Chapter 1: We Both Wanted To Live
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I took a sip of my coffee. Its bitter taste washed down my throat as I gazed upon the seemingly endless wasteland of the dark night. The gentle dance of the moonlight on my skin was something that was a benefit of working the night-shift. Other than the money, of course. No one would go out of their way to spend a night working, especially when you consider who you work for and what their business is.
“Horthy!”
A sound echoed from behind. I grunted and threw the half empty cup of coffee into a trash can next to me. I turned to face one of my higher ups; Joseph.
“What is it, man? You got a bellow that could wake the dead. What do you want?”
He wasn’t amused by my response. His face took up a frown.
“Oh, I’m sorry, am I bothering you in your precious coffee break? Apologies, would you like me to bring you some African coffee beans, will you forgive me, then?”
He asked, mockingly. He wasn’t a nice person, but who was to blame him? He worked just as much, if not more then I did and yet he wasn’t allowed half of what I was. But really, he didn’t have to be an asshole about it.
I placed my finger on my lips and an expression of me thinking. After a few seconds I responded.
“Sure. I forgive you, then.”
I gave him a small wink which he frowned even harder. One could almost say his face was as much filled with annoyance as it was with fatigue.
“Just. Get over here and do your work.”
He sighed deeply.
“Alright, alright. I get it. You do not like me, I do not like you. But you need as much manpower as you can get and I need an income to feed myself. This is just a simple symbiosis. You profit. I profit. Easy.”
I said as I walked back into the building.
“What is it now?”
I asked as I took out my keys to my locker.
“Most of the janitors and clean up crew are needed at Subject-9. It made multiple, unsuccessful attempts to breach its containment. While, as I stated, it didn’t manage to get on the loose, it did execute many of our senior officers, guards, researchers and such. It isn’t a major blow to us, but it’s still definitely a setback.”
Joseph said as he looked over a few pieces of papers. Most likely the collected information about the case and the casualties.
“Damn. How the hell did so many die? Subject-9 is not known for its aggressive behavior.”
I said as we finally reached my locker. I opened it with my key to take out my cleaning equipment.
“That’s what we tell you guys. In reality, it isn’t as hostile as other beings under our watch are, it's still a predator being. It hunts its prey and feeds. Nothing is unusual about a behavior such as this. It just was in its “Dormant” state. It fed not long before we subdued it so that’s the reason why something like this happened just now.”
Joseph said as he patted my back.
“Do try to keep that coffee in.”
I sighed deeply, knowing full well that it means it's a bloody and gory mess. But that’s what gets me paid so I couldn’t complain. Money is money, matters little if it comes from an office job or from cleaning up dead corpses for a secret organization.
But first, let me tell you a few things about this organization. First things first; it’s name. It runs on many names so to pinpoint one is like pointing at a single rat and saying “this is the one that brought the black death to Europe.” but for the sake of simplicity I tell it’s most common name:
The nine life.
Now, this is a weird name for something like this, but not really if you think about it. When you hear the word “Nine life” what do you think about? Certainly not of a place where the most unearthly beings are locked away. So, I guess they do a decent job at keeping their secret with this. Gotta give them credit where deserved.
Now, let’s talk about their hierarchy. First, we have the low level’s, also referred to as “Fresh Meat.”123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGh3B3kjlzO
These guys are usually people who would face either the death penalty or life in prison without parol, so they make the most out of them. As you expect, these are the guys who get sent to do the most suicidal tasks. Their mortality rate is around 82% ish. But good news, if you live until the organization is satisfied, they will just throw you back to where they found you. So you either die by the hands of an unknown monster or be hanged by the neck until your soul leaves your body. The choice is not yours, of course.
Second, we have a more voluntary based system. This category is split into two, this isn’t told up front, but we know it. As it is supposed to be a secret we don’t have official names for this, but thinking about it it's not hard to tell who goes where. We just call the two groups 1 and 2. If you get sent to one, consider yourself lucky. They deemed that you aren’t desperate enough for the money to not say no to anything. This is the group where you would expect actual volunteers to go. You get food, bed, clothing, anything, really. If you get sent to number 2, you are officially fucked. And I mean F U C K E D.
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The people deemed that you're expandable, due to your health, financial status or some bullshit like that. That means that they will most likely make you do the second most dangerous tasks, hell, more often the most dangerous ones, as getting criminals has became a bit of a problem recently, as the government has began to ask for more control over the whole organization, but the heads of this “great” thing, have not been to keen on the idea of losing control over their whole institution and give influence over to people who have no idea how to handle these beasts. But I digress, I will give a little more details about what happened and why later on.
Volunteers get to choose between works, usually they pick what they have experience with: wood work, steel work, cleaning, writing, anything honestly. This whole institution is begging for manpower. As you would imagine, getting people to work somewhere like this is, A: hard, B: not convenient. They cannot just post up ads and put up papers on the streets that they need help and workers. I mean, to be fair, unless you really need money, you don’t come here.
I personally chose cleaning as it seemed by far the easiest. I had no prior experience with working with anything related to hard labor and the other works, such as writers, for obvious reasons, were full. So, I made an easy choice of cleaning up. In hindsight, I should have known I would need a strong stomach. Oh well, a corpse of a guard having its head rotated in a full 360 degree is pretty uncomfortable, but still better than being that guard, isn’t it?
Guards. Right, guards. Well, we used to have elite guards. Ya know, the Rambo type, one man army. Well, it turns out, a one man army can do a lot against other humans, but less well against non-humans. You get what I mean, we had good guards, we slowly lost them one by one and now, as the government hates our ass, we have to make do with what we have. Let me tell you, the situation is not good and after this incident I have a hard time believing that we will find enough guards to replace the lost one. Fuck me, I know they fill up missing guard spots with volunteers, just hope I won’t be one of those.
Last and least loved, the “bosses”
We have, once again, two different kinds of bosses. We have the ones who give orders and the ones who enforce them. Usually, we only see the enforcers, just like Joseph. We only get to see the bosses when we either have a case 7 breach and we need to fully evacuate or when they come in a body bag. You would think the most important heads of this whole thing would try to keep themselves alive, but nooooo, they really need to show off their balls by refusing to evacuate with the rest of us and try to play hero. Honestly, I have no idea how they even manage to breathe, as with this little self preservation, I’m actually surprised.
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I arrived at sector-63. I could smell the blood and urine from far away. Let me tell you something that those who clean up after murder or death don’t really tell you. When you die, your muscles relax, meaning you piss and shit yourself. Really, I think I should have stuck with working in a fast food restaurant. Might not make ends meet, but this shit, this ain’t a nice place.
I rolled my eyes and made my way to the entrance a few guards were talking, but as I approached they stopped and straightened up. They usually guard arrogance towards the other workers. They think they are so hot for getting to die a more brutal death than us.
I gave them an annoyed look and used my key-card to unlock the sector door. After a few seconds the keypad peeped loudly and the metal door opened slightly. I made my way in and looked around. The whole hallway was willed with clean up crew members and yet corpses were still visible. I slowly pushed my glasses up and sighed deeply.
I was about to begin this torment of work but I heard a voice behind me.
“Well, well well. Look who decided to show up?”
I turned my head to see Lauri, a close friend of mine. He was the reason I was working here. He was a guard at this place for a while now, he had a few good connections across this organization. He had his rifle in his hand and the mask on his face.
“Oh, if it isn’t sir Lauri, the meat shield.”
I said as I turned my head back to the corpses.
“How does it feel being the man to clean up the dead?”
He asked, mockingly.
“How does it feel knowing that when you die, your parents will only receive a phone call and your mangled corpse. If, of course, the people bother spending time trying to find out which one is yours.”
I said as I picked up a severed arm from the ground and threw it into a bucket.
“Touché. Asshole, but touché.”
He said as he watched me place remains of the dead in buckets and bags.
“You know, you aren’t one to handle things like this. I remember last time you threw up your whole dinner when you saw one of the other janitors get his tongue ripped out.”
I gagged a bit. Lauri noticed it and patted my back. He was an idiot when it came to talking with people.
“Yea, well, I got used to it. But I would highly appreciate it, you know. You wouldn’t remind me of what happened? I do try to keep the coffee I had down in my stomach. Now, either help me or fuck off, will ya?”
He chuckled.
“Good luck then. Do try to keep yourself alive.”
He said as he walked away. I remained silent and just did my work. I really disliked this job, but now I had no way out. I kinda fucked myself. Oh well, it could be far worse. I think.
I Suddenly heard the alarms turn on.123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQWNv1WUZm1
“Fuck.”
I said knowing full well that this is going to be a horrible night, but hoping that it's just a test. I looked around to see what the hell was going on, only to see that the others were beginning to run for their lives. I heard a voice boom through the speakers.
“Attention of all persons of the facility. A type 7 breach has occurred. Immediate evacuation and breach protocols are ordered. All armed personnel are to report to Jacob at sector-21. This is not a drill. Subject-2 and Subject-87 breached their containment and fried our northern electric systems, resulting in the whole northern wing and it housed beasts becoming free. If you are in the northern wing, proceed with the protocol. You are hearing this through a different electric system, which was placed for cases such as this. This system can handle more, but not forever. You will be on your own until the White Guards are able to break into the northern wings. The emergency red lights will soon turn on as the result of the main power source receiving critical damage. We wish you the best of luck.”
“F u c k”
I said, now knowing full well that, yes, this will be a horrible night indeed.
“Horthy you dumb fuck, the hell you standing there.”
I heard Lauri’s voice boom behind me. I turned to face him, seeing his weapon in hand calmed me a bit, but just a bit.
“Was expecting this whole thing to be just a simple test alarm. Didn’t expect the whole place to be in danger.”
I said as I sprinted to him. He took out a pistol and handed it to me.
“You will thank me later on.”
Lauri said as the lights turned off. A few hollow seconds later the red lights turned on. I looked at Lauri who was visibly distressed.
“Any idea where we could run to?”
I asked as I looked around.
“We do have a safe bunker, somewhere near. We just need to make our way there and simply enter. We should be able to survive this rather easily.”
He said as he turned around and began to make his way towards the supposed bunker. I shook my shoulders, knowing full well that with him, I have the highest chance of survival. I pulled back the barrel of the pistol, just in case we ran into anything.
We walked in the endless flood of red light. It was unnerving as the lights were only turned on in case of extreme danger, such as a whole wing of beasts getting on the loose, which, if was indeed true, would be our biggest catastrophe yet. I was just glad I wasn’t the guy who was at fault for this, as his punishment would be quite dire. Of course, this implies that he isn’t dead.
We heard a few screams in the distance. Lauri motioned me to halt and to crouch down behind one of the desks. I did as he ordered me to do and we waited. We slowly heard ever increasings footsteps. These steps were heavy and slow, but still increasing. A few seconds later I spotted the shadow which was ever increasing in its size. It was coming towards us.
It was subject-7
Subject-7 is a large predatory arachnid of the Scorpions family. While it belongs to the family of scorpions, it has a few key differences. Its size is that of a bicycle, while its size is not enough to cause any major dangers on its own, it still possesses an extremely poisonous stinger. Its claws are sharp and while they are incapable of cutting through bones or dense muscles and flesh, they are mostly used to pin down its prey and inject the venom into it.
Its eyesight is similar to one which we humans possess. It's almost def and its smell is also similar to ours. While we state that it's almost def, it still can and will hear loud noises or people trying to sneak up on him.
The venom is a muscle and nerve damaging chemical which after around 5-8 minutes(depends on person's size, weight, poison resistance, etc.) the victim’s muscles stiffen up to the level usually said to be around rigor mortis.(the state when a victim has been dead for hours or even a day and muscles stiffen up to a degree where even moving a finger becomes near impossible.)
Subject-7 then consumes its prey and leaves nothing behind. Subject-7 is highly aggressive and is more than capable of a max speed of 52 km/h. It is advised to try to enter a high ground, as unlike its usual counterpart in the scorpion family, it has a hard time crawling up on anything. While it's highly aggressive it will not bother to chase someone for a long period of time, as it tries to preserve as much energy as it can. Its exoskeleton is one of high durability and it is noted that it can withstand high caliber rounds. It's most advised that it not be taken upfront as it's more than capable of taking you down.
Subject-7 slowly walked into the room which we were hiding in. It stopped in the middle of the room. I could hear its chelicerae(its mouth part) moving. It most likely feasted not long ago and was seeking a place where it could rest.
I gave Lauri a look and whispered
“What now?”
I asked as I eyed up the thing from the safety of my cover. Lauri motioned for me to hand him a book which was sitting on the table which I was hiding behind. I slowly reached for it, but almost knocked down a few things, as I couldn’t control my hands shaking. I look at him, waiting for what the next step is.
He looked at the Subject-7 and at me. Did he really want me to throw it at that big ass killing scorpion? Yes. Yes this mf did exactly want that. I shook my shoulders as in the worst case scenario we would die. Not a bad outcome, if you work for a place like this. Swift death was an acceptable result.
I threw the book at Subject-7 and….. Nothing happened?
I looked at Lauri who was already walking past the thing.
“Uhm, care to explain?”
I asked as I pointed at the scorpion.
“Oh, yea. In short it sleeps for like 64 hours after having a meal. You literally cannot awaken it during this time. You could nuke it’s ass, still asleep.”
I looked at him with disbelief.
“A bit anticlimactic, don’t you think?”
I asked as I laughed.
“Yup. We still got our heads, at-least. I thought you were gonna shit yourself.”
I switched from happy laughter to sarcastic.
“Yea, knowing your skills I already said my prayers.”
He just rolled his eyes.
“Let’s keep moving.”
I nodded and walked past the scorpion. We walked in silence for a while before I asked.
“Do you think the help will arrive in time?”
Lauri put his hand on my shoulder.
“How the fuck would I know?”
We both laughed a bit. The red lights were starting to turn into a darker color of red. I gently hit Lauri’s side with my elbow and pointed at the lights.
“They are running out of electricity. Subject-22, perhaps?”
He looked at the lights.
“No, Subject-22 would not be so gentle with taking electricity. It would suck it dry as fast as it could. I think it's due to simply running low on energy on its own. We already had similar case today, I don’t think they had enough time to refill the generators.”
Lauri said as he motioned with his hand towards the dead corpses we came across. There were a few fresh, some from the morning. Their crimson nectar painted the walls red. I looked around trying to find a few people who were still alive, with no luck.
“Don’t bother, even if you find any, the best you can do is end their suffering.”
Lauri said as he pointed at the corpses.
The ground began to shake. We looked at each-other and I could clearly see Lauri’s eyes were filled with dread. He was afraid of whatever was coming and I knew, if he was afraid, I should be too.
“Hurry, we gotta get the hell out of here before the thing arrives!”
His voice cracked, fear erupted from his eyes and face. He was not known to be easily scared, so whatever it was, he was afraid of it.
Lauri said as he threw his gun onto the ground and began recklessly running. I Had no idea what we were running from but I knew enough not to ask any questions until we reached safety. I tried to keep up with him, but soon we got separated.
I looked around trying to find him but by now, the lights were almost out. I didn’t know what to do so I tried to think what would be the next logical step to take. I thought about what to do next, but found nothing that would seem logical and also not kill me.
I would have continued thinking if I didn’t hear loud thuds behind me. I turned and my face ran cold. A hulking monstrosity without a head. It was Subject-66.
Subject-66 is a tall, humanoid shaped being. It lacks a head and a neck. While it seemingly lacks all things which are associated with the head(Hearing, smelling, seeing, tasting) are present(other than the taste, as of the time of writing this the organization has no way to test if it’s capable of eating and if so, can it feel its taste.) Subject-66 is capable of forging a large, steel axe out of its own or its victims blood, which it uses to decapitate its victims. It’s important to note that while Subject-66 is usually calm, it can and will often enter an enraged state where it goes on a killing spree. It is highly recommended that if you are targeted by Subject-66 you either play dead or go onto your knees and cover your head with your hand, as it seems that subject-66 aggression is triggered by its “view” of the head.
I had no time to do either. The only thing I could do was simply try to jump out of its swing, but I failed and it managed to land a deep and long cut through my upper chest. It then grabbed me by the neck and threw me to the end of the hallway down the stairs. I tried to dig my nails into the ground so that I might not fall down, but it was an unsuccessful try. I began falling down. I cursed the one who thought it would be a great idea to spare money by not putting anything around the stairs to stop someone from accidentally falling down.
I landed on my side and I could feel my arm immediately burning. It shattered into tiny bits and began injecting its pain across my body. I managed to crawl to a wall and lay there. I knew Subject-66 would not give chase as it was not known to be one to go out of its way to kill someone.
As I laid there, blood coming out of my chest, arm broke, legs tired and hurt, I’m not ashamed to admit, I began crying. The pain was unbearable and I knew I wouldn’t make it. I was weeping on the ground, not even quietly. If whatever wants to come and finish me, let it hear me. Pain and suffering awaited me if nothing came. The warm tears crawled down my face as more joined them.
I heard something moving throughout the hallway of the lower level. It slowly approached me. I’m not one to admit it, but I had no idea what Subject it was. It was something I can’t really describe. It was a beast, the size of a dog, maybe a German Shepherd? It had many large eyes on its face. It had a large beak like a maw. It had sharp teeth in its mouth and even larger eyes. I think a total of eight? That’s how many I cared to count. I closed my eyes and accepted my fate. I was hoping that it wasn’t one of the torture bastards which tortured its victim for hours.
But then
I heard a loud thud. The thing fell near me. I looked at it and only now noticed that it had large wounds, which were bleeding heavily. Cuts, bullet wounds and a bit of a frostbite in some places. It gazed upon me with its eight amber coloured eyes. They are deep, obsidian pupils. The breathing was ragged and inconsistent. I actually thought the thing would die before I would. But then
It slowly let out a thin tongue from its mouth it creped up to my leg and like a needle, injected itself into it. I was in too high of a shock and adrenaline to even realise what it did, let alone feel the pain. A small amount of fluid began flowing through its thin tongue. I just closed my eyes and let the cold void take me.
The void was cold. It had nothing in it. I was expecting something to happen. I mean, look at it like this: if you work with the most unthinkable beings, you would at-least think there’s heaven and hell, but there was only one thing. Darkness. Each time I tried thinking, my thoughts vanished, like someone ripped them out. It was even worse than I thought it would be. This is how I spend the rest of my life?
But then….
I awoke. I was confused. How was I alive? I looked around to see where I was, but I was still down at the bottom floor. My wounds were gone, my arm didn’t hurt any-more. I stood up and looked around. I saw the thing still laying there, its blood already drying up on the floor and its corpse. I was trying to figure out what happened, but then I heard a voice.
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“Welcome. Mortal.”
I looked around but saw no one.
“Not there. No, also not there. Let me give you a hint. In your mind. In your body.”
My eyes ran cold.
“What?”
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