THE DARK DESCENT VOLUME I: WHAT VENGEANCE COMES

CHEST-BURSTERS

CHAPTER SIX:
CHEST-BURSTERS

1
“BARBARA?! Barbara, God damn it! Barbara! Sonofabitch, where are — ” Brad stopped. He stared ahead. No, it couldn’t be . . .
“Nébero  . . . Tumor . . . Braaaaaaddddd . . . Come out . . . And . . . Playyyy with meeeee  . . . ” the creature, with long grey hair, goggled eyes, blue skin, and holes all over, spoke.
“Fuck — what — why?” Brad was running in the opposite direction, flashlight beam bobbing away, cutting over pairs of eyes after pairs of eyes. He couldn’t believe what was happening. What the fuck was a Nébero Tumor, anyways? Where the fuck was Barbara?! Brad thought.
Best not to find out, best to run the fuck away. Keep running. Gotta find Barbara. Blue lights still. Keep runnin’, keep runnin’, and don’t look back. Gotta get away. Shit — it’s fast. Wait . . . Don’t I . . .? Yeah . . .
“EAT THIS, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!” Brad yelled, lighting a flare. He watched as the pink foam burst from the tip and threw it over his shoulder. KRAAK-KOOM!
Bitch, eat that. Wait —
“Get — the FUCK — OFF — OF ME! AAAHHH!”
Whatever this Nébero Tumor was, it was hitting Brad in all the right places, screeching like a banshee, making him bleed. He thought it broke his nose. He coughed up blood, and the thing kept on beating him to a pulp. He screamed once, but that was all he could manage before it’s hands were around his throat.
The blue lights suddenly became bright, stark white. Brad passed out.

2
RUNNING down the corridor, Barbara didn’t know where Brad was, but she knew something was after her. She heard Brad scream. God damn, am I too late? Fuck me, Brad, please be alive, please be alive, PLEASE BE ALIVE, DAMN IT.
She continued to run, and slipped on a puddle of blood. She got to her knees, turned her head around, and saw something run towards her. Scrambling to her feet, she ran further down the corridors until she opened a door wide open, and shut herself inside a dark room.
A terrible, terrible screeching howled throughout the corridors. It slipped on the puddle, and clumsily fell to the floor. It banged it’s head on the concrete wall, and let out a yowl of pain. It got to its awkward, uneven feet, its legs wobbly, and suddenly leaped at Barbara, who ducked under its reckless path. It crashed through the wodden old door, and it sent splinters every which way.
She ran down the room, until she found a old, rusty, creaking bed. She went prone in a second, and pushed herself under the rusted frame. Barbara held her breath, hoping against hope it wouldn’t se her. Then it entered her peripheral vision.
Shit, Barbara thought. God no. It’s Nébero Tumor again. Why won’t the bastard LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!?
Something grabbed at her leg.

3

“RYAN? Hey! Ryan! C’mere, boy!” Blue shouted. “Hey!” She shoved at him, and Ryan turned around, a mixture of anger and annoyance.
“Shit, don’t talk to me.”
“Why won’t you listen to me?! I told you I loved you, didn’t I?”
“I need space, Blue, that’s all — ” Ryan started.
“Oh,” Blue said, and it wasn’t a good ‘oh.’ “I see how it is.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Yeah. Better not be,” Blue said, exasperated.
“Blue?” Ryan asked.
“Yeah?”
“I don’t like hiding things from you. You know that.”
“Yeah, I know that. But I need to know. Why are you ready to throw your damn life away?”
“I’m doing it for you — ”
“No, no no, no, no. No. You don’t get to do that. I told you I love you, and you’re gonna get yourself killed!? Fuck, I feel like I don’t even know you anymore, Ry.”
“Don’t I have any other choice!?” Ryan shouted.
“You have EVERY OTHER CHOICE, RYAN!” Blue shouted back, and hit his chest. “And this — this — this is NOT how you repay me! I fucking love you, damn it! And you won’t listen to me!? Fuck, Ryan. Have a heart!”
“I do — ” Ryan started again.
“THAN YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO THIS, OR DON’T YOU HAVE A FUCKING BRAIN!? You’re so . . . Self-centered, you know that?! You don’t have to do this, you know, Ryan! God, why did I even kiss you in the first place? I — I thought — you — ”
“I know, Blue. I know full well. But you can’t stop me; you don’t know what It did to me!”
“Don’t know what? Stop lying to me, boy. Or whatever was about to happen in that vehicle, you, me, it’s over before it even started. You hear me?”
“Cahal . . . ” Ryan gulped. “Ah, shit, uhh . . . Cahal was my best friend. More than that, even. His father, Mr. Claymore. You remember me screaming that I was like the father he wished he had? Yeah, well, honestly he was being genuine. I’m his only friend. Kid was a loner. Nobody liked him.”
“Fuck, that’s just so sad . . . And cruel,” Blue whispered.
“Yeah, I know. I promised nothing would happen to him, and I lied. I fucking lied, Blue! I lied that nothing would ever happen to him while I watched over him, and he died! He got himself killed. Over what, God only knows. I loved him, you know. And now he’s gone.”
“Shit, Ry, I’m sorry for hitting you. Does it hurt? When I touch it?”
“Ahhhhhh, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, yes! It fucking hurts!” Ryan hissed, and Blue let go.
“I’ll get some ice for that.” She got up on her tip toes and kissed him on the cheek again.
“There. Now you’ve gotta promise you’ll leave the House alive. Understand me? You got a hot chick out here waiting for you. Don’t be an asshole. You see that motherfucker, RUN.”
“Yeah, um, I’ll try. But I can’t guarantee It won’t kill me on impulse — ”
“You got a fucking shotgun, Ryan. You shoot It in the God damn head, you run, you get in the Jeep, we get the fuck away.”
“ ‘Kay.”