CHAPTER FOUR (PART SEVEN) - BREEDEN AZALAZAR Brian almost started laughing hysterically and crying with relief, Breathing hard he quickly thanked the robot and asked it to tell them if anything else happened and if the eater was coming back to this deck, he crawled over the stove and hoped off after that. He steadied himself and dropped his gaze, feeling his heart beginning to slow to a normal beat once more. He spotted the pans that were still scattered; quickly he looked up at the steel doors that were a ways ahead. “Nick!” He remembered and ran to the doors again, he looked through the little round window on them and saw Nick still lying on the floor, still unconscious but breathing as far as Brian could tell. Wake him up, a tiny voice in the back of his mind said. “Wake him! Right! Um-“ Brian turned back around looking around at the kitchen wildly, he had know idea what to do, he didn’t have any medical training! A wash clothe and water! That always kinda helped in the movies! Brian instantly began hurrying down the first aisle, he needed a sink, and a bowl. Maybe he should get more ice? Brian looked around helplessly, I have know idea what to do! He thought. “Oh jeez!” He moaned out loud. Oh well, try your best; he reasoned hoping Nick hadn’t had some sort of embolism or something; he didn’t want him to die! He remembered hearing somewhere that blood coming from the ears meant a head injury, he really hoped that this wasn’t the case. Running towards the end of the aisle where the shelves of dishes were Brain skidded to a stop in front of it and began scanning the shelves for another bowl, he spotted a metal one and grabbed it, he turned around and hurried back to the sink that was around on the other aisle, he put the bowl under the faucet and over the drain and turned it on, the water splashed into the bowl, Brian watched it for a moment before remembering the ice, he walked out away from the running sink and to the big stainless steel doors, there were eight doors in all. Brian grabbed one of the handles and pulled the door open, it was heavy but Brian was able to open it. A blast of cold hit him as the door swung away, a light automatically turned on. Brian stepped and looked around, he spotted tins that held pounds of ice cubes, he grabbed and hand full, it instantly freezing his hands, when he realized that he didn’t have something to put it in. He sighed in frustration and dropped the ice as he turned back around, exiting the freezing space, he walked back to the shelve and grabbed a bowl, he stopped and looked in it, holes dotted the entire thing. A strainer, or well, ice wasn’t liquid, well it was but it was now solid and wouldn’t go through it. Brian turned around just as a sound suddenly rang out, he jumped as what sounded like a kitchen instrument falling somewhere in the kitchen. He looked around uneasy. “Nick?” He called out uncertainly. No response. Suddenly he spotted one of the pots he had thrown off the stove, rolling around on the floor a little. He stared at it. That was odd, he felt a little ounce of fear make itself know inside of himself, but quickly pushed it away as he played with the handle of the strainer. Come on! He said to himself, Nick is laying out there in serious trouble and your standing here freaked out over the littlest thing! There’s no one in here! Shaking his head Brian went back to the freezer and hurried back over to the ice, he dug the bowl into the tin and scooped up a heaping bowl full, standing he walked back out carrying the now heavy strainer, setting it on one of the counters, Brian turned back and grabbed the door, pulling it shut, closing in the cold. Behind him, the bowl full of water was now over flowing and spilling into the sink filling that now, due to the blocked drain. Brian didn’t notice as he closed the door shut fully, there was a bright shine on the steel, Brian looked at it as the door clicked shut, the shine suddenly blinked, like someone walking behind him, Brian’s stomach lurched as he whirled around. That was something! There was something in here, Brian looked around, examining everything, but he saw nothing. His heart started beating faster, maybe it was the fact that Brian felt completely alone with Nick not there talking, but he could feel the fact that he wasn’t alone. “Hello?” He called out attentively, afraid of who might answer. But it was silent. Brian took a step forward still looking around; the only sound was the water running. “Hello!” He called out sounding irritated and a little scared. He took another step forward and a slight gust of cold brushed the side of him. He stopped and looked over at his side to one of the fridges. It was open about an inch. Puzzled Brian turned around fully and looked at it, it was open enough to let out air, but closed enough so the light wasn’t on. Oh man, Brian thought looking at it, he slowly approached it hesitantly, reaching out, he stopped when a sudden stench hit him, it smell rotten and horrible. Ugh! He thought wincing from the smell, it smelled like rotten meat, but that did make sense, if the fridge had been left open the meat inside would have been spoiled. Grabbing the edge of the door, Brian slowly pulled it open, ready to jump away if anything lunged out. The light clicked on, providing little comfort as the door was opened even more, Brian stood back as the steel door swung away from him. His eyes widened in horror and his breath caught. “Oh my god!” He breathed, the fridge floor had frozen over with ice, it was covered with it. But frozen in the ice was blood, blood all over, frozen a dark pinkish color. Brian slowly walked in, his shoes crunching against the stained floor, meats, vegetables and other fruits and food were packing into the fridge, Brian looked around the place horrified, blood was splattered all over the place, all over the hanging meats and bins, gore along was also present, the smell was worse. Oh my god, Brian thought looking at the fridge shocked, the p-p-p-people, they m-must have come in here to hide. And t-that thing must have gotten to them. Brian felt tears well up in his eyes, they were slaughtered in here! He thought, involuntarily he looked up, and did a double take. The entire ceiling was gone, ripped away leading straight into darkness, the eater must have done that! He realized, they hid in here and it got in another way, they had nowhere to go. Brian felt like throwing up, he couldn’t imagine the terror the people must have felt, or what had happened to them. He quickly covered his mouth as he continued to look around. A quick bout of movement caught his eye in front of him, Brian quickly looked and saw a stringy tail disappear into a door of a mini fridge that was setting against the wall. A rat? He wondered, the sight of that breaking his horrible thoughts. How the hell can a rat be on a space station? It occurred to him that it was probably one of those ones that they used in experiments, it must have gotten out. Brian gulped and took a few hesitant steps forward to the fridge, his shoes sloshed through the pink ice; he grabbed the handle and swung open the door, and screamed. He only caught a fleeting glance, but it was enough, a head. A human head was lying inside. Brian screamed and recoiled in absolute and pure horror. His shoes slipped on the ice and he fell and landed painfully onto the cold floor, his elbows broke his fall and pain shot up his arms. Brian gasped as the door swung a little, revealing a dead eye peering out at him, open wide with terror, rolling over, Brian threw up, the horrible rotting smell had been coming from that. He threw up everything in his stomach; until there was nothing left, crying Brian wiped his mouth off. Oh god! Oh god! He thought, his mind going blank in what to do, he looked up and got another shock. Azalazar stood right outside the door, trying to furiously shove it closed, it had been him who was in the kitchen! Brian gasped as Azalazar saw that he had noticed him and tried harder to shut the door, he was going to shut him in here! No way was he going to be shut up in a fridge with a severed head! “NO!” He cried scrambling to his feet, though he had trouble because of the ice. Crap! Azalazar’s eyes widened when he saw Brian getting up, he was having trouble shutting the massive door because of his wounds, but if he could trap Brian and tie up Nick, all he had to do was wait for his rescue, he wouldn’t have to worry about those Corporation idiot’s screwing up and killing them. But Brian was moving fast, he was almost there when he slipped slid and crashed into the door, knocking Azalazar down. He grunted as he fell to the floor, Brian blinked and quickly regained composure, he shoved the door and as fast as he could, got to his feet, Azalazar was rolling away and was soon on his feet as well. They both faced off. Brian saw that Azalazar was holding the shock staff was in his hand. He held out his hand. “Listen to me you freak! You stay the hell away from me or I swear to almighty god himself I will beat the crap out of you!” Brian threatened, pleased at how well the threat came out, both slowly circled around each other. “Mr. Littrell, your to weak from surgery, you couldn’t even beat a fly.” Azalazar said smugly. “Try me.” Brian growled, taking a slight step back, his heel bumped against the shelves of dishes. Azalazar lunged, swinging the shock staff, Brian threw himself to the side and grabbed the metal bar of the shelves and fell to the ground, taking the shelves down with him and over Azalazar, the shock staff swung almost harmlessly through the air, Azalzar saw what Brian was going to do at the last second and tried to turn in mid air, he fell to the floor and the shelves fell over his legs, dishes, bowls and silverware rained down first. Brian hit the floor and rolled away as the explosive sounds banged out, he scrambled back to his feet as Azalazar shouted in fury trying to unpin his legs. Brian ran past him and the fallen shelves, Azalazar growled and pulled himself as hard as he could, ignoring the absolute pain that wracked his broken body, he screamed as he legs were freed, he jumped up and tore after Brian, somehow he gained the upper hand and was faster. He managed to tackle Brain, but they didn’t fall, Brian yelped and Azalazar tried to jerk back, but at the same time, Brian tried to use his legs and shove him back, both ended up falling over the counter and rolling over it yelling, the shock staff had flown out of the doctor’s hands and spun across the counter and slid into the water filled sink, with was over flowing by this point, the water instantly conducted the electricity. Cursing, Brian and Azalazar rolled over the counter and fell into the next aisle, well Azalazar did. Brian’s hand shot up and grabbed the pot rack, the rest of his body went over but he hung there half on the counter half off, Azalazar crashed to the floor. Brian grunted and let go and fell on his rear to the floor with a yelp, he sat there stunned for a minute. Azalazar started to sit up, that movement jolted Brian back to reality, he instinctively kicked out at him, hitting the doctor in his chest and knocking him into the bottom cupboards, he crashed into them as Brian grabbed the counter top and quickly pulled himself up. Azalazar grabbed one of the pots that had been tossed to the floor in the scuffle and hurled it at Brian; he caught him straight in his stomach. “Ugh!” Brian cried as the pot slammed into him, knocking the air out of him, he started to hunch over to hug his stomach when Azazlazar slammed into him again, both fell back onto the counter, Azalazar’s hands clamped around Brian’s throat and Brian clawed at his face, both rolled around yelling and cursing. Both came to a stop as Azalazar slammed Brian’s head against the counter, he cried out and punched Azalazar. He swore loudly and fell back Brain rolled over started to crawl away through his blurring vision when Azalazar jumped and pinned him down. “Argh!” Brian groaned as Azalazar slammed his arm on his neck holding him down, Brian struggled but couldn’t really do anything. Suddenly an electric jolt ran through Brian’s arms and hands. “Ak!” He cried as the overflowing electrified water spilled over his hands. He pushed his head up as Azalazar tried to force his head into the water. “I don’t need this much trouble!” Azalazar growled still pushing Brian’s head toward the water. “I can just take that crystal back here and now.” “And…..how are……you going to………..do that?” Brian gagged trying futility to fight back, his head got closer to the water. Azalazar reached out for something. SHINK! Brian’s eyes widened even more when he heard that sound, Azalazar held the butcher knife at the side of Brian’s head. “It may not be sterile, but one way or another, your either going to come and give me that crystal, or I will take it this way, I’d prefer it if you’d come willingly because it would be so much easier what with the clause, but I’m used to doing things the hard way.” Clause? Brian wondered vaguely as he continued to struggle. Suddenly the tip of the knife in his back and he gasped. More water splashed against his hands sending jolt through his arms. “Ak!” He cried as from the pain of the water and the knife beginning to slowly dig into his back. “I can bypass the spin, and go under the lung to reach your heart, or maybe go through your lung, it would be quicker. Hell, maybe I should just cut through it all, but still, it would be cleaner and faster if you’d corporate!” Azalazar said furiously. “Screw you!” Brian cried. “Hey Brian!” Azalazar didn’t notice A.J.’s voice suddenly coming from the intercom from the other aisle that they had fallen into. “Brian!” A.J.’s voice called again. “Oh Brian! Where are ya?” “A……………J!” Brian chocked out, gagging against the constant pressure. He cried out when the knife dug in a little deeper. “Reconsidering?” Azalazar asked. Oh great! Drown or get stabbed to death! Options are looking really well here Brian! He said to himself. “Let……me….go!” Brian got out, but his struggling was getting weaker and weaker. He couldn’t take this anymore. Azalazar dug the knife in deeper and Brian cried out again as he felt blood slid down his back. “What is it going to be Mr. Littrell?” Azalazar asked. “Corporate? Or die? Better hurry and decide.” CLANG! Azalazar cried out and Brian suddenly found the pressure released from his neck, he gasped and automatically rolled away from the water and off the counter, he fell painfully to the floor. Azalazar had already fallen to the floor. Nick lunged and swung the pan again this time managing to hit his head, well, not fully. He hit Azalazar’s shoulder and the side of his head, not enough to kill the doctor, but enough to knock him out. CLANG! A small cracking sound tang out over the ringing of the pan, Azalazar fell over again, unconscious. Nick jumped back as Brian rolled over a little to see what happened. Nick suddenly dropped the pan, it clattered to the floor, he grabbed his head and winced. “Ow!” he whined holding his head. “Nick!” Brian said shocked breathing hard. Nick winced again and gave him a little wave. “Hey Brian.” He said in a pained voice. Brian fell back and started at the ceiling. The silence was over whelming, but he gladly welcomed it. “Hey Brian! Are you still there!?” A.J.’s voice came again through the COM. Brian looked back up, but Nick was waving him back down. “I’ll get it.” He volunteered, turning and trudging back around to the other aisle to get to the COM link. Once there, he pressed the button. “Hey A.J.!” He called through. “Give us a minute, we got Azalazar.” “Really?” A.J. said impressed. “Okay.” Nick turned and grabbed a towel off the counter and stepped around the pans, he hurried back around as Brian was using the counter to climb back to his feet. “Are you okay?” He asked urgently handing Brian the towel. Brian nodded whipped his hands off and began whipping the blood from his back off; he winced and hissed in pain from the cut. “How bout you? I was originally in here to get stuff for you.” Brian huffed and Nick laughed and rubbed his head. “I have a splitting headache, but I think I’m alright.” He said. Brian nodded rubbing his side, he looked at Azalazar who lay on the floor still. “Hey,” Nick said surprised, “Your bleeding!” He said pointing. Brian nodded. “Tell me about it.” He muttered, trying to slow his racing heart. “By the way, thanks.” He added. “No problem.” Nick said. “Maybe we should-“ He started, still looking at the growing bloodstain on Brian’s shirt. “I think we should deal with the doctor first.” Brian said raising his eyebrows at the unconscious and bleeding form on the floor. Both stared at him for a moment. Nick looked up at the still open fridge and then back to the doctor, he started to slowly grin. “Hey, hey, hey!” He said laughing. “What?” Brian asked. “Let’s leave him in there!” Nick said pointing. Brian looked at the fridge, Azalazar, and then back at Nick, he started to grin as well. “Think we could?” “Why not? He’ll have plenty of food. Lets do it!” Nick urged as Brian was starting to laugh. “Yeah!” He agreed. Azalazar was heavier then he appeared, each grabbed an arm and got ready to drag him across the floor. As Nick pulled one arm up, his eyes widened. “Hello!” He said. Brian looked over. “What?” He asked as Nick turned the arm to show him, small purple and blue marks dotted his arm. “Track marks,” Nick said. “Most likely from adrenaline shots, probably why he was able to be up and around with all the injuries he has.” “Adrenaline shots?” Brian repeated puzzled. “Kinda like being high some what, gives you strength and energy. Only its not lethal.” Nick explained. “I don’t care what he’s on, lets just make sure he can’t get out!” Nick agreed and they began pulling him, they strained as he began moving him. Maybe it was because both were weak from the day’s events, but Azalazar sure was heavy. It took a few minutes, but once they stepping into the fridge and he was on the ice, he was easier to slide. “Jeez!” Nick grunted pulling him in. Brian fully agreed as they finally dropped him in half way in the cold space. Panting, Brian stepped around him and walked back out, his shoes sliding on the ice, Nick followed him, but stopped, he pulled the light switch chain to leave the light on even if the door was shut. He paused for a moment looking at the torn ceiling he grinned as an idea went through his head. “HEY! EATER!” He suddenly screamed at the ceiling. “SPECIAL DELIVERY FOR YA!” As Nick quickly exited Brian was laughing hysterically, he leaned against the door as Nick bounced out. Even though laughing made his back hurt, Brian couldn’t help it as Nick grinned at him, he began shutting the door. “That was good man!” Brian said as the door swung shut. Nick slid the small metal pole through the lock, sealing the good doctor inside, alone, well, not entirely, he did have the head to talk to, and he was probably insane enough to actually do that. But no way was he getting out. Brian leaned against the door and slid down to the ground, leaving a blood trail against the steel, Nick sighed and plopped down next to him where they sat in silence for a moment breathing hard. Nick looked around, his head still pounding. “You made as mess.” He said, not meaning for it to be funny, just stating the fact. Brian started laughing. “Yeah, I guess I did.” He agreed laughing. Nick started laughing, to, both laughed hysterically over the entire thing. They just laughed, and laughed, and laughed. BACK NEXT |
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