"We are so f.u.c.ked," Spence muttered.

"You said that already," Kaplan snapped.

"Yeah, well, am I wrong?"

Kaplan couldn't argue with that.

Matt looked up at the speaker. Kaplan noticed that he looked pained. "Why did you kill everybody down here?"

"The T-virus escaped into the air-conditioning system and an uncontrolled pattern of infection began. The virus is protean, changing from liquid to airborne to blood transmission, depending on its environment. It is almost impossible to kill. I couldn't allow it to escape from the Hive, so I took steps."

Shaking his head, Matt repeated the word: "Steps."

"If I might make a suggestion: you have sufficient ammunition. One bullet apiece to the spinal column should suffice."

Rain moved closer to the speaker, as if challenging the computer. "What are you saying?"

"Merely that I think suicide would be preferable to what awaits you."

"You're a computer," Kaplan said defensively. "I don't care if you're an artificial intelligence, you don't really think think."

Undaunted, the computer said, "This facility housed five hundred technicians and support staff. Five hundred against five are odds of a hundred to one."

Alice snapped, "We can do the math."

"Logic dictates that you won't leave here alive."

"f.u.c.k logic."

Rain spoke for them all.

At least Kaplan hoped she did.

"You must understand-those of you who become infected-I can't allow you to leave."

"Whoa," Spence said, "we're not infected."

"Just one bite, one scratch from these creatures is sufficient. After that, it takes from fifteen minutes to several hours, depending on the severity of the infection and the strength of the individual's immune system, and then you become one of them."

Kaplan couldn't help but give Rain a look.

Rain stared right back. "What're you you looking at?" looking at?"

"A check of my systems indicates my main drive circuit breaker has been disabled. May I ask why? " "

"Insurance," Alice said. "We need a way out of here. If you refuse to help at any time, we flip the switch-understand?"

"Very well. If you insist on this ridiculous course of action, your most likely avenue of escape is through the utility tunnels. There is a trapdoor in the northwest corner. Proceed to Tunnel 3B, then go right at Tunnel 9E. At the end of that tunnel, there will be another trapdoor at the terminus for the train to the mansion."

Kaplan flipped up his wrist-top and called up the map of the utility tunnels. Then he looked at the others and tried to keep his voice from breaking when he said, "She's right, that'll work."

Alice and Rain were both standing by the northwest corner, and looked down to see the trapdoor in question.

It also had a codepad. Kaplan did a search on his wrist-top for the code for that door.

He found nothing.

"We need the code."

"One, five, nine, six, eight."

Rain crouched down and entered those five numbers. A clicking sound indicated the lock releasing, and she opened it, Alice standing next to her.

The door opened to a ladder.

Rain looked at Alice and gave her another one of those scary smiles of hers. "After you."

Forcing himself to focus, Kaplan climbed down the ladder.

He and Rain were the only ones left now.

Warner would never hustle Kaplan at hearts again. ("Look, we don't even have have to play for money-well, okay, not a to play for money-well, okay, not a lot lot of money.") of money.") Drew would never try to fix Kaplan up with his sister. ("Really, Kaplan, she's a babe. Honest. Don't pay any attention to what J.D. says.") J.D. would never give Kaplan a hard time. ("Man, did girls even talk talk to you in high school?") to you in high school?") Olga would never complain to him again. ("What's taking so long?") And One...

For all his life, the only person who ever truly took Kaplan's desire to be a field agent seriously was One. The only person who expressed any kind of confidence in his ability.

The only one who didn't just dismiss him as another computer geek.

Hilariously enough, he never actually encouraged Kaplan. h.e.l.l, in his own way he gave him as much s.h.i.t as Rain and J.D. did. But he never dismissed Kaplan either, and always took him seriously.

"What the h.e.l.l is is this place?" Spence asked as they entered the tunnels. In stark contrast to the clean, metallic corridors and offices above, this place was dark, dank, and dripping. Puddles collected under their feet, all sorts of things that smelled like a cesspool stained the walls, and liquid streamed from the ceiling. this place?" Spence asked as they entered the tunnels. In stark contrast to the clean, metallic corridors and offices above, this place was dark, dank, and dripping. Puddles collected under their feet, all sorts of things that smelled like a cesspool stained the walls, and liquid streamed from the ceiling.

Kaplan tried to keep his temper reined in. It wasn't Spence's fault, after all, but he was was a Security Division operative, just like the rest of them-except Matt, anyhow-and he knew the answers to all the stupid questions he was asking. h.e.l.l, he should've known about the failsafe and the lack of backup. But that d.a.m.n nerve gas... a Security Division operative, just like the rest of them-except Matt, anyhow-and he knew the answers to all the stupid questions he was asking. h.e.l.l, he should've known about the failsafe and the lack of backup. But that d.a.m.n nerve gas...

"Utility tunnels," he explained. "They run beneath the Hive for water, gas, power lines." He smiled. "And, uh, waste."

"Great."

They proceeded down 3B. Every once in a while they came across an adjacent tunnel, blocked off by wire mesh that would allow water through, but not people.

Then again, aside from maintenance personnel, people generally didn't come down here. Given the smell, Kaplan could understand why.

When they turned at 9E, Spence said, "We've been in here before."

"Keep moving," Rain said.

"We're going round in circles!"

Kaplan was seriously getting tired of Spence's s.h.i.t. Actually, thinking it over, he was grateful for it. The more Kaplan focused on how p.i.s.sed off he was at Spence, the less he focused on his own panic and guilt. "No-this is the route the computer gave us. Through the utility tunnels to-"

Spence brushed past Kaplan. "I don't know why we're listening to her."

Rain suddenly whirled around and pushed Spence against one of the wire-mesh-covered pa.s.sageways. "Enough already!"

She didn't actually point her pistol at Spence, but its muzzle, Kaplan noticed, was close to his heart.

"We have to keep moving 'cause those things are right behind us. You got that?"

At that moment, Kaplan didn't care how p.i.s.sed Rain was at him. Right now, Spence needed to be taken down a peg, and n.o.body was better at that than Rain Melendez. Kaplan had certainly been on the receiving end enough times in his life.

Before Spence could reply, arms reached through the mesh.

Jumping back in shock, Kaplan watched as Rain, with Mart's help, pulled the arms off him. That's when he saw that there were dozens of the d.a.m.n zombies pushing against the mesh.

It would keep people out, yeah, but not this many...

Alice had the same thought. "That mesh isn't going to hold. Let's move b-"

She cut herself off. Kaplan followed her gaze.

Oh, f.u.c.k.

The panic came back full bore as he saw dozens more zombies shuffling down Tunnel 9B toward them.

Alice was wrong about one thing: the mesh did keep the zombies back. Unfortunately, the frame holding the mesh in place had eroded sufficiently that it could not hold the literally dead weight of dozens of people pushing against it.

All thinking as one, Kaplan as well as Rain, Matt, and Spence grabbed the mesh before it could fall and used it as a battering ram to keep the zombies back.

But it was a temporary measure at best.

The Red Queen's final words before Kaplan shut her down the first time came back to Kaplan: "You're all going to die down here."

Kaplan glanced over to see why Alice wasn't helping them.

It turned out she was.

She may not have remembered everything, but her famous moves had apparently risen to the fore. a.s.s-Kicking Alice knocked one zombie down with a neck-shattering chop. Then she jumped up to the ceiling, grabbed one of the heating pipes that ran parallel to the floor, wrapped her legs around the neck of the next zombie, and then twisted with her thighs, killing it.

A nice move, to be sure, but somehow Kaplan didn't think she'd be able to do it five hundred more times.

Neither did she, for her next words were: "Up on the pipes-up on the pipes! Quickly, everyone, up on the pipes up on the pipes!"

Kaplan looked up. There was no way in h.e.l.l those pipes were going to support the weight of five people.

Then the zombies surged against the mesh, and Kaplan realized they weren't exactly overburdened with choices. Besides, these things weren't agile-they probably weren't capable of climbing up after them. h.e.l.l, they could barely walk walk. So far, it was the only real advantage they had had.

"It's a way out!"

"Move it!"

They let go of the mesh. Kaplan unholstered his Beretta and started shooting. Next to him, Rain did likewise with her Colt, while Alice kept up her end with hand-to-hand.

Unbidden, the image of an "a.s.s-Kicking Alice" action figure in her likeness popped into Kaplan's head. "With zombie neck-snapping action!"

Focus, Kaplan. He shot another one in the face.

Spence, of course, was the first one to scurry up the pipes.

"Get over here!" Matt cried to Alice. "There's too many of them!"

"Go, go, go!" Rain cried as Matt helped Alice up, then climbed up himself.

That just left him and Rain to hold off the hordes.

"You're all going to die down here."

f.u.c.k you, b.i.t.c.h. He shot another one.

It fell down and then bit him in the leg.

Kaplan screamed.

Twenty-Two.

THE ONLY GOOD THING TO RAIN ABOUT HOW much the utility tunnels stank was that they knocked out how bad the zombies smelled.

Their breath was especially bad-which was weird, 'cause they didn't seem to be breathing breathing, but d.a.m.n if they didn't all have halitosis f.u.c.king overload.

She turned around when Kaplan screamed, saw the thing biting him, then shot it.

Kaplan, the f.u.c.king wuss, kept screaming.

Addison reached down and yelled, "Grab my hand!"

That shook Kaplan out of it. He grabbed Addison's hand and let himself be pulled up.

That just left Rain.

Another zombie jumped her, and she dropped her Colt into the p.i.s.s-wet gunk on the floor.

She grabbed the zombie by the head, twisted, then dropped the zombie to the floor. Bending over, she picked up her Colt, and pointed it right at the next zombie.

Just as she prepared to pull the trigger, she realized who it was standing in front of her.