– Blackout
The Black Shield helicopter thundered across the night sky.
Rain hammered against the windows as Breddy sat silently in the cargo bay.
His rifle rested across his knees.
Raven's combat knife was clipped to his belt.
Colonel Graves looked over.
"You've got ten minutes before we reach the insertion point."
Breddy nodded.
"...I need to change."
The Colonel motioned toward a small equipment compartment at the rear of the helicopter.
"You've got five."
---
Breddy stepped inside and locked the door.
The compartment was cramped, lit only by a dim red emergency light.
He removed his battered Walmart tactical vest and laid it on a bench.
He smiled faintly.
"You've been through a lot with me."
His eyes drifted to an old wooden floor panel bolted into the compartment.
It looked... out of place.
Curious, he grabbed a pry bar from a nearby tool kit.
CRACK!
The board came loose.
Hidden beneath it was a waterproof military storage case.
Breddy's eyebrows rose.
"Well..."
He opened the case.
Inside...
Everything was black.
A black Walmart Asset Protection (AP) tactical security vest, custom-built with reinforced armor panels, rifle magazine pouches, medical kit holders, and a heavy-duty utility belt.
Across the chest...
The familiar Walmart Spark logo remained.
Below it...
The words:
ASSET PROTECTION
Folded neatly beneath the vest were:
- Black cargo pants.
- Black Walmart security boots with reinforced toes.
- Black combat gloves.
- A black long-sleeve compression shirt.
- Black elbow and knee pads.
- A lightweight tactical headset.
There was even a black Walmart security badge tucked into one of the vest pockets.
Breddy smiled.
"I forgot I hid this..."
Years ago, before the first outbreak, he had started designing a second vest.
One meant for security.
One he never finished using.
Until now.
---
Several minutes later...
The compartment door opened.
Every soldier turned to look.
Colonel Graves slowly lowered the map in his hands.
"...Well."
"I'll be damned."
Breddy walked forward wearing his new gear.
The black tactical vest fit perfectly.
His messy brown ponytail rested against the back of the armored collar.
The black cargo pants and boots gave him the appearance of a special operations soldier...
Yet the Walmart logos remained proudly visible.
He tightened the straps on his gloves.
"How do I look?"
One of the Black Shield soldiers muttered,
"...Like the apocalypse picked the wrong guy."
Even Colonel Graves cracked the smallest smile.
"You don't look like a Walmart associate anymore."
Breddy checked the magazine in his rifle.
"No."
"I look like the guy who's ending this."
The helicopter alarm suddenly sounded.
BEEP!
BEEP!
BEEP!
The pilot's voice came over the intercom.
"Thirty seconds to insertion."
The rear ramp slowly lowered.
Cold air rushed into the cabin.
Far below...
A dense forest stretched toward the mountains.
Hidden beneath them...
The underground laboratory awaited.
Colonel Graves handed Breddy one final item.
A small flashlight.
"If the reports are true..."
"...once you go underground..."
"There won't be any sunlight."
Breddy clipped the flashlight onto his new AP tactical vest.
He took one last deep breath.
Then stepped toward the open ramp.
His mission...
Had officially begun.
– Descent
The helicopter circled above a mountain range shrouded in fog.
Far below...
An abandoned mining facility rested in complete silence.
Rusted machinery stood frozen in time.
Collapsed train tracks disappeared into a massive tunnel carved into the mountain.
The pilot's voice came over the headset.
"Landing zone secured."
The helicopter touched down.
Breddy stepped onto the wet ground.
His new black Walmart AP tactical vest felt heavier than before.
Not because of the armor...
Because of the mission.
Colonel Graves walked over carrying a weathered map.
"This is as far as Black Shield goes."
Breddy looked toward the tunnel.
"You aren't coming?"
Graves shook his head.
"My men entered that laboratory three months ago."
"None of them came back."
Silence.
He pointed toward the darkness.
"The laboratory is nearly two hundred feet underground."
"Multiple security levels."
"Backup generators are somehow still running."
He handed Breddy a small electronic keycard.
"This should get you through the first security door."
He paused.
"If it still works."
Breddy checked his gear one final time.
✔ Assault rifle.
✔ Combat shotgun.
✔ Suppressed pistol.
✔ Extra magazines.
✔ Medical kit.
✔ Flashlight.
✔ Raven's combat knife.
He rested his hand on the knife.
"...Let's do this."
The helicopter lifted off behind him.
Within seconds...
Its sound disappeared.
Breddy was alone.
The entrance tunnel swallowed the daylight.
He switched on the flashlight attached to his vest.
Its beam cut through years of dust.
Every footstep echoed.
Water dripped from the ceiling.
The deeper he walked...
The colder the air became.
Something didn't feel right.
No birds.
No insects.
No wind.
Only silence.
A faded warning sign appeared on the wall.
AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY
BIOHAZARD LEVEL OMEGA
Below it...
Someone had scratched a message into the metal with a knife.
DON'T GO ANY FARTHER.
Breddy stared at the words.
"They knew."
He continued anyway.
Several minutes later...
A massive blast door blocked the tunnel.
The words painted across it had nearly faded.
PROJECT REBIRTH
Breddy inserted the electronic keycard.
Nothing.
He sighed.
"Of course."
He hit the panel with the handle of his combat knife.
The screen flickered.
ACCESS GRANTED
The enormous door slowly groaned open.
A rush of stale air escaped from the laboratory.
The lights inside flickered to life.
The underground facility stretched farther than his flashlight could reach.
White hallways.
Broken laboratory windows.
Wheelchairs overturned.
Dried blood covered the floor.
It looked like everyone had fled...
...or died.
Suddenly—
A speaker crackled overhead.
"...Power restored..."
Another speaker farther down the hallway repeated it.
Then another.
And another.
The sound echoed through the entire underground complex.
Breddy raised his rifle.
"I'm not alone."
Hidden behind a cracked security camera...
A small red light blinked.
The camera slowly rotated.
It followed Breddy as he walked.
Deep inside the laboratory...
A computer monitor flickered to life.
A shadowy figure watched the security feed.
The figure smiled.
"So..."
"...you finally made it."
The screen went black.
– The Silent Lab
The blast doors sealed shut behind Breddy.
THUD...
The sound echoed through the underground laboratory.
He turned.
The exit was gone.
"...Guess I'm committed now."
He switched on the flashlight attached to his black Walmart AP tactical vest.
Its beam cut through the darkness.
The laboratory was enormous.
Rows of abandoned offices stretched endlessly ahead.
Broken glass crunched beneath his boots.
Computer monitors flickered with static.
Coffee mugs still sat on desks.
Someone had left in a hurry...
Or never made it out.
A soft beep echoed down the hallway.
One of the computers suddenly powered on.
PROJECT REBIRTH
WELCOME, DR. KANE
The monitor flashed before shutting itself off.
Breddy frowned.
"Someone's keeping the power on..."
He continued deeper into the facility.
The hallway opened into a medical wing.
Hospital beds were overturned.
IV bags still hung from metal poles.
A wheelchair slowly rolled across the floor by itself.
Breddy immediately aimed his rifle.
Nothing.
Only silence.
"...Wind?"
He wasn't convinced.
Suddenly...
A woman's voice echoed through the speakers.
"Day 142...
The subjects no longer respond to pain...
They're learning..."
Static interrupted the recording.
Breddy stopped walking.
"...Learning?"
The recording continued.
"We've lost Control Room Three...
If anyone finds this... destroy the research..."
The audio cut out.
He entered another hallway.
The walls were covered with photographs.
Families.
Children.
Military personnel.
Scientists.
Every face had a red X painted over it.
Except one.
A young scientist wearing a white lab coat.
Written underneath:
DR. VICTOR KANE
Breddy quietly looked at the picture.
"So that's you..."
A sudden metallic clang echoed through the ventilation system.
CLANG...
He looked up.
Nothing.
Then another.
CLANG...
Something was moving inside the vents.
Not crawling...
Walking.
Slowly.
Following him.
Breddy kept moving.
His finger rested near the trigger.
He reached a security checkpoint.
A thick blast door blocked the next section.
Next to it sat a fingerprint scanner.
A message flashed on the screen.
LEVEL 4 CLEARANCE REQUIRED
Before Breddy could inspect it...
A loud growl echoed behind him.
He turned.
The hallway was empty.
Then...
One of the ceiling tiles slowly moved.
Something pale reached through the gap.
Long fingers.
Too long.
It quietly pulled itself back into the ceiling.
"...Not a Climber."
Breddy whispered.
"...Something else."
He slowly drew Raven's combat knife with one hand while keeping his rifle trained on the ceiling.
"I know you're up there..."
The creature didn't answer.
The lights flickered.
Darkness.
Light.
Darkness.
Light.
Each time the lights came back...
The creature was closer.
Watching him.
Never attacking.
Only waiting.
Deep inside the laboratory...
A hidden monitor came to life.
A man in a torn lab coat watched Breddy through dozens of security cameras.
He smiled faintly.
"Interesting..."
"...Let's see how long you survive."
The monitor faded to black.
Subject Zero
The creature disappeared.
Silence returned.
Breddy didn't lower his rifle.
"Come on..."
"Show yourself."
Nothing.
Only the hum of emergency lights.
He carefully approached the Level 4 security door.
The fingerprint scanner blinked red.
ACCESS DENIED
He sighed.
"There has to be another way."
As he searched the nearby desks...
He noticed an old security guard slumped against the wall.
The uniform wasn't military.
It was laboratory security.
The skeleton still wore an identification badge around its neck.
Chief Security Officer Marcus Hale
Breddy carefully removed the badge.
"...Sorry."
He held the card against the scanner.
ACCESS ACCEPTED
The blast door slowly opened.
Cold air rushed from the next hallway.
Unlike the upper levels...
This section was untouched.
The floors were spotless.
The lights were bright.
Every security camera still worked.
Someone had been maintaining this place.
Breddy slowly walked forward.
Then...
Music.
Soft piano music echoed through the corridor.
"What..."
He followed the sound.
It led him to a single reinforced glass room.
Inside...
Sat a man.
He wore a clean white lab coat.
His beard was neatly trimmed.
A notebook rested on his lap.
He calmly looked up from writing.
"...You're not Black Shield."
Breddy raised his rifle.
"Who are you?"
The man smiled politely.
"My name..."
"...is Ethan."
"Are you Dr. Kane?"
He laughed.
"No."
"I'm Subject Zero."
Silence.
Breddy frowned.
"What does that mean?"
"I was the first."
"The first successful experiment."
"I don't turn."
"I don't decay."
"I don't infect."
"I simply..."
"...exist."
Breddy tightened his grip on the rifle.
"You helped create the virus?"
Ethan slowly shook his head.
"No."
"I tried to stop it."
He looked toward the ceiling.
"Victor Kane didn't want to save people anymore."
"He wanted..."
"...to remake humanity."
Before Breddy could ask another question...
Every light in the laboratory suddenly turned blood red.
WARNING
CONTAINMENT FAILURE
WARNING
BIOHAZARD BREACH
Heavy metal doors slammed shut throughout the facility.
The piano music stopped.
Ethan's calm expression vanished.
"...No."
Breddy looked around.
"What happened?"
Ethan slowly stood for the first time.
Fear filled his eyes.
"He's awake."
"Who?"
Ethan stared into the darkness beyond the hallway.
"The first failure."
A deafening roar shook the entire laboratory.
Concrete dust rained from the ceiling.
Breddy instinctively drew Raven's combat knife into his left hand while keeping his rifle aimed down the corridor.
Something enormous moved in the darkness.
Not a zombie.
Not human.
The emergency lights flickered.
For a split second...
A pair of glowing amber eyes opened at the end of the hallway.
Then disappeared.
Ethan looked directly at Breddy.
"If you want to survive..."
"...don't let it catch you."
To Be Continued...