Disclaimer: Same s**t, different chapter
Chapter 4: wuuuptiii do!
She couldn't suppress the psychotic giggle.
"You've got to be kidding me! Is there some kind of a cloning machine in this place?" She started to babble again. Jo did not get a chance to recover from the initial adrenalin rush and her mind was still on a gibber-jabber track.
"Another one! What?" She wondered if she was losing her cool. Not that she had any in the first place, but the situation was like rowing up shit creek without a paddle.
"Where are these things coming from?" she added. Marvel felt like her sanity just left the building. She was still breathing hard after the chase with the creature safely locked away in the security room. Well…her joyful theatrics didn't help her condition. She did not feel enthusiastic or ready for another kill the human game. Although would anyone be ready?
However, this monster was less direct and seemed more cautious or maybe it was just thinking how to lock her in an enclosed area to get back on her for doing the same to its identical twin. After which it will do its own version of the "fuck you dance".
This time, with not much debating Joanna reached behind her back, drew the rifle and pulled the trigger. As soon as she had she regretted the decision. The creature gave a defeating screech that sounded like nails on a blackboard. It resonated within her ear drums painfully and she nearly dropped the rifle in order to cover her ears and protect them from the onslaught of sonance.
The shiver went down Joanna's spine raising every hair on her body and she physically recoiled. The effect was intensified with the realization that the shot into the thing's head did only minimal damage and the blood seeping was eating a new hole into the floor. She did not drop her gun, recovered and kept shooting. The rifle was loud, but the shriek even louder. The bullets were melting on their way inside the creature's flesh. Her shots were not getting to the more vital areas to drop this thing. But, she did manage to raise a reaction because no longer was this thing cautiously threading through its environment. Now it was on a full on assault.
She kept shooting backing up and holding it at bay until the damage done was enough to stop it and drop it. The acidic blood provided the bug a lot of protection. Actually, quite more than the hard exoskeleton that covered its body. The shooting distance supplied the separation from the blood and the oozing body that now was a pool of melting mess.
The smell was nearly unbearable. It was so intense she felt the burning of her nostrils and a slight migraine making an appearance. Just as she was taking a walk around the body to see where did this thing come from a third and very determined nefarious pest ran full speed out of the open pantry door.
No time to think, no time to aim, no time for offending comments; all she could do was doge the thundering mass to avoid a collision that would surely knock her lights out.
She smiled inwardly when the black mass passed her and slid on the floor realizing it missed.
Joanna's smile was wiped out when the huge tail swung behind the passing form. The tail was aimed her way as she was midair avoiding a collision in the first place. This time with no manageable way of changing direction the tail hit her in her abdomen as if it was a bat and she was the baseball. She flew back over a few feet, above the melting carcass, thankful that she was not thrown into it, and instead her back hit the double glass of the panic room. Not hard enough to break the glass or her bones, but hard enough to have the wind knocked out of her and blur her vision from pain.
In only a few seconds her eye sight was clearing and she gasped painfully for air. She saw this demon monster from hell breaking a fall as well. Carried by the momentum of the motion it broke a fall hard, but was quickly recovering. Nonetheless, the time it took Joanna to get a bearing and realize her rifle was gone the bug was too close to use her hand guns and not get scorched by the blood if she did. She pressed her back to the glass as hard as she could, pushing away with her feet and braced herself for the impact. Meanwhile, Joanna debated with herself, for all two seconds, if it would be better to use the handgun and slowly dissolve as this thing was dieing on top of her or being torn apart by its double rows of teeth and claws.
"Teeth and claws, definitely teeth and claws" she muttered right before the bug closed the distance, hauled her up, screeched in her face as she started thrashing and prepared for an end to her misery with one and apparently deliberate strike to the head.
Joanna knew she could not get out of its hold. In the process of being pulled off her ass, and her debate of preferable end to what has been a ridiculously agonizing day, she was moving her hand from her thigh and giving up on the gun, she felt one more weapon in her arsenal she completely forgot about: the pepper spray. This creature had no eyes so its sense of smell should be as good or possibly better than most animals she knew about. If it works on bears…
This was her last result. She knew it won't kill it, but maybe it will be enough to get it off. She also knew that at this distance it will burn like hell, but it still would be better than the acid or the teeth. She clamped her eyes tight, held her breath and sprayed the content of the can into the assailant. From the close proximity of the two she felt the beads of the moisture settle on her skin, invading her nostrils and starting to burn. The screech of the black beast that was now letting her go, this time around sounded like music in her ears.
She slid down the glass got on all fours and crawled away from the bug that was thrashing in obvious pain. As soon as she opened her eyes the substance seeped in and burned. Joanna was aware that this creature is soon going to recover, but she needed to as well. She ran for the pantry and vigilantly entered since this bug came from inside. As soon as she determined the coast was clear she ran for back door that was left open and closed it.
Joanna turned to the sink, opened the faucet and dumped her head under the running water. She removed as much of the skunk as possible. Meanwhile, in her head Joanna started waging her alternatives. She can open the door and run for dear life, like the kid in "Home Alone". Highly appealing option. She can also do the less favorable and use the advantage and finish this thing off now while she had the upper hand. This was something she was not looking forward to. If however, she didn't do it, it might catch up on her in her frenzied run and she would have to face it again in its full strength, awareness and probably even more pissed off.
She decided to deal with it now since it did not yet stopped screeching, but her options to kill it were limited. She can't get too close because the blood will eat through her like a borer through wood, so knives are out. Also, avoiding the teeth and especially claws and tail as it was thrashing would also be a challenge if she decided on close contact. Joanna was never one to choose close contact. She could shoot it, but that seemed to take a lot out of her magazine, and in the long run might leave her defenseless. Who knew how many of these beasts were still out there.
Looking around she then saw a fire axe on the wall. She broke the glass and took it out. This weapon had a larger handle than her knives and would give her some distance. Yet, the first thing was to at least immobilize it so she can take a good swing. She looked around the room and her eyes caught on the sink.
She contemplated the possibility of drowning the critter. But, snorted and she shook her head thinking "and how are you going to get it to the sink to do that if it would even work". For all she knew this freakazoid might as well have gills. However, the running water gave her one more idea. She had to find out if this thing can be hurt by electrical current. She made her way back to the control center drew out the stun gun, pulled the set off button. The timing was also really accurate cause the black nightmare was getting back to it's feet. She aimed with shaking hands and watched the bug power up and then quickly power down from overload.
"well wuuuptiii fucking do, a break at last" the soldier applauded herself.
Joanna didn't know if the electricity would be enough to kill the grotesque hellion. It might knock it out or worse recharge it. There was no time to waste and she needed to make sure the bug did not get back up. She ran into the restroom opened cabinets and gathered random items, then she ran into the pantry to do the same. She needed to find something to cover her head and body with. She found a few towels, a few pairs of large, heavy-duty cleaning gloves and an overcoat, probably left behind by the person that was supposed to be at the control station. Joanna knew that the acid was melting quickly, and she had a hunch none of these items would remain intact, but she didn't want to be on the receiving end of the caustic splash zone.
Marvel covered most of her skin with the items she had as good as she could. She took the ax, walked back to the body and gave herself a moment to examine the view before her. With the time to actually take in the adversary she faced she decided that it looked like something that belonged in one of those "believe it or not" museums. Like it escaped from a traveling circus freak show. It was menacing. It was a bit over seven feet tall, and every bit of it screamed danger! From the rough edges of its body structure to the sharp and shiny claws that appeared strong enough to slash through metal. The carapace covering its head was slick, almost polished and Joanna could see her own distorted reflection in the surface. It made for quite a freakish feeling. Since it had no eyes of its own it almost felt as it was watching her with hers.
Joanna shivered and put the ax between her legs and shook of her hands. Then, she clutched the ax and hacked the giant creepy-crawly's head off. She also hacked the tail. It looked sturdy, sharp and definitely acid resistant.
She then quickly removed all the items covering her body because the blood was rapidly eating away at its structure. Her hands got the worst of it. The acid did not eat throughout the glove as she still had them on, but came close enough to cause reddish burns.
The soldier snatched the piece of the tail that was not submerged in blood. She took it to the pantry and washed the portion of the appendage in the sink under the streaming water. She was careful not to get any of the scorching fluid on her. Then, she used the stove to burn off the skin and then water again. She only needed the sharp inside bone. After she was satisfied with what she created, she chiseled the end to make a dent and make it easier to hold.
Joanna secured the new weapon to her belt, sauntered back into the control room, took a heavy breath and stole a look at the security room.
"What to do with you…?"