The Copycats: Apocalypse – Part 2

LAB EXPLORATION DAY 1:

Randy:

We made it to the research facility after about two days. There were so  many close calls that I almost lost count. There were the obvious threats, the false copycats and Mimickers were at almost every damn turn we made, but we made it.

I remember all the local conspiracy theories surrounding this place, from before this whole monstrosity happened. Originally, the research center was just a small hospital situated in the middle of town, until the military suddenly seized it and made it their own building. Nobody really knew why, but almost everyone thought it had to do with the Copycats.

Sam stayed behind with Janet, saying he wanted to keep them safe, so I gave him a few pages from the journal, enough for about a week, and collected enough food and water for the two of them, as well as salt.

I get it though, I kind of regret not staying with Sam and Janet myself, but if there is any chance of something, someone able to help us here, then it was a sacrifice I was willing to make.

And hey, at least I still have Steven and Wendy with me.

We’ll try to find a way in tomorrow, the doors are locked, but for now, we’re going to try and find shelter.

Wendy:

We managed to make a little shack out of cardboard and the chain link fence around the Research Center. It’s not the most stable thing, but it’s better than sleeping in the street,  sleeping where the monsters can get us.

Steven:

I still don’t know why I signed up for this suicide mission, especially with these two idiots. Randy keeps saying we’ll be fine if we just “Watch each other’s backs” and “protect each other.”

Yeah right. I’m only still here because I’m the one who’s from those things instead of standing my ground whenever one comes near us. The way I see it, the only way they can help me is if they’re slower than me when I start to run away.

I’m not a monster, believe me. I’m just saying how to survive in this world.

If you’re worried about them, Don’t worry. I helped them out with their train wreck of a shelter. I wrapped some of the anti bird spikes from the top of the fence onto the walls, although I doubt that’ll do anything if one of those big ones comes charging through the damn thing.

Day 2:

Steven:

One of those freaking white things got in. It’s beckoning me, twitching its finger and staring at me with those beady, black eyes. I don’t know if I should wake up the others, or just try and hit it with the crowbar in my bag.

Randy:

It’s been hours now, and that thing is still there. I asked Steven about it, and he just said it’s been there since he woke up. Whatever it is, its beckoning me, its pale, boney finger  guiding me. Steven says that it’s just been sitting there, doing nothing but gesture towards us since he saw it.

I’m not going near that thing though, especially with how it’s looking at us, almost glaring.

Wendy:

we took a vote, and I lost, so I got to go see what the hell that thing wanted. It just sat there as I walked closer, raising its other hand out towards me. I tried to look back at the guys, but they just stared with wide eyes, Steven even had a crowbar. Like that coward was even going to use it. He was probably just going to drop it and run like a chicken the moment that the thing tried anything.

I hesitated, reaching out towards the thing’s hand, I even flinched a little when its hand snapped open like a rat trap.  It had a key in its hand, reaching it towards me.

I stopped, was it a trap? Was it going to kill me the second I reached for the key?

my thoughts were interrupted by a voice, the creature’s voice, gravelly and high pitched, like a cartoon talking through an old loudspeaker.

“HE wants to see you.”

I don’t know why that calmed me down, It probably made the thing seem more humane, if that were even possible. I grabbed the key, and the thing pointed toward the laboratory before sprinting away.

I don’t know what’s happening, but I’m starting to think that we aren’t the ones in control of this mission anymore.

Steven:

It gave us a key, not just any key though, after a little bit of exploring and trying to pry one of the windows open, we figured out it was the key to the Research Center.

I don’t know who wants to see us, I don’t want to know, but we’ve already come this far. I can’t back away now. I convinced Randy and Wendy to wait another day before we go inside, but I can’t put this off forever.

I just hope I don’t get killed in there.

Day 3:

Randy:

Today’s the day we enter the research center, but I think I speak for everyone when I say that I don’t really want to do this anymore. Who knows what horrors wait inside of that place? What creatures? At least we have some weapons, but if we run into one of The Flawed, it’s all over. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to say we should go back, I’m all for exploring this place, I’m just worried that we won’t find anything,

Or even worse, we find something worse than anything else in there.

We have a couple of flashlights, and enough food for a few days, but in terms of actual defense, we just have a couple crowbars and a pistol.

I’m going to talk to the others and see if we can come up with a plan.

Wendy:

We decided that we would spend the rest of the day gathering more weapons and supplies. If we’re lucky we’ll find a lighter or a blowtorch, those are really useful against the Copycats, especially with a bit of gasoline. We also figured that if we find any documents or notes in the Research Center, we’ll put them into the journal.

Steven:

I’m surprised we were able to find anything. During the early days, almost all the stores were raided for food and supplies. I remember that one local grocery store went bankrupt because of it. It’s hard to make money when your entire stock disappears every night. I guess we should count ourselves lucky that we were able to get what we did though.

We found a couple of wooden planks, some barbed wire, some baseball bats, and a few knives. Randy called it a “good haul”, probably trying to keep our morale up, but I’m not really convinced that this is any better than what we started with, but I can agree that for now we should all stick together, just for a little bit.

We were able to make a few improvements to our shack, too, we used a few of the planks to strengthen the walls, and we managed to scrounge up a few rusty nails and a big rock. I still don’t know why we’re still working on the old thing, but if it keeps us alive at night, I’m grateful for it.

DAY 4:

Wendy:

Randy was the first person to go into the Research Center. He said that he didn’t want us to risk getting hurt, especially because of how we got the key.

(just the thought of that thing makes my skin crawl.) After he gave us the all clear, we went in. Of course, Steven suggested that I go in before him. The inside of the old building was… strange.

The entire entrance looked the exact same as it did back when it was still the clinic, and besides a couple of moldy spots and a layer of dust, it was mostly untouched. Randy managed to find a map over by the reception desk, hidden away in a drawer.

There was a bit of writing in the corner that said “FLOOR ONE” and a mark near the entrance.

Randy:

We found an old map of the clinic, besides a fine layer of dust, the map seemed relatively untouched, so we took it with us. I’m surprised at how unharmed this place is, four years of abandonment and disrepair, and yet almost nothing was broken, torn, or caved in. It’s almost like all the people here just vanished.

Steven doesn’t really like being here, I can tell. There’s a lot of history between his family and this building. His mother worked here as a scientist before everything fell apart, I think that’s how he met Janet. I just hope he doesn’t try to chicken out.

Steven:

I found a stairwell, it’s not that far from the entrance, but it just feels out of place.

I remember back when my mom worked here, they were doing construction in this place, but I don’t remember anything about there being other floors, then again, I stopped visiting after mom went missing. I don’t even know why I’m writing this down, why I even keep writing in this stupid book. I guess that it’s a little reassuring that maybe someone will know what happened to us, or that I’ll have some mark on history. I don’t know.

DAY 4:

Randy:

We went down the stairwell today, I don’t really know what we were expecting, but it wasn’t what we found.

At the bottom of the stairwell, there was just a pair of rusty, green doors. They had windows, but there was too much dust and grime to really see through them. I still remember the feeling of dread as the doors creaked open against my hand, I can still feel my heart pounding when I saw those things, then again, all of that just happened about ten minutes ago.

Steven:

I still don’t know how we outran those things. They were so close behind us that I thought we were all goners. God, their teeth were so sharp.

I guess I should provide some context.

After Randy opened the doors, there were these things behind them. They were some type of Copycat, but nothing we had ever seen. They were big, and walked on six legs. They had red, exposed muscles like Stalkers, but they moved around like cockroaches. They had these big almost bone-like spikes at the end of each insectoid limb, and they had big wide mouths filled with long, sharp teeth like an anglerfish. They looked blind, but they obviously weren’t, they were looking directly at us the whole time. I remember their shrieking too, the moment Randy took an uneasy step towards them. It was loud, piercing through my ears, and making my head hurt. It sounded like someone throwing a screwdriver in a garbage disposal and forcing it to stay in.

I don’t even know how we managed to get away in time, or how they even got in here.

Wendy:

Those things looking for us. I don’t think they can get under the desks though.

I shot one, and it seemed to hurt it, but I don’t think I really hit anything vital.

I don’t really know how long we’re going to have to wait here, but we need to kill these things before they kill us.

Day 5:

Wendy:

We’re still cornered, but at least they can’t reach us. Steven looks like he’s about to wet his pants, and I guess I understand why. He’s always had a fear of bugs, and this situation definitely isn’t helping him at all.

Steven:

Wendy said that bullets hurt them, so why the hell aren’t we releasing all of our rounds on these things?!  I know we save the gun for life or death situations, and this is definitely a life or death situation, so why the hell aren’t we killing these things.

Randy:

We had to put a gag on Steven, his hyperventilating was getting too loud, and was drawing those things closer. If we can’t wait those creatures out, we’re going to have to kill them.

I really hope it doesn’t come to that, though. When you kill one of these things, the other ones near will become a lot less predictable.

Day 6:

Steven:

The Crawlers died. I think they starved to death. I don’t know what was more unsettling, watching them while they were alive, or staring at one as it lunged towards us, only to collapse with a dying sigh.

At least now we can get the hell out of here.

Not.

Wendy:

of course.

Of course one would die right in front of the doors. What more could go wrong? To make matters worse, no matter how hard we try, the damn thing won’t budge. I guess our only course of action is to move forwards.

Randy:

I get why Steven and Wendy were mad. To be honest, I just wanted to curl up and cry when I saw that damn thing blocking the door. I’m just glad that we haven’t devolved to blaming each other. I told Steven and Wendy that while we were here, we might as well look for better weapons, and I’m glad we did. I managed to get one of those in case of emergency axes, and Steven was able to get a couple of tacks. They sound useless, I know, but trust me. The Copycats hate stepping on them just as much as we do. Wendy found a couple more maps. Each one with the words “WARNING: LEVEL FIVE ACCESS ONLY” written in red in the back. There’s one map for the floor we’re on, (Floor 2) and a map for one more floor. ( Homo Falsus research station 01) It looks like there’s five rooms on this floor: the office area, the break room, the executive office, a communication room, and another stairwell. This place is a lot more worn down than the first floor, the floor is covered with plaster and debris, almost like a grenade went off in here, and the cubicles are all torn apart.

Wendy:

I found a couple of crackers in the break room. They were old and stale, but food is food. Steven seems to be proud of himself for finding those tacks, and Randy seemed to support him. What an idiot. Maybe instead of grabbing anything shiny, those two idiots could actually look for something useful. I’ll admit, that axe may come in handy, but if those two don’t step it up, we’re all going to die here.

Steven:

I don’t think Wendy and Randy really get why I was excited about the tacks. You see, if I use them and some of the barbed wire, one of the bats, and some of the extra rusty nails, I can give us even more of a fighting chance, plus I found a stapler.

I’m going to keep exploring, but as soon as those two idiots go to sleep, I’m working on my trump card.

Day 7:

Randy:

I have to admit, Steven’s new weapon looks really effective, if not really cliche for this kind of situation. I think Wendy spent last night looking for more supplies though. She looks exhausted and cranky. I hope she doesn’t keep this up. The last thing we need is to have to drag someone around because they’re too tired to move by themselves.

Steven:

I’m worried about Sam and Janet. At least I knew them before all of this started. Our parents all worked at this place before the Copycats took over. I didn’t even know Randy and Wendy before they joined our group, just like the other people who used to travel with us. they just showed up one day, covered in scratches and bruises.

I just hope those two are doing okay out there. Although I’m pretty sure Janet’s probably succumbed to The Strand by now.

Wendy:

While Steven was goofing around with our supplies last night,I found a nail gun in a custodial closet. It was small, not even marked on the map, but it did have a decent amount of stuff in it. I got a couple of various chemical cleaning supplies and a lighter, as well as a few boxes of nails for the nail gun. I suggested that we spend the rest of the day resting so that we can be prepared to go to floor 3 tomorrow.

(Part 4 coming soon)