Operation Save The World

Astra stumbled forward her breath coming in sharp gasps as she navigated the crumbled remains of the facility. The metallic smell of rust and decay filled the air with the iridescent smell of something burning in the distance. The emergency lights flickered, casting a shadow on the cracked wall as if the building itself was screaming a warning for her to turn around and go back. She didn’t have that luxury.

Somewhere behind her the hunters were closing in. Astra pulled her jacket tighter around her trying to fight off the bitter cold. Her boots crunched the ground beneath her as she ran across the debris. She ran down the corridor, her heart pounding loudly in her chest. She had to keep moving. She had to find the exit before they caught her.

The facility had been abandoned for a few years, ever since the experiment had gone wrong. But now, someone had activated the security systems and Astra was not naive enough to believe that it didn’t mean something, it was not a coincidence. She had spent the last six months hunting for the truth, unraveling the twisted and tangled web of lies surrounding the project which had nearly destroyed the world. And now someone wanted to ensure that she would never make it out of the facility alive.

She reached a junction as her mind raced and tried to recall the schematics she had studied. Left led deeper underground, Right was the laboratory ruins. She had to go right.

A sharp hiss filled the air, and Astra barely had time to react before something whizzed past her striking the wall where her head had been just a few seconds before. She ducked and pressed herself against the cold metal surface. A tranquilizer dart stuck in the wall. They were not trying to kill her. Not yet anyway.

The thought sent chills through her body as adrenaline propelled her forward. Astra bolted to the right, skidding down another hallway which was littered with shattered glass and overturned equipment. She could hear heavy footsteps behind her. The hunters were not rushing. They knew she was cornered.

She clenched her jaw. If they thought she was trapped they didn’t know her at all. Her eyes searched for something, anything that she could use. A rusted panel hung loose from the ceiling. She formed a plan. She reached for a discarded metal rod, gripping it tightly as she climbed onto a fallen cabinet. The footsteps grew louder and shadows stretched against the walls as they got closer to the corner of the room.

With a deep one long deep breath, Astra swung the rod upward, slamming it into the panel with all of her strength. The building sounded like it was groaning in protest as the wall collapsed entirely, sending a cascade of metal and debris crashing down on the hunters just as they rounded the corner.

A strangled scream echoed through the corridor as the two men went down, buried beneath the rubble. Astra did not wait to see if they were still moving. She took off running through the ruins, ignoring the burning sensation in her lungs.

A voice cracked over the facility’s speakers, cold and amused.

“You’re more resourceful than I gave you credit for. More than I expected, Astra.”

She swallowed hard and forced herself to keep running. The voice she recognized only too well. Dr. Voss, the man who orchestrated the experiment. The man responsible for everything.

“I thought you would have given up by now. “ He continued. His voice echoing through the corridors.

“But here you are still trying to expose the truth and willing to die to do so.”

Astra rounded a corner nearly colliding with a steel door. She pressed her shaking hand against the access panel, but of course, it was locked. She cursed loudly.

“You won’t win.” Voss said. “Even if you manage to escape me and escape death nobody will believe you. You have no proof.”

Astra’s fingers curled into a fist. He was wrong. There were plenty of people who would believe her and she would find the proof. People had been waiting years for the truth.

Her eyes darted to the keypad. She reached into the pocket on her jeans and pulled out a small hacking device she stole a few days ago from the facility. It was old but it might work. She jammed it into the panel, watching as the numbers flickered erratically. The floor shook beneath her.

“Tic-toc.” Voss murmured. “You’re wasting time.”

The realization struck her like being hit with a snowball during a snowball fight on a cold winter’s day. He was going to bring the whole facility down.

The lock clicked. Astra pushed open the door and ran inside, slamming the door behind her. The room was dark, but she could see a faint glow of emergency screens. Data still flickered on the monitors. If she could only get to the main console, she could download the files which remained and expose everything.

Another explosion rocked the facility. Dust and debris rained down on her from the ceiling. Astra’s fingers flew across the keyboard as she transferred the files to the flash drive. A blue progress bar crawled across the screen, painfully slow.

“Come on.” She whispered.

The door behind her slammed open. She spun around, her body tensing for a fight. But it was not one of the hunters. It was Voss himself. He stood there perfectly calm and composed despite the chaos going on around them.

“You are very persistent. I will give you that.”

Astra took the flash drive from the console and backed away. “Now the world will know what you did.”

Voss smiled and laughed. “No, Astra. They will know what you did.”

Before she could respond he pressed a small button on his wrist watch. The entire room began to shake. “Self-destruct.” He laughed.

Astra turned and ran. The facility groaned as the steel beams twisted and the explosion roared through the lower levels of the facility. She ran down the hallway of the collapsing building. The exit was just a few feet ahead. Fire raged from behind her but she didn’t stop. She could not stop.

With one final burst of energy, Astra threw herself toward the exit door right before the fire engulfed the hallway behind her. The facility erupted in flames just as she hit the ground hard. She rolled onto the concrete sidewalk and gasped as the wave of heat blasted past her.

She laid there for a few minutes trying to catch her breath. Then she sat up, still gripping the flash drive in her right hand. She proved Voss wrong. She had won.