ตอน 135: Exploring infinity -131
[Sweden, outside a closed-off Ikea]
Natasha Romanoff, the infamous Black Widow and agent of the Shield, found herself outside of a closed IKEA. We have good friend Clint Barton, AKA Hawkeye, and another group of Shield agents by her side.
The mission was to sneak inside this closed store, find out what happened to all those who went inside, and understand why it had been closed down.
Now Natasha naturally knew what was happening here as she was also a member of the SCP foundation and had access to this file.
However, she could not do anything about the fact that she really didn't want to go inside since she was well aware of why that was a pretty bad idea. After all, she couldn't tell anyone, not at least before going inside and somehow learning those things, though by that point, it might already be too late.
"Alright, we are in the clear; we need to move now if we want to avoid getting caught," Clint said as he looked at the patrol, which just disappeared around a corner.
With a sad sigh, Natasha nodded her head as she followed the team and ran in through the store's doors.
Inside, nothing looked overly out of the normal, except that the ceiling seemed to be far higher than expected, or possible, but it was hard to judge that; after all, it was a pretty large building.
"Everything seems normal so far…" Clint said, looking around.
'Oh, if you only knew how wrong you are, Clint.' Natasha couldn't help but think as she was on high alert since she knew what kind of monsters were around in here at nighttime.
"Lots of supplies here…" One of the other agents said as he pointed his flashlight at boxes filled with food and water and much more.
They all turned to look at them, and Natasha knew what the point of it all was, both for them and others to take if they reached here. It was a bit of food and water for if they escaped since they might be missing that.
Plus, she was aware that those boxes would often be moved deeper inside the store using drones and be scattered around for survivors to find.
At least the Foundation wasn't cruel enough to just give up on the poor people trapped in here, even if they didn't go out of their way to try and find and help them.
She considered trying to get them all to take some of the supplies inside, but she honestly didn't want to go in so far that they would need them. She hoped that they would find the monsters soon and all retreat before they got lost.
"We can worry about that later, we need to get moving if we want to explore the entire store before the sun comes up." Clint said as the leader of the mission, the rest just nodded along as they started to move.
"Nat, are you alright? Do you seem tense?" he asked, noticing how tense his friend appeared like she was expecting a tough fight.
"It's just all the strange things that have been going on lately, I feel like this might be something like that." She said, dropping a few hints, which he thankfully picked up and seemed to grow a little more alert himself.
"IS that so? Alright, keep your eyes and ears open, guys; we are in the unknown here; we know that others have entered and never returned; let's not fall for whatever took them out." He said and the entire team gripped their weapons tightly.
Natasha was glad that he took this seriously. She honestly wouldn't have allowed them to enter if it wasn't because she knew that he wouldn't be careless. After all, when dealing with SCPs, being careless was no different from begging for death.
They proceeded cautiously through the labyrinthine aisles of IKEA, the towering shelves casting long, eerie shadows in the dim light. The silence was oppressive, broken only by the occasional creak of their boots on the polished floor.
As they ventured deeper into the store, the normality of the entrance gave way to the bizarre. The aisles seemed to stretch indefinitely, and the layout became increasingly nonsensical. Natasha's sense of foreboding grew with each step.
They quickly realized that something wasn't right; they had been going for far too long, and yet the store just ended up looking less and less like what they were briefed for. The place was just far too big, and with every step they took into the place, Natasha only grew more nervous, knowing just how bad of an idea this was.
"Something is wrong… we have been going for too long, and while it looks like we are going in circles, that isn't true at all." Clint said as they paused, and he looked at his watch.
They had been carefully marking their path while moving, so they were fairly sure they hadn't been going in circles. This just meant that somehow, this store was far bigger than it should be, which indeed made it seem like there was something very off about this place.
Then all of a sudden they finally detected movements, someone else was here. One of the agents couldn't help but call out loudly. "Who is there?"
And then all hell broke loose.
Out from the infinite number of corridors came a monster dressed like a worker. With a scream, it attacked them, and in return, they opened fire, which just drew more of them over.
This entire sore felt infinite, and the amount of these monsters that came at them also felt infinite as they kept attacking them. While they weren't too dangerous, they took a lot to put down, meaning they were getting through their ammo rather quickly.
"Fuck, we need to retreat, we don't have enough to keep fighting them like this." Clint finally made the call Natasha had been waiting for. And with that, they started their fighting retreat. Each moment filled with the sound of guns firing.
"Fall back! Fall back!" Clint shouted, his voice cutting through the chaos. The team moved as a unit, forming a defensive perimeter as they retreated. Natasha took point, her sharp eyes scanning the dimly lit aisles for any sign of an escape route.
"Stick together! Watch your flanks!" she ordered, her voice calm and authoritative. The agents responded with practiced precision, covering each other as they moved backward.
More of the employee-monsters emerged from the shadows, their grotesque forms barely human. They lumbered toward the team with a relentless, mechanical determination. Natasha's heart pounded as she fired round after round, each shot carefully aimed to slow the advancing horde.
"Nat, over here!" Clint called out, pointing to a break in the shelves. A narrow corridor stretched out before them, darker and more ominous than the rest of the store. But it was their only chance.
Natasha knew that it wasn't the right way out, but she had to agree that it would slow down the endless wave of monsters coming at them. So, what should she do? Should she try to urge them towards the exit, or risk them getting lost in here?
She wasn't given the chance to make that decision as it was made for her as one of their guns clicked, showing that it was out of ammo; with that, they had no choice but to go off the shortest path and try to lose them.
"Up! Clint find somewhere to get up! They can't climb very well." She had no choice but to reveal some of the information she had about these monsters and hoped that it wouldn't be noticed.
With that, they continued to run and shoot, while Natasha tried her best to mark their path, and Clint did his best to find a bath up the towering, enormous shelves that served as the walls of this infinite labyrinth.
Clint spotted a sturdy-looking shelving unit that reached almost to the ceiling. "Over here! We can climb this!" he shouted. The team made a dash for it, using the shelves as makeshift ladders to hoist themselves up.
Natasha took up the rear, covering their ascent with rapid, precise shots. The monsters below swarmed around the base of the shelves, clawing and snarling but unable to climb effectively.
Once they were all perched on the higher shelves, Natasha fired a few shots to make the makeshift ladder fall over before she took a moment to catch her breath. "Keep moving along the top," she directed, pointing to a path formed by interconnected shelving units. "We can stay above them and find a better route out."
The team moved swiftly but cautiously, navigating the precarious heights. The sound of the monsters' frustrated growls echoed from below, a constant reminder of the danger they were in.
After reaching a somewhat safe place, they all paused and finally released sighs of relief after their close encounter with death.
"What in the world were those things? What is wrong with this place?" One of the agents asked the question that everyone but Natasha was currently feeling. However, even she was still wondering about what could have suddenly caused a normal Ikea to transform into SCP-3008.
"Likely the reason that no one else who entered this place ever left it again, that and the fact that this place is far, far bigger on the inside." Natasha said, which wasn't new information really.
Everyone had realized that by now, though they still struggled to come to terms with it all. She couldn't blame them, she herself had been so shocked when she started to learn about SCP object.
Natasha's words hung in the air as the team tried to process the enormity of their situation. The surreal nature of the store, coupled with the relentless attacks, made it difficult for them to grasp the full extent of the anomaly they were trapped in.
"We can't stay here," Clint said, breaking the silence. "We need to find a way out before more of those things show up."
"We can't be that far from the exit, so we should be able to make our way over there, though it will take a lot longer now that we somehow have to do it while keeping the high ground." Natasha said as she looked out into the darkness.
Clint nodded, his expression resolute. "Alright, let's move. Stay alert and keep your eyes peeled for any signs of an exit."
Thankfully, it wasn't impossible to leave this place alive. Apparently, some had done so after living in there for years, though Natasha had no intention of staying that long.
But the mere fact that people could leave just cemented the fact that being here wasn't the end, even less for a team of elite Shield agents like them.
So, while it was a slow and careful trip, they were able to keep themselves orientated about their location. Compared to the exit, they made steady progress.
"Finally, the exit, and I don't see any of those monsters around either, so it should be safe to get outside," Clint announced as they reached the exit after a few hours. Far longer than they had intended to stay inside for store.
Though, at this point, they were just happy that they had managed to get outside at all; after all, the damned place had proven to be a lot more dangerous than expected.
"Now we know why these supplies are stored here; likely, they intend to explore this place more in-depth." One of the agents said as they climbed down and saw the boxes of supplies stacked there.
Natasha knew that was unlikely, but she admitted that it sure did look like that was the case.
"Alright, while we didn't get to achieve the object, we learned a lot, more than enough for me to declare this mission a success.
They made their way outside, and the Foundation personnel instantly noticed; though they didn't do anything and just pretended not to say, dealing with the aftermath of this was Natasha's mission, which she would take very seriously.
If you want to read up to 10 chapters ahead or even get the chance to pick what SCPs get summoned, or just support me, visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / SCPsystem
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