The Thing 2: Infection✔️

Chapter 14: Hostile Territory

"Wait...wait, I need a minute," Lavelle said.

Blake hesitated. They had made it to the building, following a string of bright blue light poles, burning through the falling snow. The storm was just as bad as ever, the winds shrieking, the snow turning the men nearly blind. The building they'd come to seemed huge, another warehouse-sized structure.

The immediate area around him was a long, narrow strip of space in between the front wall of the structure and a collection of partial walls that were only about eight or nine feet tall. The ceiling was much higher overhead, perhaps twenty five feet high. Most of the narrow space was taken up by large blue shipping containers, stamped with the Gen Inc. logo. They had came into the building through a large, open sliding door.

It was unguarded.

"Okay," Blake said finally. "We'll take a short break."

While Lavelle leaned up against one of the shipping containers, Blake took a moment to check out the immediate area. The only thing of interest he found was a door near the far left corner that led deeper into the warehouse. It was closed, and he left it that way for the moment. He retreated back to where Lavelle stood. The man now had a cigarette and was puffing away at it nervously. Blake walked past him, a little deeper into the area, in between two shipping crates, to get away from the cold. Lavelle joined him.

"You wanna smoke?" Lavelle asked. "I still got most of a pack."

Blake shook his head. "No, no cigarettes for me. I just drink and smoke the occasional joint," he replied.

Lavelle nodded. "Smart, real smart..." He hesitated, stopped puffing away for a moment, stared at Blake. "I guess neither of us are infected, huh?" he asked.

"What makes you say that?" Blake replied.

"Well, we're alone, it's the perfect opportunity," Lavelle replied.

Blake pointed to his flamethrower. "I got this."

"Yeah...I guess that's a good point. I mean, I guess we don't have to worry anyway. We've both seen each other tested. I saw you tested twice." He started smoking again.

"So, this resistance, how many?" Blake asked.

Lavelle shrugged. "Dunno, at least thirty, though I don't know how many are actually still alive. I could be the last one left."

"How'd it get started? I mean...you guys just decided to rebel?"

"Well, no, not quite like that. It was...I guess it was this damned place. We're living on a patch of ice for Christ's sake. The wind never stops, it's always dark down here, it snows almost all the time..." He shook his head. "We were all going nuts, I think. And when we really figured out what we had on our hands down here, that was it. The big shit. It lit the fuse, set us off. You'd be surprised how many just straight-up said 'yes' when we asked." He shook his head, took another long pull off the cigarette, then dropped it and quashed it beneath his foot.

"Okay...I'm ready," he said.

"You sure? You're not going to freak out?" Blake asked. Lavelle looked at him. "No, I'm not being a jerk. I mean, I'm not trying to be. I'm actually flat-out asking you. After everything that happened...if we're going to survive, we need to be clear, concise and sharp. I really need to know if you're going to be okay."

Lavelle looked at him for a moment, then nodded slowly. "Yeah...I mean, I feel okay. I...obviously, I never put up with anything like this, but my life hasn't exactly been the easiest life. I'm no stranger to stress. But I'll let you know if I think I'm losing it or something."