It was Erick who had just protected them from the monsters.

"10..."

"9..."

"8..."

"Did you all hear that?!" one of the team members shouted, gritting his teeth in frustration. "That’s the fucking second stage of the destruction countdown, all thanks to that motherfucker Nathan!"

"Let’s fucking get the hell out of here!" Ivy yelled with absolute seriousness in her tone.

Without wasting another second, she crushed the water barrier Erick had just created on one side. At the same time, she continued firing at the monsters, blowing their heads apart one after another and clearing the path leading toward the elevator.

"Move! Keep moving!" she shouted.

The rest of the group immediately followed behind her. Erick was right behind them, continuously fighting off monsters as they advanced. Gunfire echoed through the facility while monster corpses dropped around them.

Just as Ivy had planned, the team managed to reach the elevator in time and escaped from Basement Level Two.....the most dangerous section of the facility.

The journey upward wasn’t completely safe, however.

Several monsters still attacked them along the way, forcing the team to fight continuously. Thankfully, none of them were nearly as dangerous as the creatures around the Core Room or the horrifying monster that had emerged from within it.

"Keep going!" Ivy ordered.

Despite the massive injury in her leg, she continued leading the group with remarkable determination. Every step she took sent pain shooting through her body, but she ignored it and kept fighting.

The team battled their way through the remaining monsters and eventually arrived at the next elevator.

The elevator doors slowly slid open and the moment it did, everyone froze.

Nathan’s body lay sprawled across the floor.

His head had been completely severed from his neck.

Blood stained the elevator floor, and Darren was kneeling beside the corpse.

The moment he noticed the door opened, he jumped to his feet in alarm.

His eyes were red from crying.

Quickly wiping away his tears, he looked directly at Ivy.

"I didn’t kill him, I swear, Ivy. Yeah, I received the order that you wanted me to kill him, but... I couldn’t do it with my own hands."

His voice trembled.

"Even though he turned out to be a complete motherfucker... he’s still my fucking brother. We started this team together. We’ve fought side by side for years. I just couldn’t do it."

"What killed him then?" another team member asked nervously, swallowing hard as he stared at the gruesome sight.

"A monster," Darren replied.

His fists clenched tightly.

"The same monster. The one that was his his newly made friend."

The entire group fell silent.

"I recognized the outfit immediately," Darren continued. "The guy Nathan got attached to... after he died and turned into a monster, he came back."

"Fuck..." Josh muttered.

"That’s crazy."

He ran a hand through his hair and shook his head.

"He was devastated when that guy got killed... and now he ended up getting killed by him too."

"You know how Nathan was," Darren said bitterly. "Crazy. Stubborn. Always convinced he was right."

He glanced down at Nathan’s corpse.

"I told him not to leave the elevator."

His voice cracked.

"Even after we fought, I still couldn’t kill him. When he told me to get out, I refused. I said we’d both stay here and wait for you guys to return."

Darren took a shaky breath.

"I told him he wasn’t escaping alone."

The group remained silent as they listened.

"I told him that if you guys didn’t make it back in time, then we’d all die together. He wasn’t going to be the only one who escaped."

"Can you believe Nathan actually stepped out of the elevator despite my words as he was desperate to get out of this facility and the second he got outside..."

Darren’s voice trembled violently.

"...his head was severed clean off."

The team collectively shuddered.

"The monster used it’s evolved arm. It was sharp as a razor. One strike was all it took."

Darren pointed toward Nathan’s body.

"The cut was so clean that no monster blood transfered into him and of course the monster didn’t eat him too. That’s why he didn’t turn into a monster after dying."

He looked down at the corpse again.

"I managed to drag his body back into the elevator before the monsters could eat him."

Silence filled the area.

The countdown alarm continued echoing faintly throughout the facility.

"I figured..." Darren said quietly, "...it’s better if we bury him."

His voice was barely above a whisper.

"At least then he’ll get some dignity in death."

Just then Erick moved forward and heaved a heavy sigh.

"It’s alright, man," Erick said seriously as he gently patted Darren’s back. "None of this is your fault, so enough with the tears."