Trapped - A Bug Hunt story by Brer Fox

Trapped - A Bug Hunt story
Written by Brer Fox

Chapter 1

Jeans hand trembled nervously, tightly clenched around the handle of his assault rifle.

A shaking, half smoked cigarette dangle from his tense red lips, coated with blood from a wound on his cheek.

He lay perfectly still, his body was trembling all over from the concauction of cold and shear terror. The disemboweled body of his sergeant lay over the barrel he leaned on, his gaping, lifeless mouth producing a slow drip of red hitting the iron grating with a sickening plink. that noise almost drove him insane, but the noise he was most afraid of was the growl of an adolescent Skrall Warrior.

It was dark in the medical bay where him, and his 5 man squad were assaulted by a pack of Arachnomorphs earlier. this Skrall had come to feed on his comrades carcasses.

The emergency lights mounting the walls cast an eerie shadow on the blood-stained wall in front of him. small medical cabinets filled neatly with syringes, stim packs, bottles of steron and surgical instruments cast blinding flashes of light off their freshly polished windows.

"I just want out, I just...want...out..." Jean clenched his jaws tighter on his cigarette, nearly biting it in two as he repeated the mantra under his breath.

Other thoughts raced through his mind, dulled by anxiety, and the subzero chill creeping into the room. all colliding with each other and confusing him.

"That fucker blew the box, I'm done for, I can't move or he'll see me, God fucking dammit" all this thinking was making him sick. A loud zap was heard and Jean bowed his head to avoid falling sparks from the severed cords housed in the electric box to his left, the metallic doors gashed by a large claw.

This got the beasts attention and it snarled deafeningly at the box, as if it weren't inanimate. "Please don't, Please don't come over here" Jean nodded his head in reasurance and he repeated the words, this time audibly. But there was no reply from the Skrall.

"The fucker can't hear... Goes to show you, not all things classes tell you are true..." Jean let out a slight smile in spite of himself. "COME GET ME, BIG HUNK OF ALIEN-WHORE!" he screeched this and other profanities at the deaf monster.

His cigarette, almost finished, was the only thing keeping Jean's face warm. the frigid room became almost unbearable. "Wait a second..." Jean lit up as if someone turned a light on inside his pale body. Shifting his weight a little to prevent his slouching from becoming any more severe cause the barrel he was leaning on to shift and roll a little, clearly showing the omnious orange "BioHazard" sign and causing the Skrall, now prodding at one of the X-Ray machines to jolt, the startled beast letting out yet another roar, this time at it's new enemy, the barrel.

"I've got a wife to go back to" he thought, with a new found determination. "Let's dance, Bitch". Jean confidently puffed on his cigarette as he clasped his glove around a silver grenade.

He fondled the grenade around in his hands before twisting the halves clockwise, nulling the safety. Jean yanked the cigarette from his stained lips and held it high above his head. this filled the creatures heat sensitive vision.

"Ah, yah like that huh..." a small ember fell from the tip of the cigarette, followed by another growl from the Skrall. "You see that, huh?" With a swift tap of the end, a wash of burning light fell from the cigarette causing the creature to charge the massive heat blotch.

Jean swiftly tore the pin from the grenade, arming it. "come on, keep coming..." he waited for two seconds, three, four. When he could feel the putrid alien breath upon his neck he launched the stick over his head, with only half a second to spare, he ducked with his hands crossed over his head. A deafening blast felt as if it shook the entire station, red hot flak flew over his head and hit the wall, melting into the cold steel plating.

The disembodied head of the deceased denizen fell on top of the crouched Jean, smearing the deadly acid all over his shoulder. He stiffled a scream and clenched his teeth in pain as the liquid melted through his suit. Thinking fast he unfastened the canteen on his belt, unscrewed the aluminum lid, and doused himself compeletly. this watered the acid down to a benign state; saving his life.

He rose slowly, holding his back. a sickening sizzle could be heard throughout the room. that of the acid melting through the skull of his fallen Sergeant. Jean could barely glance at the horrible mess the grenade had created. instead; he solemnly swiped the un-fired .44 Automatic Pistol from the corpses' lifeless hand. Vaulting over the barrel that had saved his life, he surveyed the area for his Assault Rifle. only to become even more discouraged as he found it with a large piece of frag lodged directly into the firing chamber. it was now useless.

"Stuck in this place with a horde of these fuckers and all I have is a God damn pistol..." Jeans pessimism was getting the best of him as he entered a dimly lit hallway, A silent eeriness filled the air causing subliminal panic to rush through the Marines mind. He knew something was wrong.

To be continued...

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