Story 1289: Bunker Betrayal

The bunker was supposed to be safe.

Built deep beneath the rocky outskirts of Deadland Sector 9, it was a forgotten VIREX stronghold—cold war architecture, self-sufficient energy grid, titanium alloy doors. According to H-13’s files, it once housed mid-tier scientists and black-site strategists during the early collapse.

Now, it stood dormant. Silent. Waiting.

Axen keyed in the old clearance code.

The reinforced doors groaned open.

Inside: a time capsule of pre-doomsday civilization. Steel walls lined with untouched monitors, oxygen pumps still chugging in quiet pulses, and lockers tagged with faded names—“Dr. Viera”, “Jensen-K4”, “Ops Lead: M. Thorn.”

Dust floated in narrow beams of overhead light. Everything looked intact.

Too intact.

Shade paced the hallway, gun at the ready. “Feels like someone pressed pause and never hit play again.”

Juno scanned a terminal. Data logs still ran on emergency loop. The last recorded entry read: