In her peripheral vision, she caught Derek stalking towards the window, gaining the courage to look. Something inhumane growled deep and throaty from the other side of the door. At first, Amanda thought it was the Russian, but as she listened closer, she heard multiple tones layered together, like a chorus of people howling in agony. Still, Derek and Martin pressed their faces to the glass, unable to look away.
Something howled again, obviously closer. “Run, man. Run.” Martin whispered.
“Don’t touch the fuckin’ door!” Derek screamed.
Amanda’s hand hovered over the enter button. Something that sounded like a branch snapping and an enormous thump that shook the ship walls caused Amanda to wince. Her finger dropped, pressing the key before she could stop.
The door hissed open and tucked into the ceiling. Derek and Martin ran for the opposite end of the room and Amanda pounded the button, hoping to end the command, and quickly shut the door. It was frozen, the command forcing the door open and holding it there. Her heart dropped. There was nothing to stop the creature from getting at them. Derek and Martin pressed their faces against the metal walls like frightened children.
Amanda held her breath, sweat dripping down her back and soaking her undershirt. The sound of her heartbeat filled her ears. The red emergency light continued to pulse outside the room, leaving it dark one moment and dull blood-red the next. Still, Amanda waited with building angst for the creature to enter the room, expecting tentacles, teeth, and awful howling. Derek whimpered from the corner. But there was nothing. Nothing crept towards them out of the dark. All was silent.
It took all of Amanda’s willpower to divert her eyes from the door to look at Martin and Derek. She exhaled and allowed herself to relax a bit.
“Psst. Can you see?”
Martin shook his head. Derek whimpered.
Amanda drew in another breath, forcing air into her aching lungs. She backed along the wall until she could get an angle on the door and inched around the corner to peer down the hall. She froze. A trail of blood led from the doorway down the hall and around the corner at the end. Halfway down the hall was a human hand, and a little farther were bits of flesh.
The klaxon alarm started again; this time, echoing loudly through the hall, and making the three of them jump. Orbital decay!
Terminal limits in t-minus ten minutes.
“We need to go! We need to call The Helix! Let’s go!”
Without waiting to see if the others were behind her, Amanda took off at a run. She didn’t need them to fly The Helix or activate the Velo-Paks; she was capable. She made it to the bend and stopped. Two sets of footsteps ran up behind her. Derek and Martin soon pressed up next to her. She peaked around the corner and pulled back. The blood trail continued around to another blind corner. The alarm blared overhead and echoed off the metal walls.
“Around the corner is the storage section of the ship, then one more hall for the bridge!” she yelled.
It was useless trying to be quiet, because whatever waited knew they were there. A hand pressed her shoulder and another gripped her elbow, drawing strength from each other’s presence and Amanda’s courage. One step at a time, she thought. Send the coordinates for The Helix. Then get to the Velo-Paks. The alarm sounded again.
Terminal limits in t-minus eight minutes.
That was enough for Amanda. She took off in a dead sprint, pushing herself as fast as she could go, her boots pounding on metal. Every few footfalls the red light faded, casting them in and out of darkness. Each time, Amanda pushed herself a little faster. Darkness again, then light, and something was there.
She screamed and still forced herself to run. It was there. The captain, or what he had become, stood in their way. His upper body appeared to have been skinned away, leaving rippling, bloody muscle. Pale grey tendrils sprouted from his elbows, mouth, eyes, and nose. When the thing howled, the world shook and Amanda was thrown off balance. Then there was darkness and silence, then light again, and the creature was gone, leaving only a bloody trail in an empty hallway.
Amanda made it to the end of the hall and turned left, colliding with the far wall and bruising her shoulder. No longer brave, she barreled forward without forethought, driven only by terror; the image of the monster imprinted on her memory. It was there. Every time the light faded, it disappeared, then reappeared with the alarm. Unaware if the others were behind her, she plowed down the hall, passing identical bulkhead doors, catching glimpses of space outside the ship. The craft was tilted toward Magnus Prime, the red and orange planet and its sandy surface giving some light to the interior of the Russian space shuttle.
Terminal limits in t-minus six minutes.
The bridge came into view. Sparks flew from a ruined control panel in the middle of the room and the emergency lighting was constant. The light gave her hope and lifted her spirits. She was close. Just around the bend was the captain’s quarters and the panel to call for her ship. It was a single red button near the top of the keyboard. Every ship had one, even this Russian piece of pulla. She played it over in her head as she ran. She envisioned herself running into the room, smashing the button and immediately turning back towards the storage bay. She had time. The Helix was quick.
She was seconds away and her lungs were on fire; each breath harder than the last as the ship’s life support struggled and her body failed to adapt to the
