Good Night: An Apocalypse Story

As Stephanie and Harley entered one of the more fortified buildings in the military base, they pushed open the heavy metal doors and found what they had been searching for—a generator, covered in dust and rust from years of disuse. It stood in the center of the room, looking as though it hadn’t been touched in at least 15 years.

Harley knelt by the generator, inspecting it. “Let’s try to get this thing going,” she muttered, flipping a few switches. But nothing happened. The generator remained stubbornly silent.

“It’s been sitting here too long,” Stephanie said, stepping forward. “Let me see if I can repair it.”

Stephanie pulled out her tools and got to work, tweaking the machine’s inner workings, cleaning out some of the debris, and reconnecting loose wiring. After a few tense minutes, the generator whirred to life, emitting a deep rumble as it powered on.

But the sound was deafening—too loud. The sudden noise echoed through the base, cutting through the stillness and reverberating across the complex.

Both women froze as they heard it—thundering footsteps, the Tank had heard the generator. It was coming straight for them.

"Shit!" Harley whispered, her face tight with worry as the ground shook beneath them.

The Tank reached the building and started pounding on the walls, the force of its blows rattling the very foundation of the structure. Each hit felt like an earthquake. The walls groaned under the pressure as the massive creature outside tried to tear its way in.

Stephanie’s mind raced as she grabbed her bow, realizing that they couldn’t afford to stay here. She only had one shot, and it would need to slow the creature down. “I’ve got an idea,” she said, grabbing the last of her poison-tipped arrows.

Through a narrow gap in the wall, she fired the arrows at the Tank one by one, each shot hitting its grotesque form. The poison began to work, but it would take time to slow the monster down.

“Run!” Stephanie yelled, grabbing Harley’s arm as they made a mad dash out of the building.

The Tank, though weakened by the poison, was still hot on their trail. Its massive form tore through the base with terrifying speed, but it was clearly slowing down, each step becoming more labored. Still, it was relentless.

They ran through the overgrown paths, dodging crumbling structures and trees. The thundering footsteps of the Tank never seemed to grow too distant. Desperation grew in Stephanie’s chest as she scanned the area.

"The door!" Harley shouted, pointing toward the hangar where the Tank had first emerged. Through the chaos, they spotted it—the entrance to the facility hidden deep underground.

Reaching the door, Harley began frantically entering the code Gigi had given them, her hands moving fast over the keypad as she fought to stay calm.

“Faster, Harley!” Stephanie shouted as she turned back, firing her rifle at the Tank. The massive creature was closing in, despite the poison slowing it down. Each bullet hit its target, but the Tank kept coming, its sheer size and strength making it almost invulnerable.

Suddenly, the Tank roared and picked up a nearby vehicle, throwing it at them with all its might. The tank slammed into the ground near them, barely missing by inches, sending debris flying everywhere.

Harley finally got the door open, just as the Tank entered the hangar. The massive creature stormed toward them, its eyes wild with rage.

Without hesitation, Harley grabbed Stephanie by her arm and pulled her through the door, slamming it shut behind them just as the Tank lunged forward. Its fist smashed into the thick metal door, but it couldn’t break through. The entire hangar shook as the Tank’s roars of frustration filled the air, but they were safe—at least for now.

Breathing heavily, Stephanie and Harley sat against the sealed door, hearts racing. They had barely made it. Outside, the Tank continued to pound against the door, but the facility's heavy reinforced metal held strong.

“That... was way too close,” Stephanie muttered, catching her breath.

Harley nodded, still shaking from the adrenaline. “But we did it. We’re in.”

As Stephanie and Harley walked deeper into the corridor of the facility, they both stopped when they saw something unusual—red, biological matter clinging to the walls, pulsing slightly as though it were alive. The sight of it sent a shiver down Stephanie’s spine, and memories of Gigi's warning about the living mass in the walls came rushing back.
“This must be what he was talking about,” Stephanie muttered.

Without hesitation, Harley reached into her bag and took out her UV lantern, shining the light directly onto the strange growth. Almost immediately, the biological matter began to shrink, pulling away from the surface of the walls as if it were retreating from the light. The exposed parts looked as though they were burning, with small wisps of smoke rising from the areas that had been hit hardest by the UV rays.

Seeing how effective the UV light was, Stephanie turned to Harley. “Get my UV lamp from my backpack.”

Harley nodded and quickly reached into Stephanie’s backpack, pulling out the second UV lantern. After closing the pack, she couldn't resist giving Stephanie’s butt a playful slap before handing the lamp over.

“Here you go,” Harley said with a grin.

Stephanie rolled her eyes with a smirk, taking the UV lamp and activating it. The two of them now had enough light to keep the red biological matter at bay, and the mass continued to retreat into the walls, seemingly afraid of the burning effect the UV light had on it.

As they continued walking through the corridors, their UV lamps shone in all directions, keeping the red matter away. The mass slithered out of their path, shrinking into the crevices of the walls as they moved forward. The eerie feeling of being watched lingered, but the path ahead cleared, thanks to the powerful light.

“At least we know how to deal with this stuff now,” Harley said, her voice low as they cautiously moved forward.

“Yeah, but I have a feeling this is just the beginning,” Stephanie replied, her eyes scanning the walls for more signs of movement.

Arriving at a heavy door, Harley used the access card Gigi had given them. The door slid open with a faint hiss, revealing the interior of the facility. As they stepped inside, the air was thick with dust, and it was clear this place had been abandoned for 15 years. The walls were coated in layers of grime and dust, and here and there, patches of the ominous red biological matter clung to the surfaces like creeping vines.

The facility’s layout unfolded before them as they walked—laboratories, offices, and various rooms, all in a state of disrepair. The long-abandoned facility felt almost like a tomb, the silence broken only by the faint hum of their UV lanterns and the soft echo of their footsteps.

They searched the rooms, hoping to find something of value. But despite their efforts, most of the supplies were degraded beyond use, leaving them with only a few minor materials that could be used to craft tools or weapons.

As they ventured deeper into the facility, Harley wandered a little too far from the protective glow of the UV light. She didn’t notice at first, but the moment she stepped outside the range of the light, the red biological matter on the walls seemed to come alive. It began to stretch toward her, reaching out like tendrils ready to engulf her.

Stephanie’s eyes widened in alarm, her heart racing. “Harley!” she shouted, rushing toward her.

The red mass recoiled just as Stephanie reached Harley, the UV light from her lantern bathing the area and forcing the tendrils to retreat back into the walls, hissing as they shrank away. Harley blinked, surprised by how close she’d come to being touched by the creeping biological growth.

“Thanks,” Harley said, her voice a little shaken. “Didn’t even realize I’d wandered out of the light.”

Stephanie gave her a reassuring nod, though her heart was still pounding from the close call. “Stay close, we can't risk letting that stuff touch us.”

After exploring more of the facility, Stephanie and Harley stumbled upon a room cluttered with old files and documents, some scattered across the floor while others were neatly stacked on shelves, coated in thick layers of dust. The air in the room felt heavy with the weight of forgotten history.

They began sifting through the files, most of which were destroyed beyond recognition. The papers were crumbling, yellowed, and torn, with only fragments of information visible. Useless, for the most part, or irrelevant to their search.

But then, as Stephanie flipped through a pile of staff files, she froze. One file contained a familiar face—a younger version of her father. The name had been destroyed, but there was no mistaking it—it was him. The accompanying notes described him as a high-ranking staff member of the facility. The realization hit Stephanie hard. Her father wasn’t just connected to the facility; he had been deeply involved in it.

“Harley... look at this,” Stephanie muttered, her voice tight with emotion as she handed Harley the file.

Harley’s eyes widened as she looked at the file. It was a shocking revelation, but then she began flipping through more files and found another familiar face—her own father. Both of them had been involved in the facility’s research, and on the files, it was written that both had volunteered their children for something called the NHS Project.

“What the hell...” Harley whispered, scanning the information.

There was more—something about the NHS Project. The file stated that both Stephanie and Harley had been part of the project, volunteered without their knowledge. It revealed that the NHS Project was a genetic experiment aimed at transforming humans into a new subspecies—Homo Nocturnis Sapien.

They found a drawer labeled NHS, and upon opening it, they discovered files on the participants of the project. The documents were in disarray, but after a frantic search, they found their own files—damaged, but enough of the information remained to paint a terrifying picture.

The files said their transformations had been a success. They had been genetically altered, and their latent abilities as Homo Nocturnis Sapien would only awaken between the ages of 18 and 25, triggered by a high-stress situation.

“It all makes sense now,” Stephanie murmured, staring at her file. “The changes we've been going through... the strength, the healing. It’s all because of this.”

“Our fathers... they did this to us,” Harley said, her voice filled with a mix of anger and disbelief. “They volunteered us for this.”

They continued searching the room, desperate to find more answers. But despite their best efforts, they couldn’t find any specific documents on Homo Nocturnis Sapien. The files seemed to have been destroyed or removed, leaving them with more questions than answers.

“Let’s check the labs,” Stephanie suggested, her mind racing. “Maybe we can find something more.”

With the UV lamps still keeping the red biological matter at bay, they left the file room behind and set off to explore the laboratories, hoping to uncover the truth about what had been done to them—and why.