Blood in the Corridor

The words echoed through the corridor like a punch to the gut.

“Welcome to the experiment.”

The group stood frozen.

Ren’s eyes widened and his fingers gripped tighter around Haruto, who body had already tensed and a low curse had escaped under his breath.

And Asahi, who had been silent, finally spoke –

“…I knew something was off.”

Haruto turned his head sharply. “…We can talk about this later. Focus. They’re coming!”

Footsteps thundered through the corridors.

The men were dressed in mismatched armor and their expressions were unreadable beneath patched masks and visors. Each carried makeshift weapons – one had a shock baton while another gripped a modified shotgun.

The first attacker lunged forward without warning.

Haruto stepped forward, intercepting him mid-charge with a sharp pivot and slammed the butt of his rifle into the man’s gut. The man staggered back, winded – but another came at him from behind. Asahi rushed in, swinging his metal rod in a wide arc, cracking it against the side of the attacker’s head with a sickening crack. The man collapsed instantly.

Ren backed against the wall, clutching the handle of a small utility knife Haruto had given him a bit earlier. He was trembling but didn’t flee.

“Stay back!” Asahi barked.

Another militant raised a rifle – but Haruto kicked up debris from the ground, sending it into the attacker’s eyes, buying him just enough time to close the distance. He elbowed the man in the throat, followed by a solid knee to the ribs. The pistol dropped to the floor. Asahi swept in and kicked it away.

The last of the four raised his shock baton and surged forward towards Ren.

“NO!” Haruto roared, throwing himself between the two. He caught the baton across his forearm but didn’t let it faze him. He locked the man’s arm and twisted it, using the attacker’s momentum to slam him into the wall.

Four down. For a moment, it was silence.

They stood amidst a heap of unconscious and semi-conscious bodies. Haruto was breathing heavily as blood trickled down his arm from the shock baton strike. Asahi scanned the corridor, then turned to check on Ren.

“You okay?”

Ren gave a small nod, though his hands were still trembling.

“We should move, Now,” Haruto urged.

But the moment they turned –

CLACK-CLACK.

The metallic echo of cockled rifles stopped them cold.

More figures emerged from the darkness – six this time. All were heavily armed. One of them wore a proper military vest with an insignia scratched out. They had been waiting. Watching.

Haruto raised his rifle, tossing his metal rod towards Haruto, who caught it mid-air. They exchanged a quick nod.

The first attacker lunged toward Asahi, but before he could close the distance – BANG! – a single shot echoed through the corridor. The man collapsed mid-sprint, a clean wound in his shoulder.

At the same time, another militant charged at Haruto from the left. He sidestepped and swung the rod low, cracking it against the man’s knee. The attacker screamed and fell heard, only to receive another blow to the head, mid-air, that knocked him unconscious.

“Two down,” Haruto said, smirking.

Asahi stepped forward with his pistol raised. “Who’s next?”

“You all came with such confidence,” Haruto added, spinning the rod in his hand, panting. “Let’s see how far it gets you.”

Their voices rang with bravado, challenging the squad before them.

But then… the air shifted.

A subtle pressure descended, as if the very air around them had thickened. One of the masked men in the back raised his hand lazily, like he was dusting something off. His eyes shimmered with an unnatural glint.

Asahi suddenly froze in place – his body locked and his limbs trembling as he strained against invisible bindings. His pistol slipped from his grasp and clattered to the floor.

Haruto turned, confused. “Asahi?!”

Before he could react, a force hit him.

SLAM!

He was hurled into the side wall with such speed that it knocked the wind out of him. The rod fell from his hands, and he crumpled to the ground with a pained graon. Blood tricked from a gash on his temple.

Ren shrieked, running to Haruto’s side – but stopped abruptly. His arms began to tremble.

But not just trembling.

They began to move against his will.

“Ngh-?!” he cried out, his voice cracking with panic.

His hands, possessed by an unseen force, reached down to the pistol Asahi had dropped. His fingers curled around the grip.

“N-No… NO!” Ren shouted, tears already spilling from his eyes.

The man with the glowing eyes stepped forward, as if enjoying the show. His voice was smooth, mocking.

“You two looked so brave a moment ago. All bark. Let’s see how you look when your own pet turns on you.”

Ren raised the gun – his arms violently shaking. He aimed straight at Haruto, who was still downed and groaning, trying to push himself up.

“Ren, listen to me!” Asahi shouted. He was still struggling to move as if invisible threads had held him in place like a marionette. “You don’t have to do this. Try to fight it!”

“NO!” Ren screamed. His teeth were clenched and sweat poured down his face. His entire body trembled.

The gun’s barrel lined up with Haruto’s chest.

Ren’s fingers tightened on the trigger.

But at the last moment – Asahi broke free. He lunged forward, tacking Ren and knocking the pistol upward.

The shot rang out. BANG! But it hit Haruto’s leg instead of his chest.

Haruto cried out, falling again. His leg spasmed as blood spread rapidly from the wound.

“NOO!” Ren screamed, writhing, finally free of the psychic control. He backed away, horrified.

The telekinetic man simply chuckled. “It indeed is a messy situation,” he muttered as he wiped the blood dripping from his nose.

“BASTARD!” Asahi turned towards him, his eyes blazing with fury.

One of the militiamen stepped forward. His face twisted in regret. “I didn’t want to do it ,” he muttered. “But orders are orders.”

The gun’s barrel lined up with Asahi’s head and the bullet fired out.

Right in the head.

The crack of the gunshot echoed like thunder in the small corridor.

Asahi’s body collapsed in slow motion. Blood splattered all over the floor and walls. His eyes were wide open – blank. Lifeless.

“ASAHI!” Ren shouted, frozen in horror.

Haruto’s pupils shrank. His body jerked forward as if to reach him, but his injured leg buckled beneath him. “NO!”

But before either of them could react, rough hands grabbed their shoulders.

A sickly-sweet smell filled their noses as clothes were pressed tightly over their faces.

Ren thrashed and screamed, trying to resist, but his grew weak in seconds, eventually falling unconscious.

Haruto struggled harder as his fury made him resist longer. But even he succumbed to the chemical haze.

And... the darkness claimed them both.