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Sane rudely awoke to the blaring of sirens and the slight rumbling of his bed, a thin mattress on a concrete slab with a thin sheet of cloth on top of it. He sat up groggy and still tired, having not gotten much sleep.
The cold floor greeted his bare feet as he made his way to his cell door, a six-inch thick slab of metal with a vertical slit of glass that had roughly the same thickness. He tilted his head as he peered through the grimy and scratched glass. He saw blurred white and gray figures run past his cell.
Bang! Bang! The muffled bark of a high-caliber gun echoed, even through these heavy doors and walls; the sound was undoubtedly deafening. Sane found himself on the floor. His tailbone ached from the impact. With a shaky breath, he dusted off his clothes and forced himself upright again, one hand planted against the wall. He had heard the sound of gunfire before, but this was different.
'What is-'
boo-boom-boO-BOOM!
A chain of explosions rocked and tore through the Facility. Solid concrete floors and walls cracked and shifted like clay. Thick steel beams and pipes buckled and snapped, some bursting out of the walls and floors they were entombed in. Sane had barely any time to react. He hurriedly curled into himself, knees to chest, arms over his head, as the entire Facility groaned and swayed, seemingly responding to the cacophony of creaking metal, shattering glass, and collapsing rooms.
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'Did it stop?' Sane's heart was pounding, and his head was spinning. He opened his mouth, took a deep breath, and regretted it as dust instantly filled his mouth. "Ack-" He coughed and wheezed as dust left its grit-bitter imprint on his mouth. "aghh," he groaned as he sat upright and looked around. He was still in his cell, a bit surprised that this seven-square-meter room had survived that chaos and seemingly remained intact. The only difference was that it was darker, only now partially illuminated by the dim white glow of an emergency light.
Sane looked at his cell door, disappointingly. It was still there, standing proudly as ever, seemingly untouched and unbothered by the calamity that had just happened. He sighed and stood up; his legs trembled slightly. He placed his hands on his knees and took a slow breath of air, then exhaled.
This time it wasn't as bad as before; it was still dusty, and its awful taste still lingered in his mouth, not that he could do much about it. He coughed again and then steadily made his way to the door, reaching out and placing his hands on it. He felt the cold, rough touch of the steel in return. Sane took a sharp breath and pushed with all his strength.
Creak...
A subtle smile formed on Sane's face as he felt the door surprisingly budge.
Creak.
The high-pitched note of the scraping metal rang heavily in his ear as he pushed it open. He saw darkness greet him; the dim emergency light in his room barely illuminated the hall outside. Sane looked back into his room, then back to the darkness ahead of him, and stepped forward. Knowing that nothing would miss him.
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Sane walked in silence, which was only broken by the sound of falling debris. It was an odd feeling to see such a familiar place completely change so suddenly. A slight pang in his chest hit him as he passed by each room; some were collapsed from the inside, others barricaded by rubble. A memory played as his eyes caught the plastic placards mounted on each steel door: '0735, 4305, 8889, 3100...' Every room had its designated number, and each number corresponded to the person it housed. In here, they were called by their numbers. In here, they had no names.
Test subjects, that is what they were, nothing more than tools and objects to satisfy the twisted curiosity of human nature. He had wished for something like this before, to see justice being brought to this vile place.
But. Was this better… Sane stopped as he saw a small pool of blood outside one of the rooms, slowly expanding as more seeped out from underneath the door. He shook his head and continued walking. Of course, this was better… He paused and turned his head back to the rooms he had passed and hesitantly took a sniff. He sighed, turned his head back, and continued his pace.
He was not close to anyone here. Though he felt a strange twist in his gut to know that suddenly, everyone you knew was dead. He didn't need to check each room or every mangled corpse he passed by to know that they were dead. He could tell by scent, an aroma he knew well and one he would never get used to, it was the subtle sweet smell of fresh bodies.
Despite being in total darkness, Sane was able to maneuver his way through and around the rubble and debris, his eyes and senses being tuned to the ruined environment. His yellow eyes widened, his ears became sharp and responsive, and he could feel his body adapt and change with each step.
He hated it. It felt uncomfortable, as his flesh writhed and squirmed underneath his skin. at the same time, he felt like he was just piloting his own body, controlling it with no real sense of attachment.
—creak…
Sane stopped as he heard the subtle noise.
creak..
His ears twitched as he heard it. He turned his head to look around, honing in on the source.
Creak… crack...
He felt his hair stand up as he heard. He quickly looked to the path ahead and ran. The entire area was collapsing.
A blur, that was all Sane saw as he ran, blurred-shadowy and disfigured shapes of what he assumed were doors, debris, and corpses. he was relying on his instincts rather than memory. Even if this place were in its unruined state, he would still often get lost in these sterile halls.
'This place is a maze. So don't even bother running away.'
He remembered one of the doctors telling him, Her creepy smile was something he'd rather forget.
Sane ears twitched as they picked up on the subtle groan of waning steel beams and crumbling concrete. It was only a matter of time before one of the supports give up.
Sane quickly glanced left, then right, 'no.' He passed another hall intersection—again left, right. 'No.' He passed another 'no.' and another 'Where is-'
Rumble...
Sane's ears twitched as he heard the sound behind him. It was faint, but he was certain of what had happened; one of the supports gave way, and the others would soon follow. He was running out of time.
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