"Finally," Ash muttered as the elevator doors closed. It'd taken him fifteen minutes to escape the fighting. What a nightmare. And apparently, it was all in vain. Claudia mentioned evacuating when she'd given him his task.
He was supposed to go to the Barracks where they kept the soldiers and activate the newest shipment. If they were going to leave, they needed to take as much of their army with them as they could. At least, that's what Claudia said.
Where on earth were they going to go, anyway? The labs? Would they be large enough to hold everyone?
Ash looked down at his shirt. There were a few blood stains, mainly from when he'd been thrown to the ground near where Ivy cut herself on the knife.
The doors opened, and Ash stepped onto the first floor. He'd have to take a different elevator down to the Barracks. Fortunately, it wasn't too far.
It was cold down here. As Ash walked, he could feel wind coming in from the hole the Supers had put in the building. It got worse as he drew closer.
Ash frowned. He'd expected at least some fighting down here, but the floor was completely deserted.
Even stranger was the hole. For some reason, there was a pile of shattered glass on the ground in front of it. No, not glass, ice. Why would the hole have been filled with ice? Did Spencer put it there?
And if he did, why was it shattered?
The humidity outside heightened Ash's senses. As he stood there by the hole, he started to get the feeling he wasn't alone on the first floor.
A clicking sound came from the darkness in front of him. Something moved. Ash tensed up. Had something found its way inside the building? They were in Florida, after all. But whatever it was had to be strong enough to get through what looked like a good six inches of ice. And that was just what hadn't melted yet.
Something flew out of the darkness, and Ash found himself jumping out of the way before he fully realized what was happening. He crashed into the wall and winced as pain shot through his shoulder and ran down his arm.
He turned around and froze, unable to believe his eyes.
The thing coming toward him was unreal. It had legs like a spider's, but bulging with muscle, and a head with no features except its oversized mouth.
It moved closer, and let out the clicking sound Ash had heard earlier. He took a slow step backwards, desperately trying to think clearly. His body screamed at him to move, but he doubted he could outrun the creature.
Fighting was his only other option. Well, that or standing still and waiting for death. Ash searched his pockets for weapons. He didn't have a gun on him. He did have a dagger, but it was too small to be a decent weapon in this case. The creature would have to be on top of him.
Ash continued to take slow steps backward. The creature was going to pounce any second now. He racked his brain, but there was nothing he could do. Weapon storage was a few floors up.
But not the nearest weapons, he realized. The soldiers in the Barracks had guns. He just needed to get to the elevator.
The creature's jaws opened and something flew out. A tongue? No, more like a tentacle. It struck Ash in the stomach, knocking the air out of him as he fell to the ground.
The tentacle wrapped around his leg and tightened. Then it retracted, dragging Ash along the floor and towards the mouth filled with knife-like teeth.
Ash managed to draw in a breath of air. Hands shaking, he reached to his side and grabbed the dagger. He swung as hard as he could at the tentacle. The blade didn't slice clean through like he'd hoped, but it made a deep gash.
The creature released him and screeched. Ash rolled over and jumped to his feet. His only hope was to make it to the elevator. He broke into a run, not daring to look back.
He flew around the corner into the next hallway. A thud came from behind him as the creature slammed into the wall. Ash pulled as much water out of the air as he could. Not much, but it was all he had. He let it fall to the floor and jumped over the puddle.
There was another screech as his pursuer slipped on the wet floor. But it only delayed the creature momentarily. Ash could sense it getting closer to him.
He could see the elevator up ahead. He wasn't going to make it if he kept running. Ash came to a full stop and dropped to the ground.
The creature flew over him. Ash reached out with his hand and summoned the water. Shaping it into a whip, he flicked his wrist and hit the elevator call button, thankfully with enough pressure to push it.
The creature skidded to a stop and turned around. Ash swallowed and pushed himself to his feet. "All right, you stupid thing," he muttered, tightening his grip on his knife. "Come on. Jump on me."
Its mouth opened, and out came the clicking sound. The creature's legs bent as it crouched, preparing to jump. Ash braced himself.
The elevator doors opened the same moment it moved. Ash lunged forward, ducking his head, and ran. The creature flew over him and landed somewhere behind him, but he didn't stop running until he reached the elevator.
Ash slammed the close door button as he flew in. Turning around, he held up his knife and watched the creature reorient itself. It ran toward him as the doors began closing.
Comeoncomeoncomeoncomeoncomeon—
It was three feet away when the doors shut. The creature slammed into them with a frightening thud. Ash pressed himself up against the back of the elevator as it began its descent. The horrible clicking sound came again from above.
The doors opened again. Ash sprinted to the Barracks. He wasn't sure if it was possible for that thing to get down here, but he needed to get protection.
His hands shook so hard he struggled to unlock the door. When he finally got it open, he forced himself to take a deep breath and stepped inside.
Ten soldiers were waiting to be activated. Ash opened the crates they'd been delivered in and waited for them to line up.
"Soldiers," he said. "We're under attack. Defend the building from the Supers."
"Yes, sir."
Ash gulped. "There may be something waiting for us when we exit the elevator. A creature. If you see it, kill it."
"Yes, sir."
The soldiers couldn't all fit in the elevator at once. Despite the fear coursing through his body, Ash stepped into the elevator with the first group. "Stay in front of me," he ordered. He knew the soldiers were robots, not human, but he still felt a twinge of guilt at using them as a shield.
Don't be ridiculous. That's what they're for.
The doors opened and they were back on the first floor. Just two hallways between them and the other elevator. The hallway in front of them was empty, which Ash found even more unnerving. The creature was probably waiting to ambush him.
It didn't take long for him to be proven correct. As soon as the doors closed and the elevator left to collect the remaining soldiers, the creature came around the corner.
The soldier in front held up its gun and fired. The creature screeched, but other than that it seemed unphased by the bullet embedded in its side. It broke into a run and started closing the gap between them.
"Distract it!" Ash ordered the soldiers. "If you can get past it, follow me to the other elevator."
Another soldier fired a bullet into the thing's chest. When it turned on that soldier, Ash took the chance to go around it.
He didn't look back until he reached the elevator. The fight was getting closer, and Ash could hear the soldiers shooting at the creature and doing their best to keep it surrounded.
The doors open. Ash hesitated before stepping inside. Claudia would be upset if he didn't bring the soldiers with him.
But he felt like he had a pretty good reason for failing.
~
"Ash, that's insane." Claudia rubbed her temples as Altered trickled past. The evacuation had begun, but most were still caught up in the battle.
"I know." Ash glanced behind him. What if that thing came upstairs? "We should tell everyone to get out. Now."
"We don't want to cause mass panic. Besides, It's probably dead. It's down there with ten soldiers you ordered to kill it."
"The bullets didn't seem to do much," Ash said.
"Well, I'm not ready to give up on Scorpion quite yet. I have a few things to take care of, so go defend the building or get in a jetchopper."