The Zinkon Incident

I just sat there, my heart racing a bit. What could I do? I had no control over the situation. I kind of felt guilty for being so passive. Everyone around me was examining the door, trying to help the person on the other side, completely blind of the fact that they stopped screaming. And I just sat there waiting.

“I don’t think they’re there anymore,” I softly said.

“What?” someone asked.

“Listen, they’re not banging on the door anymore. Maybe someone else was able to let them in.”

“Yeah, I guess he’s right,” someone said.

About ten minutes passed before the head of the facility appeared on the screen again. “Workers on level 7, please hang on for just a little longer, we’re having some difficulty getting your power back online. It appears a wire has been cut. We’re sending maintenance down there immediately to fix the problem. For now, just sit tight. Thank you.”

Everyone groaned. I’ll admit, I was a little annoyed with sitting in a dim room with nothing to do, but I was kind of glad that I got a paid break. I got some time to really examine the room I worked in every day. There were things I never noticed. Every day I would walk in and go straight to my station, not paying attention to anything else. And because of that, I realized how boring I was. I never talked to anyone, I had no friend in the facility or out, and never bothered to even look around the lab I worked in for years. So, I tried to start making some friends.

I turned to the man next to me and introduced myself, “Hello, I’m (we’ll say Daniel)”

“Hi, I’m Gene. Crazy, huh? Everything going on,” he said kindly.

“Yeah, I’ve worked here for years and nothing like this has ever happened. How long have you worked here?”

“About six months. Came from my own office over in Georgia. I specialize in making vaccines, but I guess everyone on this floor does too, right?” he laughed.

“Yeah,” I gave my best fake smile. Thankfully, the head of the facility appeared again.

“Workers on level 7, we’ve received word that restoring power to your level will take longer than expected, so when this all over, you will all receive a small bonus. Thank you.”

Everyone began to cheer. I didn’t because I’d probably worked there long enough to know that when the head says “a bonus” it really means about $10-$12. A large bonus would probably be around 50, but since this was a small bonus, I knew it would most likely be like $5.

As soon as the screen went black, the heavy metal door opened with a loud blast of steam. On the other side was just a dark hallway. Everyone began to murmur. And as quickly as he left, the head of the facility reappeared. “Workers on level 7, we are aware that some of your quarantine doors have opened, but please do not leave your laboratories. There will be consequences if you do. Thank you.”

“Should we stay?” someone asked.

“Well, he said there would be consequences. Plus, they should restore power soon, so I think we should stay,” someone replied.

I mindlessly walked out, honestly not caring. I looked down each end of the hallway and saw no one, so I began walking towards the elevator. It became too dark, so I went back for a flashlight. When I walked back in the lab, everyone was staring at me. “Too scared?” someone insultingly asked.

“Came back for a flashlight,” I said, grabbing one out of the emergency kit. “Bye.”

I walked out of the lab and turned on the flashlight. As soon as I did, the light revealed a horribly mutilated body. I covered my mouth to mute my scream and slowly backed up. I was used to seeing dead bodies, since I was once a coroner. I walked back to the lab and looked the person that asked if I was too scared right in the eyes. “If you’re so brave, then come look at this,” I said. He stood up and walked past me. I followed and shined the flashlight on the body. He gagged and ran back into the lab. I smirked.