Welcome, Detective Paul — 2

Tears blurred his vision, but he saw a chair fly past his head and crack the corpse’s skull. The impact sent it flying off him.

“Jesus, kid, you look like hell,” Paul grimaced at the blood and maggots on Ian’s clothes. He grabbed Ian by ‌his jacket and wrenched him to his feet.

Ian was still stunned and allowed Paul to lead them back to the entrance.

Much to both their shocks, the door Paul kicked down was now back in place. The wood and hinges looked new, as if they had been installed recently. A thick chain was wrapped around the handle, with a heavy padlock securing it.

Ian stepped back from Paul, his mind racing. Corpses coming back to life and now doors magically repair themselves… this is madness! If it wasn’t for the pain, Ian would’ve thought he was still asleep. Nevertheless, it still didn’t feel real.

He wiped the maggots off his clothes. He unzipped his jacket and ripped off a piece of his shirt and wiped it from his face. Once finished, he used the torn piece of fabric to stuff his nose, which was still bleeding.

Paul ignored him and yanked on the door. “Shit, this isn’t good!” he muttered. He tried to break the lock to no avail. “Fuck!” He kicked the door one last time and gave up.

Though he was frustrated about the door, Ian noticed Paul was calm. Way too calm. He was barely able to hold himself together, having to clench his fist to stop shaking. Yet Paul didn’t seem as freaked out. It was strange.

Ian let out a heavy sigh. “I can’t believe it’s actually fixed.” He walked up to the door and tried pulling on it himself. “This is like something you’d see out of a movie.”

“Oh, wow, good job, princess. You tried the door,” Paul replied, scowling at the ceiling. “What’s next? You’re gonna tell me water’s wet?”

Ian shot him a glare. “This is exactly why I hate working with you! Always saying and doing things to piss people off for no reason.”

“Newsflash, the world’s a shitty place, Rock. I don’t live in this bubble of perfection you seem to reside in.”

Ian said nothing. Instead, he reached for his sidearm and leveled it slightly past Paul’s head.

“Whoa, Rock, wh—” Paul began, his expression twisting into one of fear as he raised his hands.

Ian fired two shots, and the bullets struck a corpse standing directly behind his mentor. The body crashed down to the ground, letting out an animalistic roar, and went silent. Rushing past Paul,l who had his eyes shut, Ian examined the body. Black blood trickled from the two fresh holes in its head. A thick scent of rotting flesh filled the air.

“Clear! Suspect down.”

Paul stumbled over and knelt next to the body. “Next time, warn me before drawing your gun.”

Ian stood and holstered his gun, keeping track that eight remained in the magazine. “Next time a reanimated body sneaks up on you, I’ll make sure to let it bite you first.”

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, Rook.” Paul kicked the corpse a couple of times and nodded. “Ugly damn thing, ain’t it?”

The younger man examined Paul and then the corpse. “Truthfully, I can’t tell the difference between you two. Almost like y’all are cousins.”

“That was terrible. From now on, leave the jokes to me.”

Ian shrugged and returned to the chained door. He had a hard time believing that magic or something of that sort existed. Maybe someone repaired the door when they were in the office,e and the body was some failed science experiment...

He shook his head and pulled out his cellphone. The screen was cracked, but the touch screen was functional. No service.

“Any service?” he asked.

Paul checked his pocket. “Bad news. I left my phone in the car.”

“Of course you did,” Ian muttered and rubbed his temples. “I guess we have no chance but to advance further into the warehouse.:

“Or,” Paul began.

Ian ignored the remark and walked back inside the room where the corpse was lying.

“Or you just ignore me. That’s cool, too,” Paul muttered.

Quickly, Ian grabbed his flashlight and stuffed a handful of papers from the desk into his front pocket. It took less than a minute before he was back in the main hallway. “Let’s go!” he called to Paul, who was examining the body.

He didn’t wait for a response and moved further inside the building. He pulled out his sidearm. The beam from his flashlight cut through the darkness as they officially left the moonlight behind. A shuffling sound came from behind him, and another beam of light joined his.

They passed the help desk and entered a long hallway. Multiple doors appeared, and his mind flashed back to the dream this morning. His hand shook slightly, but he quickly controlled it. The pounding of his heart against his ribs couldn't be stopped.

Compared to the dream, the floor had a mix of dried red flakes and grime. The doors were wide open, but remained a mess. It was uncanny how close the dream and reality were, down to the narrow hallway with only two different ways at the end.

Ian wanted to turn around, but there was no point. The doors were locked. More importantly, he needed to find answers! What was the point of Mark sending them here?

They walked further down the path. He did his best to ignore the smell of decaying flesh, though they found no other bodies. Ian hoped they could extract DNA from everything here. That’s if they could escape.

All sounds seemed to have stopped, including the rats. The only noise was their breathing and the soft steps they took.

Finally, the duo came to the end of the hallway. Ian wanted to go through the loading bay, but right. A sensation called to him, urging him to move forward, though his mind screamed to turn around. He pushed back the feeling and marched on.

“Not to try and boss ya around, Rock, but why didn’t we just try our luck with the loading bay? I’m sure we would’ve found an exit,” Paul whispered.

“Gut feeling,” Ian replied.

“Okay,” Paul said, not sounding convinced.

Halfway down the hall stood two large metal doors with small dirty glass windows. The entire building appeared to be abandoned. Ian inhaled deeply and pushed the door open without hesitation.

A thin wire attached to the door snapped. He heard the wire snap, but it was too late.

Lights flickered on above them and bathed the massive warehouse in light. Giant shelves of products lined the walls. Several pallets and trucks were on their sides. In the center of the giant room was a word painted on the floor. Ian could not make out what it was from this distance.

Careful where you step,” Ian shouted. “There be other traps we haven’t seen yet.”

“Come on, at this point if something was going to happen, it would,” Paul said. “Let’s just keep moving forward and get your damn evidence.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Ian grew silent, watching his steps.

Unbeknownst to the duo, a figure stood behind one of the shelves, watching, wondering around. “Ahh, Blake, how interesting you actually showed up. It’s rare you even go out in the field anymore,” the figure said, holding a picture in his hand of Blake meeting with someone.

-Author Here
I split my chapters because they were almost 2,500, so hopefully this reads better, everyone 🙌