She reached for the communication unit, but something seemed different about it. She blinked through the haze of stress and fear. It had been smashed—broken, probably—by one of the thrashing tendrils or a body that had been thrown against it.

Well, that’s it, her brain sang cheerfully. You tried, but there’s nothing to be done. Better get to one of the ships and hightail it out of here.

Kala squinted her eyes nearly shut, fighting against her body’s desire to collapse. The smell of blood and body fluids was thick, sticking in her throat and coating her tongue. This isn’t the only unit.

She stumbled towards the door, averting her eyes from the carnage, half-afraid that it would burn onto her retinas, half-afraid that she would recognise one of the bodies. Her head felt foggy and light as she forced her legs to carry her to the door, out of the room, and down the hallway. As soon as her nose cleared of the visceral odour, she drew a deep, shaky breath and broke into a jog.

Where’s the next closest system? The kitchen or the bedrooms or—

A tall figure burst out of one of the rooms in front of her. Kala had been so focussed on watching her feet that she nearly ran into the tip of the gun.

“Get back! Get back!” a voice screamed at her. It was familiar, somehow.

Kala raised her eyes to stare at the woman looming over her. “Vivian?”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

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.”