Chapter 3 — Into the Facility
The doors of Facility K-27 opened like the jaws of something waiting to feed.
Cold air rolled out from the darkness carrying the smell of blood, chemicals, burned metal
And rot.
The squads entered cautiously.
Heavy armored boots echoed across steel flooring while tactical lights swept through the enormous entrance corridor. Behind them, the sounds of the outer battlefield slowly faded beneath layers of reinforced concrete and descending blast doors.
Inside the facility, the world became silent.
Too silent.
Rows of flickering emergency lights painted the hallways in dim red pulses. Thick cables hung from ceilings like exposed veins while warning sirens droned endlessly somewhere deep underground.
Dex Mercer’s drones floated ahead of the formation.
“Motion unclear,” he muttered while scanning holographic feeds. “Thermals are scrambled.”
“By what?” Elias asked.
Dex frowned.
“…Everything.”
The corridor walls were covered in claw marks.
Not scratches.
Impact trenches.
Like something enormous had been dragged through solid steel.
Lucien walked quietly near the center of the formation, his pale face illuminated by the red emergency lights.
The deeper they moved inside the facility
The worse the feeling became.
Even Steelborn could sense it.
Like the building itself was afraid.
Ahead, the corridor opened into a shattered laboratory chamber.
The teams stopped immediately.
Bodies everywhere.
Scientists in torn hazmat suits lay scattered across broken terminals and overturned medical equipment. Some looked mauled by claws.
Others looked…
Wrong.
One corpse was fused halfway into a wall of flesh-like organic growth spreading across the room.
Another had grown extra limbs before dying.
A third appeared partially crystallized beneath strange black veins running across exposed skin.
Orion Hex stared in disbelief.
“…What were they researching here?”
Nobody answered.
Because no one wanted to know.
Kael casually stepped over a severed arm while inspecting shattered containment pods lining the walls.
“You know,” Viper said calmly, “starting to think this place may have violated several workplace safety regulations.”
Darius ignored him.
“Move.”
Further inside the laboratory, enormous glass containment chambers stood shattered from within.
Some still contained things floating in dark liquid.
Failed experiments.
Mutated human shapes suspended by cables and breathing tubes.
One opened its eyes as the squads passed.
Lucien froze slightly.
The creature inside the tank slowly pressed a malformed hand against the glass.
Then whispered something through the liquid.
Milo Vale quietly moved closer beside Lucien.
“Don’t look at them too long,” Pilgrim said softly.
Lucien glanced at him.
“Why?”
Milo’s tired gray eyes stayed fixed forward.
“Because they start looking back.”
Kael overheard that.
“…I officially hate the quiet guy now.”
The teams advanced deeper.
The facility map projected through their HUDs showed two primary sectors beneath the complex:
BUILDING A PERSONNEL AND RESEARCH
SECTOR BLACK RESTRICTED STORAGE
The child and surviving scientists were supposedly inside Building A.
The classified containers were located in Sector Black.
Cassian studied the holographic map while walking.
“We split retrieval priorities once survivors are secured.”
Darius nodded once.
“No unnecessary delays.”
Suddenly
A loud metallic banging echoed through the vents above them.
Everyone stopped.
Another bang.
Closer this time.
Something moving through the ceiling.
Fast.
Weapons raised instantly.
The sound stopped.
Silence returned.
Then a scientist stumbled out from a side hallway.
Everyone nearly fired.
The man collapsed against the wall shaking violently beneath a bloodstained lab coat.
“Please…” he gasped. “Please don’t leave us…”
Elias lowered his rifle slightly.
“How many survivors?”
The scientist swallowed hard.
“Maybe twenty left… maybe less…”
“What happened here?” Cassian asked.
The man’s expression broke instantly.
“We opened something.”
Silence.
Darius stepped forward.
“What does that mean?”
The scientist looked toward the dark hallways behind them like he expected something to emerge at any second.
“The mutants didn’t break containment…”
His voice trembled.
“We did.”
Nobody spoke for several seconds.
Then the lights flickered.
A distorted growl echoed somewhere below the floor.
And suddenly
Every screen inside the facility turned red.
WARNING.
EMERGENCY LOCKDOWN ACTIVATED.
ALL SECTORS SEALED.
BIOHAZARD CONTAINMENT PROTOCOL INITIATED.
Massive steel blast doors instantly began slamming down throughout the facility.
“MOVE!” Darius roared.
The teams sprinted forward as gigantic reinforced barriers crashed from ceilings around them.
One slammed down directly behind Varka with enough force to crack the floor.
Another separated half of Rowan’s clones instantly.
“OH COME ON!”
A third door nearly crushed Orion’s drones.
The corridors erupted into chaos.
Red warning lights flashed violently while alarms screamed through the complex.
Lucien grabbed onto a railing as the ground trembled beneath them.
“Structural systems are sealing entire sectors!” Orion shouted.
“NO KIDDING!” Kael yelled back.
Then came the screaming.
Not over comms.
Inside the walls.
Something huge moved through the ventilation systems above them, dragging metal apart as it traveled.
A distant gunshot echoed somewhere deeper in the facility.
Then another.
Survivors.
Still alive.
Cassian turned sharply toward the squads.
“Keep moving! Regroup at central elevator access!”
Then the building split them apart.
A final blast door dropped between the teams with deafening force.
Darius slammed one armored fist against the steel barrier hard enough to dent it.
“Cassian!”
Static answered.
Comms scrambled instantly.
Groups found themselves trapped in separate sectors of the facility.
Elias checked his scanner quickly.
“No signal.”
Kael sighed dramatically.
“Well this seems medically concerning.”
The emergency lights dimmed lower.
Now the corridors were barely illuminated by flickering red strips and weapon-mounted flashlights.
Somewhere nearby
Something breathed.
Slow.
Wet.
Heavy.
Lucien looked down the dark hallway ahead.
And saw movement.
Not clear movement.
Too fast.
Something disappearing around the corner before his eyes fully processed it.
His voice became very quiet.
“…We’re not alone down here.”
Then came another sound.
Children laughing.
The entire corridor froze.
Even Darius looked disturbed now.
Kael slowly raised his rifle.
“…Please tell me mutants don’t have children.”
No one answered.
Because somewhere deep inside Facility K-27
Something laughed again.
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