Buried Secrets

The room fell into a tense silence. The stranger's words hung in the air, heavy with an unspoken warning.

Lian's fingers twitched against the grip of her gun. "Start talking," she ordered, eyes locked onto the man. "What's buried here?"

The young man hesitated, shifting slightly under Yu Xian's firm grip. His eyes flickered between them, calculating. "If I tell you, you might not want to stay."

Yu Xian tightened his hold. "We'll decide that for ourselves."

The stranger exhaled sharply. "Fine. This place wasn't just an outpost. It was a research facility."

Lian's stomach twisted.

Chen's expression darkened. "What kind of research?"

The man licked his lips, glancing toward the closed doors as if afraid someone or something was listening. "Biological. The military used this base to test experimental viruses."

A chill ran down Lian's spine. "You mean—"

"Yes." His voice was grim. "They were working on something dangerous. And they buried their failures here."

For a moment, no one spoke.

Lin Wei was the first to break the silence. "So you're saying there's a graveyard of biological experiments under us?"

The stranger nodded. "And some of them might not be as dead as you think."

---

The Warning

Yu Xian released the man but didn't lower his guard. "How do you know all this?"

The man rubbed his wrist where Yu Xian had gripped him. "I used to work for them. Maintenance, mostly. I wasn't supposed to know anything, but I overheard things. I saw things. Then one day, they shut the place down and left in a hurry. No warnings. No explanations. Just... gone."

Lian narrowed her eyes. "If it's so dangerous, why are you still here?"

The man scoffed. "Where else would I go? When the world falls apart, you think it'll be safer out there? At least here, I know the risks."

Chen crossed his arms. "Then tell us what we're dealing with."

The man hesitated, then motioned toward a locked metal door at the end of the hallway. "It's down there."

Lian's heartbeat quickened. "What is?"

The man exhaled. "Whatever they left behind."

Yu Xian moved first, stepping toward the door. Lian followed, her grip tightening on her gun. The others stayed close, their footsteps eerily loud in the abandoned hall.

The metal door was thick, reinforced with steel bars and an electronic lock that had long since lost power. Rust and dust coated the surface, but there was something more disturbing a deep scratch mark, like something had tried to claw its way out.

Chen cursed under his breath. "This is a bad idea."

Lian ignored him, reaching out to brush her fingers over the scratches. They were old, but not ancient. Something had been here not too long ago.

The man swallowed hard. "I don't know if it's still down there. But if it is…" He trailed off.

Lian turned to him. "If it is, what?"

His face was grim. "Then you just walked into a nightmare."

---

Opening the Vault

Yu Xian glanced at Lian. "We don't have to do this now."

Lian met his gaze. "If we don't do it now, we might not get another chance."

She turned to the man. "How do we open it?"

The stranger sighed, moving to a small panel on the side of the door. "It's a manual override. Needs two people to turn at the same time."

Chen stepped up. "Let's get this over with."

The stranger nodded, gripping one side of the lever while Chen took the other.

"On three," the man said.

"One… two… three."

With a groaning sound, the mechanism unlocked.

The door lurched open an inch before stopping. A foul, rotting stench seeped through the crack, making Lian's stomach churn.

Jiao covered her nose. "What the hell is that smell?"

Yu Xian gritted his teeth. "Death."

The stranger took a step back. "This is where I leave."

Lian shot him a sharp look. "No. You stay."

The man hesitated, then nodded reluctantly.

Chen grabbed a flashlight and shined it into the darkness. A staircase led downward, swallowed by shadows.

Lian inhaled deeply. "We go in together. Stay close, and be ready for anything."

Yu Xian pulled his gun. "Let's move."

---

Into the Dark

The descent was slow. Every step down the metal stairs echoed, the air growing colder with each step. The smell thickened, clinging to their skin like decay itself.

At the bottom, they found themselves in a long, underground corridor lined with glass observation rooms. The glass was cracked, smeared with dark stains.

Jiao shivered. "This looks like a damn horror movie."

Lian stepped closer to one of the rooms, shining her flashlight inside.

The remains of something inhuman lay crumpled in the corner. Its flesh was shriveled, its limbs twisted at unnatural angles. Whatever it had been… it wasn't human anymore.

Lin Wei muttered a curse. "What the hell were they doing here?"

The stranger swallowed hard. "Testing. They were testing how the virus mutated."

Lian turned sharply. "You said the place was abandoned. How did this thing die?"

The man shook his head. "I don't know."

Yu Xian scanned the hallway. "There could be more."

A sudden scraping noise echoed from deeper inside.

Everyone froze.

Chen raised his gun. "Tell me that was the wind."

The stranger shook his head. "This deep underground? No chance."

Lian's grip tightened on her weapon. "We keep moving. Stay sharp."

They pressed forward, the corridor narrowing as they reached a final steel door. Unlike the rest, this one was chained shut.

A warning sign was bolted to the surface:

DO NOT OPEN. CONTAINMENT FAILURE.

Lian turned to the stranger. "What's inside?"

The man hesitated, then whispered.

"The last experiment."

Yu Xian's muscles tensed. "Define 'last.'"

The man exhaled shakily. "The final stage of the virus. The one they couldn't control."

A chill crawled down Lian's spine.

Before she could respond, a low growl rumbled from the other side of the door.

The chains rattled.

Something was awake.

And it had just sensed them.

---