Area C was still empty since the last time the three passed through. There was a shutter on the left with a terminal nearby, just before the seating area and the right turn. Just as they reached the small row of seats, something crashed down from the ceiling.
The three drew their weapons, thinking it was William as the monster's sheer girth and weight rivalled that of the Tyrant. While it also wore the shredded remains of a lab coat and trousers, it was still smaller than William, and up close, it looked nothing like him.
The face slightly resembled a woman's. In what looked like a forced, bloody smile, the jaw was barely hanging on; only kept from falling off by the skin that fused it with the neck and chest. It had a horrible, hunched posture with a significantly thinner midsection and waist; could almost see the humanity from the bare skin and muscles.
As the view shifted, the mutation took hold by stretching skin and shifting bones, forming a grotesque slab of meat and infection. The right arm was mutated beyond all recognition along with a powerful set of claws, but on the chest nearer the exposed dis-coloured heart was an ID badge.
Claire squinted her eyes, gradually lowering her revolver. "Is that Annette?"
Scott shifted away his shotgun. "Okay, change of plans." He held Leon's shoulder and handed him his blue wristband. "Take this and get to Parker; we'll meet up at the train."
"Okay." Leon knew Scott was right; he was packing good firepower and was more suited for the extra cardio, considering he's a cop. He rushed the wristband over his wrist.
Scott stepped forward and pulled out his shotgun, blasting G-Annette back a little. "Now!" With the extra room, Leon quickly sprinted the short distance, slipping right past her and down the corridor she unfortunately blocked.
"She's gonna be coming after us now..." said Claire.
"That's what I'm counting on…" Scott ran to the terminal and waved the orange wristband under the scanner. He waved Claire over to him though the large shutter that had just opened. "This way, come on!"
"I don't like where this is going…"
The corridor led straight to another door; it was just as thick and had a small valve to open. Scott wasted no time turning it, hoping G-Annette would be close enough to start pursuing him while also being a safe distance away.
"I hope you got a plan, Scott."
Scott pressed his weight into the heavy door and pushed it open. "I always have a plan." He waved Claire into the room and slammed the door shut as G-Annette's loud footsteps were drawing close.
The room was large, and the ceiling was at least thirty feet in height and over a hundred in length. Two large rows of culture tanks filled the room with a small walkway down the middle and sides. An elevator was at the end of the middle walkway.
"The elevator in the back might be a little slow getting here. I suggest we take a moment to compose ourselves."
"Easier said than done."
Scott activated the lift panel outside the cargo elevator. "Don't worry; we'll be in and out of here before you know it."
"I hope." Claire and Scott waited patiently outside the platform elevator. The doors were thick and wide, definitely used for cargo. There was barely any sound coming. "Is it even working?"
"It's just slow. It was made with cargo in mind, not people."
"Is there a way of knowing if it's even working?"
Ding!
"There you have it," Scott answered.
Claire huffed. "So it seems…" Her sense of frustration and unease was overwhelming; her body was trembling. "We are at a serious disadvantage here…"
"Maybe, but it's all coming together nicely, though, isn't it? In an' out; easy peasy lemon-"
Something crashed down from the ceiling, tearing a large hole and sending bits of twisted metal in all directions. The ceiling's concrete started to crumble. Scott and Claire dived and rolled out of harm's way from whatever crashed down with bits of ceiling metal. They were on their feet ready with their handguns already taking aim. It was G-Birkin.
It already evolved as its muscle mass is considerably thicker and covered more of the body. Toppling over ten feet in height, it had four muscular arms with crude talons on each meaty hand. Perfect for ripping and searing flesh.
There were no more signs of his humanity left for the eyes to behold, other than the shattered remains of William's face on its own chest. It was clear that he wanted to do nothing but rip and tear. It rose to his feet and stretched out its arms; roaring at the top of its lungs.
"Ten minutes until detonation!" the P.A. system blared.
G-Birkin reared its head towards Scott. It growled harshly and turned to him while, in turn, Scott backed away. Claire felt ignored but wasted no time pulling out her M79. G-Birkin stepped closer to Scott and growled louder.
"Hello there," said Scott.
Birkin G-type roared, far louder than before and started moving about quicker. It chased Scott away from Claire, and he retreated while he fired his shotgun at it with wicked accuracy. Scott was feeling the pressure as he was running away with his tail between his legs.
Scott's pellets grouped around G-Birkin's chest, and it slowed him down generously. Claire ran around the corner and started firing her launcher. The first shell exploded in a glorious display of yellow corrosion all over G-Birkin's back and shoulders. It hissed but still chased Scott who was up against the back wall. He wasn't worried; his aim was good enough to hit the lump it called a head with focused buckshot.
"You never did like me, did you, William?" asked Scott.
Scott was trying to kite G-Birkin away, or lead it along and perform hit and run attacks on the flank. Birkin hated Scott that much? Claire reloaded another yellow shell and fired again. The recoil of the launcher had some heft but was of no consequence.
The second round detonated over its back again, and its hiss was even louder. The force of it all pressed G-Birkin against the wall where Scott was before he ran over to the other side of the room.
It almost fell but held onto the walls and stared up at the ceiling above. The talons tore into the walls and gave it leverage to scale up the corner and shifted its weight around. It launched itself across to the other side of the room, far and wide over the culture tanks. Claire had to start chasing them.
Every second, Scott's shotgun sent a ring to Claire's ears; the room projected sound to be amped more than it is usually. The frequent ringing meant G-Birkin was taking damage; more was merrier in the case for survival.
Unlike Scott, G-Birkin showed no signs of slowing down as it could still leap and jump multiple body lengths. With thanks to its mutated agility, it easily closed the distance. Claire pursued it and ran to the middle of the room, firing her last grenade.
The grenade shell whistled over Scott's head and splashed all over G-Birkin's; the corrosive acid melted everything nearby. The nearby tanks and flooring was not safe. G-Birkin's flesh blistered and bubbled while it melted away at an alarming rate, it knelt down, giving Claire time to stand by Scott's side. With a quick nod, she changed back to her revolver; the grenade launcher was empty.
"He's getting desperate…" Scott remarked.
"Not exactly making it any easier."
"We can take him," Scott reassured.
Claire huffed. "I'm out of grenades."
"So… no easy peasy then… Now just… fucking, shitty, pissing, hard..."
The sealed door behind the two was blown off its hinges with massive force; it crashed against the floor. Stepping in was G-Annette, not more mutated than before; she hunched to force her body through the door frame.
Scott turned around with his shotgun at the ready, only he hesitated. "Annette?!"
Her right arm evolved much like G-Birkin's; only it was larger at the expense of her other arm as it was completely shrivelled up. A new mound of flesh with eyes took over atop her shoulders, with her only natural human face merged around her chest next to her still-exposed heart.
A pair of large bones obstructed her face, but there was already another large eye occupying her right shoulder. There was another arm dangling under her old arm; just like that one, it was malnourished and dangled helplessly. Despite being less imposing than G-Birkin, her mutation and growth rivalled his very own.
G-Annette stepped into Scott and Claire's view as they hesitated between targets. G-Annette took this moment of confusion to mutate further; her stomach ripped open, exposing a set of teeth that mimicked a gaping mouth.
While the two struggled to decide what the best course of action was, G-Annette's mouth churned green bile across the floor; it corroded the metal flooring beneath their feet. She neared closer, almost hobbling.
"What do we do now?!" Claire asked with frustration, her eyes refusing to leave G-Birkin.
G-Annette roared, charging forward with her massive talons leading onwards just as G-Birkin stood back up. Being in a possible clusterfuck, Scott had to make a daring suggestion. He grabbed Claire's arm. "Move!"
Scott and Claire tumbled to the ground, but G-Annette kept on going, slashing into G-Birkin's chest. He staggered back with the brunt of the weighted charge, letting G-Annette gore out more of his chest with a wild backhand. Their heavy footsteps thudding around everywhere between the tanks.
G-Birkin's talons slashed down low, quickly into a short combo that stunned G-Annette, but she quickly retaliated before the fourth strike. She brought her own massive limb down on G-Birkin's head, scrunching his body down before delivering a body blow that pushed them both back further towards the elevator. Their feet played off each other like a pair of heavyweight wrestlers.
Claire and Scott couldn't believe what they were seeing. Rather than target two viable hosts in an attempt to reproduce G offspring, the mutants attacked each other. Scott took this moment to study the relationship between G-mutants, but Claire pulled him back to his feet.
"What now?" she asked.
"Uhhh…"
"Scott!"
Another monster entered the cargo room. In what looked like a Tyrant Inferior; it was, instead, almost naked and more pinkish. Its left leg was encased in a fleshy mass, or tumour that it dragged along. Behind that, was a pair of crawling zombies, also pinkish and dragging along a fleshy mass that encased their legs.
They ignored Claire and Scott and moved quickly towards G-Birkin, with the G-Tyrant Inferior leading the charge. While G-Annette more than contested with G-Birkin, the three newcomers clashed with him just as she was knocked down.
The G-Tyrant Inferior punched G-Birkin square in the face while the two lesser G-zombies went for his legs. G-Annette got back up just as G-Birkin impaled the G-Tyrant Inferior with his massive talons, hoisting into the air before she carried on her relentless pursuit.
"The fuck…"
The cargo elevator arrived. Since time was dire, Scott grabbed Claire and ran around the culture tanks to their left, hoping to avoid the brawl entirely. "Let's move it!"
Staying close to the wall, the two ran down the length of the room. The entire time they ran, they could both feel the thumping footsteps vibrating the ground. In what was essentially a short sprint to escape, in reality, it felt like an eternity.
G-Annette came crashing down from the air above, her body tumbling against the wall and crashing to the ground in front of Scott and Claire. They watched the towering monster loom over them, her gaping mouth filling up with bile.
The bile sputtered all over the floor, but Claire was quick enough to grab Scott and dived out of the way. G-Annette approached them as they got back onto their feet, slowly coming to grips with the worsening situation.
A voice came from G-Annette's; it was coming from her contorted face. "Kill… me…" she struggled to say; her distorted tone was pure agony.
"Annette…?" Scott mused.
The two backtracked but stopped once they noticed G-Birkin clutching the wall; he dropped right in front of them. With all the wrestling and infighting not too long ago, G-Birkin had mutated further.
G-Birkin morphed his body into a more canine shape. With the four limbs and two hind legs, it took the form of a mutated canine with a long back and merged the head at the top of its wide, gaping mouth, complete with many rows of teeth.
It howled and spat everywhere with vicious ferocity. Savage white bones, teeth or even spiked extended over its body. Limbs shifted, muscled bulged against its skin, and it mutated further into a dog-like form.
Claire felt a deep chill. "Oh, God..."
"He's getting bigger!"
Claire was starting to lose her cool head as the stress was getting to her. "We can't fight like this!"
Scott whipped his shotgun around, aiming at G-Annette; two quick shells at her face pushed her back. "Here!"
There was at least a few precious seconds for Scott to run past G-Annette by slipping through the opening he created, narrowly rushing past before her huge arm swung down. G-Annette's weakness was that spindly left arm, but when she turned to strike down Scott, Claire rushed by her right side.
Scott was the first on inside the cargo elevator. Once he got it running, the doors began to close just as Claire got inside quickly behind him. The heavy metal came down, but G-Birkin managed to force himself inside, forcing its way under the struggling door.
It started with two of his legs obstructing the door; then, his body was pressing on. Claire and Scott readied their guns; however, something red and white charged into G-Birkin, ripping him from under the door which had now just closed. It was a bizarre stroke of karma and irony as it was G-Annette that charged into G-Birkin, keeping him from hitching a ride.
The elevator descended while the married couple were finally working things out...
