Underground

Sand coated the rough concrete ground. My flashlight fought its way through the dusty air as light gazed upon the piles of junk for the second time in millennia. The entryway stretched out with this junk. If anything, this felt less like an entrance hall and more like a fancy dump from thousands of years ago.

Another sign of the horrors that led this place to disappear.

Thinking about it, things were always fuzzy around the transition period. Old world countries bombed each other, then the survivors came together and built Iero. No real details, no conflicts. Everyone came together in harmony.

Wasn’t that a fairy tale? Two countries at war, whatever the reasons may have been, wouldn't magically come together and throw their differences aside, not unless something went majorly wrong.

But, what kind of accident could have occurred? How bad would things have to have fallen?

And even that didn’t explain everything. Project Prometheus, the barren lands outside of Iero, how apparently all of humanity accumulated into one singular city?

Pebbles fell–clattering towards the grounds as I shoved a few boxes aside. Oh how simple everything had been when my and Caspian had last explored this place. The Vista club felt like a bubbly dream.

My eyes scanned the void. With a place this massive, I couldn't hope to walk straight there. All I had was my memories.

I exited the main auditorium, retracing Capian’s steps best I could muster. Even now, his last words echoed through my thoughts vividly, if only his path could do the same.

Blood stains coated the walls as I quietly tiptoed through. Apparently the signs of violence were universal.

“God, night shift again,” I froze. From beyond the corner the same guard from last time yawned, leaning against the wall with another man dressed in that same boring blue uniform. “At this point I’d rather have an intruder or two.”

“Would make this interesting,” The other man sighed. “Can’t even slack off on the job while she's watching like a hawk.

I could see a small stream of dull yellow light past the hallway they guarded. What to do… it was a miracle they hadn’t seen my flashlight’s beam, but I couldn’t guarantee much more than that. This was a garbage dump your average person couldn’t even access. If they needed guards even down here assuredly they’d be pretty confident.

Granted, listening to them drone on didn’t exactly give me that impression.

“This is such a gamble,” I muttered, picking up an aluminum can from the ground. I leaned back, waited for them to glance away, and strained every muscle in my body tossing it right past them onto the ground below.

“BANG.” It shattered against the pile of discarded junk, just loud enough to catch their eyes.

“More junk?” The guard from before raised an eyebrow. “I’ll go take a look.”

“Don’t slack off too long. I don’t want her shouting my ears off again.”

“Better yours than mine.” One gone, and from their words he wouldn’t be back for a bit. Now just one more sleepyhead to pass. And this time I didn’t have any bananas to flaunt.

“If only…” I picked up another piece of scrap metal–a rusted door handle. Its once smooth steel now felt rough to the touch, nothing more than a piece of useless scrap to be melted down and made anew. If it worked once, why not again?”

I snuck out from my hiding spot, careful to stay in the shadows. His eyes showed their exhaustion with big black undertones thicker than my eyeliner and pupils more unfocused than a smudged magnifying glass. I could hear every footstep of mine like a bomb. He was a bit less observant.

“Freeze,” I whispered, shoving my metal door handle into his spine. “Drop your–”

“Not today girl!” Before I could blink he shoved an elbow into my stomach, sending me spiraling back. So much for that plan!

“Fuck fuck fuck…” I muttered, raising my fists. This oaf of a man was twice my size and a hired guard to boot, my odds weren't looking great. “Let me through jackass.”

“Persuasive aren't ya?” He rolled his eyes, reaching for the batton near his waist.

“No you don't!” I tossed the handle towards his face. He dodged left–breaking line of sight–as my fist swung towards his over-bloated face. Slam! A familiar cracking of bone shot through my fist as his nose burst like a water balloon.

He reeled back, face flushed with anger. Not that I’d let him express it.

Another fist of mine smashed his face in, then another following that. The sound was straight out of a butchers; Raw and unfiltered.

I gave him one last look as he lay concussed on the ground. For being so top secret they sure didn’t send their best. Imagine getting laid out by a hundred twenty pound girl, embarrassing.

It didn’t take long for any sign of the dilapidated university of old to disappear. As the yellow light grew, so did the sleek white walls and marble floors. The few doors I passed were a dull oak–well lit by the new looking light bulbs covered by glass panels. Hell, this place felt nicer than parts of campus.

As last, a pair of sliding glass doors opened with a wave. There wasn’t a chance I could hide, not with the blaring lights, yet I hadn’t seen a soul. So far that’d been guarding a whole lot of nothing.

My feet brought me to a large auditorium. Doors lined the far wall, easily reaching five stories up with small walkways providing a path. Yet other than that the other two blank white walls started down ominously. Every panel felt like a spotlight shining directly on me, waiting for me to trip up.

“Why…” Something about this place felt familiar, like I’d seen it in a movie. Surely not? Right?

Every step I took reverberated around the entire room, bouncing off wall after wall like some kind of laser as I got closer to the doors. They were a dark grey and clearly thick. The only openings in them were small panels of glass so tiny I’d have to be inches away to see inside.

I reached the door, peeked inside…

And screamed.

“What the hell!” I fell down crawling back like a crab running from prey. I could mentally hear the horrid screams from Caspian's video, the way the person inside was writhing in agony. For behind that door was another person suffering the same fate.

“A shock, right?”
“Wha–” From behind me, Professor Juri’s smooth voice said, just before something hard slammed into the back of my head.