Buried Secrets

Jason stood frozen, staring at the symbol on the far wall.

The clawed hand inside the circle.. it sent a shiver down his spine. It isn’t government, isn’t military. This is something else. Something older.

Ryan stepped beside him, limping slightly. His voice is quiet. “What the hell is this place?”

Jason didn’t answer.

Mia wiped sweat from her forehead, scanning the room. “Looks like some kind of research facility.” She gestured to the dust-covered terminals, the metal desks lined up against the far side of the room. “But if this is part of the old infrastructure, it’s been shut down for a long time.”

Jason moved forward, carefully stepping over fallen debris. The air is thick. Heavy.

Like the place itself is… watching them.

Ryan crouched beside an overturned chair, brushing his hand over an old ID badge lying on the floor. The picture is too faded to make out, but the name read:

Dr. H. Lornex

Sector 7-B Genetic Development

Jason’s stomach twisted. Genetics.

Mia frowned. “Lizards aren’t the only thing they are messing with.”

Jason exhaled slowly. No. They aren’t.

⸻

The room stretched deeper than they expected. Past the old desks, a set of reinforced glass windows overlooked another chamber below.

Jason wiped away the dust, peering through.

Cells.

Not human-sized. Smaller.

Some shattered. Some rusted shut.

Inside one of the broken ones, something black and shriveled lay curled in the corner, its body long since decayed. It isn’t a lizard.

Mia stepped beside him. “They are keeping something here.”

Ryan swallowed hard. “And now it’s not here anymore.”

Jason felt an itch at the back of his skull. This place is built for a reason. But whatever they had been doing.. it had failed.

And now the outside world is paying the price.

Mia checked her gun. “We should keep moving.”

Jason nodded. They had no idea what else is buried down here.

And worse..

They aren’t sure if they are the only ones inside anymore.

⸻

They found a hallway leading deeper into the facility.

The overhead lights flickered, barely clinging to life. Something dripped from the ceiling.. water, or something else, Jason isn’t sure.

Ryan stayed close, his ankle still slowing him down. Jason wanted to let him rest, but they couldn’t risk it.

Then, ahead.. a noise.

Not the dragging sound from before.

Something… lighter.

Footsteps.

Mia held up a hand, signaling for silence. Jason pressed himself against the wall, gripping his knife.

The sound came from the next room.

Jason glanced at Mia. She nodded.

Slowly, carefully, they stepped forward.

Mia pushed open the door..

And a gun is already pointed at her head.

Jason’s body went rigid.

A woman stood on the other side, dressed in torn tactical gear. Her face is sharp, her dark hair tied back in a short braid.

But it is her eyes that caught Jason’s attention.

Wide. Desperate.

Like someone who had been trapped down here for a long time.

She exhaled sharply, her voice hoarse. “You’re not supposed to be here.”

Jason’s grip tightened on his knife. “Neither are you.”

A flicker of hesitation. Then.. the woman lowered her gun.

Her shoulders slumped slightly, exhaustion visible in every part of her body. “You don’t even know what you walked into, do you?”

Mia didn’t lower her weapon. “Enlighten us.”

The woman exhaled, glancing toward the hallway behind them.

Then she said something that made Jason’s blood run cold.

“The lizards aren’t the worst thing that came from this place.”

Jason felt Ryan stiffen beside him.

The woman took a step closer, her expression deadly serious.

“There are things down here that are never meant to reach the surface.”

A pause.

She looked Jason directly in the eyes.

“And if you want to survive, you need to help me destroy this place.”

Jason didn’t move.

His grip on the knife tightened, his mind racing. The woman’s words hung in the air like a storm cloud.

Destroy this place?

Mia is the first to react. “Who the hell are you?”

The woman’s eyes flickered toward her, then back to Jason. “Sergeant Elena Voss. I is part of a containment unit sent down here three months ago.”

Jason narrowed his eyes. “Three months?”

Ryan stepped forward. “Wait.. you’ve been down here alone for that long?”

Elena didn’t answer immediately. Her face is unreadable, but there is something in her expression. A weight.

Finally, she muttered, “Not alone. Not at first.”

Silence.

Jason felt the air shift.

Something about the way she said it.. past tense.

Mia didn’t lower her gun. “Why should we trust you?”

Elena exhaled sharply. “Because if you don’t, you’ll die down here like the rest of them.”

Jason studied her. Her clothes are tattered, her gear half-broken, but there is a look in her eyes. She had survived.

She knew something.

Jason took a step forward. “You said the lizards aren’t the worst thing down here.”

Elena’s jaw clenched.

She gestured toward the hall. “This facility isn’t just some abandoned lab. It’s a vault. A holding ground for things that should never have existed.”

She motioned to the rusted cells behind them. “You saw those. They are the early ones. The failures.”

Ryan shifted uncomfortably. “Failures?”

Elena didn’t look at him.

“The real ones.. the successful experiments.. are still down here.”

Mia scoffed. “Great. More monsters.”

Elena’s face darkened.

“No.” She shook her head. “Not just monsters.”

She looked up, as if listening for something.

Jason followed her gaze.

The overhead pipes groaned, shifting slightly. Like something above them is moving.

Elena’s voice dropped to a whisper.

“They’re watching us.”

⸻

Jason moved fast.

He didn’t know what is stalking them through the depths of this place, but he isn’t about to wait and find out.

Elena led them deeper into the facility, past collapsed doorways and abandoned labs. Some rooms are filled with old, broken equipment.. but others still had power.

That isn’t comforting.

It meant someone.. or something.. is keeping this place alive.

Ryan limped beside him, his breath unsteady. “How much farther?”

Elena glanced back. “There’s an emergency control room at the lowest level. If we can reach it, we can overload the power grid. Burn this place to the ground.”

Jason isn’t sure if that is a good thing or a terrible idea.

But right now, he didn’t see another option.

Mia’s voice is low. “And what’s between us and that room?”

Elena’s eyes darkened.

“Everything they left behind.”

⸻

They reached an intersection.

Two hallways. One collapsed, the other leading downward.

Elena pointed to the stairs. “That’s the way.”

Jason moved first. The air is colder now, thick with dust and something else.. something stale.

Then he smelled it.

Rot.

Jason’s stomach turned. The deeper they went, the worse it got.

Mia covered her mouth. “Jesus…”

Ryan gagged.

Elena barely reacted.

They reached another door. Heavily reinforced, but slightly ajar.

Jason hesitated, then pushed it open.

And froze.

The room is massive. A research bay.. at least, it had been.

Now, it is a graveyard.

Dozens of bodies.. **or what is left of them.. **are scattered across the floor. Torn apart, ripped open.

The walls are smeared with something dark.

Ryan stumbled back, his face pale. “What the hell did this?”

Jason didn’t answer.

Because in the center of the room..

A body twitched.

Ryan sucked in a breath. “Did you see that?”

Jason’s pulse hammered. He did.

Elena lifted her rifle. “We need to move. Now.”

Mia grabbed Ryan, pulling him toward the other exit. Jason followed..

Then the corpse moved again.

A low, wet gurgle filled the air.

Jason turned.. just in time to see something rise from the pile.

His breath caught.

It isn’t a lizard.

It isn’t even human anymore.

It had been.. once.

But now, its flesh is stretched, bloated, wrong. Its limbs are too long, its fingers twisted into claws.

Its eyes.. if they are eyes.. are hollow and black.

It opened its mouth.. and screamed.

Jason reacted instantly.

“GO!”

Elena fired.. but it barely flinched.

It moved.

Too fast. Too unnatural.

Jason grabbed Ryan and ran.

The thing lunged.. but Jason slammed the door shut behind them.

Something slammed into the other side.

The entire wall shook.

Ryan is shaking. “That isn’t a lizard.”

Jason exhaled. “No. It isn’t.”

Elena’s face is grim.

“They aren’t just experimenting on animals down here.”

Jason clenched his fists. They had to get out. Now.

And behind them..

The thing in the other room started laughing.