Part 31

    Kevin bolted toward the nearest corpse, ducking below a leathery tentacle as he ran.The monster was surprisingly quick for it's massive size, and he was almost knocked from his feet or captured a few times  as he made his way to the fallen security officer, an auburn haired woman who had once been toned and well tanned despite her time in face - she was now missing an arm, as well as most of her abdomen - and ducked under another tentacle as he checked her for ammunition.

    Please, please. Not that pocket. Not that one. Please. Roll away from a slamming  tentacle. Search more Got it! A thigh holster with a one magazine for the pistol. Helpful, though only in the slightest.

    He was shoved back into a wall by a thrashing tentacle - the air knocked from his chest as he was crushed against a server tower. He had been momentarily distracted. The tentacle aimed for him again, attempting a grab, and he flung himself to the floor, pulling his axe and swinging it wildly above him. He missed, but he wasn't crushed again, nor captured, and so he moved on dodging between stacks to hopefully avoid being noticed.

    Another tentacle slammed the ground before him, and he tripped over it, cracking his head on another server tower. He rolled over and, dazedly, pumped two pistol rounds into a server console near the writhing mass that was the core of the Conglomeration. The stack exploded, letting loose a shower of sparks, causing the monster to recoil and shriek - an awful noise that caused Kevin to cover his ears as he attempted to stagger to his feet again.

    He stumbled a few more feet to the nearby security officer's corpse - a headless man with the name Dillon on his uniform - and gathered the spare magazine of pistol rounds and a half depleted heatsink from the Breaker rifle that was still slung over his shoulder. Turning back toward the Conglomeration, he noticed it was starting to lose its dazed status.

    Yeah, that had felt too easy...

    Kevin started moving toward the other corpse he had noticed, firing a few shots at the monstrosity, sure he wouldn't actually hit it.

    He ran. Tentacles lashed at him and he ducked or leapt over them. The next body was close, and in the direction of where the catwalk was connected, he just needed to keep moving. He ducked again and then dove the last few feet, sliding into half of a young black security officer. His legs had been ripped away at the knees and hips, as had most of his left side. Looking over the remains, he seemed to have nothing useful on him.

    An explosion of pain hit him, followed simultaneously by an explosion of darkness and blinding white spots over his vision. Everything was a blur of dazed pain. As they slowly faded back to some sort of equilibrium he realized what had happened. The thing had blindsided him with a tentacle.

    Blinking hard, the world started to reform. That couldn't be right though, it seemed to be floating and upside down... Oh no... No it was also moving. He shook his head cursing the pain as he attempted to clear it, and found that the world was still moving. Yeah, the floor was up and he was moving and this was bad...