The Underground

My muscles ached and burned. All I could hear was our footsteps hitting the concrete floor, the distant screams from Site B, and my heartbeat, which felt like it was in my throat. A security officer outfitted in military attire, was leading our group out of the nightmare.

“Alright, stop here.” He spoke. “I think we’ve made enough distance for the moment.” He turned towards us now, checking his tactical vest and then his rifle.

“I know we’re all scared, and we all want to explode with questions, but we need to save our breath. We’re not out of the woods yet.”

A few feet behind me, someone held himself against the white metal walls of the tunnel and vomited. I decided to take a moment and count who had made it out safely. I looked at the few survivors, all wearing the company ID tags. Perez, a security guard, Marcus, a structural engineer in a red jumpsuit, Beth, a lab assistant wearing a white lab coat spotted with blood around the bottom, and Rupert, in green janitor overalls, trying to catch his breath from vomiting. Marcus sobbed silently, while Beth paced back and forth.

“Are holding up okay?” I made eye contact with Marcus. Before Site B sealed, I heard him screaming for his wife but, she never reached the exit in time. Perez had to force him off the door when the screams started.

“What the fuck were those things?” Rupert exploded. I guess he finally caught his breath, as he began approaching Beth. “You worked in that fucking lab! What the hell is going on?”

Perez quickly took control of the situation, stepping in between the two.

“What the fuck did I say? Stow the bullshit and keep your voice down!” Perez took a low stern tone with the young man, and then continued, “Anyone have any idea as to how far off we are from the surface?” Perez stared down everyone and, finally, planted his gaze on me.

“I mean, without a shuttle or elevator access, it will take approximately two days to reach the surface on foot.” I stood up from where I was leaning on the wall, brushing off my black jacket and checking my pockets for anything that might prove useful.

“There should be a service elevator nearby. It could cut our time down considerably and give us some breathing room.”

All I had left was a flashlight. Sadly, the glass and bulb seemed to have shattered in my pocket at some point. I left the broken glass in my pocket and handed the debunked flashlight to Perez, who shook his head, taking the batteries and tossing it on the floor. It was wishful thinking that he would’ve had a replacement.

“I think we have lingered long enough.” Beth spoke shyly. She looked down miserably at her bare feet. I saw her toss off her high heels when it was clear we were going to need to run. She brushed some blonde hair out of her face, and I noticed she was beautiful. She matched my gaze and cocked an eyebrow.

“Hey, aren’t…” Beth was cut off as the tunnel violently shook.

The lights flickered overhead, and we all stared back from whence we came. A loud horrible squeal echoed off the walls, followed by a torrent of little yips and gurgles. The lights began to shatter one by one coming up from Site B.

“Everybody, run!” Perez yelled as we all turned to flee, trying to distance ourselves from whatever foul creatures were on our tail. Perez was in the front, with Marcus and Rupert close behind. As Beth and I struggled to catch up, lagging a good ten feet, the lights overhead shattering glass was closing in on us. The sounds of horrible skittering little legs could be heard now, and I knew I couldn’t take the chance. I heard the glass land just behind me, and Beth screamed out in pain. No one took the time to look back, other than myself. The last thing I saw of Beth was her face, now contorted into anger and fear. The lights above her broke, as she was enveloped in darkness. Her screams were drowned out from the sounds of flesh being torn and consumed. I had caught up to the rest by now.

“Left! Just ahead!” I managed to shout out over the ensuing chaos. The little jut in the wall just ahead indicated this must be where the service elevator is. Everyone scrambled inside the elevator but, as I went to enter, Rupert tried to close the gate behind him, leaving me behind. I screamed at the thought and shot out my hand to try to stop it, catching the sliding door. In all but a second, I was inside and slammed the sliding grate behind me. Marcus hit the switch, and we began to ascend. We could hear the door being crashed into and break open, but the horrendous sounds of gnashing metal and monstrous snarls grew more distant as we ascended higher and higher. I looked around. We were all exhausted.

“Jesus Christ. I’m sorry man… when I heard the screaming… I thought you were both dead! If I had known…” Rupert struggled to speak, and then was cut off as I punched him square in the face and blood poured from his nose.

“Fuck, man! I said I was sorry!” Rupert recoiled. “I think you broke my fucking nose!”

No one interjected, or even commented, as I tore a strip off my jacket and began wrapping my hand as best as I could.

“Your hand alright?” Perez sounded concerned.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” I raised my newly wrapped hand in front of the three of them. “Sliced my palm trying to stop the door being so rudely closed on me though.”

“I’m sorry that happened.” Perez spoke for Rupert, staring at the elevator floor.

“I should have turned and tried to help. I’m sorry I let that young woman die.” He shuffled between his feet a little, still not making eye contact with anyone.

The rest of the time we spent in that dimly lit elevator was in silence. It was not long until it slowed to a stop.

“Where are we now?” Marcus finally spoke, looking at each of us.

The doors slowly opened as we shuffled to the sides. Perez stood in the centre, rifle at the ready. It was a small open room, seemingly untouched from the disaster that now inhabited Site B; but, for how long? We all cautiously shuffled in as I looked around and quickly surmised. We were in a utility area for maintenance workers.

“Hey, we had a few of these in Site B.” Rupert spoke a little more nasally now. The front of his overalls now laden with smears of blood.

I felt a chill run down my spine, as I started to hear the familiar sounds of the monsters slowly rising from the elevator shaft.

“Fuck. We need to move!” Perez shouted.

I made my way to the only other door located in the far right, picking up a hammer along the way and sliding it into my pocket. Perez stood waiting for each of us to exit first. I was the last one to leave, as the elevator was forcibly pushed up with a terrible shriek. He was quick to open fire, but I didn’t stop to watch as I sprinted down a long dark hallway. I could here Perez cursing, followed by his footsteps behind mine, and the familiar skittering and yips from the creatures. I couldn’t look back, as Marcus was now at the end of the hallway, working on a door panel with Rupert, screaming for it to open. The bulbs overhead shattered, leaving us in darkness once again. Only the light from the door now guided me. The automated door slowly began to slide open. Rupert was quick to shove Marcus out of the way, squeezing himself inside first. I was the second inside, quickly spinning around for the opposite door control panel to close it behind us. It was damaged, and I looked up from the panel to see Marcus staring at me and giving me a slow nod. As the security officer staring at me rushed in a second later, Marcus hit the switch, closing the door on himself. There was no time to waste as I quickly followed Perez across an identical hallway with a crossroads at the end. We made a left, and I instantly saw Rupert at another elevator labeled surface access, this time holding it open. They were almost upon us, as me and Perez sprawled into the cart.

Rupert was quick to start our ascent, but our elevator door malfunctioned, and the doors would not close. He desperately smashed the buttons again, but to no avail, resorting to close them manually. We were two feet up, with the doors still refusing to close when a horrible, hooked appendage whipped in. Rupert cried out as it latched onto his leg and instantly pulled him down. He fell so quickly that his head smashed into the wall before the elevator closed onto the next floor. Now, it was only myself and Perez left as the elevator zoomed up quickly, passing many floors. The horrible sounds now a distant memory. Perez began laughing, breaking the silence.

“I can’t believe we made it! I had just run out of ammo too!” He gleefully exclaimed.

“Yep, we should be reaching the surface in about five minutes. These surface elevators are much faster. I reckon it will take these failed experiments at least a day to catch up.” I took a deep breath of filtered air, while also cracking my neck. Perez had a shocked expression.

“Experiments? Wait, did you know what was going on down there? Come to think of it… I never got your name. And where is your ID badge?” He was just arms reach away. Perfect.

“Oh, my name is James. My ID is just here… in my pocket.” I said, quickly taking the hammer out and smacking the head of it right into his temple, crushing part of his skull and destroying his left eye. He was quick to drop, and I was quicker to overpower him. I continued to bring down the hammer on his skull repeatedly. All I could hear now were the sounds of a dull thud, cracking his skull further and further until Perez’s head was just a bloody pulp. I stood over his corpse, watching the blood begin to pool, while I reached into my jacket once more to produce my ID. The elevator door dinged, indicating I had now reached the surface. The doors opened and I was met with my armed security.

“Hold your fire! Show us your ID!” Spoke on of the soldiers, face covered with a gas mask.

I lifted my ID, reading it aloud.

“James Vort, CEO of Multi-Tech Inc., and supervisor for Site B.” I announced. The soldiers were quick to lower their weapons.

“No survivors. Scrub the facility to confirm. I want Site B back up and running within the week.”

The soldiers made there way into the elevator as two escorted me to the exit.

“Every failure brings us on step closer.”

THE END.