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Chapter 8: The Dead Power Plant
The rusted dock groaned under their weight as Wallace, Vanessa, and Patel stepped cautiously onto the platform. The wind carried the faint scent of burnt metal, mingling with the sickly-sweet stench of decay. The Seminole Power Plant loomed before them, its skeletal towers silhouetted against the crimson sky. The facility had been abandoned for years, yet the hum of unseen machinery vibrated through the metal beneath their feet.
"This place shouldn't have power," Patel muttered, gripping his crowbar tighter.
Wallace scanned the area. "And yet, someone—or something—is keeping it running."
The entrance was a gaping wound in the side of the structure, its doors rusted off their hinges. Inside, dim emergency lights flickered, casting shadows that twisted and shuddered as if alive.
"We need to find the control room," Wallace said, stepping inside. "If the generators are running, we can send out a signal—maybe even override the electrical grid."
Vanessa gave a skeptical glance. "You still think anyone is listening?"
Wallace didn't answer. The truth was, he didn’t care. If no one came, they would have to find a way to survive on their own.
As they ventured deeper into the plant, a strange sound echoed through the corridors. A rhythmic click-clack, click-clack, like bone scraping against concrete. Patel raised a hand, signaling them to stop.
Then they saw it.
A figure stood at the far end of the hallway, partially obscured by shadows. Its body twitched unnaturally, its limbs jerking with spasmodic tremors. The sound of cracking joints filled the silence as it took a step forward, its head lolling to one side.
Then, in a guttural, rasping voice, it whispered.
"You... shouldn't... be here."
Wallace felt his blood run cold.
The thing in front of them was human once.
But no longer.
Vanessa tightened her grip on her scalpel. "Jesus Christ..."
The figure took another step, its hollow eyes locking onto them. Its jaw unhinged slightly, revealing a grotesque tangle of writhing tendrils within its throat. It wasn't just sick. It was changing.
Then it charged.
"Move!" Wallace shouted.
Patel swung his crowbar, but the creature was fast—inhumanly fast. It lunged at Vanessa, fingers elongating into sharpened claws. She barely ducked in time, the air whistling as its attack missed her by inches.
Wallace fired his flare gun—one of the last weapons they had. The flare struck the creature’s chest, igniting it with a burst of fire. It shrieked, a wretched, ear-splitting sound that sent a shudder through the entire facility.
More whispers.
More click-clacks in the darkness.
"Oh, no..." Patel breathed. "There’s more of them."
The shadows moved. Eyes blinked open in the darkness, watching.
They weren’t alone.
Wallace grabbed Vanessa’s arm. "Run!"
The three of them sprinted down the corridor, their footsteps echoing through the vast industrial maze. Behind them, the infected things shrieked and howled, their voices rising in an unholy chorus.
Then the lights flickered.
And the emergency alarm blared through the plant.
Something—someone—had activated it.
As they rounded the corner, they saw a figure in a hazmat suit standing at the end of the hall.
"Inside, now!" the figure shouted, holding open a steel door.
With no other choice, they dove inside just as the door slammed shut.
The locks engaged with a heavy thunk.
Panting, Wallace turned to their apparent rescuer. "Who the hell are you?"
The figure pulled off their mask.
Beneath it was a woman, her face streaked with sweat and dirt, her eyes sharp with exhaustion.
"My name is Dr. Lydia Mercer," she said, wiping her brow. "And if you're still alive, then you’re either lucky... or damned."
The alarms screamed louder outside.
And the dead things began to pound against the door.
Chapter 9: The Hive Below
The pounding on the steel door grew more violent, a chorus of inhuman shrieks reverberating through the walls of the power plant. The infected outside were relentless, their bodies slamming against the metal, their fingernails scraping deep gouges into the surface.
Wallace, Vanessa, and Patel stood frozen, their breath coming in ragged gasps as the realization sank in: they were trapped.
Dr. Lydia Mercer didn’t flinch. She moved quickly, sealing additional latches along the doorframe. “They won’t get through—not yet,” she said. “But we don’t have much time.”
Wallace studied her with wary eyes. “You know what’s happening here, don’t you?”
Mercer hesitated, glancing at the security monitors mounted on the wall. Grainy images flickered across the screens, showing distorted views of the plant’s interior. Most rooms were empty—abandoned long ago. But one feed showed movement. Shadows shifting deep within the lower levels.
“Come with me,” she said, avoiding the question. “There’s something you need to see.”
With no better option, the group followed Mercer through the dimly lit corridors of the plant. The air was thick with the stench of burning oil and decay. The emergency lights flickered sporadically, casting eerie shapes along the walls.
Vanessa clutched her bag tightly. “How long have you been here?”
“Long enough to know this isn’t an outbreak.” Mercer’s voice was grim. “It’s a transformation.”
Wallace exchanged a glance with Patel. “What the hell does that mean?”
Mercer stopped at a heavy steel door marked RESTRICTED ACCESS. With a practiced motion, she entered a code into the keypad. The door hissed as it unlocked, revealing a stairwell descending into darkness.
The air below was different. Denser. More alive.
“Whatever’s infecting people,” Mercer continued, “it didn’t start in Palatka. It started here.”
The words sent a chill through Wallace’s spine.
As they reached the bottom of the stairwell, the corridor widened into a vast underground chamber. The room was lined with rusted machines, old control panels blinking with dying power. But the most horrifying sight was in the center of the room.
A massive pulsating growth clung to the walls like a parasite, its dark, veined tendrils stretching across the ceiling. Thick, black fluid dripped from its core, pooling onto the grated floor below. The thing moved, its flesh writhing as though it were breathing.
Vanessa gagged. “Oh my God.”
Patel took a cautious step forward. “What… what the hell is that?”
Mercer’s expression was grim. “The source.”
Wallace’s mind reeled. “You’re saying the disease—”
Mercer cut him off. “It’s not a disease. It’s alive.”
Before anyone could respond, the black mass shuddered. The tendrils flexed, curling inward before splitting open, revealing something inside.
Something human.
A figure was embedded in the mass, its body half-consumed, its skin stretched taut over elongated bones. Its eyes flickered open—completely black.
Then it smiled.
And whispered in a rasping, hollow voice:
"We see you."
The lights in the chamber died.
And the sound of skittering filled the dark.
Chapter 10: The Awakening Below
The chamber plunged into total darkness.
The only sound was the skittering—sharp, rapid movements echoing from the walls, the floor, the ceiling. It was everywhere.
Then, a deep inhale filled the space, as if something massive was breathing them in.
Wallace gripped Patel’s shoulder, his heart hammering in his chest. “Stay together. Nobody moves alone.”
Vanessa fumbled for her flashlight, her hands trembling. The moment the beam clicked on, it illuminated something horrifying—they weren’t alone in the room anymore.
Figures hung from the ceiling, fused into the pulsating mass. Their bodies were elongated, their arms grotesquely stretched, their faces frozen in an expression of eternal suffering. Their mouths twitched, as if struggling to form words, but only whispers came out—overlapping voices speaking in a language no human should ever understand.
Then, in the farthest corner of the room, the thing that had spoken moved.
It peeled itself from the blackened mass, its limbs twisting and cracking as if reshaping themselves. Its smile never faded.
Dr. Mercer’s voice was barely a whisper. “It’s… aware.”
Wallace aimed his flare gun at it. “What the hell is it?”
The creature tilted its head—like a puppet pulled by unseen strings. Then, in that same rasping voice, it whispered:
“We are becoming.”
And then it charged.
Wallace fired—the flare struck the creature’s chest, igniting it in a burst of white-hot fire. The room flashed red as the thing screeched, its skin blistering and peeling like paper curling in the flames.
The light exposed everything.
Hundreds of things slithering along the walls, crawling toward them—some human-shaped, some no longer human at all.
Mercer grabbed Wallace’s arm. “RUN!”
They bolted for the stairwell, feet pounding against the metal floor. Patel shoved the door open just as the creatures lunged from the shadows. The door slammed shut behind them, and Wallace spun, locking the bolts just in time.
Something slammed against the other side. A wet, heavy thud, followed by the sound of nails scraping metal.
Then—whispers.
"You cannot escape. You are already part of us."
Vanessa gasped for breath. “They… they’re thinking. They’re evolving.”
Mercer’s face was pale. “It’s worse than that.”
Wallace turned to her, his hands still shaking. “What do you mean?”
Mercer swallowed hard, backing up against the wall. “This wasn’t an accident. The power plant wasn’t shut down because it was outdated.”
Vanessa wiped sweat from her brow. “Then why?”
Mercer exhaled. “Because the government built something here.”
Silence.
Wallace’s chest tightened. “You’re saying this thing—this… plague—was created?”
Mercer nodded slowly. “And now, it’s awake.”
Patel turned toward the exit. “Then we have to burn this place to the ground.”
Wallace hesitated.
He thought about Palatka. The town he had loved. The people who had already turned.
The ones who would turn next.
He gritted his teeth.
“We’re not just burning this place.”
He looked toward the backup generators, humming faintly in the distance.
“We’re going to blow the entire plant sky high.”
Mercer stared at him. “Are you insane? This place is filled with radiation, biohazards—”
“Exactly,” Wallace interrupted. “If we don’t do this, it’s only a matter of time before it spreads. We end this tonight.”
From behind the door, the creatures laughed.
A sound that wasn’t human.
Something that had once been people—now something else.
And they were waiting.
To be continued...