Blossom restrains herself as she runs, going at a full sprint would leave the other marines in her wake. She keys her mike.
"Bubbles! Buttercup is falling back to the airlock! I'm going to re-enforce! I need that power back up NOW!" As the order is given, a second later the lights flick on and illuminate the bloodstained halls.
"Good timing Bubbles! Retreat back up the stairs and meet us at the airlock! I've just arrived!"
Gunfire echos from around the corner of the hall to the armory.
"I'm on my way, Blosso-" Bubbles cuts short.
Before Blossom can say anything in response, Buttercup, John, and only one more marine back around the corner, firing at something unseen.
"Reloading!" Ben yells, pulling the empty magazine from the TAR's behind the trigger clip. He slaps a new one in a charges the first round, aiming down his sights and firing at the unseen enemies.
Inhuman roars rumble around the corner, and Blossom and her team move up behind Buttercup, as they back further towards the air lock.
The first... thing, sprints around the corner. It stood like a human, and it looked like at one time it actually had been.
The only hair on the creatures head was in matted clumps, and blood dripped from what was left of its jaw. The bottom was almost completely gone, the only thing left was a curved bone that had two sharp fangs at the end. It raised it's arms in the air, huge blades extending from it's palms. The creatures stomach was ripped open, and a second pair of smaller arms jutted out.
The creature let out a gurgling roar and sprinted at the group of seven, swinging its arms wildly.
"Suppressing fire!" Blossom screams, and unloads her G36C into the creature, firing on fully automatic. The rest of her team lets loose in a hail of lead.
The creature is peppered with bullets. Blood and bits of gore splatter outwards behind it. One of its arms flies off and a chunk of its skull is blasted away. Its leg is cut off at the knee, and it falls.
"Cease fire, Cease fire!" Blossom shouts over the gunfire.
"Fuck that! There are more around the corner!" Buttercup yells back. As if on cue, a dozen more of the beasts come around the corner.
The hallway becomes very noisy.
A few moments later, nothing moves.
All is quite. "Everybody reload. Don't want to be caught with an empty clip next time we run into those things." Blossom states, trying her hardest to keep her voice from shaking.
"What the FUCK were those things?" Buttercup screams.
"I assume they are the Necromorphs mentioned in the distress beacon." Blossom replies, keeping her voice level.
"Listen, we need to go find Bubbles. I lost contact with her before engaging in that firefight." She continues, snapping a new magazine into her weapon.
"Well we need to go find her before those things-" Buttercup stops as gunshots echo up the hall, coming from the direction of the generator rooms.
There is a few moments of silence...
And then a high pitch scream of terror.
"BUBBLES!" Blossom and Buttercup scream in unison, then rocket down the hallway, leaving twin trails of pink and green.
The human marines sprint after them, quickly as they can.
Buttercup and Blossom are already at the bottom of the stairs, when the marines reach the top.
They wait, assuming they may need backup.
Surprisingly, the generator rooms themselves are even less lit then the actual base. The marines and the girls snap on their lights to a horrible sight.
Blood. Everywhere. Bubbles is nowhere to be seen.
Someone coughs to the girls right. The entire team spins to look, and leaning against one of the generators is John. Half of his leg is gone, and the only thing holding his entrails inside his body was his arm. Blood trickles from his mouth.
"John!" Blossom exclaims, hurrying to crouch in front of him.
"Oh my God, John!" Blossom puts her hands out towards him but doesn't touch him. Unsure of what to do, but ultimately realizing there was nothing she could do. John new that too, with the weak smile he gave her.
"I'm pretty fucked up, ma'am." He says, chuckles slightly, and then coughs up more blood.
Blossom chuckles as well, barley holding back tears. She was trained to deal with losing soldiers.
"John, what happened? Where is Bubbles?" She asks.
John looks to her, his head lulling. "The... Power. They waited for it... Then they..."
He trails off, his head rolling limply. Blossom puts a hand on his cheek and keeps his head up.
"Then they what, John?"
"Their using... The vents... Bubbles... I saw her... Blood..."
His eyes roll back in his head and it falls limp. Lifeless.
"Oh god... They got Bubbles...?" Buttercup asks, disbelieving.
"Yes..." Blossom replies sadly.
"No offense, ma'am, but we need to get the fuck out of here!" Rick pipes in.
Blossom runs her hand down John's now lifeless face, using her middle and index finger to close his eyes. She stands, and turns to the other seven.
She couldn't believe it. Eighteen of them had come here. In a mater of minutes, their ranks had been cut down by over half.
Her own sister included in the casualties.
'Don't cry in front of the marines, Blossom.' She thinks.
"Rick is right, this mission is FUBAR. Fucked. I highly doubt anyone is still alive on this rock, and if they are, well then they will have to deal with themselves. We can't help them now." Blossom says, her voice flat and emotionless.
She keys her mic and radios the dropship. "BlackBird Echo-19, this is Blossom. This mission is aborted, we need a pickup ASAP. Rendezvous at the Airlock in five minutes. We're getting off this rock, over."
"Roger that Blossom, I'm en-route. ETA five minutes, over." The pilots voice replies.
Suddenly, and without warning, Johns body shoots into the shadows next to the generator. Blossom instantly spins, her weapon to bear, and floats her flashlight through the darkness.
Just as the light lands on it, John is pulled into a broken vent and out of sight.
Blossom takes a few slow steps back, towards the others, and mumbles "Let's get the fuck out of here."
"Agreed." Buttercups says, and the eight of them makes their way back up the stairs at a hurried pace.
They proceed down the hall, keeping their weapons trained forward, making sure nothing gets to close.
That's when the lights pop and fizzles out.
A/N: Cut this chapter short by ONE sentence. It wasn't anything important, just a single sentence. It'll start the next chapter.
Also, shorter chapter, my apologies. :P