settlement, see what her friends thought of it...
The strangest of all were the last five levels. By now Alexa hadn't found anything of trading value for a while, but couldn't resist the urge to keep exploring, and when she saw the bottom of the facility she was shocked.
There wasn't much to find on these floors, other than a heart attack when she looked at the wall once and realized one of the weird creatures was staring back at her. She'd screamed and backpedaled, bringing the crowbar up like a batter at plate, until she realized the thing slumped against the wall was dead as well, sightless and empty of life.
That had almost been enough to make her turn around and head back up to the more normal levels. But she shook her head and kept going. “Don't be a wuss, Alexa,” she told herself out loud. “You're already here. Might as well go the whole way or you'll regret it.”
Other than the weird creatures, most of the lowest hallways weren't much to speak of. Sub-level twenty-six, though–the lowest, final level, from what Alexa could figure–was a special case. There was a lot of machinery strewn around, and a few odd-looking, highly-advanced computer consoles, most of which looked to be in severe disrepair if they weren't broken already.
It branched off into two smaller hallways. One of them was full of canisters that, after a brief glance at the formulas written on the outside, Alexa determined she wasn't going anywhere near–that stuff was explosive, and volatile, and who knew what would set it off after this long.
So she headed down the other hallway, trying hard to ignore the dead creatures in the hallway until she reached a strange round door at the end, partway opened.
Something about that door seemed... odd. But she'd come this far, she reminded herself again, so she stepped through to the other side.
It was dimmer in here–some of the emergency lights appeared to have gone out–and it took a moment for her eyes to adjust. But when they did, her jaw nearly dropped, and she stared in surprise at what the room contained.
Or, more specifically, who the room contained.
Chapter 2
For a moment Alexa could do nothing but stare.
There was a glass pod in the center of the surprisingly large room. It was dirty and dusty, but even so there was clearly a person in it, and some sort of light source illuminated it from within slightly.
Shocked, Alexa dropped her pack and crowbar next to one of the computer consoles and darted forward to take a closer look.
It was definitely a person, the first living person she'd seen in a while. For one horrifying moment Alexa thought this guy was also dead, just like the dozens of creatures, left down here to rot. But a moment later she realized the dirty glass was misting just barely in front of the figure's face, which meant he was breathing, which meant he wasalive . Alexa let out a sigh of relief for that.
Reassured, she examined the person more carefully. The figure was outfitted in a bright white jumpsuit, with LS-32 emblazoned across the chest. Further examination of the pod revealed a large LS engraved on the outside above the smaller words Legionnaire Subject.
“Legionnaire,” Alexa breathed. Legionaries were suppose to be some sort of Roman soldier if she remembered correctly. Did that mean he was a soldier?
But no. The more she studied the sleeping figure, the more she realized that couldn't be right . For one thing, this figure was too young–he looked barely sixteen. No one that young would be part of the armed forces. Maybe captured by the scientists that were clearly insane here?
“Doesn't matter,” Alexa decided after a moment. Whatever this guy's story was, the fact of the matter was that this was wrong . People had clearly not been here for years–how long had this poor guy been left down here, abandoned in a pod while the world died twenty-six levels
The strangest of all were the last five levels. By now Alexa hadn't found anything of trading value for a while, but couldn't resist the urge to keep exploring, and when she saw the bottom of the facility she was shocked.
There wasn't much to find on these floors, other than a heart attack when she looked at the wall once and realized one of the weird creatures was staring back at her. She'd screamed and backpedaled, bringing the crowbar up like a batter at plate, until she realized the thing slumped against the wall was dead as well, sightless and empty of life.
That had almost been enough to make her turn around and head back up to the more normal levels. But she shook her head and kept going. “Don't be a wuss, Alexa,” she told herself out loud. “You're already here. Might as well go the whole way or you'll regret it.”
Other than the weird creatures, most of the lowest hallways weren't much to speak of. Sub-level twenty-six, though–the lowest, final level, from what Alexa could figure–was a special case. There was a lot of machinery strewn around, and a few odd-looking, highly-advanced computer consoles, most of which looked to be in severe disrepair if they weren't broken already.
It branched off into two smaller hallways. One of them was full of canisters that, after a brief glance at the formulas written on the outside, Alexa determined she wasn't going anywhere near–that stuff was explosive, and volatile, and who knew what would set it off after this long.
So she headed down the other hallway, trying hard to ignore the dead creatures in the hallway until she reached a strange round door at the end, partway opened.
Something about that door seemed... odd. But she'd come this far, she reminded herself again, so she stepped through to the other side.
It was dimmer in here–some of the emergency lights appeared to have gone out–and it took a moment for her eyes to adjust. But when they did, her jaw nearly dropped, and she stared in surprise at what the room contained.
Or, more specifically, who the room contained.
Chapter 2
For a moment Alexa could do nothing but stare.
There was a glass pod in the center of the surprisingly large room. It was dirty and dusty, but even so there was clearly a person in it, and some sort of light source illuminated it from within slightly.
Shocked, Alexa dropped her pack and crowbar next to one of the computer consoles and darted forward to take a closer look.
It was definitely a person, the first living person she'd seen in a while. For one horrifying moment Alexa thought this guy was also dead, just like the dozens of creatures, left down here to rot. But a moment later she realized the dirty glass was misting just barely in front of the figure's face, which meant he was breathing, which meant he wasalive . Alexa let out a sigh of relief for that.
Reassured, she examined the person more carefully. The figure was outfitted in a bright white jumpsuit, with LS-32 emblazoned across the chest. Further examination of the pod revealed a large LS engraved on the outside above the smaller words Legionnaire Subject.
“Legionnaire,” Alexa breathed. Legionaries were suppose to be some sort of Roman soldier if she remembered correctly. Did that mean he was a soldier?
But no. The more she studied the sleeping figure, the more she realized that couldn't be right . For one thing, this figure was too young–he looked barely sixteen. No one that young would be part of the armed forces. Maybe captured by the scientists that were clearly insane here?
“Doesn't matter,” Alexa decided after a moment. Whatever this guy's story was, the fact of the matter was that this was wrong . People had clearly not been here for years–how long had this poor guy been left down here, abandoned in a pod while the world died twenty-six levels
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