Part 12

    The gunshots were easy to follow, because they just so happened to be coming from the direction he had already been going. He skirted past clusters of mushrooms, making his way quickly down the halls until finally he came to a set of blast doors. Above them was a sign that said ENGINEERING in thick blocky lettering, and the line on the floor ended at the thick doors which were partially open.

    Kevin could hear snarling as he approached, amid the rapport of the pistol and faintly audible yells of "Yeah!" and "Get some!" and "Is that all you got you ugly motherfuckers?" Peeking in the door he saw at least twenty of the toothy monsters attacking a woman standing on top of a shelf of spare parts. Impressively the majority of the monsters were dead, and the eight or so were attempting to climb over their fallen brethren to get at the woman laying fire into them.

    He watched in awe as she took aim and fired again and again and again. And then there was a click as the woman ran out of rounds, and in an instant, one of the toothy things grabbed her and started gnawing. She yelled out in pain and Kevin snapped into action, running forward, shotgun drawn, firing at the mouthy monsters, dropping three in as many shots. A few more shots gave the woman a moment to shake her attacker off and reload the pistol.

    Together they finished off the rest of the monsters, wordlessly and efficiently.

    When the last one fell and the room was confirmed cleared the woman finally spoke. "Thanks El Tee. Wasn't sure I'd make it there at the end without a little assistance." She jumped down from the shelving unit, her boots making a disgusting squelching sound as they hit the pile of corpses below. "Glad to see you're awake. I sent Fulsom to check on you when this all started, but when he didn't check in..." The woman trailed off, a wash of guilt passing over her face.

    "I found Fulsom," Kevin responded solemnly. "He was just outside the med-bay... He didn't make it..."

    "That's a shame."

    They stood together in silence for a moment. The woman stared into the middle distance, clearly feeling responsible for what happened to Fulsom. Kevin was glad he didn't go into detail as hiseyes wandered aimlessly. He looked at the fanged corpses. He looked at the woman's face. He looked at the stack of shelves. He looked at the woman's face again. He looked at the engine access. He looked back at the woman's face, his memories tugging at his mind.

    "Wait, I remember you!" He blurted out unceremoniously. "We worked together. You're the one who carries the battering ram." He was sure that she was the woman from his flashback. He glanced at the tag on her uniform. It read Blanchard.

    "Wow... You must have hit your head harder than they thought, sir." She straightened up, stopping herself short of a salute. "Corporal Blanchard, sir. I trained under you as a part of a special unit that could breach any sort of enemy compound." Her posture relaxed again. "We never got any formal use for our training before we were stuffed in this tin can and shot into the void, but the hopes were always that we'd find a peaceful colony world without much need for us. At the most we would act as our own base security if we ever found a suitable planet. You know how the Alliance is, always hedging their bets."

    "Alliance?"

    "Right Maybe you don't... The Alliance is -"

    Blanchard was cut off by a crashing sound from nearby. "Okay," She said quietly, "maybe we should get the engines online first, and then I'll catch you up."