The two began to run. The noises were growing in frequency, they were being followed, and not by one or two, from the sounds of it there were a lot.
"Deccanus, whatever you do, do not stop running!" Adam shouted as he blind fired his pistol backwards hoping to do some damage to the creatures following.
"Understood!" Deccanus shouted back over the gunfire.
Adam took a sharp left at a T junction and kept running, the signs were still pointing the way, he could only assume he was getting close to where he had to go. Then he tripped.
Running through the hall as fast as they were, with only the limited light they had, all the while Adam was checking behind them towards the noises that followed, he missed some sort of Vault-Tec labeled box on the ground and fell face first on the metal floor. The noises were getting closer, Adam didn't have time to waste.
He flipped onto his back, pistol still in his hand and fired at the darkness behind him, now illuminated by the lights from his gear at the bright flashes of the gun. One was close, very close. The bullets ripped through the creature without care for its form, but just like the last one it did not even react to the damage, instead it swung its massive arm intending to hit Adam with its full force. That is until Deccanus stepped in.
Deccanus dove in front of Adam, inside the reach of the creature and brought his machete up and through its elongated neck. Then, with one fluid motion, he severed the neck from the head letting it drop to the floor a moment after.
"We must move!" Deccanus said, a commanding tone.
"Right!" Adam said, as he pulled himself to his feet and began to run with Deccanus again. The sounds of the others were closer now, it was clear they had an entire horde chasing them but then he saw it. The metal door for the lab. It was wide open.
Adam was the first to make it inside. A moment later, Deccanus. As soon as Deccanus was inside Adam pulled the manual release lever on the control panel next to the door and watched, in relief, as it began to close from above. Getting it open again would be a bitch but that was a problem for future him.
With his flashlight pointed in the direction they just came Adam could see the tide of the creatures following them, one close enough to almost grab them. It reached its arm through the threshold, attempting to grab hold of Deccanus, but the door came down swiftly after, severing its arm as it latched into the ground.
The two were now safe, but trapped in the moderately small laboratory with no immediate signs of an exit besides the one that would lead to a hoard of monsters. However after a few seconds passed it seemed that the creatures had no means of getting inside the room. They banged on the door, ineffectual since the door was made of 8 inches of solid steel. So the two men could breathe a sigh of relief.
"Monsters." Deccanus said quietly. "Horrors wearing human flash." Adam turned and looked at him, about to say something to counter his words but stopped short, he knew Deccanus was right.
"I hate to say it but… it sounds like those stories you heard were true." Adam said hesitantly as he gently touched the door, the only salvation from the creatures outside. "What rotten luck." Adam said with an aggravated tone before turning around to take in the room.
The lab was in disarray, as was the rest of the Vault up to this point but it was not so badly ruined as to be unrecognizable, only a few glass beakers were broken on the ground. The rest of the objects just seemed to be mildly disorganized it would seem. The room itself was a square, as were all vault rooms, but the left side wall was almost entirely a glass window, clearly reinforced, though there was some sort of algae growth on the window that was making it hard to see through even with his flashlight. There were also several medical beds, surgical tools, lab equipment, shelves full of materials, and a single computer… that was still on?
Adam approached the computer, confused. Not even the lights in this vault were on but this computer was? Why? On the desk there was a fusion battery. In a hodgepodge way the fusion battery was connected to the computer giving it power. Guess that's why.
There was also a strange gun on the desk as well but right now Adam's focus was on the computer. He was here for a vial and now he was here for information on whatever these monsters were, this computer might contain both. Opening it up there was only one option; [Scientist Jenkins Kendrick Log].
[This is my last entry made to this terminal. I wish to explain what has happened here in this Vault so that anyone reading this would know never to repeat our mistakes. I am a former scientist at Second Life, when my employment was terminated thanks to an ego-centric boss I was left destitute, the NDA I was forced to sign practically barred me from working in any professional setting, then Vault-Tec came to my rescue.
They saw value in my research and hired me to head up the research team of Vault 54. Under my guidance we began experimenting with key gene resequencing on living subjects. The effects were seen immediately, increased vitality, increased libido, increased height, visual acuity, hand-eye coordination, the works. However what we did not expect was the after effects. Those we tested on began to continue to mutate, degrade, they became… monsters…
Some of the scientists under me began to call them aberrations, though their species defy categorization and proper naming. In either case it did not take long for these 'aberrations' to overwhelm the vault and security, anyone who had been tested showed the same signs of degradation. It was pure pandemonium. The worst part? In my haste to prove my experiments I used the serum on myself. I am a ticking time bomb, I have no idea when I will turn. This log is my last will and testament.
I have saved what remains of my research and stored it on the top shelf in the back corner of the room. Though I have wished to destroy it, the serum is the culmination of my life's work. I cannot bring myself to destroy what I have created, no matter how horrible. I just hope it can serve as a testament to man's folly.
I can feel my mind slipping, the last symptom before the final step of transformation. I shall be brief. If you have found yourself in the Vault and these creatures are still here, this gun shall help you. I can not explain the details now as my mind has begun to slip, but the resonant frequency that this sonic emitter produces is enough to ward the 'aberrations' away. Use it to get out.
Ah, now in my final moments I realized what was wrong. All my theories were crafted off Second Life's work. Thus I needed a pure specimen… an Omega type clone to have made it work. I had thought I accounted for variables but… too late for second thoughts.
Goodbye. May God forgive my mistakes. May you forgive my sins. May my transformed body die quickly.]