The ground continued downward.
Concrete replaced steel.
Old Nexarion control center.
Thicker.
Stronger.
Built to last.
A bunker entrance stood ahead.
Half-buried.
Reinforced doors sealed shut.
Half destroyed but still standing.
Scratches across its surface.
Breached Defence scattered everywhrere.
"They tried to get in," Assault said.
"They were overruned" Heavy replied.
Akane stepped closer.
Ran his hand across the metal.
Cold.
No heat.
No recent activity.
"Command, we've reached the bunker," Aira said.
Static.
Then—
"NCU 198, this is a priority site."
"That bunker holds internal control relays connected to the underground network."
"If it's compromised—Nexarion loses sector coordination."
A pause.
"Your orders are to breach, secure, and restore access."
"Understood," Aira replied.
She turned to the team.
"We'll enter in, clear it, bring systems back online."
Heavy nodded.
"Tight corridors."
Assault exhaled.
"This terrifies me"
Akane said nothing.
He was already looking at the door.
"No power," Aira said.
"Manual breach?" Assault asked.
Heavy stepped forward.
"Stand back."
He planted charges.
Small.
Precise.
"Set."
"Clear," aira said.
BOOM
The door cracked.
Not open—
But weakened.
Heavy stepped in—
Grabbed the opening.
Forced it wider.
Metal groaned—
Then gave way.
Darkness inside.
Inside the Bunker.
The air changed instantly.
Thick.
Stale.
Lights flickered weakly.
Backup systems.
Barely alive.
Narrow hallways stretched ahead.
Multiple paths.
"Stack up," Aira said.
Formation tightened.
Heavy front.
Akane behind him.
Aira and Assault covering sides.
They moved in.
Slow.
Every step echoed.
Too loud.
"It... feels wrong," Assault whispered.
"Stay focused," Aira replied.
Scratches on the walls.
Closer together.
More frantic.
Marks on the floor.
Dragging.
No bodies.
"They passed through here," Akane said.
"Recently?" Heavy asked.
Akane paused.
"...No."
Silence.
After travelling for a while.
The corridors split.
Three directions.
The paint was too blurry to read.
"We have to guess" heavy said.
"...no.." akane replied.
"I can hack into the system and obtain the map"
"Sure" Aira replied.
"Oh... of both you guys"
"What is it?" Heavy replied.
"What" assault replied.
"I actually haven't asked your names, care to share" akane asked.
"Oh yeah I forgot, iam hakamo kuzena" heavy replied.
"Mine's tanako Yokoyama" assault replied.
"Thanks bro"
"It's nothi-"
"Are we going to continue the mission or what?!" Aira said.
"Oh I forgot, here's the map" akane projectes through his helmet.
They moved forward.
The lights dimmed further.
Then—
A sound.
Soft.
Not movement—
Breathing.
Everyone froze.
"Contact?" Assault whispered.
Akane shook his head slightly.
"..Not yet."
From the darkness ahead—
A figure stepped out.
Slow.
An infected.
But—
It didn't rush.
Didn't attack.
It just stood there.
Watching.
"Why... isn't it moving?" Assault said.
Aira raised her weapon.
"Don't wait for it."
She fired.
The infected dropped.
Silence returned.
But something changed.
From behind—
A sound.
Aira turned instantly.
Too late.
Movement in the shadows.
More of them.
"Contact rear!" she shouted.
Gunfire erupted again.
The bunker came alive.
Echoes everywhere.
"They're inside the walls!" Assault yelled.
"They never left," Akane said.
No room to move.
No space to fall back.
Every shot mattered.
Heavy held the front.
Unmoving.
Aira controlled the side corridors.
Assault covered the rear.
Akane—
Moved between them.
Fast.
Silent.
Eliminate anything that got close.
"They're not swarming," Aira said.
"They're spacing out," Heavy replied.
"Containing us."
As they travelled slowly-
Time by time.
After the last infected fell.
They reached a reinforced door.
"Control room," Aira read.
"Locked," Assault added.
Akane stepped forward.
Looked at it.
"Its a miracle it's closed" akane commented.
Heavy raised his weapon.
"Let's hope no one's there..."
Charges set again.
"Ready."
"Do it," Aira said.
BOOM!.
The door burst open.
Dark.
Wider space.
Screens flickering.
Systems—
Still active.
And—
Shapes.
Dozens.
Not moving.
Watching.
"..They were waiting for us" Assault said.
Akane stepped forward slowly.
"No"
A pause.
"They were protecting this area"
The infected shifted.
Not rushing.
Positioning.
Between them—
And the control systems.
Aira steadied her weapon.
"Then we take it."
The first one moved.
Then all of them did.
Fast.
Silent.
And this time—
Coordinated.
Gunfire exploded in the enclosed room.
No space.
No retreat.
Just survival.
Akane moved—
Faster than before.
Something in him—
Reacting again.
Not fully.
But close.
And as the battle erupted—
The systems behind the infected flickered.
Waiting.
For whoever wins.