: The Samples They Almost Lost
The infected were already inside the lower corridor.
Too close.
Too fast.
Too many.
Glass shattered somewhere behind them.
Metal doors shook under repeated impact.
Farid raised his weapon.
"We don't have time!"
Lyana grabbed Myra's arm.
"This way!"
She pulled her toward a narrow laboratory room near the pharmacy storage unit.
Inside—
metal shelves lined the walls.
Most of them empty.
Some broken.
Some burned.
But one shelf remained untouched.
Hidden behind a fallen cabinet.
Myra pushed the cabinet aside with Raj's help.
"What is this?"
Lyana opened a sealed container carefully.
Inside—
wrapped in protective paper—
were dried plant samples.
Dark green leaves.
Thin root bundles tied together with faded laboratory tags.
Her voice dropped.
"Akra leaves."
Then she lifted another packet.
"Fingerroot."
Myra froze.
"These are original samples?"
Lyana nodded.
"Last ones."
Footsteps echoed outside the laboratory.
Closer now.
Running.
Scratching.
Hitting walls.
Raj looked toward the door.
"We don't have long."
Myra quickly opened her field container.
Her hands moved fast.
Professional.
Precise.
"How many do we have?"
Lyana checked the shelf again.
"Not much."
She handed over several wrapped pieces.
"Some were destroyed during the evacuation."
Raj added quietly,
"And some were taken by the military."
That sentence changed everything.
Myra looked up.
"The military?"
But there was no time to ask more.
A loud crash exploded outside the hallway.
Someone shouted.
"THEY'RE BREAKING THROUGH!"
It was Zul.
Myra sealed the container immediately.
"That's all we can carry."
Lyana nodded.
"That's all that's left anyway."
Suddenly—
something slammed against the laboratory door.
Hard.
Once.
Twice.
Then fingers pushed through the cracked glass panel.
Grey skin.
Broken nails.
Blood-covered wrists.
Infected.
Raj grabbed a metal rod and struck the hand repeatedly.
"Move!"
They rushed out of the laboratory.
Back into the corridor.
Where the others were already retreating.
Malik pushed another cabinet toward the stairwell.
"They're everywhere!"
Diana helped Lyana carry extra supplies.
"We can't hold this level!"
Farid looked toward Adam.
"You got the samples?"
Myra answered instead.
"Yes."
But her voice carried something else.
Fear.
Because she knew how little they actually had.
Adam glanced at the sealed container in her hands.
So small.
So light.
And yet—
it might be the only chance left for humanity.
Another infected burst through the corridor intersection ahead.
Then another.
Then five more behind them.
They were surrounded.
"UPSTAIRS!" Farid shouted.
Everyone moved at once.
Running.
Climbing.
Slamming doors behind them.
Breathing harder with every step.
Behind them—
the lower floors of Akra Hill Research Facility disappeared under a flood of infected bodies.
And inside Myra's bag—
wrapped carefully in a sealed container—
remained only a small amount
of Akra leaves
and Fingerroot.
The last pieces
any of them would ever find. 🌿🧪⚠️