The survivors stood in stunned silence on the edge of the ravine, their breaths coming in ragged gasps as they stared down into the darkness below. The creature was gone, swallowed by the abyss, but the sense of victory was fleeting. The ground beneath them felt unstable, as if it might give way at any moment, and the reality of their situation weighed heavily on all of them.

Palesa was the first to speak, her voice a low murmur that barely broke the silence. “We need to keep moving. This place isn’t safe.”

Corey nodded, though his mind was still reeling from the harrowing escape. The adrenaline was beginning to wear off, leaving behind a bone-deep exhaustion that threatened to drag him down. But there was no time to rest, no time to recover.

“Where do we go now?” Ornelas asked, his voice shaky. He glanced around, his eyes wide with fear and uncertainty. The landscape around them was harsh and unforgiving—jagged rocks, sparse vegetation, and an endless expanse of barren earth stretching out in every direction.

D’Souza took a deep breath, his eyes scanning the horizon. “We head west. There’s a research facility about twenty miles from here. It’s abandoned now, but it was once used for VX-9 experiments. If we can reach it, we might find something useful—maybe even answers.”

“Answers?” Corey asked, narrowing his eyes. “What kind of answers?”

D’Souza hesitated, his gaze flicking towards Ntlentle before returning to Corey. “I didn’t want to say anything before, but... there were rumours, back when the outbreak started. Rumours that the VX-9 virus wasn’t just a cure gone wrong. Some people think it was part of something bigger—a weapon, a test. And the facility we’re heading to... it might hold some of the truth.”

Corey’s blood ran cold at the thought. He had always suspected there was more to the outbreak than just a medical mishap, but to hear it confirmed—especially from someone like D’Souza—was unsettling.

“But the facility’s been abandoned for years,” Palesa said, frowning. “If there were any answers there, wouldn’t they have been found by now?”

“Maybe,” D’Souza admitted, his tone grim. “Or maybe the people who found those answers didn’t live to share them.”

A heavy silence fell over the group as the implications of D’Souza’s words sank in.

“We need to move,” D’Souza said finally, his voice snapping them out of their thoughts. “The sooner we reach the facility, the better.”

Corey nodded, steeling himself for the journey ahead. “Let’s go.”

They set off across the barren landscape, their footsteps crunching on the dry, cracked earth. The sun hung low in the sky, casting long shadows that stretched across the ground like skeletal fingers. The air was dry and hot, the heat oppressive as it beat down on them without mercy.

For hours, they trudged onward, the landscape around them unchanged. There was no sign of life, no sign of the dead—just an endless expanse of rock and dust. The silence was eerie, broken only by the occasional gust of wind that sent loose stones skittering across the ground.

After what felt like an eternity, the landscape began to change. The barren earth gave way to a rocky incline, and in the distance, the outline of a structure became visible—a low, squat building half-buried in the side of a hill.

“There it is,” D’Souza said, pointing to the facility. “That’s where we’re headed.”

As they approached the building, Corey noticed that it was in a state of disrepair—crumbling walls, broken windows, and a thick layer of dust covering everything. It was clear that no one had been here in years.

But as they neared the entrance, something caught his eye—a faint glow emanating from one of the windows. It was barely visible in the daylight, but it was there, flickering faintly like the dying embers of a fire.

“Did you see that?” Corey asked, his voice tense as he pointed to the window.

D’Souza frowned, his eyes narrowing as he followed Corey’s gaze. “I see it. Could be a power source still running—or someone inside.”

“Someone?” Ornelas echoed, his voice tinged with fear. “Who would still be out here?”

Palesa shook her head, her expression wary. “Only one way to find out.”

They approached the entrance cautiously, their weapons at the ready. The door was ajar, creaking on its hinges as they pushed it open and stepped inside.

The interior of the facility was dark and musty, the air thick with the smell of mildew and decay. The walls were lined with old, rusted machinery, and broken glass crunched underfoot as they moved deeper into the building.

The faint glow that Corey had seen outside was coming from further inside, drawing them forward like a beacon. The hallway led them to a large room, where the remnants of what looked like a laboratory were scattered across the floor—broken beakers, shattered monitors, and papers strewn everywhere.

But it was the source of the light that held their attention.

In the centre of the room stood a large, cylindrical chamber made of thick, reinforced glass. Inside the chamber, a faint blue light pulsed rhythmically, casting an eerie glow across the room.

“What the hell is that?” Palesa whispered, her eyes wide as she stared at the chamber.

D’Souza approached the chamber cautiously, his hand resting on the hilt of his pistol. “Looks like some kind of containment unit. But for what?”

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As they drew closer, Corey could make out the shape of something inside the chamber—a shadowy figure, motionless and silent, suspended in the bluish glow.

“It’s... it’s a person,” Ornelas said, his voice barely audible.

Corey’s heart skipped a beat as he realised his brother was right. There was someone—or something—inside the chamber, sealed away behind layers of reinforced glass and pulsing blue light.

D’Souza leaned closer, his eyes narrowing as he studied the figure. “It’s not just a person,” he said, his voice tight with apprehension. “Look at its skin. It’s... it’s decayed.”

Corey felt a wave of nausea wash over him as he saw what D’Souza meant. The figure inside the chamber was unmistakably human, but its skin was mottled and pale, showing signs of advanced decomposition. It was a horrific sight, one that sent chills down Corey’s spine. But there was something else about the figure that made his unease deepen—it was too well-preserved, too controlled, as if the decay had been halted at a certain point, leaving the figure in a state between life and death.

“This isn’t natural,” Corey whispered, stepping closer to the glass. “It’s like... it’s been kept this way on purpose.”

Ntlentle’s brow furrowed as she moved around the chamber, inspecting the various wires and tubes connected to it. “They were experimenting on it,” she said, her voice laced with disgust. “Keeping it in stasis, maybe trying to understand the virus... or control it.”

D’Souza grimaced, his hand tightening around the pistol at his side. “This isn’t just a containment unit; it’s a lab experiment. Whoever was here was trying to figure out how to weaponise the virus. Maybe even enhance it.”

Ornelas took a step back, the colour draining from his face. “You mean... they were trying to make the virus even worse?”

Corey’s mind raced as he tried to make sense of what they were seeing. If the VX-9 virus had been engineered as a weapon, then this facility might have been ground zero for those experiments. The figure in the chamber was likely one of their test subjects—someone who had been infected, preserved, and studied for some dark purpose.

“We need to find out more,” Corey said, his voice firm despite the fear gnawing at him. “There has to be records, data... something that can tell us what they were doing here.”

D’Souza nodded, already scanning the room for anything that might hold answers. “Palesa, check the computers. See if there’s anything we can access. The rest of you, search the lab for any files or documents. We need to know what we’re dealing with.”

Palesa moved to the nearest terminal, her fingers flying over the dusty keyboard as she attempted to power up the system. The screen flickered to life, casting an eerie glow across her face as she navigated through the old files.

Meanwhile, Corey and Ornelas began sifting through the debris on the floor, searching for anything that might provide clues. Most of the papers were damaged beyond recognition, the ink smeared and the pages torn. But as Corey dug deeper, he found a binder tucked away beneath a pile of shattered glass.

He opened it carefully, his heart pounding as he scanned the contents. The binder was filled with notes, diagrams, and reports—documentation of the experiments that had been conducted in the facility. The language was clinical, detached, describing the subjects as “infected specimens” and detailing the various stages of the experiments.

“Corey,” Ornelas said softly, holding up a sheet of paper he had found among the wreckage. “Look at this.”

Corey took the paper from his brother, his eyes widening as he read the title at the top of the page: Project Lazarus: Phase II

“What is it?” D’Souza asked, stepping closer to inspect the document.

“It’s a report on something called Project Lazarus,” Corey explained, his voice tense. “It looks like they were experimenting with the VX-9 virus, trying to see if they could use it to bring people back from the dead—like a form of controlled reanimation.”

“Controlled reanimation?” Palesa echoed, her eyes widening. “You mean, they were trying to create zombies on purpose?”

Corey nodded, his stomach twisting in knots as he continued to read. “But it gets worse. The report mentions something about... enhancements. They were trying to make the subjects stronger, faster, more intelligent. Like the creatures we’ve been seeing.”

D’Souza’s face darkened, his expression grim. “So the creatures we’ve been fighting—they’re not just random mutations. They’re the result of this... Project Lazarus.”

Ornelas swallowed hard, his voice barely above a whisper. “They created them. They’re responsible for all of this.”

Corey felt a surge of anger and disgust as he stared at the binder in his hands. The people who had worked here had played with forces they didn’t understand, experimenting on human beings and turning them into monsters. And now, those monsters were loose in the world, threatening to wipe out what little remained of humanity.

“We need to destroy this place,” Corey said, his voice shaking with anger. “We can’t let any of this fall into the wrong hands. If someone else finds this research—”

“We don’t have enough explosives to take down the whole facility,” D’Souza interrupted, his tone hard. “But we can make sure no one else follows in their footsteps. We’ll gather whatever data we can, then burn the rest.”

Palesa looked up from the terminal, her expression troubled. “I’ve found some files that might be useful. Logs, test results, but... there’s something else here. A communication log from just before the facility was abandoned.”

Corey’s pulse quickened as he moved to stand beside her, his eyes scanning the screen. The log was brief, but its contents sent a chill down his spine:

“Project Lazarus has exceeded expectations. Subjects show significant improvements in cognitive function and physical capabilities. Phase III approved. Prepare for extraction.”

“Extraction?” Corey repeated, his mind racing. “They were planning to move the experiments somewhere else?”

Palesa nodded, her fingers flying over the keyboard as she dug deeper. “It looks like they were preparing to transfer the research to another location—a more secure facility. But there’s no record of where that facility is.”

“They must have known the risk,” D’Souza said, his voice grim. “If these things got out...”

He was interrupted by a sudden noise—a faint, almost imperceptible sound coming from somewhere deeper in the facility. It was a low, rhythmic tapping, like the sound of metal on stone.

“What was that?” Ornelas asked, his eyes wide with fear.

“Quiet,” D’Souza whispered, holding up a hand for silence. The group froze, straining to hear the sound again.

The tapping continued, growing louder and more insistent. It was coming from somewhere nearby, echoing through the walls like the slow, steady beat of a drum.

“We’re not alone,” Corey whispered, his heart racing. “Something’s still here.”

Palesa quickly shut down the terminal, her movements tense and hurried. “We need to get out of here. Now.”

But before they could move, the tapping stopped, replaced by a low, guttural growl that sent a wave of terror through the group. It was a sound they had heard before—the sound of the creatures, the enhanced undead that had torn through Sanctuary.

“They’ve found us,” D’Souza said, his voice tight with urgency. “Move! Back to the entrance!”

The survivors scrambled to gather the files and data they had found, stuffing them into their bags as they prepared to flee. The growling grew louder, closer, as if the creatures were closing in from all sides.

Corey grabbed Ornelas’s arm, pulling him toward the door. “Come on! We have to move!”

But as they turned to leave, the door to the lab suddenly slammed shut, sealing them inside.

“Who closed the door?” Palesa asked, her voice rising in panic as she ran to the control panel next to the door, frantically pressing buttons. But the door remained sealed, the lights on the panel flashing red.

“We’re locked in,” D’Souza said, his tone grim as he turned to face the others. “It’s a trap.”