DATE: 27TH JULY, 2179. TIME – 15:09

Gemma felt a hand on her forehead and opened her eyes to see a female soldier staring at her.

'Top!'

'What?'

'Top get over here we've got a live one! You're going to be alright, you're going to be alright'

She tried to speak but could only manage a whisper. The soldier leaned in closer.

'Please—k,kill me.'

'Just stay calm, we'll get you out of there. It's going to be alright, give me a hand to get her out of here. Convulsion!'

Wide-eyed, the soldier stumbled back. Gemma's stomach began to move unnaturally. From some final reserve she summoned up the energy to scream, a steady, sawing shriek of mindless agony.

'Flamethrower!' a voice said as her chest erupted in a spray of blood. From the cavity thus formed, a small fanged skull emerged, hissing viciously. The black soldier's finger jerked the trigger of the flamethrower and heat and light filled the chamber, searing the wall and obliterating the screaming horror it contained. What wasn't carbonized by the intense heat melted, the wall puddled and ran, pooling around their boots like molten plastic. But it didn't smell like plastic. It gave off a thick, organic stench. Everyone in the chamber was intent on the wall and the flamethrower. No one saw a section of another wall twitch.