“Environmental seals look intact,” I observed. “That’s something, at least.”
“Should we go in?”
I hesitated. Once we crossed this threshold, we were committed, but staying outside wasn’t an option either. The toxic atmosphere was already eating through our improvised protective gear, and the storm showed no signs of abating.
“Yes,” I said finally. “We go in.”
I stepped across the threshold first, sweeping the light beam around the small chamber. Everything looked normal—if you could call an abandoned facility normal. There were no immediate signs of danger, nobodies, no obvious structural damage.
“Come on,” I said to Zara. “Let’s see what we’re dealing with.”
She stepped inside behind me, and I heard her breath catch as I closed the outer door behind us. The sound of the wind immediately muted, leaving us in an almost oppressive silence.
“It’s so quiet,” she whispered.
“Better than being out in that storm,” I pointed out.
I moved to the inner door and found that it was in much better condition than the outer entrance. The locking mechanism was still functional, though it took some effort to get it to respond.
When the inner door finally opened, we stepped into the main interior of the weather station, and I swept my light around the space to get our bearings.
What I saw made my stomach sink.
The place wasn’t just abandoned. It looked like whoever had been here had left in a hurry, leaving behind equipment, personal belongings, and the dried-up remains of half-finished meals sitting on plates. There were clear signs of some kind of emergency evacuation.
“Torven,” Zara said quietly, and I could hear the unease in her voice. “What do you think happened here?”
I moved the light beam across strewn furniture, scattered data pads, and empty consoles.
“I don’t know,” I said. “But whatever it was, I don’t think they left by choice.”
The question was: was whatever had driven them away still here?
And if it was, had we just walked into a trap?
I listened carefully to the silence around us, every sense alert for signs of danger. But all I could hear was our own breathing and the distant sound of wind outside.
“We’ll figure it out,” I said finally, as much to convince myself as to reassure Zara. “For now, we need shelter, and this is the best option we have.”
But as we stood in the doorway of that dark, abandoned facility, I couldn’t shake the feeling that we’d just entered something far more dangerous than the storm we’d left behind.
And if I failed to protect Zara here, like I’d failed to protect my crew, I’d never forgive myself.
Whatever horrors had driven the previous occupants away, we were about to find out about them firsthand.
CHAPTER 5
ZARA
The first thing I noticed when we stepped into the main chamber was how much warmer it was than outside, and, of course, the lack of wind. My whole body sort of sagged in relief at no longer having to constantly stay braced and feel the chill biting through my layers of clothing. I plunked my pack down on the floor and rolled my shoulders.
Torven looked at the device on his arm and checked the readings. “Oxygen levels are within normal range,” he announced. “Temperature should be comfortable for you. Whatever filtration system they had here, it’s still working.”
“Good,” I said, immediately reaching up to remove my helmet. “This thing was so scratched up, I couldn’t see much. That’s why I had to keep asking you if we were getting close.” The air was stale and musty, but it was breathable. More importantly, it didn’t smell like death or decay, which had been a genuine concern of mine.
He followed suit, pulling off his helmet and shaking hishead like a wet puppy. It was curiously adorable. He pulled in a deep breath. “My visibility wasn’t much better,” he said. “I just aimed us toward the big black thing.”
The dark was bugging me out. I was a devout fan of modern conveniences, and even though the circumstances were not optional, and I understood that, the darkness made my heart beat faster and my jaw clench. “Do you have another flashlight?” I asked.
