(Authors note: hey guys. Thank you for those that enjoy my story and stayed around. I'm sorry I was unable to update sooner, life kinda got in the way and for whatever reason I didn't really know how to put some things into words so my apologies if the chapter isn't as well written as you'd hoped. But I do hope you enjoy it anyway! :) )

The walk was tense, nobody breathed out a word that whole time except for the guard that occasionally told them what turn to take until they found themselves standing across a large thick metal door.

A keypad glowing faintly beside it awaiting input.
Rolen raised an eyebrow; he wasn't sure if he should be worried, but if the doctor was really in there, then there shouldn't be a problem, right? The thought made him subconsciously rest a hand on his bandaged arm.
Nathan stayed quiet while Lexa kept a hand on her weapon. The pressure of the situation was almost suffocating for everyone involved.

The guard moved over to the keypad, his large body blocking the device, yet the sound of his fingers dancing over the buttons cut through the silence like a knife.

CLICK

The unfamiliar mechanism of the lock turning filled the air, and the guard pushed the metal door open.

"Inside, now."

The three of them exchanged glances before one by one; they moved going through the door.

The door closed behind them silently, locking back in place. It was a rather small place, to their direct right was what looked like a small area separated by a metal fence, screens covered the walls with camera footage of most if not of the entire building as well as a desk covered with papers that hadn't been touched in days.

One of the screens was focused on the sleeping patient from before, her sleeping form only visible as a silhouette in the sunlight glow that poured in from the window behind her.
Rolen’s gaze scanned across the other screen, but no other patients seemed to be in any of them. A moment of thought went through the engineer’s mind as he recounted the events just a few minutes earlier.

To their left was another door, the small area wasn't very well lit, the light bulb was clearly on its last life, and the place had an old musky scent to it. Causing Rolen to scrunch up his nose.

"Before we continue." The voice of the man broke the silence once again, causing Rolen to snap out of his thoughts.
"No funny business. Especially not from you." He growled, looking straight into Nathan's face. The soldier’s jaw clenched, and he took in a deep breath, glaring back at the guard.

"Yeah we're planning to hold a drugs deal inside the mystery room." Lexa muttered, rolling her eyes, sarcasm dripping off her tongue like venom, earning a silent glare from Nathan, telling her to shut up.

The guard sighed loudly, looking the three over before reluctantly leading them through the next door.
The lights in there were much brighter, bright enough for Rolen to shield his eyes, allowing them to readjust when they entered what looked like a laboratory of some kind. The room wasn't very big, but it held another closed door on the opposite side and the tables were cluttered with samples encased in glass, the murky liquids still faintly moving inside. Papers covered in notes with handwriting that was almost unreadable to the untrained eye cluttered around in a way that felt organised rather than chaotic.

There was even a corner separated in plastic dividers with the quarantine logo printed on it.

Inside were 2 doctors, both wearing hazmat suits.

One looked up from what they were doing as the three survivors entered the room, they instantly locked eyes and quickly put down what they were doing before leaving the containment area and taking off the headpiece of the hazmat suit.

It was a woman, easily in her early forties, she had heavy bags under her eyes, and her blonde hair looked like she hadn't showered in days.

This must be Dr Smith.

She looked them up and down one by one, her expression becoming more unreadable as she took in the red bandages on Rolen’s arm, her gaze lingering for a moment too long before her grey-blue eyes landed onto Nathan's red ones.
Her demeanor instantly changed.

"An infected?!" She snapped, instantly gaining the attention of the other doctor. “Keep distance. Contain him if needed!"
"Harvey what were you thinking?! Bringing him here without warning!" She continues on glaring at the guard. But before any of them could respond the other doctor walked up to her. "No this is good!" The male coworker responded almost excited.

Now everyone turned their gaze to the guy in a mix of expressions.

"Good?! Sam do you think that plastic veil is going to stop an infected from causing an outbreak in the lab?! Not to mention the other two survivors! We can't have more mouths to feed! Our supply is limited!"

"We aren't staying."
Nathan's voice instantly boomed over the argument, causing the two adults in hazmat suits to look up in surprise.
They both looked at him closer now, shock covering their expressions.

"Yeah, once you're done gawking, our friend needs some fixing." Lexa’s annoyed voice came through the following silence.

"I don't know if you noticed." The woman started glaring down at Lexa. "But this pandemic wouldn't have happened if we can just 'fix' the infection."

"Not him!" Lexa shot back. "The one with the white hair."
Dr Smith turned her gaze to Rolen, her eyes landing on the red bandages once again. She glanced back up at Nathan, her suspicious eyes.

"How long ago did you get infected?"

"36 hours ago."

The doctor took a step back, fascination clearly evident on her face. "The fact you can still string a sentence together is fascinating." she placed a hand on his forehead.

"No fever either.." she walked around him, inspecting his physique. "Has he been violent since he's been infected?" She asked, turning to Lexa and Rolen.

Lexa looked at Rolen and raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms. "Well ehm sorta?"

"Sorta?"

"He's been more.. quick to anger since than when we ended up together. But he's only been violent when it came to protecting us from other infected.." Rolen chose his words carefully, thinking back to that stormy night where they met Lexa and subconsciously bit his lower lip.

"Any other changes?" She asked, crossing her arms.

Rolen glanced up at the combat medic who had an expression the young goth couldn't place. "Well ehm.. he has gotten a lot stronger I think?"

"Stronger how?"

"Ripping off a head of an infected with his bare hands strong" Lexa interjected.

Dr Smith glanced at her for a moment before looking back at Nathan. "Fascinating.." she muttered. "Alright, my coworker Dr Davis will fix up the kid on the condition that everyone gives us a blood sample and I want to run a few tests on the infected"