Infected Realms

Chapter 3: Descent into Darkness

The facility was in complete darkness, save for the faint emergency lights casting eerie red shadows across the hallways. Evelyn, Dr. Marcos, and Maya huddled around a small desk lamp they had managed to grab from the control room, the dim glow barely enough to illuminate their faces.

"What do we do?" Marcos whispered, his voice trembling. His normally confident demeanor had crumbled under the weight of what they had just witnessed.

Evelyn glanced at the screen of Maya's smartwatch again, the energy spikes still erratic and shifting across the facility's map. "We need to figure out how to stop this," she said, trying to steady her own nerves. "But first, we need power back on."

Maya nodded in agreement. "The backup generators should've kicked in by now, but it looks like whatever is happening is interfering with the electrical grid. I'll check the maintenance room, see if I can manually restart it."

"Not alone," Evelyn said quickly. "We go together. We don't know how far this has spread."

The corridors outside the control room felt unnaturally still, the air thick with an oppressive silence that was only broken by the soft tapping of their footsteps. The facility, which had once buzzed with activity, now seemed like a haunted, empty shell. Evelyn couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched.

"Do you think Jeremy did this?" Marcos asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

"I don't know," Evelyn replied, her eyes scanning every shadow. "But whatever happened to him... it's not natural."

As they neared the maintenance room, a low growl echoed from somewhere deep in the facility, a sound that made Evelyn's skin crawl. Maya quickened her pace, reaching the door and pushing it open. The room was small and cluttered with tools, wires, and equipment. In the center of the room sat the main power control panel.

Maya moved to the panel and began flipping switches, her hands shaking slightly. "Come on, come on," she muttered under her breath.

The lights flickered back on for a brief second, then shut off again.

"What the hell?" Marcos said, stepping closer to look at the controls.

Maya frowned. "Something's overriding the system. I can't get it to stay on."

Evelyn felt a wave of frustration and fear wash over her. "Then we need to figure out what's doing this. Whatever it is, it's spreading."

Suddenly, there was a loud crash from the hallway behind them. All three of them froze.

"Did you hear that?" Marcos whispered, his eyes wide.

They turned slowly toward the door, the faint emergency lights casting just enough of a glow for them to see the shadow of a figure moving down the hall.

It wasn't Jeremy.

The figure moved slowly, almost shuffling, its body hunched over. As it came closer, Evelyn could see its face—one of the other participants from the sleep study. His eyes were wide open, unblinking, and his skin had taken on a sickly grayish hue. He looked like he hadn't slept in weeks.

"Is that... Carson?" Maya whispered, her voice trembling.

Evelyn nodded slowly, her heart pounding in her chest. Carson, one of the quieter participants, hadn't shown any signs of distress during the study. But now, his body was contorted, moving in jerky, unnatural motions as he made his way toward them.

Marcos took a step back. "We need to get out of here."

But before they could move, Carson's head snapped toward them, his eyes locking onto their location. In an instant, he lunged forward, his mouth open in a silent scream.

"Run!" Evelyn shouted, shoving Marcos out of the way as Carson barreled toward them.

They scrambled out of the maintenance room, their footsteps echoing through the hallway as Carson followed, his body moving faster and faster with each passing second. Evelyn's lungs burned as they rounded a corner, slamming through a set of double doors and into another wing of the facility.

"Keep going!" Maya yelled, pulling ahead as they dashed down the corridor. But as they reached the end of the hall, they were met with another horrifying sight.

More participants.

They stood, swaying in the middle of the hallway, their eyes wide and vacant, their skin pale and gray. All of them were moving in the same jerky, unnatural way as Carson. And they were blocking the only exit.

"What the hell is happening?" Marcos gasped, backing away from the advancing group.

"We need to find another way out," Maya said, her voice strained with panic.

Evelyn's mind raced as she tried to think of a solution. But before she could, the infected participants lunged at them all at once, their movements violent and relentless.

In the chaos, Evelyn spotted a side door leading to the stairwell. "This way!" she yelled, grabbing Maya's arm and pulling her toward it.

They crashed through the door, slamming it shut behind them just as the infected participants reached the door. Evelyn held her breath as the sound of their bodies slamming against the door filled the stairwell.

For now, they were safe.

But as she glanced at Maya and Marcos, she knew one thing for certain: whatever had happened to Jeremy was spreading. And it was only a matter of time before they were next.