Dead Snow

Part 12 - Between a rock & a Hard place

I opened my eyes and realized I was looking up an empty elevator shaft. I was back in the present day, back in this hell hole.

Vic: It was a dream? Ah-

A sharp pain raced through my whole body when I tried to move. Everything hurt, like waking up after realizing you fell asleep in the worst possible position. I had to take it slow. How long was I out? And how was I alive? I looked at the cable, then at my hands, The gloves were destroyed and a good amount of skin was missing from my palms and fingers. Anything I touched stung but it was bearable. Just standing up popped a few bones and took more willpower than necessary.

*Crackle* *Crack* *Pop*

Vic: Mmm...That's the stuff.

I was standing on top of the elevator that we originally came here in, the same one we all we were all trapped in as it fell to the bottom floor. My first instinct was to radio the others to let them know I was ok but-

Vic: *Click* *Click* shit...

The radio was busted. Must have broke on impact or on the way down. I had to make sure the rest of my equipment was still functional. My grenades and pistol were still fully functional, and Mac's hacking system was still displaying the 3D map of the facility. At least I had that working for me. I didn't even have my MVG's on me if the lights went out again, I'd have to rely solely on my five senses.

Vic: Ok... One pistol, 2 mags 2 grenades, and a map...

In conclusion.

Vic: I'm fucked...

If I wanted to make it out of this, I would need to regroup with the others and rethink our strategy if they didn't have one already. I know I can use the map to pinpoint their location but, finding them is the easy part. The hard part is making it back without getting myself noticed by any more shrieks. And there's that damn anomaly just pops up out of nowhere whenever it wants. I dropped my incendiary grenade back there, if I came across it again, there's not a chance I could fight against it.

I checked the map for everyone's beacons. Doc and Micheal were up on the control deck and Mac was still in containment. Though I was confused about why I couldn't see Ross's beacon. My beacon was understandably missing due to my radio being destroyed but, Where was Ross? For now, I had to just assume he's with Micheal and Doc, and maybe his radio equipment was damaged. The time on my watch displayed 1100 Extraction would be here in six more hours.

Vic: Was I really out for 3 hours?

Time was moving faster than I thought it would. It doesn't feel like we've been here six and a half hours. No matter, I had to start my ascent back up to the control deck. I carefully removed the escape hatch from the roof of the elevator and peeked inside. I couldn't see any shrieks, and the lights inside the storage floor were on this time.

Vic: Ok... here we go.

I dropped down into the elevator and through the tight opening of the doors. I still remembered the whole layout of the floor, so navigating back to the stairs shouldn't be a hassle. Along the way, the same dead bodies from before were still in their original spots. That gave me some comfort for some odd reason. Still, I did my best to keep my presence hidden while making my way toward the stairway. After turning the final corner I scanned the room for anything that might pose a threat but nothing was here. I made my way to the door when I suddenly heard something.

*Slither*

I looked back and witnessed a black substance flowing out of a ventilation shaft in the ceiling. I quickly opened the door and took cover inside the stairwell. I held the door open just enough for me to peek inside the room and see what was going on. The black goo fell from the ceiling and splattered on the floor right next to one of the bodies. Eventually, the black goop started to take form, it was the anomaly from before. What was it doing down here? If it's still alive, then what does that mean for the team? The tall creature used its arm to turn the body onto its back and formed two fingers at the end of its tentacle-like arm. After forcefully stuffing its two fingers through the corpse's eye sockets, the corps began to twitch and shake uncontrollably. I didn't like where this was headed...