11 years after KholmLocation — Sunbridge CitadelDate — Unknown
In the depths of the earth, near the core of the planet, the only place where heat still remains. A blonde-haired woman carried a man shoulder to shoulder, his body was heavy and difficult to drag.
They were in a wide corridor, the walls were white and stained with blood. Red handprints dragged across the place, as if someone had fought for their life just moments ago.
The lights were faulty, the corridor was dark in some places. Many metal structures lay within the walls, after all the facility was very deep underground, deeper than any ocean trench.
The man being carried had black bandages over his eyes, but not because he was blind, he simply could not open them. The world he would find would be horrible, and he did not want to hurt the woman beside him.
— Just a little more, we're almost there...
The woman's attention was taken by a growl approaching from behind.
It seemed to be a large and furry creature, a chill ran down her spine as she swallowed dry.
When she turned, she came face to face with a Boreal unit.
More specifically, a four-legged bio-weapon that was once called a gray wolf. But now they were nothing more than blind creatures driven by smell and sound, their fur was very thick and large.
The Boreal unit opened its mouth, drooling endlessly, some holes in its body stained its fur with blood.
It seemed it had been in a fight earlier.
It emitted a rotten smell, like a corpse that refused to die, it already stank like one.
— Fuck, why won't you die!
The woman turned, holding a pistol in her hands. Her golden hair reflected against her magenta eyes.
Her hands were covered in blood, but they did not tremble or hesitate at any moment.
When the Boreal unit advanced, she fired, but that thing was far too persistent to die from gunshots to the body.
Crack! — The creature bit the woman's left arm.
Its bite force was strong, you could feel the teeth sinking into her bones like sharp knives.
But the woman did not waste time, even before the unit began to pull, she aimed the pistol at the creature's head.
PATH!!!
The sound of the shot echoed dry through the corridor.
A hole was blown open in the creature's head, making it collapse to the ground.
— How many units do they still have? — She pushed the creature's body with her legs.
That desolate place gave no rest to the living.
Without even giving the woman time to assess the situation, footsteps were heard in the distance. It was a squad of armed Sunbridge soldiers.
The woman did not waste time and grabbed her companion to run from that place, but her bitten arm hindered her too much.
— It's them, open fire!!!
The sound of ammunition casings hitting the ground filled the corridor.
The woman and her companion were grazed by a few shots, but as long as they were not hit in the legs or head, they would keep running.
— Come on Félix, pull yourself together.
Outside the corridor, the alarm noise drowned out any other sound. The lights flashed red without stopping.
[Alert!!! All personnel proceed to the ejection capsules!!]
[Alert!!! All personnel proceed to the ejection capsules!!]
— Fuck, give it a break.
They rushed down the stairs, beside them the facility put on its own show. Nothing pleasant to see, just a cluster of bodies scattered across the ground while Haemophagos consumed the blood.
They are not very aggressive, so as long as they are not disturbed while feeding, everything would be fine.
But they could be useful.
— Fire!!
The soldiers began shooting at them again from the top of the stairs, but some shots were deliberately aimed at the Haemophagos.
Their irrational bodies quickly gave in to fury, without thinking they rushed to attack the woman.
The pistol's bullets were running out, every shot had to be precise, she needed to find a safe place to reload.
The soldiers were getting closer and the creatures were already beside her. Félix could not fight in that state, and she was too injured to go hand-to-hand.
KRACK!!
A piece of metal was thrown, cutting the Haemophago in front of her and embedding itself into the wall. It was too large and heavy for a human to have thrown.
In the blink of an eye, a figure in black clothes appeared, striking another creature with both feet.
The force and brutality crushed the creature's head as if it were paper. Its brains spread across the wall, painting everything red.
It was a woman with long black hair, her clothes were torn and dirty. Her right arm was not there, in its place there was only a piece of her uniform sleeve with the edge soaked in blood.
Her face was too white, almost pale. Dozens of cuts were spread across her body, hot vapor emanated from the wounds.
— What are you...
— Why are you standing still!?
She turned, her eyes were yellow like two eclipses. It was like looking at the sun itself, she even emitted heat.
— Get out of here now!!!
The soldiers saw the situation from the top of the stairs, some hesitated when they saw who had appeared.
— Sir... — He swallowed dry. — Isn't that the commander?
The squad leader took a deep breath.
— Problems just keep appearing. — He reloaded his weapon. — They better have finished the death certificate... Our enemy is an Ash.
The Haemophagos kept coming, but that woman killed them with extreme ease, even without using any weapon.
— Take him to the capsule, I'll deal with that bunch of bastards up there.
— And you?
The black-haired woman had some tics, it was as if her body did not want to obey her orders.
— Alice, you know I can't hear anything in this state. — Her eyes trembled as if she were about to lose control. — Leave before I mistake you for a ball of flesh.
Alice nodded, reloaded the pistol and began running toward the capsules.
Her path was clear, all the personnel ahead of her were dead, there was no one left to get in her way.
In the distance, the sound of gunfire was desperate, but no one there could tell what was worse.
Whether it was the humans or the creatures they created.
The ejection capsules departed through underground galleries connected to other parts of the citadel. They were the fastest way to escape in case of disaster, the only problem was that they were designed for disasters caused by biological weapons.
No one would think that a human and a bio-weapon could cause so many problems.
Alice placed Félix inside the capsule and made the preparations to depart.
[Initiating ejection countdown][30 seconds to ejection]
The engines were activated, the capsule was functioning correctly.
Alice sat beside Félix.
— Just a little more and we're getting out of this hell.
[20 seconds to ejection]
— Félix?
He did not respond, his heart was not beating and heat had stopped emanating from his body.
[10 seconds to ejection]
Alice smiled in complete nervousness.
— Don't mess with me, you know I don't like this...
She shook his body, but he did not react.
— Please Félix, wake up!
[3 seconds to ejection]
— Please, we're already at the finish line...
Her voice was choked, tears kept flowing from her magenta eyes.
— Please, please, please.
She gave small hits to Félix's chest.
[Disconnecting platform]
[Destination set to zone A]
— I'm here, please wake up! — Sob. — Félix! Félix!!!
The capsule shot like a bullet through the underground galleries of the citadel.
Alice still held Félix's body while screaming his name.
But it was not always like this.
11 years ago, everything was different, when no one knew what was happening around them.
When everything was new, and when everyone thought that humanity's greatest problem was the planet earth drifting away from the sun.