Project S.T.A.T.I.C. Part 5: The Asylum

“Pam, don’t!” Beth shouted as she fell through the darkness.

The biting chill of the void nipped and clawed at her from every angle. The sound of screaming echoing around her filled her senses. Darkness swirled around her with only brief flashes of light cutting through her peripherals every few seconds. Above all else was the feeling of being trapped in freefall for what felt like an eternity. It was over in a matter of seconds and Beth was standing alone in a familiar and filthy corridor. Silence spanned out around her as she fought to catch her breath. She tried to relax and replay what she’d just witnessed.

The last thing that Beth had seen had been Pam. She’d made eye contact with her dominant lover mere seconds before she’d been dragged down into the depths of the void against her will.She’d wanted to stay and fight, but Pam had robbed her of that choice. It was the first time in a long time that she’d had something so major taken from her on such a grand scale. Not since the beginning of their relationship had Pam had she felt such a frustrating level of helplessness. However, the look in Pam’s eyes had said more than words ever could.

Rage had been the mouthpiece between the two of them, but Beth had seen the worry in Pam’s eyes and heard it in Rage’s voice. The crimson counterpart was far more aggressive than Beth was used to, but she’d learned to recognize the subtleties in Pam’s voice throughout their time together. She’d only done what she’d done because she was worried about her. However, a part of her was still upset and angry, but the more logical part understood Pam’s motives. She’d been driven by worry and concern, but also a hope that she’d be able to overcome the odds if she had a fresh start. 

Beth frowned and holstered her pistol. She was alone for the moment; a fact that was equal parts annoying and concerning. She sighed and rolled her eyes as she realized that Pam had sent her back to where they’d started. She recognized the marks on the walls, the pattern of the floor, and the branching split of the hallway. She took a few slow, deliberate steps forward down the hall. She looked to her left and then the right to confirm that she was in the very hallway that they’d faced that monster before getting separated. The biggest difference was that she was on the opposite side of the locked gates.

Beth ducked down and to hide from the windows on the doors that she and Pam had gotten stuck behind. She carefully peered through one of the windows to see if the infected were still meandering and bumbling around the hallways in search of their next meal. The lights over the door were still red. That was something she could be thankful for. The mob of infected were still trapped behind the double doors. She turned around and looked up. There was a camera at the end of the hall that was trained on her. The red lights surrounding the camera lense confirmed that it was on and watching her closely. 

She could almost hear Pam’s voice in the back of her head reminding her to ask the right questions. They’d been watched and observed since they’d arrived. Dr. Murray had made no secret of that fact with her commentary over the intercoms and use of the security systems. The hospital might have been dated, but there was still a fair amount of automation in the locks and other security measures. It begged the question as to why Murray might be keeping her experiments locked away. It could have been an attempt to keep her separated from Pam, but there were dozens upon dozens of those things behind those doors. What was the point of it all?

Beth’s mind was working overtime trying to figure out Murray’s game. She turned and walked back down the hallway to the cross sectional branch where she and the others had fought Murray’s frankenstein monster before getting split up. She spotted another camera at the end of the hallway where Jake and Rebecca had gone. Another one could be seen down the hall at the opposite end from where they’d first come. What sort of game was Murray playing with them? Was she not watching the camera feeds, or was there something else driving her? 

“Not like it matters right now,” she murmured to herself and shook her head.

It was entirely possible that Anna hadn’t found her yet. After all, Pam had just sent her hurtling through space. She was tempted to try to break down the doors to get back to Pam, but she knew that it was futile. As much as she hated to admit it, she knew in her heart that she’d already been taken. No, what mattered was figuring out where Sally, Kait, and the others were being kept. The odds were that if she could find the, then she could find and rescue Pam. It was far from perfect, but it was the best plan she could come up with. If Anna hadn’t discovered her yet, then her best chance would be to keep moving.

Beth quickened her pace as she made her way forward into the hospital halls. There was a sense of nervous dread in the pit of her stomach as she walked. The fact that she was following the footsteps of that freakshow frankenstein didn’t sit well with her. Between the cameras, the locks, the guards, Murray’s patients, and that horrifying monster, Beth had no idea what she was walking into. She replayed the words of that arrogant doctor again. The illusion of freedom was what they had. It was infuriating, but the analogy of being rats in a maze was more accurate than she cared to admit.

She came to the end of the hallway and entered into a large reception looking area. Another large nurses station was in the center like an island, and a number of heavy metal doors lined the walls. There was an elevator off to the side that likely still worked, but Beth didn’t feel like trusting her fate to something like that. Her best guess was that she needed to make her way upstairs. While she didn’t have anything concrete to go on, her gut told her that their friends were likely on the upper floors being held for observation, experimentation, and who knew what else. However, she remembered the feeling of being lost with Pam, and so Beth decided to investigate the nurses’ station first.

The large, round desk in the center was littered with paper, folders, and dusty electronics. Beth ignored the notebooks and discarded paperwork. She wasn’t certain how much time she had, but the last thing she wanted was to push her luck. With one last glance around the lobby, Beth put her full focus on searching through the desk. She rifled through the papers and binders in hopes of finding something useful. She stopped when she found a paper in one of the binders.For the first time since they’d arrived, Beth felt a genuine smile spread across her face. She’d found a basic map of the facility.

It wasn’t much, but at least it was something that could provide her with a little bit of direction. She was able to piece together where she was on the map based on where she’d been with Pam. From what she could read on the map, she was currently in one of the more open and centralized areas of the hospital. The halls that branched off led to different wings on the bottom floor. By her best guess, Jake and Rebecca had gotten themselves sealed off in the cafeteria and kitchen. The way down to the basement and offices was also down that branch. It looked like they might be able to loop around to an open area labeled the courtyard.

Beth folded the paper up and stashed it in one of the inner pockets of her jacket. She looked over the station one last time to make sure she hadn’t overlooked anything. She spotted a badge sticking out from underneath one of the keyboards and grabbed it. There was no guarantee it would be any help, but it couldn’t hurt to take it with her. Just before she turned to walk back out from behind the desk, she heard heavy footfalls approaching. She cursed and ducked down behind the desk.

Her heart sank as she heard slow, rhythmic, and hefty steps getting closer. It was just the one set of footsteps, but somehow that made it even worse. Beth hoped that she was wrong, but she recognized those massive footsteps. She peeked over the edge of the counter and groaned internally as she saw the massive form of that freakish frankenstein making her way into the lobby. She sank down and held her breath in hopes of avoiding drawing any attention to herself. 

Beth hid herself as best she could behind the island desk as the behemoth made her way into the lobby. She could hear her weighty footsteps come to a stop. Her guess was that the monster was scanning the room. All she knew for certain was that it worked for Murray, but she wasn’t sure if it was human, cyborg, or something in between. Considering everything that Murray had at her disposal, the limits were virtually endless. She carefully withdrew one of her pistols in preparation for confrontation. Her bullets might not be enough to kill it, but maybe she could slow it down or stun it if it came down to the wire.

As Beth was drawing her sidearm, her elbow bumped one of the drawers that was slightly ajar. The noise was mild, thankfully, but she still felt a chill run down her spine. The sudden vibration was short lived, and it seemed as though she might be able to avoid detection. However, while it hadn’t been enough to draw the attention of the freak in the distance, it caused one of the clipboards on the counter to move. It had jostled the desk just enough for a clipboard that had been resting close to the edge to tumble and fall. The sound of it clattering to the ground and almost crashing was enough to make Beth’s heart stop.

The seconds that passed afterward were some of the longest and most tense that she’d experienced in a long time. Beth waited and looked up with bated breath. She was too afraid to move and risk getting herself cornered, but she knew that there was no way that thing hadn’t heard the fall. Suddenly one of those colossal hands wrapped around the top of the desk. The hand of Chaos pulled back and ripped the top portion of the desk off its base and flung it back. Beth took that as her sign to run.

She scrambled to her feet and looked back as she jumped over the other side of the desk. She’d never been so thankful for something as simple as a desk being bolted to the ground, but all it did was slow the monster down by a few seconds. Beth watched in bewilderment as the creature seemed to turn the desk into splinters and debris. She cursed again and looked around the room for anything she could use to stop the freak in leather before she got her hands on her. 

There wasn’t much that she could see that could slow the creature down. After seeing what that thing was able to do to that desk just by running through it, she decided to shift her focus to putting as much distance between her and it. The image of the map fluttered through the back of her head. She took a few more steps back and looked around. There was a doorway near the elevator with the image of stairs hanging above it, but getting there meant passing the monster. 

Beth grimaced as she rushed towards the door to the stairwell. The behemoth’s left hand shot out to snatch her, but Beth slid underneath her arm feet first. Beth pushed herself back to her feet with her free hand and broke back into a sprint towards the door. She didn’t look back at the monster behind her, instead choosing to focus on reaching her goal. She was closing in on the door when suddenly a large piece of furniture flew past her and crashed into the wall above the door. Beth skidded to a halt as a now broken couch fell in front of the door and blocked her from escaping. Her plan to get to the second floor and hopefully escape Murray’s monster was now in shambles, and Beth had to figure out a new plan of action.

Beth shook her head and looked to her right. There was a hallway that led through there, but she couldn’t remember where it went. However, she didn’t see another option. She picked up her pace and ran for the hall. This time she did look back over her shoulder to see what the hulking freak was doing. It was charging after her with wide strides and thunderous footfalls. Beth wouldn’t classify what it was doing as a run, but it was walking at an incredibly brisk pace. Somehow it was more unsettling that it wasn’t outright running after her. However, based on its steps, it wouldn’t be long before it caught up with her.

Beth wasn’t sure what good it would do, but she decided to try to slow the monster down with her guns. She didn’t have any room for errors or mistakes as she tried to line up a quick shot. She held her breath to steady herself and her nerves as she quickly spun around and fired a single bullet at the monster’s head. The gunshot rang out and echoed throughout the lobby as the bullet rocketed out of her pistol and towards Chaos’ head. Beth was quick to shift her weight once again and resume her sprint without looking back. Thankfully, her bullet hit the mark, despite Beth not seeing it, and it seemed to stun the behemoth. The only indication Beth had that it worked was the sudden stopping of the footsteps. She had no idea how long she had, but she wasn’t going to wait around to find out.

Beth picked up her pace and raced towards the double doors that led into the nearby hallway. She could only hope that they didn’t have the same automated locks that she and the others had encountered. She braced herself and threw caution to the wind. Her shoulder slammed into the doors, and she felt a sense of relief when the doors swung open from her weight. There was a loud bang as Beth burst through the doors. 

The hallway was long and brightly lit with fluorescent lights hanging down. There were gurneys, wheelchairs, and a handful of other pieces of medical equipment in the hall that Beth could see. Already she could hear that thing’s footsteps thundering in the distance growing closer by the second. She picked up her pace in hopes of outrunning it and possibly losing it. There were doors on each side of the hall, but she wasn’t a fan of the possibility of getting trapped. She needed to focus on getting away so she could find and save their friends.

One of the doors in the distance opened and a pair of guards dressed like the ones she’d seen earlier stepped out. Their faces were covered by their helmets, but they seemed surprised to see Beth running towards them. She felt her frustrations growing and bubbling to the point of no return as she got close. She was sick of surprises and being caught off guard, but more than that, she was sick of running. There might have been nothing she could do to stop the monster behind her, but she could take out these two idiots. It wouldn’t bring Pam back, but it might make her feel better.

Beth closed the gap between her and the guards. When she got within a few feet of them she leapt towards them. It caught the closest one off guard as she wrapped her legs around their midsection and squeezed. She threw her weight backwards and forced the guard to the ground. The one beside them was reaching for their pistol, but Beth opened fire the second she hit the ground. Two bullets ripped from the barrel of her gun and through the shin of the one on his feet. He cried out in pain as he collapsed in agony and fumbled for his weapon.

Beth uncoiled her legs from the one she’d taken down, and they tried to draw their gun from their holster. She flipped herself backward to put some distance between herself and him and landed in a crouching position. She fired two more shots that embedded themselves in their skull. Beth finished the other one off and silenced his screams with another two rounds to the head. She was back on her feet and preparing to move when she heard the sound of more security and that thing closing in. The guards were further down the hall, but that monstrosity was still back the way she’d come.

The silhouette of the gray-skinned, leather-clad titan could be seen bursting through doors. Beth put her focus on the path ahead. She shook her head and charged forward once again. She saw another door in the distance open and another set of security guards step out. These two had their weapons already drawn from the commotion of Beth’s last interaction. They spotted the colossal tank marching down the hall, but their attention was on Beth. However, before they could get a shot off Beth had already managed to open fire. One of her bullets caught one of the members in the shoulder and forced the other to duck back into the room. 

The one she’d clipped in the shoulder stumbled back two steps and leaned against a nearby gurney for support. They growled in frustration as they stood up straight and hurled the gurney at her. It rolled down the hall in a chaotic and speedy fashion. Beth threw herself forward and rolled over it without stopping and fired back at the one she’d managed to hit. She hit him two more times without breaking her stride. She twisted to the side as he returned fire and managed to avoid his bullets. She ducked low and under his line of fire as she closed the gap. She extended her arm out and wrapped it around his. With a quick twist of her hips she snapped his arm. Her boot connected with the nearby door and sent it flying into the face of the guard’s partner as she finished the other one with two shots to the head.

Beth paused in front of the door to press the barrel of her gun against the wood, but the dull click of an empty magazine filled the air. “Fuck,” she murmured as she sidestepped and reloaded. 

Beth dropped the empty clip and slapped a fresh one into her pistol. The security guard that had been retreating for cover stepped out as she finished reloading. Beth threw herself against the wall and waited for him to look around. Beth snaked her arm around his neck before he could turn on her. He struggled and tried to break free, but she tightened her grip in response. She watched down the hall. Murray’s monster was still coming and getting closer with every passing second. She watched as it threw one of the wheelchairs into the wall and out of her way. 

The sound of something jingling against the guard’s chest caught her attention. Beth looked down to see a familiar sight on his chest. She knew a grenade when she saw it. It might have only been a concussion grenade, but something was better than nothing. She reached down and pulled the pin on the grenade, loosened her grip, and kicked him forward at the lumbering menace. She shot him in the back of the head as he was thrown at the monster. His body fell forward and landed at the feet of the frankensteined freak. The explosion and blinding light that followed left a cloud of smoke, but it seemed to have its intended effect as the beast was stunned.

Beth turned back around to run again, but she stopped when she saw the pistol of the previous guard laying near her feet. She bent down and scooped it up without stopping or breaking her stride. The hallway ended in a sharp turn to the left. Beth threw herself against the wall as she got closer to the branch. She looked back to make sure that she wasn’t still being pursued by the hulking titan; it was still seemingly recovering from the sensory overload she’d managed to hit it with. 

Beth eased her way to the corner with both hands on her pistol. The glint of an overhead mirror dome caught her eye. She looked up to see another pair of security guards slowly making their way to the edge of the hall. They were clearly hoping for the element of surprise. Beth inched closer to the edge and waited for the first guard to get within range. The second that he was, she rounded the corner and threw her elbow into his stomach. She felt him buckle and bend, and she threw herself against his upper body to use it as a shield. His partner fired a couple of shots, but neither of them connected with her or the other guard.

Beth stopped and pushed her shoulder forward to knock the guard back. She squeezed the trigger and fired a round into his leg. He started to fall back, and Beth managed to catch him in the throat with another couple of gunshots. She threw herself forward into a roll to avoid a wave of bullets from the other guard. Her hand pressed against the floor to steady herself and pushed herself into a low sweeping kick aimed at the guard’s legs. She managed to successfully trip him and rolled herself forward again to mount him. She pressed the barrel of her gun against his exposed throat and squeezed the trigger to stop his struggles.

Beth’s head snapped up and she pointed her pistol down the hallway. She couldn’t see any more security guards making their way towards her, but that didn’t mean she was in the clear. Even if that was the last of them, there was still that freakish behemoth lagging slightly behind. She’d managed to slow it down, but there was telling how long before it was back on the move. As she got to her feet, she heard the familiar heavy, thunderous footsteps beginning to pick up once again. 

She looked around in hopes of figuring out a way to escape and lose the monster that was hot on her heels. This section of the hall wasn’t unlike the one she’d just come from; scattered medical equipment, doors leading to different rooms, and a long stretch that ended in a large set of heavy, double doors. There were cameras scattered throughout the upper sections of the hallway walls. However, unlike the last expanse, this one had a few doors with those lights indicating the automated locks were installed throughout the hall.

Beth sighed and went back to a brisk run. She kept her eyes peeled for the best way, but her focus was torn between searching and the thundering footsteps approaching from behind. Her hand shot out and grabbed the edge of one of the gurneys. She jerked her arms and sent it flying towards the opposite end of the hall where she’d come from. She kept running forward in hopes of losing her tail. She snatched a wheelchair and threw it down. It crashed into one of the stray stands standing in the hall and it clattered to the ground. 

She looked over her shoulder and saw Chaos marching towards her. The massive monster reached out and flung the gurney through one of the nearby doors. It dented the metal from the sheer force of her throw. Beth could feel her blood run cold as it continued moving without being phased by any of the obstacles in her path. The wheelchair was demolished with a single step, and the IV stands snapped beneath its weight. She wasn’t sure what else she could do to get away from that thing.

Suddenly the lights began flashing and flickering. A shrill claxon sounded and filled the hallway. “Now what?” she asked, looking around the halls.

Beth didn’t stop running, but she encountered a new problem when a large steel blast door descended at the end of the hall she was heading towards. The sirens and lights continued pulsating as she tried to figure out what was happening. Murray’s monster was still coming for her. It hadn’t slowed down, and it seemed entirely unphased by the shrill alarms and flashing lights. The beast was unnervingly calm while Beth’s heartbeat was continuing to pound within her chest.

Another heavy door slammed down blocking more of the path forward. Beth frowned and skidded to a stop. She was going to run out of places to run and hide at this rate. She turned back around to face the hulking titan with her pistol still drawn. Her bullets would only slow it down at best, and there was no way she was going to be able to fight it like she had the security guards. She’d seen how easily that thing was able to shrug off attacks from firearms, magic, and blunt force. There had to be a way to kill it, but she didn’t have the luxury of time right now.

“Come on, come on!” she exclaimed while searching for another way out, “Go fuck yourself, you ugly freak!”

She was furious. In a span of under an hour, she’d been separated from her friends, lost her girlfriend, and was now cornered like a rat. Her arm was burning with pent up rage and fury. THe spirit within her sword was practically screaming to be let out, but she wasn’t going to risk getting closer to that thing than necessary. There was a slight humming that was coming from her coat, though. It was faint, and she wondered if maybe she was hearing things at first. However, it seemed to grow louder by the second. She recalled the gun she’d taken from Ashley in the alternate universe; the one that reacted to her Northwind spirit.

Beth reached into her coat, holstered her sidearm, and retrieved the weighty pistol she’d brought with her in case of an emergency. The hefty pistol weighed twice as much as her usual gun, but it felt comfortable and familiar in her grip. Bullets for the high caliber revolver were scarce, but she supposed she could spare one. It would be worth it if she could live to fight another day. She raised her arm, fanned the hammer, and gave the trigger a quick squeeze. The barrel let off a faint blue glow just before the bullet ripped from the chamber. A strange, swirling beam of energy ripped from the barrel of her gun and rocketed towards the lumbering terror. 

There was a slight sense of accomplishment and relief as Beth watched her shot connect. She still didn’t know if that thing could think or feel, but it seemed to react to the threat. She watched as it twisted its upper body in an attempt to mitigate the full effect of the damage. However, the brunt of the shot tore through her right shoulder and the upper portion of her chest. Beth waited with bated breath as a cloud of smoke started to slowly dissipate. Her hope was that she’d hear the audible thud of its body crashing to the floor, but it never came. Instead, her heart sank as the sound of heavy footsteps graced her ears once again.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” she practically screamed in frustration, “Why won’t you just go down?!”

Beth caught sight of a portion of the monster as it stalked its way out of the smoke. She was tempted to see what, if any, damage her attack had done, but she knew it didn’t matter. That thing was still coming for her. She wasn’t sure what to do, where to go, or how she was going to get away. Another of the blast doors started to fall. There weren’t many options left for her, but she had to do something. Without much of a choice, Beth ducked into the room that was just behind her. She was likely condemning and cornering herself further, but maybe there would be something inside she could use.

Sadly, the second that she burst through the door and it swung shut, she could already tell she’d made a mistake. There was nothing except an empty bed, an old monitor, and a couple pieces of ratty, old furniture for guests. There was a window on the opposite side, but it was barred shut. She felt her hope begin to fade and the color drain from her face. As the door swung shut, she heard the lock engage and seal her inside. She looked back in confusion, but she knew it wouldn’t keep that thing out for long. She took two steps back and into the room as her mind raced to figure something out.

Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, Beth saw the bars on the window release and raise up. She wasn’t sure if her eyes were playing tricks on her, but she decided to throw caution to the wind. Beth shrugged to herself and ran towards the window. She closed her eyes and braced for impact as she dove through it in hopes of finding some sort of freedom. The glass shattered as she found fresh air and finally some freedom from the hallowed and horrifying halls of the asylum. She landed with a roll and immediately looked back in preparation for whatever was going to come next.

Beth watched as the bars on the window lowered and locked back into place. She could see into the room, and she could see the door already starting to buckle from the weight of that thing’s fists. However, she never saw it break in. A steel shudder dropped down and covered the window in a similar fashion to the blast doors. She couldn’t help wondering what was going on. Was this some sort of game from Murray, or was this a malfunction? Whatever it was, she supposed that it didn’t matter. 

She had her freedom and a minute to plan her next move. She looked around at the overgrown yard and up at the sky. The sun was setting and it was beginning to grow dark. She spotted another camera nearby and wondered what was going through the mind of whoever was watching her. Whether it was Murray or one of her cronies, she didn’t care. She was going to find them, but first she was going to find her friends. She sighed and holstered her pistol and took her first steps out into the open. She needed to disappear first and lost that thing, but then she was going to start making Murray and her army of freaks pay.