Lucas's eyes quivered as he stared at their only escape route. The basement was vast and open, with no places to hide.
Whoever was coming down would see them the moment they reached the last step.
"What do we do?" he whispered, thinking of a way to protect themselves. However, his brain had never been more comatose. He couldn't think of anything.
The sound of footsteps became louder, and it wasn't from one or two. There was a rhythmic pattern as if they were marching towards the basement.
The echo from the place made it easier for them to sense everything better.
Vance, who was especially sensitive, stood vigilant clutching his machine gun, ready to kill anyone who was a threat to them. Thankfully, they had both bullets and tranquilizers.
So, monster or human, come on!
But preparation aside, they were scared out of their minds.
'Why didn't Ryker warn us of the danger? Didn't he see them when they entered the lab?' Vance scowled, feeling frustrated at the sudden danger. But the next instant, fear gripped him. 'Did something happen to him?'
But that shouldn't be the case. Ryker was in the sky and neither the humans nor the fiends could fly. So... what was happening?
Moreover, they had shouted quite a few times when they were searching for Dave. Why didn't they encounter anyone on the way?
Vance's mind started to run wild and he glanced at Lucas who at that moment was frozen in his spot. Even Dave's situation was no different and they glanced at each other, trying to find a solution for the predicament they were in.
The footsteps grew louder but more inhuman, and Lucas's heart was close to bursting out in fear. This was the third time he was about to have a heart attack, the first time being when he had landed in the apocalyptic world and the second was when Ryker had almost crashed their chopper.
'I want to go home,' he cried silently.
Since the time he died on earth, his life had become no different than an action thriller movie. However, there wasn't any excitement. Instead, it was all horror and suspense, with each passing second pushing him closer to his death.
In a few seconds, whoever was coming down would reach the basement and meet them face to face. Lucas only hoped they were someone the three men could handle.
"What do we do?" he mouthed at Vance who looked equally perturbed.
"We attack first, taking them by a shock," Vance mouthed back and Lucas nodded.
It was the only option they had. There was no door or corridor where they could hide. The stairs led to the basement directly with a small wall to support them.
The only possible shield they had was by the small wall and the three men huddled together as they waited, dimming the torchlight. Now, they could only see each other, nothing else, not even the pile of dead bodies and torn limbs that lay nearby.
They could only brace themselves and prepare for a fight.
While Lucas and Dave filled their machine guns with tranquilizers, Vance prepared to shoot the humans.
Lucas felt sweat trickle down his spine, the coldness sending a chill through his body. He gulped nervously as he waited.
A few seconds later, his brows knitted together when he felt the sound increase to an alarming level. It didn't seem like it belonged to humans.
However, they didn't seem to belong to the fiends either.
The footsteps were oddly systematic and controlled as they were following a pattern, like the soldiers' march. The fiends weren't this disciplined, were they?
Lucas couldn't comprehend what was happening. He just held his breath, his hand fixed on the machine gun.
Surprisingly, the patters didn't increase after some time. Instead, it halted for a few seconds before drifting away.
Dave glanced at Vance who blinked blankly. They couldn't quite comprehend what had happened.
"I think we should leave before something happens," Vance whispered, looking up the stairs from his spot.
But there was nothing he could see. It was dark on the other side, looking nothing less than an endless abyss.
"Yes, let's get out of here."
Lucas and Dave sprang to their feet, and they followed Vance who took the lead.
Keeping their eyes open and ears trained, they increased the torchlight intensity before climbing the stairs slowly. They didn't dare make a sound lest they alerted the enemies.
They even controlled their breathing, staying as close to each other as possible as they monitored the situation.
The tension and distress were palpable.
Their trepidation was at its peak and their body close to giving up due to fear.
At one point in time, in his anxiety, Dave missed his footstep and was close to tumbling on the stairs.
But Lucas was quick to hold him as he supported Dave's weight, preventing him from falling.
Gritting his teeth, Dave gathered himself and stood up, darting a thankful gaze toward Lucas who was behind him.
Halfway through the stairs, Vance stopped suddenly when he heard a faint sound from somewhere around him.
Even Lucas and Dave heard it and they stiffened in their places. It wasn't coming from above. Instead, the noise seemed to be somewhere close, perhaps a few feet nearby.
Darting each other with a look of caution, Vance started moving, trying to accurately pinpoint where the noise was coming from.
At first, they couldn't quite decipher where the noise was coming from.
But it was Dave who noticed something amiss and leaned closer towards the wall near the mid-level landing and the sound became clearer at once.
"The sound is coming from here," he mouthed and Lucas and Vance moved closer to listen.
The moment they placed their ears by the wall, they heard a noise as if something was being moved.
Although they wanted to leave from the hellhole, their curiosity got the best of them and they continued to listen.
The moving sound continued for a few seconds before everything went silent.
Nothing happened for a long time and they looked at each other again.
Vance was in a dilemma. His rationality was telling him to leave the place as soon as possible. There was danger everywhere and they shouldn't compromise their lives just to find out what was happening.
However, his curiosity was zenith, and eventually, his curiosity won over his rationality.
Gritting his teeth, he nodded, gesturing for Dave to move to his right and Lucas to his left while he remained at the center.
Taking a deep breath, he checked the wall. It wasn't sturdy and moved instantly.
Thankfully, it didn't make any noise and Vance moved it, keeping his eyes open for any dangers ahead.
Vance walked in first, followed by Lucas and Dave, who had their machine guns ready.
To their shock, however, there was no one inside. Except for a few strange equipment that seemed to have been pulled out of a sci-fi movie, there was not a soul in sight.