Rose

"Fourth level breech. Intruder alert. Fourth level breech. Intruder alert. Fourth level breech..."

The automated message brings me back to my senses. The pain in my chest is unreal...like a hot poker twisting inside my bone and tissues. My eyes pop open and my mouth lets out a strangled sound as I twist on my side and push myself to my feet. My scrubs are torn and stained with sticky blood. My fingers fly to where some sort of wound should be. The blood is still sticky and sore, I flinch at the tender, loose flesh, though it feels more like a deep gash than a open hole.

The only lighting is still the red emergency lights, and the girl who attacked me is gone. I am alone, but it is not quiet. There is growling, screaming, and what sounds like claws scraping. I close my blouse the best I can with my hands and gingerly step across the door and through the threshold into the hallway.

The door at the end of the hall is open, sparks flying from an exposed wire. Stepping through, I enter the rows of glass cells where my friends used to be, and choke on a sob. The cells are empty, explosions of blood splatters all over the walls. Not a living soul in sight. Even though I know he isn't here, I call anyway...albeit softly.

"Damon?"

Something snarls and drops from the ceiling across the room and I gasp as I stumble back. The thing is on all fours with huge claws, and elongated midsection with nearly nothing but the backbone, and an exposed brain. Its long, skinny tongue darts out and licks the air and it looks right at me. Or is it? There are no eyes. I look around for something to throw and notice the power panel to the door laying on the ground with its own wires exposed but cold. I gently and quietly step back and to the side, slowly crouching to pick it up. The monster doesn't move.

I pick it up, hold it over my head, and toss it back into the hall where I had come from. It makes a loud crashing sound and the monster screeches and turns towards it, hopping onto the ceiling and darting after it. I watch as it tears through the wall where the console had shattered with body paralyzing fear. "Time to go," I remind myself and dart for the door it had been standing in front of moments ago.

I barely make it half way when the thing rounds on me and sprints. I scream as the thing leaps with its claws poised to strike.

Bam! Bam!

An eardrum shattering pop sound right behind me makes me drop to the floor and cover my ears. The monster rears pack and falls back onto the floor.

Bam!

The gun goes off once more and what's left of its brain explodes. I heave on the floor, not even caring that my b*** are in full view of whomever just saved my skin. I dry heave once, twice, and then finally spill my guts all over the bloody remains of my attacker.

"Are you okay?" The man asks from behind me. I sit up and wipe my mouth, flinging the sick off my wrist and attempting to cover my chest again. I look up at him.

"Y-yeah...mostly. Thank you."

The guy is tall and muscular. Shortish dark blonde hair and dark blue eyes. A strong nose and a slightly feminine jawline. He offers me a hand and I take it, allowing him to pull me to my feet. "Don't mention it. Names Leon. And you are...?"

"Rose," I answer, feeling heat rise to my cheeks while his eyes wander from searching my face to my torso (though they don't linger) and down to my bare feet. "You don't look Italian. I take it you don't work for those a***?"

"No, I'm with the DSO in the States. You wouldn't happen to be Rosemary Porter would you?"

"It's just Rose, but yeah. How do you know me?"

"A cousin of yours sent me to find you. Unfortunately, I can't get you out of here without completing my main objective." He shrugs off the brown leather jacket he was wearing and tosses it over my shoulders. I smile sheepishly at him and put my arms through, zipping it up.

"I have a cousin?"

"Two actually. Two of the best people I know. We should get a move on. The faster we get out of here, the better. What is back that way?"

"Just more cells like these. It's a dead end." He nods and moves aside for me to go ahead of him back the way he had come. Its a damn good thing he had checked in here before moving further into the building.

As expected, it is dark and bloody here as well. Leon holds a flashlight up so we both can see and he makes an immediate left into a door marked as a stair well. I let him take the lead this time and we go down the stairs silently.

"By the way. If we encounter anymore Lickers..."

"Anymore what?"

"Lickers. That thing that almost turned you into chop suy...if we run into anymore don't run. They can't see us so just try to slip by as quietly as possible. Let me handle them if I have to engage them. But whatever you do, don't run. It excites them."

"Okay," I say quietly, feeling a little bit calmer. I can stay quiet. I just have to fight my every instinct to flee. Leon turns at the waist to make eye contact with me when the sound of slurping and crunching meets our ears. He presses a finger to his lips and I nod, hiding behind him as he readies his handgun.

His light catches the face of my best friend at the bottom of the stairs. Only that's not my best friend. His blue eyes are covered by some sort of post mortem milky film. His skin is pasty and grey, and blood stains his clothes and mouth.

"Oh my god," I choke. "Damon!" His snarling face slowly rises from the person he was snacking on to look at us. I can't stop the tears that fall from my eyes as Leon shoots and a bullet wound appears on Damon's forehead. His body drops just as the girl beneath him begins to snarl and gurgle. Leon walks up and shoots her too. I follow slowly and peer into the dead eyes of Ebone, more tears flowing from my eyes. I drop to my knees and hug myself.

For a minute, Leon just stands there, shifting his weight awkwardly. Then he puts his hand on my shoulder. "It's always the hardest when it's someone you know. I'm sorry, Rose. We need to keep going. Gunshots attract all kinds of monsters."

I know he's right, but that doesn't stop the slight resentment that nestles in my soul. I know he did what he had to...I just wish he hadn't had to. This whole thing is so fucked up! I put my hand on top of his on my shoulder and he adjusts to pull me up once again. I wipe my eyes and look up at him.

"He has a sister. If...if we find her like them...I don't know what I'll do."

"We will give her peace," he says confidently. "I'll keep a special eye out for her."

I nod gratefully "They look exactly alike. Dark hair and blue eyes. She's toned and skinny and a little taller than me."

Leon nods and puts a hand on the small of my back to guide me onto the bottom floor. Surprisingly, the lights all work down here. Leon puts away his flashlight but keeps his gun out. This floor is quiet. We walk in cautiously, checking corners and watching through our peripherals, but nothing jumps out at us. This floor seems to be more of an office/lab area than cells.

"Did everyone turn into those things?" I ask while looking around the empty room.

"I don't know. Everyone that I have seen did. When I got here the alarm was blaring and nobody stopped me from coming through."

How long had I been knocked out? I should probably tell him what happened to me. "Leon...there was a girl. She was strange. Her arm was some kind of tentacle and she was...inhuman."

A strange, worried look crosses his face. "Not sure that's something I want to come across. Sounds like the Uroburos report."

"Uro-what?"

"Nevermind," he shakes his head. "We'll deal with it if we come across it."