Some minor language and a character disappearance ahead. Hope you enjoy! As always, feel free to leave a comment or review.

Achillies453 - Glad you liked the chapter! I'm happy Gooti's trigger-happiness surprised you. She may be crazy, she may not be, all I can say right now without spoiling anything is that everything will come to a head soon. I hope you enjoy this chapter too!

teresa. spanics - Yep, Saw is an intense person after all and there's a malevolent Thing on the loose, maybe more than one. I'm glad you liked the last chapter and hope you enjoy this one as well!

US Outpost 17, March 12, 1987, 1530 Hours

The next two days dragged on, the fake blood and the remains of all the Things were burned by Jyn and Sabine. The blizzard pounded the outpost, freezing cold winds whipping across the metal roof. Sabine, Jai, and Jyn decided that they would sleep in shifts, with at least two of them awake at any single time. Everyone also had to congregate in the rec room every half hour to make sure no one disappeared. Jai spent most of the day in the lab, trying to find a new test. He had several Molotov cocktails with him.

Jyn spent most of the day guarding Kallus, Gooti, and Zare, who had been tied down on the couch. Kallus because he was still a prime suspect in the sabotage of the blood, Gooti because she had been alone with the dogs after the kennel attack and was a bit too trigger happy, and Zare because he was alone in the supply room when the Thing escaped. Jyn held the flamethrower on them at all times, even during eating and sleeping. She even took her sleep shifts with the flamethrower in her bunk.

Sabine had helped Ketsu try to repair the radio, keeping an eye on her the entire time. They hoped that they might be able to reach Commander Tano at McMurdo and warn her of the danger. Jyn had taught Sabine how to use the outpost's other M2A1-7 flamethrower, and she carried several flares and frag grenades as well.

Later in the day, Sabine rested in her bunk, Kallus' recorder in front of her. It had fallen to her to keep the log for the station, as Commander Tano and Kallus were both not in command any more.

She hit the record button, "The blizzard's been hitting us hard for a while, it's taking its toll on us. We have nothing else to go on, only the filling test. Jai's trying... he's trying so hard to find a test, but he hasn't found anything yet." She paused the recording, taking a swig from the newly opened bottle of vodka she swiped from the bar. "I... I think it rips through a person's clothes when it attacks. Sumar's gear was ripped to shreds, and Ezra found a bloody hacksaw and some shredded long-johns. The underwear's too badly damaged, I can't tell what size it is, or even if it's a man's or woman's." She paused, looking at the flamethrower in her lap, "No one... Nobody trusts each other anymore, not even me, Jyn, or Jai. I don't even know if I can trust my closest friends. God, I'm so tired... I haven't slept in who knows how long. Neither have any of us. There's nothing more we can do... we have no options but to wait it out... and hope for the best. Sabine Wren, helicopter copilot, US Navy Outpost #17."

She turned off the recorder and got up. Ezra was in the hallway, walking towards the rec room. He saw her and said, "Don't take this the wrong way, but you look horrible."

Sabine nodded, "I haven't slept since 4. I feel like shit."

Ezra sighed and looked at the ground, "I... I don't know what to do. I know I'm human, but I can't prove it to you. It... it messes with your head." He looked up at her, "How are holding up? You okay?"

When she didn't immediately respond, Ezra took a step forward, but Sabine lightly hefted the flamethrower. Sabine shook her head, "It tears me apart. I want to trust you, but I don't know if I can." She sighed, "I don't think any of us will be okay again. If... if we even make it. Just get back to the rec room. You shouldn't be walking around alone."

She watched Ezra until he disappeared through the rec room door, then slumped against the wall and closed her eyes. What had they become, where they couldn't trust their closest friends? Pushing away her thoughts, she continued down the hall to the lab and lightly tapped on the doorframe, so she wouldn't scare Jai. He still jumped and reached for a molotov, but relaxed when he saw it was her.

"How's it going? Find out anything yet?"

Jai sighed and shook his head, "Nothing, yet. But I've been thinking, if this Thing took over the dogs because they swallowed pieces of it... I think everyone should prepare their own food, and we best eat only out of cans."

She nodded, then turned towards the rec room. Jyn noticed her enter, "What's new?"

"No luck so far with the radio. Ketsu's still trying. Jai hasn't been able to find anything out yet, only that we should eat only out of cans and prepare our own food." Jyn nodded, and tossed her a couple cans of food, "Grab one of the others and take this out to Saw. He's still going to need food."

Sabine took the cans and turned to Ezra, "Hey, Ez, get your gear on. We're paying Saw a visit." He nodded and Sabine followed him towards the exit. Outside, Ezra led, holding a flare and following the guide rope. Sabine followed a couple paces behind him, her eyes scanning the darkness for any dangers. They came upon the tool shed to hear pounding inside. Flipping open the slot in the door, Ezra peered inside to see Saw nailing the shack shut from the inside. His eyes darted to the slot in a crazed fear.

Saw yelled out, "Go away! You won't get me! None of you will!"

Ezra chuckled grimly, it felt nice to laugh after everything that had happened, "What you doin'? A little interior decoration perhaps?"

Saw ranted, similar to his spree of destruction in the radio room, "Nothing's getting in here! You can tell 'em all that!"

Sabine yelled over the wind to Ezra, "Well, who the hell would want to go in there with him?" She handed the cans to Ezra, who pushed them through the slot. It was immediately shoved out by Saw.

"And I don't want any food from any of you! You won't get me! You'll never contaminate me! I know what you're doing, don't think I don't. And don't anyone try getting in here, I've got rope. I'll hang myself before any of you Things get me!"

Ezra chuckled, picking the cans up from the snow and ice, "Is that a promise." Sabine shrugged, "Let's head back. Nothing we can do for him now, he's hopeless."

Back inside, everyone continued to work, not trusting each other, but they had to out of necessity. Sabine dusted the snow off her coat and walked up to Jyn, "Saw's gone off the deep end. I'm afraid he's hopeless now. I don't think we could ever convince him that some of us are still human, or that its dead if we kill it."

Jyn nodded and sighed, "It... its hard to take. I've been friends with him for years, he was almost an uncle to me."

Jai walked in with a small blowtorch and a box of aluminum foil, "I've got something, though it's not good news." Everyone who wasn't tied down gathered around the table. Jai looked up and applied the blowtorch to the foil, "This is aluminum, it has a low melting point. If enough of this foil is melted, it can be poured into a mold, like so." He took Jyn's tactical knife and cut a small hole in the table, then poured the molten aluminum in. Once it hardened, he pulled out a small piece of solid aluminum that closely resembled a tooth filling.

Mart scowled at him, "So what? All this proves is that you can't be trusted either. Neither can they." Mart pointed at the two women holding flamethrowers.

Ezra retorted, "Why would he give this information if he was one of them? He'd just throw suspicion on himself." Mart angrily yelled, "Maybe he's trying to spread more chaos! I think he should be tied up with Kallus and them!"

Jai chuckled, "No, you didn't let me finish. It comes out with rough edges, and needs to be filed down. That process could take at least an hour. Like it or not, we have to trust every single one of us. Although, I think that the filling test could be taken with a grain of salt given this."

Jyn took the knife back and cleared her throat. She was still nominally in command, after all. "Jai's right. We can't let this Thing drive us crazy. Jai get back to the lab, see if you can find a test. Ketsu, I want you to continue working on that radio. Take a couple molotovs each of you. The rest of you, begin boarding up the exits. Leave the main entrance unlocked. Sabine, I want you on guard there."

-0-

2200 Hours...

Zare looked up from the couch, "Jyn, I gotta go to the can."

Jyn nodded, "Make it quick." She untied his restraints. Zare walked over to the bathroom adjacent to the rec room. Jyn stood in the corridor, keeping an eye on both the prisoners and the bathroom door. She mentally cursed herself, she was now split in attention to the two areas. The past events were not good on her mental health, she only hoped that she could keep her sanity for as long as it took.

The lights began to flicker, and Jyn's eyes widened in alarm. "No no no!"

The lights went out completely and she heard Ketsu call from the rec room, where she was repairing the radio. "Jyn, that a fuse or something?"

"No! Damn it, the generator's out. Get a flashlight, show yourself." She heard fumbling around in the dark, "You fellas on the couch all there?" She heard Gooti snort, but nothing from Kallus. She turned to the bathroom, "Zare, get out here where I can see you! Ketsu, where's that flash?"

Ketsu slammed the table in frustration, "It's not here! Somebody's taken it."

Something, no two somethings, ran past her, she turned to see two silhouettes, one carrying a flare, the other carrying something else turn the corner. One appeared to be wearing an orange windbreaker. Ezra? "Who goes there!" She yelled. Nothing, no response.

Jyn depressed the ignitor switch on her M2A1-7, giving a candlelight to see the hallway with. She turned into the rec room, seeing the couch, "Where's Kallus?" Gooti turned her head to see the empty seat where the lieutenant was a moment ago. A screeching resounded through the hallways. Jyn and Ketsu locked eyes, frozen in fear.

Jyn ran to the wall and pulled the alarm, and the sirens blared.

-0-

Meanwhile, Jai was in the lab when the lights when out. He lit his molotov and moved towards the corridor. The rec room would be the safest place to be. Jyn was there, Ketsu was there, and he was pretty sure she was still human. A figure glided across his view, "Who's there?" he called. No response. Slowly, Jai followed it, carrying a flare and his molotov.

He turned his attention to the hydroponic greenhouse, where they grew a select number of plants. The door swung eerily. Slowly, Jai crept into the greenhouse. There was a broken window, part of the roof was missing as well. Wind and snow drifted in. The plants were all frozen, but Jai spotted something on the ground. He picked it up and found a shredded pair of women's long underwear. Stenciled on it was a name:

SABINE WREN

The door swung shut behind him. Jai turned to open it, but it wouldn't budge. A sound came from behind him, something dropping to the floor. He turned to see a feminine figure silhouetted in the room. Sabine? he thought. Jai immediately hid, dropping the shredded clothing as he dove, hoping that what he thought was the Sabine-Thing wouldn't find him.

The Thing in the room crept closer. Jai took the molotov he had and was about to light it, when he realized the bottle had broke when he dove for cover, the fuel had all flowed out. Thinking fast, he broke it even further and stabbed it into his abdomen. If he could play dead, it might leave him alone. It was a long shot, but he had to try.

-0-

Sabine stood in the generator room with Ezra and Mart. She looked up from the generator, "Fuel pump's gone. It's missing."

They stared at her in shock, "What do you mean missing? Have you gone crazy?"

Sabine snapped her head around, "It's gone, missing, not here. Somebody took it! Get to supply, get the replacement from the storage room. Quickly!"

Mart and Ezra disappeared up the stairs into the darkness. They grabbed the fuel pump from supply and turned to bring it back to the generator room in the basement. They ran past someone in the darkness, unable to see who it was, even in the illumination of Ezra's flare, but they had no time to worry about that at the moment. A voice called out from behind them, "Who goes there?" It was Jyn, but they could explain later, once the lights were back on.

They clambered down the stairs to see Sabine, her flamethrower raised, but not at them. There was another figure in the darkness, holding one of the Mossberg shotguns at her head. Moving closer, Ezra and Mart saw it was Kallus. It was a standoff.

Sabine spoke first, "Somebody definitely messed with the generator. The only question is who." That last part was directed at the Lieutenant.

Kallus angrily retorted, "I had nothing to do with the lights going out. Ask Corporal Erso. I came down here when the lights went out. I grabbed this shotgun because it was on the way. I heard that the generator wasn't working and came down to check it. When I did, she nearly burned me alive."

Sabine ignored him, "Ezra, Mart, can you fix the generator?"

Ezra nodded, "I hope so. I think we'll need at least 10, 15 minutes. What I don't get is..."

He was cut off by a screeching sound elsewhere in the building. All four looked at each other in shock. They were broken out of their trance by the siren blaring.

-0-

Fifteen minutes later, the generator had been prepared and everyone stood in the rec room. Everyone that was, except for Jai. Gooti was released, they needed a few extra hands for the search. But Kallus and Zare were being retied to the couch, and were covered by Jyn with her flamethrower. Eyes flitted from one person to the other. Ketsu and Mart kept as much distance from the group as possible.

Ketsu looked over at Zare, "Where the hell were you?"

Zare replied, "Hiding in the bathroom. I got scared."

Jyn calmly butted in, "A lot of stuff's been missing. Parts from the helicopter and snowcats, magnetos, cables, wires..."

Zare interrupted, "Kitchen things too."

Sabine looked up at the others, "Anyone seen Jai?" There was no answer as everyone looked suspiciously at everyone else. Ketsu turned and glared at Kallus, "Where the hell were you?"

Kallus snapped at the others, "I told you already! I went to see what was wrong with the generator! I had nothing to do with anything that's happened."

"That's a load of bullshit, you lying bastard."

"I don't like that tone of yours." Kallus got on his feet and took a step forward. Ketsu threw a punch at him, but Kallus blocked it and delivered a hook right to her jaw. They both tumbled over the couch. Jyn and Ezra jumped in, breaking up the fight. "Enough!" Jyn growled, pulling them apart.

Sabine glanced at the roof, as the wind howled overhead. She turned to the others and spoke, "That storm's going to get worse any second now, so we don't have much time. We've got to find Jai. If you find him, kill him if necessary."

All heads turned to her, "Kill him?" Mart voiced the concerns of the group.

"We don't know if he's one of those Things. If he is, we need to get him before he changes. Do whatever is needed."

She handed a couple of the small, commercial blowtorches used for warming up the helicopter to Mart and Gooti. "Ketsu and I will search outside. Mart, you, Ezra and Gooti search the inside of the building."

"I ain't going with Gooti." Ezra said, "I'm not going with her."

"Hey, fuck you Ezra!" she yelled.

"You wanted to kill Sabine! I'm not going with you!" They almost came to blows, being restrained by Sabine and Mart.

Jyn chambered a bullet in her Glock and fired into the air. Everyone shut up and looked at her. "CUT THE BULLSHIT! Gooti, you go with Ketsu and Sabine. I'll remain here and guard them." She pointed at Kallus and Zare.

Sabine nodded, "If any of them move," she indicated Kallus and Zare, "fry them. We meet back here in thirty minutes, tops." She looked around at everyone in the room, "And everybody watch who you're with. Watch them really close."

Next Chapter: Tensions come to a head and the Thing is revealed