Concept art for Lillian and the diary (the little blue device on her arm)

  Zac explored further into the mine. It turned out that everyone was on the top floor of the facility which continued deep into the mountain through a number of complex passages.

  From a floor plan on the wall, the top floor held the weaponry and residential quarters with hundreds of separate bedrooms. The only exits he could see was through the main blast doors that were tightly closed, or through the manhole which involved fighting neck and tooth through hundreds of monsters.

  Zac slowly inspected each room. The residential rooms were identical, with two bunkbeds for 4 people, and one large cupboard.

  He opened up every cupboard, looked under each bunkbed mattress, and touched every name scratched into the walls. He was eventually rewarded for his thorough inspection. In one room he found an inconspicuous hexagonal sticker hidden in between a mattress and a wall. It was similar in texture to the battery. He placed it near his arm and it also was magnetically attracted to his suit. A blue line travelled from his battery across his chest to his new sticker, which took on a glow blue. He touched it and a new hologram appeared in front of his face.

  Zac flicked to the next entry.

  Zac sat down on one of the lower bunkbeds. This woman, Lilian, sounded like she was in exactly the same situation as they were in now. He was comforted that there were other people like him who also wanted revenge and freedom.

  Zac kept scrolling, speedreading through the rest of the entries:

  In the shooting range. Okay...

  Incredible. Zac sat on the edge of the bunkbed, metal screeching with any shift in his weight. It's incredible that they are so willing to work together towards a greater good.

  The Resistance. Zac steeled his mind. One day he would join them. He took the badge with him and walked in search of the way down to the shooting range.

  Zac left the bedroom, walking towards the stairs that led to the lower levels.

  He could constantly hear voices and footsteps of people running around, scouring the place for goods. Someone had found a mess hall, and people were carrying canned food and vacuum packed jerky back to the main hall where the rest of the recruits lay. Zac popped his head into the kitchen and saw multiple people rummaging around.

  Someone pushed him to the side as they rushed past into the room.

  "Guys, stop what you're doing!"

  "What is it?"

  "It's the injured recruits. Those who were bitten by the giant rat monsters. They're getting worse. We can't stop the bleeding. Ella wants everyone to stop what they're doing and help to look for medical supplies. We're running out of time."

  "I thought someone found bandages."

  "They're bleeding through."

  "Rift."

  "Where have we checked?"

  They all ran to one side of the wall, and milled around an emergency exit plan was on the wall.

  "How far have we searched?"

  Everyone looked at each other and started pointing at different rooms they had searched.

  "Okay okay, stand back. There's hundreds of rooms that are the same. Collectively, we've probably checked half of them."

  "Not thoroughly enough it seems." Zac stared down at his glowing badge and commented to himself.

  "We need to go to the lower levels. This is a facility with hundreds of employees. There has to be a sickbay somewhere."

  "I reckon it's near the mining entrance to treat people injured from mining."

  "Good idea, which level is the start of the mine?"

  There was silent tension.

  "Four! I think I saw it on an emergency floor plan. It was underground level four, I'm certain of it." A man shouted.

  "Okay, half of us go to underground level 4. If there's nothing there, start working your way up to ground. The rest of us, quickly finish looking around this level and start going down. We'll meet halfway. Remember, don't get side-tracked. Don't pick up anything else. Look for the sickbay, look in every drawer for medical supplies, and bring back everything that seems remotely medical into the main space where the injured are lying."

  Everyone nodded in approval.

  "Go, go, go!"

  Everyone dispersed and ran down the hall. What if I cauterise them? Will that give them more time? Zac thought to himself. No. There's still time. Zac followed the group that ran down the stairs that led further deeper into the crust of the planet. Sorry Dr. Venderheim. My circle needs me. No one from my circle will be dying today.