The fucking things had gotten out.
Darzell ducked under a lab counter, adrenaline filling his veins. The
blaring siren of contamination breech made the biotech wince, the
piercing noise compounding the horror of the situation.
He struggled to control his thoughts, to remember the protocol. There
were always protocols in place, meant to keep everyone safe in an
emergency. There were protocols for the protocols. A hundred different
things to do, long lists of precautions to keep danger at bay.
So who had fucked up and let the xenomorphs out?
The chitinous black beasts were kept under triple security procedures,
locked behind state-of-the-art plassteel walls. A telepath was always on
hand to keep the nest calm, acting as a surrogate queen to the
deadliest genetic creation in the explored universe.
Darzell heard a scream and tucked further under the counter. The lab
complex was expansive, meaning the victim had to be close. Someone was
being torn apart by a monster he had helped create.
The sirens wailed on and on. Shouldn't the AI have been telling the
scientists what to do by now? Was it somehow damaged? Had it gone crazy
and let the xenomorphs out in a fit of madness?
He broke out in a cold sweat as panic and fear continued. The biotech
needed to escape, but he knew all too well how quickly the creatures
hunted. Agile, they'd climb the very walls if it got them to prey
quicker. Razor claws and a whip-like tail only aided their fearsome
teeth.
Darzell knew there was no escape.
Why wasn't there gunfire? The guards were heavily armed and armored. It
wouldn't take much for the big soldiers to mow down the escaped beasts.
They were probably at a different wing of the complex, working their way
here. He could surely go unnoticed for that long.
The sirens stopped, his ears ringing painfully in the sudden silence.
What did he do now? The AI hadn't declared an all clear, but why else
would the alarms quit? Darzell wiped sweat from his brow, trying to
steady his nerves.
A deep voice, that of the head scientist, came across the intercom.
"This experiment is now concluded. Your participation is appreciated."
Gulping hard, confused, Darzell rose from his crouch to look around. His scream was brief when the xenomorphs lunged at him.
