, until they withered away for good.

'The blockages in the stairwells will hold them off for a while, but they'll eventually push through. We have to hurry the hell up…!'

…

The team found itself on the top floor of the hospital. It was quiet. Almost too quiet. No gunshots, no screaming. Everything Isaac could perceive were faint groans and voices, coming from somewhere below their feet.

"T-This is Delta, talking to all units!! The stingers just lit up! I repeat, the stingers lit up! They started sprinting at full speed!!"

"This is Charlie!! Our sector is overrun! They are coming from all directions! HQ, what the fuck is going on!!?"

"This is HQ. Teams Charlie and Delta, deploy inhibitor gas and retreat to safe positions. Disregard your previous tasks. Teams Alpha and Bravo, you need to fulfill your orders and evacuate the area immediately."

"This is Alpha!" said Isaac. "We're at the top of the hospital, we should encounter the target soon, over!" he faced the rest of the team. "Come on, boys!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Be wary, Alpha." HQ continued talking as they traversed the forest of machinery that occupied the top floor. "This phenomenon strengthens our suspicions about the presence of a potential stinger queen in the hospital. Should you be able to confirm this hypothesis, her safety must become a paramount concern."

"Understood…!"

It wasn't difficult to guess why they'd suspect such a thing. So far, the emergence of a stable queen was nothing but a theory. It made sense, it seemed necessary for the rest of the pieces to find their place, but they had no proof. However, this changed everything.

The only thing that could make flawed stingers light up in the middle of the day was the influence of queen pheromones. And it was never a good thing. Isaac knew it very well.

'Is this… a Convergence event…? No, that can't be. If it was, we'd be receiving news from the outside. I hope I'm just overthinking things…'

The team moved swiftly towards the exit door and headed downstairs, with their weapons ready.

******

"Contact!! Stingers ahead!"

Before they had the chance to go indoors, a group of stingers spotted them. They ran towards them in a frenzy, screeching, climbing and jumping over vehicles and obstacles in their way. No matter how much inhibitor gas they used, it'd be useless if those things made visual contact with them.

"Fire!!"

Their rifles, equipped with noise suppressors, sang in unison. Only a handful of bullets missed their targets. The zombies were downed, with quick and accurate headshots.

"Hurry, get inside! They'll come to investigate!"

The team rushed into the building, located the closest staircase, and ascended to the second floor. They made a quick stop to deploy another inhibitor canister.

"This is Bravo! We've followed the enemy into a building block about five hundred meters east from the initial sighting! The streets are infested! We're trapped in here, and so are they! We're going silent! Over!"

"This is HQ. Understood, Bravo. Proceed with extreme caution."

Captain Evans was nervous. He was well aware of how dire the situation was. One single mistake and they'd become stinger food. If they were to have any chance of making it out alive, they had to neutralize the enemy, take cover on the top floor, and wait for the hordes to calm down. As long as they stayed close to the ground, they were living on borrowed time.

The team activated their night vision goggles. On Evans' signal, they advanced further into the building.

A clothing store, in surprisingly good shape. Rows upon rows of racks, most of them still full of clothes of all kinds and sizes, worn down after months of abandonment. It provided plenty of hiding spots. If they wanted to find their targets, they'd need to clear the entire area quickly and methodically. The enemy wouldn't be as stupid as to expose their location or make unnecessary noise.

Animalistic roars and screams could be heard behind the walls around them. With the surrounding streets teeming with crazed stingers, firearms would spell doom for everyone involved. No amount of firepower would stop a rampant horde in a close-quarters environment. On Evans' command, they switched their rifles with silenced pistols and combat knives.

Without making a noise, the team spread out, each member walking down a different aisle. They almost held their breaths, with all their senses scouring their surroundings, looking for the slightest sign of movement.

Nothing.

They reached the far end of the store, and gave each other a sign to indicate their area was clear. The team rearranged yet again. Evans and two others proceeded towards the back of the store; the remaining two members headed for the fitting rooms.

******

He turned left, towards the changing cubicles. They didn't have doors, but curtains. Most of them were closed. He immediately took notice of the third one on the right side of the corridor.

A thin mist emerged from the cubicle, seeping underneath the curtain.

'There's someone there…! Is it only one of them…?'

No matter who the enemy was, they had to be using inhibitor gas as well. The stingers would be swarming the building otherwise.

He communicated with his partner using hand signals. They positioned themselves at both sides of the cubicle curtains. They needed to act in the blink of an eye, not giving him any time to react. Their breathing was heavy, and their clothing and gear made unavoidable noise, but it was easily masked by the roars of the crowds outside.

3… 2… 1… 0.

His partner pulled the curtain, and he rushed inside, ready to subdue the target.

'…!!'

There was nothing inside, except for a single inhibitor gas canister strapped to a hanger on the wall.

He turned around in time to see the curtain of the cubicle on the opposite side of the hallway opening. A shape emerged from the darkness and grabbed his partner from behind. One hand covered his mouth, while the other plunged something into his back. A muffled scream of pain was heard.

He readied his knife and retaliated, slashing at the attacker's arm in an attempt to free his partner.

"Gah…!" the cut made the enemy let out a slight grunt.

Wasting no time, he started trading blows with him, while his partner fell down to the floor, clearly wounded.

His opponent managed to land a solid blow on his side, followed by a knee directly into his stomach. His body armor mitigated the impact, but the force still made him bend and cough. Then, he felt a twist in his arm, and he was forced to the floor, face up.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the sinister glint of a steel blade, ready to sink into his body. Reacting on pure survival instinct, he used his free hand to grab his pistol, pressed it hard against his opponent's leg, and pulled the trigger.

"Agh…!" his enemy grunted again, losing balance and falling on his knees.

He kicked him down, then took the chance to jump back up and get the upper hand on him.

He was panting, yet he was now on top of his target, holding a pistol right against the side of his head.

"Got you, fucker…" he whispered.

******

Evans rushed into the fitting room area, followed by his two teammates. He had heard the noise, subtle but fierce at the same time. Something had happened.

He arrived in time to see the scene of a fight. One of his men laying on the floor; the other one still standing, with an unknown soldier pinned underneath.

*Click*

Evans froze for an instant. That clicking sound. It was so familiar.

"Fuck you." said the pinned man on the floor, before extending his arm and opening his hand, revealing a metallic ring around his index finger.

All Evans could do was grab the two men by his side and pull them back, diving towards the main store area. Merely one or two seconds later, he heard a loud bang, followed by nothing but ringing in his ears. His eyesight was blinded by a flash of light, and then obscured by a cloud of smoke and dust. The shapes of his men became fuzzy, blurry. His head was spinning.

"Up!!! Everyone up!!!" he shouted. At least, he thought he shouted, but he couldn't hear his own voice.

He signaled up with his hand, while shaking the bodies of his men, who struggled to stand back on their feet. One of them looked roughed up, but he was still in good shape. The other one was missing an arm. He wasn't going to make it unless he got emergency first aid, but they couldn't afford such a luxury at the moment. In a way, not being able to hear anything was a blessing. Evans would rather not hear whatever hell was coming their way, attracted by the explosion.

They rushed the stairs without a second thought, stumbling upwards towards the faint possibility of finding a safe spot.

Several pieces of furniture blocked the stairs leading to the fourth floor. They had to look for another way up. With ringing still in his ears, Evans ran into the third floor's store. He didn't even pay attention to his surroundings. He was starting to panic. He knew he was, he felt it growing out of control.

None of the three men heard the new clicking sound. In an instant, a cloud of gas was released around them.

'W-What…!? What is this…!? Inhibitor gas…!?'

*Cough!* *Cough!*

It wasn't inhibitor gas. The inhibitor had no real effect on the human body. It didn't induce crying. It didn't cause irritation on the skin and the lungs. It didn't cause you to cough uncontrollably. If he had to make a guess, he'd identify it as some sort of tear gas, but worse.

Losing strength on his legs, he coughed.

Once again, the tinnitus in his ears was a blessing. It prevented him from hearing his men coughing behind him. It prevented him from hearing the avalanche of death crawling up the stairs, looking for prey. It prevented him from hearing their screams when ravenous teeth sunk into their flesh.

******

He felt them running and jumping all around him, trashing the store. He heard the soldiers scream in agony as their lives were snuffed out. However, he didn't hear the characteristic tearing of flesh and the bubbling caused by the Sting mutation. Perhaps their bodies had been damaged beyond repair before the virus could take hold of them.

Which could only mean one thing: those stingers weren't trying to spread the disease. They were fighting with killing intent. And slaughtering the soldiers hadn't been enough for them. They searched the entire building from top to bottom, making sure no corner was left untouched, before leaving as fast as they had arrived.

'Someone has been messing with the queen, huh…?'

Long after the scene had gone silent, PT-01 let go of the cord he had pulled to trigger the gas trap, and got up. His body broke through the thin layer of inhibitor gas hovering above him. He proceeded to stretch his limbs, sore from standing still for an extended period of time.

After ensuring his gas mask was still properly attached to his face, he approached the location where the soldiers had died.

Just as he suspected, they had been torn apart. What remained was a gruesome spectacle of flesh and blood. PT-01 crouched down and grabbed something from the remains. A bloodstained brown wallet, which he unfolded to reveal an ID.

Captain Evans Ridley. 27 years old.

'Young. Way too young to be doing this shit. What a pity…'

For someone like him, it didn't matter. He literally didn't give a crap about whatever mess he'd get himself involved with, as long as the money was good. Perhaps all the things he had done in the past had desensitized him. However, those men were nothing but amateurs, youngsters enlisted by the Army and sent to die.

"The world never changes, I suppose. As cruel as ever…"

He let go of the ID and went for the stairs, headed towards the rooftop. When he was a safe distance from the ground level, he grabbed the radio.

"HQ, this is PT-01. Do you copy? Over."

"This is [ZEUS]. We hear you, Prometheus."

PT-01 stayed silent for a moment. If they were contacting him directly, it could only mean one thing: the mission was nearing its conclusion. For better or for worse.

"Situation report." they said.

"Prometheus has been wiped out. I'm the only survivor. The situation at the hospital is unknown. The queen has been harmed, causing a stampede of stingers. It has also caused the praetorian to break free of its constraints, and presumably head towards the hospital as well. We know the Army is on the scene, but it's difficult to predict the outcome."

"Acknowledged. This course of events still falls within the predicted possibilities. You are to stand by and watch. Make sure the final stage of the Saint Marie operation resolves successfully. Afterwards, you'll be issued new orders. Expect to receive support from a new team."

"Yes, sir."

******

Just by itself, any floor of the hospital was big. If they wanted to find the Sting-resistant target, they'd have to split up to cover more terrain.

"Connor and Paxton, with me on the north hallway!" Isaac began shouting orders. "Erik and Jameson, you two take the south hallway! We'll sweep the area from side to side! Watch your backs, report anything you find, and remember the briefing!"

"Yes, sir!" replied the rest of the team.

The soldiers rearranged themselves into two groups and headed in different directions. Isaac led his group along the agreed path, on the watch for potential enemies.

After turning a corner, they stumbled upon a man and a woman. They were unarmed. When they spotted the incoming soldiers, their faces were twisted with horror.

"Aaah…!! S-Stay away!!!"

The man began yanking at the woman, who stood completely still.

"On the ground!! Now!!" ordered Isaac, with a thundering voice. "You won't be harmed as long as you cooperate! Get down!!"

They hesitated.

"I said get down!!!" Isaac aimed his rifle at them.

Overwhelmed, they collapsed under the pressure. They slowly got on their knees, with their hands up. It wasn't exactly what he had ordered, but it was good enough.

'There's no way any of them is the resistant target. They would certainly be keeping such a valuable asset under surveillance, especially if they're aware of their nature.'

"What happened here!? Explain the situation!"

"W-W-We don't know anything…! Everyone started fighting among themselves, and we ran away! P-Please, we don't have anything to do with this…!" the man was a ball of nerves as he tried to blurt out an explanation.

"Where is this fight happening?"

"It started in one of the w-waiting rooms ahead…!"

"You two hide somewhere, and don't get in the way!" he said, before turning to face his two partners. "Get ready for potential human hostiles. Paxton, watch our six. Let's go!"

"Yes, sir!"