Dead Space- Last Man Standing

By- Blackjack

I am the last man standing.

There are no others left.

The creatures took them.

They're coming for me.

I will not last.

But I will not falter.

If they want me.

They can come get me.

But I will not bend knee.

I will not sit.

I will not stand on the sidelines.

I will fight.

I will run.

I will live.

Until I draw my last.

I ran through the docking bay, my lungs burned in my chest, but I ignored the pain. It meant I was still alive, still human, and that they hadn't gotten me yet. But they would. Soon. Yes, very soon.

The shuttles had long since been destroyed or taken, leaving the hanger an empty shell, a large rectangular room, with multiple exits, entrances, and despite all of it, no way to be snuck up on.

It was a perfect place for a last stand.

Behind me I could hear the creatures approaching, their roars were a dead giveaway. I could hear dozens of them, maybe hundreds. The whole crew was turned. The whole crew was dead, it was just me. I was the last man standing.

I reached the center of the hangar, and pulled my rifle off my back. It had served me well in life, and would see me happily to death. Along the side were hastily scribbled words, 'TAKE OFF THE LIMBS' a grim reminder I scratched on it in case I fell and someone found it, and somehow had yet to learn of the only way to evoke the creatures' demise. Ironic, seeing how I never fell, and the only things that crawled these halls would have no use of my warning.

The first one slipped into view, followed by the next dozen. They were the most common ones I saw, blades sprouting from their shoulders, their bodies twisted into grotesque shapes and forms.

Let them come. I'm the last man standing, and I feel like I've been up too long.

As they continue to approach, I let out the first burst from my rifle, aimed for the shoulder blades. The upgrades I had tossed on this thing were costly, but seeing the devastation of pulse round on limb was definitely worth it.

I'm able to take seven of them down before the remaining five are on me. Their blades wing close, but I'm fast. My mining saw takes the limbs off two of them before it breaks. Still I don't fall.

The three still standing run at me again, and I'm just barely able to avoid death via decapitation. Before they can react, my titanium alloy knife is out, and one more goes down from a single sharp and precise slash.

Another series of swings, and I'm dealt a nasty cut on my left arm. Good thing I'm right handed. The creatures are fast and strong, but they aren't smart. It obviously doesn't predict me ramming into it, my knife taking the vanguard as it rises upward, cleaving a valley in the beast's middle. It isn't dismemberment, but it doesn't rise from the floor.

The last one has the upper hand as I recover, and it swings faster than I can dodge, its claws hitting my mid-section. It is not the end, having been denied by a set of security armor. Before the creature can react from the sudden recoil, my knife flips upside down in my hand, plunging straight into its face with all my driving force behind it.

With a strong push the abomination tumbles to the floor, with me on top of it, my knife in my hand, slashing downwards at the limbs on its shoulders, my knee holding them down. Only when the dead creature stills, the upper half of its chest missing, do I rise.

The hanger is quiet now.

'Another day' a voice in my head says.

My arm burns, but I ignore the pain as I slide a fresh clip into my rifle. Another day, another time. Part of me wants to finish it. A clip to the skull, deny the creatures the glory.

I shake the thoughts out of my head as I turn to one of the hanger's exits. I have yet to fall. I will not let the countless people who have fallen be forgotten. My work has not been done. Not yet, not while I still stand.

They would come for me soon, very soon, for I am the last man standing, and I have been standing for far too long.

Thanks for reading this little fic. I know it's not perfect, but hey, THIS IS FANFICTION AFTER ALL!