The World of the Freezing Morrow

Chapter 3: Freezing Summer in the Land of the Sun

John left the strange laboratory briefly after, coming back to the dark corridor. He glanced at the left track, then to the right, wondering which one to take.

" I suggest we head for the left one, John".

" Why is that?" he asked, once he headed down the hallway.

" As far as I can see from the schematics in my databank, this hallway leads all the way down to the kitchen and the personnel's quarters. There is an elevator going twelve stories up, all the way to the entrance of the facility a little further down the hallway". And the AI was right.

The corridor led him up a slight slope until it reached a wide-open blast door, revealing a long hallway of many metallic doors on the right and a huge entrance on the left. According to Oni, the orange doors the size of regular ones on the right were entrances to people's quarters, private rooms for the personnel who had been working there. All of them seemed locked tight, the small screens next to them as dark as the veil that dwelled in the facility. 

As he strolled past the wide entrance to his left, John turned his head catching a giant round room of many tables and chairs. Due to the night-vision activated by Oni, he was able to see every single detail, including a long, elegant bar on the other side and a platform for musicians next to it. Two guitars, drums and a keyboard placed on a stand were left there with the rest of the musical equipment; dust piled up across them as if they were old, priceless pieces of a museum. There were silvery plates here and there, filled with food which seemed rotten. John covered his mouth, struggling not to throw up when a blast of stench reached his nose.

" I guess we won't be eating tonight" he ironically stated. His hand covered in nano-armor raised one of the fallen chairs and he sat, considering. " It seems like everyone left in a hurry. Look, there..." he pointed at a table having several glasses of drink. " Even the drinks were left in a second. Some of the tables are turned, the chairs seem tossed on all sides. The crowd was in panic".

" What could have scared them so much?".

" You tell me, you're the expert in analysis" John smirked.

" Well, at least we have acquired some information as to what happened. The video said that mysterious energy orbs have suddenly appeared out of thin air around the globe" Oni replied. " What followed next we may never know. There was nothing in the recordings. I guess we'll have to take it step by step once we get out of...".

A sudden dang made John jump back on his feet. Something heavy has smashed against the floor in the corridor, its reverberation echoing like a thunder through the facility. And then, there was silence. It seemed as if the dark shroud was a beast who had awoken; looming, filling every corner in his mind.

" What the hell was that?" he whispered. Oni did not reply.

Step by step, moving as quietly as possible, he reached for the exit of the kitchen and carefully glanced down the hallway. It seemed abandoned, just like before. There was no one but steel walls, pipes and chilling shadow.

Oni suddenly gasped in his ear.

" A life sign!". He instinctively ducked behind the wall.

" What kind?".

" I... I do not know" she stuttered, as if she were a real person fearing for her life. " You better hide, John. I don't know what it is, but surely is not a human". John glanced at the ceiling, thinking. " How can you tell?".

" Its heartbeat...". A second bang followed, now closer as if a few feet away from him. He instantly jumped behind a pile of plastic containers next to the door and clenched his feet; his heart drumming with adrenaline. The second became a minute, the minute became an eternity. It seemed as if he were stuck there forever, squeezing his fists and clenching teeth as he awaited for the unknown intruder.