*Boom!* *Bam!*
The commotion caused by the battle of the forest overlords caused the tall trees to collapse and the ground to shake. Zayn and his friends went around the half-buried building and entered through a large hole.
The corridors already became almost impassable rubble. Still, they entered through small gaps and continued deeper and deeper into the basement.
"It's so dark in here. I can't see clearly." Alex spoke in a whisper-like voice.
"I'll turn on the flashlight. Please be aware of the dangers around you. This is a human experimentation laboratory, and obviously holds a lot of danger." Frankie warned everyone before turning on the flashlight.
*Zap*
"Shaa!"
The flashlight was turned on, illuminating the darkness of the sealed corridor. Several red-eyed small animals hissed in surprise. Some chose to flee, but some lunged at the attack.
*Slashes*
Frankie used his dual knife to decapitate the little monsters in a few slashes.
"Three zombie rabbits and two mice? Well, guinea pigs." Frankie immediately cleaned his knives, inspecting the bodies of the little monsters on the floor.
"So, there are more zombie animals here than zombified humans? Wild animals can be much more dangerous than humans. We move in caution." Zayn held his forehead. He felt dizzy and nauseous, but he knew the radiation source was nearby.
"Are you all right, Zayn?" Alex was worried as Zayn staggered.
"I'm fine. But can you feel it? Mysterious radiation that makes you dizzy and nauseous. It even messes with your senses of sight and hearing a little." Zayn noticed his friends still looked fine and did not suffer from the same symptoms as himself.
"No. We did feel uncomfortable and anxious earlier. But, that's because of the intimidating aura of the zombified beasts out there." Frankie rubbed his head in confusion.
"Yeah I can see and hear just fine. Maybe the mysterious radiation attacked your spiritual ability?" Alex tried to guess.
"It seems you are right. Let's go deeper and uncover the secret behind the spread of this zombie virus." Zayn felt that his symptoms did not improve, even though he did not use his inner eye or spiritual power. Even so, he would still venture deeper and stop something emitting this radiation.
Several little animals that had turned into zombies roamed and attacked when approached. However, everything can still be overcome easily with their rifles and military-grade knives.
By the time they arrived at the second basement, they had tried to force their way into a laboratory room, giving Zayn the worst effects of dizziness and nausea.
"There's probably a reactor or something in there that was damaged by the explosion two weeks ago. It's inside and emitting this strange radiation. We have to stop it." Zayn held his head and pointed to a steel door. He felt dizzy, which seemed to make him feel like his head was going to explode.
"Leave it to me." Alex took a stance and launched a deadly kick at the steel door.
*Bam!*
The steel door was dented due to Alex's physical strength.
Alex launched a few more kicks to create a gap between the two sliding doors. He then grabbed both sides of the gap and forced open the sliding door with both hands.
"Back off!" Frankie suddenly pulled Alex back.
*Bam!*
A black claw lunged from the gap, almost piercing Alex's chest.
Alex was relieved but also annoyed. He almost died because of that scientist zombie.
He put a knife on the muzzle of his rifle and stabbed the zombie's head from the gap in the door. "Die, you zombie mad scientist!"
*Splat* *Bam!* *Bam!*
Alex released some hot lead into that scientist zombie's head and blasted it like a watermelon.
*Thud*
The scientist zombie fell to the floor. Frankie then shone the flashlight into the room and was somewhat surprised to find the room still electrified. Some devices are still on and working.
A large tube-like reactor was in the center of a large hall behind the window. It emitted intimidating black-red energy.
"How do we stop the reactor?" Frankie asked in confusion.
"We can try stopping the intake of electrical energy. It will be deactivated and become dormant." Zayn doesn't know for sure, but it never hurts to try.
Alex forced open the steel door once again with his brute force. After that, the three of them eradicated the scientist zombies that were around.
Zayn spotted the control computer. He did a few things and pressed a few buttons. He wasn't sure what he was doing, but he kept trying to follow his heart until the reactor dimmed a little. Not completely disabled, just a reduced energy supply.
"The radiation is much reduced now. I don't know how to disable it from this control room. Or perhaps, we simply can't stop the reactor from here." Zayn checked the situation around the reactor behind the glass.
"Is that big reactor that spreads the zombie virus?" Alex folded his arms suspiciously.
"No, but I think the radiation emitted by this malfunctioning reactor is one of the factors that accelerates the mutation of any creatures around this laboratory." Zayn shook his head. He felt less dizzy and nauseous now.
"Wouldn't it be much better if we disabled all the emergency generators in this laboratory? We don't have special access and don't know how to completely shut down this reactor either." Frankie shrugged.
"Yeah, we haven't found the lab room where the explosion happened either. It's a half-buried building, and has a lot of dungeons." Alex sighed.
He then patted Zayn's shoulder. "Zayn, we've alleviated the mysterious radiation from that malfunctioning reactor. Supposedly, the mutation would have slowed down considerably by now, and we can handle the situation in this place once we get reinforcements. Something terrible must be waiting for us down there, a place where the explosion happened, the room where the zombie virus came from."
"Yeah, you're feeling dizzy and nauseous from the radiation too. We're just three people, and we've come this far. Let's try a little mystery, grab some treasure, and we can get out of here." Frankie also felt that their mission was half done.
"Then let me trace the data we can access with this scientist card. We might find something useful. Before we go, we must destroy the emergency generators to completely deactivate the reactor." Zayn nodded in understanding. He then returned to the control computer and checked all the research information data he had access to.
Zayn spent about two hours reviewing all the available data at the level of access he got from the dead scientist. Alex and Frankie stood guard around in anticipation of any ambush.
Fortunately, only a few little monsters were roaming around, and they could easily deal with those little monsters.
After that, Zayn and his friends went to several other rooms to loot some precious medical items and materials. However, a surprising thing happened when they broke into the sixth room.
"Hehe, who would have thought that this lab is also developing superhero-style weapons. Hey, look at this big ax and this armor. Don't I look like the armored Hulk?" Alex put on the weaponry he found.
"Pretty good, but looks very heavy. Luckily your body is big and muscular. It suits you. I prefer this super sharp sword. Do I look like a swordmaster or maybe a samurai now?" Frankie praised while playing with his new weapon.
"It's probably very sharp and can cut through steel easily. Want to give it a try?" Zayn proposes an idea.
"All right." Frankie swung his sword and slashed the steel door in two. It was so smooth, and it felt just like chopping tofu.
"What the hck? It's so sharp and awesome! I can slay a high-rank zombie with this! Maybe, this lab really wanted to create an era of superheroes, but unfortunately an accident occured." Frankie was wide-eyed in surprise.
"How about you, Zayn? There are only two weapons and an armor. Here, I'll go with the armor, and you can use this axe." Alex gives the axe to Zayn, but the latter refuses.
"I'm not strong enough to lift it, let alone swing it. I'm a doctor and healer. Big weapons are not suitable for me. Please use it and destroy all zombies like a superhero, Alex." Zayn shook his head with a smile.
"With pleasure!" Alex patted his chest.
"I have a bad feeling. A catastrophe is approaching. Let's destroy the generators and let's get out of here. Maybe some super zombies are on their way." Zayn packed the precious medical materials into a bag and put special medical items in a steel suitcase. He then asked his friend to go find the emergency generators immediately.
Alex and Frankie didn't take Zayn's hunch lightly. They immediately got ready and left from there.
*Crack* *Crack*
As Zayn and his friends passed through an empty corridor, the floor suddenly cracked and collapsed instantly. They had neither the momentum nor the opportunity to evade. Because of that, they fell down helplessly.