Apocalypse Trade Monopoly

Cold. Damp. Stale air.

Ava landed with a soft thud, knees bending to absorb the impact.

Her hand shot out, brushing against the rough, grimy walls.

Metal. Concrete. Corrosion.

This place wasn't just old—it was dying.

The tunnels had been built for maintenance crews before the collapse. Hidden arteries beneath the bunker, snaking through the underground to service electrical grids, WiFi nodes, and water systems.

Now?

They were a graveyard.

Ava inhaled slowly. 

[ SCANNING ENVIRONMENT… ]

[ Tunnel Integrity: 39% (Severe Deterioration) ]

[ Electrical Hazards: Active ]

[ Structural Weak Points Detected ]

She gritted her teeth.

Lucas was getting an earful when she got out. One wrong step in this place and she wouldn't just be lost. She'd die.

Fried.Crushed. Drowned.

Ava adjusted the strap on her belt bag, stepping carefully over a rusted pipe. The walls around her hummed faintly—a low, constant vibration.

The bunker's power grid was still running through here.

That meant live cables.

That meant danger.

She moved slow. Precise.

Her boots barely skimmed the ground as she navigated past exposed wires, unstable flooring, and dripping water that smelled like metal.

[ Mapping Route… ]

[ Warning: Sudden Power Surge Detected ]

Ava froze.

A soft crackle echoed through the tunnel—sharp, violent.

Then—a burst of blue light.

Ava barely had time to throw herself back before an overhead cable snapped, whipping down like a steel serpent.

It hit the floor hard.

Sparks erupted, dancing across the metal plating, hungry and erratic.

Ava's breath came fast.

That could've been her.

[ Alternative Route Required. ]

Her jaw clenched.

She didn't have time for this.

Ava turned sharply, scanning ahead.

The tunnel split.

Left—the mapped path. Longer, safer.

Right—a dark, narrow corridor.

Ava exhaled.

Then—she turned right.

The air grew thicker. Staler.

The passage was narrower here, forcing her to duck under hanging pipes and step over twisted metal grates.

[ WARNING: UNKNOWN TERRAIN AHEAD. ]

[ Mapping… ]

[ Insufficient Data. Proceed with Caution. ]

Ava's fingers twitched.

She didn't like blind spots.

Didn't like walking into places even her system couldn't read.

But going back wasn't an option.

She adjusted her bag and moved forward, each step careful, calculated.

The tunnel sloped downward.

The hum of the bunker's power grid faded, replaced by the slow, distant drip of water.

Then—her boot hit something soft.

Ava stopped.

[ SCANNING… ]

[ Organic Matter Detected. ]

[ Decomposition: 83% (Advanced) ]

[ Cause of Death: Unknown. ]

She inhaled through her nose, already knowing.

A body.

Not fresh. Not intact.

Ava crouched, eyes narrowing as she scanned the remains.

The clothing—scavenger gear.

The size—a small frame. Maybe a teenager.

And the way they had collapsed?

Like they had been running.

Ava's stomach tightened.

She didn't move the corpse. Didn't touch it.

But her fingers brushed the ground beside it, feeling for—

There.

Shallow scratch marks in the metal plating.

They had tried to crawl.

Tried to escape something.

Ava exhaled.

Her system was silent.

No warnings. No threats detected.

And yet—every instinct screamed at her to move.

She stood, boots silent against the damp floor.

Then—a noise.

Soft. Wet. A slow, dragging sound.

Behind her.

Ava didn't hesitate.

She ran.

Boots skimming the ground, breath steady, movements precise.

The tunnel was tight, unstable, treacherous. She dodged low-hanging pipes, rusted support beams, jagged cracks in the flooring that could send her plummeting into god-knows-what.

Behind her—

That sound.

Wet. Dragging. Closer.

[ SCANNING… ]

[ Movement Detected – 15 Meters Behind ]

[ Lifeform Classification: UNKNOWN. ]

[ Threat Level: HIGH. ]

Ava's chest tightened.

Her system didn't recognize it.

Not a mutant. Not a scavenger.

Something else. SHIT.

She pivoted hard, skidding around a corner. Took a risk.

[ Calculating Route… ]

[ Fastest Escape: 300 Meters Southeast ]

[ Obstruction Detected. ]

Ava's jaw clenched.

She pushed forward, heart hammering but steady.

Don't stop.

Don't look back.

Then—

A sharp hiss.

So close it prickled against her skin.

Ava's grip tightened on her bag.

She needed a weapon.

Fast.

[ Improvised Weapon Suggestion: Conductive Shock Tool. ]

Not ideal.

But better than nothing.

Ava yanked a small, modified screwdriver from her sleeve—wired with a high-voltage capacitor.

A makeshift shock blade.

She gritted her teeth, turning the next corner fast—and froze.

Dead end.

A collapsed wall of concrete and steel.

[ NO EXIT DETECTED. ]

Her stomach dropped.

Behind her—

The sound stopped.

Ava turned slowly.

And for the first time—she saw it.

Crouched in the darkness, half-hidden by shadow.

Twisted. Wrong.

A body that had once been human.

But now?

Stretched. Warped.

Bones jutting at unnatural angles beneath sickly, mottled skin. Its arms were too long. Fingers too sharp. A spine that arched like something had tried to break it in half—and failed.

And the worst part?

The face.

Or what was left of it.

Its jaw hung loose, unhinged, like someone had ripped it open and never let it close.

And inside—

Teeth. Too many.

The thing twitched.

Joints cracking.

A wet, gurgling sound bubbling from its throat.

Ava's system kicked in, fast.

[ SCANNING… ]

[ BIOLOGICAL ANOMALY DETECTED. ]

[ Classification: UNKNOWN. ]

[ Threat Level: EXTREME. ]

Her fingers tightened on the shock tool.

No talking her way out of this.

This thing wasn't human anymore.

It was hungry.

It took a step forward.

Ava moved first.

She lunged, jamming the shock blade straight toward its chest—

The thing reacted instantly.

Too fast.

It twisted away, limbs bending at angles that shouldn't be possible.

Ava barely had time to curse before it struck.

A clawed hand slashed toward her throat—

She dropped low, twisting away—

The claws missed by inches, slicing into the wall behind her.

Sparks erupted.

Ava's system blared warnings.

[ ELECTRICAL DISCHARGE DETECTED. ]

The creature jerked violently.

Twitching. Shuddering. Its body convulsed—just for a second.

Ava's eyes narrowed.

Then—

She understood.

The bunker's old power grid.

The wires. The exposed panels. The electrical surge that nearly fried her earlier.

This thing was fast. Strong. Resistant to damage.

But electricity?

That slowed it down.

Ava's grip tightened on the shock blade.

She looked at the flickering, half-broken power conduit behind her.

Then back at the creature.

And smirked.

"Alright, you ugly bastard," she muttered.

"Let's see how well you fry."