The Beginning: Chapter 7

Brooke struggled to keep going, her legs dragged with the weight of Derek's half-dead body. The creature she had hit was struggling to recooperate but did so quickly. It floated after them, it's nails ready to dig into their flesh. Brooke rushed as much as she could, reaching the door way to the control room. She set Derek's body down and kissed his forhead, certain she was about to die. She stood slowly and looked back at the creature, life stirring withing it as it prepared to charge. Brooke caught out of the corner of her eye the emergency heavy doors, like the ones they had used earlier. The creature on the other side of the door way seemed to know her plan, and was waiting for her to try it.

She had to, she couldn't afford not to, that thing was going to kill them otherwise. She acted, her fett pushing off thne ground as she dived, in the same instant the creature rushed toward her, nails ready to slice her into pieces. Time seemed to slow as Brooke soared through the air, at first she didn;t think she was going to make it. She fell short but her outstretched arms slammed into the consol, hitting the button that shut the emergency doors. The thick metal doors slammed shut as the creature burst into the door way. The doors closed on it's middle, catching it in mid air. The creature was stuck, and struggled as Brooke looked at it in horror. She heard gears struggling as the door strained to shut completely. Finally it did, slicing the creature in half the front side of it dropped down in the control room, the creature crying out in pain. Brooke panicked as it dropped, standing quicky. She looked around and saw a wrench lying on a control panel. She scowled at the creature and grabbed the wrench. She slowly walked over to it and kicked it once quickly recoiling as it spasmed at her, reaching out to slice her. She lunged forward and smashed the creature's head with the wrench. It slammed down to the metal floor and let out a screech that echoed throughout the room. The creature continued to writh and squirm, it's face pressed against the metal flooring until it stretched all it could, then stopped moving all together.

Brooked panted, the creature twitched once more, then seemed to slowly dissapate into smoke. Brooke's eyes went wide as she backed up, "What...What the hell was that...?" She collapsed next to Derek's bleeding form. Derek himself was barely concious, barely alive. Everything sounded distant. He shivered and shook, blood pouring from his back and mouth, eyes barely open. In his last moments of conciousness he heard Brooke call out for him, but not even she was enough to bring him back this time. Darkness swallowed his vision, and his senses, then, he was out.

Brooke sat up, blood from Derek's back smeared on her cheek in a small spot. She reached down to Derek and felt his pulse, he was still alive, "Thank god." she thought. She stood up and looked around, maps of the facility, an electrical grid of the entire building, and various charts on economical outcome and income of the company that used to function here. Brooke walked slowly over to where the electrical grid was. As she approached she looked around the room; it was completely made of metal, the only two doors two the control room had the emergency door panels, the side they came in on had them activated. The floors were thick metal panels, a few ancient computer terminals covered in gauges and meters that had long since been switched off.

From the electrical grid she could see how much power was being used in each section of he building. She saw two red bricks in the layout, "The emergancy doors." She realized, and the room they were in glowed a light yellow, signifying little power draw. She looked around and saw another room had power draw, but this room was dark red, it was drwing significant power from the whole facility. Brooke's stomach churned at seeing the dark red room, she had a felling that whatever was in that room was the same thing that was with those creatures, the same motive to kill them.

The room wasn't far away, Down the hallway opposite the one they came through, the only other entrance to the control room, up three flights of stairs, and down another hallway. She could get there easily. Which meant whatever was in that room could jsut as easily get to them. She then started to look for a way out. She could see a path that led out, but it was long, and tricky. It had lots of turns...Derek wasn't in any condition to go anywhere, he was bleeding out, fast... She turned around and walked quickly back to Derek, she slowly pulled him into her lap and began to slide off his shirt. She could see the multiple points where the nails tore into his back, they were dark red and filled with clotted blood. She grimaced and gripped his shirt, she silently asked him to forgive her later as she tore a a long strand off of his shirt and began to wrap it around him in various angles.

By the time all of his back wounds had ties around them, there was nearly no shirt left. She tore a little off the bottom of hers and wrapped them around his arms where the creature had dug it's nails in there. She felt terrible, he had nearly sacrificed himself to save her. She had to do something more for him...The yellow blinking light continued flashing, as Brooke looked around. She searched all around the room, finally spotting a small case with a red cross on it. "Yes!" She rushed over and opend it. Pain pills long past experation date, bandages, and a hypodermic needle. She looked at it and nearly cried out in surprise. She recognized the liquid inside, adreniline! She grabbed the needle and rushed back to Derek's body. She dropped next to him and grabbed his arm, she found the needle and pressed the needle inside his vein and pushed the plunger. The adreniline was shot into his system and she pulled the needle out and threw it accross the room, waiting for a reaction.

Slowly Derek's eyes opened and he seemed to be more alert then ever. He stood quickly, "What happened?" He said quickly, looking around Brooke could see the adreniline in effect, but she wondered just how long that was going to keep him going.