The flickering lights cast shadows across the dingy elevator room. Rebecca's heart pounded as she sprinted from the shuddering elevator car, her boots thudding against the scuffed tile floor. A guttural roar shattered the tense silence behind her. She risked a glance over her shoulder—huge claws ripped through the elevator ceiling, shredding the thin metal like a ragged tin can. A chill lanced down her spine. That thing wouldn't stop until it ripped her apart.
"Billy!" Her voice cracked with desperation as she raced toward the exit, praying her partner had the engine running. She burst through the parking garage's shutter door into the shadowy lot. Towering concrete pillars threw menacing silhouettes, potential threats lurking in every dark corner.
Rebecca scanned the scattered vehicles, searching for any sign of Billy. There—a blinking light in the distance. She pumped her legs harder, sneakers skidding as she wheeled around a battered pickup truck. The illumination pulsed from an old Humvee. She threw herself at the driver's side door.
"Billy! Billy!" The door flung open and her partner emerged, shoulders tense.
"What? What's wrong?"
"Start the car right now!" She clawed at the handle but his firm grip stopped her.
"The battery's dead." His jaw clenched. "I think I saw one over there. Why the rush—the guy with the gas mask?"
How could she make him understand? "No! A monster...a freak...a freakin' monster! He's right behind—"A bone-chilling roar drowned out her words, echoing through the cavernous garage.
Billy's eyes widened with stark realization. "Okay, I need five minutes," he said, voice hardening to steel. "Do you have any ammo?"
Mouth dry with panic. "You want me to take that thing on alone?"
"No." His piercing glare brooked no argument. "I want you to stall for time until I get this thing started." Before she could protest, he turned on his heel and strode into the gloom, shoulders squared.
Rebecca stared after him, fear and frustration churning in her gut. Could she buy them five minutes against that...that horror? She swallowed hard and lifted her rifle with a trembling hand. For both their sakes, she had no choice.
Meanwhile, HUNK methodically inspected his bulletproof vest, tweezers plucking twisted lead pellets from the Kevlar weave with a soft tinkling sound. The open medical kit beside him held a ghastly collection of bloodstained gauze. He paused, listening as the radio crackled with William Birkin's hysterical voice.
"Do you have a MINIMUM idea of the information on that floppy disk? You...me...your boss...your boss's boss—they're all on there! Enough evidence to bankrupt us. And that's being optimistic!"
Birkin's rant escalated into incoherent shrieking about a little girl getting the diskette. With a weary sigh, HUNK clicked off the radio and exhaled slowly. Time to refocus on tending his wounds. Shrapnel littered the tile as he resumed digging out the shredded slugs lodged in his vest, each bullet leaving a miniscule metallic ping as it hit the floor.
The parking garage yawned in eerie silence as the grotesque monstrosity burst through the entrance, its hefty claws gripping the blind and tossing it carelessly aside. With a resounding thud, the metal barrier crashed against the unforgiving concrete, sealing them in there. Rebecca's heart pounded against her ribs as she huddled behind a battered sedan, rifle clutched in trembling hands.
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The beast lumbered aimlessly for a moment, each thunderous footfall reverberating through the garage. Suddenly, it froze, nostrils flaring as it caught her scent on the stale air. Its reptilian eyes zeroed in on Billy's car.
Steadying her nerves, Rebecca rested the rifle on the sedan's roof and squeezed the trigger. The deafening report echoed through the chamber as the bullet slammed into the back of the creature's skull. It recoiled, pivoting that grotesque head to face her hiding spot. Their gazes locked for an eternal heartbeat before Rebecca broke into a desperate sprint. The chase was on.
She zigzagged through the maze of abandoned vehicles, the monster's pursuit shaking the very ground beneath her feet. Gulping frantic breaths, Rebecca risked a glance over her shoulder - and immediately regretted it. The unholy amalgam of flesh and hatred closed the distance with shocking speed, its massive talons scrabbling against the concrete.
Another turn, another hail of bullets ineffectually peppering its scaled hide as it shielded its repulsive face. Rebecca veered sharply, the world wheeling as she bent low. Jaws snapped shut mere inches above her head as the behemoth slammed bodily into a nearby car, showering them in a rain of shattered glass.
No time to catch her breath - the relentless beast surged forward again. Rebecca backpedaled furiously, weapons fire doing little to deter her pursuer. A dead-end loomed ahead, the wall of a sedan blocking her escape. Heart in her throat, she committed to a final, desperate gambit.
Pouring on what little speed she could muster, Rebecca aimed herself straight for the obstacle. At the last possible moment, she leapt, planting her feet on the car's door and sliding under the monster's raking swipe. Its claws screeched against the sedan's metal skin as she crashed to the ground on her back, rifle clenching off a few last futile rounds.
Spinning, gasping for air, Rebecca scrambled to her feet and fled once more into the maze, the reverberating thuds of the monstrosity in hot pursuit. Rebecca's heart pounded as the monstrous amalgam escaped the confines of the vehicle. She lost sight of it for a fleeting moment, the thunderous thuds of its descent echoing through the metallic labyrinth.
Suddenly, she heard it leaping from hood to hood, the impact reverberating through the stillness. Peering ahead, she witnessed the creature bouncing from car to car, its grotesque form closing in on her with alarming speed. Gripped by fear, Rebecca broke into a frantic sprint, the amalgam hot on her heels. She continued to unload her magazine in a desperate attempt to stop the pursuit.
As she neared the edge of the vehicular maze, she frantically retrieved a smoke grenade from her pocket and hurled it a few meters ahead. The amalgam launched itself from the vehicle, hurtling towards Rebecca. Shielding her eyes and mouth, she braced herself as the creature collided with the grenade, enveloping them in a thick, obscuring smoke.
Undeterred, the amalgam continued its relentless chase, claws scraping against the ground as it slithered through the haze. Beneath the rickety shelter of a jeep, Rebecca lay face up, her rifle clutched tightly. Tears stung her irritated eyes, the acrid smoke burning her lungs. With shaky hands, she reloaded her weapon, meticulously avoiding the telltale click of the charging handle.
Through the haze, she glimpsed the monster's feet approaching her makeshift sanctuary. Tracking its movements with the barrel of her rifle, she tensed as the creature leaped over the jeep. Panic surged through her veins, prompting her to switch to her pistol for a better upward trajectory. Holding her breath, she stifled a tear that threatened to betray her position. The amalgam's weight dented the hood as it stalked across the vehicle's surface. An involuntary cough escaped Rebecca's lips, alerting the beast to her presence.
Without hesitation, she emptied her pistol's magazine through the car's hood, eliciting an anguished screech from the creature. Ammunition depleted, Rebecca swiftly transitioned back to her rifle as the amalgam's claws raked beneath the jeep's chassis.
With a deft motion, she triggered the charging handle and unleashed a barrage of gunfire directly into the monster's skull. The impact reverberated through its grotesque form as it recoiled, screeching in agony, before retreating with a final, desperate leap onto another vehicle.