Chapter 18
The space at the bottom of the bunker was small, barely enough for the four of them to squeeze in. The tightness of the room wasn't even the worst part, it was the smell, that same rancid, sour stench that filled the air, thick and rotten, clinging to their throats with every breath.
The odor was unsettling, but not as unsettling as the questions swirling in their heads, What was this place? What were they stepping into? Was it worst that what was up there?
The bunker wasn't pitch black, not exactly, but it was close. The only light they'd had before came from the open hatch from above, but now, it was sealed shut. The chamber was nearly swallowed in shadow, with only faint streaks of mostly Erin 's glowing arm breaking in the dark.
"Liam," Jayden whispered, his voice barely a breath. "Where's your phone? I saw you with it the day we got here."
"I kinda lost it," Liam muttered, sounding annoyed. "Back during the first worm attack. Beside, it should be dead and why are you whispering?" His tone was louder than necessary, bouncing off the bunker's steel walls.
"Keep your voice down," Jayden hissed. "We don't know what's down here."
Liam smirked faintly. "Pretty sure all that noise we made coming down already gave us away. If there was something down here, it should be feasting on us already."
He wasn't wrong. Their hurried footsteps had echoed on the railinh, Erin had earlier hastened him to move faster, and her fumbling hadn't exactly been quiet. If something did lived here, it probably knew they had arrived.
"Alright, enough bickering," Erin cut in. Her voice was steady, though her glowing arm betrayed her unease. "Let's move deeper. I'll take the lead."
Nobody argued, not even Liam. The faint glow from her skin lit the path better than anything else they had, so they followed. Erin walked first, Liam close on her heels, while Jayden and Eira lingered behind.
The bunker's alleyway stretched on endlessly. Rusted pipes lined the steel walls, snaking and crossing each other in an endless web. Their footsteps echoed against the floor, though muffled by the tar-like substance clinging to their boots.
The sticky black thing pulled at their soles with every step, making it harder to move forward.
Liam's eyes kept drifting to Erin's sleeve, something that was usually Jayden's routine. He couldn't look away from the faint blue light crawling under her skin. His thoughts spiralled until his intrusive thoughts finally won. "Does it… hurt?"
Erin stopped, glancing back at him. "What? This?" She held up her glowing arm. "Not really. Doesn't feel like much." She turned back and kept moving,
They pressed on until another steel door appeared at the end of the passage. It was the second they had come across so far. Jayden joined Liam, and together they pushed it open. The metal screeched, but it gave way easier than the first door had.
Beyond it, the corridor widened into another chamber, similar to the first space beneath the hatch but larger. The sour stench was way much stronger here.
"Bloody hell! Feels like.someone puked here." Jayden commented.
Erin scanned the room, her light casting pale shadows across the walls. "There has to be a fuse box here right?" she asked.
"Yes. If this place has a power source, that's where it'll be," Liam agreed, running his hands along the wall.
"You mean this?" Erin asked, pointing at a metal box tucked into the corner.
Liam hurried over, prying it open. Inside, thick wires ran into a large switch coated in dust. He wrapped his fingers around the lever and pulled.
With a heavy clunk, the bunker came alive. Lights flickered across the ceiling, first buzzing faintly before stabilizing. The hallway behind them also lit up in pale white, stretching into the dark.
The bunker had come alive and now, they could see the settings more starkly, specifically, the wild view Jayden was getting.
"Holy… are you guys seeing this?" Jayden asked, his voice full of awe. He pointed toward the far wall.
Five massive steel doors were built into the bunker walls. Smoothed and curved like those found in high-security banks back on Earth. Each one was numbered, one through five, arranged neatly around them, following the strucure of the pentagon shaped bunker shape. Beside every door was a digital scanner, its surface was sleek and unmarked, as if untouched.
Erin's breath caught. She didn't need anyone to explain because she already knew. "They're vaults," she muttered. "And they're locked. We'll need a passcode."
Jayden took a cautious step forward, his eyes wide. "This feels like we're walking through a sci-fi movie set. All of this? It's not normal."
"We need to get inside one," Erin said, already moving toward Vault 5. She brushed her fingers across the scanner, searching for a way to activate it.
Liam immediately stepped forward, his face drawn in disapproval. "Like hell we do. We don't even know what's inside. For all we know, this is the beasts' lair."
"Well, we can't stay here, and we sure as hell can't go back up to the surface," Erin argued with him
The scanner blinked suddenly, glowing to life. Erin's heart jumped. "Yes!" she whispered, but the thrill faded when she saw the display.
The screen read a single word: OPEN.
She frowned. "Seriously? No code? Well I'm not always the smart one. At least I can admit that."
Liam chuckled nervously. "You're not actually going to open it, are you?" He turned to Jayden and Eira. "Come on, tell Miss I'm-So-Powerful this isn't a great idea."
Jayden shrugged. "I agree with her."
Eira stayed silent, as she often did, her expression unreadable.
After some back-and-forth, Liam sighed and raised his hands in surrender. "Fine. But let's start with Vault One. Less chance of, I don't know… dying."
Without further argument, Erin tapped the screen of Vault One.
[VAULT ONE OPENED]
The mechanical voice echoed through the bunker, followed by the hiss of air being released. The reinforced door slid open. The group instinctively stepped back, bracing themselves for whatever might come spilling out.
But nothing did.
Instead, the sour stench of the bunker was replaced by a cool, sterile breeze. The air smelled sharp and clean…like disinfectant.
"Still think it was a bad idea?" Erin teased, shooting Liam a wink.
He rolled his eyes but said nothing.
They slipped through the doorway, shutting the heavy door behind them.
The chamber beyond was surprisingly well-kept. Clear blue ceiling lights flickered on, casting a blue glow. Metal tables and chairs were neatly arranged in one corner, as if someone had tidied up before leaving. On the far wall, a pod-like machine stood upright, labeled in bold letters.
"Decontamination Chamber," Erin read aloud.
[PLEASE PROCEED TO THE DECONTAMINATION CHAMBER]
The automated voice startled Jayden, who stumbled back a step. "Should we be worried about that?"
"It's just an old system," Liam said quickly, brushing it off. "Automated voice commands. Nothing dangerous."
Erin turned to him with a puzzled look. She half expected him to make some sarcastic jab at Jayden's nerves, but instead he reassured him. Calm. Almost kind.
'Who are you, and what have you done with Liam Ashford?' she thought.
Following the voice's instructions, they stepped into the decontamination pod. A quick spray of mist enveloped them, cool against their skin, and then the doors opened on the other side, where surprisingly, fresh new clothes awaited them.
'What is this place? Why does it feel like we were meant to be here, ike coming here wasn't an accident?' Erin wondered as she glanced at Eira who silently followed from behind. 'She's found the hatch, didn't she?'
Beyond lay another chamber: Level Two.
This one was larger, lined with broken terminals and shelves stacked with dusty data drives. The room felt like the ghost of a forgotten archive. Some of the screens were cracked, others completely dead. Dust clung to every surface. This level was a complete opposite of the first level which was well kept.
Erin trailed her glowing hand along a wall of terminals. "What is this place?"
"Looks like some kind of control room," Jayden muttered, coughing as the dust stirred.
Liam moved ahead, kneeling by one of the terminals. His hands brushed the surface, wiping away grime. He pressed a few keys. For a long moment, nothing happened. Then, with a faint spark, one of the screens came to life.
Blue light filled the room and lines of text scrolled across the monitor until a header appeared:
ARCHIVE FILE: BEAST INDEX
"Beast Index…?"