Bright lights flickered on in the hallway as Oliver staggered down to the mess hall. The day cycle was partially effective. Oliver still struggled to sleep, but isolation from the normal rhythm of the sun ranked near the bottom of the reasons. He and his research team arrived at the facility two months earlier, ferreted away to the Arctic as part of the military's contingency plan. Dr. Oliver Clay had the esteemed honor of being isolated in the middle of a white desert on top of the world as it fell into ruin. He knew he should be grateful. Before extraction, he had been in Chattanooga and before that DC. More than once, he'd seen best laid plans fall to complete shit all around him and barely escaped each time.
He made coffee. Empty food containers glared at him from the shelves in the mess hall. The previous occupants of the research base had the sense or misfortune to flee south once the virus started to spread. All but one, who chose to walk off into the tundra rather than live alone any longer. Oliver had listened to the man's logs. The hope drained away slowly at first, but once it was clear the world wouldn't recover, the lone scientist took his fate into his own hands. Oliver didn't have much hope either, but at least the military knew where they were. The virus had difficulty spreading north. The infected were almost impervious to harm due to an abnormally high metabolic rate and cellular regeneration. Frostbite destroys tissue much more insidiously than a bullet. Since the infected abhorred clothing, they had little defense against the elements. Perhaps they just preferred warmer climates. Either way, humans migrated into the cold. High mountain regions, Siberia, anywhere within the Arctic circle seemed safe, at least.. Most of those running didn't prepare for the thing meant to save them. Some made it all the way up from the southern coast without so much as a jacket.
Of Oliver's original ten man team, only he and three others remained. Markus was the first to join him in the mess hall. The two nodded to each other as Markus set about preparing some of the premade meals for everyone. They'd worked out shifts for various duties once they'd arrived. All of them had been on remote research teams before, though nothing as severe or sudden as their current predicament. Markus was particularly diligent about maintaining the duty roster. He had some military in his background, though it was unclear exactly how extensive his training was. Oliver was grateful for the other man's sense of duty and knew it would be helpful in the long months ahead.
The next to appear was Shelby, a younger woman more of a student than a scientist. She'd been working with one of the team's other members before a group of infected trapped them in a barracks in Charleston. She escaped, her mentor did not. Latent contamination still concerned Oliver. He observed multiple men and women have sudden and dramatic shifts in personality after close exposure to the infected, but Shelby had survived several months without incident. Nor did her blood samples show any of the signs of infection. Oliver had other, more human oriented concerns about her as well. She was young, pretty, and the only woman for a thousand miles while they were all tasked with studying a sex virus. Shelby took a seat at the small table after saying good morning. Oliver handed her a cup of coffee with a polite nod.
"Think you'll get the culture analysis done today?" Oliver asked.
"In a few hours," Shelby replied. "I'm sure it's not going to produce anything new. Without fresh tissue to test we're retreading the same path over and over again."
Markus dropped two plates of unappealing food in front of them. "We've put in requests. If they want us to actually get any work done here, they'll deliver."
"The serum is looking promising though," Oliver said, attempting to be encouraging. They repeated the same conversation over and over again. Each of them knew they were treading water. "I'll come down to the lab and take a look at your progress. Markus, how's the delivery system coming."
Markus shrugged, "I actually think I've made some progress on that front." He grabbed his plate and brought it to the table. "The Toronto guys were working on a dart. The principle being injection and dispersion through the circulatory system, obviously. Kept not working though because it couldn't disperse fast enough. The infected's tissue would be replaced faster than the drug could work. They couldn't figure it out in testing because they were overlooking the damage of the sample tissue. So, by my guess, if you can damage the tissue as much as possible, the creature's body can't respond and isolate the drug quickly enough. Explosive bullet casing containing the serum might have good results."
All three looked to the door as they heard footsteps running down the hall. The crew's fourth member appeared in the doorway looking haggard and dazed. Eli, the team's chemist, had been assigned to radio duty overnight which normally meant sleeping in a different room, but the middle aged man had clearly been up all night. "They're coming."
Oliver answered first, "Who's coming?"
Eli moistened his lips excitedly, "The military. They've captured one. And they're bringing it here. Tomorrow."
"My god," Shelby whispered.
Oliver and Markus exchanged a knowing look before the latter spoke. "I can set up Lab C as a containment room. They're strong, but, assuming it's a female, I don't think it's strong enough to tear through titanium. Worst case, we can simply seal off the habitat."
Oliver nodded, "Good. We'll get started moving equipment to the lab. Shelby, we'll need to harvest as much tissue as we can for testing while it is contained inside whatever apparatus they're using to transport it. Eli, check on our supply of sedatives. Not sure how much it will take to knock the thing out, but I would rather err on the side of caution than risk it getting loose."
Their breakfast was forgotten as they all rushed to get to work. A delivery would mean more food anyway. Contact from the outside world gave more nourishment than any microwavable breakfast.
***
They all spent the night waiting anxiously by the radio. Their instruments for monitoring the weather had been of little good since the satellite's signal went out. Instead, they had to wait for word from the military radio about whether or not the supply run would go through. When they finally heard from the dispatcher, she made it clear the troops were more than ready to be rid of the "cargo." Oliver bundled up in his gear and headed out to greet the plane.
The facility divided into a central habitat and three research labs. The A lab had been compromised by a loss of power some time before Oliver's team arrived. His team set up in Lab B for the past two months. Markus had spent every moment since the first radio message prepping Lab C for their newest project. The three labs connected to the habitat by long hallways with airlocks on either end. The facility's multiple safeguards included the ability to quarantine any one of the four buildings with power and, more importantly, heating. Even if the connecting hallways broke apart in wind shear, the air seals on either end would protect the inhabitants. On the other hand, if someone became trapped outside of the facility, they would survive at most two hours during the limited daylight. At night, a human would freeze to death in minutes.
Another, smaller air lock connected the main habitat to a hanger and short runway where planes could land in good weather. As the roof doors opened directly, the hanger only offered nominal heat and shelter from the wind. Oliver emerged from the warmth of the airlock into a blast of freezing air and cursed loudly, though it could barely be heard over the roar of wind. Ahead of him, on the poorly maintained runway, a small cargo plane rolled to a stop. The loading bay dropped and a team of soldiers trooped out carrying crates. Oliver could see nothing of their faces behind their masks and goggles, but could identify their ranks. At their head, a captain strode over to Oliver, "You in charge here?" The man had to shout, even inside the small hanger.
Oliver nodded. "Tell them to put the supplies inside the airlock!" The captain nodded and signaled his men. Oliver looked around for a moment. "Where is the specimen!" The captain held up his finger. The soldiers worked quickly. Oliver could only guess as to what was in the sealed crates, but he hoped that they contained all the items the team had requested over the past weeks. Finally, the soldiers wheeled a container down the airplane's ramp. From the shape of it, the container had an eerie resemblance to a coffin. A tarp had been strapped across the top of it, but the soldiers still seemed hesitant to look at it. Behind them walked a second group of soldiers, all of whom had their rifles trained on the container. Oliver felt a sudden panic of fear. He wanted to stop them from bringing that box inside his home, but it wheeled by uneventfully. The soldiers pushed it into in the open air lock alongside all the other supplies and made a quick retreat to their plane.
The captain offered his hand, and Oliver shook it. "Good luck. And God help you!"
Oliver stayed only a moment to watch the captain head back towards the plane, wondering when he would see a new face again. The cold seeped through his coat and clothes as he made his way back to the air lock and sealed the outer door. He started to undress as the air pressure shifted and warmed rapidly. He eyed the capsule nervously. The second the interior door opened, the other three scientists entered the room. Oliver didn't want them to get distracted. "Eli, start inventorying the supplies. You two come with me." Eli looked at them with disappointment as Oliver guided the cart down the hall. They passed through the habitat quickly, each of them surreptitiously stealing glances at the covered container. The trip to Lab C took fifteen minutes, including the brief time in the airlocks. When they finally arrived, they moved the container to the center of the lab, and Markus started giving instructions. "This center room can be quarantined by that button outside. They used to keep animals up here for experiments and would use this room for surgeries and such. Whenever the specimen is exposed, at least one person needs to be out there. If that goes to shit, the main panel in the habitat can seal off the whole Lab. From that point, kill the heat and anything in here will be frozen in a few hours. Good?"
