Dust

The shouting guards were drowned out by the screeching of the alarm, red lights flashing in time with the excessive noise as they ran through halls with their guns at the ready to shoot to kill. A group of ten followed a trail of crimson smears plastered on the left wall, the group leader, David, motioning them to stop as they came up to a corridor. He strained his ears for any sign of which way the escapee had gone, but the only sound that reached him was the buzzing.

“Tell them to turn of the fucking alarm,” he yelled into his walkie talkie, pressing his back against the wall as he kept his eyes peeled for any sign of movement that wasn't from his men. After a few long and torturous moments the alarm ceased, the red lights still flashing in time with the silence. David swallowed hard, the only sound he could now hear was the rushing of his blood as he pushed himself off the wall. He was now wishing that he hadn't taken Kevin up on the offer of switching shifts with him. Enduring a thunder storm on the twenty mile drive into work seemed like a cake walk at the moment. He quickly glanced at his men before aiming his gun again, checking the open corridors with haste. They were clear, which was both good and bad. Good because they didn't have to be the ones to deal with the repercussions of what the scientists had done. Bad because it was still their job to search for and find the specimen.

David let out a shaky breath as his hands fumbled for his flashlight placed inside his belt. He flicked it on, carefully bathing the sides of the halls in a white light as he tried to figure out which way it had gone. His eyes snapped back as they caught the familiar smear of blood, his flashlight dropping back into his belt loop. He signaled the men behind him to slowly make their way behind as he crept around the corner, following the smears once more. David felt his heart jump but his body stay tense as the sound of a metal pan hitting the linoleum floor reverberated throughout the hall. He made the motion for his men to stand still once more, closing his eyes for a brief moment, pictures of his wife and three year old daughter flashing behind his lids as he tried to recall the last words he said to them both.

He snapped them back open, a rediscovered need to get home bursting within him. He wasn't going to let this thing beat him. His eyes drifted towards the wall where the blood was, following it down to an opened door. That's where it is. It has to be, he thought, motioning for his men to start following him towards it. They stopped briefly outside the door before rushing in, lasers from the tips of their guns pointing all over the room.

There it stood, in the middle of the room donned in a bloodied hospital gown. It's gaze fixated on the ground before it, it's long, matted covering it's face. “Help me,” it pleaded in a tiny, crackly voice.

“What did it say,” Jason, one of the men behind David, asked.

“Help me,” it pleaded, slightly louder.

“Does it really fucking matter, just shoot the bitch,” Aaron said, cocking his gun.

“Don't,” David yelled as it shot it's head and hands up, a light bursting from the palms.

The sounds of bullets and screams followed, everyone falling to the floor with loud thuds. The fight didn't last long, no one had expected it to either way. David croaked out, his vision blurry as his eyes searched the room, his comrades lay dead all around him. He could feel the prickling sensation of tears start to burn his eyes as he spurted out blood onto the floor and he found himself repeating the same thing the creature had said, “help me.” He didn't know who he was saying it to, or if anyone could hear him. But he had to try.

Panic started to rise in his throat as it walked into his eyesight. He knew it was over. It was going to kill him. It looked down at him, a mixture of loathing, pity and regret filling it's insides. It couldn't leave him to die. Bending down to David, it cupped his jaw in it's hand, kissing him softly on the lips. David tried to pull away, confusion bursting within him. “It's going to be okay now,” it said in a soft feminine voice, laying his head back down. “I promise.”