The Old Factory and a Timely Rescue

The heavy footsteps on the floor above sent a shard of ice through Anika's heart. She froze, the stack of brittle, yellowed documents clutched in her hands, her body a statue of pure, unadulterated fear. The silence in the cavernous factory was now a living, breathing predator, and Anika, a small, solitary figure in a world of industrial decay, was its prey. She strained her ears, the frantic drumbeat of her heart threatening to deafen her, and heard the footsteps descending a rusted staircase, the creak and groan of metal a bone-chilling prelude to a confrontation. Her mind, a whirlwind of panic and adrenaline, screamed for her to run, but her body, a thing of frozen terror, refused to obey.