Betrayal in the Camp
810 Words
Chapter 10 — Betrayal in the Camp
The camp lights flickered as the alarms began to scream.
Marcus could feel the tension in the air before anything even happened. Soldiers were moving quickly around the outpost, shouting orders, checking weapons, and running toward the large metal containers that held the infected.
Something was about to go very wrong.
Marcus stood with his team near their tent, watching the chaos unfold.
“Tell me I’m not the only one who thinks this place is about to explode,” Tyler said, gripping his baseball bat tightly.
“You’re not,” Jade replied.
Lucas looked toward the guarded container across the camp.
The one that held the mutated infected.
“I think we should leave,” he said quietly.
Before Marcus could respond, a voice spoke behind them.
“You won’t be leaving tonight.”
They turned.
Captain Reeves stood there with four armed soldiers beside him.
Their rifles were already aimed.
Tyler raised his hands slowly.
“Well… this is awkward.”
Marcus stared at Reeves.
“You set us up.”
Reeves looked calm, almost amused.
“I wouldn’t call it a setup.”
“Then what would you call it?” Jade asked coldly.
Reeves stepped closer.
“Opportunity.”
Marcus kept his voice steady.
“For what?”
Reeves glanced at Elena.
“For progress.”
The soldiers tightened their grip on their weapons.
Elena frowned.
“You want to experiment on us.”
Reeves nodded.
“You and your team have survived longer than most people in this city.”
“So?” Tyler said.
“So that makes you valuable,” Reeves replied.
Lucas clenched his fists.
“You’re insane.”
“No,” Reeves said calmly.
“I’m trying to save humanity.”
Marcus stepped forward slightly.
“By turning people into monsters?”
Reeves sighed.
“The virus is evolving. If we don’t understand it, the infected will eventually wipe out every remaining survivor.”
He pointed toward the containers across the camp.
“The mutated infected are the future of this virus.”
Jade shook her head.
“And you want to control them.”
Reeves smiled slightly.
“Exactly.”
Before anyone could say another word—
BOOM!
A massive crash echoed from across the camp.
Everyone turned toward the container area.
One of the metal containers had been ripped open.
The door hung off its hinges.
A soldier screamed in the distance.
Then the shooting started.
Gunfire exploded across the camp as soldiers fired toward the open container.
Tyler blinked.
“Uh… that’s not good.”
Something burst out of the container.
A mutated infected soldier sprinted across the ground faster than any zombie Marcus had ever seen.
It tackled a guard and tore into him before anyone could react.
More creatures followed behind it.
Reeves cursed under his breath.
“They broke the cages.”
The soldiers around Marcus looked suddenly nervous.
Gunfire continued across the base.
Another container door burst open.
More infected poured out.
Normal zombies.
Mutated ones.
The entire camp was being overrun.
Marcus saw his chance.
He suddenly grabbed the barrel of the closest soldier’s rifle and shoved it aside.
“Run!” he shouted to his team.
Chaos exploded instantly.
Tyler swung his bat into a soldier’s helmet.
Lucas tackled another guard to the ground.
Jade moved like lightning, knocking a rifle from someone’s hands.
Marcus pulled Elena toward the supply trucks.
“Move!”
Behind them, the infected rushed into the center of the camp.
Soldiers fired desperately as creatures tore through the barricades.
One mutated infected leaped onto the roof of a truck.
Another sprinted straight through a line of gunfire.
Tyler ran beside Marcus.
“These things are getting faster!”
“No kidding!” Lucas shouted.
Marcus looked toward the outer fence.
If they could reach the exit gate, they might escape before the camp completely collapsed.
But then something made him stop.
Captain Reeves was standing calmly in the middle of the chaos.
He wasn’t running.
He wasn’t fighting.
He was watching.
And he was smiling.
Reeves raised a radio to his mouth.
“Phase two,” he said.
Marcus felt a chill run through him.
“What did he just do?” Jade asked.
Suddenly—
Several of the remaining containers across the camp began unlocking automatically.
The heavy metal doors slowly opened.
Tyler’s voice shook.
“Oh no…”
From the darkness inside the containers…
Dozens of mutated infected stepped out.
Their bodies twitched violently.
Their heads turned toward the survivors.
Then every single one of them began running.
Straight toward Marcus and his team.
Marcus tightened his grip on his weapon.
Because in that moment he realized something terrifying.
The outbreak in the city hadn’t been the real disaster.
This was.
And it was only just the beginning
- Writer
