The tunnel reeks of mildew and disinfectant. Lena is wading through knee-deep water while one hand is clutching her stomach and the other holds up Ryan's flashlight. The beam caught on strange markings on the brickwork- not architect symbols by James Bennett but Margaret's looping script:
They're harvesting stem cells from the newborns. The Calloway "vaccine" requires fetal tissue.
Bile rose in Lena's throat. It all pieced together: the Calloway immunity was not merely an inoculation. It needed replenishment every time by the babies of the town.
A whimper echoed ahead.
Sophie huddled in a supply closet, her pink hair matted with blood and held a swaddled newborn close against her chest. "They were packaging cord blood," she rasped. "Shipping it offshore."
The kid's face was uncharacteristically calm- like he had been drugged or something. Lena's gut was churning. "Is that…?"
"Patient 114." Sophie's laugh was raw. "They were prepping her for the same shit they did to Matthew."
Glass shattered down the hallway. Footsteps thundered towards them.
Sophie shoved the baby into Lena's arms and palmed a scalpel. "Take her. The exit's behind the incubators."
"Not without you!"
Sophie looked grim as she raised a USB drive marked Phase Two Trials. "Gotta make this go viral first."
The door burst open.