For the first time in what felt like hours, the Humvee moved at a steady, controlled pace.

No mutants. No attacks.

Just the sound of the engine humming and the occasional rustling of trees in the distance.

Leon kept his hands on the wheel, though the rush of energy from before had mostly faded. His fingers still tingled slightly from the overload of electricity, but he ignored it.

Eric sat in the passenger seat, silent for once.

Dr. Carter, in the back, had finally relaxed.

“Are we close?” she asked, breaking the quiet.

Leon nodded. “A few more miles.”

A long exhale.

They had been on edge for so long that the absence of immediate danger almost felt unnatural.

As they drove, Leon’s thoughts drifted to the reason they were heading to Blackwood Facility in the first place.

It wasn’t just about finding a new bunker.

Their previous shelter, though safe for a while, had too many vulnerabilities.

Limited supplies. Poor defensive structures. And worst of all, discovered by mutants.

Leon knew they couldn’t risk staying in the same place for too long.

Blackwood was remote, buried deep in the forest, far from major population zones.

It had once been a research facility before the outbreak, rumored to have some of the most advanced tech and resources available.

If there was anywhere they could regroup, it was there.

The Humvee crested a small hill, and then...

There it was.

Blackwood Facility.

Or what was left of it.

The compound sat hidden within dense trees, its outer perimeter lined with towering metal fences, partially collapsed in places but still intact enough to be useful.

Beyond the fence, several low-rise buildings stretched across the area, their windows dark and empty.

A central tower loomed above the rest, its top half partially destroyed, exposing tangled metal and shattered glass.

The facility looked abandoned.

But was it?

Leon slowed the Humvee as they approached the main gate.

A sign hung crookedly, barely legible.

BLACKWOOD RESEARCH. AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY

Eric let out a low whistle. “Looks like a nice place to settle down.”

Dr. Carter frowned. “We don’t know what’s inside.”

Leon put the vehicle in park and stepped out, the others following.

The air was still.

No movement.

No sounds.

Just the faint rustling of the wind through the trees.

Leon’s fingers instinctively twitched, his body still adjusting to the heightened awareness his powers had given him.

“Alright,” he said. “First, we check for movement. Then we secure an entrance.”

Eric nodded, rifle in hand. “I’ll take left.”

Leon motioned to Dr. Carter. “Stay close.”

She gave a sharp nod.

And with that, they moved.

As they crept along the perimeter, Leon noticed subtle details that told a story.

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Bullet holes in the metal fencing.

Scorch marks near the entrance.

Dried blood smeared on the concrete.

Something happened here.

And it wasn’t just the outbreak.

It looked like someone tried to hold this place and failed.

Leon exhaled slowly.

He’d seen plenty of abandoned buildings since the world fell apart.

Some were empty.

Others?

Not so much.

As they neared the facility’s front doors, Dr. Carter suddenly froze.

“Wait,” she whispered.

Leon and Eric stopped immediately.

Dr. Carter held up her device, a modified scanner she had been using to detect bio-signatures.

The screen flickered.

Then...

A faint blip.

Something was inside.

Leon stared at the blip on Dr. Carter’s device.

It was faint, barely a reading at all.

But it was there.

Something or someone was inside Blackwood Facility.

He exchanged a glance with Eric.

“We go in slow,” Leon said. “Silent. No unnecessary noise.”

Eric nodded and tightened his grip on his rifle.

Dr. Carter hesitated. “What if it’s...”

Leon raised a hand to silence her.

No assumptions.

They had to see for themselves.

The front doors of the facility stood partially open, rusted at the hinges.

A faded biohazard warning was plastered on the wall beside them.

RESTRICTED AREA! BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH ZONE

AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY

Leon pressed his back against the wall and peered inside.

Darkness.

No movement.

Just rows of overturned desks and scattered debris.

A faint hum of old electronics echoed in the distance.

He motioned for the others to follow.

One step in.

Then another.

The floor was covered in dust and dried bloodstains, but no fresh tracks.

Whoever or whatever was inside wasn’t moving much.

Yet.

Leon raised his hand. “Clear the room first.”

Eric nodded and moved left, checking behind desks and broken equipment.

Leon moved right, scanning the corners with his enhanced senses.

No immediate threats.

Dr. Carter stayed close, gripping a small shock baton she had taken from their supplies.

For a bio-researcher, she adapted fast.

“See anything?” Eric whispered.

Leon shook his head. “Not yet.”

He glanced at the ceiling, no vents were open.

At the windows, glass shattered outward, not inward.

Whatever happened here, it was violent.

Then...

A low beep from Dr. Carter’s device.

Leon turned sharply. “What is it?”

She frowned. “The signal… it’s stronger now.”

A single hallway stretched deeper into the facility.

The overhead emergency lights flickered, casting long shadows on the floor.

A broken sign dangled from the ceiling:

SECTOR B – BIOLOGICAL STORAGE

Eric raised an eyebrow. “Sounds promising.”

Leon didn’t respond.

Something about this place felt wrong.

His body tingled, as if energy was reacting to something in the air.

Was it his powers?

Or something else?

“We move,” Leon said. “Stay sharp.”

As they walked down the hallway, Leon noticed more details.

Deep claw marks on the metal walls.

Blood smeared across an old security terminal.

A shattered containment pod in one of the side rooms.

Eric whistled. “Someone had a bad day.”

Leon didn’t respond.

His mind was already piecing together a story.

This facility wasn’t abandoned because of the outbreak.

Something else had torn through here before the world fell apart.

Something strong.

Something dangerous.

They reached a set of reinforced doors leading to Sector B.

A small keypad blinked red.

LOCKED.

Leon frowned. “Can you get us in?”

Dr. Carter stepped forward. “I’ll try.”

She began working on the panel, her fingers moving fast.

Eric kept watch, his rifle raised.

The faint blip on the scanner was now steadily pulsing.

Leon clenched his jaw.

Something was on the other side of that door.

And it was waiting.

Just as Dr. Carter was about to override the lock...

A low mechanical voice echoed through the hallway.

“WARNING: CONTAINMENT BREACH DETECTED IN SECTOR B.”

“HIGH-RISK ORGANISMS DETECTED.”

The keypad turned green.

The locks clicked open.

Leon’s eyes narrowed.

Whatever was inside...

It wanted them to come in.

Leon felt a chill run down his spine as the reinforced doors to Sector B slid open with a mechanical hiss.

The warning message still echoed in his head:

“CONTAINMENT BREACH DETECTED.”

The facility was supposed to be abandoned, yet something, or someone, had just let them in.

Eric adjusted his grip on his rifle. “This feels like a trap.”

Leon took a slow step forward. “Stay close. Weapons ready.”

Dr. Carter swallowed hard and checked her scanner again.

The blip on the screen was still there, faint, pulsing, but unmoving.

It wasn’t retreating.

It was waiting.

The room beyond the door was massive, stretching into dark corridors and shattered glass chambers.

Rows of containment pods lined the walls, their surfaces cracked, some shattered completely.

The air was thick with the scent of antiseptic and decay.

A faded sign hung above them:

BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH WING

⚠ RESTRICTED ACCESS ⚠

Leon moved ahead cautiously, scanning the area.

The floor was littered with old research files, broken IV tubes, and what looked like…

Claw marks.

Deep, jagged, and recent.

Eric tensed. “This place was ripped apart.”

Leon knelt down, brushing his fingers over one of the claw marks.

The metal was warped inward, as if something had punched through it with ease.

His grip on his dagger tightened.

This wasn’t the work of a normal infected.

This was something worse.

***

Dr. Carter’s voice was barely a whisper. “The signal is moving.”

Leon’s eyes flicked to her scanner.

The blip, previously unmoving, was now slowly approaching.

He exhaled sharply. “Get ready.”

Eric raised his rifle, taking a slow step backward.

The air shifted.

A cold, unnatural breeze brushed against them, impossible in a sealed facility.

Then...

A soft scraping sound echoed through the room.

Something was crawling.

Leon turned just in time to see a shadow slip through the broken containment pods.

A pair of dimly glowing eyes blinked once in the darkness, then vanished.

Leon’s muscles tensed.

They weren’t alone.

Whatever was here was studying them.

Testing them.

Hunting.

“We need to move,” Leon muttered.

Eric’s knuckles were white against his rifle. “Where?”

Leon looked ahead, toward the central data room at the far end of the hall.

“If this place still has power, we find out what happened here,” he said. “And we do it fast.”

Dr. Carter hesitated. “And if whatever’s watching us decides to stop hiding?”

Leon smirked.

“Then we give it a reason to regret it.”