Chapter 47: Collapse Protocol

The first thing Ashell Volkov felt was pressure.

It wasn’t the pain but pressure. It was like something inside his chest was expanding in directions it wasn’t supposed to.

His lungs tried to fill up but they could not as it felt like they were filled with something else.

A sharp, broken inhale tore through him as he breathed.

His eyes snapped wide open. Darkness blurred into light, then into shapes. The ceiling above him swam, distorted through tears he hadn’t realized were there.

Every breath came out uneven, dragged through something heavy and jagged as a soreness remained ever present.

Air wouldn’t come to him...Not properly at least. His chest jerked violently.

"...hhk...!" A wet yet somehow choking sound escaped him.

The machines around him reacted instantly.

"Beep...beeb...beep...beep..." They chimed as his heart rate was being monitored.

The beeping got faster and more erratic.

Ashell’s hands twitched, his fingers curling weakly against the sheets. Something was wrong...deeply wrong.

He could feel it, not just in his lungs but inside... something was spreading.

His chest seized again. This time, it hurt.

His body arched slightly as another breath failed halfway, "...hha..."

Across the room, Markus’s head snapped toward him, "Ashell?"

No response came. Just the sound of someone drowning on dry land.

Markus pushed himself up, ignoring the sharp pull in his side. His eyes locked onto Ashell’s body, watching the uneven rise and fall of his chest.

It was too fast, yet too shallow, it was just wrong.

"Ashell...hey...listen to me." Markus swung his legs off the bed, barely steady as he forced himself to stand, "You need to slow your breathing."

Ashell didn’t hear him because he could not.

His eyes were wide now, unfocused, panic flooding every inch of his expression. His chest convulsed again, and this time...He coughed.

Something dark splattered against the inside of his mask.

Markus froze, "...No."

Ashell coughed again, harder. The mask fogged, then smeared with red mixed in with something else that was tiny, sharp.... something that was glinting. Crystal fragments.

Markus felt his stomach drop, "They’re... growing inside him..."

Ashell’s breathing turned ragged, each inhale sounding like it was scraping through broken glass. His hands clawed weakly at the sheets, as if trying to hold onto something that wasn’t there.

"Stop...stop moving," Markus said quickly, stepping closer. "You’re making it worse. You have to stay still."

Ashell’s head jerked slightly toward him, but his focus didn’t hold. Panic had taken over completely.

Another cough followed by more blood with more fragments.

The machine beside him shrieked. "WARNING: RESPIRATORY FAILURE "

The room lit up in flashing red, "Warning. Warning. Vital instability detected."

The voice was cold and detached. Ashell’s body convulsed again.

Then his movements slowed down drastically way too quickly.

Markus’s eyes widened, "No—no, no, no—Ashell!"

The man’s chest rose once more. Then barely once again.

His head tilted to the side, strength leaving him in an instant.

The machine flatlined for half a second then dragged itself back suddenly...it was weak and faint.

Markus staggered back a step, "...Don’t you dare die," he muttered under his breath.

The doors burst open footsteps fluttered.

Mr. DeRouse and Victor rushed in almost simultaneously.

Ashell’s father’s eyes went straight to the bed, "Ashell!" he barked.

He was at his side in seconds, gripping his son’s arm tightly, as if that alone could anchor him to life.

"What happened?" ℴ

Markus swallowed hard.."He woke up—and then—his lungs—something’s wrong, it’s growing inside him—"

"I can see that clearly."

Victor was already moving, scanning the monitors, adjusting settings with precise, controlled urgency, "We need to move him."

"To where?" Ashell’s father snapped.

"A much better wing. This one is lacking."

As if on cue a distant scream echoed through the halls.

Not one but several of them followed by something heavy slamming into metal.

Markus turned toward the door instinctively, "...What was that?"

Victor didn’t answer because he didn’t need to.

The alarm system escalated.

"Containment breach detected. All personnel, initiate lockdown procedures."

Red lights intensified getting brighter every second.

The entire facility shifted into chaos.

Ashell’s father looked back at his son, jaw tightening, "We’re not waiting."

Together, they moved. Ashell’s bed was unlocked and shoved forward, wheels screeching slightly as they rushed toward the door.

"Markus, hurry up" Victor barked.

"Yes" Markus was already moving with a limp as his injuries had not healed, "I’m not staying here...im not going to fall behind."

Victor hesitated for half a second. Then nodded, "Stay close."

The hallway outside was worse than expected.

Lights flickered more violently as if meant to blind them.

Some sections were dark and some were not. A body lay crumpled near the wall, unmoving.

Markus’s gaze flicked over it and stopped.

The man’s arm had split open, it was not just a cut. It was split.

Crystal structures jutted out from beneath the skin, tearing through muscle like something forcing its way out.

"...This isn’t just infection," Markus whispered. "This is collapse."

Another scream echoed this one was much closer.

They pushed forward moving faster and faster.

Ashell’s breathing dragged behind them, each mechanical inhale a reminder they didn’t have time.

"Left," Victor had said sharply.

They turned and nearly collided with it...it was a man.

Or what used to be one...his body was warped, uneven. His skin stretched tight over jagged crystalline growths that pulsed faintly beneath the surface. His fingers had elongated to a degree and they were now sharpened like a couple of broken blades.

His head snapped toward them, his eyes wild and unfocused.

"Help..." he rasped. Then his body jerked violently.

The crystals shifted...they were expanding, he lunged

"Move!" the newcomer shouted, "I don’t have control over my body.."

They received the message too late as he was fast...too fast.

One elongated arm shot forward and drove straight through Ashenko’s father’s side.

A wet, sickening sound filled the air.

Time froze for that moment.

Ashell’s father’s body jerked as the crystal-formed limb pierced through him, emerging from his back in a spray of blood.

"...Dad...?"

The word didn’t belong here but it came anyway.

The man’s eyes widened then trembled as the infected figure twitched again and ripped the arm free.

Ashell’s father collapsed.

The creature turned again preparing for the second strike.

Victor reacted to it, but not fast enough.

The blade-like fingers slammed into his abdomen. He grunted, staggering back as blood soaked through his shirt.

Markus felt something snap inside him, "GET AWAY FROM THEM!"

He moved before thinking...his crystallized hand shot forward and caught the creature’s arm mid-swing.

For a split second everything stopped as a memory surfaced...’That person...the medical aid kit.’

Then a cracking sound was heard.

A sharp fracture spread across the limb with elongated fingers.

The creature shrieked as the structure of it’s hands crystallized.

Markus shoved it back hard, "Move! NOW!"

Victor grabbed Mr DeRouse..Ashenko’s father despite the blood, hauling him up with sheer force of will.

They ran together with no hesitation, no one looking back at that horror.

The facility behind them dissolved into noise and chaos as they pushed forward, dragging what was left of their world with them.

Ashell’s breathing, slowed down finally becoming normal and his heart rate followed not shortly after... everything stabilized for Ash.

The alarms continued to flare... followed by the distant screams. All of it blending into something unbearable.

Finally they found a secured door.

Victor slammed his hand against the panel.

"Override. Emergency clearance." The scan felt like it took forever. It failed he tried again and again.

A pause.

Then it chimed, "Access granted."

The doors slid open and they rushed inside.

The space beyond was different, it was cleaner and more controlled.

A secondary medical wing...it was temporary, but functional.

"Get him on the bed!"

They lifted Ashell first, transferring him quickly as they could, the machines were reattached and recalibrated.

Then Ashell’s father. He barely made a sound as they laid him down on the bed.

Blood spread rapidly beneath him from the wound he had gotten before.

It was too much blood...far too much.

Markus stood frozen near the doorway, chest heaving.

"...He’s not going to make it."

The words slipped out before he could stop them.

Mr. DeRouse didn’t respond. He moved quickly, applying pressure, stabilizing what he could ignoring his wound but his hands...

They weren’t steady for the first time in a long time...They shook.

He looked down at his son on the bed.

At his old friend...who was looking for medicine and something in his expression broke, "...You don’t get to die here," he said quietly.

No response. Just shallow, fading breaths.

Mr. DeRouse leaned closer, gripping Victors shoulder firmly, "My old friend... you can’t die on me yet."

His voice tightened, "You still have a son to take care of."

The room fell into a fragile, suffocating silence.

The only thing that broke the silence was the sound of machines humming.

Ashell breathed—barely but his father didn’t. Not properly anyway.

Markus stood there, unmoving, his crystallized hand faintly catching the sterile light.

Outside, the facility continued to fall apart.

Inside...everything was already breaking.