Zima-12 was in shambles.

Scientists who could flee had already done so. Those who could not were forced to hide behind whatever barriers they could find. Julius was among the latter, trapped inside the restricted access zone with Yuliya.

Julius took a cautious look through the shattered glass.

The corridors were littered with bodies.

Guards lay where they had fallen. Scientists were sprawled among overturned equipment. Glassheart experiments that had failed to transform were scattered all over.

The flickering emergency lights washed everything in red, making it difficult to tell if it was blood or not.

"D-Dimitri… Why is this happening…?"

"Shh." Julius raised a finger to his lips as he peered out through the shattered glass.

Then, he glanced back at Yuliya. Her hair and clothes were disheveled, panic evident across her face. It was only natural. Just that morning, Zima-12 had been no different from any other workday.

Now, a once-contained experiment had escaped, and the facility had fallen into chaos.

Crash——

Another crash echoed from somewhere deep within the facility, followed by distant screaming. Yuliya flinched in fear.

Julius pulled her into a tight embrace.

"Focus on me," he whispered. "You'll be fine. Okay?"

"H-How are you so c-calm…?"

"Someone has to be. Or else we'll both die down here."

He loosened his hold just enough to look past her shoulder and listen. The alarms continued to blare.

Another tremor shook the floor. Dust fell from the ceiling as something slammed into the bulkheads nearby.

"I should've listened to you…" Yuliya started muttering. "I should've listened to you…"

Julius glanced at her.

That morning, he had told her to take a break. He had said there wouldn't be much to do for the project today. Ever the workaholic, Yuliya had refused, saying, "But I want to be with you."

This was the result.

Julius tightened his grip around her shoulders.

"There's no use thinking about what ifs," he said, as quietly as possible. "Miss Yuliya, remain calm. Please."

Yuliya drew a shaky breath. The alarms still wailed in the distance, and somewhere beyond the walls, something heavy moved through the facility.

Julius listened, counting the seconds between impacts.

"We'll wait until it passes this sector," he continued. "Then we move slowly. No running unless I tell you to."

Yuliya nodded, clutching his coat tighter.

"Trust me," he said.

* * *

As Julius and Yuliya moved silently through the halls, they avoided every screaming and bursts of gunfire. Julius guided her along service corridors and damaged walkways, choosing routes that kept them out of open sight.

It did not take long for the pattern to become clear.

Several containment units had been breached, with steel doors torn open from the inside. Glass lay scattered across the floors, restraints were utterly destroyed, and monitoring equipment had been crushed.

SCP-177 had not escaped alone.

One containment after another had been compromised, as if something had deliberately moved through the facility to free the others.

"J-Just how many…" Yuliya said, before covering her mouth.

They passed a ruined section where SCP-182 used to be contained, a project Yuliya was involved in. However, only pieces of it remained.

"I'm sorry… Dimitri. If I weren't here slowing you down, you might have been able to escape by yourself already…"

Yuliya was certain of it. Julius was utterly calm to a degree that it was terrifying. Even now, his senses remained sharp. He knew where to go, which corridors were still passable, when to move, and when to hide.

As if he had experienced something like this before.

Julius stopped and turned to face her fully. "Miss Yuliya. I'll get angry if you say any more."

"But it's true! I… I am a liability. And this… ah…"

Her eyes trembled.

"Father… he might already be…"

Her breathing broke apart as panic overtook her. Julius reached for her shoulders at once.

"Look at me," he said. "Miss Yuliya. Breathe with me. Slow."

But she didn't hear him.

"Father… everyone…"

Her voice rose loudly in the enclosed corridor.

It was then.

Boom——!

The wall behind them exploded inward.

Julius moved instantly. He pulled Yuliya sideways and dropped low as debris flew through the space they had occupied a second earlier.

Concrete shattered. Metal echoed. The floor cracked under the force of the impact.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Something massive stepped through the smoke.

A hulking figure emerged. Muscles bulged under its grotesque crystalline skin. Reinforced restraints still hung from its wrists like broken chains. Its head scraped against the ceiling as its breath came out in animalistic huffs.

Julius clicked his tongue.

"Tsk."

He positioned himself in front of Yuliya, one arm stretched back to keep her behind him.

"Move there," he said. "And don't make a sound."

The hulking SCP tilted its head and locked its eyes onto him.

"Dimitri, what are you—Ahhh!"

Then it charged.

The floor cracked under its weight as it lunged forward. Julius moved before the impact could land. He moved sideways and vaulted off the wall. The creature's fist slammed into where his head had been a second earlier, pulverizing concrete into dust.

Julius landed low and rolled, coming up behind a fallen console.

The SCP roared and swung again. Julius sprinted forward instead of retreating, planting a foot against the creature's knee and running up its body.

Under the momentum, Julius flipped over its shoulder as it swiped at him blindly.

He landed behind it.

Before the creature could turn, Julius grabbed a dangling restraint chain and yanked hard, wrapping it around the SCP's neck. He used the tension to swing himself up and drove his knees into its spine.

The chain snapped taut as the SCP staggered.

"...Not enough."

The creature slammed itself backward into the wall. Julius released at the last instant, flipping away as the impact shattered the surface behind him. He slid across the floor, catching himself with one hand, then sprang back to his feet.

"Tsk."

The SCP lunged again. Julius sprinted straight at it, ducked low, and slid between its legs as it brought both fists down. The shock sent waves through the corridor.

Bang——!

Julius popped up behind it once more, grabbed a loose steel rod from the debris, and rammed it into the joint behind its knee. The creature bellowed and staggered forward.

Julius seized the opportunity.

He leapt and kicked off the wall, delivering a spinning strike to the SCP's head. The blow cracked the bone, snapping its neck at an unnatural angle, but the creature kept moving.

Julius backflipped out of range.

Behind him, Yuliya stared in a mix of awe and shock.

The SCP charged one final time.

Julius narrowed his gaze.

To deal with a Glassheart, one had to return to a time before technology ruled the world.

A time when steel decided life and death.

Julius stood his ground and raised one hand as the Glassheart barreled toward him.

Under his sleeve, something moved.

A sleight of hand trick.

Metal flowed out from a small piece hidden along his forearm, elongating in a smooth motion. In an instant, it became a steel blade, extending just long enough.

A retractable blade.

Swish——!

The Glassheart was already within arm's reach when the blade pierced through its chest.

Time seemed to freeze.

The creature's fist stopped inches from Julius's face, its massive body suspended for a fraction of a second as the steel emerged from its back. The force carried it forward another step before its momentum finally died.

The Glassheart's eyes widened.

Then its body went slack.

Julius moved his wrist and withdrew the blade, stepping aside as the hulking form collapsed behind him with a crash. Dust rose slowly over the ruined corridor.

The steel retracted back under his sleeve as if it had never existed.

Julius exhaled once, sweat dripping from his forehead.

"Dimitri, what did you just—"

"Shall we keep going, Miss Yuliya?"

He spoke as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened, already stepping past the fallen Glassheart.

Yuliya stared at him in disbelief. The image of Julius moving like a trained veteran refused to leave her mind.

He turned to face her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"You can ask me anything you want later," he said. "When we're alive."

Another distant roar echoed through the halls, followed by the sound of gunfire and screams.

Julius didn't wait for her answer. He took her hand and began moving again, guiding her through the ruined corridor.

"Stay close."

Yuliya swallowed hard, then nodded.

For now, that was all she could do.

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