Humanity's Peacekeepers

Level B4f [ 9 : ДЕВЯТЬ ]

- Игорь // Igor -

I had already looked at every subdivision of B4—only B4f had solid ground. The others were exactly like B4a, with the horrible wire-mesh walkways.

Jack was still collapsed on the ground after all this time. I dragged him out of the lift with ease somehow (a bronze statue his size would be was 4 000 kilograms, at least), and onto the cement floor on B4f.

This place was massive, with steel-plated walls and many different rooms. It had walls and clear divisions, but only a few feet tall. Bright lights were all the way at the ceiling, though there were some installed on the walls down here, too.

There was a clear path from the elevator to the end, with 3 rooms on the left and right. Moving clockwise, starting from the closest room to my left were:

1) A computer room, with 6 different desktop computers and a cabinet with 12 laptops. A still-functioning analog clock was displayed on a wall-mounted TV screen in green, with the date and time:

————————————
1 7 : 4 1 : 2 1
2238 - 10 - 10
05:41 PM UTC -05:00
————————————

2) A laboratory of some kind. It had a big weird cuboid of cement which was about 6 by 4 by 4 feet in dimensions. It also had a rack of surgical tools, a rack of power tools(?), a huge computer-like machine, another huge machine with switches and buttons, dozens of disconnected colored cables in the cabinets, as well as dusty stationery and a journal on a desk. I'd show it to Jack once he wakes up.

3) A storage room for different equipment and apparatuses. It had empty flasks, test tubes, and loads of chemicals and metals, all labeled, arranged, and gathering evil little dust bunnies. "Y'all are everywhere." I snickered.

4) It was a- "AAAAAA-"

I started screaming but shut my mouth immediately after. My voice reverberated throughout all 6 floors, bouncing and echoing off the walls for a solid 10 seconds.

"..." I turned around to check on Jack.

He was still out cold... somehow.

"......"

That was... embarassing... My face would be red if I had blood vessels.

I inhaled deeply, held my breath, and kept quiet. I would vomit if I physically could.

...There was a skeleton. Right there. On the floor. In front of me.

Not an anatomical dummy; I'm not dense, okay. It was a legitimate, very real human skeleton, not attached together with wire.

Underneath was a rust-colored patch of dried blood, while spider webs filled his or her ribcage. The bones had yellowed and browned, and a front tooth was missing.

"...Hah..." I exhaled after looking at it for... who knows how long. I am not the bravest Peacekeeper, I can confirm. I already completely lost my shit when the walkway fell earlier, was completely petrified half the time, sobbing my eyes out.

...Speaking of which... The walls were only so tall, as mentioned before. I looked around, and saw what was left of the wire-mesh path, partially lodged into the wall 2 storeys above, on about B4d.

"...He could have died... or something..." I whispered. "Let's... not let that happen again, Igor..."

...Ahem, moving on.

4) A... pantry, I think? What was left of a pantry, I guess. It doesn't make sense, but it also does, kind of.

There were lots of empty cans and water bottles in trash bags, and Mr./Mrs. Carcass over there might've run out of food while trying to survive post–asteroid-impact. The cabinets and shelves were all empty, with, you guessed it, more dust bunnies and cobwebs.

Otherwise, maybe this stash was here if anyone wanted to work continuously for over 8 hours? I don't know.

5) A bedroom? Or a ward? This was really, really weird. There were four dusty hospital beds, with a pillow and a blanket on each of them. There was also a bathroom in the corner, which has a toilet, a sink, and a shower.

Why on Earth would anyone need a ward here, 90 feet underground?

6) An emergency staircase. This was next to the elevator, which, I assume, would lead up to B3b.

It seemed odd to have this much stuff around on B4f, and for there to be more subdivisions from B4a to -e. Those floors only had walkways (with an emphasis on "had" for B4a...), though it was hard to tell from all the way down here.

If there's more rooms up there, we won't be able to reach them, I thought to myself.

I went back to Jack, still asleep on the dusty floor. It felt wrong to just leave him there. "Hm..."

I decided to (and miraculously was somehow still able to) carry him over to the ward. Since we weren't human, I put a mattress on the ground, then lain him onto it along with a pillow. If the walkway collapsed, then the bedframe would get absolutely decimated under his weight.

"Mmm..." he murmured softly, and grabbed the gray pillow.

He must be really, really exhausted. I yawned just from looking at him. Hoisting him up and dragging him around so much had used up all my energy. A bronze statue like him would be, again, 0.4 metric tons in weight, by the way.

I grabbed another mattress and pillow, and lain it next to his. Some rest wouldn't hurt anyone, right?

"Good night, dust bunnies," I whispered, jokingly. "And you too, Jackster."

— END OF ACT 1 // КОНЕЦ АКТ 1 —