The sight of steel and concrete comes to mind. Nothing like a job researching the unexplained. Hundreds of feet underground, with utmost secrecy being the top priority. And now I’m stuck here; either waiting for a miraculous escape or a gruesome death. Alarms blare while the automated announcement tells of every breached creature. What can I do now? Just stay here, crouched near my desk? With nothing but a clipboard with the knowledge from the last test, a keycard with level three permissions, and a dwindling hope for an opportunity to get out of here.

I want to move, I want to be free from this place, but now I can only listen, and wait. There is only the gunfire of submachine guns, screams of agony occasionally echoing through the hallways. For a site even of  this size, there would seem to be too many guards for this place. And yet, minutes later the sector turns quiet. Even the automated announcements are gone along with the sirens. This might just be the chance I was looking for. Walking out quietly, I can hear footsteps getting farther away. Opening a door may be a mistake. These doors could spell my doom if they were too loud. I take a deep breath, and take the chance. 

The scene is horrifying. A guard is on the floor, dead or dying. I carefully approach his body and flinch as he moves. He’s barely alive. He shushes me immediately, and he tries telling me what happened. He dies just a second later, though and I examine his body. Deep lacerations and cuts are on him. I try to shrug off the feeling that I know what killed him while I take his gear.

A voice calls out, “Hey. Come on, we need to get out of here.” 

Tensing up, I somehow refuse the urge to try and find the voice. I wait, hearing the hint of a feral creature. That creature took a voice from someone. Quietly walking, I move back to my hiding place. Then I go in the other direction and start wandering the heavy containment zone.

Walking the halls, I am ready to bolt into a corner to hide. And I can’t seem to remember the path back to the entrance zone. I feel as if all my time here has cleared from my head, and the maze-like hallways don’t help. 

“Hello? Anyone here?” The radio called out. 

I responded immediately, recognizing Sartim’s voice. “Sartim! Where are you?” 

“At the left checkpoint. Come on, I think the rest are gone.” 

“I don’t remember where that is!”
“When me and the guards were out there, we opened some doors”

As I walk, I see the wide open doors. Looking around, I find the checkpoint and the familiar colors of the entrance zone.

I soon come across the checkpoint. I radio Sartim in and as soon as we meet eye to eye I stare at his face for what seemed like hours. Then I immediately bolt into the secure checkpoint room and we both breathe a sigh of relief. Sartim the sergeant, unfortunately facing a breach with me. Sartim looks at me intently, breaking the silence, “Wow, didn’t think you’d be alive.” 

I reply, “You too, guess we’re both lucky.” 

“I think most of the guards were wiped out from the red monster. That thing is deadly, but it sustained some wounds.”

“Well now, I guess you can apply for head guard, I know how much you wanted a promotion”

“Haha, very funny. Listen, we need to get out of here and we need to make a plan.”

As I listen to the plan, I give all the suggestions I can and it finishes. We would have to steal from one of the high ranking offices to find a keycard that would open the gate. Before that, I have to take a break. I snack on chips Sartim had kept in the checkpoint before the breach and genuinely feel as my body relaxes. This would be my first and only time to prepare myself for the unexpected. 

We slowly walk out of the checkpoint room and trudge into the entrance zone. We scout around and Sartim soon encounters strange sounds, similar to growls. Shushing him, I look into the next room through the window of the doors. There it is, that thing. It almost seems as if it's basking in my attention, seemingly staring at me. I feel lucky, as all these doors are open and the only one closed leads to that abhorrent mess. Sartim beckons me to the left, and we find the offices. Every office, we engage the lock and search furiously. Then in the fourth office, Alan’s, we find a backup facility manager card in a drawer. The whole office looks untouched, and he’s not here. I couldn’t imagine what fate he would have been bestowed with if he’s not here.

Sartim starts leading me through the entrance zone, his path based on pure memory. He starts picking up the pace, and so do I. However, I started slowing to catch my breath but still kept up a slower pace. He barely checks the next room and the beast pounces on him, as I watch from a few meters away. Seconds later, the automated announcement rings out about multiple combative units being deployed into the facility. My breathing becomes panicked, as I slink away, taking the announcement’s loudness as an opportunity to make distance. The beast gets up and beelines for my previous location.

I move in the room Sartim was ambushed in and see his lifeless body. Blood gushes out of his neck, the beast’s marks being clear. Why couldn't we just wait for the combative unit in the secure room? Why was the anomaly there? I wish I could kill that thing with just my fists. But I stay silent, trying to control my breathing and as soon as I am at the end of the room though I start dashing away. The creature hears me, immediately starting to chase me. I try to close the few doors I run past to delay its pursuit. I am almost out of breath though, and its pace is vastly faster than mine. I throw a preemptive flashbang and it explodes just next to it, buying me a lot of time by disabling its hearing. I gaze at it for a split second seeing it slash aimlessly and then face forward. 

My radio sparks to life, with a local unit’s commander trying to establish contact. I reply, but this connection will soon compromise my position. I jog lightly, glancing around the rooms. Then I look back, seeing the monster start to chase again. I feel the adrenaline running, and I run faster, too fast to close doors consistently. The red creature lags behind me, but then I hear it stomping towards me, going as fast as it can. I soon hear inaudible voices in the forward in the next room and I start closing doors again to cap its progress. I look to see the gate. Rushing to it, I radio in the combative unit to cease fire and open the gate.

Then I see them. A glorious line of twelve men ready to shoot the anomaly down. As I sluggishly move out of the way, I hear it slashing and they start opening fire. I walk with an escort, panting to the elevator and take a glance behind me. There it is, the red beast trying to ravage them, taking heavy fire. There is a blinding flash of light, probably a rogue flashbang, but I look away just in time. Ears ringing, I dash into the elevator and ascend to the surface, while the sweet elevator music plays as I sit down for a few seconds. Finally, when I walk out of the elevator, there is one final message the automated announcement has, “SCP-939 HAS BEEN RECONTAINED BY CONTAINMENT UNIT NOVEMBER-07.”