45
Ianto takes the lead as they head through the giant room. But the deeper they go, the greater the sense of unease. The specimens seem to be watching them. Leering at them.
A SUDDEN FLASH OF MOVEMENT. A glimpse of something hideous, seen through the curved glass of the specimen jars. Was it just a trick, a distortion of the glass, or is there something else in here with them?
Unease becomes dread.
Billy slows. Almost stops. Without thinking, he's holding his breath. We all sense it. Something terrible is about to happen. SUDDENLY a clawed HAND on his neck. Digging in, biting into the flesh. Billy cries out, turning to face the horror. "What the fuck?"
Liam is snorting as he holds his hands up and steps back with the wizzend hand from a jar in his left hand, the thrill of scaring his cousin worth the glare from Ianto across the room. Sean gives the side of his head a sold slap. "cut that shit out."
Frank gave him the idea and snorts too.
The shuffle of feet? And a low moaning noise. Almost human. Almost.
"What is that?"
Frank and Dean share a look. This is the same noise they had heard through the air vents. Only now it's closer. Now it's in the room with them.
"There" Kitty points. She sees movement behind one of the specimen tanks. Liam sees another one. Whatever they are, they're all around.
"What the fuck is down here?" Liam hisses.
"I'm not waiting to find out. Now move" Dean pushes them towards the exit. "we're almost there ... keep going"
The exit is just ahead. Something big moves behind one of the tanks. Sean lets loose a burst from his M16. The tank shatters sending broken plexi and fluid everywhere. They still haven't seen their pursuers.
"RUN!" Ianto roars as something moves in the corner of his vision. He doesn't want to turn his head, does not want to look at what Jack has seen. The sheer terror in his husband's face enough before the bond started to scream warning.
They run. Kitty sprinting ahead, straight into A figure in a flowery house coat. A woman. Her tongue is swollen and bloated. Her death was painful and slow. You can see it in what's left of her face.
Kitty screams as the Z lunges at her. The Woman's actions are slow and jerky, but Kitty is caught by surprise and knocked to the ground. She struggles to get up, but the weight of the Z keeps her pinned to the floor "DEAN!"
Kitty looks into the Woman's dead eyes, which stare straight back at her. There's no life left here, but there is something else. A terrible, terrible hunger. Dean kicks the woman off. She rolls over and begins to get up. Broken ribs mean nothing. Pain means nothing.
Liam empties a round into her chest. Then another, then another. Still the Z advances. Bullets mean nothing. The M16 dry clicks. Empty.
Jack moves to help when the things he had seen more loom behind him. One grabs his arms, the other his hair. He struggles to break free, but can't. He shouts "Head shots for fucksake!"
Rats. Giant rats moving as humanoid. Their teeth harp and gleaming as Jack cries out in alarm. Gods, he hates rats almost as much as spiders. "IANTO!"
But Ianto can't hear over the sound of his own gunfire. He's blasting away at the rising tide of rats coming hot and fast. Dropping the gun he snarls as he begins to transform into the only thing that might stop them, the Wolfling is pissed.
Kitty sits with her back against one of the tanks. In a state of shock. Traumatized. We see but she doesn't — a figure moving behind the tank, circling towards her. Its monstrous face distorted even more by the coned Plexiglas.
Dean struggles with the Z. Trying to hold her off. To keep the teeth from Kitty's throat. Frank snarls as he grabs the Z by it's hair and it is like seeing the fight with Solomon in replay as he heaves her back over his shoulder and into the tubes behind them, her squeal of rage more like pain. But of course we know there is no pain for these things now.
Dean is transforming, ripping at his clothes as Frank moves to stand between the threat and his friends, the Weevil crouching in fighting mode.
As she lunges Dean grabs her by the head and twists. The Z's neck snaps with a hollow crack and she falls to the ground. Unmoving as her head is severed from her body with a satisfying crunch.
"Spit it out!"Frank yells with horror as Dean complies then Frank grimaces as Dean spits some more.
"Yucky!"
The figure behind Kitty comes into view. She's still unaware of the danger. It's brown, the Ratoid staring intently at her. His face is bloated and swollen from the water in the level he had been trapped in before the doors had opened. The uniform of a spaceship crew was torn and barely there. He had clearly died quickly, at the start of things. May have even been one of the initial Zs for down here. Patient Zero so to speak. Of course if Owen were here he would call him Patient Z then snigger as Ianto rolled his eyes.
Death by drowning always looks bad. Especially when the bodies start to walk around. He reaches for Kitty. His clawed fingers are inches from her skin.
Jack snatches the gun from his hip. The undead creature looks up in surprise as Jack blows the back of its head off. Surprisingly, there's very little blood. Inside, the creatures are dry, withered husks.
But still Kitty doesn't move. The trauma has triggered some kind of recall in her mind. Dean slaps her across the face. Her animalistic snarl of rage as she clambers to her feet makes Ianto let out the breath he had been holding.
Dean nods "Annnndddddd…..she's back folks!"
"Clear and sanitise!" Jack demands as they begin checking the vicinity for any more Z or Ratoid. Jack is still shaking.
Ianto does not like the smell down here.
Not one little fucking bit.