The group moved in tense silence, navigating the dim maintenance corridor. Their only light came from the flickering emergency bulbs overhead, casting long shadows against the concrete walls. Each step echoed ominously, filling the space with a hollow sound that reminded them they were very much alone—and yet, watched.

Lex kept her flashlight beam low, her jaw clenched as they advanced further into the restricted part of the mall. Her mind was still reeling from the files they’d seen, their names listed as “test subjects” in some twisted military experiment. She’d seen enough to know they were in the heart of something dark and dangerous, but not enough to understand why it was happening.

“Where are we even going?” Maya whispered, hugging her arms close to her chest. The shadows seemed to press in from all sides, and the air felt thick with an unnatural chill.

“Somewhere they didn’t expect us to go,” Lex answered, her voice steady. “We need more information. If there’s a lab or anything that might give us answers, we’ll find it.”

Sophie’s face was pale as she kept glancing behind them, half-expecting soldiers or infected to come charging down the hall. “If they catch us again…”

“They won’t,” Lex cut her off, her voice hard. “We’re going to make sure of that.”

The corridor opened into a vast, dark room, the kind of space that didn’t belong in a regular mall. It was eerily quiet, with rows of steel tables and racks of medical equipment scattered haphazardly. Dark stains were splattered across the floor, and a metallic, acrid smell hung in the air.

Brandon’s voice was a hoarse whisper. “Is this… a lab?”

They moved in cautiously, each of them tense and alert as they took in their surroundings. Glass cabinets lined the walls, filled with syringes, medical tools, and vials of strange, dark liquids. Some of the cabinets held things that made their stomachs turn: severed limbs in jars, organs suspended in fluid, specimens labeled with serial numbers and codes.

Maya’s hand flew to her mouth, her eyes wide with horror. “Oh my god… they were experimenting on people here.”

Sophie moved closer to one of the tables, her face a mixture of fear and fascination as she scanned a row of opened files, each one stamped with the words “Subject Analysis” at the top. She picked one up, her hand trembling slightly as she flipped through the pages.

“These are profiles,” she whispered, her voice barely audible. “Detailed observations… physical responses, psychological changes. It’s like they were recording every aspect of these people’s lives, as if they were… data.”

Brandon leaned in, looking over her shoulder. “They wanted to know how the infection would spread… and how people would react under pressure.”

They continued to search the room, each of them struggling to understand the scope of what they were seeing. It was one thing to suspect that they were part of a military experiment; it was another to see the raw, clinical details in front of them.

Lex moved to the back of the room, her flashlight casting a beam over a wall covered in photos and documents pinned haphazardly in rows. She froze as she recognized some of the faces—faces of people they’d seen, people who hadn’t survived.

She called out to the others, her voice low. “Look at this.”

The others gathered around her, their expressions darkening as they took in the wall of photos and notes. Each face had a label underneath, some marked “Exposed,” others marked “Transformed,” and still others marked with the chilling word “Terminated.”

Damien clenched his fists as he recognized one of the photos—a young woman he’d seen only briefly in the early chaos, before she’d been swarmed by the infected. Her face was frozen in a terrified expression, a label next to her picture reading “Subject #019 – Unstable.”

“They did this to all of them,” Damien muttered, his voice trembling with rage. “Turned them into test subjects… like they were nothing.”

Lex ran her fingers over one of the photos, her voice barely more than a whisper. “They didn’t see us as people. They saw us as data points. Risks and rewards in their little game.”

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Brandon turned to Sophie, his voice urgent. “Can you find out who’s behind this? Anything on the scientists, the military unit… anything?”

Sophie nodded, turning back to the files and skimming through them as quickly as she could. Most of it was jargon—terms and codes that made little sense. But after a few minutes, she came across a document that caught her eye.

“This file… it’s titled ‘Primary Objective.’” She read through the lines, her eyes narrowing. “They’re developing a combat virus… a weapon. They wanted to see how it would spread in a controlled environment, how it would mutate and adapt. They were looking to create something unpredictable. Something that would push people beyond their limits.”

Maya shivered. “This isn’t just an experiment. It’s training. For… for some kind of biological warfare.”

They exchanged horrified glances as the reality sank in. The infected, the Psychos, the containment—they were all pieces of a larger plan, a rehearsal for using this virus in real-world combat. And they were the ones chosen to test its limits.

Sophie clicked through more files, her heart pounding as she saw more pieces of the experiment falling into place. “And we’re the ‘subjects’… people placed here to see how we’d react under extreme pressure, how we’d survive against impossible odds.”

Lex’s expression hardened. “They wanted to know how much we could take before we broke.”

Her words hung in the air, filling the room with a suffocating sense of dread. Each of them felt a surge of anger, their blood boiling as they realized just how coldly they’d been used. This wasn’t survival—it was a test, a carefully monitored experiment designed to push them past their limits and measure their responses.

Sophie reached for another file, flipping through it quickly before her face went pale. “It’s not just us. There are more subjects listed here… different phases, different groups. This mall isn’t the only site.”

Damien’s eyes narrowed. “So they’re running these experiments all over, with different people?”

“Looks like it,” Sophie replied, her voice grim. “They’ve set up multiple locations, all isolated, all designed to simulate different conditions. We’re just… one of many groups.”

Brandon shook his head, disbelief etched across his face. “They’re treating us like pieces on a board, moving us around to see what we’ll do.”

Lex clenched her fists, anger simmering beneath her steely gaze. “They think they’re in control. But we’re going to make them regret that assumption.”

A loud bang echoed from somewhere down the corridor, snapping them all to attention. The sound of heavy footsteps followed, growing louder and more distinct with each passing second.

“They’re coming,” Maya whispered, her face paling. “The soldiers—they’re coming for us.”

Lex motioned for everyone to get down, ducking behind a metal counter near the back of the room. They crouched low, barely daring to breathe as the footsteps grew closer. Shadows flickered across the doorway, and a beam of light swept through the room, scanning the walls and tables.

The soldier’s voice came over the intercom, cold and methodical. “Target area confirmed. Subjects are to be contained and returned to Phase Two testing. Neutralize if necessary.”

Lex’s jaw tightened as she glanced at the others, her mind racing. They couldn’t afford to be captured; if they were dragged back, there was no telling what new horrors they’d be subjected to. She gestured for them to move quietly toward the back exit, praying the soldiers wouldn’t notice them.

Just as they reached the door, another soldier entered the room, his eyes scanning for any sign of movement. He took a step forward, his flashlight beam sweeping dangerously close to their hiding spot.

Damien gripped a metal rod tightly, his knuckles white as he prepared to defend himself if it came to that. Sophie held her breath, her heart pounding in her chest as the soldier came closer, his boots thudding against the floor.

Then, in a stroke of luck, the soldier’s radio crackled, drawing his attention. He lifted the device to his ear, muttering something before turning and walking back toward the hallway.

As soon as he was gone, Lex motioned for the others to follow her. They moved swiftly through the back exit, slipping down another maintenance corridor. The moment they were out of earshot, they broke into a sprint, each of them driven by a mix of fear and fury.

They didn’t stop running until they reached a small service hallway, ducking behind a stack of boxes to catch their breath. Each of them was winded, their faces pale and their breaths coming in short, sharp gasps. But there was something else in their eyes now—a fierce determination, a newfound resolve.

Lex looked at each of them, her voice low but strong. “We know what they’re doing now. We know what they’re capable of. But we’re not going to let them break us. We’re going to keep fighting, and we’re going to make sure they regret choosing us as their ‘test subjects.’”

Maya nodded, her expression hardening. “We’ll show them what we’re made of.”

Brandon clenched his fists, his face set in grim determination. “They want us to play their game. Fine. But we’ll do it on our terms.”

The group huddled closer, sharing a moment of quiet resolve. They had seen the true scope of the experiment, the twisted machinery behind the infection and the Psychos, and they knew there was no going back. But they also knew they were stronger than anyone had given them credit for—and they would make sure the people behind this experiment realized that.

As they gathered their courage and prepared to move forward, a single thought echoed in each of their minds: They were done being prey. From now on, they would be the ones hunting.