The move limited just how much Millward could see in the muted red lighting of the room, and she panicked even more, spinning around wildly.

Mac used her disorientation to his advantage, and rolled forwards across the lab floor, knocking the Beretta from her grasp with just one blow.

The gun skittered across the hard stone and came to rest under a bench. Mac grabbed it before the doctor made any attempt to retrieve it. He flicked on the safety and tucked it into his belt.

Millward watched, her eyes moving from the gun to Mac’s face and back again. She was nervously wringing her hands, but she made no attempt to run or escape.

Eventually, she dared to speak, her accent giving away her British origins. “Who are you?”

“Name’s MacGyver. When you folks stopped talking to the outside world they sent me in to find out why. Actually, they sent in a Special Forces unit first, but we lost contact with them too.”

Mac watched Millward for a reaction. She seemed to take in what he was saying, but her expression said she had more on her mind than just his identity. “Now it’s my turn to ask questions…” He pointed to her tag. “You obviously work here, so maybe you can explain what’s going on?”

Millward relaxed just a little and took a seat. She shivered, but MacGyver suspected it wasn’t because she was cold.

“It’s all a little crazy. I don’t really know where to begin, or even if I should be telling you any of this.” She stared at the floor for awhile, and then looked up, her gaze locking with MacGyver’s.

“Trust me, I have full clearance,” Mac assured. He tugged out the swipe card he’d been given from his pocket and offered it up for inspection.

Of course, it could be a fake and he could be a Russian spy, but he guessed he just had a trusting face, because Millward nodded and began a short narrative.

“Dr. Mitrovich had come up with a design for a nanite that could enter the human body. It was more than cutting edge, it was miraculous…”

“Yeah, I’ve seen some of the files,” Mac intervened. “So what happened? Did someone come in here and attempt to steal it?” He already suspected it wasn’t that simple.

And did I really hear a howl? He kept that thought in his head, for now.

Millward shook her head, her face turning back into the mask of fear it had been when he first met her. “No…nothing like that. You see, Mitrovich became infected with his own creation. And let’s just say the results weren’t exactly what any of us were expecting.”

Mac scowled and he swung his flashlight over the carnage in the room. “You’re saying he did all this?”

“After twelve hours Mitrovich began to change, both physically and mentally.” The doctor began to shake more at the memories. “It was like something out of a Frankenstein movie. He started to attack other staff and they couldn’t stop him. The nanites he’d programmed to fix cells in the human body did just that, but on such an accelerated level that he effectively can’t be mortally wounded. Heaven knows what he’ll become as the nanites progress through his system…”

Whatever MacGyver had been expecting, it wasn’t a technologically enhanced adversary. He took down a breath, his mind racing as he wondered where Mitrovich was. He could be watching them right now, and they wouldn’t know it.

The howl…

It felt like they were stuck in some Carpenter “B” movie, and they usually ended badly.

Millward sensed his apprehension. “It gets worse,” she continued apologetically. “Mitrovich’s blood is infested with those nanites, and they’re still self-replicating. If you get any of his blood on you and you have an open cut, you’re likely to get infected too. I’ve already seen it happen.”

“The Special Forces unit?” Mac guessed.

“They soon discovered their weapons were useless against him, so some of the soldiers tried it hand to hand. It got very bloody and two of them started to turn, just like Mitrovich.” Millward shuddered and her eyes scooted to the doorway.

It was so dark, so uninviting the other side, MacGyver almost shared her fear of what was beyond. “What happened to them? Are they still out there like Mitrovich?”

“They’re dead.” The statement was final, and from her tone it was easily apparent that Millward carried a burden of guilt over the men’s deaths.

Mac raised a brow. “How? Shouldn’t they be virtually immortal, like the doc?”

“One of the labs is equipped with a failsafe device that effectively means it becomes an incinerator if any dangerous bacteria or pathogens are released. I lured the soldiers inside…” Millward’s eyes narrowed, and she looked blankly at the lab wall. Killing was obviously as abhorrent to her as it was MacGyver, and yet she’d been forced to do it to survive. “I vaporized them. Not even the nanites could fix that…”

Mac put a hand on her trembling shoulder and she flinched. “There was nothing else you could do,” he soothed. “Could there be anyone else left down here alive?”

Millward shook her head. “I think we’re the only ones…and Mitrovich.”

“Do you know how he became infected in the first place?” MacGyver was thinking again, and some of the facts weren’t adding up. His senses were telling him this wasn’t just an accident, but he couldn’t figure out the why and the how just yet. “Did anybody have time to check why the nanites aren’t working like they were programmed to?”

Millward blinked as if the thought had never occurred to her. “We didn’t have a chance. No one knew Mitrovich was carrying the things until he changed. I wouldn’t understand the programming of the nanites anyway – I’m the medical side of the project. Mitrovich was the nano-scientist.”

MacGyver moved back to the console he’d been working at. “Then we need to find those answers. We can’t let this thing get out to the outside world.” He began tapping at keys until more of Mitrovich’s research studies came up.

Some of the files had been decrypted, and some totally erased, but by the scientist, or by someone else?

The troubleshooter sensed Millward looking over his shoulder as he tried to retrieve some of the lost work. As a folder flashed open on the screen, she pointed to some of its contents.

“I’m no computer geek, but doesn’t that string look corrupted?” She sighed. “Surely Gregor wouldn’t make such a blatant error even considering the pressure he was under?”

MacGyver scrolled back, checking when the file was last edited, and by who. The login said it was Mitrovich, which suggested the nanites had malfunctioned because of a simple program error.

Unless the scientist had done this on purpose, or someone else had accessed the system using his log-on credentials?

Why?

Mac returned to the main menu and looked for security control access. After about five minutes, he found what he was looking for. Cameras and sensors put Mitrovich in his quarters at the same time the computer file had been altered.

He tapped the screen. “Take a look at this. The nanites didn’t malfunction, they were reprogrammed by someone, and that someone wasn’t Mitrovich. I’m guessing he wasn’t accidentally infected, either.”

Millward took down a long breath. “But that’s like…murder? I can’t imagine any of the staff here doing such a thing – they were all so committed. Not to mention, everyone but me is dead…”

Mac stared over his shoulder at the doctor. “Are you sure? Could someone have done this and then escaped before the lockdown?”

She shook her head. “I tried to count the bodies. I don’t think any of the Peckwash people did this.” The doctor looked warily at the doorway again. “Do you think some of Mitrovich’s own people could be behind it? The Russians, I mean?”

It was a possibility MacGyver had already thought about, but why not just snatch the scientist back or kill him? Why the elaborate game with the nanites?

Millward broke him from the thought. “You know, do we really care at this point how it happened?” She seemed focused on the escape key on the computer as if it had an ulterior meaning. “Can you get us out?”

“We should be able to get out the same way I got in. We can’t just leave Mitrovich down here, though. There must be something we can do for him?” MacGyver reached into his satchel and pulled out a small radio.

The military would probably open fire on anyone trying to leave unannounced, so he needed to let Pete know what was happening first.

Millward stared at the radio as if she’d dropped out of Hell into Heaven. “I don’t know of any way to stop the nanites,” she admitted. “But then, as I’ve said, the technological side of this research wasn’t my field.”

There was unease in her voice as she spoke, and Mac guessed she was terrified he was going to suggest staying back to try and save Mitrovich.

He put a hand on her arm reassuringly. “Don’t worry, I’ll get you out, then I can come back and try and…”

Try and what? Time was already ticking off the army deadline, and there was no clear way to save Gregor Mitrovich, or discover who had sabotaged the nanites and caused the carnage.

But I can’t just leave him down here! And what if the person responsible took a sample of his handiwork? That would be the world’s scariest weapon…

MacGyver clicked the transmit button on the radio. “MacGyver to control, do you read?”

Pete’s voice came back through a layer of static. “We hear you. What’s the situation down there?”

“Not good, Pete, some of the Mitrovich nanites were reprogrammed and let’s just say not to do nice things to the human body. The military unit is all dead, and so are most of the staff down here.” Mac paused. How did you explain so much, given so little time? “I’m coming out with a survivor, so tell your army buddies not to shoot. I’ll explain more when we get topside.”

There was more hissing and then Pete finally responded. “Gotcha, and…be careful, Mac.”

Pete was worried. MacGyver could tell from just the way he said the last words. And that was before he knew the full extent of what had happened.

“Can we go now?” Millward pleaded. “Because I have a really bad feeling about this.”

Mac nodded and picked up his flashlight. The trip down to the labs from the main entrance hadn’t taken too long, but he had a funny feeling it was going to seem like a marathon to get back.

He flicked on the light and aimed it into the corridor outside the room. Even with the beam cutting through the dim crimson emergency lighting, it still felt like they were ambling through the passageways of Dante’s Inferno.

And somewhere out in the complex, the devil was waiting to great them.

Millward took Mac’s free hand without asking, and he assumed the contact made her feel more secure.

It did nothing, however, for the sickening sensation in his gut that said they were being watched again.

“So you’re not from around these parts? Your work bring you over here?” Mac tried to make conversation, hoping it would take both their minds off what might be lurking behind every corner.

“My husband brought me over here.” Millward scowled as if it was a bad memory. “And then he left me exactly six months later. You could say I buried my head in the sand, or rather in a Colorado mountain to be precise.”

MacGyver mouthed “ouch” and carried on into the next corridor. “Sorry,” he apologized.

Millward shrugged. “Don’t be, and besides, any conversation beats the silence.”

Mac paused and swung his light in an arc.

Ahead was the entrance and reception area where he’d originally entered. They were almost out, and somehow that idea made him twice as wary.

If Mitrovich was going to make a move, it would be here.

“What’s wrong?” Millward sensed his apprehension.

Mac put a finger to his lips. He wasn’t sure, but something in the shadows of the tunnel between them and freedom had caught his eye.

An odd silhouette – a fleeting image in the periphery of his vision that had vanished in the literal blink of an eye.

“Stay here…” MacGyver let go of Millward’s hand and moved slowly forwards. All he could hear was his own breathing, but even that sounded more ominous in the tunnel.

Each step was an agonizing one, waiting for Mitrovich to show himself.

Mac reached the control room, and noted the red lighting was flickering now as if something was interrupting the flow of current to it.

He slowly exhaled and surveyed the scene, playing his flashlight around to search every corner, every hiding place.

The beam finally reached the table that held the computer console – except this time there was an addition the troubleshooter would rather not have been there.

Mitrovich was sitting on the chair at the desk, and as the light hit him, he spun around to face MacGyver.

It was only now that Mac truly understood how far the transformation had gone.

Mitrovich’s features were hidden by huge bulbous growths that stuck out from his flesh. Some of the tumors glistened in the light where the skin had stretched and contorted until it took on a shiny appearance.

But it was the scientist’s eyes that were the most frightening of his new form. The orbs that looked out on the world were more lupine than human, and they darted wildly about the room, assessing, determining what move to make next.

Was there enough of a man left inside to even try and reason with?

MacGyver slowly held up his free hand and hoped the move conveyed the message he meant no harm. “Easy there…”

Mitrovich sniffed.

Is the guy actually “scenting” like an animal? If he were honest, the thought terrified Mac because it meant there would be no talking the Russian down.

Instinctively, he took a small step backwards towards the corridor.

Mitrovich appeared to take this as his foe trying to escape, and finally dived from his chair at MacGyver.

The speed with which the scientist moved caught the troubleshooter by surprise and he dropped his flashlight as Mitrovich barreled into him. The pair slammed into the tunnel wall with such force that the air was knocked from Mac’s lungs and he suddenly had no strength to fight back.

Not that he stood a chance in that department anyway.

Mitrovich was not only fast, but he had more physical power than anyone Mac had ever met.

The nanites were not only changing him, they were turning him into a super-fast, agile killing machine with the muscle of a world-class strongman.

Mitrovich seemed to sense his opponent’s alarm and grinned as he slid a hand to Mac’s throat and began to squeeze and lift at the same time.

Insanely, MacGyver half-expected to see teeth the likes of a werewolf would bare, but the old man’s canines were at least still normal if nothing else was.

Mac coughed trying to draw down air as his own hands clawed at Mitrovich’s, but the scientist wasn’t about to let go, the expression on his deformed face said he was enjoying himself far too much.

From behind, MacGyver saw Sharon running down the corridor towards them, and he tried in vane to shake his head, his eyes beseeching her to run, to not get involved.

Millward ignored him and charged at Mitrovich, wrapping her arms around his in an attempt to pull him away from Mac.

Her full-frontal approach had no effect, and the scientist disregarded her completely in favor of his “kill.”

Sharon looked wildly around the entrance until she spotted the flashlight Mac had dropped. Grabbing it, she spun it around in a one-eighty until the beam caught a cabinet inset in the wall containing an axe in case of fire.

She ran for it, slamming the light against the safety glass over an over in blind rage until it shattered in a myriad of pieces.

Not thinking of herself, she battered away the rest of the fragments with a clenched fist, several of the shards drawing blood as she swatted them away to grab the axe.

Whirling back around, Sharon lunged again at Mitrovich, this time using the dull edge of the axe to whack him in the face with every bit of energy she could muster.

Mitrovich’s already swelled bottom lip exploded and he finally released his grip enough for MacGyver to slump down and away from him, gasping for air.

Mitrovich snarled and spun to meet Millward, who looked back at him in both shock and surprise.

He swiped the axe from her trembling grasp with just one blow from his right hand, and then swiftly took it for himself, swinging it back at the doctor like a professional mace thrower.

Somehow, Millward managed to dodge the blow, and the blade from the axe embedded itself deep into the control room wall.

Mitrovich howled and yanked at the thing, trying desperately to tug it free as Millward backed away, her eyes watching as more and more plaster crumbled from the wall slowly freeing the axe.

Across the room, Mac forced his body up off the floor despite its protests, and he made a dive for the desk and console.

If Mitrovich couldn’t be stopped and helped, then there was only one other choice – he had to be contained.

Right now the scientist was on the verge of being let loose on the outside world, and MacGyver couldn’t let that happen.

The computer was still booted from when he’d logged in, and trying not to think about Mitrovich, or what he would do to Millward if he got free, Mac began to type in a new security protocol.

After mere seconds a message flashed on the screen “Please Confirm full auto lockdown.”

MacGyver took a deep breath and hit the enter button, knowing he was probably condemning himself and Dr. Millward to certain death.

There are always ways, Mac, you know that, his subconscious tried to soothe.

But was there really this time, considering what was at stake?

An image of Sam at the cabin flashed before his eyes and he felt something lurch in his stomach, then it was back to the task at hand.

As he left the chair to try and help Sharon, a huge metal blast door dropped into place where he’d entered the building.

Much the same was happening all over the facility where anyone might try to gain entry, or indeed exit the structure.

Mitrovich yelped as he noticed what was occurring, and he let go of the axe, making a dive for the tunnel back into the complex.

Mac guesses that deep down, part of the scientist’s brain was still aware of the truth, and of what was going on around him, and right now he had realized there would be no escape from the lobby area.

Has he actually panicked and run? How much of the man is left inside..?

It was something to think about, and maybe use later, but for now MacGyver needed to asses the situation and make sure Millward was still in one piece.

She was sitting on the floor in the relative darkness, staring down at her bloodied white coat like it transfixed her somehow.

Mac offered her a hand up, his eyes checking her over for injuries as she got to her feet. “You okay?”

Millward was shaking again, maybe even in shock. She held out her free hand and then he realized why.

When she had broken the safety glass, she’d gotten several small cuts that ran from her little finger and down her palm. Nothing serious, heck, they wouldn’t even need stitches.

But the cuts were covered in blood, and from Millward’s terrified expression, Mac guessed not all of it was her own.

He closed his eyes and saw the scene with Mitrovich play over again in slow motion in his head, and when the scientist’s lip had been busted with the axe, his blood had sprayed everywhere, including on Sharon.

Mac took her by the shoulders and gently squeezed, knowing what she was thinking. “It might not have gotten in the cuts, okay? You might be just fine.”

Sharon shook her head and she pulled away, tears forming in her eyes. “Except I won’t. I’m never that lucky. Hell, I’m never lucky with anything, not my marriage, not cars, my career. I mean come on, who else would take a job that ended in this?” She spun around gesturing at the chaos that surrounded them, and then stood dejectedly shivering in the doorway.

Mac took her hand and tugged her back towards the main labs. “C’mon, it hasn’t ended at all yet, okay?”

Millward let him lead her, but her demeanor said she had already given in.

* * * *

Sharon was sitting on a high stool as if she’d had one too many at the local bar. She looked around the lab like it was something new to her, but as MacGyver checked the blood sample they’d just taken, he had to wonder if it already did look new to her.

Was she seeing the room with a different perspective because her cells were already being changed?

Mac looked away from the microscope and wasn’t sure how to tell the doctor the nanites were in the sample.

Millward guessed what his unspoken words were saying anyway. “It’s full of the things already, isn’t it? Twelve hours and I turn into Swamp Thing, like Mitrovich.”

MacGyver sighed and walked over to her. There had to be a way to stop what was happening, but this wasn’t his field. “I’ll radio the surface and get them to open the blast door. Maybe my friend Pete’s people at the Phoenix Foundation can help. They have some of the country’s top scientists working for them.”

Sharon scowled. “Maybe, but they don’t have Mitrovich.”

It was a fair point. The Russian hadn’t been just good, he’d been formidable. But now that his mind was gone, was there anyone in the world who could work with his legacy and reverse what the nanites were doing?

Mac put the thought aside and tugged out the radio from his satchel. “Pete, do you copy? We have a small problem down here.”

The radio crackled, struggling with the signal through the natural rock structure of the mountain.

“We kind of guessed that when we saw the blast door controls had been activated,” Pete finally answered. “What’s going on, Mac?” There was deep concern in his voice.

But then precious time was ticking away on some invisible government clock.

“Mitrovich attacked us in the lobby room. He was trying to get out of the mountain, so I threw the security controls.” MacGyver glanced at Sharon. “And we have another problem – Dr. Millward got some of his blood on her. We need to get the doc out and some help as fast as you can. Can you release the blast door controls your end?”

Silence followed, and then Pete’s voice was replaced by General Eastman. His tone was somber, and final. “I’m sorry, son, but we can’t release those controls…”

Mac grimaced and ran a hand through his hair. He’d been afraid of this. “Can’t, or won’t?” He eventually questioned.

“Both,” Eastman offered honestly. “I’m afraid I can’t allow an infected person topside. You know the implications if this thing got out. My job is containment, and if you can’t find a solution to this yourselves, then the lockdown and the countdown remain in place.”

In the background, MacGyver could hear Pete arguing, but he knew it would have little effect. He clicked the transmit button and simply answered, “Understood.” There was nothing else to say.

Millward smiled as if she had known all along what would be said. “You had to know that would be their reaction? I’m expendable, and so are you now.”

Mac nodded, but he wasn’t done just yet. “Yeah, well I’ve been there before, and I haven’t quite finished. Not by a long shot…”

He glanced at his watch, a quarter of the deadline was already gone, just how much could he achieve with the time they had left?

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