A bit dialogue heavy and minor language. Hope you enjoy! Remember, feel free to leave a comment or review. If you feel this deserves it, favorite or follow this story, as it helps me continue writing a great deal.

Achilles453 - Thank you, I'm glad you liked the chapter! Yep, Saw's going off the deep end here, but that's why we all love Saw. I hope you enjoy this chapter too!

US Outpost 17, March 10, 1987, 2105 Hours

Kallus, Jyn, Zare, and Sabine stood outside the food cache, inspecting it for any salvageable foods. They were carrying several crates of canned food. Kallus sighed and looked at Zare, "So this is all that's left?"

Zare nodded, "The fire destroyed everything except for the crates in the rear corner of the building." Concerned, Jyn asked, "How much food do we have? How long will it last?" Zare sighed, "With the stores inside, a couple weeks or so. We can stretch it out if we ration food." Kallus nodded, "We'll figure that out later. Right now, let's get these inside." The four hefted their crates and headed towards the outpost entrance.

Jai came out and met them, "Have any of you seen Saw?" They shook their heads and Kallus said, "No. Why?" Jai looked concerned, "I think that there's something wrong with Saw. He's become reclusive and withdrawn." Jyn smirked, "Like he is all the time." Jai groaned, "I'm serious. Even more so than usual and I'm afraid he's up to something. I went into the lab to see him, and I found this latest journal entry."

Jai held Saw's notebook and began to read, "The Thing could have imitated a million life forms on a million planets. It could change into any of them at a single time. Now it wants to imitate life forms on Earth. It needs to be alone and in close proximity with the life form to be absorbed. The chameleon strikes from the shadows. There is still cellular activity in these burned remains, the Thing is not dead yet." Kallus shrugged, "Okay, so is Saw crazy or not?"

Jai snapped at him, "Listen to me: Saw writes that there is a 75% probability that one or more of us have been assimilated by now. If one of them escapes, the whole Earth could be assimilated in three years. Three years! Saw's last line says 'I know what needs to be done.'" Kallus thought it over for a moment, then hummed approval, "Alright, we'll drop these supplies in the other storage room and then talk to him." Jai sighed in relief, "Thank you, Lieutenant."

As they neared the garage, Sabine stopped and put down her crates for a second, "Go ahead, I'll be inside in a second." The others nodded and entered the main building. Sabine rolled her shoulders, then heard a clamor behind her, and she turned as she ignited a flare. "Who's there?" A figure clad in winter gear was running from the helicopter towards the other entrance. Whoever it was held an ice-ax in both hands. She squinted, trying to recognize who it was. The figure had a limp when running, and she tentatively yelled out, "Saw? Is that you?"

She cautiously approached the helicopter, pulling aside the tarpaulin with one hand, while the other held an ice-pick. She shone her flare around the cockpit. The instrument panel was busted with an ax and the electrical systems and fuel lines had been cut. It would not fly for a long time.

A gunshot snapped her attention back to the outpost. She heard loud clangs and people yelling. Immediately, Sabine turned, threw the flare to the ground, and ran inside, hurrying towards the commotion as fast as she could. She saw Jai, Kallus, Jyn, Ezra, Mart, and Gooti crouched in the hallway, Saw in the radio room ranting and destroying stuff, and Ketsu slumped against the wall, a large cut on her head. Ezra spotted Sabine and motioned her to crouch down, "Careful, he's got a gun." Saw heard her coming and turned, continuing his rant. "You understand me? If anybody interferes, I'll kill them!" Saw fired, hitting the wall near Sabine's head.

Sabine looked at the others, "He smashed up the chopper really good. Thing won't fly for months." Kallus turned to the chief mechanic, "Jyn, you're the mechanic. Go see if he got to the snowcats." Jyn nodded and took off down the corridor.

All the while, Saw continued smashing equipment with his ax, "Nobody gets in and out of here! Nobody!" Ketsu groaned and attempted to get up, "Saw, please calm down. Why're you doing this?" Saw turned and swung the ax at her, "Shut up! I see what you are, you hiding bitch! Even if none of them can see the monster you are!" She fell back against the wall, but the edge of the ax still sliced her nose.

Saw continued ranting, this time directed at the people outside, "You all think that I'm crazy! Well that's fine! Most of you don't understand what's going on around here! But I'm damn well sure SOME of you do!" Pounding footsteps came from the hallway and the others turned to see Jyn running towards them. "He's destroyed the chopper and the snowcats, and he's burned the rest of the dogs."

Gooti suddenly turned pale and hastily ran off towards the kennel. Kallus moved closer to the door with his handgun, but Sabine called after him, "Lieutenant, wait a minute!" She turned to Jyn, "Jyn, he knows you the best out of all of us." She nodded and Sabine continued, "Go around to the map room door, talk to him. Ezra, grab a table from the lab." They ran off.

Saw turned his attention to the radio, "You think that Thing wanted to be an animal! No dogs make it a thousand miles through the cold to the coast! No, you don't understand! THAT THING WANTED TO BE US! If a single cell gets out, it could imitate everything on the face of the Earth! AND NOTHING COULD STOP IT!"

Jyn got to the map room door and put her arms out in a calming matter, "Come on now Saw, you don't want to hurt anybody!" Saw swung around and pulled out his handgun, firing at Jyn. Using her marine training, she dodged, but the bullet still grazed her leg. Saw emptied the cylinder in her direction, "I"LL KILL YOU!" The gun clicked empty and Saw threw it at Jyn as she poked her head out.

Ezra charged into the radio room with the table. Saw swung his ax at him, but it ended up getting stuck in the table. Ezra pushed Saw against the wall, but Saw kicked him, throwing Ezra, the table, and the ax to the floor. The rest of the crew ran towards him. Saw swung a chair at them, smashing Mart in the side of the head. But the others held him down as Kallus slammed the butt of the Glock pistol down. Accidentally hitting Sabine by mistake, he brought it down again, connecting with Saw's skull.

-0-

Meanwhile, Gooti stared heartbroken at the burned remains of her dogs. She wasn't sad that Saw had burned the Things that lay in front of her; she was sad that they had been assimilated in the first place. Someone entered the doorway behind her, she turned to see Jai and Jyn. Jai gave the dogs a quick once-over, "I assume they weren't dog when Saw got to them."

Gooti got up, sadly, "Why? Why?" She walked out the door, heartbroken, those dogs were her life. Jai looked at Jyn, "I think I know what happened. When the Thing attacked our dogs, they must have bitten off part of it, swallowed it. The Thing must have attacked and imitated them from the inside out." He grimaced, "Nasty."

Kallus appeared in the hallway, "Jyn, Jai. Get your gear. We're going to lock Saw up." Jai nodded and went to get his medkit.

Outside, Kallus, Sabine, Ketsu, Ezra, Jai, and Jyn proceeded in boarding up the tool shed. Sabine and Ezra were nailing boards over the window, while Kallus and Ketsu fitted a lock to the outside of the door. Jyn watched them all with her flamethrower. Inside the shed, Jai administered a sedative to Saw, who looked up at him, "Why am I here?"

Jai responded softly, "It's for your own protection, Saw." Kallus and Jyn entered the small shack, carrying a crate of canned foods, enough for a few days. "And mainly ours." Kallus said as he put the crate down.

Turning to Saw, Jyn grabbed a bottle of vodka, "How you doing, old friend?"

Saw looked up at her and said softly, "I don't know who to trust." Jyn nodded, taking a swig from the bottle, "I know what you mean, Saw. Trust's a hard thing to come by these days." She reached into her parka and looked at the small crystal her mother had given her long ago, "Why don't you trust in the Lord."

Jyn, Kallus, and Jai were about to leave when Saw said, "Watch Zare." They turned and Kallus asked, perplexed, "What? Why?" Saw lowered his voice, and spoke in a warning tone, "Watch him close." Saw kept his eyes on them as the door was closed and locked from the outside.

-0-

The Thing crept through the halls of the outpost. It had to hurry, it had to destroy the human's equipment before they figured out a test. The medic had the best chance of discovering it, but luckily he was elsewhere. The keys were easy to acquire, humans were so easy to startle. The lab was empty, no one near it. Pounding footsteps coming down the hallway forced the Thing to hide, but they subsided, heading towards the exit.

Quickly, the Thing opened the small refrigerator, the blood the humans had in storage was hanging there, ripe for the taking. The Thing reached in and slowly opened the bags.

-0-

Zare met them at the entrance to the outpost, "Hey, Kallus. Someone's been in the pantry. I'm missing some corn syrup and flour." This revelation perplexed them all, Jyn asked, "Why would anyone want flour and corn syrup?" Zare shrugged, "Beats me. You can't really do anything with that except cook." Kallus nodded, "We'll deal with that later, for now, we have more... pressing concerns."

Entering the outpost, Kallus called a meeting in the rec room. As the eight other remaining crew filed in, Kallus said, "Well, we're completely cut off now. Saw's badly damaged the radio, destroyed the helicopter, and ruined the snowcats. Any ideas?"

Ezra walked in holding a bundle, "Saw was right about something. One of us is not who they appear to be." He threw the bundle onto the ping pong table. Inside was a bloody hacksaw and a pair of shredded clothes. "I found these hidden in the supply room. I don't know what the hacksaw means, it can't be murder cause we're all here, but these," he held up the shredded clothes, "indicate that one of us has been... busy."

Jai spoke up, sounding defeated, "I guess all we can do is sit tight and wait until spring." Sabine shook her head, "No, we can't. Someone in this camp isn't what they appear to be. Right now that may be one or two of us. By Spring, it could be all of us. We have to root this thing out, and root it out fast."

Kallus nodded, "I know I'm human. And if you were all these things, then you'd attack me right now and get it over with. Some of you are still human."

Ketsu cut him off, "Why hasn't the Thing destroyed us, do you suppose? It seems to still be on the loose."

"The Thing wants to have life-forms available. I do not think that the Thing can animate a dead body. It's waiting... waiting until the best opportunities come. We who remain human, you things are holding in reserve." Kallus paused and looked at everyone in the room with a steely glare, "You Things don't want to show yourselves, you want to hide inside your imitations, pick us humans off one by one. You'll fight if you have to, if you're cornered or exposed, but you're vulnerable out in the open."

Jyn chimed in, "So, how do we know who's human? If I was an imitation, a perfect imitation, how would you know if it was really me?" Zare looked up fearfully, "Hey, hey Jai! Would I know if I was a monster? Would I know if the Thing got to me? Oh Lord, I may be a Thing already!"

Jai smiled, "Oh, you'd know." Sabine laughed sarcastically, "Only we wouldn't."

Kallus turned to the medic, "Jai, besides Saw, you have the most knowledge on these kinds of things. Is there a test we could do to determine who's human?"

Jai nodded, "Well, I've been thinking about a blood test. Mix a person's blood with uncontaminated blood, and see if there's a reaction. I have a lot of blood in storage in the lab."

Kallus nodded, "Seems like it should work, let's get going."

They walked into the lab, and Kallus gave Jai the keys to the fridge containing the plasma. He opened the fridge and pulled out a couple bags. Jai prepared a few petri dishes and grabbed a scalpel, "I'll test myself first." He cut himself, and let the blood drip into a petri dish. Jai then added some of the plasma from the fridge, and placed it under a microscope.

Kallus watched as Jai's brows furrowed in confusion. Jai looked through the microscope again and said, "What? That's impossible!" Jyn leveled the flamethrower at him and Gooti asked, "What is it? That test show you're unhuman?"

Jai looked around, "No. Look for yourself, this blood," he held up the bag of plasma, "isn't blood. There're no cells, nothing!" Kallus looked through the microscope and saw the same thing, there were no other cells except for Jai's. Jai filled an empty petri dish and showed the others.

Acting on a hunch, Zare dipped his finger in the "blood" and tasted it, "He's right. This isn't blood. It's the missing flour and corn syrup, mixed with what appears to be red food coloring. Someone's been busy in this camp."

A silence filled the room, broken by Ezra, "Wait, was the lock tampered with? Was it picked?"

Jai shook his head, "No, the lock is undamaged. Someone unlocked it with the key, opened it, closed it, and locked it."

"Well, who's got access to it?"

Jai looked around the room, everyone turned to stare at him. "I guess I'm the only one."

"And the only key's in my room." Kallus added, then promptly wished he hadn't. Sabine twitched, and slowly backed away from the group.

"Would that test have worked?"

Jai nodded, "Oh I think so."

Jyn butted in, "Someone else sure as hell thought so."

Ezra sighed, "Well, who else could have used that key?"

Kallus vehemently shook his head, "Nobody! Commander Tano gave it to Jai whenever he needed it. That key's locked in my footlocker when Jai doesn't need it."

Ezra didn't take his eyes off Kallus, "Could someone have lifted it off you, Jai?" He shook his head no, "I don't see how. As soon as I finish, I return it right away."

Jyn turned to Kallus and Jai, "Well, when was the last time you used it?" Sabine began sweating as she realized she was the last one with the key. She had dropped it. She had allowed the Thing access to the blood. She continued to slowly inch away from the group.

"Last time I used it was... I think last night, before the Thing broke lose." Kallus offered, "I suppose someone could have lifted my locker key off me."

Gooti shook her head and laughed, "Come on, Lieutenant. You expect one of us to believe that load of crap." Various crewmembers in the room began yelling at each other. An altercation could have happened when Kallus pulled out his pistol and yelled, "Stand down! Jai's the only one who's got any business with it."

Jai yelled back at him, "Now wait a minute, Lieutenant! You've been absent and alone on several occasions."

Ezra spoke up, "Kallus wanted us to run this test. Why would he compromise himself?" Gooti yelled at him, "So what? Is that supposed to clear him?! He might be trying to earn our trust then stab us in the back."

Zare spoke up, "Last night, I asked Sabine to get the keys from Kallus. To lock the supply room. I never saw what happened to them."

Kallus snapped his fingers, "You're right. I gave her the keys. They were on my desk when Jai asked for them a few minutes ago."

A clatter brought their attention to the door. Mart fell to the ground as Sabine threw him aside. She took off running and Kallus yelled, "Sabine! Stop!"

Sabine ran in terror as fast as she could down the central hallway. She reached the weapons locker and smashed the glass, grabbing one of the Mossberg shotguns and throwing two rounds in the magazine. The pounding footsteps behind her stopped and she heard a bullet being chambered. Sabine turned to see Kallus pointing his Glock 17 at her head. Jyn stood to the side, holding her flamethrower in Sabine's direction.

"Put that down." Kallus ordered.

Trembling, she slowly shook her head, backing against the wall, "No."

"Put that down or this goes right through your head."

No one doubted that Kallus wouldn't do it. Kallus may have liked the copilot, but they all knew the stakes. Sabine shook her head and yelled at the others, "You guys gonna listen to Kallus? You're going to let him give the orders?! I mean, he could... he could be one of those Things!"

Gooti yelled, "Burn her, Jyn! She's one of them! She has to be!"

Everyone watched the standoff, knowing full well that Sabine could be right. But they also knew that Gooti could also be right, Sabine could be the Thing as well. Ezra put his hands up in a calming manner, "Sabine, wait a minute. Just... take it easy. Put the gun down. Put it down." She shook her head. Ezra turned to the lieutenant, "Kallus, you don't want to hurt anybody."

Kallus nodded, "Right." Ezra looked back over to Sabine, "Put it on the floor, please."

Sabine trembled as she squatted down and laid the shotgun on the ground. She fell to her knees, sobbing.

Ezra turned to Kallus, "It's on the floor." Kallus lowered his weapon, then turned to face the others. "I don't know about Jai, but I give you my word that I didn't go near that blood."

Ezra turned to Jai, "Say, Jai, do we still have the remains of the kennel-Thing?" Jai nodded and Ezra continued, "Mix it with some of that fake blood."

Everyone looked at Ezra in confusion. "Why? What good would that do?" Jai voiced the question.

Ezra turned to Jai, "You found those dental fillings outside Sumar's corpse. Right?" Jai nodded again and said, "I'm thinking I see where you're going. You think that this Thing cannot imitate anything dead or inorganic, right?" Ezra nodded and Jai continued, "The Thing wouldn't be able to imitate fillings, so it spits them out. So anyone who has dental fillings is human."

Jai turned to Jyn, "Jyn, can I have your flashlight?" She handed it over and Jai opened his mouth, shining the light at his teeth. Greyish dental fillings were clearly present in the back of his jaw.

"You see, I proved that I am human. Jyn, please open your mouth." She did so, and Jai nodded in relief, "Jyn's human." He faced the rest of the group, "Open your mouths. Jyn, watch them with that torch."

Jai went from person to person, each person boasting healthy teeth. Jai walked over to Kallus, "Open your mouth." Kallus shook his head, "I've never had fillings of any kind." He opened his mouth to prove it. Jai nodded and turned to the last person, Sabine. She shakily got to her feet. Jai softly said, "Please, open your mouth."

Warily, Sabine did. Jai looked in and smiled, "She's human." A pair of silver fillings sat on a couple molars. Sabine let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in.

Everyone turned to Kallus, who unholstered his weapon, "I know I'm human, but I can't prove it. I can only give you my word; I hope that will be enough for you all." He put the gun down on a crate and said, "But, I guess you'll all sleep better if I wasn't in command."

Gooti went to take the gun, "I'll take it..." but was intercepted by Jyn, who pulled out her tactical knife. Ezra calmly stated, "I think it should be someone more even-tempered." He turned to Jyn, "How 'bout you Jyn? I don't think anyone would object to you, the only other military crewmember."

Jyn shook her head, "I can't do this alone." She turned to the other two humans, "The three of us will take command. Jai, get to work on another test. Sabine, grab the other flamethrower." Sabine nodded and went for the storage room to get the other M2A1-7.

Jyn turned to the rest of the group, "I don't know whether you all are human or not. All we have to go on is your word. From what we know, the Thing likes to go one on one. We stick together as much as possible, in twos and threes. From this point on, no one goes anywhere without either me, Jai, or Sabine. Like it or not, we have to trust each other, or we're lost."

Next chapter: Blackout