AN: Going back to The Thing 2011, this is au and diverges from the new movie around the celebrating when The Thing is thawing out. From there it goes sideways, it is and au story after all, so don't expect people to die the same way or get turned the same times. Also some of the victims, sorry people, may make it to Outpost 31 haven't totally decided. Okay if you've read this far, last note. This will be bloody violent and there will probably be 'sexual violations' of the characters, both sexes. Seen the movie? Times violence by ten and add pervert. :P
Okay enough is enough. Read.
Thule
Thule.
It meant far off land. Or in some cases an unattainable goal. Kate thought it was particularly apt name for the Norwegian research station. At least in the unattainable goal aspect, it was very much to the south on any map. Even on the maps that once called the Antarctic Terra Incognita.
Though based on the find left in the garage, maybe it should still say Terra Incognita.
Arms curled around her chest as she stared blindly at the sign announcing the Thule Research Station. Kate was dressed for the freezing temperatures, but standing still in the Antarctic would never be a good idea no matter how dressed for the cold she was.
But she'd needed to get away from the others, there was something wrong about celebrating the thing stuck in the ice.
Kate had been excited, had been celebrating in fact, but the sour taste in mouth increased and her stomach roiled until she excused herself. But the feeling that there was something wrong just increased.
And she hadn't been the only casualty to this feeling. Griggs had left earlier to get more beer from the helicopter, Juliette had wandered off even earlier claiming exhaustion. Halversen had left to examine to sample more, with Adam following. In fact the majority of the researchers and others had all left to be alone it seemed.
Kate wondered if anyone else would acknowledge this sick feeling of anticipation gathering in the research station. She knew where it was gathering, in that closed of room with the sarcophagus of ice trapping the thing from another world. The thing that was to inhuman to comprehend; with the claws of a deep sea crab, the blue worms that seemed to writhe as hair, and those horrible red eyes that stared out at them in hate and insanity.
"Probably not," Kate sighed to herself, thinking of the anticipation. She stretched; starting to walk back towards the building, with night well underway the temperatures had plummeted and even bundled up frostbite could be a risk.
Frenzied howling shrieked across the snow, echoing of the buildings.
Kate jumped falling back as she listened to the howling and high pitched yelps. There was a second of silence, then sound exploded people yelling, running figures coming out of the wood work as everyone raced towards the tortured dogs cries.
No one saw who was coming from where, or if they were alone or not, each one to occupied with getting to the screaming dog. It was enough that there was many of them packed into the tiny space around the dog cage. No one could point out anyone that hadn't been there.
All attention was riveted on the sight of the dog's mangled corpse.
A thick blood drop fell from what once been white fur, the muffled sound of it splashing onto floor was the loudest sound in the room. Guts were hanging out, piled on top of previously white and black fur, stretched away and ending in pieces. Like they had been bitten off.
It hit the largest Norwegian like a slap; the sudden rush of him screaming in Norwegian rushed into fill the silence, even as everyone else jumped on Lars. Trying to hold him back, away from the bloody mess that was once a living animal.
Another Norwegian started shouting back, to be heard over the screaming, trying to get Lars to see reason. Just step back. Everyone was shoving against each other in panic and fear of what had killed the dog, what had left it lying in a pile of fur and blood, insides spilling outwards as though reaching for help from the arctic team.
"All of you shut up!" Carter pushed through to the front, turning his back on the once dog, and holding his hands in front of him. "Tell him we're gonna find out what happened. But if we wanna do that we need to calm the fuck down."
The angry muttering continued, but it was lost under one of the others translating hurriedly to Lars, the ex-soldier locking eyes with the Vietnam vet, before he finally calmed down.
"Fine." Carter glared at all of the assembled people. "Stay calm." He looked over his shoulder, examining the scene. Using eyes that had once looked for the soldier civilians and landmines of Vietnam.
"How the hell did that ice get in here?" He asked frowning, at the medium and small chunks spread around the dog's corpse. Trying to the scene, what had happened, and not the blood soaked mess of wasted life.
"We're in the bloody Antarctic, where d'you think the ice comes from." The sardonic accented voice sneered from the crowd.
Carter didn't bother to look back, hissing a reply even as he bent down to take a closer look. "There's no other ice in here, Genius."
There was a long silence as the academics all looked at something that seemed to be perfectly normal. After all, they were in the Antarctic, ice was everywhere.
"He's right," Kate said slowly, stepping around one of the large men. "It doesn't look like an icicle, or a piece that was kicked from a boot."
"The ice could have gotten here anytime." A male voice pointed out thickly, sounding confused at why they were arguing over ice.
"No," The soft female disagreed. "It looks like most of the ice is on top of the dog."
The room grew quiet, heavy with intent, as academics and researchers alike started pulling together the pieces.
"Yeah," Carter agreed, distractedly "You guys have anything defrosting?" He half muttered, standing up while holding a piece of the wet ice carefully.
"Oh-" hurried swearing and then people were racing out, "The specimen!"
It could have been from a comedy, the great mass of people rushing away from the mangled corpse in the dog's cage, to that back room where the find of the universe waited with frozen breath. Waited for the victims to come running in their arctic gear, not bothering to shed anything as they raced through the warm building to where the creature waited.
As the academics and ex-soldiers swarmed into the room, it was hard to see, hard for the American helicopter pilots to tell what the fuss was about, to understand the silence coming from the Norwegians.
As they spread through the room, each person staying as far from the thing resting in the center of the room as possible, Carter could see the giant ice block.
He gazed around the room, looking at the Thule people crushing back against the walls, away from the broken ice, seeing fear and confusing sliding across those faces. He was confused at the fear, at why there was a chunk of ice melting inside the station, sure it was bad that something or someone had killed the dog, but what did this broken ice have to do with it?
Broken shards of melting ice were spread across the floor, shining like diamonds when they caught the light. Carter grimaced as he looked closer, seeing the rectangular cut of the ice standing in place, pilot's eyes catching what could be claw marks on some of the thicker pieces. The size of the ice still in place scared him. What could have been so large and still alive to escape a coffin of ice?
"What was that?" Carter said carefully, watching the faces for anything. "Was there something in the ice?"
"It couldn't," Kate whispered to herself; it couldn't still be alive after a hundred thousand years trapped in the ice. "It couldn't still be alive."
"Where is it?" Halversen growled, ignoring Carter's angered question, and Kate's horrified words. "It could not have just walked away."
No, Kate thought looking at the destroyed ice, it exploded and left.
"Holy crap, man." Jameson whispered, voice breaking through like a gunshot after Halversen's words, as he pointed up, to the hole in the roof splinters of wood were still falling through.
"Well apparently it did," Carter shot back, irritated with the lack of answers, gazing at the giant hole.
"We need to search for it!" Wolner fisted his hands
"Are you crazy?" Jameson tried not to shout, to scared if the thing that had made that hole and had come from the ice heard. "you want to search for something that did that! At night?"
"He is right," Jonas murmured, tugging on his thick beard. "Edvard, it could be dangerous."
"We will go in pairs," Halversen said, speaking over the nervous researcher. "We stay in pairs, and are armed. We will be fine." He said firmly, over the muttering Norwegian.
"Like the dog?" Juliette asked quietly, fear etched into her face as she slowly met everyone's eyes. "This thing will not get us, like the dog?"
Kate watched in worry as the French woman's face turned green at the memory of the dog. Glancing up at that hole and then watching Peder move under it, to gaze fully upwards where the creature, the Thing, had escaped.
"It was a dog." Halversen said calmly, "If it was the specimen that killed the dog, it will find us harder to deal with. Or are we not more intelligent than a dog."
It was a good speech, Kate would admit, as they started pairing up and digging out weapons; flamethrowers and guns. Maybe something had been expected to attack with so many different weapons. Kate looked back at where Halversen was looking away from Juliette, directing the others into search parties, his little speech could have been better. Had Halversen met Juliette's eyes, when he spoke.
Please review for more, human, bloodshed