The first wave was a warning shot. The second wave had more impact to it. It splintered chunks of wood off the desk. The third wave went through the table, almost breaking through the other side. The sound of a click as Sophia dashed out from behind the table, sprinting into the hallway.
A bright red light filled the room as she twisted her torso, firing 2 rounds from her shotgun. The air bent and twisted as the rounds fragmented in mid-air. Sharp spikes punched at the pitch-black mechanical suit, throwing the unknown figure against the wall. The shadow dispersed after its support was gone. It reappeared on the suit. With a hand, it pulled the suit from the wall before chasing after its target.
As it ran, deep impressions were left on half the ground. They were several inches deep. The floor returned to normal a second later, as did the wall it flew into. It just took longer.
Metal and shadow ran, room after room, searching. There was no reason to kneel, jump, twist, or turn corners. It simply had to think, and it saw what it wanted. Nothing in the room. Nothing in the next. Nothing ten seconds later. Nothing a minute later.
A burst of light on the third floor. Resisting. Strong. No more looking. Just run. Run, and you will catch up. The shadow ran and jumped into an open window. An explosion, a burst of light on the fifth floor. Course changed. An open window. Jumped back in. Chase some more. See her. The bright light is like a torch. The tunnel ends. A wall separates the target. The shadow slips through the crack the light came from. A standoff. Salvation versus chains. The choice is clear.
——|——|—|—|——|——
"Were all of those illusions?" Sophia murmured as she looked at the unknown figure in front of her.
Injured, serious injuries, killed. So why was it back? She had long gone past the fourth floor. The 20th floor? That's what the sign said. The info said four floors. Clearly, that was wrong. It wasn't though. She was stuck, and she had to break out. This figure made of metal and shadows was the clue.
But how did it find her? The battle-suit was quite ordinary and plain. No bells or whistles. No smoke grenades, flash bangs, or regular grenades. Those would attract too much attention. Just quick and quiet, with minor bursts of strength. Leave the hot spot immediately and hide away.
But it still found her.
As the two stared each other down, the metal twitched. She tensed, preparing to fire another shot. It charged. She unloaded and took another spot. The metal was flung against the wall and became quiet. A hand made of shadow peeled it off the wall. As it jumped down, it looked around. Its eyes swept over her location multiple times. It walked but never rushed at her.
As her eyes swept the room to see what she could use, she saw a footprint in the middle of recovery.
"What on earth?" Sophia whispered.
——|——|—|—|——|——
-We have a problem-
-What Amelia?-
-The bodies are gone. The damage is also gone. The whole floor is untouched-
-What the f—k?-
-We need to retreat NOW-
-What's going on?-
-We're being lured and just walked right into the enemy trap. I suspect the cold site is in the same situation-
-Goddamn. They're alone too. Their leader is probably dead or missing-
——|——|—|—|——|——
A sound. A foot. A real foot! The laugh. F—k! The enemy can't win. They won't. I won't let them. As soon as they get near, I'll blow it up. Why did it stop? Damn it! Hurry up and get closer so I can blow you up m****rf****r.
It walks around the room. Things are being moved. So smart! It smells the bomb. What a pathetic way to leave your legacy behind. Wait, you're smarter than that! Just make a noise.
——|——|—|—|——|——
A man in a battle-suit had a gun held up, using another hand to sort through lab material. There were half-pushed needles, open medical bags with missing supplies, and papers with information about various people.
"Jesus, what happened here? Experiments? Where the hell are they? Why did everyone leave? Where did they go? The whole team is gone. That's trouble. So much paperwork. F**king useless bunch of idiots."
A sound from off to the side startled the man. He turned around, gun pointing at a table.
"Is there someone under there? Come out nice and slow."
(Silence)
"Listen. You come out. It's too dangerous under there. No line of sight, soldier. I ain't taking the risk."
(Silence)
"Don't make this any more unnecessary than it is right now. If someone's asking nice, behave."
There was only another sound. More anger.
"Don't throw a tantrum. We're all disciplined soldiers."
The table moved. Anger at its boiling point. The wall began to shake.
"What the hell?"
The man slowly bent down, the light on his gun turned on. There was a foot. It was rotting. The rotting intensified the more he looked. Legs gave way to a torso and finally a head.
"Jesus f**k. What the hell? Is this a mummy or a zombie? Is this really a corpse? Why is a corpse starting to smile? Oh goddamn it!!!"
The man immediately got up and ran. An explosion rocked the room as the aftershock slammed him into the door, breaking it off. The door slammed into the wall even as it began to melt. The flames spread, finding a nearly inexhaustible supply of combustible material. Within seconds, a fire chamber burst upward into the second floor. The flames spread again, creeping under doors, into vents, and melting glass. Another fire chamber accumulated as the second floor's ceiling cracked one tile at a time.
——|——|—|—|——|——
The team was running towards the stairwell on the first floor of the basement when the building began to shake. Underneath them, the floor was falling apart.
-Someone set off a bomb. Military issue specs judging from the intensity of the shaking-
-Jesus. Hurry up and run! Don't step on anything that's shaking-
A run became a slow tiptoe, but that didn't help as Joe was consumed by a pillar of flames out of the blue. He slammed against a wall, but it broke as he went through it into the flames. Everything he tried to grab broke under his weight. Eventually, he disappeared into the blazing inferno.
-No!!!!!-
-Let him go. The battle-suit will protect him for some time. His bigger concern is the source of the explosion-
Shelton screamed into the air. His hands trembled, but he resisted slamming the walls or the floor.
-What the f—k is wrong with the military intel?? It said danger, not death!!! We just lost a capable soldier!!!-
-We haven't confirmed that he's dead yet-
-The temperature f—king feelings like an inferno!!! He's as good as dead!!!-
-I understand, but what can we do? We can only leave and pray for him. Do you want to add another body to the tally? We've already lost two, possibly three as it is-
-The intel…-
-The intel isn't wrong. It's never wrong. Some unexpected variable has entered the equation. It's all clues. We'll find something-
-Shelton!! Get yourself together. When we signed up for the Military, we willingly signed away our lives for the country's sake. This happens all the time. We just happen to be victims. We're not the ones analyzing the accident. It's tough, but the best thing we can do is figure it out, so his sacrifice isn't in vain-
-I know… but. God f—king dammit!-
-Me too buddy-
-Same with me-
-As me-
-Ok, now hurry up and run, everyone, unless you want to die right now!!!-
Shelton took a deep breath, took one last look at where Joe was, and shivered. A half-soldier, half-rotting corpse was smiling at him, wearing explosives that had just been detonated. It turned to ash, falling into the flames, causing him to run immediately.
——|——|—|—|——|——
Sophia dove as she unloaded rounds on the metal figure.
"This isn't good. It's somehow getting more durable with each shot. I'm safe for now, but my options will be limited when it becomes too dense. How do I get down, then? Every time I go up, I go up. Every time I go down, I go up two to four floors," Sophia muttered, assessing her situation.
She didn't run but stayed in the room as she circled her opponent. Her stats didn't show her anything. No power was running to it, but the battle-suit was functional. She could only rely on physical observation.
As time passed, the situation felt more hopeless, but she shook it off. She knew only four floors existed, so it was impossible to be on the fifth floor or even higher. That meant it was an attack on the mind, and she was trying to figure it out. She was going to fight back regardless of what happened.