Chapter 10: The First Door
1221 Words
The interior of the facility is colder than I expected. A sharp metallic tang fills the air, mingling with the faint stench of decay. Our boots echo on the cracked tiles as we step cautiously into the entryway, weapons at the ready. Faded lights flicker overhead, casting eerie shadows across the walls.
Lila examines the faded writing near the door. “Project Genesis,” she mutters. “Any idea what this place was, Kade?”
“Top-secret research,” Kade replies, his voice low. “Sentinels found references to it in old archives. It was supposed to be a game-changer during the war—something to ‘end all conflicts.’” His tone drips with irony. “Instead, it ended the world.”
Finn sweeps his flashlight across the room, revealing broken furniture, scattered papers, and stains on the floor that look disturbingly fresh. “Whatever they were working on, I’m guessing it didn’t go as planned.”
“Or it did,” I say quietly, gripping my knife tighter.
---
We move deeper into the facility, passing through corridors lined with shattered glass and overturned desks. The further we go, the more evident it becomes that this place was abandoned in a hurry. Papers litter the floor, most of them smeared and illegible, though a few bear cryptic diagrams of mutated cells and unfamiliar symbols.
Kade stops at a set of heavy steel doors, their surface scarred with deep claw marks. He runs his hand over the damage, his expression grim. “They broke out.”
“They?” Lila asks.
Kade nods. “The creatures. Whatever they were experimenting on here didn’t stay contained.”
The door is partially ajar, just wide enough for us to slip through one at a time. Beyond it, the air grows colder still, and the lights flicker more erratically. We enter a vast chamber filled with rows of glass tanks, each one cracked or shattered. Inside, remnants of viscous fluid cling to the surfaces, glowing faintly in the dim light.
“What were they doing here?” Finn whispers, his voice tinged with unease.
“Growing something,” Kade replies, gesturing to the tanks. “Or modifying it.”
Lila kneels beside a shattered tank, her knife tapping against the glass. “Whatever they were growing, it’s long gone now.”
---
As we press on, the silence becomes oppressive. Every creak of metal, every drip of water echoes like a thunderclap. We reach another door, this one intact but sealed tight. A control panel beside it blinks weakly, the buttons covered in dust.
Kade steps forward, brushing the dust away. “We’ll need power to open this.”
“And where do we find that?” I ask, glancing around the room.
“There should be a generator somewhere,” Kade says. “Most facilities like this had backup systems. Finn, you’re with me. The rest of you stay here.”
Lila and I exchange a look but nod. As Kade and Finn disappear down another corridor, the room feels even colder. Lila grips her knife, her eyes scanning the shadows.
“You trust him?” she asks after a moment.
“Kade?” I hesitate. “I think so. He knows more than he’s letting on, but he’s kept us alive so far.”
“Yeah,” Lila says, her voice tight. “But for how long?”
---
Minutes stretch into what feels like hours. The flickering lights grow dimmer, casting the room in near-total darkness. Lila and I stand back-to-back, our weapons ready, every sound setting our nerves on edge.
Then, from the shadows, we hear it—a low, guttural growl.
“Stay sharp,” Lila whispers, her knife gleaming in the faint light.
The growling grows louder, accompanied by the scraping of claws on metal. A figure emerges from the darkness, its movements jerky and unnatural. It’s one of the creatures, but smaller than the ones we’ve encountered before. Its skin is pale and translucent, its eyes glowing faintly.
It lunges at us, and I barely dodge its claws. Lila slashes at it, her knife cutting deep into its side, but the creature barely reacts. I stab it in the chest, twisting the blade, and it lets out a bloodcurdling screech before collapsing.
“Another one!” Lila shouts, pointing to the shadows.
A second creature leaps at us, its claws swiping wildly. Lila throws a shard of broken glass, hitting it square in the eye. It howls, stumbling backward, and I seize the opportunity to drive my knife into its throat. Black ichor sprays across the floor as it crumples.
The sound of heavy footsteps and raised voices makes us turn. Kade and Finn burst into the room, weapons drawn. “What happened?” Kade demands, his eyes darting to the creatures’ bodies.
“More of those things,” I say, panting. “Smaller, but just as nasty.”
“They’re guarding something,” Kade mutters, his jaw tight. “Come on, the generator’s up.”
---
With the power restored, the sealed door grinds open, revealing a staircase leading down into darkness. The air grows colder with every step, and an unsettling hum vibrates through the walls.
At the bottom, we find another chamber, this one even larger than the first. The walls are lined with monitors, most of them cracked and dead, though a few flicker weakly. In the center of the room stands a massive console, its surface covered in buttons, levers, and screens displaying lines of indecipherable code.
Kade approaches the console, his expression unreadable. “This is it. The control room.”
“Control for what?” Lila asks.
Kade doesn’t answer immediately. Instead, he presses a few buttons, and one of the monitors flares to life. A video begins to play, the footage grainy and distorted.
The screen shows a lab, pristine and bustling with activity. Scientists in white coats move between rows of equipment, their expressions focused. In the background, a voice narrates:
“Project Genesis: the future of warfare. By harnessing the power of genetic engineering, we can create a new kind of soldier—stronger, faster, and immune to radiation. The ultimate weapon in an unwinnable war.”
The footage shifts, showing a creature in a containment tank. It’s larger than the ones we’ve encountered, its body rippling with muscle and covered in scales. Its eyes snap open, glowing with an unnatural light, and the screen goes dark.
“Son of a—” Finn mutters, stepping back.
“This is where it started,” Kade says, his voice grim. “They weren’t just experimenting on animals. They were creating monsters.”
“What happened to them?” I ask.
“Probably killed by their own creations,” Lila says bitterly, gesturing to the room around us.
Kade presses another button, and a schematic of the facility appears on the screen. “There’s more,” he says. “Another level below us. That’s where they kept the prototypes.”
“Prototypes?” Finn repeats, his voice laced with dread.
“The first generation,” Kade explains. “Stronger, smarter, and more dangerous.”
A heavy silence falls over us as we realize what this means. The facility wasn’t just a lab. It was a factory for nightmares
- Writer
