A faint metallic sound broke through the silence before he could finish his sentence. He swung his rifle off his back and shouldered it, peering down the tunnel with the scope. The crosshairs on his HUD glowed red as the wireless link synched the weapon with his helmet. He scanned the darkness for signatures but saw nothing.

For several minutes they waited, until the metallic scraping finally faded away.

“It could have been anything,” Overton said, but he knew it was a lie. He was all too familiar with the sound the Spiders made as they moved on their knife-like claws. However, they seemed to be gone for now. There wasn’t anything in the passages, save for rusted pipes and corroded wires.

Sophie forced herself forward, hugging the walls close behind Overton. She felt like something was watching her, tailing just behind them in the dark tunnel. Every few seconds she stole a glance over her shoulder to make sure the tunnel was clear.

It wasn’t long before they could see a blue light at the other end of the passage. They both blinked off their night vision and halted.

Overton balled his hand into a fist and took one knee. Sophie followed suit, and as if they’d drilled the motion countless times, they raised their rifles in unison and waited—waited for the Spiders to swarm the tunnel and consume them. Even when Sophie’s arm grew tired and her gun began to shake and dip, they still held their position.

Finally, after what seemed like hours to Sophie, Overton stood and took a step forward into some sort of sticky goo. He didn’t take his eyes off the entrance of the passage—he didn’t need to. The substance he had stepped in was the same goo he had all over his armor. It was the blood of an injured Organic.

Which meant the massacre hadn’t been as one-sided as he thought. He motioned Sophie to join him with a silent nod and together they advanced toward the blue glow. With every step Sophie grew more anxious, her ears straining to catch a hint of metallic scraping. But the tunnel remained silent; it seemed they were alone.

From their vantage point, Overton could see that the passage opened up into another lobby. It was filled with orbs; too many to count. And hanging from the ceiling were dozens of Spiders.

Overton froze. Fear gripped him and prodded him to run, to retreat, but he remained still. If Sophie was right, the creatures could sense movement even with their senses confused by the RVM. It was the one advantage he had, and he wasn’t about to blow it because he was scared.