RUMMMBLE!
The sky thundered.
"Go! Go!"
Vehicle motors roared.
Rain poured.
The windshield wipers worked at full capacity.
Zombies gathered around.
"Move!"
Lucian roared.
The veins on his head had bulged.
He kept barriers around, training his mind and body.
Barriers to block the zombies.
The people carefully loaded the injured comrades into the vehicles.
Vrooom!
"Goo!"
The vehicles drove away one by one.
Seventeen vehicles drove away, each carrying an injured person.
From the initial group of 30 strong men, only 13 remained.
They fought.
Killing zombies.
But the more they killed, the more gathered.
A never-ending tide.
Thud!
Lucian collapsed on his knees.
"SIR!"
The people rushed to him.
His vision blurred.
The barriers around flickered, almost dissipating.
He had no strength left.
Their expressions grew grim.
They saw no hope.
"Go..."
Lucian struggled to get up.
His legs trembled.
"Get out of the city,"
He ordered.
The people around froze.
They glanced at each other.
Their hearts jumped in joy.
This indeed was a way.
"B-But isn't that deserting?"
A soldier asked, unsurely.
"This is the only way,"
Lucian struggled to lean on the vehicle.
"Board the vehicles and drive from the city. We'll return when the zombie horde dissipates."
Silence.
Only the dull sound of corpses falling.
The soldiers hesitated.
They didn't want to disobey the orders even if it cost them their life.
"OBEY!"
Lucian shouted.
"I'll bear all consequences,"
He announced.
"Retreat slowly!"
A soldier roared.
Vrooom!
Three soldiers started the motors.
Three vehicles.
The rest covered the retreat.
"Enter!"
When their backs touched the vehicles, an order rang.
The soldiers didn't hesitate.
They jumped in the vehicles.
Lucian collapsed on the seats.
Exhaustion caught up to him.
Clang! Clang!
The zombies hit the doors.
"Drive...away..."
He gave the last order.
His eyes closed.
Vroom!
Splash!
The driver slammed the foot on the accelerator.
The vehicles jumped up and down.
They ran over zombies.
The tires painted green.
But the rain washed it away.
Quickly, the drivers turned the vehicles, and they drove away.
Leaving behind a dozen more vehicles.
Vehicles without drivers.
...
And while Lucian's group fled, daylight slowly faded.
Rain poured. Skies thunered.
Badum! Badum!
The commander stood before a small pile of rubble.
His heart thumped.
Eyes glued ot the tower in the distance.
Less than 10 kilometers separated him.
'What is this feeling?'
He grabbed his chest.
Tears welled in his eyes involuntarily.
Fear.
His body screamed. His instincts.
The breath shallowed.
'Is this what I am fighting against?'
A sense of oppression crushed him.
Doubt crept into his heart.
Before this ominous tower, everything felt insignificant.
His struggles, sacrifices, blood, and sweat...everything was meaningless.
Unconsciously, his eyes glued to the tower.
He entered a trance, as if enchanted.
His arms and legs trembled.
"Commander....commander..."
The soldiers called him, but no response.
"COMMANDER!"
A soldier shouted, shaking him.
"Wha..."
The commander snapped out of his thoughts.
He frowned.
Zombies had started gathering around.
"Clear out this rubble,"
He pointed at the small pile.
It was the only small pile among the mountains of rubble.
"Yes,"
The soldiers divided.
Half dealt with the zombies while the rest focused on clearing the rubble.
'I refuse'
The commander once again locked eyes on the tower.
His expression dark.
Determination burned in his eyes.
'I refuse to die without changing anything!'
.
.
.
The time passed.
Night fell.
More and more zombies started to gather.
The soldiers had a hard time defending.
"Stop!"
The commander shouted
The soldiers clearing the rubble froze.
They found it.
The commander walked closer.
A metal door poked from underneath a stone.
He moved the stone away, revealing the floor door.
He crouched and removed a metal layer from the door.
A set of numbers revealed from underneath.
The commander entered the code.
Click!
The door opened.
He didn't hesitate and opened the door.
Stairs led down.
Down in the darkness.
"Enter!"
He ordered.
The soldiers slowly retreated, keeping the zombies at bay.
The commander entered last.
He closed the door behind him.
They walked down the stairs in the darkness.
They led deep.
Too deep.
Buzz!
Suddenly, light lit.
As the first soldier reached the end of the stairs and stepped onto the floor, the entire room lit up.
Sensor lights.
"Electricity?"
Shock flashed on the faces of the soldiers.
But the frown on the commander's face deepened.
He knew.
This was a top-secret laboratory.
It has safety generators and batteries.
Enough to last the laboratory for several years with electricity.
But the fear in his heart grew.
What waited in this laboratory?
What was so important?
Neither the governor nor the researcher was willing to elaborate.
But nothing was in the room.
Just a strong metal door at the end.
Beep! Beep!
The electric lock pulsated.
It awaited a combination to open.
Everyone made their way off the stairs.
Soldiers filled the room.
But they made a way for the commander.
The commander walked to the front.
His heart beat rapidly.
Finger trembled as he touched a number.
Click!
He input the first number.
But stopped.
"Brothers,"
He turned to his soldiers.
"What awaits inside are human experiments."
He revealed.
The expressions of the soldiers darkened.
"But don't worry,"
He assured.
"These are human experiments for organ transplantation and organ recreating. The purpose of this laboratory was to extend human life."
The soldiers glance at each other.
SLightly at ease.
"But still, it's a gruesome scene. Be prepared."
Silence fell.
He turned.
Click! Click!
The inputs of the passwords tore through the silence.
Beep! Beep!
The lock flashed green.
"Access granted."
A robotic, female voice rang.
The commander opened the door.
"Uggh..."
A pungent rotting stench assaulted his nose.
It spread outward.
But the commander still entered.
The soldiers followed.
Rot was nothing surprising anymore.
It was a daily occurrence.
"Wha..."
The soldiers froze.
A massive room.
A massive laboratory.
Several massive tubes filled with green liquid stood in the room.
Massive digital tables surrounded the tubes, showing real-time indications.
Within the liquids, bodies floated.
Dissected human bodies.
Some whole, some showing the insides.
A true terror.
A laboratory straight out of a movie.
Near the end of the room, a dozen smaller tubes existed.
Organs floated within the tube, untouched, preserved.
Each organ of the human body.
Heart, lungs, kidneys, intestines, and eyeballs.
The laboratory had every human part.
Even an entire human skin.
"Ughh..."
The soldiers barely held in their puke.
The scene, coupled with the pungent rotting stench, was unbearable.
Even the commander's heart trembled.
'Such a thing existed underneath the city,'
He inhaled cold breaths.
The governor told him about this... this abominable experiment.
What about the ones he didn't want ot talk about?
What were they about?
His head spun.
Disgust filled him.
But the thought that those were all from deceased patients eased his mind.
And it all served for the benefit of humanity.
He coped with it somehow.
He scanned the room with his eyes.
In the distance, he saw it.
The source of the rotting stench.
"Come..."
He ordered, covering his nose.
They rushed to a decomposing body in the distance.
The body leaned on the wall.
Eyeballs had fallen off.
Skin had turned black.
If not for the cleanliness of the laboratory, insects and maggots would've started eating at the corpse.
The commander crouched.
A card hung from the corpse.
An identity card.
"Researcher Delta,"
He read.
A codename.
"Judging by the state...it has been more than a week since he died."
A soldier spoke.
The commander nodded.
'He must be here since the start of the apocalypse.'
He concluded.
'But in the end, hunger and thirst must have killed him,'
"Brothers, let's first calm down."
The commander stood up.
He took a deep, rot-filled breath.
"Search and see what the laboratory has. See what the indicators on the screens around the tubes show."
The soldiers nodded.
Immediately, about 70 soldiers started looking around the laboratory.
The air was heavy.
Everyone found those experiments disgusting.
But still manage to cope.
They understood the intent behind them.
Improvement of humanity.
But no one saw the commander's dark, terrified expression.
His breathing shallow.
The body trembled.
His gaze directed at a corner of the room.
An ordinary-looking corner.
But he knew.
A door hid behind.
Door to the forbidden experiments.