The Meat Locker 3D Render, Digital Artwork by RedSpartan

! REPORT

The Meat Locker

3D Render by RedSpartan

(Continuing on from 'The Weapons Locker')

Mya watched her go, thinking for a moment, appraising her situation up to now. That Shaana had saved her life she would be forever grateful, but her new companion made her uncomfortable. It was clear her mind had been broken by her experiences, but to what extent she wasn’t yet sure. Her moods seemed to swing uncontrollably, and her enhanced strength made Mya wary of getting too secure in her company. The girl had said she didn’t trust her yet, but that feeling definitely went both ways. She glanced back at the way they had come, the laboratory of evil that still played on her conscience and would undoubtedly continue to for some time to come. The creatures they’d encountered instilled in her a deep fear of what the monsters who had conjured this place might yet be capable of. This facility may not be one of a kind and if the horrors the Confederation could create were let loose on the worlds of the Commonwealth, on her home and the people she loved, then the war would take a very different direction, one of frantic survival against a far more insidious enemy than she or her superiors had ever thought possible. How could the Confederates control these things? Once let loose how would they ever hope to rope them back under their control. Augmenting human beings to be more powerful was one thing, the mutations and abominations she had so far been witness to was a living nightmare that she felt no one could survive, not even those that had brought them into being.

Shaana was waiting for her when she finally went to catch up, a slight look of impatient annoyance on her face. She stood before a large door that ended the corridor. Above it, a sign, faded and decrepit said that beyond lay what was once the facilities hydroponics lab.

‘They manipulated plants as well?’ She asked, gripping the shotgun tightly as the girl pushed a large button at the side of the hatch.

‘A little I think,’ She replied as the doors hesitantly slid open on old and rusted bearings. ‘It’s what it’s used for now that’s far more interesting.’

The room beyond was bathed in a sickly red illumination and steam blocked their view father than a couple of meters. As the doors parted a thick rush of warm putrid air flowed out and engulfed them and Mya found herself clutching her guts as the stench of death washed over her.

‘What the fuck!’ she exclaimed, turning her head away from the entrance as if that might stop the smell.

‘We have to go through here,’ Shaana explained, a faint smile on her face an indication that she found Mya’s reaction amusing. ‘We get to the corridor on the other side and then the exit to the surface is one more level up.’

‘But what, what is this place?’ Mya gagged, ‘No hydroponics lab ever smelt like this.’

‘Oh, the beast found another use for this room.’ The girl said, stepping over the threshold, ‘This is where it stores its food.’

Mya followed, the steam thinning out to eventually reveal what lay beyond. The room was large and a bank of windows to their left would have looked out onto the outside world had they not been completely covered in foliage. In places the rubber seals or glass panels had given way and vines and ivy like plants had found their way in and now covered parts of the ceiling and much of the floor. Old tanks and plant containers stood scattered and redundant about the room. Red neon spotlights gave the space its hellish parlance, and the things hanging from the rafters completed the vision.

Mya stopped and stared in disbelief. Bodies, human beings or what was left of them, were suspended on metal chains and hooks, each in varying states of decay and rot. Most were naked and bound with ropes, or loosely wrapped in cloth. Others wore the uniforms and some the armour of Confederation personnel, soldiers and technicians.

‘How…’ Mya began, stuttering as she tried to find the words.

‘Look fresh don’t they.’ Shaana answered the unasked question, grinning. Mya eyed her warily, that smile looked a little too manic to her, an outward glimpse of the insanity she had only witnessed so far in the girl’s eyes.

‘Regen tanks!’ Shaana stated proudly. ‘You weren’t the only one they abandoned when they fled this place, only these tanks were in the upper levels, for soldiers and injured and sick personnel.’

‘Regen tanks?’ Mya replied quietly, still stunned from what she was seeing.

‘It found them when it got hungry, pulled them out one by one, still alive, nice and fresh.’ Shaana turned to her in the middle of the gore, her face lit like a demon from hell, her eyes bright and somewhat frightening. ‘But it likes its meat well hung, so it brought them here, to mature.’

‘Shaana…’ Mya whispered, drawing closer to the girl, hoping not to touch one of the grotesque cadavers.

‘Justice, don’t you think?’ The girl decreed gleefully, ‘What fucking goes around come’s around.’

Mya looked beyond the girl, towards the rear of the room. More windows lined the far wall, but these looked out on the corridor beyond, the one that would lead them out of this place, out and hopefully under a bright sky free of nightmare. God, she was desperate for a gulp of fresh, sweet air. She took a gamble and gripped Shaana’s arm and began to lead her through the room and towards the far door. She tried not to look at the monstrous decoration, and did her best to steer them past the residual remains of the meals of whatever it was that had created this meat locker.

Rather than resist, Shaana allowed herself to be guided through this ghoulish abattoir. Mya found herself thankful that the girl didn’t giggle manically, that she seemed suddenly calm again, the spiteful madness subsiding. She wasn't sure how she would be able to handle her should she go psychotic and let her madness take full control. It seemed like an eternal journey but finally they were at the other end of the room and through the doorway into the tunnel beyond. They turned to the right and Mya kept pushing the girl forwards until she felt they were far enough away from the lab behind them before stopping, breathless for moment but happy to be no longer breathing that awful fetid air. Eventually she looked up at her companion, who appeared calm, staring down the tunnel ahead of them, thoughtful and obviously contemplating something.

‘Shaana?’ Mya enquired cautiously.

‘Sorry, got turned around a bit back there,’ She replied calmly, taking her rifle in her hands and flicking off the safety. ‘The corridor is blocked down there, we need to go the other way.’

Mya eyed her carefully. She gripped the shotgun in her hands. Shaana clearly sensed something, something wrong. She felt it too. A presence had suddenly entered their space. They weren’t alone anymore…

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stonemason's Green Room and old Hab Unit got meshed together here with a few other bits and pieces. Did this one a while back and I'm not as happy with it as I'd like...I kept tweaking it in Photoshop and lost it a bit, but I wanted to crack on with the story so left it as is. In fact continuity doesn't quite match up with the last or next image because I hadn't got the story fully developed when I did this one (Mya's shotgun is missing)...I might go back to it eventually but for now it'll do...

Thanks as always for looking, and the faves and comments are much appreciated