Subject 48

Monsters

I have counted the days up until now. We'd spent fourteen days in that room, the ten of us. When we were gathering people up to get into the safe room not many were coming. Not many were responding. It might have been wrong to leave them out there to die but I remember that day, how crazy and panicked everything was. All of us do. But I saw him. Subject 48. Except hadn't tried to come after me. He hadn't even put much thought into it. He turned and left, moving onwards to continue the chaos elsewhere in the lab.

That was when I heard Master's voice. He was calling for me. He had told me that Subject 48 had become something terrible. He was killing many of the scientists in the lab, practically eating them.

"I know it sounds crazy," Master had said to me, "but we arent--" and that's all he could say before I grabbed him by his arm. Master noticed the fear in my eyes was the same as in his. He thought I didn't believe him, but I did. The thing I couldn't believe was that 48 looked at me, no towards me, like I was no more than decor.

It's something I hate to look back on but there isn't much to think about. That was the last thing that happened before I and nine of the scientists who'd worked at the lab were locked in this tiny, dimly lit bunker.

I think I'm the reason Master is re-opening the heavy door. We have rations that could last us about another week but the panic room is cold. I'd spent almost my entire time in there sleeping. I had trouble waking up, but I'm fine now and that's good. I know Master shouldn't have to carry me, nor should anybody else. Plus, the others are pretty cold themselves.

When Master gives him the que, Mrs. Smith types in the passcode. She looks back at the group and asks one last time, "Are you sure it's safe?"

Master gives his final answer, "No, but we can't stay in here much longer."

Dr. Thompson, one of the scientists who made it down with us, walks up to the heavy door and readies himself. Mrs. Smith nods to Master and joins Dr. Thompson at the door.

They both push against the door and it opens gradually. I still can't believe I've lived in this panic room for two weeks. Now, I'm finally let back into the world.

Suddenly a hand flies up in front of me. I stop. Apparently I'd been walking towards the door. I guess I'm just a but too eager to get out. It had been Master who stopped me.

"We don't know what is out there," he warns us. "Subject 48 might still be out there."

Glass shatters in the back of the room. It startles Mrs. Smith. I know I should be calling them by their first name but Master has always told me to stick to formalities.

In the back of the room is Dr. Thompson. He's holding an axe, the one that was meant to be taken out of its glass box in a fire.

"That's why we must take extra precautions," he says in response to Master.

Following this, others grab any weapon they can find, mostly guns. I don't grab anything, nor am I given anything. I don't really care. It's not like he'll attack me anyways.

---([])---

Just like inside the panic room, the rest of the lab has no lights on and is only dimly lit by out lanterns and flashlights. We tried turning on lights but for some reason the power seemed to be out.

We need to find a way out of the lab. Well, I want to find a way out of this lab. I've been here for so long and I just want to leave. I want to see the world. In this moment it seems we all want to leave. There might still be a dangerous creature here. Subject 48 might still be here.

To cover more ground, we had been split into groups of three and four. I'm in the group of four. The other three are Dr. Thompson, Mrs. Smith, and none other than Master. Every group has one or two flashlights and the same number of walkie talkies. Walkie talkie. What a weird name. My group also has the axe from before, a pistol, and a shotgun. Voluntarily I am unarmed but insist on checking if some hallways are safe.

I peek around a corner and see a body. A bloody corpse. Surprisingly, there aren't as many of those around as I expected.

"Is it safe?" Mrs. Smith asks me. I nod.

"We should stop here for a bit," Dr. Thompson suggests. He holds his axe with his left hand, letting it rest on his shoulder. The axe is small so don't be imagining a battle axe.

"I agree," Master says calmly. "We need to figure out how we'll get out of this lab. We also need to prepare to fight Subject 48, if it is still here."

It? Did Master refer to Subject 48 as if he were an object? Perhaps I just don't understand what we're going up against here. Has 48 become more of a creature than a human being?

Something knocks me out of my daze. A figure emerges from the dark hallway behind the others. My eyes go wide. The figure looks human but odd and disfigured. Frightened, I jump forward and snatch the axe away from Dr. Thompson. With all the strength I can bring at this moment I swing the axe at the figure. It hits right in the side of it's head. Blood flies and the creature goes limp.

We all stand there, too scared to move. I'm not sure if it's dead. As I get a closer look I become less and less sure if it was even alive to begin with. It's skin is paler than pale and it's eyes had lost color a long while before this.

"What on Earth us that thing?" Mrs. Smith squeeked. Mrs. Smith typically has a lower voice, so this new tone is certainly unusual. She's scared; I can tell. Who wouldn't be in this situation.

Dr. Thompson tries his best to sound unshaken but fails when saying, "Whatever it is, it's not Subject 48." I lean in closer to get an even better look at the thing on the other side of the axe. I realize that Dr. Thompson is right. The creature may have similar features to 48, but this isn't him. This one is female.