The warehouse entrance consisted of a pair of double sheet-metal doors. The neglected hinges were thick with rust, held together precariously by a single corroded bolt. The gap between the doors wasn't wide, but it was enough for Byrne to get a general sense of the interior.
The inside was a chaotic mess, littered with broken wooden crates and scattered spare parts. Dust covered every surface, and the air hung heavy with a pungent, biting stench—a mix of decay and iron rust.
The sounds he had heard earlier weren't from a person, but from a few scavenging rats. Byrne exhaled in relief and gave Selena a "clear" signal before reaching for the bolt. With a gentle pull, the bolt gave way.
He pushed the doors open, kicking up a cloud of dust. Fortunately, the two of them stepped back in time, and with their masks on, they were spared the worst of it. Once the dust settled, they stepped cautiously inside. Aside from the rats that had scurried away in fright, the warehouse was devoid of life.
Selena let out a breath. "This is the last room in the outpost. Since there's nothing here, the people who attacked Leo and Tiny must really be gone."
Byrne shook his head. "Don't drop your guard. Just because they left doesn't mean this place is safe. Let's split up and search for any overlooked supplies, then get out of here as fast as we can."
They moved in opposite directions and began their search. After a few minutes, Byrne found that most of the wooden crates were so rotted they crumbled to dust at a touch. Inside were either rusted clumps of mechanical parts or long-spoiled goods—none of it held any value.
Byrne kicked a half-open crate with the toe of his boot, releasing a cloud of grayish-black mold and a sickening odor. He wrinkled his nose and recoiled.
Tch, what a waste of time.
"Nothing but useless junk on my end," Byrne called out. "Selena, how about you?"
"Nothing so far," Selena replied, staring dejectedly at a set of empty shelves. The metal racks were rusted and warped, with no sign that anything useful had been stored there in years.
Could the outpost really be picked clean? They had come here hoping for water and rations. If they found nothing, the next outpost was over two hundred kilometers away—an impossible distance given their current supplies.
No, I can't give up yet, Selena thought, adjusting her mindset.
She stopped looking at the obvious crates and shelves and began checking the floor beneath the debris. After moving a few scraps, she spotted a trail of dried, bloody footprints. Following the trail, she quickly found a hidden alcove.
Unlike the chaos outside, this alcove was relatively clean. The bloody prints led straight to a corner where a metal cabinet stood.
Byrne, still empty-handed, was about to go find Selena when he heard her excited shout.
"Byrne! Get over here! Look what I found!"
Byrne called back and hurried over. In the alcove stood a metal cabinet nearly two meters tall, covered in dark, greenish-black rust. The doors were locked tight with a brass padlock. Byrne tried it, but the lock was rusted shut. Signaling Selena to step back, he fired two shots into the lock.
With the padlock shattered, Byrne pulled the doors open. Most of the shelves were empty, but a small section contained a few items. He did a quick inventory: four boxes of protein bars, two blocks of Grox-meat bricks, and several bags of dehydrated algae flakes.
It wasn't much, but finding food was a win. Unfortunately, there was no water.
His eyes drifted to the bloody footprints at the base of the cabinet. To a casual observer, the prints seemed to just stop there. To Byrne, it looked like someone had stood before the cabinet to activate a mechanism.
He leaned in, searching the side of the cabinet. Sure enough, he found a concealed button. Upon pressing it, the entire metal cabinet receded into the wall, revealing a pitch-black tunnel.
"I can't believe there's a tunnel hidden here," Selena said, amazed.
Byrne took out his torch from the night before, relit it, and thrust it into the opening. The bloody footprints reappeared, leading deeper into the passage. Since they had found a hidden path, there was no reason not to investigate.
Checking the structural integrity of the entrance, Byrne turned to her. "Selena, stay here and keep watch. I'm going down."
Selena opened her mouth to argue, but seeing Byrne's firm headshake, she sighed. "Fine. Be careful. Call me if anything happens."
Byrne grunted in response and ducked into the tunnel. He had expected it to be damp, but the air inside was surprisingly dry. He moved forward in a crouch, his torchlight dancing against the narrow walls and stretching his shadow into distorted shapes. Occasional faint markings were carved into the walls—primitive trail markers.
After about thirty meters, the passage opened up enough for him to stand upright. He touched the wall; it was cold and hard—not simple earth, but concrete mixed with crushed stone, still bearing the scrape marks of tools.
Byrne continued for another hundred meters when he caught a scent—the distinct metallic odor of a boiler. He instinctively slowed his pace, hand moving to the pistol at his back, eyes scanning the darkness.
Does this lead to a secret underground factory?
He moved with extreme stealth, his boots making almost no sound. The torch only illuminated a few meters ahead, leaving the rest of the world in shadow.
The tunnel eventually opened into a massive space roughly the size of a basketball court. Byrne raised his torch. In the center of the subterranean chamber stood a massive furnace, over ten meters high.
And there, kneeling before the furnace, was a skeleton. The final bloody footprint stopped right at the bleached bones' feet.