"Get her off me!" Keegan wailed. The woman in the labcoat, lifeless only moments ago, now clamped her teeth onto their squadmate's neck. Edwards, the breach specialist, cleared his sidearm from his holster and aimed at the woman. The woman's mouth oozed with blood as Keegan, on his knees, fought desperately to dislodge her grip. With just 5 meters between them, Edwards had a clear shot but hesitated for fear of hitting his friend.

"Screw this." Diaz, the bigger of the group, rushed forward.

"Diaz, no! Stay back that's an order!" Squad leader Hicks, who was quiet and calm during the whole altercation had screamed out.

Ignoring his leader, Diaz held his tactical M4 at the ready with trained authority. "Get the fuck off him you-" In an instant of horror, she raised her head and whirled toward Diaz, tackling the man. Keegan collapsed to the floor with velvet hands struggling to clasp his neck. Diaz's feet kicked and thrashed, his screams drowned in a wet gurgle.

"Damnit!" Hicks screamed, drawing his .45 pistol with calm composure, taking aim, and firing. The bullet struck the woman through her temple, propelling her off the downed man. To the team's astonishment, she remained unyielding. Aggravated, she clawed at the wound with a wretched screech, blood pooling and dripping from her lips.

"What is she?" Bennings, the medic, yelled in confusion, emptying an entire clip into her. Each bullet caused her body to twitch, and her screeches reverberated. Dropping to all fours, she gained speed and hurled herself into a nearby metal vent, disappearing.

Breaths were heavy and heaving, adrenaline pumping. Empty mags clattered to the floor as fresh ones were racked and rechambered. Edwards rushed to Diaz who sweated and struggled to hold his palm to his neck. Blood oozed from the tactical gloved hand to his vest. Turning to the medic with urgency, Edwards's voice wavered.

"Bennings! Get over here now!" The soldier sprinted field pack in hand, unspooling a roll of gauze as he anxiously assessed Diaz.

"Shit She took a chunk out of his neck," Bennings exclaimed, baffled. "I don't understand how she-"

"Just bandage me up, doc." Diaz retorted through heavy quick breathing. Sweat seeped from his head, and blood trickled from the corners of his lips. His body quaked and shook as the field medic applied pressure to the wound. Edwards made his way towards Keegan who managed to weakly sit himself upright.

"Hang in there," Edwards assured his mate. Keegan weakly raised his head. His eyes were bloodshot and haunted.

"S-she was dead I swear," he gasped, his breathing escalating "I checked her pulse."

Edwards focused on the critical situation, ignored his frantic friend, and hastily assessed the bleeding neck.

"Shit," he cursed under his breath. It was bad—real bad. Without swift medical attention, he'd bleed out.

"Hicks, we need to call an evac unit now. He's not gonna make it unless we—" Edwards began urgently, but his words caught in his throat as he turned to the squad leader.

In a moment of frozen fear, the commander wielded his pistol with both hands, .45 raised, aimed and squeezed the trigger. The pistol's suppressor released a muffled thwap as Keegan's head snapped back, falling heavily. Edwards's face paled, his heart sinking heavy.

"What are you-" Edwards attempted to exclaim, but Hicks, without missing a beat, turned with swift precision. The pistol aimed toward Diaz, who wearily raised a gloved, bloody hand to shield his face.

"Hey, wait—" Diaz began, his words interrupted as the round cut him off. Bennings staggered backward, his hands still entangled in bloody gauze, flabbergasted. The medic's horrified gaze fixated on the fallen man sprawled across the tile floor, while Hicks maintained his firearm posture, smoke wisping from the barrel. A heavy silence enveloped the scene until the distinctive sound of a racked chamber echoed behind Hicks. He turned, and his gaze met Edwards, who stood breathing frantically, rifle leveled at him.

"Lower your weapon," Hicks said in a cold and calm tone. "That's an order."

"You just gunned them down!" Edwards erupted. The rifle shook in his trembling arms. "We could've gotten them help. After all they've done for you..."

"You heard the briefing. Eliminate any possible contamination." Hicks declared, the sentence hanging ominously in the air. "Did you think that we were that exception? Our mission is simple... risks for further exposure MUST be avoided. At all costs."

Bennings watched as the two men faced each other off, blood pooling at their boots, glancing at his fallen members. His friends. Alive just seconds ago.

Hicks continued, "We don't have time for this. We still have an objective to finish, so right now, we need to complete what we're looking for and extract." He turned to Bennings, the cold stare cutting through the chaos. "You all know what you signed up for." He emphasized, "So did they."

Reholstering his pistol, Hicks strode purposefully toward the back of the room. "Ex-Unit 7, on me... now." His voice, a blend of ice and steel, carried an undeniable command that cut through the lingering tension. As the remaining members of the unit fell in line behind their leader, the weight of their unspoken understanding and the bitter taste of betrayal lingered in the air.