You’ll need aid.
Erich didn’t know who his mysterious sponsor was, nor how he was talking to him through his mind. But if it meant he was going to get out of this stupid institution with his hide intact then it was probably best that he didn’t look a gift horse in the mouth.
He careened through the hallways of the complex, panting as he did so.
It’d been months since he’d gotten any meaningful exercise, yet he didn’t feel fatigued in the slightest. Curious, though he chalked it up to adrenaline and a very active fight or flight reflex.
He passed his third bundle of gore, with more bodies strewn across the hall, painting the corridors and flooring in a sheen of visceral red.
“Probably a good idea not to think too hard about it,” he whispered, getting ready to bolt around another corner.
As he did so, he felt his heart skip a beat.
There was one of the Ambrosia scientists. One of those lab coats who had made a hobby of poking and prodding him over the last thirty-six months.
That was bad enough. What was worse was the fact that she held a gun in her hand and looked willing to use it.
Click.
Scratch that. She was more than just willing.
The click was like a godsend, sending fresh adrenaline spilling into Erich’s system.
He leapt at her like a man possessed, roughly tackling her to the ground. Even if he was out of shade, he was still a head taller than her and probably an extra fifty pounds.
She screamed as he pinned her in place.
He raised his metallic hand, ready to crack her skull against the floor.
Don’t look a gift horse in the month…
Erich swallowed a lump in his throat. “What?”
The woman looked utterly panicked, her chest rising and falling as she was probably in the midst of a full-blown panic attack.
“Please don’t hurt me,” she whimpered.
Erich gritted his teeth. He wanted nothing more than to crack her head like an egg against the edge of a frying pan.
But the voice had asked him to seek aid…
Since when had he started to listen to random voices in his head?
He snorted aloud, earning himself more panicked confusion from his captive.
The second they had gotten him out of that prison cell.
“Sorry,” he said, shaking his head and getting off of her. “I uh… I’m just a little freaked out, I guess.”
The scientist flashed him an equally panicked smile. “Hey no problem. There seems to be a lot of that going around.” She held out her hand which… was holding someone else’s hand. “My name is Jasmine!”
Erich looked at the dismembered hand and cocked a brow.
A moment ticked by, then Jasmine seemed to catch up. She yelped and dropped the appendage on the floor.
“Sorry, sorry, I just… I needed to get through a door and well…” She gulped and let out a tense note of laughter. “Sarah didn’t really need it anymore.” She blinked. “Who are you?”
“Erich,” he said.
“Erich,” Jasmine whispered. “You know it’s kind of funny, we have a test subject named…” She blinked as the realization clicked. “Oh fuck.”
“Oh, fuck indeed,” Erich grumbled. “I have half a mind to smash your head like an overripe fruit.”
Jasmine held up her gun. “You better not.”
Erich snorted and pressed his forehead right against the barrel. “You’re out of bullets, remember?”
For a moment, he thought Jasmine would try again. Instead, she drew the pistol back into her lap.
“Look…” she started. “We’re in a bit of a situation here.”
“Yeah, we are,” Erich agreed.
He worked his jaw, examining her closely. She didn’t seem like much. No signs that she was management and that lab coat told him that there was no chance that she was a member of the security team.
She seemed young, maybe in her mid-twenties. Either in grad school or fresh out of it. Her pale skin was covered in a sheen of sweat and her blue hair was a chaotic mess that seemed to spring forth in every direction.
Jasmine bit her lip. “I can get you out of here.”
“Pardon?” Erich asked.
“I have well…” Jasmine grimaced and reached for the hand, carefully picking it up. “This is the hand of my manager. She has level four access. The second highest in the entire facility. With this, we can probably make it through all of the security doors.”
Erich was about to ask where the fuck had she even gotten that from. But in the end, he didn’t really care. It was a key, even if a gruesome one.
“And what’s to stop me from just offing you and taking it for myself?” Erich asked, smirking at the concerned flash in her eye.
Jasmine tried to find her words, obviously doing her best to think of a good excuse.
“Because…” She sighed. “Look I’ll be honest. You really don’t need me alive but…” She held up a finger. “But I probably know this facility better than you do.” She nodded quickly. “Yeah! So, while you can probably get out on your own, I can get you out quicker. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal especially with that monster lurking around.”
Erich cocked a brow.
What monster?
Plus, plus…” She nodded, continuing that search for something of value. “There are still security teams active. If you go out there, on your own, there’ll be no one there to stop them from riddling you with bullets.”
“That’s a compelling argument,” Erich said. He pondered it for a moment and sighed. “Fine. You have yourself a deal.”
He offered her his hand. She looked at it skeptically but accepted it and got to her feet.
“Lead the way,” Erich instructed.
Jasmine nodded and took a moment to judge her surroundings. “We just need to head…” She started to take a couple steps in one direction before halting and going in the opposite. “This way!”
Trust her.
Erich nodded. “Yeah, yeah.”
Jasmine looked over her shoulder. “What was that?”
“Nothing, just talking to myself,” Erich whispered as he followed after her.
Thankfully Jasmine didn’t seem to question this. Also, thankfully, she seemed to pick up a pretty good pace. Not quite a jog but definitely something that would get them out of here as quickly as possible.
“So, have you seen that thing?” Jasmine asked.
Erich cocked a brow. “What thing?”
“The monster that has been tearing this place to bits,” Jasmine said, shuddering. “Thing spilled into the control room and tore most of the staff to bits.” She then went green at the memories. “Was quite efficient at it too.”
“Haven’t seen something like that,” Erich replied. “Seen plenty of its handiwork though.” He shook his head. “Guess you guys haven’t had much luck containing it?”
“You would guess correctly,” Jasmine whispered. “Management tried to but…” She stopped talking and shook her head. “Sorry, don’t know how much I should really be sharing with you.”
Erich couldn’t help but chuckle. “If it makes you feel any better, I’m sure anyone who can fire you is probably not in a position to do so.”
Before Jasmine could reply, they turned a corner and entered into a scene of utter carnage.
A battle had taken place here and one that hadn’t gone well for the security team. The partial remains of several bodies littered the hall.
Erich thought he had a strong stomach but even he felt himself start to go green as he saw grey ropes gushing out of a bisected man and the remains of a head that had been cracked in half. The brain spilled forth like spoiled ground beef and smelled ten times worse.
He forced himself to look away, instead staring at the other signs of combat. There were gouges in the walls, cuts in the steel that were like claw marks left behind by some impossibly strong beast.
“That thing must’ve cut through at least three feet of metal,” Erich whispered.
Jasmine’s response came in the form of her throwing up. As Erich glanced at her, he saw that she was hunched over, clutching at her knees.
He left her, stepping through the battle scene. Along with the coppery smell of blood and the not so nice smells of gore and defecation, there was also the scent of burnt ozone. Erich looked around and saw that there were scorch marks in several places.
He followed them to their origin and found an especially brutalized trooper. There was a flamethrower within his hands.
I should warn you.
Erich perked up, glancing back at Jasmine who finally seemed to be finished. She wiped at her lips and groaned. As she made her way over, she forced her gaze upwards and refused to even look at the brutality around her.
Probably a smart decision.
The beast who caused this is like… but isn’t me.
“Wonderful,” Erich whispered.
“What?” Jasmine asked.
Erich shook his head. “Sorry, just… I talk to myself a lot.” He snorted. “Pretty easy to do that when you don’t get many visitors.”
“Right…”
And while I was once a part of him, and could communicate with him, I no longer have that connection. As such, there is a chance he will view you as just another human. And not as…”
“Fuck,” Jasmine whispered.
Erich snapped back to the moment, seeing that she had gotten ahead of him and was now at a console next to the shuttered security door. She was studying it intently and didn’t seem pleased by what she saw.
He made his way over and peered over her shoulder.
“Fuck,” he whispered in agreement.
The console was torn to absolute shreds. The screen was broken, the hand reader was torn clean off, and there was a lot of exposed wiring that sparked on occasion.
“What now?” Erich asked. He reached for the machine though flinched back as a spark leapt forth.
Jasmine bit her lip. “This is the main corridor to get out of the complex. There’s a secondary one but…”
“But?” Erich asked.
“Team Beta was stationed there. They were the first teams to go radio silent,” Jasmine explained, shaking her head. “Probably just like this.”
“We won’t know until we check it out,” Erich replied.
He turned and made his way out of the little bloodstained corridor. Though as he checked on Jasmine, he saw that she was lagging behind.
“Something the matter?” Erich asked. A silly question. “I mean uh… besides the whole…”
He motioned at the gore helplessly.
Jasmine bit her lip. “It’s just that… that’s where the project was stored.”
“The project?” Erich asked. “What project?”
“It’s… it’s classified,” Jasmine replied, shaking her head slowly.
Erich sighed. “Of course, it is.”
Why exactly was Jasmine sticking around with this guy? He had no leverage.
She had the gun, she had the hand, and all he’d done since they’d met is try and kill her.
He was bad news, through and through. Hell, he even had a shaved head, like some kind of skinhead punk.
Yet, Jasmine stuck to him, like a lost little puppy.
Maybe it was some sort of clan mentality. Better to be with others in an emergency.
Or maybe it was guilt. He was one of the few test subjects who was still alive and maybe she felt like she owed him something. After all, what they were doing here wasn’t strictly ethical.
“How long have you worked here?” Erich asked.
Jasmine blinked and looked at him. “About three months now. Why do you ask?”
“Just haven’t seen you around before and I know most of the laboratory people here.” He chuckled darkly. “Most of them have stuck me with a needle at some point. And I guess I just realized that you haven’t.” He snorted. “Yet.”
“I’ve never been a huge fan of needles,” Jasmine said.
Erich shook his head. “Neither have I.”
He paused for a moment, halting his progress. His expression shifted a little, a slight twitch forming in his thin lips. His gaze flinched around wildly for a couple of seconds before he focused and eventually shook his head.
This wasn’t the first time he had done such a thing. But at the very least, he had stopped talking to himself.
Isolation paired with trust issues. It shouldn’t be too surprising that there may be some lingering traumas in terms of mental health.
He lifted his metallic arm, inspecting it closely. Nowadays, someone could probably get him one that matched his pale skin tone but he was rocking an older model. It was bulky and made from steel. Thing must’ve weighed a ton.
It very nearly cracked open your skull.
“What did you guys inject me with?” he asked.
Jasmine sighed. “I honestly and truthfully don’t know. I’m an intern. The bullshit they feed me is that it's some cure for cancer or kidney failure or something. It was a story that I was willing to believe until that beast tore everything to shreds.
Erich looked like he was about to rebuttal but held his tongue. Instead, he nodded.
“So, they likely injected me with some weird ass sci-fi juices?” he asked.
Jasmine frowned. “That is… likely the case. I really wish I had something more to give you.”
“Yeah, me too,” Erich grumbled.
They approached a turn in the corridor and took it.
Like the previous hallway, there were signs of a battle. Though unlike it, this one seemed far less gruesome and brutal. The guards here were thankfully mostly in one piece and there seemed to be little meaningful damage done to the hallway’s structural integrity.
The only significant act of violence seemed to be that one of the rooms had been forced open with the safety doors peeled back like the lid on a tin can. This was impressive, considering they were made of a foot of reinforced steel.
Jasmine approached the hole, shivering as she did so. It wasn’t cold. In fact, it was quite warm. But there was something dark about this, something alien that her psyche was reacting to in some weird but instinctive manner.
It felt wrong to approach the door but her curiosity wouldn’t allow her to avoid it.
She nearly tripped over one of the bodies as she was so utterly focused on her destination. Though, sidestepped this victim, she finally peered into the chamber.
It was dark inside and the room was utterly barren of any features. It was just a giant steel box. Though the walls and floor were coated in some kind of black substance. It reminded her of the beast, which was probably apt. It was like the residue of that black goo which had consumed so many of her colleagues.
“Is this where…” She swallowed down her mounting anxiety. “Is this where it was kept?”
Of course, this is where it was kept. How many other top-secret projects were they working on here?
…
Best not to think about that too hard.
She looked over her shoulder and saw that Erich’s face was utterly blank. He looked stunned, almost helpless.
“Writing…” he whispered.
Writing?
“Erich,” Jasmine hissed. “Earth to Erich.”
He stirred. “Sorry, just got…” He winced, resting a hand against his temple. “Just got a little distracted is all.”
“Are you okay?” Jasmine asked.
He growled and shook his head, thrusting out his metallic palm. “I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes,” he barked, glaring at her. “Just… get us away from here.”
Jasmine nodded and forced herself over to the panel next to the door. It was probably a good idea not to ask him about whatever he saw. Irritable and unstable were not a good combination.
Thankfully, this console seemed to be mostly intact.
“Thank fuck,” Jasmine whispered.
She gagged as she placed her manager’s hand against the reader. Like before, it took several seconds to load.
“I wonder why it didn’t break through these?” Erich asked.
Jasmine shrugged. “Maybe it isn’t strong enough. These doors can survive an atomic blast.”
The pinkie was the last finger to be verified before the screen flashed green. And just like that, the heavy doors started to open.
“And we’re in,” Jasmine said, looking at Erich.
He had a gun.
Jasmine went pale. “Huh?”
“Got it from one of the guards,” he said, pointing towards the corpses. “Figured it's only fair that we both have one.”
“But mine doesn’t have bullets,” she whispered.
He shrugged. “Not my problem.”
With that, he walked past her and into the corridor on the other side.
Thankfully, it seemed like any damage that had befallen the facility had been kept to the previous quarters. This side was the same boring sterile steel that Jasmine had once known. It was comforting in a strange way.
Surely, a therapist will have a field day with me.
Once they were through, Erich pointed to the console. “Probably best that we close the…” He suddenly winced and clutched his temple. “Fuck!”
Jasmine’s eyes widened. “Erich?”
He fell to his knees and clutched his face with both hands, the gun clattering to the ground. An agonizing bellow punctuated the air. The intensity of it was inhumane. It nearly pushed Jasmine to the point of wanting to put him out of his misery.
“Erich?” she asked again.
Before she could approach, however, there was a massive crash from the other half of the facility.
Jasmine looked back to the blood and gore. “Oh no.”
A black tendril suddenly emerged, slamming against the wall and putting a dent into the material. It then redirected itself and snapped forwards, lurching towards the duo.
“Fuck,” Jasmine yelled, rushing for the panel.
“Don’t,” Erich barked. She looked at him as he struggled back to his feet and scooped up the gun. “There’s no time, we need to make a run for it.”
Jasmine looked at the monster.
He was right.
She bolted, rushing after him as they went on a mad dash.
The brackish beast lashed out in a jerking motion. Its movements were unnatural, though Jasmine had more pressing things to worry about then the oddity of the beast’s aerodynamics.
The tip of the tendril cut through more of the steel bulkhead, leaving a deep gouge in the material. It tore through it like it was wrapping paper before snapping forth and crashing down upon the ground. It landed with a hardy thud against the carcass of one of the guards.
The body exploded like a bag of confetti, sending bits of red, grey, and white in every direction.
Jasmine picked up her pace, huffing and puffing as she sprinted away. Between breaths she offered fatigued prayers, hoping that some sort of higher power would intervene.
Though none did.
Really wish I would’ve gone to the gym more often.
Her lungs were already threatening to explode.
“How do we stop it!” Erich yelled. He was a few strides in front of her.
Jasmine shook her head, letting out a frantic noise.
“No…”
Huff.
“Idea!”
Puff.
They whipped around the corner, entering another stretch of identical and sterile steel.
“This way!” Erich yelled, dipping into a room off to the side.
Jasmine saw no reason to fight him, spilling in right after. She tumbled to the ground as Erich slammed the door’s controls with his metallic fist, causing the door to snap shut. He’d even left an indent upon the panel.
The two of them were gasping for breath with Jasmine refusing to sit up and Erich perched against the wall.
There was a bang from outside, a hideous sound as the beast stormed past. If it had any logic it would’ve searched the rooms. Instead, the bangs and slashes and sounds of violence grew softer and softer until finally it was gone for good.
“What the absolute fuck!” Erich growled, hammering a fist against the wall. Each impact dented the material slightly. “What the fuck was that?”
“It’s the monster that tore up the command centre,” Jasmine explained.
She looked around the room. They were in someone’s office.
Whose, was the important question.
Once Jasmine had recovered a little, she got up and stumbled over to the desk. There was a computer upon it and also a couple of framed photos. They showed a family together. A dad, two kids, a cat, and a very familiar looking mother.
“Do you know her?” Erich asked.
He approached the other side of the desk.
Jasmine blinked and looked at him. She then offered a shaky smile and held up the severed hand.
It took Erich a moment but he nodded solemnly. “I see.” He pursed his lips and glanced towards the door. “Any chance that she might’ve known anything about what’s going on here?”
“It’s possible,” Jasmine replied. She reached for the keyboard and hit enter, bringing up a login screen. “Though I’d need to figure out her password.”
Erich frowned. “Try Password1.”
Jasmine did and it didn’t work. She supposed there was no one that incompetent here.
She glanced at the family photo, staring at the older of the children.
What was his name?
Victor… Elliot… Trevor…
She bit her lip, trying to recall any conversation that her and Sarah had on the topic. It felt like it was eons ago even though it had only been a few days prior.
She reached for the keyboard, instinctively circling the ‘d’ button.
Devon?
Then it sparked.
Yeah, it was Devon.
She tried it and added a ‘1’ at the end because all passwords in this facility required at least a single number.
Old Password, please try again. One attempt left.
Jasmine sighed and muttered under her breath, “how long has Sarah been working here?”
“Eighteen months,” Erich replied.
“How do you…” Jasmine looked at him and didn’t like the dark look in his eye. “Never mind.”
She hummed. “So, if we change our password every three months…” She held up a hand and started counting fingers. “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven? It’s either six or seven. If… she even used the same password.”
“Try both,” Erich said.
Jasmine shook her head. “We only have one attempt left. If I fuck this up then we’ll have to go to IT and get them to reset it. Which let’s be honest they probably have more pressing concerns than that.” She snorted. “If they’re even still alive.”
“Fifty-fifty chance then,” Erich murmured.
“Not quite,” Jasmine said, glancing at him. “Maybe you’ve known her for eighteen months. But I bet that there was an orientation and training period before she started interacting with the test subjects. So, I’m honestly feeling like seven is the best bet.” She bit her lip. “If she wasn’t doing something else for a few months prior to that…”
Erich motioned towards the computer with his gun. “Just try seven.”
Jasmine would’ve really preferred if he used his hand. But she knew not to question someone with a firearm.
She typed in the new password: Devon7. For a second the computer cycled, dancing on the precipice as it toyed with the password. Then finally, it started to log in.
“Thank fuck,” she whispered.
Though as it started to load, the rattling in the hallway returned. It started as a series of low thuds. But it was still enough to make the two of them tense.
Then the thuds grew closer, intermingling with scrapes and crunches. Louder and louder, it became. The beast was nearing them once again.
Would their luck hold out for a second time?
Jasmine held her breath while Erich moved away from the door, aiming his weapon towards it. She had no idea what he hoped to accomplish with that. The entire security team had been butchered while armed with similar weapons and they had done nothing but make that creature even angrier.
“Don’t even breathe,” Erich whispered.
Jasmine wasn’t planning too.
Suddenly, there was a massive thud, followed soon after by the sound of metal being torn asunder. It was grating and loud, piercing Jasmine’s fragile ears. She clutched at her head, gritting her teeth together. Though this did little to muffle the sounds.
There was a scream and for a moment she thought it was her own.
Though as she looked up at Erich, she saw that he was pale as well.
It was a scream from outside of the room: a trio of voices all crying out in horror.
Then there was a wet thud and the trio became a duo. There was a snap and a gurgle and soon the duo was a singular voice that refused to wane. It lasted for maybe another five seconds before there was the sound of something wet being torn.
And just like that, there was silence, though only for a blissful moment.
The beast thudded again and again, though thankfully it was moving away. Slowly, the noise of the creatin disappeared and only the haggard breathing of Erich remained.
Jasmine’s chest burned and she only now realized that she’d actually successfully held her breath through the whole encounter. She inhaled sharply, looking once more to the computer.
“Get whatever info you can,” Erich demanded. “I want to get the fuck out of here.”
Jasmine nodded swiftly. “Way ahead of you.”
