Iraq, October 27th, 2005. 2155 hours.

My squad and I were watching the desert sands from above. 

We were getting closer to the facility. 

I could tell because of the destroyed tanks and Humvees. 

There were even some downed planes. 

Our Black Hawk soon landed just outside Gate A. 

We hopped out of the chopper, holding our rifles close to our chests. 

There were three of us that night.

Jimmy, Mike, and me. 

“Some place, ain’t it? Over.” Jimmy spoke on the radio.

“Yeah. What the hell happened here? Over.” Mike responded.

“Some sort of battle,” Jimmy responded, “come on, let’s get moving. The survivors aren't gonna save themselves. Over.”

The three of us made our way past the gate. 

It had been blackened and demolished by tank shells. 

God knows how many had been fired. 

The watchtowers had collapsed or were collapsing. 

We entered the facility. 

At that moment, the Black Hawk behind us took off and began hovering above the facility. 

Jimmy led the way while Mike paced behind him. 

There was no one in the facility. 

It was silent. 

The crackling of damaged lights could be heard.

Sparks from the lights could be seen.

“Commencing night vision, over,” I spoke, pulling my night vision goggles down. 

Everything was now green. 

“Should we split up? Over” Mike asked.

“What are you, a moron? We do that and none of us is getting out of here. At least not in one piece. Over,” Jimmy responded, frustrated. 

All of us could smell the ash. 

The painting on the walls was changing as we kept walking deeper into the facility. 

At the front, it was a standard white and blue, but as we kept going further, it became just white. 

We turned a corner and now faced a completely dark hallway. 

“Yeah, Mike, let’s get the goggles. Over,” Jimmy said. 

The two put on their goggles. 

As we continued our walk, I swore I could hear chirping sounds, like the chirping of a tiny bird.

The type you’d see at your window when you woke up. 

“Do you guys hear that? Over,” I asked. 

“Yeah, what the hell is that sound? Over,” Mike asked.

“Must be the dying generator, or some sparks. Over,” Jimmy said, trying to assure us. 

Even then, I could hear the nervousness in his voice. 

We turned left into an even darker alley. 

By this point, we’d been walking for just under four minutes.

At least, that’s what it felt like.

Something wasn’t right. 

We entered the facility at 2200 hours. 

It was now 2330 hours. 

“Guys, it’s been an hour and a half since we got here. Over,” I said.

“What? Show me your watch,” Mike said. 

I could hear desperation and fear in his voice.

He sounded like a frightened little child after a nightmare. 

He moved quickly toward me, grabbing my wrist. 

As he slowly raised his head, I could feel his eyes meet mine. 

“Jimmy?” Mike asked.

When we turned to see him, Jimmy was staring at the wall.

His left hand was covering his mouth. 

Mike and I exchanged glances before walking over to him.

Mike put his hand on Jimmy’s shoulder and looked where he was looking.

There was nothing.

“Do you see this?” Jimmy asked.

“No?.. What do you see?” Mike asked, worryingly.

“There’s a set of eyes over there.”

“What? Jimmy, you’re looking at a damn wall. There’s nothing there.”

Jimmy walked forward, bumping into the wall.

He shook his head.

He turned to Mike.

“I can’t see him anymore, Mike,” Jimmy said.

“We need to make a report. Let’s get the hell out of here, now. It’s not safe for any human to be here,” I said.

“No, we had a job. We need to find any survivor-” 

“THERE ARE NONE!” Mike shouted in fear.

Jimmy and I spun around to face him.

Mike threw his helmet on the ground.

“JIMMY, WE’RE GOING TO GET LOST AND DIE HERE IF WE DON’T LEAVE!”

“Mike, eas-” I started.

“DON’T TELL ME TO TAKE IT EASY! AND HOW THE HELL ARE YOU NOT SHOWING ANY REACTION OVER THE FACT THAT WE’VE BEEN HERE FOR AN HOUR AND A HALF!?” 

“Wait, what?” Jimmy asked.

“YEAH, IT’S BEEN A DAMN HOUR AND A HALF SINCE WE GOT HERE!”

“But we were only walking for-” 

“Four minutes. We know,” I responded.

“NOW EITHER WE LEAVE NOW OR I’M GOING ON MY OWN!”

Just as I was about to respond, I heard it.

Chirp

Chirp

Chirp

I turned around. 

There was nothing but complete darkness.

The chirping continued.

Chirp

Chirp

Chirp

I called mission control.

“Control, this is Sgt. Smith, we need an evac team here, now,” I said into the walkie-talkie I pulled from my pocket.

There was no response.

Hell, there wasn’t even static. 

Just silence. 

I tried turning the walkie-talkie off and on, but nothing helped.

Chirp

Chirp

Chirp

“Do you remember where we came from, Jimmy?” I asked him.

“I think..that way?”

“No, no, we just came from there, right?” Mike asked.

“Don’t look at me, I wasn’t guiding us,” I responded.

“Let’s go this way, maybe there’s a way out,” Jimmy said.

We followed his lead, holding our rifles even closer to our chests.

I felt my grip shake the weapon.

I was scared my strength was going to break it. 

Chirp

Chirp

Chirp

The noise followed us as we continued walking. 

We entered a room filled with monitors. 

I tried to turn them on.

By some miracle, they were still functioning.

I scanned through the cameras, looking for any survivors. 

I turned on the flashlights on the cameras. 

All the rooms were empty. 

This facility was completely dead.

Chirp

Chirp

Chirp

Chirp

“Well, there’s no one here. We need to leave,” Mike said, hastily. 

Jimmy and I nodded.

I turned off the flashlights on the cameras and then the monitor itself.

We walked out of the area and went back in the direction from which we’d come..

I looked at the walls to see if the paint was becoming any different. 

It was only getting darker and darker.

At this point, my night vision goggles were, for some reason, beginning to malfunction. 

They were fully charged so I didn’t know what the hell was happening. 

I turned on my backup flashlight, but the batteries were dead. 

Chirp

Chirp

Chirp

Chirp

Chirp

“SHUT THE HELL UP!” Mike shouted at the sounds. 

“Calm down. We’ll find a way out,” Jimmy said, trying to reassure him.

Mike was on the verge of a mental breakdown and Jimmy was hallucinating. 

For some reason, I was all right.

I jokingly thought that I had some sort of magical plot armor.

Then, that’s when I saw it.

Two eyes behind me. 

From what it looked like, their pupils had been dilated.

Like whoever was there was curious about our nature.

It was as though we were new life forms.

Jimmy turned.

I could tell from his slow movement backward that he saw it too.

“Hello? Is anyone down there?” Jimmy asked.

I could faintly hear a chirping sound. 

“Life isn’t pretty, is it?” a voice said behind me.

I turned around.

Mike’s helmet was on the ground.

His eyes were completely black and empty.

He had a smirk on his face. 

My eyes widened in horror.

And I swear to whatever god exists, he smiled when my eyes widened.

He could see the fear in my pupils.

He could see my terrified facial expression.

Jimmy was still looking toward the being behind me. 

Mike walked backward, away from me.

He fell on his back and began to crawl away from us, in a demonic fashion. 

I jumped back in horror.

I spun around, only to see the being looming over me. 

I could see what it truly looked like now.

It was a thin, but very tall creature.

It had no mouth, no ears, no nose, and no hair.

Just those two lifeless eyes.

It was wearing a black robe.

The creature had no shoes and no socks.

As I scanned the creature up and down, I looked up into its eyes.

They became pitch black as they let out a sound.

Chirp

The creature vanished.

The sound echoed through my head.

As it did, I felt my entire world shake.

I was incredibly dizzy. I turned to where Jimmy was.

He wasn’t there.

Mike was long gone.

I was alone in a dark hallway. 

I turned around one more time.

Only to see Mike, Jimmy, the being, and several other men with ragged clothing open a black gate. 

The men appeared to have been shot multiple times.

They also held dog tags in each of their hands. 

I dropped my rifle and removed my helmet.

Slowly, I made my way forward. 

The eyes of Mike, Jimmy, the being, and the other men followed me. 

They all had a smile, as wide as the Moon. 

I glanced at all of them. 

Then, with my left foot forward, I walked in. 

End