Hollow Scars

Other than the sound of waves crashing against the docks all was quiet in Cape Town. There were very few who dared venture that way past nightfall. The shipyard was located in a less than perfect neighborhood. Those brave enough to dare the streets after dark were usually armed heavily and up to no good. Darker areas of town provided the anonymity Scarlett preferred. She’d learned a long time ago to easily find her way through a crowd of thugs unnoticed given the nature of her past career. At first she’d been timid and had gotten in more trouble than most thanks to the way she looked but eventually she’d learned how to carry herself confidently enough not to be toyed with.

If anyone got persistently in her way Scarlett would kick their ass to the curb and be on her way before they knew what had happened. Those who inhabited the underground generally had a sense of when they should back off and who was and wasn’t worth bothering. Scarlett had an air about her that kept her safe in dangerous places. She had confidence in her ability to protect herself against most people. Only the dumbest of criminals would give her a hard time in a dark alley, and the stupid ones were always the easiest to take down.

Creeping through the alleys between the rundown buildings just outside of the seaport Scarlett was practically invisible amongst the few people who dared venture out that late in the night. Easily she’d located the ship her Indian contact had spoken of earlier in the day after she’d landed in Cape Town that afternoon and had set up a camera so she could watch people come and go. There had been no one she recognized boarding or leaving the ship and nothing had been taken off or brought onto it during the few hours she’d had the camera set up. At night, the ship seemed equally abandoned. It was more than suspicious.

Scarlett was convinced more than ever that even the appearance of the ship was a complex set up by MedCo in an attempt to lure her into a trap. The situation oozed with deceit and malice. The opportunity was simply too good to be legitimate. Her contact in India had been right right about it being a clever ruse to lure her in. But MedCo continued to underestimate Scarlett’s abilities. They’d defeated her multiple times over the last few weeks but she hadn’t truly been herself. Between having thought she was responsible for Scott’s death and then falling in love with a man she was supposed to hate and want dead, her life had gotten more than a little mixed up.[a name="here"][/a]

No longer would Scarlett let her conflicting emotional issues interfere with her work. Her thoughts were clearer than they’d been in months and her health had improved tenfold in the last twenty four hours. Scarlett would have to remember to thank Tony for the medicine he’d provided her with and for taking such good care of her. Knowing that he wouldn’t show up at the most inopportune time had taken a huge weight off of her shoulders. She loved that Tony cared enough about her to give chase, but she had spent the last two weeks being petrified that he would get hurt because of her. She couldn’t stand the idea of him being harmed the way that she had thought Scott had been held prisoner. The worrying had thrown off her game considerably.

As the moon crept higher into the night sky, hidden by pale clouds Scarlett snuck between buildings preparing her getaway plan. If she was caught on the ship by MedCo Security then she’d need a window of opportunity to escape from confined quarters. She had spent most of the flight planning that escape route and the rest of the afternoon repairing her Tesla glove and procuring ammunition for her handgun. The buildings on the dock were nearly all made from wood, along with the dock itself. So Scarlett had decided the easiest fail safe she could create would be fire.

The only down side was that her plan would cut off the dock as an escape route but Scarlett was an adept swimmer and familiar with the area. If necessary, Scarlett would be able to swim to a number of safe harbors. The evening was spent spreading an accelerant along the far end of the dock near the building that housed supplies for ship maintenance performed there on a daily basis and along the edges of the dock near the water. It was just enough to cause an inferno. After obtaining a few coils of rope for personal use, Scarlett set up ignition points that would respond to a singular switch at her command.

The trigger was built into a disposable remote switch she built during the day after having repaired her Tesla glove. It could have just as easily been triggered by her phone but that would’ve been too easy for authorities to trace, even the less sophisticated bureaus. If it came to her setting off the switch as she predicted would happen, then the fire would be massive enough to garner attention from onlookers who would alert the proper authorities. The distraction would give her between two to five minutes to get in the water and escape before police could get to her, maybe longer depending on how quickly the fire spread. It wasn’t much time but it was all that someone with her skills would require in order to disappear.

The only way that MedCo would get the upper hand on this mission would be if they killed her. Scarlett would sink the whole damn ship if she had to just to avoid capture. She’d decided earlier that the easiest way onto the ship would be to board it via the gangway like everyone else would. While she could tie one of the ropes onto the railing and climb up the side of the ship, it would’ve been far noisier for her to do than it would’ve been just to board the ship regularly. Slowly she crept along the dock between ships, relying on shadows in the cloudy night to hide her from view.

She was sure that someone on the ship was expecting her to make an appearance sometime soon but they likely didn’t expect her to waltz right on like it was no big deal. Passersby would think that she belonged there and think nothing of her. But there were no people walking by that night to think her suspicious. There had been a few thugs hanging out in the darker corners of the town outside of the dock but they had ignored Scarlett while she’d moved through the city. Being summer it was still much too warm for her to wear a large jacket, but she had chosen to anyway. It was uncomfortable but provided her with anonymity since it hid her feminine form. The additional ability to carry extra ammunition and the accelerant unseen beneath her jacket had been a bonus that made it worth the sweat.

Once on the upper deck of the ship, Scarlett moved slowly and quietly to get a good feel of it bobbing on the waves beneath her. It was a large cargo ship, obviously designed to transport large heavy crates of various freight. She’d investigate the bridge next, then the decks below the ship and then finally the lowest levels of the ship where the cargo was usually stored. The further in she went the more difficult her escape would become.

As she walked silently in the darkness across the deck of the ship she took the rope she’d stolen and tied it to various pieces of the ship’s railing and let it hang over the edge and dangle above the water. If she had to make a quick exit then the rope could provide a way to break her fall into the dark current below.

She was confident she could make the dive off of the ship and into the water safely but if she was being chased by MedCo Security Agents then she wasn’t positive she would be able to escape as smoothly as if she had been an unexpected guest. The entire set up was too simple for there not to be obstacles waiting for her below. Someone wanted Scarlett on that ship and there was likely something awful waiting for her.

Still, it was worth the risk given. If she could obtain proof of what MedCo was up to even if it was something simple in combination with the manifest signed by the heads of the company then Scarlett would be able to put them behind bars, or at least start the investigation that would put them there in the long run. Then she could take her life back, hopefully. There was very little proof of her past history outside of the files that SHIELD had kept on her and even then they had only theories and no actual evidence that she’d been responsible for anything. Thanks to MedCo, every accomplishment along with every crime she’d ever committed had been stricken from the record. They’d wanted no one to miss her and no proof of her existence to bite them in the ass when they’d taken her for whatever intention they’d had.

It was the only thing MedCo had ever done that had worked in her favor. She was guessing a life with Tony would be highly publicized and her criminal history would certainly have been brought to light if it had still existed. Once she’d tied the last rope on the railing, Scarlett made her way to the hatch that would lead her onto the bridge of the ship. There were metal steps that echoed her footfalls regardless of how gingerly or skillfully she moved leading to the bridge.

Inside the cockpit there was very little to see and nothing out of the ordinary. There was a shipping manifest, listing the cargo as medical supplies with an item count along with the standard machinery that would control the ship. There was very little else of interest outside of that. Scarlett found the electronic control panel for communication throughout the ship and to the mainland then with the knife she kept in her boot, cut the wires. No one would be contacting anyone from the ship if she had her way. Sure that she hadn’t missed anything on the bridge, Scarlett left down the same echoing stairs and walked around the deck until she found steps that would take her down to the deck below where she assumed she would find an entrance into the belly of the ship.

Flipping the switch on her Tesla glove to let it charge the electrical pulse, Scarlett took it slow. There was no rush. Morning was still a long way away. On the lower deck Scarlett found a pile of timber and slipped a few of the discarded thin pieces into her pocket. Once inside the ship she left the door open a crack, sneaking one of the thin boards in place to keep it that way. She’d do the same with each heavy door she found to provide a quick exit if necessary. Scarlett wasn’t going to leave any stone unturned, not this time. If MedCo wanted to fuck with her then they had another thing coming. She was tired of being left in the dust, being one step behind. Scarlett would find proof of what they were up to and she’d finally have the leverage she needed.

The halls of the inner area of the ship were creepy to say the least. Lights flickered overhead occasionally creating shadows out of the corner of her eye that caused her to turn uneasily and make sure she was still alone. While she knew it was her subconscious playing tricks on her, she couldn’t help but feel like she was being followed. How many horror movies had she seen where this was the hero’s last moments before something horrific crept out of the shadows?

Then again, she wasn’t in a horror movie. Scarlett wasn’t naïve enough to believe there weren’t monsters under the bed waiting to strike, but she didn’t think they were waiting for her in the bed of the ship either. The only monsters she’d ever encountered were greedy people and that was bad enough. Checking each door on either side of her, Scarlett found very little of interest. There were boxes and boxes of actual medical supplies stored in each room that Scarlett assumed were there to keep up appearances and aid in biological experiments.

It hadn’t occurred to Scarlett that the shipment could’ve been exactly what MedCo had claimed it to be. Perhaps there was nothing of interest at all on the boat. Stopping before another stairwell, Scarlett considered turning back. Maybe there was nothing to see. But then again, there was nothing benign about MedCo. They only did what they had to do in order to appear like a legitimate corporation.

What if her contact was on the take?

How had he gotten his hands on a signed copy of the shipping manifest in the first place? Scarlett’s stomach turned to knots as she considered that the Indian man she’d used as a contact for years might have been bought by MedCo somewhere along the line. Even his concern for her could’ve been a tool to try and convince her to continue on after MedCo. He knew just how stubborn she was.

Or maybe Scarlett just wasn’t capable of trust, not anymore, not after how many times she’d been double crossed. That was bad news for Tony.

Inching forward again and slowly down the stairs, Scarlett stopped on the platform between steps where the stairwell turned when the lights of the ship flickered off entirely. Closing her eyes she listened for the sounds of someone approaching or following her but heard nothing but the water crashing against the sides of the ship as the tide rolled in. Why was the power so unsteady on the ship?

The lights flickered back to life a few seconds later, but dimmer than they’d once been. It was like someone was draining the power slowly from old batteries. Something was technically wrong with the ship. Had she clipped the wrong wires when she’d been on the bridge? No, there was no way that she’d messed that up. The electrical controls were likely further below in the ship, the only thing she’d put a stop to was communication.

Slipping a flashlight from the inside pocket of her jacket, Scarlett flicked it on and pointed it at the ground as she walked so she wouldn’t miss her footing, keeping her focus straight ahead of her in case something came creeping out of the darkness.

Footsteps echoed somewhere in the distance, but she couldn’t tell from where. There was too much metal on the ship, the sound vibrated all around her. The only way she’d be able to find the source would be to keep walking. For all she knew, it could’ve been her own footsteps echoing. Slowly Scarlett continued on her way, propping open doors and looking through storage compartments to make sure she hadn’t missed anything. At the end of the next hallway, Scarlett found stashes of ammunition. Finally she was getting to something more interesting.

Whipping her phone out of her pocket, Scarlett quickly snapped a picture and noticed her battery was half drained. Hadn’t it been fully charged before she’d left that evening to start her venture? No matter, as long as she got the proof she needed in the long run she’d be fine. There was still enough battery for her to do what she came to do. Even if she found nothing else, she had proof of weapons smuggling. It was almost a guarantee that ammunition was not on the shipping manifest and she’d found more than enough to launch an investigation of the company.

But still, instinct was telling her there was far more to see. At the same time it was telling her to run as fast as she could off of the ship to get out of harm’s way. Starting on the steps to the belly of the boat, Scarlett heard a low menacing groan coming from somewhere on the floor below. Goose bumps broke out along her arms and back; it was unlike anything she’d ever heard before. It didn’t sound human.

“I am not Milla Jovovich,” Scarlett whispered, trying to keep a level head. The shadows of the ship were more menacing than the noise had been. Every instinct inside of her was telling her to turn back and go with the little evidence she’d obtained. Escape before it was too late! The lights flickered again as she made her way down the third and final steps and into the final hallway. “This is not the Hive.” The joking made her nerves lessen but the fear was still there. Irrational fear that something horrible was coming out of the darkness to get her.

Aiming her flashlight across the floor in a sweeping motion, Scarlett checked each door and found nothing. At last she reached the end of the hallway and a large cargo door. It was the only place left to check and it was locked. Placing the end of her flashlight between her teeth, she held it in place while she tested the lock. It was a simple keypad entry code but by the time Scarlett hacked through the lock she would have lingered too long.

“I’m pretty sure I’ve already lingered too long.” She grimaced in confirmation. Instead of dealing with the lock on the keyboard, Scarlett placed the palm of her Tesla glove against the keypad and set off the charge. The lock shorted out and clicked open, just as she had hoped it would. It had been a risk, seeing as the lock might not have disengaged, but luckily it worked out in her favor. Placing the last bit of wood between the doorway to keep it open, Scarlett stepped into the larger than life cargo bay.

There were strange containers piled on top of each other throughout the bay, creating small pathways in between. They were each eight feet high, about seven feet wide and made from reinforced materials. Scarlett walked carefully with her flashlight aimed in front of her with one hand. She snapped a few pictures with her camera of the containers and surveyed the room. Before she investigated what was inside the odd containers she would want to make sure she was alone.

“…maybe I am Milla Jovovich.” She scoffed, trying to fight off the sound of her heartbeat echoing in her ears. There was something very wrong at the bottom of the cargo ship, Scarlett just didn’t know what it was. Walking to the far end of the room, lights still flickering overhead, Scarlett saw a row of open cubicle-like spaces along the wall. Inside each were hospital beds, much like the ones she’d found in the facility outside of Madrid. But these beds were more horrific and far more graphic than what she had come across a few days prior.

Bodies lay on each bed, half maimed and just beginning to rot. Covering her mouth and stepping into each cubicle area to make sure each inhabitant was actually dead and couldn’t be saved, Scarlett couldn’t help but be disgusted. Her stomach churned but she choked back the bile rising in the back of her throat. There would be time to be nauseated and disturbed later. Someone had terminated the test subjects and recently at that. From what she knew about decay, she’d say sometime in the last two days, likely along the voyage. Lights sputtered overhead again as Scarlett pulled her phone out to take photos of the horrific experiments. As she snapped pictures in the last cubicle her phone battery beeped to alert her it was too low then the screen went black entirely as it died.

“What the hell?” Scarlett smacked the phone to try and bring it back to life but there was nothing she could do to recharge the battery. Hurriedly she slipped the phone inside a waterproof case and back into her pocket. Even if she never got a glimpse of what was in the large creates, she had proof of something horrific happening at MedCo’s behest. The groan she’d heard earlier echoed again from somewhere behind her. This time it was much closer than it had been. Something knew she was in the cargo bay and viewed her as a threat.

Slipping her gun instinctively out of its holster Scarlett aimed it in either direction, pointing the beam of her flashlight toward each hallway that was created by the oversized storage crates. The power to the ship slowly faded and the flickering that had created haunting shadows died out altogether. Something was draining the remaining electricity and fast. Making her way out of the cubicles Scarlett started down the path that she’d taken to get inside and toward the entrance of the cargo bay. If there had ever been a sign to leave, it was staring her in the face in the darkness right then and there.

“Miss Damien…” The same growling voice echoed around the room. Scarlett turned in place, aiming her flashlight in each available hiding place nearby and pointing her gun at the same moment in search of the source of the voice but found nothing lurking in the shadows that wasn’t created by her own imagination.

Slowly Scarlett continued toward where she knew the entrance was when the voice didn’t continue taunting her. Could she be that paranoid? Was she losing her mind? No. She was definitely suffering from some sort of post trauma confusion but there was no way she’d imagined a voice growling her name in the darkness.

What if the experiments being conducted in the back of the bay hadn’t gone wrong? What if something had gone right and then killed those who remained? Or something unrelated to those performing the experiments altogether! Maybe something inside the crates had broken loose. They were large enough to be holding prisoners. A loud crash behind Scarlett made her turn in sudden alert. Aiming her dimming flashlight toward the sound, Scarlett kept creeping toward the entrance. Something told her that no matter her skills, whatever was hunting her in the darkness was far more formidable than she could handle on her own.

“Do you feel hopeless yet? Lost? Scared?” Scarlett couldn’t find the source of the voice but kept on her guard. The battery in her flashlight was failing her. The beam was dimming and getting smaller. Soon it began to waver unreliably and the torch went out altogether, leaving her in darkness with the ethereal growl taunting her overhead. It wasn’t coming from the intercom so the source of the voice was definitely in the room with her. But where? It sounded like it was coming from everywhere! Closing her eyes, Scarlett hoped to adjust to the darkness quickly but would she be quick enough?

Sinister laughter from above gave her shivers down her spine. Opening her eyes, Scarlett made her way between storage containers, gun aimed at the ground and ready for a fight. Even after her vision adjusted, she could only just barely make out shapes around her. She’d been right to think that the ship had been a trap, but she had never expected anything this sinister. The worst Scarlett had imagined would be waiting for her would be Mikhail with some sort of torture device. But not some demented creature taunting her in the darkness. It definitely didn’t sound like Mikhail, that was a voice she would never forget.

“Why don’t you give up pretty girl? Put down that little gun and surrender.” The voice seemed somehow familiar through the growling and low unnatural pitch. Where had she heard it before? She couldn’t put her finger on it.[br /]
“If you think I’m so weak then how about you show your face instead of making threats from up above?”

“Oh, you wouldn’t like that, I think.” There was a creaking noise above her and Scarlett made out the stack of crates nearby teetering dangerously. She could barely make out them being pushed by a large hunched figure. Rolling out of the way skillfully, Scarlett aimed her gun at the figure that was jumping over the fallen crates so it could disappear into the shadows and took two shots. The sickening, but familiar, sound of bullets tearing through flesh met her ears and Scarlett smirked successfully. Whatever it was that was chasing her, was clumsy and she’d managed to land a blow on the first shot. A foul odor filled the air and Scarlett gagged and covered her mouth with her arm. The crate that had fallen rolled in front of her to block her path and the door had opened, releasing a silvery mist into the air.

Coughing from the smell, Scarlett backed away from it as quickly as she could, keeping close to the crates so she would stay hidden. She listened for footsteps but didn’t hear anything. Whatever was lurking overhead was unnaturally quiet, even against the reinforced metallic crates. Scarlett was very light footed but even she made sounds against the floor of the ship.

“We are bigger and stronger than you will ever be.” The voice taunted again, sounding strangely doubled. Scarlett made her way through the crates quickly, being less cautious as she went. Whatever was after her had pushed one of the heavy crates like it had been nothing. That was certainly stronger than her. She would have to rely on her instincts and agility to avoid being ripped apart like the patients at the other end of the room.

“Every fable I’ve ever read has led me to believe that doesn’t matter.” Scarlett scoffed, keeping her voice low. Laughter followed once more.

“Relying on fairy tales for guidance are we? Sounds unlike the woman I know.”

“Just making conversation.” Scarlett glanced behind her and saw the door to the hallway within running distance.

“What is it you hope to accomplish?” Scarlett aimed her gun into the shadows, the voice clearly coming from somewhere in front of her. Holding her breath she listened, to avoid being ambushed.

“I want my life back,” She whispered, being met with laughter again.

“What life? Chasing shadows? Destroying lives? No, Scarlett… you signed a deal with the devil and now he’s cashing in.”

“I’m not usually one for childish taunting, but fuck you.” The figure in the shadows in front of her disappeared, seemingly becoming one with the silvery mist that had escaped the crate that had been destroyed. Walking backwards, gun still aimed at the ground, Scarlett bumped into something metallic. The doorway to one of the crates was left hanging open and a terrible smell filled the air around it. One look inside the crate and Scarlett could see mounds of oozing flesh on the floor. Something had been feeding inside of the storage container.

“Stubborn as ever. I told you, you little bitch, you will get what you deserve.” The voice barked, temper obviously rising. Scarlett didn’t want to be around when the creature completely lost its cool. She had a feeling she wouldn’t stand a chance. There were sticky pools of blood on the floor outside of the crate. When she’d shot her weapon she’d wounded it, but it hadn’t seemed to lose its edge.

This worried her.

As she drew closer to the door Scarlett could sense the danger becoming palpable. Just in time, Scarlett rolled out of the way as the creature ran at her on all fours. It had elongated arms and unnaturally thick tree trunk legs but the form was overall human. Landing on her knees, Scarlett watched as the creature crashed awkwardly to the ground when it failed to tackle her as it had planned. Taking two more shots at it, Scarlett watched the blood splash away as the bullets made contact.

Snarling loudly, the creature pounded at the ground and it shook the floor beneath her. Scarlett quickly got to her feet and backed between the crates, aiming her weapon. The gun didn’t seem to do much good, but it slowed the creature down if nothing else. Even if he didn’t feel the pain of the gunshots, eventually he would lose enough blood that he would lose some strength.

Unless Scarlett was wrong and this creature was something unlike anything she’d ever seen before and wouldn’t slow down if a limb was lost. Before she could react the creature had jumped on top her. Keeping her grip on her gun as she was tackled to the ground, Scarlett reacted quickly. She was not going to let some hybrid experiment get the best of her at least not without putting up one hell of a fight. Growling and drooling, Scarlett couldn’t make out any features of the monster on top of her in the darkness of the cargo bay, but could discern the shape of a head looming over her.

Swinging her gun around, Scarlett smacked the creature hard in the head and then smashed the heel of her palm roughly into its fleshy face. It howled in reaction and leaned upwards. Guessing it would attack her and either try to claw her or smash her Scarlett twisted her legs up from beneath the creature and kicked it hard in the stomach. The force was enough to send the creature off of her by a foot.

One handed Scarlett grabbed onto the crate next to her and slid far enough away from the creature to get to her feet in a single jump. She slid away just in time and swung around the side of the crate running back toward where she’d nearly been crushed by one of them at the first appearance of the creature. Her eyes were adjusting to the darkness but it was still too dark to make out much more than shapes in front of her. The creature leapt at her and swung its claws. The sound of bone against metal echoed throughout the room and made Scarlett gag. Twisting around she caught the form of the creature trying to pull its claws through the metal of the floor. The ship groaned in objection.

If the creature kept damaging the integrity of the ship, it would cause a leak and eventually start to sink. That wouldn’t be such a bad thing if Scarlett could get out and manage to lock the creature inside as it sank into the depths of the ocean. Taking aim again, Scarlett fired the remaining bullets in her clip directly into the shape she guessed was the face of the creature. With a pained whine it fell back and dropped onto the floor, twitching. Seizing the opportunity, Scarlett reloaded her gun, discarded the old clip and then grabbed onto the top of the crate that had earlier been thrown at her.

With ease she lifted herself on top of the storage container then continued to climb until she was at the very top of the remaining stack. She could hear the creature getting back to its feet and gathering its bearings. The roaring picked up again and transformed into horrific yells of horrible insults.

“You bitch! You think you’re stronger than us? You’re a fool! Walked right into our trap!” It hissed. “You will never have your life back, I will make sure of it! Every step you take I will haunt you, every corner you turn I will be there!” Ignoring the taunts and the sound of the creature climbing up the crates behind her, Scarlett hurried toward where she remembered the entrance had been and cursed under her breath as the monster drew closer. Holstering her gun momentarily, Scarlett leapt off of the last crate and grabbed onto the frame of the door, making sure her feet didn’t slam against the ground at the risk of breaking a bone. Using the frame she swung so her feet pushed hard against the door, forcing it open and out of her way. Having propped open the doors had come in more than handy.

The creature was right on her tail, swinging at her wildly in a rage. She could feel the air moving against the back of her neck from the claws that swung at her. A second swing caught on her trench coat. Scarlett slipped one arm free and then the other and threw the trench coat in the face of her enemy before using the Tesla device to shock him away through the coat. He flew backwards and Scarlett slammed the door closed hard and twisted the lock so it would stay that way.

Dents appeared in the metal of the door as the creature slammed into it from the other side, trying to break through to get to its prey. Howling and screeching what Scarlett assumed were more insults, it desperately tried to get to her. Not wasting any time to watch the creature try to get to her, Scarlett ran down the hallway and stopped at one of the far rooms to pick up some extra ammunition to replace the clips she’d left in her coat before taking it off. Thankfully her phone had been safely stored within the pocket of her jeans. Halfway up the stairs to the next floor, Scarlett was forced to stop in the middle of the stairwell when the creature came tearing through the metallic walls and blocked her path.

“Strong little shit, aren’t you?” Scarlett dodged another blow from claws, ducking low on the stairs. Using the railing she pulled out of the way of another blow, then jumped onto the railing itself. Shocking the creature again with the Tesla glove, Scarlett then stepped on its shoulder, jumped against the wall of the stairwell and over the monster’s head so she could continue upward. While she moved she tried to get a better look in the darkness, but could barely make out the shapes of a face once again. The eyes were enlarged and unnatural and the mouth was contorted hideously.

Hurrying out of the stairwell, Scarlett ducked low when the creature swung for her again but was grabbed as she made an attempt to leap forward. Falling face first onto the ground, she kicked at her assailants long claws and then at its face as it drew closer. Managing to break free of his grip and get to her feet, Scarlett’s escape was short lived. The monster grabbed her by the shoulder, swung her hard against the wall and then pinned her there on the stairs.

Placing her gloved hand against the creatures face, Scarlett shocked him again with as much juice as her glove could give on such a short charge then kneed it hard in the stomach as it growled in response.

“You bitch! You little bitch!” It cursed, slashing aimlessly at her and missing from its sloppy blows. Now free of its clutches, Scarlett grabbed one of its swinging arms and twisted the creature around so it was facing the stairs. Grabbing onto the exit sign above the stairwell, Scarlett kicked the creature in the back and knocked it down the remaining stairs. Once it had fallen, she didn’t wait to see him land before turning her grip on the sign and jumping out of the stairwell.

The creature was right on her tail as she made it into the next hallway. Rounding a corner toward where she remembered the final stairwell to be, Scarlett felt encouraged. When her assailant came bounding at her claws first, Scarlett grabbed one of the open doors to a side room and jumped inside just as the creature flew past her. Hurrying out of the doorway Scarlett aimed her gun, cocked it and shot again to lure him back toward her. As he leapt sloppily at her once more, Scarlett managed to sneak back into the room. Confined spaces were her best friend at the moment. Rage seemed to be getting the best of the monster that seemed to know way too much about her and thankfully she’d managed to keep a level head.

She may not have been as fast or as strong as the creature pursuing her, but she was smarter and quick to think on her feet. When the creature got closer to her, she slammed the open door hard into its face and then smashed it a second time with the same door. It stumbled backward and growled at her again.

“I will make you pay…” The creature snarled. Scarlett could imagine its lips curled in annoyance, revealing horribly sharp and unnatural teeth. Seeing the light of the moon at the far end of the hallway, signaling that the stairwell was near, Scarlett walked backwards through the hallway her gun aimed toward the creature. She fired the remaining bullets in her clip straight into the monster’s face as she walked. Each blow shook the creature and sent a spray of blood splattering against the wall. At long last with the final shot, as Scarlett reloaded her clip prepared to shoot more, the creature laid on the ground, weak and struggling to breathe. Curiosity gripped her, urging her to try and get a good look at its face, but logic helped her keep her distance. Firing one more shot for good measure, Scarlett tore around the corner of the room and ran toward the stairs.

The ground groaned behind her and began to give. The damage the creature had done had been too much and under its weight had given out. She could hear the sound of flesh crashing against metal below and internally felt relieved. Still, she couldn’t help but want to get off the ship quickly. Around another corner, Scarlett hurried past open doors and could see the stairs a few feet in front of her.

Just as she was about to set foot on the bottom step, the metal beneath her feet disappeared. The creature came crawling right through the floor, claws first! Scarlett scrambled to grab onto the stairs and lift herself up to avoid falling into the pit, but the creature got to her first. Grabbing her by the ankle he threw her backwards into the hallway. She slid, managing to shake her ankle free from his grip and roll onto her stomach.

“Damnit!” Scarlett yelled, seeing no point in being stealthy any longer. They were making enough noise fighting amidst her escape that anyone within ten square blocks would hear them. As the creature got closer she kicked it hard in the face, turning onto her back, but it persisted.

“You little bitch! You think you could double cross us and get away with it?” The voice still seemed familiar still, the threat even seemed familiar but Scarlett couldn’t put her finger on why it was familiar and it wasn’t exactly the time for her to search her memory or the source. Reaching for the knife she kept in her boot, Scarlett was forced to stop reaching when claws came for her. She barely rolled out of the way in time.

“Double crossed you? Seriously? Is anyone paying attention besides me?” Out of breath, Scarlett coughed to get rid of the cling in her throat. As claws grabbed at her neck, Scarlett managed barely to grab the handle of her knife, remove it from her boot and without a second thought sliced the creatures hand clean off of its wrist. The knife stuck on the bone at first but with a second slice, Scarlett found the tissue that kept them attached and slipped it free.

As the creature growled and recoiled in pain and misery, Scarlett pulled the smelly, oozing hand away from her throat and threw it behind her. Using the form of the hunched creature for leverage, Scarlett jumped against the wall, onto its back and over the monster entirely. She then used the nearby doorway to swing over the hole created on the floor beneath her. Stumbling as she reached the steps, Scarlett nearly fell flat on her face but managed to recover before doing so.

Using the railing of the stairs, Scarlett took them three at a time and continued doing so until she reached the deck of the ship. Leaping out of the doorway as the creature recovered and came for her to seek revenge for its lost hand, Scarlett dove onto her stomach. Rolling onto her back and scooting backwards, Scarlett managed to scatter onto her feet before the monster left the stairwell. As the creature came toward her, in the light of the moon, recognition immediately dawned on her.

Erick Reno, one of the three heads of MedCo, but hideously malformed and changed in ways Scarlett didn’t understand, was lumbering toward her. Raising her gun again, Scarlett fired rounds repeatedly into the chest of the creature that seemed all too pleased to be recognized. The last time Scarlett had seen that man, he’d been calling her a little bitch and threatening her in disgusting ways. That was at least until she’d shot him in the head and left him to die before escaping the MedCo facility in South Africa.

The last set of stairs that would take her to the upper deck of the ship was in sight. Scarlett grabbed onto the railing and slid underneath it before jumping up the final few steps. Turning around she faced Erick who jumped up the steps in a single bound and aimed her weapon at his chest again after reloading.

“I killed you!” Scarlett growled out of breath, emptying her clip into the stomach of the creature and reloading her final bit of ammo. Her hands were trembling. What was she seeing? What had MedCo done? Scarlett had watched Erick die and had left him to be consumed by an explosion of her own creation. Erick slowed drastically and though each bullet that tore through him ripped through his already mangled flesh, he didn’t stop walking toward her menacingly. He could see the recognition and the fear in her eyes and it delighted him.

“I’ve been remade. Aren’t you happy to see me?” Erick smirked, cocking his head unnaturally to the side. “You left me gasping for breath, drowning in my own blood. Then you blew me up. Aren’t you happy to have my death off your conscience you little bitch?” He snarled at her, taking a swing with his long claws. Scarlett ran around a series of containers on the deck and rushed out of the way of the blow. Bullets didn’t seem to do much but slow Erick down and make a disgusting mess on the deck. She put the gun away and flipped a switch on her Tesla glove that would channel energy to the mechanism that Tony had built for her out of scrap metal. Erick leapt on top of the containers and glared down at her menacingly, a twisted smile on his wounded face.

“The others want you to be next, you know.” Erick jumped down onto the deck and pounced at her. Scarlett rolled backwards and out of the way. All she could do was dodge blow after blow and hope not to get caught. She ran toward the bridge of the ship again, hoping to gain some leverage by having something to grab onto. Besides the storage containers and a few pipes that allowed smoke to escape the ship there was little for her to hide behind on the upper deck. Scarlett’s agility wouldn’t keep her safe forever. Eventually she would be caught and she hoped by then the weapon would be charged enough to do some serious damage.

“Well, I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint them.”

“I agree with you for once.” Erick ran his claws against the side of the bridge, creating an unnatural scraping sound akin to nails on a chalkboard. Scarlett could see that the bones of his fingers had been elongated and split through his flesh creating the claws that threatened her.

“Well, I’m glad we can agree on something.” Scarlett ran around the back of the bridge and toward the railing. She made an attempt to get around the other side of the bridge but Erick leapt on top of the roof and threatened to jump in whichever direction she picked. Scarlett was cornered at the back of the ship.

“By the time I’m done with you, you little bitch they won’t want you anymore.” Erick laughed sadistically, repeating his taunt over and over again. “I’ll ruin you, every bit of you. Every shred of dignity and strength you possess I will strip it from you. I want to hear you scream in pain and beg for mercy for what you did to me…”

“Okay, so maybe we don’t agree so much.”

“You want your life back? What makes you so much more deserving than me? Look at me? This is no life! No life! And it’s your fault!”

“You should’ve thought of that before holding a gun to my head. What did you think I was going to do? Roll over and take it?” Scarlett walked backwards toward the railing of the ship where she’d tied one of the ropes in hopes of assisting her escape earlier in the night. Erick crept closer to her and Scarlett gripped onto the rope behind her back, twisting it in various loops and waiting for opportunity to arise.

“If you had just done your damn job!”

“Should’ve done your research pal, I work for no one.” When Erick lunged at her in anger, that same disgusting look in his eyes she remembered seeing when he’d threatened her in the facility what seemed like so long ago, Scarlett lunged out of the way and threw the rope around him, the various loops getting caught on what was left of his limbs. Turning to try and catch her before she could get away, Erick only succeeded in tangling himself further in the rope that Scarlett had been holding.

Backing away as Erick struggled with the rope, Scarlett pulled the ignition switch from within her pocket and flipped it before tossing it over the railing. An explosion rocked the dock, sending each ship in the yard swaying on the water from the force it created. Scarlett hadn’t quite expected that intense of an explosion to be set off but was glad for it. Erick was distracted by the flames momentarily so Scarlett seized opportunity and ran as quickly as she could toward the opposite end of the ship. Bruised, scraped up and out of breath, she ran though her lungs stung painfully in objection from the lack of oxygen.

Erick tore through the ropes in frustration and ran after her as the fire spread from the end of the dock, consuming every bit of flammable material in its path. The tanks of gas placed near boats for fuel only aided in the destruction created by the flames as they spread to several ships that were tied too closely to the dock. The heat of the fire could be felt all the way on the deck of the large cargo ship.

“Do you think that you can really stop me? And if you can stop me do you really think you could stop them?” He growled angrily as he marched toward her where she’d cornered herself at the bow of the ship. The blood loss seemed to finally be getting to him. Color had drained from his mutilated flesh.

“I don’t need to stop you.” Scarlett shook her head, trying to catch her breath to no avail. The familiar whir of her glove filled her with confidence. “That’s not my job.” Confusion fluttered across Erick’s face but quickly transformed into rage. He lunged again at Scarlett but she aimed her glove toward him and fired the weapon Tony had built for her.

The laser beam hit him dead in the chest and knocked him flying across the ship and onto the deck below. Quickly she set the glove to recharge, hearing sounds of him skittering wildly and sloppily in an attempt to get back up. Smoke gathered around the ship, the fire had spread onto the deck and was quickly catching every which way. There was no chance that Scarlett could get back onto the dock now, not with the chaos she’d created. Shouting could be heard from far away and splashing like people were trying to put out the flames. With the accelerant Scarlett had mixed, it would take much more than a little water to put the fire out. She’d practically spread napalm across the dock.

If the laser beam hadn’t killed Erick, Scarlett didn’t have anything that would. Rushing toward the nearest rope Scarlett had tied to the railing, she grabbed onto it. Growling returned behind her so she moved faster. The fire was getting closer and if she waited too long, she’d be caught in the mess she’d created. Sirens rang in the distance as police were alerted of the disaster happening at the shoreline.

“I’m not going to let you get away…” Erick’s snarl was low and menacing, but weak and fading. Scarlett snuck between the railing and onto the outside of the ship. Propping her feet on the railing and preparing to dive off the edge, Scarlett leapt. Just as she did, Erick grabbed her leg and pulled her back.

“You don’t have a choice!” Scarlett turned and aimed the glove at Erick again. While it wasn’t fully charged for a second blow, Scarlett hoped it would be enough to give her a chance to get away. The laser went off and hit Erick in the face, burning away half of his flesh. With a high pitched yelp, Erick let go of her with his remaining hand and flew backwards onto the ship with the force of the laser.

Scarlett’s ankle was free, but she couldn’t grab onto the railing or the rope in time. As she fell off the side of the ship, she tried to straighten out her position but momentum had gotten the best of her. Her head clunked loudly against the side of the ship and left black spots in her vision. Kicking away from the ship so she wouldn’t hit it a second, Scarlett’s vision turned dark as her body crashed into the dark cold water with a loud splash that was overshadowed by sirens.