Chapter 6

Iko

The ship was always so full of life. With crew members laughing and talking about their past lives, singing songs from their homeworlds at the top of their lungs while they drank far too much liquor, and of course, people comparing their weapons and arguing over how a kin-blaster would destroy any primitive weapon within a second.

But the ship was dead silent as Erma and Iko walked down the long corridors, it would have been less unsettling to Iko if she heard any signs of life that didn't involve the weird squishing sound that Gluttony made every time it moved in Erma's hands as it tried to escape. The little thing weirded Iko out, it wasn't natural and Iko had dealt with way too many things that seemed unnatural.

"Hey, Erma where did you find that… "Thing" exactly? I don't think I've ever seen anything like it in the containment area" Iko asked

"Oh, I found Gluttony down this hall! It shot out of a hole right over there actually." Erma said while pointing to an area where a floor panel was partially ripped out of the floor.

The pair neared the area that Erma had been pointing at and Iko slowly got down on her knees and began to examine the hole that Erma said her new pet had emerged from, she saw nothing unusual at first just wires and other electrical things until she saw a small fluffy object that was near the merging point of the panels. If Iko hadn't been looking so closely she would have easily missed it. Slowly Iko reached her arm into the hole and grasped the fluffy thing carefully, not knowing what it was or if it was dangerous… It was warm.

Iko pulled her arm back through the hole and examined the fluffy ball that was in her palm. It was small like a bunny and soft like a kitten, Iko felt Erma peering over her shoulder curiosity seemed to have stolen both of their voices and they just looked at the ball of fluff. Iko began moving the warm ball of fluff around trying to figure out what it was.

"I think it's just a dust ball Iko, we should keep going so we can both get some medical help," Erma said while still standing over Iko peering closely at the thing Iko had pulled out of the wall.

Iko kept moving the fluff ball around until she felt something… rough? Iko began pushing the fluff apart until she saw dark scarlet red blood. It was partially dry but still slightly wet, Iko pushed more fluff aside until she had a clear view. The "fluff ball" was a Mazzoca, a small vermin-like creature that is unnaturally adorable with massive curved ears, tiny little paws, and massive eyes that could hold an entire galaxy in them but they were major problems when it came to food storage. Iko noticed there was a nice chunk missing near the bloody parts on its underbelly and that's when she saw it. The Mazzoca was hollow, the same way she had found the Dirk before the entire ship went down to hell.

Iko opened her mouth to say something when suddenly a loud screech broke through the dead silence. It was high-pitched like a child throwing a temper tantrum over something meaningless in public but it was filled with so much fear. Iko dropped the Mazzoca and shot up to her feet, her eyes wide as she tried to locate where the scream had come from. Her heart was racing again and she felt her adrenalin spiking.

The silence felt like it was suffocating Iko as her ears strained to hear anything, then she heard the scream again. It was coming from further down the hall, the way Erma and Iko had originally been heading. Without a word or even a second thought Iko began running as fast as she could down the hall, her heart was beating so hard it felt like her chest was going to explode as she skidded into a hard right turn and slammed her entire body into the corridor wall. Iko's head felt dizzy as she stood leaning on the wall panting, she heard the scream again and Iko's head shot up.

The main lobby of the Signa had always been Iko's favorite area. It had lush tropical plants along the walls and massive windows, an amazing food court that had the best food with neon lighting and massive bean bag-like seats, and a giant dome at the very top so crew members could watch the shooting stars that always danced past the ship while they ate… But for the first time, the main lobby was not magical or even slightly home-like to Iko, it was horrifying. The plants had been ripped from the walls and in their place was fresh blood still dripping down the walls and windows silently falling to the floor and making puddles, the neon lights were shattered and shooting off sparks, and the floor was covered in dismembered crew members. Many of their faces still had the look of utter terror before they were killed.

Before Iko could even process what she was looking at, movement caught her eye, someone was alive! Iko rushed forward and leaped over the fallen chairs, to help out whoever had survived, but the moment she landed she knew she was too late. The girl was alive but her breathing was very shallow, she was in a pool of blood, and almost her entire body was in the mouth of a massive creature. The creature looked exactly like Erma's pet gluttony except it was only 50 times as large, its teeth looked like butcher knives, and it was eating a crew member.

Iko ripped her Kin-Blaster out of its holster and began shooting the creature while rushing forward to save the girl, the creature screeched in surprise and dropped the girl's mostly eaten body, and rushed backward. Iko grabbed the girl to get her to safety but she was too late, her Amber orange eyes had no life in them and her shallow breathing had stopped. Her body had lost far too much blood and she was gone.

The creatures screeching snapped Iko back to reality as she watched the creature barreling towards her, Iko froze in place as the creature rushed closer! 50 feet, 25 feet, 5 feet! Iko couldn't move a mussel as she stared into the oozing mass that could kill her when suddenly she felt a hard force slam against her body sending her and whatever tackled her flying to the side as the creature slammed into where Iko was just kneeling.

"Why the fuck didn't you fucking move!" Erma screamed into Iko's face

It was Erma, she had just saved Iko's life and stopped her from becoming blob food. Iko smiled at Erma but it quickly faded and the creature started screaming again. Iko looked over and saw that it was charging again, but this time she was prepared. Iko started shooting at the creature, nailing every shot and not stopping until the creature stopped in its tracks, turned around, and ran out of the room.Iko stood still for a moment her body shaking as she watched the creature run away,

"Whatever that thing is we need to kill it, Erma. Do you have anything in your lab that can pierce through its skin" Iko questioned as she helped Erma to her feet.

" I might have something, but we should hurry before things get any worse" Erma huffed out.

Suddenly they both froze, the creature was screeching again, but this time it wasn't just one screech it was multiple! Creatures were screeching from all across the Signa… It was calling for backup. Erma and Iko looked at each other and uttered the same word,

"Run"