His black flesh felt disgusting and cold, like a horribly mutated slug. Maren’s right arm pressed into the empty skin, and the sensation of human flesh with nothing behind it was almost enough to make her scream.

Mark hadn’t been expecting the attack, and the effort was just enough to bowl them both over. They tumbled to the floor, the multitude of tendrils loosening a fraction, and Maren was able to wrench her arms free. She hit the floor and rolled, trying to put as much distance as possible between herself and the repulsive creature. In front of her, just out of arm’s reach, lay the gun.

A high, terrified sound filled the hallway. It took Maren a heartbeat to realise it was Gin, screaming as she thrashed and kicked in Holly’s grip.

Maren lunged forward and snagged the gun at the same moment Mark’s tendrils latched on to her ankle. She let him pull her back into himself as she rolled onto her back and aimed at Holly.

The crack sounded unusually loud as it bounced off the steel walls. A large section of the black creature was blasted open, and black smoke rose from the scorched flesh as Holly writhed and squirmed. A second scream joined Gin’s, and Maren grinned viciously as Holly wailed in pain and rage.

Gotcha.

She turned back to her own assailant. Mark’s smile was gone. Instead, he looked furious. His human face was bubbling, the skin distorting horrifically. He tried to snatch the gun out of her hand, but Maren slipped her hand under his grasping tendril and shot a round directly into his human face before lowering the gun and sending another round into the black core.

His tendril twitched as each round hit him, squeezing her leg so hard that it brought tears to her eyes. For a second, she thought she might join Saul in the Broken Leg Brigade, but then the tendril loosened enough for her to kick free.

She’d barely turned over when Holly hit her. Bright light exploded across her eyes as she was tossed down the hallway like a ragdoll, her aching limbs screaming in protest. A headache started up in the back of her head. She’d managed to keep a hold on the gun, though, and she fired a blind shot in the direction she thought the attack had come from. She heard the hot sizzle and pop of heated metal and knew she’d hit the wall instead.

“Left!” Gin screamed from somewhere behind her.

Thank goodness you’re okay, Maren thought as she raised the gun and fired another blind shot. This time, she was rewarded with a bestial scream.

Her vision started to clear as she scrambled to her feet. She caught a glimpse of pink—Gin—and ran in its direction. Something large hit the wall just behind her, and she knew she’d narrowly avoided another attack. She was disoriented, but Gin grabbed the front of her suit and dragged her through a doorway before slamming it behind them. One of the beasts hit in her wake, rattling the metal structure and cracking the small window. Maren, dizzy and sick, let herself slide to the floor.