It seemed to take forever, but she finally made it to the door.

There were more than the original two voices by now. She could hear several more inside, grunting and swearing.

Judith fumbled for the doorknob. A distant, lucid part of her mind was surprised when she managed to catch it on the first try. She flung the door open wide.

The startled eyes that looked out at her from the long corridor did not belong to the BBQs.

There were a dozen of them. They wore skintight black mime leotards. Black gloves and black sneakers covered their hands and feet. Their heads were shielded by solid black ski masks. White eyes stared out through rough triangular holes in the masks.

The black-clad figures had been busy.

Most of the BBQs were gone. The last two creatures were even now being herded down the hall to the adjoining lab.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Judith demanded. Her voice was a guttural snarl. Through her blurry, surreal vision, Dr. White could see that one of the floor-to-ceiling panes of glass in the next room had been shattered. More figures in black hefted a BBQ out the broken window. There was a fire escape beyond.

The figures nearby seemed paralyzed for a moment.

Judith staggered into the room.

If the injection would only clear... It didn't take long. Once it did, she'd be able to...

"I'll take care of her," snapped a gruff female voice.

One of the leotard-clad figures ran over to Dr. White. Judith held up one hand in an odd defensive posture. Her back arched visibly as she readied for the attack.

But the injection she had given herself was just too strong. Disoriented, she swung down at her attacker's head.