Station 333 by Darcy Coates

Author:Darcy Coates [Coates, Darcy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Candlebreak
Published: 2016-03-09T18:30:00+00:00

5

Kala had never seen the immaculate, precise scientist look so fierce… or so dirty. Vivian’s long black plait was mussed, and patches of hair poked out at odd angles. Strands fell over her sweaty face, partially blocking one of her intensely wild eyes. Her neatly pressed suit was scuffed and stained with dark spots, and the hands gripping the gun had turned pale and veiny.

They stared at each other for a moment, the tip of Vivian’s gun pointed at Kala’s head, then Vivian let out a sigh and lowered her weapon. “Be more careful, Holcroft. Not everyone will give you the benefit of the doubt.”

Kala rubbed a hand over her face. “There’s, uh, alien, body snatcher—”

“You noticed, did you?” Vivian barked. Her carefully cultivated aloofness was gone; in its place was cold fury. She kept turning her head, peering up and down the hallway. “There were only two of them to begin with, but they’re taking over their victims’ bodies. You can’t trust anyone.”

“Wait. Why are you trusting me?”

Vivian snorted. It sounded almost like suppressed laughter. “They don’t stare at you stupidly when you point a gun at them.”

“Ah.” Kala glanced at the weapon and shook her head. “Bullets won’t hurt them. They can repair damage at a phenomenal speed. You’ve got to burn them.”

“What?”

“Burn them. You know, fire. I was trying to get to an announcement unit to—”

“But the one in the rec room’s broken.” Vivian grabbed Kala’s arm and pulled her down the hallway. “Okay, we need to get to the weapons room. There are flamethrowers in there.”

“What? Really? How did you know that?”

Vivian paused just long enough to give Kala an incredulous glare. “I’m ex-military. I never stay in a building if I don’t know the exits, defences, and emergency plans. Come on; we need to hurry.”

“Okay, but the announcement box—”

Vivian’s grip was too strong to fight as she dragged Kala around a corner and down the hallway leading to the military sector. “Stop being stupid. You won’t be able to help anyone if you get killed halfway across the station.”

It took Kala a second to latch onto the logic, but then she broke into a jog, following Vivian into the metal-lined passageways. Vivian stopped abruptly, and Kala nearly ran into her back. A body in the middle of the hallway blocked their path. Kala recognised Denise, one of the senior researchers. Her bushy hair was thrown out in a halo around her head, and her open eyes stared sightlessly at the ceiling. Vivian swore under her breath and pointed her gun at the prone woman.

“What are you doing?” Kala hissed, snatching the tip of the gun and pushing it down to face the ground.

“She’s changing,” Vivian said simply. Her face had taken on a pale-grey tinge, but her eyes were hard. “I saw it in the rec room. The creatures can do one of two things to you: they can kill you, or they can take over your body. Trust me on this—the first option is the far greater mercy.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.