The white fog muffled sound like a thick blanket, but Meg's senses gradually seeped to convince her that she was still alive. This blast might not have been as big as the first one, but she was much closer this time and it felt like it. With her ears ringing and her mouth tasting like charcoal, she waited for the floor to stop tilting and took stock of things. There were a few new bruises and her mouth was bloody, but the ankle was about the worst. A wall plaque told her what direction to take and she pushed herself up. She had to move if she wanted to live.
Each step was like a spike hammering through her ankle and she was sobbing before leaving the first hall. By the second hall, the pain was so bad that she was dizzy and slumped to the floor. The incessant sound of SLA-mas music was a good sign since it meant her hearing was coming back, but the bass and tinkle of falling debris in the shattered hall reminded her of serious the situation was.
Meg wasn't trying to fool herself -Getter didn't matter and if the manchine tore him into strips she wouldn't lose any sleep. The death of that woman and the damn Xeno were something completely different though. It would feel like murder or giving up and she wasn't sure which one was worse.
"I'm no quitter," she said to herself as she got to her feet again and started moving again. Walking even with a limp was impossible, so she made due with short hops between walls. Each hop brought its own white-hot stab of pain and she had fallen twice by the time she reached the first of the XP labs. The second time landed her in the bloody remains of what had been an employee and one of the lab's windows. Slivers and beads of glass bit into her palms and she groaned as she pushed up and back. It took several painful moments to get the worst of it out and her hands looked like raw hamburger. Thin trails of red dribbled like rain onto the floor near her leg.
"What the hell am I doing?" she asked aloud, realizing that she could only hear from one ear. The only weapons she had were a 10mm FEN 603 and a 4" utility knife -neither would have been enough to take down your run-of-the-mill manchine even with a lot of luck. Getter had said that these XP units were designed for mining, so she'd be lucky to even dent it. It would finish with the others and then kill her once it made its rounds again.
The sobs started, growing in strength until they completely overtook her composure. Hurting, angry and scared, Meg was bawling like the same little girl she used to be, caught in yet another situation out of her control. It took a while for her to pull herself together, but it was because of self-loathing instead of courage. The fear was gradually swapped with anger and she started moving again. The dark corridors ahead were blurry and huge looking like something out of those bad slasher flicks that she avoided.
Wiping her eyes with her fists, Meg stared in through the wall of the wrecked lab. There were half a dozen bodies here, each one mangled and twisted to create a sick parody of the stereotypical "seasonal" agricultural scene. She wasn't able to wrench her eyes away from it because something kept drawing her attention. Tiny plastic boxes, many with fleshy bows attached, were lined up near the manger like gifts. With something stenciled on their sides, they looked familiar and she hobbled into the lab to look. Kneeling down in the moist pink felt of a snow scene, she nearly laughed when she saw what they were. Meg grabbed two of the seismic core charges and blasting caps and hopped/limped towards the next hall where the offices were.
It wasn't possible to move quietly so she concentrated on being careful, constantly checking corners and looking behind her. In the dim amber light, every shadow was as dark as ink and every cubicle looked like a cave. With no trails of blood and no sound beyond her own heartbeat, Meg prayed she wasn't too late. Taking a breath, she started up the last hall.
Cl-Cl-Click-Whrrrl.
Something shifted invisibly in the darkness behind her and she hobbled around to stare. With her heart in her throat, she carefully began backing towards Getter's office. Something was watching her and her sweat turned to ice.
Click-Click-Click
"Ho! Ho! Ho! Naughty or Nice, Slice Rip Slice!" a voice bellowed.
Blisteringly bright light cut through the darkness and a chainsaw growled to life. Stifling a whimper, she turned and tried to run for the office. The clack of the heavy metal treads on the floor tiles was getting closer and she risked a glance back, knowing she shouldn't have.
It was HIM.
HE was back from the dead AGAIN.
The shock of nightmares long suppressed came back, nightmares of the man with the white beard and the red stained suit coming to get her. He had the same grin and wild look on his face as he ran her down, looming over her when she finally fell and reaching for her eyes with fingers made of razors and a blowtorch.
Suddenly, she was scooped up and the man in red was falling behind, waving his hands in anger since he couldn't keep up. The wall and ceiling near her popped into confetti and something spattered her face as someone opened fired.
Santa Claws was back and she was a quivering child again.
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