Chapter 33 - Matthew 02

Standing at the entrance to the facility, Matthew waited even though he was told to go back. With his shotgun at his side, hours had past and the moon was high in the sky. The dead bodies that laid around him did nothing to deter him from where he stood, for he put them there whilst the Zulu was underground, he defended the entrance.

Checking the number of shots he had left again “Screw it,” he mumbled and took the steps leading down into the facility. He hated this place, he did not fear it, only hated it. He knew along with everybody else what this facility was for. Research and development. That’s what people said.

Logically no one should have feared it nor despised it, it was for the betterment of their knowledge and knowledge was power. But the people who went in, never came out the same…if they ever came out that was. Always more serious, always more angry.

He himself had once spent time in one of these facilities and he would never forget it. Though the few that knew him claimed that he did not change. A battle crazed maniac who looks for the thrill of a battle.

But that was only because they never saw him alone, never heard his own thought. He wished to die, but he did not want to die meaninglessly. Dying would be easier than living with what he’s done, but he couldn’t let himself just drop, he didn’t deserve an easy end. One of the few that ever left he knew better than most what happened in them. He knew things about these places that he didn't want others to know he knew.

Like for example the experiments weren’t only done on monsters, but disgruntled workers, law breakers and a few lucky souls. If he could, he would destroy these places but he couldn’t. He believed no one shared his view. That majority of people believed the price for knowledge was well and truly worth it. But if people could see what he saw, they could change their minds, but they never would.

Passing through the first doorway, he looked out at all the blood of various colours sprayed across the floor. With the lights constantly turning on and off it gave off an eerie feeling, which only brought back memories of his time working in one of these. Memories he wish he could forget.

He walked straight up to the first terminal located to the side of the room and pushed a few buttons. He needed some information that he could only get here. There were people he knew, people he was fond of that were sent to other facilities. Trying to but failing to activate it, “Damn it!” he yelled and shot the screen with his shotgun.

He looked down the long corridor and wondered if the Zulu would kill him for not going back? He secretly hoped he would. He did say that he wasn’t going to obey his command. Either way he loaded one shell into his shotgun.

Holding his breath and turning on a flashlight he had attached to his shotgun he ran through the corridor. Not caring at the condition of any of the open broken rooms, he reached the next terminal and activated it successfully.

Surprised at the fact that the encryption was already broken, he smiled and searched for what he wanted but found that the terminal did not have access to it. Making him remember that with each level the data available became more accessible, and that for the best chance of him to get what he wanted he needed to get to the lower floors.

“I should’ve just followed the Zulu down.” he mumbled to himself, forgetting about the number of beasts he killed alone upstairs.

He soon descended the floors in quick succession stopping on the forth. Not having seen the Zulu on any of the previous floors it was obvious that he was on the fifth. He turned on the computer and placed his shotgun beside him. Without encryption he went straight for the information he wanted. A list of the dead. He knew more than likely what he would find, but he needed confirmation.

Scrolling through the names, it occurred to him that it was strange how the facility chose to keep them recorded. Some way to remember those that’s been sacrificed. A stupid way to remember them by he thought. With the way they were treated, it would’ve be better if they weren’t remembered at all. A list of the tortured, a list of the damned. Citizens thrown in with monsters and abandoned by their own people.

“Why isn’t there a stupid search function?” Matthew rubbed his eyes after going through over five-hundred names that began with the letter M. As he looked back to the screen it, along with the flickering lights in the room went black.

He instantly grabbed his shotgun and dived to the ground, twisting the torch as he dropped. He landed in darkness whilst hearing gunshots, screeching metal and screams radiating from the level below him. Almost as quickly it all started it ended and the lights came back on.

Staying low on the ground due to curiosity, not fear, he crawled to the steps that lead to the fifth floor. He knew he should’ve left, the gunshots and screeches could only have been caused by the Zulu, but he needed see.

Down below he couldn’t see much. With how the walls were positioned he only saw one, the first, dead body in the facility. Not that of a beast, but that of a humans. With blood still pouring out, the man was well and truly dead, but Matthew now knew that the Zulu wasn’t killing monsters but people instead. People of the facility. Something he’s wanted to do for a long, long time.

“Time to leave.” He said to himself getting to his knees, but not so fast that he did not see the Zulu appear, followed quickly by that of a one winged creature that seemed to sense his eyes on her.

“You!” the Zulu bellowed jumping up the steps before Matthew could react and kicking him in the chest. “I told you to leave.” He said with his foot on Matthews’s chest.

“And I said I wouldn’t.” Matthew spat out blood with a smile.

“You said that you would.” The Zulu pushed his muzzle down on the arm that Matthew held his shotgun with. Stopping the use of it.

“I said I would disobey your order.” Matthew’s eyes wondered towards the one winged creature, woman. “You’re freeing the monsters.”

“I’m freeing them from monsters.” The Zulu increased his weight on his chest, cracking two of his ribs, then pulled back. “What are you doing here?”

“You know.” He smiled a bloody smile looking back to The Zulu. “You’re not as scary as I thought you’ll be.”

The Zulu squinted his eyes.

“You’re too reasonable.” Matthew continued. “I’ve pushed you and you’ve never pushed back.”

“Even now as I lay under your feet.” He wriggled his arm that was pinned by his rifle. “You still wait for answers, still believe that I have reasons for what I do.”

“Martha and Nora are both dead.” The Zulu announced as if he were marking a roll.

Not pausing for a second, despite getting confirmation on what he wanted to know. “It’s like you’re naïve.” Matthew continued. “Young and still in ne..” Matthew received a kick in the jaw.

“Is death what you wish for?” The Zulu asked.

“Would.” Matthew coughed. “You give it to me if it were?”

The Zulu took his foot of Matthews’s chest but kept his firing arm pinned to the ground. “You’ll get it soon enough.” He answered after a short time.

As Matthew moved to sit up. “But not from you.” Matthew said and felt the hard end of a rifle hit him hard in the head.

A/N

Thank you all for the welcome back! Happy to see that you all are still reading.

Unsure if i should've put this chapter of Matthew up. Though it is developing his character, is it too much of a change from what you know of him? Does his reasoning make any sense at all? I see sense in it, but it's a weird, somewhat crazy kind of sense.

@j0nn0

You're a Mod now?! Congrats! Times do change ~

And as always, Thank you all for reading, hope you've enjoyed the chapter.