Hey guys! Long time no see, amirite? No? Ok. I'm not even going to bother with an excuse this time. All I can say is that I'm busy doing a lot of things. I struggled to pump every word out of my noggin onto my computer screen. Hope you all enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 12

Despite the pain I felt in my shoulder, I stayed rooted to my spot, staring into the crowd in disbelief. There were men, women, children even, living here. Probably waiting for an evacuation squad that'll never come, or maybe they are just clinging to a tiny shred of false hope that is keeping them from giving up. I don't know, and I doubt I'll know anytime soon. But none of that mattered, because I was stuck in a room with dozens of frightened human beings desperate to survive.

My body, senses and emotions were acting up, and I don't know why. As of right now, my heart was slamming against my rib cage in an erratic rhythm as a reminder of my anxiousness. The fuck am I going to do? I thought. I need to get out of here…

I decided to take it as slow as possible, as to not dramatically scare them to the point of panicking. However, I heard a baby screaming and crying to my far left, and it did NOT help the situation at all. Upon hearing the poor thing ball, I could feel waves of heat dance along my spine, reaching all the way up to my chest, face and arms. I was beginning to get annoyed.

I took one step, and I swear a few of them flinched. The loud stomping noise my foot made didn't help, and I was afraid that all of my steps were going to sound as such for a while. In the meantime, I held my breath and swallowed every hiss I was going to make. I was not going to hiss to sound intimidating in any way shape or form. Rather, it was more of a pained hiss I was trying to resist, due to the gunshot wound in my shoulder. That… And I felt like I was trying to warn them to stay away from me. I wasn't doing it deliberately, because it was nearly involuntary for me. It was automatic in a way, and I naturally felt the need to do it.

My lungs began to burn a little, but I ignored it and moved on. I made sure to stay on both legs, mostly because I felt it was much less intimidating despite how slow a pace I was going. Just little steps… I thought. I have to be careful… Else they might pull a gun and shoot me.

One tiny stride after the other, I knew I was making at least some progress. So far, none of the survivors had made any sudden moves. I took that as a good thing, because nearly every muscle in my body was tight and severely tense to the point where it began to hurt. Not only was I resisting the need to hiss, I was also fighting against this urge just… Hit someone. Hell, I could feel an immense wave of paranoia send chills through my arms and legs.

I couldn't help it. I started to snap my head in the direction of even the teeniest noise made by the survivors. One shifted a foot, and I twirled around to stare at him, examine him and anticipate what he might do next. The man froze immediately and stared back, face slack but eyes widened. I heard another noise, and I ducked and spun to my right. A young adult, a guy I assumed was no older than twenty had only dropped a little pen with the company's logo printed on it.

Now I couldn't take it anymore. My lungs now felt like they were on fire, and I was beginning to feel dizzy. Trembling, I finally released the stale air from my lungs in a near viscous sigh, only to gasp in the oxygen rich atmosphere. And the result?

"HRASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSK!" Escaped my maw, even making some of my own saliva fly out and wet the floor. Damn… I thought. I didn't mean to sound… Fuck.

I was still on all fours, staring at the man defensively. I was making a scene, even though it wasn't my intention. I stood up slowly, and turned once more. I spun smoothly around observed my surroundings. All of those I laid my sight upon cringed, some even hiding their faces. And there was a child… Fussing in a woman's arms.

I couldn't take my gaze off the woman holding the toddler. The kid was obviously scared, and the mother, without taking her eyes off of me, cooed and comforted her. Didn't work, as the child began to bawl. The woman hugged the little girl tighter, and began whispering to her. But the child only cried louder, and I felt my insides tighten.

I felt my tail twitch, and my lips slide back. I turned away, and tried to ignore the child and look for an exit instead. When the child began to wail, I choked on a snarl, feeling nearly every muscle in my body tense painfully once more. But it didn't end. She kept on crying and crying… I snapped my head to the crying involuntarily. The woman's eyes widened, and tears began to formulate and drip down her cheeks. People around her began to edge away from her, some even darting behind boxes.

And finally, the child's hand slipped of her mother's shoulder, spinning her to face me. With only one look at me, she screamed. My insides clenched painfully hard, making me growl at the little girl to make her shut up. I could feel my insides heat up and burn with rage…

"S-shhh… It's okay baby… I-it's okay…" She cooed to her daughter. But her crying was relentless. I ducked a little, trying to control this unfamiliar anger welling up inside. This isn't me… I thought. It's just a little girl…

With a shaken, hot breath, I made a single, large step in her direction. Multiple muscles in my arms and lips twitched terribly. My panting increased in both frequency and power. I couldn't take my gaze away from the woman. I… Smelled her. Her scent was a deep musk, sporting some sweetness, with a stale smell of honey and bacon. And her daughter smelled… FRESH. New. I could hear the tiny heart beat in an chaotic rhythm, completely different than her guardian. I could listen in to both hearts beating simultaneously…

I took a step closer. My stomp echoed throughout the entire room, making all surrounding survivors flinch and creep away. But not the mother… She stayed rooted to the spot. Holding her child to her breast for dear life. Then the little girl turned her head, and stared directly at my face. My heart was now going ballistic, and I felt my own lungs crunch together by themselves. The heat I felt… I could barely take it.

The girl stared at me… I stared back, tense as all hell. The urge to just… Jump at them was intensifying to an astounding level. I fought it. I fought it hard… To just stand there... My nostrils flaring as dozens upon dozens of different scents and smells attack my sensitive nose, making me lightheaded. Too many… There's just… Too many… And then the little girl screamed again, with her nose covered in mucus and tears streaming down her eyes. I… Lost it.

With a bellowing snarl, I lost all control over myself. Her scream sparked within me an unnatural amount of hot-white anger. My lips pulled back and spit flew out my maw as I reared up on my hind legs and roared in a near blinded rage.

"GRRRRR AAAAAAAAAA ARRRRGH!" I roared. I dropped myself even lower, and lunged at the two. My vision hazed into a translucent gray. With each running step I took, I felt my claws dig into the metal floor as if it were nothing more than tinfoil. From my peripheral vision, I saw a man run towards the woman, intersecting my destination. Within a split second, I crashed into him immediately and slid a few feet away on the ground. I got back up almost instantly and reared myself while facing my new target. Before he could even get to his knees, I jumped, and pinned him to the ground in a heartbeat, successfully pouncing him. His face paled and he whimpered. The rage I felt… I couldn't control it. I was… Alone. I felt… Like I was backed into a corner, fighting desperately. And… He was in my way. Making me feel such rage… Knowing this only intensified my anger even more.

I hovered over him, forcing both his shoulders down to the ground with my paws. He began to struggle, but stopped when my face was just a foot above him. Meanwhile, all of the survivors began to panic. They all ran away from me, some even going as far as literally dragging their kids to the far opposite side of the room to get away from me. It made so much noise… But all my attention was focused on HIM. As I hovered over this poor, frightened man, i hissed menacingly in his face, making my drool slop right onto his cheek and forehead. I watched as my saliva dripped slowly down the bridge of his nose and over his split lip. Blood. Fresh blood. The sweetened musk emanated from this minor wound of his, making my gut tighten in a sudden hunger that I was all too familiar with. I felt my lips pull back even further. I felt… the inner muscles of my mouth… MOVE. Pull back… And lock in place… Like a slingshot of sorts. Hungry… I thought. So… Fucking hungry…

GLEET! GLEET! GLEET!

Before I could do something I would regret, the doors behind me began to shift, causing the alarm to sound. And now, the entire room was illuminated with blaring and flashing yellow lights. I jumped up immediately and twisted my direction to the opening doors, making me snap back into reality. Upon realizing what I was doing, I stepped away, dazed and slightly confused. The man got up immediately and ran away, whimpering loudly. I grasped my own head with my two, lethal paws. Oh god… What the fuck is happening to me!? I let out a long and quiet whine to myself, trembling in fear. In fear of this fucking body of mine…

"GET THAT SHIT OPEN RIGHT… Oh god, I see it!" Said a shrill, voice. Squeezing through the little crack that the door made was a slightly built woman… Holding a rifle with a launcher attachment. "EVERYBODY TAKE COVER!" She shouted to everyone.

BSOOOOT! I screeched in surprise and ducked low with my claws covering my head. The shell just barely hit me, and I was grateful that it instead hit the already empty gift shop. Looking behind my attacker, the doors opened wider and the man with the tracker walked through, brandishing his shotgun. His head was… Still wet. Upon seeing this, I was suddenly not as intimidated as before.

"WHERE THE FUCK IS IT!?" He screamed. "DARA! Are you okay!?" He looked at me with misty, rage filled eyes. With a roar, he pointed the barrel at me and pulled the trigger. I jumped to my right to avoid the incoming fire, knocking right into a man in a nurses scrubs, covered in blood. He gasped and kicked at my gut, which barely affected me at all. I grabbed his shoulder and shoved him aside, making him slide a few feet away from my position.

By now, the doors were fully opened, thus making people flee the sector for safety. The group with guns, however stayed. "Go into the other sector and barricade it, we'll stay here." The burly man told some of the survivors. Four people holding guns left with the survivors, leaving three to stay behind. And with that, the doors began to close. My only escape…

The woman stepped forth and holstered her launcher, only to pull out a rifle. The rifle had some… Blood on it? I… I can smell the blood… I remember. I thought. Is that… The soldier's rifle? I began to recount the previous events prior to… This situation. I remember the soldier's corpse. I remember that he was gripping the rifle in his arms… I also remembered how I nearly chewed his cooling throat out… To taste the sweet…

I shivered and shook my head. I can't… I have to ignore this hunger. I can eat when I get back… I assured myself. I just need to be patient… Be patient… I watched as the three of them stepped forward, side by side. There was a pause, and the all shared similar, uncertain expressions. The woman finally spoke up.

"Okay. It's in here somewhere. That thing is a natural hunter." She told the other two. "And it knows us. If we leave, it'll just follow our trails." The other two nodded in response, and they all began to walk forward, looking cautiously around them.

I looked at the door, and the vent I fell out of earlier. Jesus… That's too far. I thought. Besides, I don't even think I can jump that high… I turned my sights to the three survivors hunting for me. The one with the tracker held a shotgun. I know, because I've gotten a great view of it when it nearly blew my face off. And the third was holding a…

What the hell is that thing? I thought. The burly man was holding a large device that looked be a rifle, but was heavily modified. Coming out from the bottom of the device was a red cylinder with a faded symbol painted on it. I couldn't tell if it was a picture of a bush or a bright flower or whatever. Is that… is that a propane tank?

Watching the trio, I sunk myself into the shadows. Given my dark figure, I doubt I'd be easy to see in the shadows. But I can't get too close, else they'll just shine their flashlights onto me and execute me on the spot.

The trio advanced forward, with each standing next to one another, spaced only a foot or two from away from each other. The one holding the tracker stayed in the middle and walked slightly faster than the other two. The tracker pulsed silently as it surveyed the area around them, only giving an occasional low pitched beep when it detected the two other people.

That tracker… its modified. I studied them discretely from the shadows, making a few mental notes as they all passed a closed commissary booth after another. That thing probably has a… eighty-five, maybe ninety feet radius? I didn't exactly know for sure. I used one before, to help track lab mice when they escaped from their cages a few years back. Its motion detection radius was somewhere around fifty to sixty feet. Soldiers and bodyguards also had a tracker, though it was designed to help track Xenomorphs, giving it a MASSIVE radius. But the one this man has was a standard model, though it looked to be enhanced. The little sonic needle was replaced with a larger one, and held together with some old electrical tape, it looked like. I have no doubt it boosted its signal, but i don't know how much.

I took my gaze away from them and looked around the sector for an escape. I looked for doors, elevators, stairs, even vents for a way out. I did find one door other than the primary exit, but that led to a large storage room with extra food and materials to restock shelves that were empty. It's been a long time since the explosions, so I doubt there would be anything left to take. But there could possibly be a way out in there. I have to hope.

I faced the trio once more, and lowered myself low to the ground. Low enough so that my chin just barely touches the dirty floor below me. They weren't too close, but I still didn't want to make too much noise to attract them. And neither did I want to set off that tracker of theirs.

I started off slowly, moving only one limb at a time. The door was already open, so I didn't have to worry about the sound of groaning metal when I would try to open it. It must've been open when the sector lost power, and didn't have to energy to close.

"This… is pretty weird." said the burly man. I went still and waited, unsure if it was safe to move or not.

"What's weird?" said the woman. She hefted the rifle she carried to hold it more comfortably.

"Well… it didn't attack yet." he replied.

"Good. Maybe it gave up! Heh." the man with the tracker chuckled.

"Shut up Dade. And yeah… it's pretty weird." the woman said. "It would've attacked by now. And hell, we would've been dead if it did."

"Right, Dara. But… why?" he asked. "Did you see what it was doing when we got in?"

"Nah. I was too busy trying to kill it." she simply stated. Her statement sent a single chill down my spine. I resumed inching towards the door slowly, but continued to listen in. "Why ask?"

"I dunno." he responded truthfully. "It's just… There were dozens of people here."

Dade, the one with the tracker, spoke up again. "Yeah, there were. What're you gettin at?"

The burly man paused, and appeared to think for a moment. In the meantime, I was getting closer and closer to my destination. I kept switching my gaze from the armed survivors to the door, just to make sure they still didn't see me.

"No one is dead." he said. There was a short pause, and the two stopped to look at the man.

"I… I guess. Still don't know where you're getting at." She said. I finally reached the door and squished myself onto the wall. I kept my sight on them, and saw this as an opportunity to pass them undetected.

"Those monsters kill whoever they catch. Especially when they know they are alone. You saw it standin' over Eddy," he explained. "It was all up in his face and all… But it…" His voice began to fade as I entered the back room. I didn't exactly want to hear him talk… It made me uncomfortable.

I held my gut for a moment and suffered from a wave of unnatural hunger. God I fucking hate this body… I thought. Focusing on my goal, I cautiously explored this new environment of mine.

It was much smaller than the room I was in previously, but was big enough to make me feel like a lost mouse in a big house.

Though I did have to admit that I was wrong about one thing about this place. The entire room was… Stocked. Not in the sense like how a NORMAL commissary section is supposed to look, but seeing as how these survivors lived here for God knows how long, I must say that I was surprised.

Though there were no weapons or ammunition that I could see, there was PLENTY of scrap and supplies here to make just about anyone's day. Water, clothes, sleeping bags, even some snacks taken from some of the stores were still here.

I walked over to a little pile of books near a trash can. The insides of the metal can was scorched, indicating that the people here used the books as fuel for a fire. This made me glad that they were able to stay alive for this long, but also made me upset. I did once consider going here before my… Incident. I couldn't go because the way was too dangerous for me. To get to here from where I was, I would've had to pass through the hive.

From the moment I first saw a Xenomorph, I was amazed. I was hired to help study these monsters, and all the while they kept on feeding me bullshit so I could stay here willingly. I thought I could help make a difference. Then there were the explosions. And my amazement quickly turned right into fear. Fear for my own life, and the life of others. I ran as fast as I could from these creatures, and was lucky given my previous injuries. And look at me now. Take a good, long look at yourself, Phil… I thought. You became the one thing that you feared. A fucking monster.

I moved away from the crude fire pit and looked around some more. Most of the shelves were empty, and the ones that weren't help just blankets, clothes and towels. Standing on both legs, I walked through each section of the back room one by one, scanning the walls and ceiling for a way of escape.

I stopped. I felt… Cold. Tiny shivers danced along my arms and spine as I smelt the air. My chest tightened and my gut clenched ferociously, making my double over and stand on all fours. I felt the walls of my intestines heavily grind against each other, producing a muffled snarl. I whimpered lightly. I was powerless against this feeling.

God… I can't… I need to leave. I thought. I need to leave… Need to leave. Need to leave. Need to leave… I repeated the thought over and over in my head, trying so desperately hard to control myself. Then I… Raised my head. And I breathed in.

What… What is that…? I thought. That smells… Good. I stood still for a second, trying to comprehend this smell that lingered before me. The smell was familiar. Sweet… Thick… FRESH… My drool only began to increase in volume. Thick and slimy strands of saliva dripped from my teeth and lips. It was annoying as hell but... I didn't give a shit. I wanted to know what that fucking smell was. And more importantly, where it's coming from…

I turned to my right and darted across the room to the other side. Here, there were piles of clothes neatly folded next to a broken vending machine. I stood in front of the machine and planted my face close to the broken glass. After sniffing it a little, I continued my search, concluding that the machine was not the source. I went over to the freezer. The smell was… Significantly stronger, but elsewhere. I went in anyway to look, but found nothing.

Where the fuck is it? I thought. Where… I walked out, and snuck to the opposite side of the storage. Some shelves had cans of food on them, though it wasn't much. Some of the shelves had handwritten labels taped to certain shelves. Upon examination, they were all dates. I read one:

AUGUST 9th.

They must've been labeling to ration the food. Damn… Will the survivors ever get off this rock? I thought gloomily. I reached over and plucked out one of the cans to see what the contents were. Peaches… I can't eat peaches. I took another can. Tomato sauce. And another can… Green beans. They were all fruits and vegetables. No meat…

I stepped away, belly moaning for food as usual. God… This stomach is relentless. I thought. I want to leave but… That smell… Where… Where… I dropped back on all fours and continued to creep along the ground a little. Occasionally I stepped into the corner of an entire wall of shelves, only to peek at the entrance from where I came in.

I stopped. Stood tall, chin as high as I could raise it… And took a deep breath. My nostrils were immediately attacked by that sweetened aroma. Oh… It's… Close… The thoughts seemed to struggle to get through. One moment the scent was only just a little tease to me, but now… It caresses my senses. I breathed in hard. So hard my lungs felt like they were going to pop.

I allowed a low pitched hiss escape my throat as I breathed out. Where... Is it…? I thought, trembling. I began to look around crazily, the feeling of desperation clawing through my nerves and chest. I hopped to the side and ducked, to try to look under the shelves. Nothing. Turning around, I saw it. It was… A box. An off white, large box that had a wire running away from it. From it, a tiny red emergency light shined at the bottom of this box. I traced the wire to see where it goes. Thankfully I didn't have to move far, as the wire was actually plugged into a strange, tower-like device. The tower itself was a strange sight, especially given its height. It wasn't very tall, but it definitely bested my height by a few inches. And that's if I was standing as tall as I could.

There were several batteries crudely installed onto the tower. Some were from transport carts. Most were batteries taken from synths. Those batteries must've been hard to get. I noted. You'd have to literally rip the batteries out of the chests of synths to obtain those… Either that, or they found a shipment of synth parts lying about. And shockingly enough, judging by how some of the synth power units looked damaged, I doubt they asked those robots nicely.

So they made a homemade generator, using the batteries from synths and transport vessels. Looking at the contraption, I could see dozens of wires connected to it. One cord was almost as thick as my tail, and it led to a nearby fuse box. So… I thought, beginning my conclusion. They made a homemade generator… Then jury rigged the fuse box to it could connect to said generator. That's… Genius.

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to have any power left. Must've died recently. And judging by the little toolbox at the generators feet, an engineer must've been trying to fix it.

I turned and looked back at that white box. It was connected to the generator directly, as opposed to the wall socket, which would've worked no different as long as there was power. So… They wanted to put most of the power into that box… Why?

I arrived before the box with just two strides, and I placed my paws on the top. This box has a lid… And the smell is significantly stronger than before… What's in there? With anxious anticipation, I slipped a single talon under the handle, and lifted it to reveal its contents.

The first thing that hit me was the smell. A heavy yet fresh wave of heavy, bloody musk snuck in through my nostrils. some of it smelled… Tasteless. Somewhat watery. Though the smell was still strong enough to make me quiver a little. But what shocked me was the contents of the box. I must say… I was… Speechless. Both literally and figuratively. There… There was so much…

"GKHECK!" I gasped and immediately jumped into the box, splashing a little bit of blood out. THERE IS SO MUCH FUCKING MEAT! I thought. I buried my entire face into the pile of defrosting flesh with glee, snapping up an uncooked and unclean slab of steak. Oh god…

I tore the steak in half like a thin slice of cheese. Within seconds, my teeth ripped the large chunks to nothing more than pitiful shreds and slid easily down my throat. The meat went down cold, but the taste… Dear god that fucking taste was amazing… I couldn't help but admit that I was glad that all of the meat was not frozen.

I picked up another steak. I wolfed it down. Found a porkchop… Almost swallowed it whole. This is a deep freezer! I thought. They were storing this… The survivors. I stopped eating and looked under myself. Both of my clawed feet were planted on a pile of ground beef contained in large bags the size of soccer balls. This… This is their food… I jumped out of the box, feeling ashamed… But I had to eat. It was either steal food… Or adopt a new menu filled with human remains. Better cows and pigs anyway… Besides, people would taste disgusting… Right? I thought. That's cannibalism… And that's just… Horrible.

I sheepishly tore open one of the bags and gave the ground beef a little smell. This one… Doesn't have as much blood. But… Is it seasoned? I could smell… Something in the meat. It's weird. But I didn't care. I'm starving…

I bit into a little ball of raw beef and held it in my mouth. It was soft and cold, but thankfully didn't have any ice in or around it. But I tasted salt, along with a few other things that I couldn't recognize. And the texture. It was like having a mouthful of mashed potatoes, yet tasted a little like meatloaf. I wasn't sure if that's what the ground beef was meant for, but nor did I care too much about it.

I snatched claw-fulls of the cool, raw flesh and continuously shoveled the masses into my maw. I felt the cold blood drip from my lips and spatter onto the edge of the switched off deep freezer. But then I saw it… A massive, thick, blood soaked steak that was almost a foot long. It was fresh... So fresh I could even see the tiny veins leak small droplets of blood… I dunked my head into the freezer and snatched the big steak out with my mouth, almost without thought or conscience.

I stepped away, with the steak swaying back and forth from my dark gray fangs. My mind was a haze, but i was too happy to care. My gut was almost full of food, but the hunger still lingered. Just one more… I thought. This one… This steak… MINE… I need… I spun around immediately when I heard a muffled clank from behind. And there I saw the three survivors. Pointing their weapons at me, visibly shaken. Except for the woman. She was kept a calm stance, though her heart told a different story...

They all froze, their sights locked onto my position when I turned around. The man with the tracker was trembling and seemed to babble quietly to himself. The other man with the flamethrower kept his expression slack, though his left eye twitched a little.

"Dara… Shoot it." Whispered Dade.

"No…" She replied, using the same tone Dade used.

"The fuck? Its right fuckin' there…"

"The freezer's behind it, dipshit!"" She hissed, keeping her eyes on me.

"That's the only working freezer we got, Dade." The burly man said silently. "Shoot the freezer, no more fresh meat…" I was surrounded. All three held weapons that could decimate in seconds. My only protection was the freezer behind-

"F-FUCK IT!" Dade shouted. He aimed at me swiftly and unloaded a shotshell at me. With a muffled yelp in surprise, I darted to my right and smacked right into a shelf, knocking the entire thing over me and my attackers. Everyone jumped out of the way, with the woman even dropping her rifle as she was buried in a pile of clean blankets. With the steak still hanging from my teeth, I crawled out to the mess I made and ran the fuck out of the back room.

On all fours, I jumped through the doorway and bolted to the large, steel emergence doors doors and looked frantically for a control panel, or even a switch to open up the doors. I first galloped to the left of the massive exit, scanning the wall the activation switch. Nothing… I stood up and ran to the other side, and almost cried in relief. There it was… a simple, big red button protruding from a yellow and black striped panel. I slammed a closed paw onto it, and awaited. The doors didn't budge. I dropped the steak immediately and let myself fall to the ground, letting out a quiet whine. Trapped… I thought. I'm trapped… The doors must be out of power. But how?

Looking down, I spotted a single, fat cable escape from the bottom of the panel. I picked the steak back up and put it in my mouth again, and examined the panel a little more. It was modified, it seemed. Someone drilled a large hole the size of a large apple on the bottom of the panel. Looking around, I could see scratch marks all around the panel pretty clearly, despite the low lighting I had to work with. Someone jurry-rigged this panel as well. I thought. So the cable running from this leads… To a generator maybe? Not the one in the back, its too far, and nor does it lead to the door I came from. Is there another one here?

Before I could follow the cable, I lunged behind a stray cabinet and ducked to avoid incoming bullets. I heard footsteps coming from behind me... Coming into view was that woman, Dara. She held her rifle up and pointed it to my position. Following her were the burly man and the other called Dade. They too had their weapons ready.

"GREG! TORCH THAT FUCKER!" She barked. Within a heartbeat the area around me immediately began to sizzle as the roar of the man's flamethrower blanketed my hiding spot. Before I could be burnt to a crisp, I evaded the flamethrowers shower of fire and ran at them blindly. I charged, and knocked both Greg and Dade to the ground as my body collided with theirs. From behind, Dara unloaded an entire magazine at me as I tried to flee.

FUCK THIS SHIT! I shouted mentally. Without thinking, I jumped as high as I could onto the metal doors and scuttled to the broken vent high above effectively scaling the huge doors that now seemed like they were below me. With each round that passed me, I flinched visibly, but continued on. In just mere seconds, I climbed through the slightly melted vent and clawed my way through.

As soon as I made my way through the vent punched with dozens of holes, I exited through the opening that led me to that camp in the first place. I was about to gallop to my old room, but I saw my PDA facedown next to a broken cleaning drone. I picked it up without a second thought and ran to where my private quarters were.

I didn't stop, and nor did I even need the map. My pace remained static as I raced to my room. It didn't take long, because I recognized the walls and rooms immediately, which helped me to my destination.

In just a little less than half an hour I finally arrived, and I entered the bathroom and jumped up through the hole that led to my bathroom. Once I entered my bedroom, I stopped, and let myself recover. The steak… It was still in my mouth…

I dropped down to all fours and crawled slowly into my bed and just… Laid there. My stomach ached, but in a good way. I was nearly full, but the running caused a few cramps around my belly. With a sigh, I positioned myself into a more comfortable position. Finally, I dropped the steak next to my pillow and panted for a few seconds, still trying to catch my breath.

I tore the steak into fat chunks and swallowed them whole before going to sleep. It was... The most delicious steak I have ever eaten.

Hope you guys enjoyed this one. I'm sorry I didn't finish this chapter sooner, I know many of you waited AGES to see what happens next. Again, I'll try to work a little hard for the next chapter. Please leave a review if you liked this story. If it weren't for those who commented on my story, I would've given up. It's literally the only motivation I get that makes me write. Until next time!