The Tunnel

I carted a body through the hallway, one of the arms dangling from the bed. A large incision was on the arm, one of the few injuries this dead man received when he entered the tunnel. I constantly warned everyone that it was dangerous to send someone down there without a hazmat suit, but the people in charge wanted to use this man as a guinea pig to see exactly what we were dealing with. 

Once we heard the screams, I knew something really bad was inside of that tunnel. It could months and months of research to make that tunnel appear to us. Our leader claimed he could find a way to find the 'dead world,' another planet parallel to our own. The dead wander this realm, and some of them don't even resemble a person anymore. 

We all thought he was mad, but he insisted it was real. He claimed he had seen it, when he was on the brink of death. He claimed a rotting knight with no head stood before him, standing before him as he lay dying. A figure in a plague mask stood behind him, wearing a black hood. He held a staff, and he spoke to our boss. 

His eyes were bright with wonder, as he had his team gathered around him, telling us exactly what this figure spoke. 

"This is the place where the really bads go. Change your ways, and perhaps you will be spared and given to Satan instead."

Our leader then awoke in the hospital, realizing that he had been under a coma for several days after his car accident. 

This revelation unnerved me. The thought of a place worse than Hell was fucked up to imagine. And my boss was most likely heading toward that dark place, since he never gave up on his 'evil ways.'

Now here he was, opening up a portal to this other world, about to get everyone killed or possibly taken. He found me with the body, and he looked at me dead in the eye, no emotion in his eyes. 

"I don't think a hazmat suit is going to do the trick, doctor."

He smiled. 

I tried not to shudder, but it was hard not to. After I had carted off the body, and analyzed the intense wounds that had been inflicted on the man, I knew that I wanted no part of this. But how could we resist his orders? If either of us were to turn against our leader, he would have us all killed. 

Our boss studied the portal behind the bullet prove glass, as multiple scientists tried to preserve the portal, trying to keep it open. The smell was vile, it was like being among a pile of corpses. The hole slowly moved, as if the tunnel itself was breathing. It looked like a massive mouth, and I kept expecting a tongue to slither out and take one of the scientists. 

I jumped when I felt my leader's hand clap a hand on my shoulder. He applied pressure on my back, and he leaned closer to my face, wearing a malicious grin. 

"Do you think he will speak to me again? I wonder what he would say to me now. Maybe he will make me into one of them?"

"I…I'm not sure, sir."

He closed his eyes, his smile fading. 

"I don't think it would be good for me. Maybe I should let everyone run, and let him take me…it's the only reason why I wanted to find his world again."

I stared at him in shock, completely silenced. He patted my shoulder, like that of a father comforting his son. 

"Perhaps you should run. And warn the others. At least the ones you care about. But let's face it. Do either of us deserve a happy ending?"

I studied his face, and was surprised to find a hint of sadness in them. I felt a tear slide down my cheek. 

"No. No sir. I don't think either of us do."

He offered me a comforting squeeze. 

"Good man."

He remained silent for the rest of the observation, and he honestly made me more uncomfortable with his silence. When the day finally came, I wasn't ready. None of us were. 

Each of the scientists that had been selected to enter the portal all had worried expressions on their faces, and I could sense their fear through the hazmat suits. Carl, a man that I had bonded with over time, was sweating, and I could see droplets flowing down his face in the suit. 

"We're going to die, Paul," he whispered. 

He looked at where our boss was, behind the bullet prove glass. He stood there with his arms crossed, completely still. 

"He's fucked up, that one," he mumbled. 

I didn't bother to tell him that we all deserved whatever was coming. When we entered that hole, we would all suffer the consequences, and pay for the evil we had committed in this lab. The announcer spoke through the speakers. 

"Go inside the tunnel. God be with you all."

Carl took a deep breathe, and joined the first man who entered the hole first. I followed close behind, but I looked back one more time at my leader. He lifted up a hand to offer me a wave. I nodded. That was the last interaction I would ever have with a human. Even though it was from my fucked up boss, I would take it. 

I turned back to face whatever I was walking into. I did not flinch as I entered through the pink hole, feeling the walls breathe around me. 

I was going to accept my fate, whatever was awaiting me. 

We deserved to die, and I hope to whoever was watching over me, it won't hurt too much. 

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Thank you for reading!

Emy Quinn