The door clicked shut behind us with a heavy finality, the sound echoing through the storage room like a tomb's quiet whisper. The room smelled faintly of old wood, metal, and dust. A stark contrast to the chaos we'd just escaped. The dim light from a single bulb hung overhead, casting long shadows that made the room feel larger than it really was.
Inside, there was a collection of military-grade supplies: crates of equipment, a few rusted weapons, and odd tools that looked like they hadn't been touched in years. It was a far cry from the pristine, curated exhibits in the museum. Here, there was no history, no grandeur—just survival.
Alex moved quickly to a corner, tossing a tarp aside to reveal a small wooden crate. His hands were steady, methodical. Despite the tension in the air, there was an odd calmness to him. The rest of us were still catching our breath, hearts pounding in our chests.
One of the students, a girl with wide eyes and trembling hands, broke the silence. "What the hell just happened?" Her voice cracked, a mix of fear and disbelief.
Alex glanced at her, his expression unreadable. "That thing—" he nodded toward the saber-tooth's body, still lying in the corridor beyond the door—"wasn't natural. None of this is."
I stared at the floor, trying to shake off the images of what I'd just seen—the glint of claws, the sickening roar of the creature as it lunged, the helplessness of watching another student die. My stomach twisted. I wasn't sure what to feel. Anger, confusion, fear... it was all there, a tangle of emotions I didn't know how to handle.
"We need to keep moving," Alex continued, as he pulled something out of the crate—a rough-looking first aid kit and a few water bottles. He tossed one bottle to me and one to another student who had remained silent throughout the ordeal. "We'll rest for now, but we're not safe here for long."
I unscrewed the cap of the water bottle, but my throat was too dry to swallow. My body was still humming with adrenaline, the shock of what had just happened still settling like a weight in my chest.
I watched Alex as he took a seat, his eyes flicking over the room like a man who had been in too many situations like this. He had that soldier's look. Eyes sharp. Body tense, but composed. He wasn't rattled like we were. It was like this was all just another day for him.
"You were in the military?" one of the students asked, hesitantly.
Alex nodded, his gaze never leaving the door as if he expected something to burst through at any second. "Kingland's Special Forces. I served for twelve years." He paused, his voice lowering slightly. "That was before everything... changed."
His eyes lingered on the saber-tooth's corpse outside, and something flickered in them—something darker, heavier.
I felt a pang of unease, but I pushed it down. Now was not the time for questions that could wait. We needed to focus.
The room was quiet again, the only sounds the faint hum of the light above us and the distant echoes of chaos still ringing through the halls. I pulled my legs up to my chest, wrapping my arms around my knees. There was no getting comfortable here, no resting in peace.
Alex broke the silence again, his voice quieter, but still firm. "You saw that thing's core," he said, his eyes meeting mine. "That red glow? It's not just a weird glitch in the system. I don't know who's behind this, but it's bigger than we think. These... creatures are being controlled somehow. And if we're going to survive, we need to understand how."
"Controlled?" I echoed, the word unfamiliar on my tongue. "But how?"
"Don't know yet," Alex replied, sitting straighter, his gaze narrowing. "But there's a connection. The way the creatures move, the patterns, the core inside them—it's all tied to something. Something that wasn't just... unleashed randomly." He paused, scanning the group. "And whoever did this—they're not done. We're just one piece of whatever's coming."
The room fell into a tense silence, the weight of his words sinking in. Something told me Alex knew more than he was letting on, but I wasn't going to pry. Not now.
The reality of our situation hit me full force then. We weren't just dealing with an isolated incident. This was bigger. There was something else at play, something far more dangerous than we could have imagined.
Another student, a tall guy with a buzzcut, shifted uncomfortably. "What do we do now?"
Alex stood up, moving over to the crate again and pulling out more supplies. He moved like a man who had been preparing for a moment like this his whole life. Calm, controlled, never rushing. I couldn't help but admire him for it. I'd never been in a real fight before today, let alone face down an enormous, reanimated predator.
"First," Alex said, locking eyes with each of us, "we survive. We need to stay mobile, stay together, and stay sharp. The creatures are only the beginning. We'll make it out of here, but we'll have to fight every step of the way."
My pulse quickened. My hand instinctively tightened around the pole I still held, a small piece of comfort in the chaos. I wasn't a soldier like Alex. I wasn't even sure if I was ready for this. But I couldn't just sit back. I had to do something.
"I'll help," I said, before I could stop myself. My voice was rough, but it was steady, and I meant it. "I'm not just going to wait around. I'll do whatever it takes."
Alex regarded me for a moment, his gaze sharp, assessing. Then he gave a short nod. "Good. We'll need all the help we can get. Now, let's rest, get our bearings, and then we move. The next phase is going to be a lot harder."
The others nodded, looking to Alex for reassurance. He was the leader now, and we were following his lead. It felt strange, trusting someone like that—someone who had already seen so much, someone who had lived through this kind of thing before.
But I didn't have a choice. None of us did.
As the group settled into the small, cramped storage room, the reality of what we were up against began to sink in. I had never expected to be in a situation like this. Never thought I'd be fighting creatures that should have been extinct, let alone battling for survival in the middle of a museum.
But as I looked around at the faces of the others—some scared, some determined, but all willing to follow Alex—I knew we had no other choice but to press forward.
We weren't done yet.
And neither were the monsters outside.