I pulled the airlock door closed, my tired muscles straining against the weight of it. It took effort, and I was rapidly running out of energy. But we were so close to surviving, I just needed to close the door.

I succeeded, but several of the red flies had gotten in. I swiped at my arms, dislodging them, but I could make out more of the red creatures on Ms. Dale and Viggo. Viggo had collapsed on the other side of the room.

I felt a surge of anger toward him and his pig-headed need to sacrifice himself for me. It was irritating that he felt this need to save my life all the time, which had been what had fueled me to completely disregard his sacrifice and rescue him. I made a mental note to talk to him about that later—if we survived.

I staggered over Ms. Dale’s body toward the opposite wall. My limbs felt like jelly, my legs were quivering with each step I took. I could tell by the glazed look in Viggo’s eyes that he was in a similar state. His face was pale; his lips had lost all color. The blood staining his clothes looked almost black under the dim lighting.

I saw the glowing red button like a beacon and suddenly remembered where I had seen something like this before: At one of the work camps, there had been a quarantine room like this, to help remove hazardous waste and biological hazards from the workers.

Placing all of my hope in the button, I pressed it, and then allowed myself the luxury of collapsing. I wasn’t sure what would happen next, but I couldn’t kill the remaining red flies in here. If I missed even one, or passed out before I could kill them all, we were finished.

As a white gas poured from the ceiling, I heard a hiss, and my eardrums tightened. I realized the room had become pressurized. I swallowed, forcing my ears to pop.

I watched as the gas filled the chamber, obscuring everything. I heard the buzzing of the red flies as they endeavored to escape it, but there was nowhere to go. I could hear and feel their bodies falling, one by one, until the buzzing was gone.

I wasn’t sure how long the gas persisted, but the important thing was that our masks filtered out whatever had killed the red flies. Although, given the state of Viggo and Ms. Dale, the waiting would likely also cause their death. I twisted my head, looking up to the button. There was something new flashing just underneath.

I pushed myself to my knees and looked at it. There was a sequence of numbers counting down in flashing yellow. I watched as the numbers counted down from sixty, tension growing in my back. What if there was some sort of passcode I had to enter before the chamber vaporized the gas or something? I looked around for some sort of key pad or panel, running my fingers across the wall for any sign of it, but couldn’t find anything except the button and the timer. I went to the door, struggling against the massive wheel that was there, but it was jammed into place.

I turned back to the timer as it hit zero. There was a soft hissing sound, and I opened my eyes. The gas that had flooded the chambers was being sucked out. The panel under the button was now counting down again, this time from thirty. I waited this time, watching it closely.

The white gas had completely dissipated in thirty seconds, and the panel turned green, flashing the word “Clear” across it.

Tentatively, I placed my hand on the wheel, but instead of finding resistance, it seemed to spin eagerly this time. I opened it gently, expecting to see people on the other side. Instead, it opened up to a concrete room about twenty feet wide and ten feet deep, with glass lockers containing white suits in them. There were also metal lockers on one wall, with names posted on them. I looked at them, but they were obviously surnames with no indication as to their gender, giving me no clues as to who owned this place.

This was some sort of research facility. It was unclear if it was a Matrian or Patrian facility, but given that it was on the Matrian side of the river, it seemed most likely to be Matrian.

I looked over at Viggo, who seemed to be bouncing in and out of consciousness. Taking a breath, I reached up and removed the mask with a pop. I took an experimental breath of air, and was rewarded for it.

I immediately pulled Viggo’s mask off, and then Ms. Dale’s. I looked around for Samuel, but he wasn’t with us. I bit my lip, worried for the dog. It was tempting to pull Ms. Dale and Viggo into the chamber and take one of the suits to go look for him.

That was until I realized how much Ms. Dale was bleeding. She had more bites then Viggo and I put together. I needed to tend to them first, and then go look for Samuel. That meant finding medical supplies.

I hesitated—this facility was clearly being used by people, or at least it had been. But where were they? Surely, they had some sort of security presence. Whoever they were—they wouldn’t come to The Green and create this facility only to hide from intruders, right?

It was eerie. I pulled the gun out of my pocket and checked the magazine. The clip was full. I slammed it back into the hilt, and stepped into the secondary chamber. There was a door opposite of me, so I crossed to it and started to open it.

“Violet?” came Viggo’s hoarse voice from behind me.

I paused, and went back to him. His eyes were glazed and he seemed disoriented. I pulled the canteen from his pocket and placed it on his lips, pouring some into his mouth. He took several long sips.

“We’re inside,” I said as he drank. “I’m going to see if I can find any medical supplies for you and Ms. Dale. Wait here.”

I set the canteen in his hand. Viggo reached for me, trying to stop me, but I deftly avoided his grasp, and headed back to the hatch across from the airlock.

It was difficult to ignore my own weakness. I wasn’t even sure how I was still going at this point. The door was heavy, and it took every scrap of effort to open it, but I eventually got it open.

Panting, I leaned against it, feeling it push against me. As I crossed the threshold, it swung closed, sealing me in.

That was an interesting feature—the doors closed themselves. It must be for security purposes. There were similar doors at one of the work camps I had been assigned to. It was in case of fires—the doors were always closed in case of a fire. It would seal people in to die, but it would keep the rest of the facility safe from the flames.

The next room was a hallway. Ensconced lights filled the room with a sickly yellow glow, but the light didn’t hurt my eyes. The hallway stretched for another ten feet, ending at another door. I leaned against the wall heavily as I made my way to it.

The wheel practically turned itself, reminding me that there were likely people about, and I pushed it open slowly, stepping over the threshold and letting it fall closed behind me. This room was another hallway, but with doors and windows lining the walls. Moving forward, I began looking through the windows. The rooms behind them were filled with a mixture of lab equipment and medical equipment.

I didn’t know much about either, but most things seemed to be for scanning or blood samples, though the last room was set up like a hospital ward.

Twisting the hand wheel, I opened it up, the smell of antiseptic flooding my nostrils. There were two massive cabinets off to the side. I focused on them.

I pulled on the cabinet doors, but they were locked. Frowning, I moved over to the desk and began searching through the drawers, looking for keys. Luck seemed to be on my side, because I found several of them on a ring in the second drawer, set neatly in a bowl in the corner. I snatched them up, and began inserting them into the lock.

It took a few keys, but finally I unlocked them. I started grabbing things I recognized, placing them in a bedpan that had been sitting on the bed. Alcohol swabs, blood patches, band aids all went in. I wasn’t sure if the bite from a red fly was venomous as well, and there were several vials of liquids I didn’t recognize.

Viggo would know better than me about those, I figured, as I collected more things. I grabbed a saline bag for Ms. Dale. I wasn’t sure how it worked, I just knew it was something you did at hospitals. I just hoped I could wake Viggo up for long enough to guide me in stabilizing her.

I tucked the keys into my pocket and scooped the bedpan of supplies up from the bed.

For a second, I paused, staring at the bed. It was so tempting to just lay down and close my eyes for a minute. I felt the need to rest like a heavy weight pressing down on me, like a warm blanket.

I shook my head, taking a deep breath. I could rest later, once I had saved everyone’s lives.

Grinning at the thought, I staggered out in the hallway. I wanted to laugh, it was so preposterous. I was going to save Viggo’s life. I had saved Viggo’s life for once. Now, he couldn’t make his stupid teasing comments about all the times he saved me, because I had saved him too.

After I actually finished the saving. And got some sleep. And saved Samuel. And explored this strange building. And discovered the secret of the egg. Then I’d do it.

I started chuckling at my absurd mental checklist—it was impossible—just like the fact that I was alive at this very moment. That I had finally succeeded in saving people, not killing them. I laughed so hard that tears streamed down my eyes, until I realized I was crying.

My hands were shaking and I was shuddering with each breath. It was all hitting me at once—everything. For the last four days—less than a week—I had endured a trial and a half of pain, betrayal, emotional upheaval, and fought for my life and the lives of others. I was tired beyond words, emotionally drained, and mentally exhausted.

I deserved the tears that were flooding down my cheeks. I had earned them in blood and sweat, and by defying the odds. I had defied death itself and won, at least for the moment.

I sat down and cried, well aware that Viggo and Ms. Dale were waiting for me in the air locked room. The thought of it sent waves of panic through me, which in turn made me feel guilty. I rationalized that I wasn’t panicking because they were depending on me, although that didn’t help. No, I was panicking because of how tired I was.

Sleep deprivation was a difficult thing for the mind to handle. My brain needed sleep so that I could function, and because of the lack of sleep, I was breaking down, and I knew it. I just needed to hold it together until I could get Viggo up. He could take care of Ms. Dale and himself.

I felt the tears continuing to fall, my eyes raw, but I picked myself up anyway. I felt dead and empty as I made my way back.

Viggo was leaning against the wall on the other side of the door, his expression relieved as he looked at me. I tried to feel relieved too, but I couldn’t. Wordlessly, I held out the supplies while hot tears slipped from my eyes and down my cheeks.