Lincoln latched the tool shed from the outside and walked over to Rusty and Haiku. Ronnie Anne caught up, shortly afterwards. "So, anything left?" Rusty asked the Hispanic woman.
"She smashed up the chopper and both of the snowcats pretty good. And she's killed the rest of the dogs." She sighed. "The snowmobile is still good, but it's low on gas."
"Any chance of fixing the radio?" Lincoln looked at Rusty.
"No, damaged beyond repair." The commanding officer looked down at his feet in disappointment.
"Then we're completely cut off." Haiku muttered. "All we can do now is sit tight and wait until Spring."
"No." Lincoln said firmly. His friends looked at him with suspicious expressions. "We don't just sit and wait. Someone in this camp isn't who they say they are. Right now, that may just be one or two of us, but by Spring it could be all of us."
"So, how do we know who's human?" Ronnie Anne sounded nervous. "How do we know who we can trust?" She looked at the others and pointed to herself. "If I was an imitation - a perfect imitation - how would you know it wasn't really me?"
There was a long silence.
"Is there some kinda test we could run, Doc?" Clyde turned to Haiku.
"Well, I suppose…" The Goth physician rubbed her chin as she contemplated. "One thing we could try would be a blood serum test."
"What's that?" Rusty asked.
"We take a sample of each person's blood. Mix it with uncontaminated blood. And, theoretically, if there's a reaction, we'd know who isn't human."
"We've got whole blood in the med-lab." Rusty unhooked the keys from his belt and handed it to Haiku. "Lincoln, Clyde; while she's working on the test, I want you guys to look around. See if we missed anything that needs to be burned."
"Right." Lincoln nodded before piping up. "Hey, everybody keep an eye on Lynn. She was close to that dog."
The group split up, Lincoln and Clyde went into the storage room to look for any other pieces of the thing. Lincoln took out his flashlight and looked under the shelves and boxes. Suddenly, the light glistened off of a piece of metal with a few drops of blood on it. Lincoln took out a pair of pliers and picked it up, showing it to his best friend.
"What the hell is this?" He asked.
"That looks like Zach's titanium plate used to mend broken bones." Clyde examined the plate. "Zach broke his arm last year on the job. He had that put in to help fix it."
Lincoln looked at the metal plate with a cocked eyebrow. "So, if this was in his arm, what's it doing in here?" Before Clyde had time to answer…
"RUSTY! LINC! EVERYONE, COME HERE!"
The duo rushed towards the sound of the doctor's voice. Everyone was piling into the med-lab, trying to see what was wrong. Haiku was kneeling right in front of the blood bank. "Somebody got to the blood!"
"What?!" Ronnie Anne looked around the room. "Where's Lynn?"
"Right here." Lynn muttered.
"Wait a minute, wait a minute." Lincoln tried to keep them calm. "Was this broken into?"
"No, the lock's undamaged." Clyde inspected it. "Someone unlocked it, opened it, closed it, and locked it back up."
Everyone grumbled, looking at each other, suspiciously. Lincoln spoke first. "Well, who's got access to it?" All eyes landed on the physician.
"I guess I'm the only one." She said, calmly.
"And I've got the only key." Rusty immediately regretted saying that.
"Would that test have worked, Doc?" Lincoln turned to Haiku.
"Oh, I believe so. Yes."
"Someone else sure as hell thought so." Ronnie Anne glared at the two suspects.
"Well, who else could've used that key?" Lincoln turned back to Rusty.
"Nobody! I just give it to Haiku whenever she needs it!"
"Hmm… Could somebody have gotten it from you, Doc?"
"I don't see how. As soon as I'm finished I return it. Right away."
All eyes fell upon Rusty, now. The redhead started to perspire as he felt the heat from their suspicious glares. "I-I guess somebody could've lifted it off me-"
"Oh, c'mon!" Ronnie Anne snorted. "That key ring is always hooked to your belt, you-"
"It's not enough to incriminate me!" The whole room erupted into a loud exchange of verbal threats and defense. "This is ridiculous! Haiku's the only one who has any business with it!"
"Now, wait a minute, Rusty! You've been in here on several occasions!"
"Haiku thought of the test." Clyde spoke up, trying to apply logic to the argument.
"So what? Is that supposed to clear her?" Ronnie Anne snapped.
"Well, why would she tell us if she was-?!" Again the room grew loud. This time, Lynn and Ronnie Anne got a little physical, pushing each other around the room. It wasn't until Rusty saw Penelope running down the hall that they all stopped arguing.
The woman smashed the glass of the gun case and pulled out a shotgun. She was just grabbing the bullets when the others caught up to her. Rusty aimed his pistol at her before she had time to load the weapon. "Drop it!"
"No!"
"I'll put this right through your head!"
"Are you guy's really gonna listen to Rusty?" Penelope whimpered. The stress of this was too much for her. "You gonna let him give the orders?! He could be one of those things!"
"Penelope!" Lincoln and Penelope had never exactly been the closest of friends, but he couldn't stand by and let her get shot. "Come on, both of you, just put the guns down. Neither of you wanna hurt anybody, right? C'mon…" The curly-haired woman slowly put the shotgun on the ground, holding up her hands as she got back up. "It's on the floor." Lincoln said, firmly.
Rusty pointed his gun at the others, shaking nervously. "Now, listen to me! I don't know about Haiku… but I give you my word, I didn't touch that blood!" He sighed, heavily, and set his gun down onto a wooden crate. "But I guess you guys'd all feel better if someone else was in charge for a while... Clyde, I don't think anybody would object to you."
Everybody looked at the team's second-hand biologist. "I-I'm sorry, guys, but I'm not up to it." He stuttered.
"I'll take it." Ronnie Anne reached for the gun but she was cut off by Lincoln and Lynn.
"Like hell you will." Lynn sneered as she pulled out her pocket knife. Lincoln grabbed the gun and put it in his pocket.
"How's about we leave this in the hands of someone a little more even-tempered, Santiago?" He held out his hand towards Lynn, and his sister gave him the knife. "Now, listen up… I know I'm human. And if you were all these things you'd just attack me right now. So, some of you are still human. This thing doesn't wanna show itself, it wants to hide inside an imitation. It'll fight if it has to, but it's vulnerable out in the open. If it gets all of us, then it has no more enemies. No one left to kill it."
Everyone looked at each other, uncomfortably. They had all gotten to know each other very well over the past few weeks, and to not be able to trust anyone was unnerving. "Okay, Penelope, Liam, and Leni; you guys tie up Haiku and Rusty in the rec-room and shoot 'em up with morphine. Clyde, you start working on a new test."
"Linc, I need Haiku's help!" Clyde argued. "We can't drug her!"
"Just go through Lisa's notes and try, Clyde!" Lincoln fumed. His friend didn't argue any further, he just nodded and went into the lab.
"What about me, Linc?" Lynn tapped her brother's shoulder.
Lincoln looked at Ronnie Anne, then back at Lynn. Lisa's warning was still echoing in the back of his mind. He and Lynn had had a complicated relationship ever since they were kids, but they still loved each other. But still, he had to be cautious. "Uh, Lynn, you come with me and Ronnie Anne. Help see if there's anything left of that thing." The white-haired man couldn't help feeling guilty as his sister agreed, unaware of his suspicions.
While Lynn and Ronnie Anne were searching the halls, Lincoln stopped in the radio room with a tape recorder. He took a swig of his whiskey and pressed the record button. "I'm gonna hide this tape when I'm finished. If none of us make it, at least there'll be some kinda warning to others. The thing's hidden away from us in someone we've known for a long time. It's already killed one of my friends and drove my little sister crazy. The storm's got us trapped with it for now, but it won't last. Clyde's got nothing to go on, yet…"
He paused the recording to finish what was left in the bottle. "One more thing; I think it rips through your clothes when it takes you over. Leni found some shredded long johns, but the name tag was missing. They could belong to anyone. We're all very tired… nobody trusts anybody…" Realizing that last part sounded a bit emotional, he rewound the tape and recorded over it. "There's nothing else I can do. Just wait, and hope Clyde comes up with something… Lincoln Loud, helicopter pilot, U.S. Outpost 31."
He turned off the recorder and hid it behind Penelope's desk. He checked on Ronnie Anne and Lynn, the former of which was keeping her distance from the latter. As they passed the fifth corridor, Lincoln peaked inside the lab. His best friend was scribbling in his notebook when he noticed the other's presence.
"How's the test comin'?"
"I've got a few ideas." Clyde answered. "But, Linc, I've been thinking: if just one particle of this thing is enough to take over an entire organism, then everyone should prepare their own meals. And I say we only eat out of cans."
"Alright. I'll pass the word along."
Clyde went back to his notebook to check the math of his equations. Just as he turned the page, he heard a bang coming from the distance and his room's light went out. He closed the notebook and reached for a lighter in the desk. He was preparing to go check on the generator room for burnt fuses, when he tripped on the rug.
Suddenly, a silhouette passed right in front of him at an inhuman speed. "W-who's that?" He called. He picked up a flare and followed the shadowy figure outside. The storm had died down for a brief moment, making it easier for him to see where he was going. He saw the figure go up to Lincoln's shack, leaving the door opened. The biologist trudged up to the shack, and made it inside. But the figure was nowhere to be seen. Then, he crouched down to examine something hanging out of the furnace.
It was a piece of cloth from a military jacket. One side read; L. Loud.
"Anyone seen Clyde?" Lincoln had gathered the others into the rec-room. "Somebody blew a fuse in the generator room. Lights were out for about an hour. Anyone of us could've gotten to him." No one said a word. "Alright… we're gonna find him. Liam, you and Lynn check the South corridor. Ronnie Anne, you and Penelope check the North."
"I ain't goin' with Lynn." Liam objected. "I ain't goin' with her. I'll go with Ronnie Anne."
"Hey, fuck you, Liam!" Lynn moved to hit the redneck, but was stopped by Ronnie Anne.
"I ain't goin' with you!"
"Who says I want you going with me?!"
"ALRIGHT! CUT THE BULLSHIT!" Lincoln slammed his fist on the pool table, putting an end to the bickering. "Lynn, you come with me! Leni, stay here and keep an eye on Haiku and Rusty. We all meet back here in twenty minutes, regardless! And everybody watch who you're with. Real close."
As the group split up, Lincoln and Lynn made their way outside. Holding on to the guyline, they made their way to the tool shed. Lincoln opened the eye-slit. The wind was blowing fiercely, forcing Lincoln to raise his voice. "Hey, Lisa! Lisa, have you seen Clyde?!"
Lisa was wearing a heavy coat, sitting next to the kerosene heater and eating a can of beans. She looked rather bored. "Brother unit, I don't want to stay out here, anymore. I would like to return to the main camp."
"Have you seen Clyde?!" Lincoln repeated.
"There are some very odd noises coming from outside, Lincoln. I'd be lying if I said it didn't make me nervous."
"Have you come across Clyde?!"
Lisa sighed. "No. I have not seen Clyde. Now, I don't want to stay out here, anymore. I will not harm anybody. There is nothing wrong with me. And if there was, I'm much better now. Now, you need to let me come back inside. You have my promise."
"... We'll see." Lincoln replied. But Lisa didn't want to wait. She got up from her bed and walked over to the door.
"Hey, wait a minute! Wait a minute, Lincoln!" She peered through the eye-slit to meet her brother's eyes. "I want to come back inside, don't you understand? Look, I'm alright. I'm much better, now. And I won't hurt anybody. Now, you have to let me come back insi-!"
Before she could finish, Lincoln shut the eye-slit. He stomped through the heavy snow to get close enough to his ally. "She says she hasn't seen him!"
"Well, what'd you expect?! She's been locked up in the fuckin' tool shed all day!" Lynn snarked. "So, now, what do we do?!"
"You go inside and tell the others Lisa hasn't seen Clyde! I'll be in as soon as I can!"
"Where are you going?!"
"Up to my shack!"
"What the hell for?!"
"Because when I left, yesterday, I shut the door!"
Lynn did as she was told, while Lincoln, slowly, made his way to his shack. The dog handler called the others back into the rec-room and explained the situation. A few of them didn't believe her, but, luckily, she was able to show them Lincoln walking outside through the window.
Unfortunately, Lincoln had been gone longer than expected. This made Ronnie Anne, and the others, paranoid. "How long has he been out there?"
"Uh, about forty-five minutes." Penelope responded.
"We better start nailing the doors and windows shut." The group followed Ronnie Anne to the supply room, where they gathered up the supplies they'd need to barricade the building's entryways.
Leni was just about to start on the North exit when she glanced out the window. "Oh, em gosh! You guys! Everyone come here!" She opened the door and Clyde collapsed onto the ground, shaking furiously.
"Where's Lincoln?" Lynn asked as she quickly shut the door.
"I cut him loose at the guyline out by his shack!" He shuddered.
"Cut him loose?!" Ronnie Anne was horrified. "Why would you do that?! He's your best friend! He just had us looking for you!"
"I-I was in the lab trying to come up w-with a t-test." He tried to explain while still shivering. "Something ran past me when the lights went out. Against my b-better judgement, I followed it outside into Lincoln's shack. I-I found this!" He unzipped his jacket and handed a torn piece of cloth to Leni. "It was stashed in his furnace! I hid out there to see if he'd come back so that I could get the drop on him. I chickened out at the last second, but I made sure I got ahead of him on the way back!"
"L-Linky?" Leni whimpered, fearing she'd lost her only brother to the monster.
"He's one of them!" Clyde confirmed.
"Shit! When do you think it got to him?" Penelope asked, nervously.
"Coulda been anytime… anywhere…" Liam muttered.
"If it did get to him…" Ronnie Anne eyed the African man, suspiciously.
"Hey, look, Anne! C'mon!"
Suddenly, the doorknob started to twist, making everyone lurch away from it. Liam and Ronnie Anne held their flamethrowers at the door, waiting for something to happen.
"Let's open it!" Liam whispered.
"Hell no!" Ronnie Anne snapped.
"Do you think he's turned into one of those things?" Leni asked, shakily.
"He's had plenty of time!" Penelope agreed.
"Nothing human could've made it back in this weather without a guyline." Anne thought out loud.
"Let's open it, now!" Liam said, again.
"Why are you so goddamn anxious to let him in here?!" Ronnie Anne pointed her weapon at the redneck.
"'Cause it's so close! Maybe our best chance ta blow it away!"
"No! Just let him freeze to death outside!"
"Ronnie!" Leni begged. "What if we're wrong about him?!"
"What makes you think we're wrong?!" Suddenly, there was a loud crash that came from a room down the hall.
"The supply window!" Lynn surmised. "Alright! Alright! We've got no choice now!"
The group rushed to the supply room, ready to face whatever monster was waiting for them.
Author's note: A guest review has recently requested that one of the future chapters of this fic be based off of the Saw franchise. Now, I have my own ideas for future chapters as well as a possible spin-off, but I've actually never seen any of the Saw movies. But, if you guys would like to see one in the future, we'll put it to a vote. All in favor, leave a review that says 'AYE' all opposed, 'NAY'. If you have your own suggestions, please let me know the same way.