The workshop slept in uneasy silence.
Some leaned against steel workbenches.
Others lay on blankets spread across the cold concrete floor.
No one truly rested.
Every creak of metal…
Every distant growl…
Every gust of wind against the building reminded them that the world outside had ended.
Only Elias remained awake.
His notebook rested on his lap.
He quietly updated the group’s inventory beneath the dim glow of an emergency light.
Food: 8 Days
Water: 5 Days
Medical Supplies: Low
Fuel: Critical
He let out a slow breath.
One problem solved.
Ten more waiting.
A loud metallic clang echoed somewhere above.
CLANG…
Elias looked toward the ceiling.
“…Probably the wind.”
Noah mumbled without opening his eyes.
“Please let it be the wind.”
The workshop fell silent again.
Then…
SCRAAAAAPE…
Metal dragged across metal.
Long.
Slow.
Like fingernails scraping through the ventilation ducts.
Several survivors stirred in their sleep.
Emily sat upright.
“…Did you hear that?”
Nobody answered.
Then everything became quiet once more.
Too quiet.
Morning arrived beneath a grey, ash-filled sky.
Sarah prepared breakfast while Noah handed out bottles of water.
Elias performed his usual headcount.
“…Nineteen…”
He looked around again.
“…Twenty…”
His brow furrowed.
“…Where’s Kevin?”
The room became still.
Kevin’s backpack remained beside his blanket.
His shoes.
His flashlight.
Everything.
Except Kevin.
“He probably went to the bathroom.”
Noah called out.
“Kevin!”
Silence.
Another student stood.
“I’ll check.”
He reached the workshop bathroom.
Empty.
Storage room.
Empty.
Machine room.
Empty.
No Kevin.
A knot formed in Elias’s stomach.
“Noah.”
“Lock every door.”
The room instantly became tense.
Emily whispered,
“…What’s wrong?”
Elias didn’t answer.
Instead, he knelt beside Kevin’s sleeping bag.
Something wasn’t right.
The blanket had been dragged.
Not folded.
Dragged.
A faint crimson stain spread across the concrete.
Blood.
Fresh.
Noah’s expression changed.
“Oh…”
“Oh no.”
Sarah covered her mouth.
One of the survivors began crying.
“Something got inside.”
Panic exploded.
“That’s impossible!”
“The doors never opened!”
“We’re trapped!”
“We’re next!”
Everyone shouted over one another.
Elias remained kneeling.
He ignored the noise.
His eyes followed the blood trail.
Not toward the door.
Toward the ceiling.
He slowly raised his flashlight.
There.
The ventilation cover hung crooked.
One corner had been bent outward.
Deep claw marks scarred the metal.
A single drop of blood fell from the darkness above.
…Drip.
Every survivor looked up.
Silence consumed the workshop.
Then—
A guttural growl echoed through the ventilation shaft.
Close.
Far too close.
Emily screamed.
“It’s still in there!”
Everyone scattered.
People grabbed whatever they could find.
Wrenches.
Crowbars.
Fire extinguishers.
Someone dropped to the floor in tears.
Another tried to force open the emergency exit.
Noah blocked the door.
“Stop!”
“If you open it, they’ll all get in!”
“They’re already in!”
The screaming intensified.
Another metallic scrape echoed above them.
Moving.
Slowly.
Listening.
Elias climbed onto a workbench.
“Everyone!”
No one listened.
He grabbed a steel pipe.
CLANG!
The sound echoed through the workshop.
Every face turned toward him.
His voice remained calm.
“If it wanted to kill all of us…”
“…we’d already be dead.”
Silence.
“It came for one person.”
“It left.”
“It will come back.”
The words chilled the room.
“But now…”
“…we know how it entered.”
He pointed at the ceiling.
“The vents.”
Noah immediately understood.
“You think we can block them?”
“We’re going to do more than block them.”
Within minutes, the workshop became a construction site.
Liam cut steel mesh to size.
Noah welded reinforcement plates over every ventilation opening.
Students carried toolboxes instead of luggage.
Sarah treated those suffering panic attacks while Emily distributed water.
Elias checked every ceiling duct personally.
Every vent.
Every access hatch.
Every maintenance opening.
By midday, the workshop had become stronger than before.
Yet…
Kevin was still gone.
As Elias secured the final vent, he noticed something lodged inside the duct.
A torn piece of fabric.
Kevin’s university jacket.
Wrapped around it…
Black mucus.
Unlike anything he’d ever seen.
He carefully sealed it inside a sample container from Sarah’s medical supplies.
Noah frowned.
“Evidence?”
Elias nodded.
“If we’re going to survive…”
“…we need to understand what we’re fighting.”
At that exact moment—
THUD!
Something heavy landed on the roof.
Everyone froze.
Another impact followed.
Then another.
Not one creature.
Several.
They weren’t wandering anymore.
They were searching.
The workshop had become a target.
Elias tightened his grip on the wrench in his hand.
The barricades had held.
The vents were sealed.
But deep down…
He knew the truth.
The engineering workshop was no longer a hiding place.
It had become a fortress under siege.