Ascendance

18

I tripped over a box of things in the hall. Talk about OSHA violations. I don't think I've seen one fire extinguisher here either. I noticed the box was full of what looked like Roman candles. I grabbed one and managed to get up. My knee feels off, great. I grab the lighter from my pocket and light it, throwing it in the Leader's direction. I cover my ears as I hear a loud boom and end up falling to the ground.

"You bitch!" He shouts in rage. I continued to run, stuffing a few Roman candles in my vest. Bad idea, probably. I manage to reload my gun as I'm running and shoot him in the chest and head a few times. This motherfucker is just eating the damage at this point. I did notice that his skin was looking a bit melty, like when you accidentally leave a plastic lid on the stovetop while it's on.

Maybe I could use that to my advantage. The hall is getting dark and I notice that my vision is getting bad. Probably my concussion is getting worse. Fun. At some point, I stop running from not being able to see.

"I found you!" He shouts, grabbing me. I see his neon blue eyes glowing in the dark. I try to bury my feet but I can't touch the ground.

"Stop fighting me!" He shouts.

"You sound very creepy right now." I managed to reach my pocket knife and stab him in the arm. He lets out an angry cry and I jump off, trying to find my way out of this dark hall. I could see a bit of light in front of me. I guess that's a good thing. I threw another lit Roman candle at him. He screams in pain, cursing in a different language. At least I could see more now. I reach what seems to be some kind of emergency escape pod room. I wish we had been able to find this sooner. There's boxes everywhere and what not.

I reload my rifle and point it at the doorway. The emergency lights turn on, almost blinding me. I feel myself getting thrown into a wall. Ouch, my head. My vision starts to cloud and spin at the same time. That can't be good at all. The Leader looked kind of melty and I could see that he was bleeding that weird black goo from his burns.

It smelled like burnt rubber. He extended his arm out and grabbed me, dragging me on the ground. I managed to turn the lighter on with my good hand as the other one felt like it was broken.

"You.....you think you're better than me?" He shouted, looking at me with a distorted face. I let out an animal cry and threw the lighter at him. Some fire crept up on my sleeve and I fell down, managing to roll myself to turn it off. He was on fire again and not looking so great. I grab my rifle from the floor and shoot at him. He was bleeding and this time the bullets seemed to do something.

He lets out a roar and transforms into what looks like Cthulu on steroids and stimulants. He manages to run towards me and I grab the taser as my rifle is empty and tase him. He grabs at his face and shocks me back. I scream as it leaves lightning bolt shaped burns on me. Fun.

"Erika!" I hear a voice in the distance. Instead I'm tossed again the wall again and this time my ears are ringing. My vision is doubling and I feel the urge to sleep badly.

"You gave me a good fight, I'll give you that much, Erika." He lifted me up by my ankle. I cough up blood at him. He looks disgusted but continues to look at me.

"No..." I slur my words. I'm trying to reach for something but it's getting harder and harder to focus on the task at hand. "Stop..."

Gunshots go off in the distance. I'm struggling to keep my eyes open at this point. He drops me and I can't move anymore. This is what I get for trying to be the hero. My body hurts and everything feels broken. I see Brendan and Karenina shooting at him and attacking him.

"Get up." A small voice in my head tells me. "Get up." I managed to get up. I'm not sure if I'm speaking to myself or if there is really someone here with me. My vision is shaking or maybe I'm the one shaking.

"Hey, idiot!" I manage to slur the words together. The Leader turns his attention to me.

"You're still alive, that's a shame." He turned to me.

"No!" Brendan says as the Leader smacks him and Karenina into the wall. I feel something strange on my hand.

"Catch this, you piece of shit!" I throw my hand in front of me and strings appear from thin air, wrapping themselves around his body.

"No..." He bares his teeth at me. "You won't defeat me!" He looks pretty bad, his body trying to hang on to his ruined frame. I pull on the strings and he falls down, groaning in pain. He's trying to escape but the strings cut into him. I notice that he's right by the Roman candle box.

"Get out of here!" I shout to Brendan and Karenina.

"No, I can't!" Karenina shouted. "Please, don't do what I think you're about to do!"

"Go!" I shout. She's tearing up as is Brendan.

"Talk some sense into her!" Karenina shouted at Brendan. Brendan looks at me and at the writhing Leader. He nods at me and I nod back. He grabs a screaming Karenina out of the room.

"This is for my ancestors, dipshit." I light a Roman candle and throw it at him. His eyes widen and there's a flash in the room. I feel myself hit the wall. At least it was worth it in the end.