Reflexively you lifted the backpack to throw it with full force on the monster.

Papers poured out and obscured the view for a moment.

You used this brief moment to disappear behind a table.

The monster cried out. It was a loud, deafening scream that seemed neither human nor out of this world.

Holding your breath, you crawled across the floor on all fours while your eyes desperately searched for a way out.
Footsteps sounded behind you. The monster was so heavy that the ground began to shake under its feet.

Silently cursing, you wanted to take the direction to the gate, but the way there was long and without objects that could have offered protection. But you couldn't go back to the stairs either, the monster was in the way.

Like a rat in a trap, you crawled under a table and tried to get as far away as possible.

But the monster appeared to be intelligent.

Furious, it grabbed the tables and knocked over everything in its path.

Your heart pounded, your grip on the scalpel tightened. It was no longer far away, you could already hear it coming right in your direction.

You quickly slid to the side, into a dark corner behind a cabinet, and pressed both hands over your mouth to suppress your breath.

Shots rang out. The sound of glass breaking filled the silence. Suddenly the floor became wet and the smell of disinfectant spread through the lab.

You flinched in surprise. A tiny sound escaped you, barely more than a gasp.

All at once, everything was silent.

The hairs on the back of your neck stood up, you almost thought your heart would stop in your chest.

You had no chance against this monster. It was not only much bigger, but also armed. Maybe JD could have defeated it, but he wasn't there to help you.

And in a way, you were glad he wasn't. At least the creature could only hurt you and he would be spared.

"JD...", you gasped with a trembling voice. "Please be careful..."

Suddenly the cabinet you were crouching behind was ripped out of the floor with inhuman force and thrown across the room.

With a loud bang, the metal shell hit the wall of cultivated plants, destroying the delicate leaves.

Your eyes quickly jumped to the stairs. The way up was now clear. You just had to be fast enough.

With a grim look you glanced up at the creature. Its eyes met yours and for a second you could see something human in them.

Hesitation.

The creature hesitated to attack you. But only for a second.

Threateningly it stretched out its big paw at you, sharp claws threatening to dig into your skull.

You clenched your teeth and stabbed with the scalpel.

The pointed blade broke through the leathery skin with surprising ease and dug so deep into the flesh that your hands were drenched with blood.

Crying out in pain and surprise, it stumbled back, dropping its gun.

Nimbly you grabbed it and wanted to run away.

But the monster was more agile than it appeared. With a furious scrap,, it grabbed your leg and pulled you off the ground.

Surprised, you gasped as the earth turned and you suddenly found yourself upside down in the air. You raised the barrel of the gun, your finger already on the trigger, but one blow to the face and everything turned.

The feeling of warm blood ran down your face. Your nose was throbbing.

Coughing in pain, you dropped the gun.

Your eyes rolled back and for a moment it felt like you were going to throw up. Everything blurred and became watery.

But in the next instant, the world was drowned in pain.

Screaming loudly, you opened your eyes as the monster's claws dug into your ribs. Flesh and muscles were torn, bones bent and splintered. Your whole body tensed as blood soaked your clothes.

A gush of red poured onto the floor.

Grunting with satisfaction, it raised its hand to its eyes and looked at the sticky fingers.

Hot tears ran down your cheeks.

Suddenly all your senses became sharp. Adrenaline rushed through every corner of your body.

Gasping for breath, you tried to remember what JD had told you in case of a serious injury. You had to think fast. In the worst case scenario, you didn't have much time before the survival instinct wore off. Then it was just a matter of luck to survive.

Your eyes jumped through the room.

Not far from you was the cold room. It had originally been build to keep fragile samples safe but you remembered that the COG soldiers that had installed it had joked about it being strong enough to preserve a human over a small timeframe.

It wasn't a good option, but the only you had.

Your eyes jumped back to the monster, spotting the scalpel sticking out of its shoulder.

Out of reflex, your hand jumped up and pulled it out.

Struck by surprise, it watched you, trying to understand.

With a hoarse scream, you reached out and rammed the entire scalpel into its eye.

Blood splintered your face.

Screaming and bending in pain, it lost its grip on you.

A gasp escaped your lips as you hit the ground and landed in a puddle of your own blood. Without loosing time, you managed to drag yourself across the room. Pain made your limbs shake, your mind was about to go black.

With your last remaining strength, you managed to pull yourself up and open the door of the cool room before the monster managed to recover from the attack. Blood ran down your legs, into your boots and covered the floor.

Icy, dry air hit your face.

The monster screamed. Its head snapped to the side, the remaining eye fixating on you. It jumped forward, hands outstretched.

Gasping, you managed to push yourself through the door and pull it shut. Immediately, the automatic security system launched, sealing it.

A shockwave made the ground tremble as the monster hit the bulletproof safety glass.

Coughing and shivering, you collapsed on the ground. Your eyes started to grow heavy as small crystals of ice started to bloom on your fingertips.

"James...", you whispered as your own blood hugged you. "Please... be quick..."