She never thought she’d be glad to hear that the MCB was here, but despite her pummeling the hell out of it, the Nemesis monster was getting up. Her limbs were burning, she was short of breath. “Die already!” Desperate, Heather grabbed the end of the stuck horn, and wrenched it around, pushing hard until the monster’s neck snapped. That seemed to do the trick, as it lost its slimy grip and tumbled down the shaft.

Heather watched it fall until it hit something unyielding, bounced against the side, and disappeared into the darkness.

There was another Nemesis soldier hanging onto the ladder. This one still looked human, but he was fast. He surged forward as Heather kicked the hatch closed, but he still managed to get one hand through the gap. She slammed the hatch down hard against the bones, and when he still didn’t let go, she climbed on top of the hatch and began jumping up and down on it.

There was a pop as the hatch closed all the way. The severed hand flopped on the ground, fingers still clutching wildly. Too bad it locks on the other side. But she barely had time to finish that thought, as the monster smashed the hatch wide open, flinging Heather on the floor.

Renfroe pulled the massive door; it groaned and barely moved, but a sliver of daylight came through the crack. “Almost there!” Then somebody on the other side hit the door with such force that Renfroe was knocked down as it flew open.

A lone man was standing there, a dark silhouette in the sunlight. He stepped into the room, wearing MCB armor and a face mask, with a very large tank on his back and a flamethrower in his hands. Over the strong smell of napalm and impending doom, another familiar scent hit Heather, and she almost couldn’t believe her nose. “No way.”

The one-armed Nemesis soldier was climbing through the broken hatch. The man stepped forward, shoved the nozzle right into the soldier’s face and set it off.

Heather dove to the side as the flamethrower ignited. Fire rolled down the shaft. The small room was instantly flooded with unbearable heat. The Nemesis monster screamed as he was engulfed. He let go of the ladder and dropped, trying to escape the destroying flames.

The trigger was released and the fire died. The masked man saw Stricken making a run for daylight. “You’re not going anywhere, jackass,” he said as he smoothly drew a stainless steel revolver and fired a single round into Stricken’s back, dropping him at the end of the tunnel.

“I can’t believe it!” Heather sprang up and ran to him.