Stacie raced down the corridor, gasping for air as she tried to put as much distance between her and whatever was chasing her. The lights above her head started to flicker and sirens blared as a terrifying scream came from the monster behind her. She took a hard left, barely managing to stay on her feet with the slick floors. Just as she started down the new hallway there was a loud crash behind her, most likely the beast crashing into the wall. She didn't dare look back, instead Stacie just focused on the airlock door at the end of the tunnel.
She reached for her radio on her belt and frantically pulled it to her mouth. "Open the door! NOW!"
The wheel lock on the door started to spin and the door started to open at a frustratingly slow place. Desperate to escape, Stacie didn't even slow down as she approached the door. Instead she flung her weight against it, pushing with all her might as she just managed to open it enough to slip through the crack.
"Close it!" She picked herself up from the floor and once again desperately pushed. The door finally closed with someone spinning the lock into place. Stacie breathed a sigh of relief as she leaned against the bullhead. Only to jerk away when it shuddered under the impact of the creature she just escaped.
Stacie gave the other person, who just so happened to be her friend Cynthia Rose. "This will hold right?"
CR looked like she was going to respond when there was another thundering shake from the other side. "I mean, these things are supposed to withstand anything." She flinched when the door shook one last time before the creature let loose a furious scream. "See."
Stacie rolled her eyes but accepted the offered hand that CR gave her. The beast seemed to have given up and the women were grateful for it. They exited the airlock, making sure to lock the interior door behind them. "Do you ever miss the days when people thought there was no life on Mars?"
That was exactly where they were. CR and Stacie were two of the first people to make it to Mars. Their job was to establish a temporary base that would eventually be used for further expansion. The only problem was the neighbors.
CR groaned in agreement, "Yeah he's definitely not as cute as Marvin."
Their problems had started a few months ago when they drilled into Mars' frozen poles to establish a reliable water source. In doing so the team managed to unearth a long dormant alien. An alien that was not happy about being woken up.
"I was only able to restore emergency power." Stacie said as they made their way to the command center. The only reason she had left the safety of the main building was because the power source for the whole base went offline, plunging everything into complete darkness.
"What was it like in there?" Cynthia asked.
"Not good." Stacie shook her head as the images flooded her mind. "Most of the corridors are caked in blood and whatever type of mucus that thing produces."
"And the generator?"
"Even worse. I don't know what it did to the ion reactor but I was barely able to stabilize the reaction." They made it to the command center, which was a large room lined with computers. The rest of the crew was huddled around a central terminal that was mainly used for security.
Stacie and CR rushed over to see what everyone was looking at. On screen was the creature that had turned their lives into a living hell. The only creature that Stacie could compare it to was a frog. A frog with six legs and about a dozen eyes lining the top of its head. Its body was elongated to support its extra limbs but the scariest part about it was the teeth.
So many teeth.
"Major Conrad," Captain Posen turned her head towards the engineer when she noticed the pairs return. "Good work getting the generator back online. Can you tell us how long it will last?"
Stacie shook her head. "I have no idea. If it was left alone I'd give it maybe six hours. But when I got there the entire section was covered in that thing's phlegm." She gestured angrily towards the screen. "Plus, most of the connecting cables looked like they had been chewed through. I think this thing might feed off of energy sources."
"If that's true why does it keep going after us?" Beca, one of the security officers, asked.
"The human body can produce roughly one hundred watts of energy at rest." Dr. Beale said from across the room, she was distracted by the injured crewman that needed attention. "An active body can produce upwards of one thousand watts. After the generator is taken offline we become the next best thing on the menu."
The group was silent as they let that sink in. Captain Posen looked at her crew and knew there was only one option left. "Then we abandon ship." No one argued, who would when they were all thinking the same thing. "Lieutenant Mitchell, distribute the remaining railguns."
Beca nodded before jogging over to the weapons locker. Before leaving Earth all of them had thought bringing weapons to a barren planet was ridiculous. Now they were all grateful. The lieutenant opened the locker and pulled out three railguns, weapons that used magnetism instead of combustion to throw projectiles. Regular firearms would be too dangerous in the all oxygen environment of the habitat. She gave two of the rifles to CR and the captain, taking the third for herself. It made sense that those three should have the weapons since they were the only ones that were actually soldiers. Everyone else was either a scientist or an engineer sent to maintain the base.
"All right people this is how this is going to work." Posen quickly gained everyone's attention. "CR's going to take point, her job is to get all of you safely to the ship and get it started. Mitchel and I will bring up the rear, if that thing decides to show its ugly face then we will take care of it. Do not stop." She gave each person a stern look. "That's an order. Now, move out."
The group moved to the fart side of the room where the door leading to the launch pad was. CR turned the lock and opened, followed by the other airlock on the other side. She readied her rifle and carefully led the group through the darkened corridor. The only light they had was from the flashing red emergency lights on the ceiling and the yellow emergency power lights along the edge of the floor.
They moved slowly, the three soldiers making sure to keep everyone together. There were murmurs from the group as they passed several eviscerated bodies but the captain kept everyone moving. She knew that if they slowed down for even a second their chances of survival grew that much worse.
The hallways were terribly silent, the only sounds were that of footfalls against the floor. But when they were about halfway to the launch platform a terrible screech echoed down the halls. Everyone stopped and turned to look back at where they came from but so far they couldn't see anything. A second screech sounded and the lights started to flicker. Posen turned to the group, "run!"
They all took off at a dead sprint, Beca and Aubrey looking over their shoulders as the lights continued to flicker. The group finally made it to the airlock that opened to the launch pad where their ship waited for them. CR struggled with the door but it finally started to open just as another screech reached their ears.
Beca and Aubrey prepped their weapons while the others struggled to get through the small opening. Just as the last person made it through the lights gave one final flicker before dying. Only light left came from the glow of the electronics on their weapons.
Beca gave a nervous chuckle, "Hope you're not scared of the dark."
"Not since I was five." Aubrey joked back. "Especially after I hunted down the monster in my closet."
Neither laughed as a screech came from much closer than the others. The engines of the ship roared to life, providing just enough light for them to see the creature making its way towards them.
"Let's send this monster back to Hell."