Date: 27 / 09 / 2534
Location: Mars City North, Mars
File description: UAC Classified file, security clearance level 2 required.
Concerning: UAC Armed Forces
Originally addressed to: Sergeant R. Kelly, ranking officer on Mars
Alpha Team Personnel
ID: AlphaOne
Unit: UAC Infantry Core 137
Squad: Mars City Alpha Team
Rank: Squad leader
Status: Operational
Age: 41
ID: Alpha Two
Unit: UAC Infantry Core 137
Squad: Mars City Alpha Team
Rank: Marine
Status: Operational
Age: 32
ID: Alpha Three
Unit: UAC Infantry Core 137
Squad: Mars City Alpha Team
Rank: Marine
Status: Operational
Age: 29
ID: Alpha Four
Unit: UAC Infantry Core 137
Squad: Mars City Alpha Team
Rank: Marine
Status: Operational
Age: 30
ID: Alpha Five
Unit: UAC Infantry Core 137
Squad: Mars City Alpha Team
Rank: Marine
Status: Operational
Age: 31
…
…
Alpha two triggered the lock to the door and peeked inside. The room was very dark, lit only by a few backup neon lights. It was in a quite chaotic state, several storage crates had their contents spilled over the floor and half the shelves had been knocked down. The floor was covered in gore. Two suddenly heard a sound come from within the room. He could distinctly hear something trashing in the shadows, about four meters away. Silently, his rifle in hand, he crept into the room, putting one foot in front of the other. The thrashing sound continued, sometimes interrupted by a gargle. Two swept across the room with his flashlight, and suddenly he spotted what was making the noise. A man was crouching over the corpse of a fallen comrade, and was, for all evidence, eating him. Two watched in silent horror as the man ripped several strands of flesh from the cadaver's breast and lifted them to his mouth. Two let out a cry of horror and disgust. The man drunkenly turned to face him. His eyes seemed empty, and his mouth was dripping with blood.
"Who the hell are you?" Stammered two.
Without answering, the man groggily got to his feet with a slight moan.
"Don't move you mother…" Two levelled his assault rifle squarely on the man's chest. The man still gave no sign of response, but began to stumble towards the marine, his arms extended in front of him as if he were blind.
"Final warning bitch! Stop where you are or you're gonna get it!"
Slight gargle in response. The man was almost on top of alpha two by now. All of a sudden the man seemed to trip, and lunged at the marine. In a brisk move, alpha two struck at the man's head with his rifle butt. To his surprise and disgust, the man's skull crumbled like clay under his blow. The man toppled over with a strangled gurgle.
"What the fuck…"
Staggering back he grabbed his com unit and got a line with the squad leader.
"Alpha two reporting in. I…I think we should regroup. Have encountered a hostile. There are…really weird things going on here."
"This is alpha leader, I gotcha two. Addressing all of alpha squad, regroup in the service tunnel 3 in five minutes.
…
Alpha three walked slowly down the corridor, checking every shadow and every corner for any sign of life. He didn't know what the hell to expect, but when two had reported having encountered hostiles he had really felt something squeeze in his guts. He had never seen real action before. Hell, he had barely ever used his gun during training exercises. And now here he was, walking alone down this dark corridor, on another planet, with god-knows-what going on, and whatever it was it seemed bad. A slight groan to his left caught his attention. He swivelled and brought his flashlight and assault rifle to bear. Only an old valve groaning under pressure. Damn. This base just gave him the creeps. He thought of getting a line with some squad mates to keep his mind from thinking too much. He grabbed his com and raised alpha four.
"Hey baby, anything interesting down there?"
"Listen three we ain't supposed to be using the secured channel to chat…but yeah, I've been seeing some mighty weird stuff. Blood…there's blood goddamn everywhere. And corpses…fuck mate, I dunno what the hell happened here but I sure as hell…"
Three's senses picked up the growls almost as they left the creature's mouth. Behind him!
He dropped his com unit and swung around with a yell, brandishing his assault rifle and flashlight. Nothing. Damn! He slowly kneeled down to pick up his com unit with a trembling hand.
"Listen four, I dunno about you, but this place is really getting to me. I wanna see you, I wanna see all the squad again. I don't wanna die, you here me? I don't wanna fuckin …"
The line went dead. A sinister murmur of laughter seemed to crawl along the walls and ceiling, inhabiting the entire hallway. Three got back to his feet and stifled a whimper. He slowly began to advance. He knew there were eyes watching him in the dark. He could feel their hideous presences. Every once in a while a snarl would almost make him spin around again. He knew that if he did he would see it…or them…or whatever the hell they were. And then it would be over for him. He tried without success to raise any of the alpha marines, but his comm was simply dead. He had reached the end of the hallway, and with a trembling hand he triggered the heavy security door at the end. Another room or two, and then a stairway down, and he would reach the third maintenance tunnel where he would meet up with his squad. The door opened with a slight hiss and a shrill shriek came from inside the dark room. Three ducked just as something grey passed over his head. Swivelling around he saw it there, on the ground, whatever it was. It looked humanoid yet it was clearly alien. The creature had a sleek and muscular body, a greyish scaly skin and bloody slavering fangs. Geez, the thing had just jumped at least three meters. Three smashed his trigger and his rifle erupted with fire. Bullets cribbled the thing and it shrieked as the rounds tore through its flesh. In a single leap it bounded to the ceiling. Three swept across the ceiling with his flashlight, and saw the creature disappear inside a heating vent. Shit! This was too much, three scrambled to his feet and began running for his life. He raced across the room and began hammering on the door's opening system. Snarls and growls were in pursuit. The door opened. He raced down the next hallway. He triggered the next door and…something wrapped itself around alpha three's neck and pulled him backwards into the shadows. No one ever heard his cries as the fangs sank into three's flesh, and his slow torment in the flames of Hell began.
…
Alphas Four and Five moved stealthily down the catwalk, sweeping through the shadows with their flashlights. There was a constant sound of groaning metal and hissing vapour down in the sublevels, which made it very difficult to stay focused. A violent explosion, followed by a scream sounded behind them. They spun around and took point, and saw a demented tech running at full clip down the catwalk towards them and screaming he didn't want to die. The marines tried to block him to and reassure him, but he thrashed so violently that he got through their barrage and ran away into the darkness, screaming. The two marines continued their walk down the cranking catwalk. They finally reached a ladder that went down. Five clambered down while Four took point. Four joined Five at the bottom. Suddenly they thought they heard steps somewhere far away. They swept though the darkness but saw nothing.
"Check on thermal" Whispered Four.
The two marines switched on their thermal vision, and spotted about thirty meters away, several strange heat sources. They appeared to be human. So there may still be someone alive down here? So far, all they had come across were limbs and skulls, the occasional uneaten torso, and litters and litters of blood. The place was a real mess. The two marines began walking towards the heat source. At twenty meters they heard a faint growl, but spotted nothing. At ten meters they switched back to normal vision, and spotted several individuals clumsily walking along a catwalk. They recognised the tech they had seen earlier. The only strange thing was that his head wasn't there anymore. He was stumbling along with two other people. Suddenly one of them viciously attacked the third "person" they both fell to the ground thrashing, gargling and snarling at each other. The two marines watched in horror. Before long, one of the two persons stopped thrashing and lay still. The other began serenely tearing bits of flesh from its neck and brought them to his mouth. Meanwhile, the tech was still stumbling along ahead.
"Oh my god…" Whispered Five.
"You there! Get up and put your hands behind your head!" Yelled Four.
No visible response. Just at that moment, their coms crackled to life. It was Alpha Two. They listened in silence to his message and to Alpha Leader's response. Glancing at each other, and back at the walking corpses, they began heading back to the third maintenance tunnel at a fair clip…in fact, they even broke into a full run. They made quite a racket running at full speed down am maintenance catwalk, guns in hand. Their boots would sometimes splash in pools of blood on the floor. At some point Five even heard a growl behind him. He spun and swore he saw some sort of greyish form dart across the ceiling. He snapped off a few rounds at it but it was too fast. Four grabbed him by the arm and pulled him along. She could see the maintenance tunnel three's service ladder only a few meters ahead. She reached it, slung her rifle over her shoulder, and began climbing. Five followed close behind. As she reached the top, something closed in around her wrist. It was only Alpha One's hand. Thank god.
…
Alpha leader was standing about midway down the third maintenance tunnel. It had been twelve minutes and none of his squad members had shown up yet. His com unit had gone dead about nine minutes ago. Alpha One was beginning to get impatient and worried, and found himself peeking over his shoulder at any strange noise. He heard a faint clambering sound from somewhere underneath him. He rushed to the edge of his catwalk and saw Alphas Four and Five climbing up the service ladder, rifles slung across their backs, armours, arms and helmets smeared in blood. He gave them a hand to get up on the catwalk. Man was he glad to see someone again. This place had managed to give him the creeps faster than any other thing in his whole life. He had been in the UAC marine core for over ten years, and had been stationed on Mars for almost four years now. But this…was special.
"Report marines, what did you see down there, and why in heaven are you covered in blood?"
Four hesitantly began to speak:
"Captain, this place is a real mess. The sublevels are a real butchery. The whole place is covered in blood and there are corpses everywhere…hardly any of them are still whole. We didn't have time to figure out what the hell might have happened, we began heading back as soon as we heard alpha two's report."
"Sweet Jesus…what is it marine?"
Four was twitching in place.
"Sir, we also saw something sort of…strange… we both noticed a group of three individuals stumbling along the catwalk…"
"And why the hell didn't you investigate? If there are still some civilians alive in this place it's our job to secure them."
"One of the walking individuals was headless sir."
"What? You're telling me you saw a walking corpse?"
"For all I can tell, yes sir."
"For fuck's sake…"
At that moment the door at the eastern end of the hallway hissed open. Alpha team swivelled and pointed their guns in that direction, but lowered them when they saw it was just Alpha Two. The captain greeted him and asked him to report what he had seen. Two seemed sort of spaced out, and finally began to stammer:
"I…I want you to know that I am absolutely sure of what I am about to tell you. Listen, when I reached the storage area three, I saw a man crouching over another man…dead this one…and the first man he…he was eating the corpse…he was eating him…eating yes, eating as food. I…I…asked him to identify himself and he didn't respond…then he assaulted me. I struck at his head, and…it gave in. I have never seen any bones crumble so easily. I…thought this might be useful."
He handed the captain a small plastic bag with little goblets of what appeared to be brain matter inside.
"I picked it off my rifle butt after killing him. We should try to analyse it if we find any operational devices".
The captain slowly nodded, speaking no word. The squad waited a while in silence. After about five minutes Five muttered.
"Where…is Three? Wasn't he sent to the upper levels?"
The captain nodded slowly, still speaking no word. He checked his watch. Rendezvous time plus nineteen minutes. Without a word, giving only a nod to indicate the squad should follow, he began walking down the catwalk.
"But Three…" Stammered Five.
"Shut up mate. Three is way overdue. He won't be coming. He's probably either dead or wishing he was."
In silence, the squad marched down the gloomy hallway.
…
Alpha squad had finally found a place to rest. They had reached the entrance of the Alpha Labs, where they hoped to find some operational equipment to scan two's samples. The four remaining marines sat down on the bench or leaned against the wall and caught their breath. They used the moment to try and clear their thoughts. In this kind of situation it was very difficult to keep your head cold. Thoughts of death and suffering seemed to invade their minds, almost as if someone were whispering them. The marines checked their weapons. Alpha One, Two and Five hadn't fired any shots, Alpha Four had fired three shots to get through a blocked door, and alpha five had snapped of a couple of bullets at what he claimed had been "something human-looking yet not human". The squad reloaded and rested. The only sound, except for their shallow breathing, was the groan of the structures of the Mars base and the constant hissing of vapour coming from broken valves. The whole place had been groaning since the quake, as if some giant were trying to press in into a small tinfoil ball to kick around. Two was holding his head in his hands. Four and Five were both spaced out, breathing heavily. They seemed almost like living dead in the gloomy light. Alpha leader was deep in his own thoughts, taking head of nothing around him. The team lingered in the same silence for about fifteen minutes, until the captain finally came out of his sort of trance and announced it was high time they got their asses moving. The squad crept down the deserted hallways of the alpha labs. The environment here seemed slightly less devastated than in the old maintenance sectors. Instead of blood-smeared walls and ripped up bodies everywhere, the place seemed to be simply deserted. The occasional groan or a faint snarl always had the team on their toes. After about ten minutes they finally reached a more-or-less intact infirmary. Alpha Two dumped his samples into a fiber-analysis microscope, and the captain programmed the thing to scan the tissues. A few seconds later lines of information appeared on the computer's small screen.
"Holy shit…" Muttered Alpha Leader.
At the general inquiry of his squad he explained what had caused his reaction.
"From what this computer is telling me, this brain matter Alpha Two has collected has been inactive for over three hours. That's about when the quake happened right?"
Slight nod from his men.
"Two…you said you actually saw this man move and, well, eat another man, right?
"Yes sir. He also attacked me when I tried to identify him."
"Sweet Jesus. This…seems impossible. That guy should be dead. No one can move around consciously without using his or her brain matter!"
Five spoke up.
"Captain, if I may, this seems to confirm our belief that we saw headless men walking the catwalks in the sublevels. Do you think we're up against some sort of…living dead or something?"
"It would seem like it…but I don't think that's all there is...Two, you said it just took you a slight butt-blow to bust that guy's head, right? Well then what do you think took down three? I mean ok, three was a greenie but heck when it comes to saving your own hide, even he could plough though a horde of these guys. I don't believe it's one of these "zombies" that got him."
"Begging your pardon captain, but that seems pretty unsure. First or all, Three might have run out of ammo when faced by superior odds. Second, he might have just been knocked out by a falling valve. Third, he might have just lost himself and still be alive."
Alpha leader slammed his fist on the counter.
"Don't give me no shit marine! Two killed that critter with a butt blow! Even without ammo three could have made it back to the rendezvous point in time. Second, how the hell can you get lost in a sector you've been patrolling for over a month in a matter of minutes? And third, the structural integrity of this base is not yet diminished to the point where it is fucking falling apart! I don't believe a bitch of a second that these guys got three."
Five muttered something under his breath about the grey shaped he had seen in the sublevels.
As if to confirm that thought, a deafening roar seemed to shake the very walls of the base.
"What the hell…" Whispered Four.
"It sounds…big" Said Five.
And whatever it was, it wanted in. A loud pounding sound was coming from the other side of the infirmary door. The triple-layered steel door was slowly giving in to all the smashing.
"Alphas, deploy and prepare to meet the enemy!" Barked the Leader.
The marines dispersed in the room and locked their sights on the failing door. Another roar came, that seemed to grip their very souls and shake their bones. A few seconds later, the door was rent open by enormous claws, and in came the living incarnation of all their children's nightmares. The "thing" was at least four meters tall, stood on two legs, and had two club-like arms which it used to plough away the remains of the door. Its body was thick and muscular, and its slavering fangs seemed to hypnotize the marines as the creature made its way into the room. With a roar, it then began stomping towards Alpha Four at an astonishing speed.
"Alphas, fire at will! And Four, get the hell out of its ra…"
Too late. With a great sweeping motion of one of it's club-like arms, the beast sent alpha four flying across the room, where she crashed into a computer core and fell to the ground, lifeless. The marines unleashed a barrage of lead that began methodically shredding each square centimetre of the creature's skin. The thing roared in agony, grabbed a table and threw it at the marines, forcing them to duck and disperse. The marines continued pumping fire into it, and eventually with a moan of pain the creature fell backwards and crashed in a pool of blood and gore. Through the gap created by the behemoth, cries and shrieks were coming, along with the sound of many scampering feet and claws.
"Five, get out the big mother!"
"Aye sir, we're gonna serve these bitches lunch now"
Alpha Five slung his assault rifle and brought out several grenades that he was carrying in his pouches. He armed them, and tossed them into the opening. A second later a roaring explosion shook the room and reduced the behemoth's carcass to shreds. Peeking over the tables from their side of the cloud of dust, the three remaining marines focused on the open gap. No sound. Precautious, they made their way across the room to their fallen comrade. Alpha four was dead; there was no doubt about it. It wasn't the backhand that got her, but she snapped her back when she hit the computer core. Sadly, they left her body where it was, and took her weapons and ammo.
"Now what?" Panted Five.
"We've gotta get some reinforcements pumped into this place. The Mars Base was not heavily armed, just the strict necessary to control the demented personnel. We don't have any kind of equipment to fight it off with these creatures. I suggest we head to the base's communication center to get a distress call out. If we can get the fleet in orbit around Mars, we will be able to pump the shit out of these mothers."
"How about if we got moving before this thing's big brother finds us?" Said Two.
The three surviving marines walked off in direction of the Monorail station, to head to comm later.
…
Alpha Team crept into the station. The lights had gone out in the whole sector only a few minutes ago. It had been strangely quiet since then. The team inspected the area, and began walking at a brisk pace towards the Monorail's single wagon. The clambered in and slumped down on the benches. Alpha Leader walked up to the cockpit and slid open the door-something hit him hard on the head. He fell to the floor, as Alphas Two and Five levelled their rifles. A vague "shit" came from the cabin, and a man slowly stepped out with his hands up, holding a wrench in one.
"Please, I…I didn't mean to, I thought he was one of them, I…I'm not! Please don't…"
"Shut up." Groaned Alpha Leader as he got up on his feet.
The man lowered his hands and dropped the wrench.
"How long have ya been here?" Asked Five.
"I…I don't know…I'd guess a few hours, but it seems like weeks. I was repairing a leak in the rail's coolant system when the quake began. I nearly fell off and snapped my neck. When I climbed back up, all my team had disappeared. It was very dark and weird noises were coming from the walls. And there were screams…horrible screams…everywhere." The man shivered. "I locked myself in the Monorail, hoping they wouldn't find me."
The Monorail groaned as it began gathering speed. It shot out of the station and followed the twenty kilometre circuit to the communications transfer.
"Where are you going? Don't leave me alone, please!"
The team looked at each other. Alpha Leader gave a slight nod, and Two walked up to the man. He unbuckled his pistol and two ammo clips and handed them to him.
"If you want to come with us, you're going to have to avoid slowing us down. Take these. If you're cornered and alone, don't forget to keep the last bullet for yourself." He said with a slight ironic grin. The man took the gun and fumbled with the ammo clips. The rest of the trip was made in silence. When the Monorail finally arrived in-station at the comm transfer, the four men stepped out onto the quay, and looked around. The place seemed just as deserted as alpha labs had. The marines and the tech walked towards the closest door, triggered it, and found themselves in a storage area. As they replenished their ammo loads, Alpha Leader asked the tech if he knew the most direct way to the communications centre.
"I'm just a tech, I don't travel around the base very much, but if I were you I'd head north from here. That's where the satellite dishes are located, and comm is probably right underneath."
The tech grabbed an armour and fitted it on. He also found a shotgun with a dozen rounds. After refitting, the four men walked back into the station and headed north. After about fifteen meters they reached a large door. Five triggered it, and it opened with a groan and several sparks. A wisp of cold air came from inside.
"Five, where's that draft coming from?" Asked Alpha Leader.
"Why? It's just a draft…the whole place is freaky anyway."
"There could be a structural breach. We're in the base's outer edges now, we've gotta be careful." Five analysed the cold air with a small device he carried on him, and confirmed. The cold air was carbon-saturated…Martian atmosphere.
"Shit"
"Maybe that's why the whole sector seems so deserted"
The squad entered prudently, exploring every corner of the hall with their flashlights, scanning the atmosphere behind every door before opening it. Several doors showed a total void behind them, where there must be an important breach. The marines continued until they reached a stairway to their right. It went up into the shadows. Alpha Two went up first, followed by Five and the Tech, while Alpha Leader brought up the rear guard.
"What the fuck…" Muttered Two
"What?"
"Look at the walls…"
The squad turned their flashlights and attention to the walls around them. They were totally covered in a sort of reddish-greyish oozing slime. The men pressed on the pace, the Tech was trying to run while giving up his lunch. They finally arrived at the end of the staircase, but what they saw brought no comfort. The whole ledge and the door on the other side were totally invaded by the slimy tentacles. There was a hole in the middle of the goo. Alpha Two showed his flashlight around inside, but all he could discern was that the hole continued in some sort of slimy tunnel. He turned to the other members of his squad.
"Shall we?" He said with a grin.
Five stepped up and peered down into the hole. He looked at Two, then at the Leader. Without a word, he sat down on the ledge and let himself fall in.
"You…you're planning to go in that hole? You're nuts!" Yelled the tech.
Two jumped in. The tech gave a desperate look at Alpha Leader, who grabbed him by the shoulder and shoved him in. He jumped in after him, and darkness swallowed them all.
…
Two groaned as he felt around in the dark. His flashlight had apparently been smashed on some bone-like structure during the initial fall. The slime-like substance formed a tunnel all around him. The air was hot and suffocating. Two thought that this was probably what it would be like to get eaten by something. He heard whimpering coming from behind him, and felt his way to the tech. A light showed on them both and Alpha Leader stepped into view. Alpha Five was nowhere to be found.
"Well, might as well go on" Muttered Leader.
They ploughed on through the narrow tunnel, following the beam of Alpha Leader's flashlight. After what seemed like hours, the tunnel began to widen. They stepped out into a dark room, only partially covered in slime, with the tunnel behind them. And there, lying in a corner was Alpha Five. The two marines rushed towards him and knelt down beside his body. He seemed dead. There was some weird organism attached to his head, which appeared to be pulsing. Two tried to pull it off but the thing had several tentacles wrapped around Five's chin and throat. Pulling out his combat knife, Two severed the tentacles and began hacking at the thing until it let go. Five looked deathly pale, though his face was covered in the thing's blood. All of a sudden he seemed to come back to life. He sat up in a jerk, taking in a deep breath and opening his eyes. He looked around at the faces of his two remaining comrades and began to whimper. Two sat down beside him and held him by the shoulder, murmuring that it would be alright and that they would all make it out alive. That only seemed to despair Five even more, as his whimpers turned to wails and then to screams. Two got back up, and watched as Five lay thrashing and screaming on the ground.
"What the fuck…is he?
"No" Muttered Leader "No it doesn't appear to be the same symptoms…nonetheless, I want you to remove his weapons and keep a close eye on him."
Five appeared to calm down. His eyes were bulging and veins were pulsing along his temples. He got on all fours and began coughing up blood. Two got back down and tapped him on the back. Five wiped his mouth on his bare forearm, and clumsily got to his feet. He gave Two a longing glance, then Leader. Alpha Leader gave Two a slight nod, and proceeded towards the closest door, followed closely by the tech. Two stripped Five of all his weapons, included his combat knife and service pistol, and all his ammo. He then put an arm around his shoulders and helped him on.
"He needs rest sir, he won't be going far otherwise."
The Captain acknowledged, and triggered the door. On the other side was what appeared to be the private quarters of some technician, perhaps a janitor. They went in, and lay Five down between two shelves, before falling into a deep sleep.
…
A loud clanking noise was what woke Alpha Leader up. The tech was cowering in a corner, and Two was still asleep. Five was gone. Shit ! Alpha Leader got up and woke Two, and together they brought the tech back up on his feet.
"What is it man?"
The tech looked utterly terrified. There were strangle marks about his throat. His shotgun lay twisted on the floor, useless. He began to babble.
"He…he's gone…he's gone…thank god he's gone!"
"Who's gone"¨
"Five…the thing…that….thing !"
The two marines looked at each other. Another loud clanking sound same from the large room.
"What happened, tell us!"
"He got up…he got up, I don't know when but he got up in the middle of your sleep. I was awake you see…and he…he saw me…he wasn't normal…he wasn't real…his right arm was…oh…he throttled me…nearly killed me…I don't know why he let go. But he finally just dropped me and left though the door. He was no longer human I tell you!"
Wham! Something hit hard against the door, followed by a hoarse croak. Wham! Wham! Something was raging on the other side of the door. The marines picked up their weapons and locked their sights on it. A few seconds later the door slid open and Five stumbled in. He looked utterly aghast. Just as suddenly as he had come in, he ran out again. Alphas One and Two raced out after him. They didn't even notice the door seal itself behind them. Five had apparently lost them.
"Shit, I think I left my flashlight in the room" Muttered Two.
So had Leader. They tried to trigger the door again, but it was locked. They could hear the tech slamming on the other side of the door, and suddenly he began screaming, sounding utterly panicked. A shrill shriek came from inside, along with the sounds of a struggle. They ended quickly, and the room was silent. A croaking laughter shook the very base, crawling along the walls, swallowing the place. The two men looked at each other. Inscriptions began to glow on the walls. At first it was difficult to discern what they were but at each glow the inscriptions became clearer. It was the pentagram. Shit! Screams seemed to be coming from the very walls, and the whole base shook. They thought they heard footsteps, and ran towards them. It was Alpha Five, he was walking down a hallway that ended in the large room where they were situated. As they approached they noticed something was weird with him. His armour was gone, and most of his clothes were torn off. There were several vicious slashes across his chest and flanks, and another pentagram appeared to have been burned into his shoulder. His right arm was no longer an arm it was…a tentacle. Five spotted them, and grinned, opening his blood-drooling mouth. He broke into a full run towards them, and before they could react, he brought his tentacle-arm down to bear on Alpha Leader. The blow snapped his neck sideways and sent the man flying across the hallway. Five's zombie jumped on Alpha Leader and began actively devouring him. Just as Two raised his rifle, a roaring sound came from behind him. He spun around and saw a new pentagram burning brightly on the ground. Its mark seared into the metal, turning the floor around it white-hot. Flames burst upwards from the markings, forming a sort of column. The sound was progressively intensifying. Two felt something strange happening in his innards. The flames were beginning to like across the ceiling. Suddenly, a demon materialised itself in the middle of the fire. Two did not have time to see what it looked like, for the feeling in his innards grew to the point of agony, and he fell to his knees. The world was swooning and swimming around his head. He could no longer discern anything, only smell. He smelt burning metal and flesh. He smelt his own fear. He fell face forward onto the ground but was startled to not feel metal under his cheek. He felt stone. Burning stone. He got up on his feet and stared about him. What the fuck ? He was in some sort of…cave…a gigantic cave. He was standing on a small rocky outcrop, which was surrounded by a sea of lava. The searing heat tore at his senses and burned his eyes, and he had to struggle to stay conscious. Where the hell was he? His gaze fell down to his feet. He could still vaguely see a pentagram marking around him. He was standing in the middle of it. A new marking began to carve itself in burning letters in the rock before him. It read, very graciously
WELCOME TO HELL, MARINE