Regarding the last chapter and the cold helping blood clotting, I mean clots on the surface of the wounds, like a scab over a cut – not in the veins, which would be dangerous. There have been cases where cold climates have been known to save lives in deadly situations. I hope I have clarified.

On The Run

Lara slowly turned around and saw what it was. About fourteen feet above her stood a creature – mutated no doubt. It towered on its eight legs and oozed yellow puss. The look of it sickened Lara, and reminded her of the Bio-Research facility. She had seen Eckhardt's madness as he turned Boaz into a horrific creature...and this one was even worse. Lara and Kurtis kept very still; the bug-like creature wasn't advancing on them. Its mouth was dripping green slime that splattered on Lara. She wiped off a glob of the goo that had landed on her arm – it stung when it was left on her skin.

"How in God's name did something like that get down here?" Lara whispered to Kurtis.

Kurtis looked beyond the creature's legs and saw something else that disturbed him. He nudged Lara and moved his head in the direction he was looking. When Lara saw it, she knew what was going on. Beyond the bug there were shiny ooze covered eggs. The thought of something like this reproducing didn't settle well in her mind.

"Boaz must've...had young..." Kurtis whispered feebly.

"I can't shoot it from this distance...that slime will kill us if we get enough of it," Lara explained while racking her brain for a solution that would work. She was suddenly very aware that Kurtis couldn't exactly make a run for it while she pumped this thing full of lead...there had to be another way. She stared intently at the bug, and it just stared right back – waiting for them to make a move. Lara watched its eyes that were fixed upon her – they were relentless.

"I've got to nuke it!" Lara exclaimed – a little too loudly. The creature let out its own high-pitched cry and stomped its legs.

"Lara..." Kurtis started.

"You'll have to run," Lara stated flatly.

"I can't..." Kurtis replied.

"Can't is not in my vocabulary...and you had better change yours," Lara told him sharply, "There's no other way."

"Well there God damn well better be, I can't even stand..." Kurtis said. His breathing was becoming shallow and Lara could feel it as she leaned on him. She knew he couldn't run...he'd die if he did, but she had to at least try and motivate him. She was feeling the pressure...it would be so simple if it were just herself. She could just run, toss back a grenade and be done with it...but now there was Kurtis. She suddenly felt angry for helping him...he was a Lux Veritatis, and she knew he had powers – he demonstrated that quite clearly at the Louvre! He should take care of himself! But deep down Lara knew that he was too enervated. Lara just kept staring into the monster's face and those eyes...those eyes...

"Kurtis...do you have anything else but your gun?" Lara said, careful not to upset the creature.

"No," Kurtis replied, "Lara...save yourself, leave me here with a grenade and I'll take the mutated bitch down with me."

"That's not a half-bad idea..." Lara said softly.

"Then go..." Kurtis said as he put his hand on her shoulder. She turned her head and looked at him. She could see the pain in his eyes and she knew it wasn't an option.

"I won't leave you here...you don't deserve to die...yet," Lara whispered with a soft smile.

"I'm not worth it Lara," Kurtis told her matter-of-factly.

"I never said you were...but lucky for you there is a way for both of us to live," Lara said.

Kurtis looked at her as she took out his chakra weapon that she had picked up. She activated the blades.

"Can you handle it?" Kurtis asked.

"I can handle anything," Lara replied, "I'm going to blind it – it will have the least amount of slime hitting us and may just give us enough time to escape."

With that, she threw the bladed disk at the spawn of Boaz. The chakra cut into the creature's yellow eyes and the atrocious insect began to shriek and thrash about wildly. The weapon then began to head back to our two heroes. Lara reached out for it, but before she could, Kurtis' hand came out of nowhere and caught it. She looked back at him as he smirked. Lara jumped to her feet and grabbed Kurtis' arms. The monster was flailing about and crashing against the walls of the sewer and Lara could see the foundation they were under was giving way.

"Hurry!" Lara said to Kurtis as they broke into a handicapped run. They moved in the direction away from the bug and headed toward the dark as they breathed heavily.

"I can't see a thing!" Kurtis yelled as loud as his voice would let him.

"That makes two of us!" Lara yelled back. The creature was making horrible screeching sounds and banging up against the walls, causing impact tremors. The two could hear it echo throughout the labyrinth. They kept on moving and off in the distance, Lara could see light.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter – please review and I'll make more!