“We shouldn’t be here…” She mutters, shaking her head. Row upon row of bunkbeds stare back at her, their only occupants layers of dust and dead-eyed dolls. The metal bars groan in protest as she presses against them, testing their weight. The sound sends a shiver down her spine, like nails on a chalkboard.

_You couldn’t pay me to stay here_, she decides. No amount of money could quell the crawling sensation spreading over her skin.

“We’re fine. They haven’t run any tests in like… forty years. They won’t suddenly start again now.” One of her companions assures her in what is a less-than-convincing tone. He sidles farther back amongst the beds, grasping one of the dolls by its plastic arm. “Did kids really play with these? They’re creepy…”

“This whole place is creepy!” Another of their group chimes in. “I’m with Christy; we shouldn’t be here.”

“Aw, but we agreed we would go exploring…” The final member speaks up. “We all wanted an adventure, and this is the best place within driving distance.”

“But the fences-” Christy starts.

“Those fences have been up since the testing.” The young man tosses the doll onto the bed, causing his companions to jump at the racket. “I heard from one of the people who worked here back then. They put the fences up well before testing to keep people out of the area. After the testing, they never bothered to take it down. Why take it down and risk lawsuits of people who get injured, right?” His laugh is cool, almost cruel, and it echoes eerily through the deserted building.

“Do you think people died here?” The question comes out as barely more than a whisper.

“Don’t be silly, Fran.” The last member to speak admonishes her. “The military’d never get away with testing weapons on living people. Someone would find out. Expose them. It’d be a whole thing.”

“Yeah. I suppose you’re right, Jake…” She replies, though the furrowing of her brow suggests that she doesn’t believe her own words.

“C’mon! Let’s take a picture in this creepy orphanage.” The man that handled the doll pulls out his cellphone as his companions clamber closer. “For memories and proof!”

As he presses the shutter button on his phone, a grating siren calls out among the abandoned buildings. Over its undulating call, a robotic female voice chimes: 



TESTING SHALL BEGIN IN T MINUS 10 SECONDS.

The companions’ faces pale. The cellphone tumbles to the floor, forgotten.

“Tom, you said there was no more testing!” Christy cries out, grabbing his arm.

“There wasn’t supposed to be… It’s abandoned…” He stares out the window of the small room, but he doesn’t move.

“Just run!” Fran gasps and the three of them take off through the door, leaving Tom where he stands.

As their feet carry them through the narrow passages between buildings, the female voice continues to call out her countdown. The fence blooms into sight just a short way in front of them, but before they can clear the open space to it, the sound of an explosion rings out behind them.

The ensuing roar and shockwave knock them to the ground. Blood trickles from their ears and noses, and none of the three rises to their feet. None of the adventurers see the mushroom-shaped cloud billowing behind them from the rubble that was the buildings.