Some language and Major Warning: Character Death/Assimilation ahead. I hope you all like this chapter, and remember to leave a comment or review! I'll answer it and any questions you may have (with no spoilers of course)

Achilles453 - Yeah, way to go Ezra! I will say right now that there is more than one Thing in Outpost 17, Gooti was still tied to the couch when Jai was attacked so it couldn't have been her in the Greenhouse. I do feel bad for Saw, but I felt that there needed to be a little humor before the hammer falls. Oh, and fans of Saw may hate me for one part in this chapter, but I hope you will be satisfied with this chapter.

Guest - Well, Gooti couldn't have been in the greenhouse. She was still tied down in the rec room when the lights were out. Remember, the Thing is a shapeshifter, so it could be any of them in the greenhouse. I hope you liked the last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one as well!

teresa. spanics - I'm glad you loved the last chapter! The action's definitely going to pick up in this chapter and the next. Brace yourself cause several people are about to die. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Outside US Outpost 17, March 13, 1987, 0015 Hours

Gooti, Ketsu, and Sabine struggled through the winds outside, dragging themselves along the safety line to the tool shed. Sabine looked at her long-time friend Ketsu and handed her the flamethrower, "Keep an eye on her." She pointed at Gooti, "I still think she wants me dead for some reason."

Gooti responded with a snort, "Maybe it's because you sabotaged the blood."

Ketsu was dumbfounded that Sabine would hand over her best protection, "Why are you giving me this?"

Sabine responded, "We all need to trust each other. You all have had your lives in Jyn's, Jai's, and my hands, I guess it's my turn now. Besides, I still have a few molotovs on me."

Flipping open the slot, Sabine leaned in to see a faint light glow from inside. Saw sat eating from a can of beans. A hangman's noose hung from the rafters. She yelled over the wind, "Hey Saw!"

Saw jumped in fear, knocking his can over. Sabine continued, "Have you seen Jai? He's gone missing."

Saw looked haggard and afraid. His eyes kept darting around the room, as if there was something in the shadows. He trembled as he spoke, "I've changed my mind. I'd... I'd... I'd like to come inside. I don't like it out here anymore. I want to come inside where it's safer. I've heard... I've heard funny things out here."

Sabine reiterated herself, "Have you seen Jai? Heard anything from him?"

"Jai? No, it's not Jai. Please... you have to let me in. I want to help. I won't hurt anyone... I promise."

Sabine looked over her shoulder at Ketsu and Gooti, who both shook their heads. She turned back to Saw, "We'll see. You're safer out here. We'll get you when it's over."

She turned to leave, Ketsu and Gooti in front of her, leading the way. From the tool shed, they heard Saw yell after them, "I promise! I'm much better now! I'll be good, I swear! I'm all better! Don't leave me here! You can't leave me out here!"

Outside the entrance, Sabine suddenly stopped. Gooti and Ketsu noticed this and turned to face her. "Sabine? What's wrong?"

She turned to look at Gooti, "Gooti, go inside, tell them Ketsu and I are heading up towards Kallus' shack."

Ketsu looked at Sabine like she'd lost her mind. "What the hell for?"

"Yesterday, when we tied Kallus down, the light was off." Sure enough, the light in Kallus' shack was lit and visible through the window. Gooti nodded and hurried into the outpost to notify Jyn. She didn't trust Sabine, but she trusted Ketsu.

After about twenty minutes, they managed to reach Kallus' shack. Sabine lit a flare, a molotov in her other hand, and entered the shack. The illumination of the flare revealed a snow filled room. The corrugated steel roof of Kallus' shack was completely gone, as if ripped off.

Ketsu stared up in shock and amazement, "This storm do that?"

"No, it had to weigh half a ton. It couldn't be possible."

Ketsu looked down, kicking some snow. She spotted something out of the corner of her eye. A half-burned scrap of fabric fluttered lightly in the wind. She turned to see Sabine kneeling down in the other corner, grabbing some of Kallus' illegitimate stash of alcohol for use as molotovs. Ketsu quickly pulled out the fabric to find it was a pair of shredded long underwear. Women's long underwear. The name was still legible:

It read SABINE WREN.

-0-

Inside, Mart and Ezra stealthily crept through the corridors. Well, as stealthily as they could in a lighted hallway carrying a blowtorch and molotovs. As they turned the corner, Mart fell behind a couple of steps and mumbled, "What'd we ever do to these Things anyway?"

Ezra came to an immediate stop and turned to face Mart. Mart looked at him in puzzlement, "What?"

Ezra was silent for a moment, then said, "Don't walk behind me."

"Right." Mart sighed and moved to the other side of the wall, shoulder to shoulder with Ezra. They moved towards the greenhouse when Ezra put his arm out, halting Mart. He pointed to the wall. The power cables had been slashed, cut, and some removed.

They pushed on, Ezra unlocking the greenhouse door. He pushed it open to be greeted with wind and snow blasting his face. The light from the hall revealed that part of the metal roof had been pulled off, a window was broken, and the plants were all frozen.

Mart said, "Somebody's broken in here."

"No shit. Now who would go and do this?" Ezra went closer to inspect the plants, to see if any of them were salvageable for food, but was yanked back by Mart.

"Ezra don't! Don't get near them. Those plants are alive. The Thing can imitate anything!"

Ezra chuckled darkly, "Now why would it become a plant. Are you saying I might get mauled to death by a large, sentient carrot?"

Mart lifted his torch, "We've got to burn them." He pulled the trigger and the frozen plants burst into flame. Ezra pushed him to the ground and tried to put out the fire before it caused any damage.

But Mart fell on something, no someone. A moan came from beneath Mart and he jumped up, his mouth agape with terror and screamed. Ezra turned and lowered his flare to meet a unpleasant sight:

Jai Kell lying on the floor in a pool of blood. Clutching a broken molotov bottle in his abdomen.

Jyn heard Mart's scream and yelled for Gooti to run to the greenhouse. She turned to the siren, then pulled it. And the sirens blared yet again.

-0-

Jyn was startled to see Ezra, Mart, and Gooti carrying a wounded Jai into the rec room. The glass bottle still embedded in his torso. Despite her limited medical training, Jyn immediately got to work closing Jai's wounds. It took about another twenty minutes until Jai was bandaged and conscious.

He woke to see Jyn pointing the nozzle of her flamethrower at his face. Jyn spoke calmly, "What happened?"

"I was working in the lab when the lights went out. I lit a flare and grabbed a molotov, and was about to find you, but I saw someone, something, I don't know who. I followed it into the greenhouse, the roof was missing, as if it was ripped off. The door closed behind me, and wouldn't open. It was like someone had pulled it shut and locked it. I found some clothes. Shredded clothes on the ground. There was a name on it, Sabine's name."

That revelation dropped a bombshell and the entire group fell silent. Ezra ran out of the room, heading down the corridor. Mart went out after him. Jyn regained her composure and asked, "Where is it? For all I know, you could be a Thing, doing this to frame Sabine, spread more suspicion on us. I need cold-hard evidence before I burn someone."

Jai responded, "I don't know. I think I dropped it when I dove for cover. There was someone in the room with me. In the glow of the flare, all I could see was a feminine shape. I broke the molotov by accident hiding, so I stabbed myself. I thought if I could play dead, it might ignore me because it can't consume dead matter."

"Why would it attack you? Why would it not assimilate you?"

"I don't know. Shortage of time maybe? Maybe it thought I was dead? I don't know. As for why me, I was working on that test. I'm on to something. My notes in the lab have it written down on them. Maybe this Thing got scared and tried to get me out of the way."

"How are we sure you're still you?"

"Look at my teeth." Sure enough, the fillings were still in place in his jaw.

Ezra and Mart re-entered the room, "You can 86 your test right now Jai. Someone got into the lab, smashed up everything and burned all your papers."

Jyn looked at the others, "We take no action yet. Say, where is..." Jyn trailed off as she realized where Sabine was, and that someone else was with her.

Gooti realized the same thing. "Wren! She's with Ketsu! How long have they been out?"

Jyn answered, "About a half hour since you came in. Get to the entrance we didn't block. Mart..." she tossed him the commercial torch, "untie them. Each person take one of them with them. Reinforce the other entrances, and keep an eye on these three. If any of them move, you know what to do."

-0-

Gooti stood guard at the window next to the only remaining door. The others were reinforcing the other entrances, making sure they couldn't be entered. The greenhouse door was sealed off as well.

Gooti looked out the window and saw a red light. She soon saw a figure, wearing a flamethrower, stumbling through the gale force winds of the storm, pulling her way along the guide rope. As the figure came closer, Gooti saw that the person had darker skin, not the tan skin of Sabine. Gooti turned to the corridor, "Hey you guys! Come here! All of you!"

Kallus, Jai, and Zare came down the hallway, followed by Jyn, Ezra, and Mart. They arrived in the vestibule right as the figure pounded on the door, "Hey! It's me, Ketsu! Come on, open up!"

Gooti unbolted the door and pulled it open. Sleet, ice, and wind sent Ketsu Onyo tumbling through the doorway. Gooti forced the door shut and Ketsu looked up to see a flamethrower nozzle pointed right at her face.

"Where's Sabine?" Ezra asked, worriedly.

Panting, Ketsu responded, "I cut her loose of the line up by Kallus' shack."

Ezra's face turned ghost white, "Cut her loose?"

Still breathing heavily, Ketsu nodded, "Yeah. When we were up, poking around Kallus' place, I found... I found this." She pulled a shredded set of long underwear from her jacket. Ezra grabbed it and read the name. His heart broke with every letter. The half-burned shred of fabric clearly said Sabine's name.

Ketsu continued, "It was stashed in Kallus' oil furnace. The wind must've dislodged it. I don't think she saw me find it. I made sure I got ahead of her on the way back. I cut her loose."

"Sabine...?" Ezra couldn't finish.

Mart finished for him, "She's one of them."

Ezra was on the verge of breaking down, "When do think it got to her?"

"Could have been anywhere. Any time. I knew it! I knew it got to her!" Gooti mused.

Jyn was still suspicious, "If it did get to her." She looked accusingly at Ketsu.

Ketsu looked up at her, "Look Jyn..." but was cut off by the conversation between the others.

"When the lights went out..."

"She was guarding this door, would have been the perfect time..."

"Right. Kallus was missing, and Zare..."

Ezra angrily butted in, "Fuck you, Mart! You too, Gooti! She was with us in the generator room! Or have you forgotten that!" He jumped at Mart and Ketsu, filled with anger, grief, and sorrow.

Jyn pulled them apart. "Damn it! This is just what it wants! To pit us against each other!"

-0-

Sabine struggled through the heavy winds, struggling to find her way back to the outpost. The line had snapped, hopefully because of the wind. However, Sabine could not shake the thought that it was purposely cut. She would be dead if the Thing found her out here, she was unarmed except for a couple flares. The molotovs had fallen out of her pockets and slid away in the wind. Hopefully, Ketsu had made it back, the others needed that torch.

A faint glow penetrated the blizzard for a moment, the outpost. Sabine crawled along the snow and ice towards where it had been, using an ice-ax to prevent herself from slipping away on the glacier. The outpost loomed in front of her. SHE HAD FOUND IT! She struggled the last few feet and stood up at the door.

-0-

A pounding at the door silenced them and made them all jump back. Sabine's voice carried through the door, "Hey guys, it's me, Sabine. Open up!"

There was no response. The four surrounded the door, weapons readied. The fear and tension was so thick it could be cut with a knife.

Sabine's voice once again rang from the other side, "Hey, somebody! Anybody! It's me, Sabine!" When nobody responded, Sabine yelled out again, "Come on, damn it! I think the safety line snapped in the wind. I've been crawling around like a seal out here!"

Ketsu gave a harsh whisper, "Bullshit! She has to know I cut it."

The others kept their voices low. Gooti reached for the bolt, "Let's open it."

Jyn smacked her hand away, "Hell no!"

There was more pounding on the door. Ezra shakily asked, "You think she's changed into one of those Things?"

Jai shrugged, "I don't think she's had enough time to."

Jyn spoke calmly, but there was still an edge in her voice, "Nothing human could have made it back here in this weather without a guideline."

Sabine yelled out again, "Damn it! Where is everybody?! I'm freezing alive out here!"

Gooti again reached for the door, "Which is why we should open it. Now!"

Jyn smacked her hand away again. Kallus narrowed his eyes, his voice filled with venom, "Why're you so anxious to open the door and let her in here?"

"Because she's so close. Might be our best chance to blow her away!"

"No. Just let her freeze. We'll burn her before she can thaw out."

Ezra pleaded with Jyn, "But Jyn, what if we're wrong about Sabine?"

Zare responded before Jyn, his response was cold, emotionless, "Then we're wrong." She nodded and turned back to the door

Ezra looked at the others, the only support he could find was from Kallus, but even Kallus could not take on five armed people with only Ezra's help.

The muffled breaking of a supply window resounded through the hallway. Gooti yelled, "The supply window! She's inside!"

Jyn sighed, "Alright. We've got no choice now."

Inside the supply room, Sabine stumbled in the pitch black, trying to find a light switch. She heard the muffled voices at the door and worriedly asked, "What's going on out there?"

In the corridor, Jyn tried the doorknob. No dice, the door was locked. "Damn it! She would have the keys." She turned to see the fire ax on the opposite wall. Pulling it down, Jyn began to hack her way through the door.

Inside the supply room, Sabine jumped back when the ax smashed into the door. "What? What the hell are you doing?!" She yelled in fear. What had gotten into them?

"You're a dead woman, Wren! Or a dead whatever the hell you are!" Jyn yelled as she continued to smash her way through the door. "We found your clothes. The one's you tried to burn!"

"What clothes?!" Sabine yelled back as she rummaged through the supply room. Trying to find something, anything that could help her.

"You've been made, Sabine Wren." Gooti yelled the last part of that line with pure venom in her voice as Jyn continued to chop away. She put down the ax and turned to Gooti and Ketsu, both armed with torches. "Move in slow now."

Jyn kicked in the rest of the door and she and Ketsu sprang into the room. Gooti right behind them, ready to burn the Thing. The light from the hallway joined the illumination of a flare, casting the room in a whitish-red glow. They froze at what they saw.

Sabine stood before them, snow covering her jacket and her normally black and purple hair was now white and purplish-pink with snow and ice. She held a large bundle of dynamite in one hand and the lighted flare in the other, dangerously close to the fuse.

"Anyone messes with me and the whole camp blows." It was a standoff, Jyn made no motion to submit and neither did Sabine. Sabine yelled again, "Go ahead Jyn, burn me. I'll blow this place to the fucking ground!" Sabine appeared to mean it, Jyn slowly lowered her flamethrower.

"Put those torches on the ground and back off! Back way off!"

Jyn hesistated a second, but motioned with her hands for her compatriots to drop their weapons. They undid the straps and three clunks could be heard as the torches hit the ground. They began to back away when Sabine said, "Not you Jyn. Drop that gun you're carrying. Kick it over here." Jyn did so, dropping her Glock to the ground. She couldn't shoot Sabine, or the flare could ignite the dynamite and kill them all.

Jyn, Ketsu, Mart, and Ezra slowly backed down the corridor towards Kallus, Jai, and the rec room as Sabine picked up the gun. Gooti and Zare slipped back into the vestibule by the entrance and hid, hoping to catch Sabine off guard. They crept out the entrance and moved towards the supply window, slowly getting inside the same way Sabine did. Gooti stopped Zare and handed him a kitchen knife, swiped from the kitchen. Zare nodded, they could reveal Sabine as the Thing for sure. It would react to getting stabbed.

Slowly, Sabine entered the corridor, keeping the gun pointed at them, holding the bundle of dynamite in her armpit and the flare in front of the fuse. "You assholes." She saw Jai among them and her eyes widened in alarm, "What the hell is he doing here? He could be one of those things!"

Jai responded with a sneer, "Why don't ask yourself that question! After all, it was you who attacked me in the greenhouse!"

"What the hell are you talking about! I was in the generator room trying to fix it and get the lights back on."

She looked over them, only seeing Jai, Jyn, Kallus, Ketsu, Ezra, and Mart. "Where's the rest?"

Gooti and Zare launched themselves at Sabine, hoping to knock the flare away and disarm her. The blindsided blows sent all of them tumbling to the ground. The flare skidded away in the fight and the bundle of dynamite fell to the ground.

Gooti, Zare, and Sabine fought over control of the Glock, the others starting to rush in. The gun fell to the ground next to the copilot. Sabine elbowed Gooti in the face, and the dog handler fell backwards. Zare straddled her, brandishing the kitchen knife. He tried to stab Sabine, but she grabbed both his wrists with her hands and kicked out with both feet, knocking Zare off her. He turned to try again, but Sabine grabbed the Glock and fired three times. Two bullets hit Zare in the torso and he fell backwards. Sabine whirled and fired a warning shot at the others. "Stay back!" She grabbed the bundle of dynamite off the floor and ignited another flare. "So help me I mean it! Anybody touches me and we go! Don't think I won't do it so don't fuck with me!" They froze where they stood.

Gooti had her hands raised and said, "It's cool, Wren. It's cool, come on we ain't near you."

Jai chimed in from outside, "Yeah, Sabine, just relax."

Zare moaned from behind them, and Sabine turned to look at him. She motioned to Jyn and Mart, "You two, get him to medical. Jai, you get to work on him. Everyone goes to the medbay." She grinned menacingly, "From now on, nobody leaves my sight."

-0-

Jyn and Mart dropped Zare onto the operating table in the infirmary as Ezra walked in with Kallus, Zare, and Jai. She eyed Jai suspiciously, "I still don't trust you. I think you're the one framing me."

Ketsu glared at Sabine and pulled out the shredded clothing, "This what you found in the greenroom Jai?" Jai's eyes widened in recognition, "Yeah, that was on the floor of the greenhouse. Where'd you get it?"

"Up in Kallus' shack. Sabine tried to burn it after attacking you."

Sabine kept her distance from the others. She held one of the M2A1-7s, had multiple sticks of dynamite taped to her flight jacket, and multiple flares in her pockets. She still held the bundle of dynamite in front of the flamethrower.

Looking around the room, Sabine saw all the hateful glances directed at her. The only two who hadn't passed judgement on her were Kallus and Ezra. Kallus because she hadn't killed him in the generator room when she could have easily done so, and Ezra who looked torn between his love for her and the evidence presented.

She sneered at everyone, "So you sweethearts had yourselves a little trial. Maybe you planned a lynching party? Hah! I should kill you on principle Ketsu. I fucking trusted you! Did it ever occur to the jury that someone could have gotten some of my clothes, ripped them, and put them in the greenhouse? Then stuck them in the damn furnace!"

Ketsu's gaze shifted to a tray of medical tools next to her. She slowly pawed at it, grabbing a scalpel. Slowly, she slipped it into her back pocket, unnoticed by the others.

Jyn responded calmly, "We aren't buying that."

Jai cut into the conversation, having stopped the bleeding, "Damn it, cut that arguing over there. Zare isn't breathing!" He began performing CPR. "Ketsu, wheel that defibrillator over here and turn it on. Mart, turn the oxygen on and put the mask over his face. Ezra, hold his shoulders." They did so.

Ketsu grinned menacingly at Sabine and mockingly said, "You'll have to sleep sometime Sabby."

"I'm a real light sleeper, Ket. And nobody better wake me."

Jai pushed the two electric prongs against Zare's chest. Zare's body heaved upward, a light crackling sound and an odd chirp came through the mask. Jai turned to Ketsu, "Again, more current this time!" Jai shot several more currents of electricity into Zare, trying to revive him.

Zare's body bounded up with more crackling and popping sounds. The mask popped off and a strange, savage mewing sound came out of the distorted mouth. The others jumped away from the table in horror. Jai scrambled off him, falling awkwardly on his leg, breaking it. Jai let out a howl of pain as he tried to scuttle away from it.

They watched in stunted horror as The Thing that was once Zare began to change. It's clothes started to rip as it grew a set of scorpion-like legs.

Sabine sprang into action, yelling at the others. "Get out of the way!" She fired the flamethrower.

But the Zare-Thing knew it was coming, and a strong tentacle whipped out of its stomach. It struck Sabine across the face, sending her flying backwards into a wall. Sabine fell to the ground, unconscious. The flame that shot at the Zare-Thing set it's left arm and leg on fire. They, and the right arm and leg, broke off and scuttled down the hallway. Zare now looked like a large overgrown spider.

The others broke for the doors, Jyn running towards the weapons cache, Ketsu towards the radio room, and Mart and Gooti to get anywhere that wasn't the infirmary. Ezra knew he couldn't help Sabine or Kallus at the moment, the Thing was between him and them. Kallus locked eyes with the meteorologist and nodded. "Get out of here! I'll protect her."

Ezra nodded, he didn't exactly trust Kallus, but he would be killed if he tried anything as foolish as trying to get past the Zare-Thing. He turned and raced towards the supply room. There was one of the flamethrowers down there that he could get.

-0-

Kallus, Sabine, and Jai were the only ones that remained in the room with the Thing. Kallus grabbed the flamethrower, but noticed the propellant line had disconnected when Sabine was knocked against the wall. He tried to repair it as he heard Jai's scream.

Jai screamed, "NO! NO! NO!" as he tried to scoot away from the Zare-Thing that had now jumped off the table, screaming that same hellish scream. It crawled towards him, much faster than Jai could crawl away from it. "NO! PLEASE NO!"

Kallus jumped up to see Jai trying to push the Thing away from him, but his hands seemed to melt into the creature. It lowered it's head to Jai's. Jai looked at Kallus and screamed, "KALLUS! BURN IT! PLEASE!"

Kallus desperately wanted to, but the repairs weren't completed. It was like he was in a nightmare where he couldn't do anything but watch. The Zare-Thing began to fuse it's face to Jai's, until it was impossible to tell where one face ended and the other began. Jai screamed in terror and pain as it absorbed him. And there was nothing Kallus could do.

Yet. Kallus was finally able to jam the propellant line in and the flamethrower finally sputtered to life. Kallus pulled the trigger, but the Thing skittered away from the flame and out into the corridor, dragging the remains of Jai with him.

Hearing a moan behind him, Kallus saw Sabine starting to wake up. He gently slapped her cheek and her eyes snapped open. She saw Kallus above her, holding the flamethrower. They stared at each other for a second. Sabine knew that Kallus could easily burn her then and there. The only thing that she could hear was the rapid hammering of her heart and the crackling of the fire as she faced what could be her death. Finally, Kallus handed her the torch and nodded, before moving to put out the fire.

-0-

Ketsu hid in the radio room when she heard a set of pounding footsteps coming down the main corridor. She looked out and saw it was Ezra, carrying a flamethrower. Calling him in, they piled whatever they could against the radio room door. Ezra had grabbed one of the flamethrowers from the supply room and Ketsu had a couple molotovs. Even if it got past the blockage, they hoped they could handle it. Ketsu turned to the radio, she had been repairing it since Saw's rampage and had managed to get the transmitter to work. It was weak and there was a storm outside, but they had to try.

She clicked the transmit switch and tried to call Commander Tano at McMurdo. "Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! Can anyone hear me? This is US Navy Outpost 17. We have an emergency down here! Does anyone read me? We found something in the ice! We need some help down here. Can anyone hear me? We found something! We found something. We found something." She broke down sobbing, as she realized the hopelessness of their situation. The storm would be too strong, they were alone.

Next Chapter: Split-face's rampage and a sacrifice