With their ears ringing intensely and their primary flashlights knocked from their hands, Lukas and Jannik scrambled to the mouth of the hatch, gasping for the fresh, cool air of the forest. The explosion had sent a massive column of grey, vaporous smoke billowing out of the ground, blanketed by a heavy chemical stench that smelled like burning electronics and acid.
But as they dragged themselves out onto the mossy ground, a new sound cut through the rushing wind. Emerging directly out of the smoking concrete hatch was a sound that sounded flawlessly, terrifyingly human. It was a high-pitched, agonizing wail—sounding exactly like a human being trapped in the pitch blackness below.
Lukas gripped the edge of the concrete slab, his eyes wide with horror. “Jannik… did you hear that? There’s someone down there. Someone was in that room!” The sound fluctuated wildly, morphing into a bizarre, mechanical, metallic screech that no human throat could possibly produce.