Designated (Book 1): Designated Infected by Ricky Cooper

shreds
stained a dirty yellow brown by the their own blood. The stench of
decaying flesh was palpable even from several feet and made it all
too clear just how long the men had been laying there. Baker played
his torch beam over the scene before him, his gaze impassive as he
looked upon the butchered remains of the six men. 'Survivors?'
    Baker shook his head instinctively as he replied, 'Nope,
not here anyway.' Crouching low, Baker listened to Pottergate's
stifled curses as he studied their remains before him.
    'Something is different here, boss. Come take a
butchers.'
    Fadei looked at Pottergate, a puzzled expression
adorning his features. 'He means I should go and take a look.' The
explanation did little to remove the look of sever puzzlement as
Pottergate walked away, appearing at Baker's side moments later.
Kneeling beside his subordinate, he gazed at the carnage before them.
'Calculated.'
    Baker glanced at his commander
nodding the gas mask rubbing against his skin as it shifted slightly.
'That's what I thought too; they look almost surgically precise as if
these guys were sliced apart. The only thing I can even fathom being
this quick and precise is a Katana or a scalpel, but look at the edges of the wounds.' Baker motioned
with the tip of his combat knife. Using it as a pointer, he traced it
down the edges of the gaping wound in one man's chest. 'The edges
aren't clean, they're jagged and misshapen. That tells me that they
were torn open, like if you were pulling open a packet or something
and the seam didn't tear properly, but I don't know. At the same time
its too precise; it doesn't make sense.'
    Pottergate's brow furrowed as he studied the corpse
before him. 'Well, the only other thing I can think of being able to
do the quick precise cuts and leave that sort of edge as well is a
saw blade.' Baker nodded, his eyes telling more than words could as
he looked back at the dry, shrunken rotting and torn flesh before
him. Pottergate stood and stepped back slightly as he scratched at
the stubble on his neck. 'There isn't much we can gain from staring
at this mess, let's move on and hope we find someone intact enough to
provide us with an answer.'
    Baker looked at his commander quizzically.
    'To what chief.'
    Pottergate turned to face Baker as he stood.
    'To what the bloody hell is going on in this place.'

7

    Moving forwards the team came to a crossroads in the
corridor, both sides branching into their own black soulless void.
Shaking his head Pottergate studied both options before he made the
only choice he had. 'Fadei, you're with me and Baker, the rest of you
take the left hand tunnel, radio in every three minutes. If you
don't, we'll come and find you. I want to know everything you come
across. Even if it doesn't hold any importance whatsoever I want to
know about it; understood?'
    All three men nodded before turning and disappearing
into the black, all consuming maw of the corridor. Pottergate and
Baker watched the three men vanish into the blackness a deep sense of
dread filling both men as the three soldiers were slowly swallowed
whole.
    'We have to move now; the main centre of the facility is
down this corridor.'
    Baker turned and looked at Fadei, 'Shut the hell up
we'll go when we're good and ready.'
    Fadei opened his mouth to reply but as he did, something
moved behind him. A soft, shimmering glint passing across Baker's
lenses was his only warning before a two foot long sliver of steel
whistled past his head, concrete showering over him as it sunk into
the wall inches from the side of his mask covered head. Pottergate
spun firing into the blackness. His rifle chattered as he fired burst
after burst into the wall of dark before him. Fadei dropped to one
knee, blood trickling down his neck, the warm liquid seeping into the
tight rubberised seal of his suit. Ignoring the sharp bolts of pain
that lanced through his torn skin, he brought his AS VAL to bear and
fired off half his magazine in six short