Chapter 12: The Burden of Knowledge
1242 Words
The corridor stretches on endlessly, the dim emergency lights casting long shadows that flicker with each step. My legs ache, and my breathing is ragged, but I can’t stop. None of us can. The faint echo of battle fades behind us, replaced by the oppressive silence of the facility.
Kade leads the way, his focus locked on the map in his hand. Lila walks beside me, her knife still slick with the black ichor of the creatures we fought earlier. Finn brings up the rear, his rifle in hand, his eyes scanning for any sign of movement.
“You think it’s dead?” Lila asks after a while, her voice barely above a whisper.
“The prototype?” Finn replies grimly. “Probably. No way it could survive against that many.”
I glance back toward the direction we came, a pang of guilt twisting in my gut. The creature’s final words replay in my mind: My purpose was to protect.
“I don’t know,” I say quietly. “It seemed… different. Stronger.”
“Strong or not, it bought us time,” Kade says without turning. “We need to make it count.”
---
The corridor eventually opens into another large chamber. This one is different from the others we’ve seen—cleaner, more intact. Banks of computers line the walls, their screens glowing faintly with lines of green text. In the center of the room is a circular platform surrounded by a low railing.
“What is this place?” Finn asks, stepping closer to one of the consoles.
“A control room,” Kade says, his eyes scanning the equipment. “Looks like it was meant to oversee the entire facility.”
Lila approaches one of the screens, her brow furrowing as she reads the text. “Most of this is gibberish to me, but it looks like they were tracking something.”
“They were,” Kade confirms. He presses a few buttons on the nearest console, and a holographic display springs to life above the platform. It’s a map of the region, dotted with red markers.
“What are those?” I ask, pointing to the markers.
“Infection zones,” Kade says grimly. “Places where the Genesis Project’s creations escaped and spread their corruption.”
The map zooms out, revealing more and more red markers until almost the entire continent is covered.
“Holy hell,” Finn mutters.
“They didn’t just destroy the world,” Lila says bitterly. “They ensured it could never recover.”
---
Kade continues working at the console, his fingers flying across the keyboard. After a few moments, another hologram appears—a blueprint of the facility.
“There,” he says, pointing to a section near the bottom. “The power core. If we can disable it, the entire facility will go offline. No more experiments, no more creatures.”
“And how do we do that?” Finn asks.
Kade hesitates, his expression dark. “We’d have to overload the reactor. It’ll trigger a meltdown.”
“Wait,” I say, stepping forward. “Won’t that… destroy everything? Including us?”
“Not if we move fast enough,” Kade replies. “There’s an emergency evacuation route near the core. If we time it right, we can get out before the meltdown.”
“If we time it right,” Lila repeats skeptically.
“It’s our best shot,” Kade insists. “If we leave this place intact, it’ll keep producing monsters. The corruption will spread even further.”
Reluctantly, we agree. There’s no other choice.
---
The path to the power core takes us deeper into the facility, through areas that look increasingly alien. The walls are covered in the same organic growths we saw earlier, their pulsing light casting eerie shadows.
“This place feels alive,” Finn mutters, his voice tinged with unease.
“It is,” Kade says. “The experiments didn’t just mutate the creatures. They infected the facility itself.”
As we move, the temperature drops further, and the air grows thick with an acrid stench. I keep my knife ready, my senses on high alert.
Then we hear it—a low, guttural growl that echoes through the corridor.
“More of them,” Lila says, her grip tightening on her knife.
We press on, the growling growing louder. The corridor opens into another chamber, this one filled with massive, cocoon-like structures. The organic material pulsates faintly, and inside some of the cocoons, I can see shapes moving.
“We need to move fast,” Kade says, his voice tense.
But as we try to skirt around the cocoons, one of them bursts open with a sickening squelch. A creature emerges, its body glistening with ichor. It’s larger than the ones we’ve fought before, with elongated limbs and a maw full of razor-sharp teeth.
“Here we go again!” Finn shouts, raising his rifle.
---
The battle is chaotic. The creature lunges at us with terrifying speed, its claws raking the air. Finn fires a burst of rounds, but the bullets barely slow it down. Lila slashes at its legs, trying to cripple it, while Kade and I aim for its head.
More cocoons begin to rupture, spilling out smaller creatures that swarm toward us.
“Fall back!” Kade shouts, firing his pistol at the nearest one.
We retreat toward a narrow passage, using the confined space to our advantage. Finn tosses another grenade, the explosion lighting up the chamber and sending chunks of the creatures flying.
“They just keep coming!” Lila shouts, stabbing one of the smaller creatures as it leaps at her.
“We’re close to the core!” Kade yells. “Keep moving!”
---
We reach the power core at last, a massive cylindrical structure bathed in a faint blue light. The hum of machinery is deafening, and the air crackles with energy.
Kade runs to the control panel, frantically typing in commands. “I need a few minutes to overload the system!”
“We don’t have a few minutes!” Finn shouts, firing at another wave of creatures pouring into the chamber.
Lila and I hold the line, slashing and stabbing at anything that gets too close. My arms ache, and my breath comes in gasps, but I can’t stop. Not now.
“Kade, hurry!” I shout, stabbing a creature through the chest.
“Almost there!” Kade replies.
Finally, the core begins to glow brighter, the hum rising to a high-pitched whine.
“Run!” Kade yells.
---
We sprint toward the evacuation route, the creatures hot on our heels. The facility shakes violently as the meltdown begins, sections of the ceiling collapsing around us.
The evacuation route takes us through another series of corridors, each one more unstable than the last. The lights flicker wildly, and the floor cracks under our feet.
We burst through the final door, emerging onto the surface just as the facility erupts behind us. The ground shakes, and a massive plume of smoke and fire rises into the sky.
For a moment, none of us speak. We’re covered in ash and ichor, our breaths coming in ragged gasps.
“It’s done,” Kade says finally, his voice heavy with exhaustion.
But as I look out at the wasteland, I can’t shake the feeling that our fight is far from over.
- Writer
