I can see nothing. My eyes start to dart around the dark abyss from the safety of my helmet and I can feel panic rising within me. Then it’s broken. “Josh get a hold of yourself.” Charlie states with a raised voice over the comm.

“Sorry.” I say as I hold out my arm trying to find a wall. Eventually I feel cool metal under my fingers so I face the opposite direction and back up until my I feel the metal against my back. “Charlie, where are you?” I ask.

“I’m against a wall. You?” He responds.

“Likewise.” I answer.

“Good. Dave, where are you?” Charlie asks.

“I am located against a wall.” He responds in a neutral tone.

“Ok, we need to avoid moving so we don’t separate from each other.” Charlie tells us.

“Wait, we need to all take off our helmets.” I say.

“Why?” Charlie asks.

“So we can locate each other based on the sound of our voices.” I explain.

“Of course.” Charlie says followed by a dull thud. I hurriedly take of my helmet and put it under my arm. Then I listen for a few moments.

“Josh! Dave!” I hear Charlie yell to my right.

“I’m over here Charlie.” I yell back. I hear metallic thumps and then feel something on my shoulder. “Is that you Charlie?”

“Yeah, it’s me.” He responds. “We need to stay together so I’m going to keep my hand on your shoulder, got it.”

“Yeah.” I say.

“Dave!” He yells. “Dave, where are you?”

“Over here.” He responds in a raised voice. Quickly but carefully we travel towards his voice. I keep my hand on the wall to help with orientation and to give me comfort. After a bit we manage to arrive at the source of the voice.

I put my other hand out and try to find Dave. While I’m moving my arm I hear a sound that makes my blood run cold. It was the screech of carapace on metal. I move my arm around more but I still can’t find Dave.

“Dave!” I yell.

“Yes ‘Josh’.” He responds from a few feet away. ‘Damn it he’s on the other side of the hallway.’ The screeching grows louder. ‘Do I goto the otherside or do I tell him to come to us? Fuck it.’

“Dave, don’t move we’re coming.” I yell then I start walking to the otherside of the hallway. The screeching isn’t far away. I speed up my pace and run face first into the other wall. “Fuck.” I fall down to the floor.

“Are you ok?” Charlie asks, hand still on my shoulder. The screeching is almost upon us.

“Yeah. Dave, come to us.”I yell my words quick and frantic.

“Affirmative.” He responds not to far away. I hear metal thumps but they are overpowered by the screeching. Then it stopped. I felt something pass me quickly along with a meaty thunk. Then something crashed to the floor.

“Dave?” No response. “Dave.” Still no response. “DAVE!” No response.Then I hear the woosh again. ‘I don’t want to die. Not in the dark. Not on the ground. Not after… Dave.’ I feel my blood boiling in anger. ‘I WILL NOT DIE. NOT HERE. I WILL AVENGE YOU DAVE.’ Then my heart sped up and my body started to move. I fell back just in time to avoid whatever was coming at me. Once the air passed my my hand shot up and grab something hard which quickly pulled me towards the thing. My body angled itself and let go of what I was holding on to. Using the momentum I hit the thing with both my feet. It collapsed under the force and I quickly straddled it’s back. My hand shot back as I heard another whoosh. I redirected it then I heard a metal thunk. With precision and power I ponded what I presumed to be the neck with my elbows. After awhile I started to hear screeching and I felt it struggle to get what I presumed was its tail out of the floor, but I continued. I continued when the screeching grew loud, I continued when my elbow started to burn, and I continued when the body went limp. Then it was over.

I stood up and yelled out, “Charlie, where are you?”

“Over here.” I hear from my left.

“Ok I’ll come to you.” I said then I started to walk towards him. I only get a few steps before I feel an immense pain throughout my entire body.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

Then everything went dark.