Fifteen: No Way Back

Pastora and Sunghoon watched as I fell below into the vents. I was greeted by a cool draft that lingered through the vents. Everything whizzed by me in a blur, the air felt colder the deeper I fell but it all lasted for a few seconds before gravity took place and my body made contact with the hard floor.

"Chaeyoung, are you alright!?" Pastora called from above.

I scooted away from the vent opening, thankful that I didn't land on my injured hand.

"I'm fine! Just be careful on how you land, if you can!" I reply.

"You know there is a ladder here, right?" Sunghoon asked to my disbelief.

I looked over to see the metallic ladder on the wall that I somehow missed.

"Oh, yeah that may be a better idea..." I mutter as the two of them started to climb down the ladder. Their footsteps echoed off the narrow walls of the vents.

I strained my ears for any sound of the creature, but fortunately that noisemaker seemed to really gain its attention.

"So, what now genius!?" Sunghoon sneered as he hopped off the ladder, facing me. "Do these vents lead to other sections?"

"The last couple I traveled through did." I replied with a shrug. "Do you have a better idea?"

Sunghoon glared at me before he helped Pastora down off the ladder.

"Well, I hope you know where you're going, because this was your idea on saving Chelsea." He added, taking Pastora's hand in his.

"These vents don't give us any direction, but we should be safer from the monster down here." I say as I start down the narrow corridors in the vent. "Just as long as we stay quiet."

"Man, what the hell was that thing!?" Sunghoon hissed.

"I don't know..." I say helplessly. "I just want to stay away from it."

"I assume that it's next stage of the chestburster's life cycle." Pastora adds. "I have the papers here..."

"Not now Pooch, we've got to keep moving." Sunghoon says quickly, there was slight panic in his voice.

Pastora obliged and the three of us went silent as we continued our way through the vent. The metal blades clanged against the metal walls around us.

"I just realized something..." I say, coming to a halt.

"What!?" Sunghoon snapped, nearly bumping into me.

"Is everything okay!?" Pastora asked looking at me curiously. The dim light's from the lanterns above us illuminated her sun kissed face.

"I just realized...the monster uses these air ducts and vents for transportation...." I swallow hard as I feel a rush of panic wash over me.

"Well, thanks for letting us know." Sunghoon replied flatly.

"This was the only escape route I could think of." I hiss. "I don't see you doing any thinking at all!" I really didn't care about how rude that sounded, I was getting real tired of his attitude.

His small nose twitched as he leaned in close to me and grabbed a fistful of my sweater.

"If you haven't forgot, I saved your life. If it wasn't for me, you'd be dead." He snapped before shoving me out of the way. "I'd be more appreciative if I were you." He shot me a glare before he started down the vent once more.

I could feel my entire body shake. Full of fear and full of frustration. Surviving from this monster took enough energy out of me, and now I had to deal with this jerk's attitude and ignorance.

"Let's just get out of here before that thing finds us here in the vents." Sunghoon called over his shoulder to Pastora and I, speaking a bit louder than he should be.

"We're right behind you." Pastora replied in a softer tone and turned to face me.

I didn't know what to say to her. I actually didn't want to talk to her or Sunghoon, I just wanted to make sure that Chelsea was okay and find my father.

"Are you okay, Chaeyoung?" Pastora whispers behind me, dragging me out from my thoughts. "I didn't see the creature when it got close to you...but I can't even imagine how terrifying it must of been, along with everything else you've seen from it. Sunghoon shouldn't be treating you this way, I can talk to him if you want.."

I shook my head in response. No way, the last thing I wanted was to turn his own girlfriend on him. I had enough threats on my hands.

"No thanks, I'm fine..really." I say, sounding colder than I wanted.

"I don't mean to hover...I just want to help you. We're all in the same boat you know, if you need to talk about it...you can tell me." Pastora adds.

I feel the tips of my ears starting to burn out of embarrassment. It was probably the nicest thing a girl's ever said to me. I've never really talked to many girls back at home, and when I did it was just about school projects. I felt bad because I really didn't know how to respond to such a kind gesture.

"Yeah thanks, you too..." I mutter, wincing when I put too much weight on my right hand. I hiss through my teeth as a sharp pain shoots up my entire arm, but I didn't stop moving. I wouldn't let my injury burden us, I'll worry about it later once we get out of this mess. If we get out of this mess.

Pastora doesn't say anything more and neither does Sunghoon as we continue through the vent. We took multiple turns and loops and still haven't found a circular opening to emerge from. We must have been traveling through the vent for a half hour, but there wasn't any sign of the creature, as far as we know. Maybe Sunghoon's smoke bomb scared it off.

"Hold on a minute." I say, reaching with my good hand to touch Sunghoon's shoulder. "We should take a break and think. We don't know how far we're going or where we're going! We've probably passed the room Chelsea and David are in!!"

Sunghoon turned to face me, looking at me with an irked expression.

"You don't think I know that!? You and I both know that we can't turn back! This is our only way, but if you're anxious to get back, I won't stop you."

"Sugnhoon, you don't have to be so mean, he's just clarifying." Pastora defended, crawling over to my side.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Oh? Well would you like to add to it?"

"We should save our energy and focus on keeping each other alive. Not be at each others throats ever five seconds. It's tiresome, pointless, and could attract us some unwanted attention. We need to stay focused." Pastora says. "I love you, Sunghoon, but you're not helping us by being a jerk."

Sunghoon scoffs. "A lecture?"

"No, advice." Pastora replies and then looks at me. "So what are you thinking, Chaeyoung?"

"We should consider how far this vent will take us...I know it's hard to judge from down here but try to keep in mind." I say, looking at Sunghoon.

"Alright, fine. There's a ladder a few feet ahead that we can take to go lower or higher. I say we take higher. It may lead us back up to the same level we were at, but in a cell room instead of a corridor." Sunghoon requests.

I shake my head. "I disagree. We should take the lower level. The monster is less likely to be down there, based on the ways it travels through the ducts in the ceilings."

"That's a good plan." Pastora agrees. "The creature may still be lurking this floor and if we take the lower level, it will also give us more time to search for Chelsea before it can spot us."

I nod and look at Sunghoon. "Is that alright with you?"

"It'll have to be." He growls before turning for the ladder. He looks at Pastora and I for a moment before speaking. "If you see any types of scrap or strange tools, give them to me. I can craft other things that will help us with that monster."

"I told you, weapons are useless to that thing." I say as I turn my body around and straddle the ladder. I peered down at Sunghoon in the dim light waiting for a good distance between us before I started climbing down.

"Who said anything about weapons?" Sunghoon calls up to me. "Think of them more as tools, distractions. That smoke bomb worked, didn't it?"

I climbed down each step, gripping the handle tight enough to keep my balance but not tight enough to put too much force on my hand.

"You're right...it did. I don't think I've thanked you properly....so thank you. I owe you one." I say.

"Yeah, you do!" Sunghoon replies, but there was a more playful tone to his voice than his usual aggressive one.

I looked up to see Pastora starting to climb down in front of me, I made sure to keep my eyes down so that I wasn't looking right at her....umm...butt.

A loud thud from below caused me to nearly fall off the ladder, Pastora gasped above me.

We could hear Sunghoon chuckle from below.

"Relax, it was just me getting to my feet."

"Try being a little more quiet, babe..." Pastora calls back to him in a frantic whisper. "That monster is some sort of unknown organism, but from what Chaeyoung has told us about it...it wouldn't be surprising if it had heightened senses..."

"Sorry, Pooch. I'll be more careful." Sunghoon replied, his voice was getting closer as I reached the end of the ladder.

Unlike Sunghoon, I climbed down the entire way so that my feet gently touched the ground as I climbed off the ladder.

Pastora followed suit and adjusted her bag on her shoulders.

"Does anyone need anything while we're in a secure place?" She asks.

"Yeah, hand me a couple of those medication tubes, the Compound B elements I was telling you two about earlier." Sunghoon says, taking a seat on the vents hard metallic floor.

Pastora nodded and handed him two tubes full of Compound B.

Sunghoon smiled at her and took them before reaching into his own bag and pulling out a jar of ethanol. He then looked up at me.

"Now all I need is a blasting cap and some sort of string, wires could do the trick as well." Sunghoon says before placing the items in his bag.

"How do you know about this compound B chemical?" I blurt out. "Is one of your parent's a nurse on this station?"

Sunghoon's face fell and his eyes locked onto mine in an icy glare. He pointed a finger at me.

"Do not ever ask me that again." He growls tossing his bag over his shoulder. He grabs Pastora's arm and leads her down the narrow corridor of the vent.

I sigh to myself and follow after them. As hard as I was trying, I wasn't trying enough to make friends with this guy. Not that making friends was the first priority, but it would be nice for us all to work together as a team to keep us alive.

Pastora had the brains and the heart, Sunghoon had the mechanical hands and the courage, and I had the stealth and sense of direction. We were all gifted in different ways, I believe if we could all combined our skills and ways of thinking, we can defeat this monster.

"Hey, good news Chaeyoung!" Sunghoon calls from ahead. "I've found an opening! Let's just see where this leads us too."

I hurry after them but mind how loud my movements are. Pastora and Sunghoon were right at the vent's circular opening, waiting for me. I squeezed between them and slowly peered out into the dim room.

The room was dark with a few emergency lights on the walls, lockers, cabinets, and crates for storage, and multiple desks with medical tools that were used for surgeries or autopsies. However, instead of a dead body there was a small creature sprawled out on a pale blue tray.

"Hey, Pastora..." I say, scooching over to give her some room to see what I did.

I pointed over at the desk with the creature on it.

"I think I've found more fact's to your research on those facehuggers..."