The Forgotten

I - Awakening

Earl King POV

It had been two years since a group of archaeologists and scientists first started on this project.

At first, they were here because someone reported having found an old archaeological site in the middle of a desert. So, a team was deployed to inspect the ruins.

As the archeologists were inspecting the ground for some buried objects, they found something out of the ordinary.

At first, they thought it was an error, but every test they did gave the same result. So, they started to dig a tunnel.

They never thought it would be possible to find a room this deep under the surface. But more they dug, more they found traces of human work.

It was like someone dug a big hole, made a box as big as a room and put everything back on it.

Something was down there, something the people who lived here wanted to hide.

Today, they finally drilled a hole barely big enough to let a man walk through in a human-made matter that was even harder than diamond.

The archaeologists didn't believe their eyes when they saw the three perfect bodies laying on three table stones in the middle of the small room.

Not knowing what they were dealing with, my team of scientists was deployed. Ashley told what her group and her saw to my team and I. We didn't believe at what they heard either. So, only Heather and I went downstairs.

"Here we are, you guys be careful, we can't stay longer than two hours in this kind of temperature and air pressure," warned Ashley as she lead us inside a room deep underground. "Here we are," she pointed at three bodies laid on three different stone tables.

"Why did they put three corpses in a room like this?" asked Heather, a scientist, as she carefully approached the bodies.

"We don't know yet. There is nothing written on the walls or left documents, so we are searching the area for more information," explained Ashley.

"Maybe we can find something on the bodies," I added as I approached the corpses.

As we went to examine the bodies, Ashley went back up to support her team. We did the best we could with an artificial and restricted area light. The room was so deep underground that it was impossible to transport the bodies to the laboratory without damaging them. Plus we didn't know how they would react to the different pressure and temperature.

"How could three corpses of 500 years old be kept in such perfect state? The skin, the hair, the muscles... They don't even look dehydrated!" asked Heather totally confused by what she was seeing. "There is no sign of decomposition, or mummification either."

"Yes, this is absolutely abnormal. I'll take some hair as a sample," I said as I used a small pair of scissors before giving the small bag containing the sample to her.

We continued to work relentlessly totally absorbed by the beauty of the three corpses. Until Ashley cleared her throat.

"I knew you guys would forget about time. We have to go, the two hours will soon be expired!" she said with her hands on her hips.

"It's that late already?" asked Heather apologetically.

"Yeah, let's gather your tools and we will come back tomorrow," the archeologist smiled as she helped the two others. "So, you guys believe us now?" she said with a small smile making us smile.

After a few minutes, we all left the small room and walked back upstairs where a truck was waiting for us.

I couldn't forget what I saw at the end of that tunnel. Everything was too perfect down there and I never saw something like that in all my years on the field.