Per 
Elephant stood inside a small control room, surveying the monitors lining the concrete walls. Each monitor showed the camera feed from different sectors of the facility, red lights shining on those that were knocked out by those things. He watched because it was the only thing he could now do. The rest of his team was waiting in the armory for the assault to begin. But Elephant, no. He was the one who would alert his team, his friends, when the creatures broke in.
Elephant spared a glance at the patch on his shoulder. A blue pentagram. A symbol from a time where there was hope. But that time had long since past. Now, the world was in ruin. Ever since what he heard was called a “solar singularity” had occurred, when the world had truly gone belly up.
He had to admit, this wasn’t the way he thought it would go done. Elephant had imagined that a being of immense power would wreak havoc on the Earth. Every man fights until the end. A hero's end. But this was not the case.
Shouldn’t be long now. Elephant thought grimly. He knew that this would likely be their death, but he would rather die than become another monster. A “pop” alerted Elephant to a monitor on the far left of the room. He turned to face it, and saw the screen had gone out. A small red light blinking in the corner of the screen. Here we go. He spun back around, grabbing his rifle from the corner.
Exiting the room, he saw a small panel across the hall. He ran to it, swung it open, punched in the code, and pressed a bright red button.
The sirens wailed as Seal fired off several rounds down the hall. He had never been the best shot, but he found that it was hard to miss a giant mass of wax like flesh that was the size of the hallway. He was on the retreat now, his improvised traps had worked, but it had proven to be useless against the wave of flesh.
Who could have known that falling cement wouldn’t do anything? Who could have known that these creatures could clump together? No one. Seal had to remind himself of that. He couldn’t have known. But, who's to say bullets would work either. They didn’t seem to have much effect other than slowing down the mass as it approached.
Click. Click. Click.
Seal dropped the empty rifle and grabbed the shotgun slung on his back. He fired twice before spinning around and breaking into a sprint towards a door at the end of the hallway. Hearing the cries and pleas of the beast only motivated him to go faster. Reaching the end of the hallway, he turned again, throwing two grenades directly at the creature. He watched the explosives be absorbed into it, before the creature imploded.
Seal smiled. So they can die. Taking a moment to catch his breath, he took the radio on his hip and held it to his face. He pressed the “speak” button and said “Does anyone copy? Bogy down, I repeat, Bogy down.” The sound of meat sliding across a smooth surface caught Seal’s attention. Looking up, he saw bits of the creature moving towards him. “Nevermind.” he said again into the device.
Seal stepped back through the doorway and sealed the door shut. He looked around to see where he was. Some tables and chairs lay scattered about. Blood and viscera was spread across the floor. Seal didn’t want to know why. Another doorway stood on the opposite side of the room, door ajar. Several gunshots rang out, and Elephant dove through the door, a tendril shooting through the door after him. It wrapped around his leg and began pulling him back through the doorway.
Seeing this, Seal ran forward, cocked the shotgun, and shot the tendril. Viscera sprayed everywhere as hundreds of cries all began at once. The tendril snak back through the doorway, which Seal slammed shut behind it. After a moment, Seal turned back to Elephant. He was slumped against the wall, breathing heavily. “Cap, are you ok.” Seal asked quietly. Elephant looked up and smiled. “After that, I think I need a shower.” Seal laughed. It was the first time he had in days.
Across the facility, Leopard crouched in the corner of a dark break room. She had always been great at stealth, blending into the shadows themselves, but that was when facing people. These things were definitely not human though. She could hear the moaning grow louder now. I could try to kill it. Leopard glanced at the pistol in her hand.
No. That’s not a fight she would win. She was better off just hiding until it passes. The light emitting from the entrance of the room was suddenly blocked, bathing the room in darkness. Leopard held her breath, waiting for the creature to pass, but it did not. After what seemed like hours, the creature spoke “We know you're close. Why don’t you come out? The sun is so beautiful, everything is so beautiful.” It’s voice sounded as though it were a hundred voices mashed into one, each competing to be heard. “The world is better now. No more of the pointless squabbles, no more sickness or death. All are loved, all are happy. Why do you deny yourself that future?” Leopard remained silent. Why do I continue to hide? I have nothing left in this world, no one left.
She contemplated these thoughts for a moment, but decided that she would rather not become one of those things. At least for now, she would rather suffer through this hell if it meant staying free of whatever fate would befall her in the light.
The creature began to move again. Leopard, spotting her opportunity, broke into a full sprint. Out the door, past the creature,down the hall, and through another door. By the time the creature reacted, Leopard was already shutting and sealing the door. Leopard backed away from the door, breathing heavily from exasperation.
Once relaxed, Leopard grabbed a radio from its place on her chest and activated it. “Does anyone copy?” she spoke, urgency in her voice. “Please. Elephant? Seal? Owl? Anyone!” Leopard slumped to the ground, tears rolling down her cheek. A sharp crack of static before “Yeah, yeah. This is Seal and Elephant. We’re good. Barricaded ourselves in a conference room.” Leopard gave a shout of delight, immediately crossing herself. She spoke into the radio, “Oh thank god. Have any of you heard from Owl?” “No, I’m assuming you haven’t either.” “No.” “Damn, what sector are you in?” Leopard tried to remember. She had come from the North wing, took a left… “I’m in the East Wing, you?” We’re in the West Wing. Anyway for you to get to us.” Leopard looked around, the only door was blocked, she looked around the room. Barricaded window. AC unit. Ventilation shaft! “Yes. I’ll make my way to you.” “Good. Be careful, ok.” “I’ll try.” And with that, Leopard gave the grate a took, pulling it from its place, and set it down carefully behind her. As she crawled into the shaft, she thought to herself, I hope Owl’s ok.
Owl dove inside an old cell, pulling the door shut behind himself. Just as he did, he heard a dull, wet thump. "Hell", he muttered, though nobody was around to hear it. What now Owl found himself asking. The room wasn't large, maybe only 5x5 meters. The tiled floors now coated with a thick layer of dust from neglect. He reached for the radio affixed to his belt. Nothing.
Oddly, there was a doorway to his right. Beams of light pierced the darkness of the cell, shining through a small window in the center of the door.
Owl stepped forward, unsheathing his knife. He knew that this might be his only way to escape. He grabbed the handle of the door, and swung it open. To his surprise, a man sat it the back corner of the room. He was cloaked in all black, and what looked to be the mask of a plague doctor sat adorned on his face. It looked up at owl and spoke. "Ah, finally. I have been awaiting you researchers for awhile now. It's not like you to keep me waiting. What is it you're wearing. I have never seen that uniform." Owl was taken aback. This man didn't know what had been happening, he was at a lost for words. "Nothing to say, that's very much unlike you people. Always the questions about the pestilence. How long has it been since i've last seen you, a year?" The cloaked man stood up from his chair and took a step towards Owl. In return, Owl stepped back.
After a moment, Owl found the words to speak. "Do you not know what's happening out there?" The cloaked man did not move, instead asking "What do you mean." Owl, at a lost for words, dropped his knife. The clatter seemed to cause a chorus of nearly audible whispers from behind the door. The cloaked man seemed to hear these voices to, and looked over attentively. "What was that, more researchers I suppose." Owl, again finding his words, spoke. "I don't know where the hell you've been in the past year, but things have gone belly up my friend. The sun has experienced some sort of…well, I don't know. But the point is, the light that comes from the sun, dangerous. Those whispers you just heard. they're coming from the people who were infected by the sun."
The cloaked man did not speak, seemingly at a loss for words, just like Owl had just been. After several minutes of silence, the figure looked at Owl and said, "The pestilence has evolved past my ability to cure it. It's now being spread by our Sun itself." This confused Owl, What the hell is the pestilence. he thought. The cloaked figure, seemingly understanding his confusion, began to speak again. "The pestilence, my sir. The greatest scourge humanity has ever seen. I have feared this would happen. It seems my fears have come to fruition." Shocked, Owl did not notice when the door behind him came crashing inwards. He did notice when a tendril slammed into his back, sending flying towards the opposite end of the room.
The cloaked man stood up in an instant, reached out his hand, and stepped towards the screeching creature.
Elephant and Seal sat against one of the the walls of the conference room. Both doors were now barricaded, hopefully, whatever was outside would get bored and move on after a bit. At least before Leopard arrived, if Leopard arrived.
Elephant pulled an old magazine from the ground, blowing all the dust off of it. Flipping through it, he noticed an odd amount of the same symbol. Three arrows pointing inward, a circular like shape around them. On the front page, in bright red, the words "The Foundation" sat in the direct middle. Nothing much of interest, so he kept flipping through the magazine.
After a few minutes of silence Seal began lately gazing at the pages over Elephant's shoulder. He couldn't reach any nearby magazines, so he resorted to peering over the shoulder of his captain. "Stop." Seal said suddenly. he grabbed the parchment from Elephant, and looked at the page. Elephant took a moment to realize what Seal was talking about, and he looked up the meet the gaze of Seal, a wide grin on his face.
"Grab the radio." Elephant commanded. See complied, eagerly grabbing the radio that was haphazardly left on the floor a few feet away. Picking it up, he tossed it to Elephant. Elephant in turn, held a flashlight to the map. The light revealed a map of the facility. Red lines led from each room to each exit. Several cross marks marked the exits. But there was also several blue marks in each room. These, Elephant knew, marked a basement complex running throughout the facility sub-levels.
Elephant took a moment to memorize the map before folding up the paper and placing it in one of the pouches of his vest. Elephant pulled himself off the ground, gabbed his rifle, and looked at Seal. "Which door is the one with the least amount of resistance?" Seal pointed at the door he came through not one hour earlier. "Good. Grab your weapon. We're going to the basement.
Leopard crawled through the cramped air shaft. Normally, she was claustrophobic, but these small spaces of the ventilation was starting to get to her. Leopard didn't actually know which way to go to get to Elephant and Seal. So she just guessed, and she was starting to thing she was going the wrong direction. Screw this crap. I need to get out. Leopard looked around for grate she could break to allow her to exit, when she heard a sloshing sound.
Leopard froze. Any fights she had while in this vent would lead to certain death. Or worse. She thought. The sloshing was growing louder, Leopard could now hear the whispers. The pleading, the cries, the moaning and groaning. She held her breath.
It grew closer.
She didn't move, fearing any creak would give away her position. Leopard knew the beast was below her now. It was searching for her, she knew it. But hopefully, it wasn't smart enough to realize she was in the vent.
Leopard smarted to relax. That is until she went a warm tendril wrap around her leg. She lay for a moment, realizing what was about to happen, before being yanked away.
