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The abandoned laboratory had been dimly lit, the overhead lights tainted yellow from age, and only one small window that opened onto the late afternoon gloom outside. If it weren't for the dark shapes of the laboratory's machinery and utility conduits lining the walls, the place would have appeared almost empty.
The door shut behind us with a quiet click, and I felt a tingling in the air as we made our way deeper into the room. The floor was rickety, the machinery was rusty, and every step we took jarred loose a grate of dust. As we came to the end of the corridor, I looked around for any indication that I was being watched, but the chamber was deserted.
"Over here," Brendan said, and I saw his silhouette ahead of me, beside an open doorway that led into a metal-lined room.
I shone my flashlight into it and saw that he was right.
"A locker," he said, and I let out a low whistle.
"Somebody's got a lot of secrets." I moved forward, taking in my surroundings. Above our heads hung a metal skeleton that dangled from the roof, dangling by a single cable. Every few feet, I saw small metal pucks, capped with large plastic caps, mounted on the wall. Some were stacked neatly, others seemed abandoned. The tunnel stretched on.
"I think this is where they once stored the reserve of serum," Brendan said, running his flashlight over the metal boxes.
"I'm not sure why they would need to do that, though. They've got plenty of supplies." I found myself growing cold. The air in the tunnel was dank and thick with dust, and I fought the urge to cough. As we rounded the corner, the tunnel opened out into a large cavernous space, with an empty metal casket stretched in the center, and wooden boxes stacked around it. I couldn't tell if we were in the main lab or another section of it. It all looked the same, and my chest was tight as I stared at the casket, hoping to see some indication of what had happened to Sam. The lid was closed, and it wasn't until I shone my flashlight into it that I noticed a faint sound coming from behind it-a single, strangled sob.
"Do you hear that?" I asked. Brendan's flashlight was trained on the casket, and he shook his head.
"It's okay," he said. "Let's just get out of here. We can find some other way out."
But I couldn't hear the sob anymore. Instead, I heard a strange groaning.
"What is it?" Brendan asked, but I shook my head and moved forward. “Let's go," I said, and a thick, pungent odor assaulted my nose. The chamber was in ruin, its walls had collapsed and some of its roofs had caved in, and it was still littered with debris. I heard a rustle from behind me and turned to see Brendan and his flashlight, flickering across the back wall.
In the corner, among a pile of wood, a man lay huddled in a fetal position, clutching his knees to his chest.
The man looked up, staring wide-eyed at me, before He spoke, his voice small and broken, as though it were being squeezed in his throat. "Who...?"
I stopped. I could barely make out the words. "Hey. I'm Spike," I said, pushing aside the dust.
"Who are you?" He asked again, with a twinge of terror in his voice. I knelt in front of him. "I'm Spike," I said, brushing some dirt off his back. His shirt and shoes were soaked through, and the wrinkles had smoothed from his skin. His eyes were glassy, and his teeth were chattering. He coughed, and blood splattered his mouth and dribbled from the corner of his lips..
"Take him to Doc," I said, and Brendan moved toward him.
But the man shook his head. "No, Doc can't save me. I'm...in over my head. I can't think straight. I can't. I ca..n't."
"What are you talking about?" I asked, genuinely baffled.
"I was hiding, just like you. I never thought anyone would find me. I'm a monster. I'm...I'm losing my mind, and there's no one left who can help me.”
"Who are you?" I repeated.
"I don't know," he said, wiping his eyes, struggling to sit up. "I...I don't know. I don't know anything."
"Alright, we're going to get you out of here," I said, trying to sound cheerful.
He shook his head, sending his auburn hair bouncing on his shoulders. "No. No, I can't. I'm sorry."
"We're going to get you out of here," I repeated.
"They'll all die," he said, looking up with glazed eyes. "Everyone. If you take me there, I'll get it. I'll get it, and they'll all die. Just leave me here."
"No. We're getting you out of here. We'll find another way."
"I'm sorry," he said again.
"Are you sure?" I asked.
"I'll never be sure," he said, looking into my eyes with something like regret. "I hope you find a way."
I couldn't bear to look into his eyes any longer. They were a horror I couldn't bear to be near. I stood up, heaving out a long sigh.
“I hope you can find... any sort of good luck down here, sir.”
“I hope so too,” he whispered.
As soon as I was sure we were far enough away from the man, I let out a long, shaky breath.
“No luck,” I said, gripping my flashlight. “When we get to the passage we’re going to sneak down and into the tunnels.”
Brenden hesitated. “Are you sure we shouldn’t go back? You know doc’s going to—“
I usually would argue back. I usually would argue for what I wanted. Not today. Today I just nodded.
“Yeah, let’s go back.” I sighed, looking down the yet unexplored tunnel longingly. I had wanted to just.. explore a bit more.
“You coming?” Brenden called, already having begun his walk back the way we came. I turned to follow him, the familiar tunnel stretching in front of me. I wanted to stay down here.. but. I didn’t.
“Yeah,” I replied.
We were silent on the way back, and I found myself checking my surroundings occasionally. It was getting darker. We needed to be careful. It was difficult to navigate the tunnels, but after 30 minutes we managed to find our way back into the first room we were in. The laboratory. I walked up to the rusty door, having to harshly shove it open due to its hinges being broken. Brenden and I exited and hopped down the ladder. I glanced back at the building on the hill before, pulling out the face masks doc had given Brenden and me. We both quickly put them on and began trudging through the overgrown city.