Doctor Butcher

Alicia threw her Molotov cocktail into the hallway. The glass shattered on the ground, the fire started spreading quickly. She had thrown it into the middle of a group of KRAKEN guards. They panicked, there was screaming. Three of them were on fire. The others took several steps back.

They probably didn't want their flailing buddies to set them on fire as well. Though if they were friends you'd think they'd at least try to help. They didn't.

Hella stepped forward. “Go, I'll handle these fuck-faces.”

We didn't hesitate, there was no time for that. We headed down the stairs on the side. They were very similar to the stairs from the other base. Again the only doors were on the bottom two floors. Above us we heard screaming and shouting. Hella's distraction seemed to be working perfectly.

The first door was locked again.

The bottom door, again, was not.

Inside was almost the exact same as last base. Except there was light this time. I'll be honest, I preferred the base without lights.

With the lights on this time we could see exactly what was inside the rooms we passed by. People, or rather what was left of them. Which in some cases wasn't much. All of them were tied down or kept in tanks full of water.

The first one was dead. His guts were hanging on a rack next to him. His body was strung up against the wall. The hole in his stomach was still open. I came real close to vomiting when I saw him.

Then in the next room there was a bald woman submerged in a water tank. Her arms had been cut off. They were floating in their own separate little tanks next to her. I think she was breathing somehow. Maybe another Camper?

The last room was the worst. There were multiple people in this one, all strapped to their bed. One man whose legs had been removed. He was sleeping I think. I hope.

The guy next to him was less lucky. He was awake. His body was full of blisters. The rooms must have been soundproof because he looked like he was screaming. I couldn't hear him though. Which was probably a good thing.

The person next to him barely looked like a person. They were completely bloated. Looked more like a lump of fat and meat than a human. They were wriggling around on their bed. I think they were trying to escape.

Then there was the last person. They seemed much like the previous person except something seems to have popped them open. I can barely think about it without vomiting. I certainly did when I saw it. Couldn't hold it in this time. I think their stomach exploded? I don't want to know for sure though.

Then there was one final bed. Whatever was in there it wasn't a human. Probably just blood and guts left from whoever was on that bed. It definitely didn't move. Nope. That was just my imagination.

After that I decided to stop looking into the rooms and keep my gaze towards the ground. I had already puked out everything I had eaten the last week. I didn't have anything left in me to vomit out. If I could still vomit then I didn't want to find out.

Looking only at the ground of course was also not a good idea. I didn't see the KRAKEN scientist until he saw us. I think he was a scientist at least, had the lab coat and goggles on.

He immediately started yelling for help.Alicia shut him up by smashing the metal pipe she had straight against his face.

That's when I noticed Alicia was looking very bad. She was almost as pale as Hella, sweating bricks and breathing heavily. “Are you okay, Alicia?” I asked, worried.

“No.” She wiped the sweat off her forehead. “Doesn't matter. His shouting must have attracted attention, we've gotta keep moving.”

She was right. She was also in no state to be walking, let alone storming a KRAKEN lab. We had no other choice though. So we kept moving forward.

A few minutes later we finally got there. The main lab. We stormed inside and there she was, my mother. There were handcuffs around her wrists keeping her tied to the wall. When she saw me her eyes widened.

“Catrien? How.. Why are you here?!” She yelled.

This caused the other person in the room to notice us. Standing over an operating table with a knife in hand cutting into what I hope was a dead body. Dr. Slager, his lab coat was covered in blood. Looking very much like his name implies.

He seemed to be an older man in his late fifties. Completely bald. “You dare interrupt my work? You will pay dearly for this. Guards!”

“Your guards are a little busy with something else right now.” Alicia taunted.

Which might not have been very intimidating since she could barely stand.

My mother shouted. “Catrien get away from here! It's dangerous!”

Dr. Slager turned to her. “Ah, so this is your child then? You really should teach your kid to not interrupt grown ups while we work.” He turned back to us. “You see child, your mother has been a wonderful help in my work. It's hard to get her to cooperate though. Perhaps you'll turn out to be a better incentive. I really do need her expertise on eldritch viruses you see. And if not, I'm sure you'll make a wonderful subject for my experiments.” His laugh sent a chill down my spine. He took a step forward.

“Let my mother go you filthy creep!” I yelled. Holding my glass shard on a stick ready.

“Don't worry about your mother, she's still useful to me. You should worry about your friend instead, she seems.. quite Ill.” He pointed at Alicia.

I looked back at her. Just in time to see her collapse on the floor. I froze. The disease had finally taken its toll. I was too late.

Then a scream.

I turned back to see my mother pick up a drill and try to hit Dr. Slager over the head over with it.

Just then there was a loud bang from above. Dust fell from the ceiling.

My mother hesitated because of it, Dr. Slager didn't and grabbed the drill from her. Hitting her with it instead. My mother fell to the floor.

Suddenly I was screaming and leaping towards the doctor. I tried to stab him with the glass shard knife. He heard my scream and he dodged it. He then raised the drill up in the air.

Before he could bring it down on my head my fist was against his face. The fist where I had put Alicia's glove on. Which is apparently weighted. So he went down fast. Alicia's punching lesson helped a lot too I think.

Once I had realized what just happened I ran over to my mother. She was still conscious so I helped her back on her feet. She then told me Dr. Slager kept the key in his pocket. I grabbed it and went to free her.

Just as I was tinkering with the lock my mother shouted. “Look out behind!”

I turned and Dr. Slager was already getting back on his feet. With his knife in hand.

Just then someone else busted through the door. “Dr. Slager, the base is compromised! The Hella woman is destroying everything above!”

“You morons! How could you have let this happen?!”

“I'm sorry Doctor, we need to evacuate the base.”

He grumbled as he got on his feet. His jaw still bleeding. “Make sure you get all the research data.”

“Already being uploaded doctor!”

“At least you're not fully incompetent. Take the blonde girl. I have use for her.”

While this was happening I had just freed my mother. When I heard him saying he wanted to take Alicia I shouted “Don't you dare lay a hand on her!”

Luckily the KRAKEN guy interrupted. “Dr. Slager we need to go! The base is burning down!”

“Grahh, fine. Leave the girl, let's go.”

Dr. Slager escaped but so did we.

My mother is safe. We did it.

Alicia is still alive as well. But she's in critical condition. My mother is doing everything she can to save her. Meanwhile I can do nothing to help.

There was no trace of Hella. Maybe that's a good thing.