BEFORE THE ROOM: ZOMBIE LAB

You wake up with a start, the fluorescent lights flickering above you as you force yourself to stand. Your body aches with the movement, stiff from sleeping on the hard floor for nights on end. Fatigue tugs at your eyelids, begging for more sleep, more rest… But there is no time for that. 

The lab is cold, the chill of the Russian winter slipping through the cracks of the facility. You look around at your fellow scientists, their tired faces, their blank stares. They’re scattered on the floor throughout the room, wrapped in blankets, some sleeping, some apathetically looking at nothing.

The world is ending, and you and your team were supposed to be the saviours of it. The last hope, they had called you. You scoff, leaning against the desk, studying the messy notes and equations on the wall. Some saviours. You and your team had been stuck in this lab for weeks, working to find a cure for the virus, with no success, losing contact with the world with each passing day. The zombies were everywhere now, aimlessly wandering the streets and viscously killing everything that still had a heartbeat. 

A cure. Was there even one? Could they put an end to this misery?

Suddenly, the alarm blares. You jump to your feet, heart hammering, looking around at the others. They react similarly, some with the same panicked look on their faces, some scrambling to the surveillance screens to see what’s going on. You quickly follow suit, peering over their shoulders at the screens. 

WARNING. BREACH. 

The words are flashing at you in big, red, letters. On one screen, you see them, straggling through the entrance of the restricted area. You feel your body cold, the reality of the situation setting in. They’re here. 

You look around at your team, their faces stricken with fear. 

“How long do we have?” Someone asks. 

“If they keep that pace, an hour, maybe.” A teammate answers. You hear another teammate let out a sob. Suddenly, you’re overcome with a sense of conviction. If anyone was going to save the world, it would be your team.

“Alright, guys,” you say, standing, looking around at your team, “We have one hour to make this cure.”