Survival is Crucial

Altered Beast II

Ryder, a young man wearing an engineer's uniform, walked over to a fellow engineer as they leaned onto a railing, watching groups of people walk out onto the deck. "What's going on?" Ryder asked, leaning onto the railing beside the other engineer.

The engineer pressed their lips together, "Someone died, or something."

"What!?" Ryder glanced over at a group of people making their way down to the lower deck, "Someone died!?"

"Yeah..." The engineer swished some saliva in his mouth before spitting it out, "Bitter," he muttered, before looking back over at Ryder, "I don't recognize you."

"That's not what's important right now, you said that there were dead people?"

"Are you an intern?"

"Yes! Answer the question!"

The engineer sighed, scratching the back of their head, "Yeah, sure, I guess. Apparently, some crazy dude is crawlin' in the vents and s**t, which is why we're all out here. Mitigating casualties or something." The engineer paused, "Is that the right word, 'mitigate'?" He muttered as if in a daze.

Ryder sighed, "So... what now?"

"We wait until the issue is resolved, though, I don't know how it can be resolved if everyone is outside."

Ryder screwed up his nose, "Will they send someo-" Ryder cut himself off, his attention being brought to Nixon. "Who's that?"

The engineer looked over at Nixon, "That guy?"

"Weren't we not taking civilian passengers?"

"Nah, we were, I don't know the whole story though, or why there is only one."

"Right..." Ryder paused, "What the hell am I going to do now?"

The engineer walked away, heading to another group of guards as they openly conversated about what was happening inside the ship, mostly talking about the guards that have died, some being sentimental, most not caring, and instead are looking forward.

Ryder had begun making his way towards Nixon before being stopped by someone grabbing onto his shoulder - a black man wearing a guard's uniform, his eyes hanging low, his looking as if being glazed over. "He's mine, boy." A grave tone came out from the man's throat as his grip on Ryder's shoulder tightened.

"I definitely didn't expect this..." Ryder smiled, "Why don't we go somewhere else?"

The man smiled, "Alright." He slapped Ryder's shoulder lightly before leaving - Ryder immediately going into character by watching him leave with a raised eyebrow before whispering, "What an odd guy." Under his breath. Ryder clicked his tongue, following behind.

Ryder found himself entering the ship once again, the man entering it before him, waiting down a hallway, hands in their pockets. "What are we doing here?"

"Wouldn't want anyone to interrupt."

"What if someone were still in the hallways?"

"There always will be, especially now, but... if one of the other guards were in fact inside these halls right now, I'd take care of it."

"What's your name?"

"Not telling."

Ryder nodded, "Understandable." Ryder had begun sprinting down the hall, keeping a small knife within a balled had, the whites of his knuckles being visible as he got closer and closer. The instant Ryder entered the man's range he brought the knife out, with a quick flick of his wrists and slicing at the man's face upward, cutting the man slightly.

"Dumbass!" The man yelled as his arm circled around Ryder's, pulling him closer to him as he grabbed onto Ryder's collar, "Got you!" The man picked Ryder up without much effort, not even bothering with any semblance of technique as Ryder is thrown into the air and is slammed down behind him, causing Ryder to be winded. "Fool!" The man flipped around Ryder's arm, sitting comfortably between his legs before falling onto the floor - an armbar. In a panic, Ryder attempting to curl his arm, jumping off from the ground to bring himself in a higher position compared to the man's position but the man still hung on, pulling Ryder's forearm towards him, his full intention being to break Ryder's arm.

Ryder fell to the ground again, the man flipping over to go back into an armbar as Ryder's back once again pressed itself onto the ground below. After a bit of a struggle, a brief pop could be heard. Ryder screamed as loud as he could as he grasped his arm, that scream slowly turning into a meek whimper as his boots skidded across the ground as he periodically gasped, rubbing his head violently on the floor as his breath had become more ragged.

"You messed with the wrong man." He chuckled, "Well... time to clean up." He sighed - he threw off Ryder's hat, grabbing onto Ryder's hair. "Too bad, huh?" The man raised Ryder's head into the air.

Ryder's leg whipped outward and suddenly the man fell to the floor, grasping his crotch. Ryder brought himself to the wall, still grabbing onto his arm as he attempted to raise himself from the ground that not too long ago, was lying helplessly on. "Fucker! Underestimating me and s**t!" Ryder stood up, kicking the man in the face before making his way out from the hallway before other guards could arrive.

Everyone outside could hear the screams but most paid no mind, assuming that it was a guard or engineer who did not listen properly and were most likely killed by Maxim in the process. Those that did care decided to make their way into the hallways of the ship before stopping at the doorway to the hallways inside. After a quick match of rock, paper, scissors, the strongest out of the group entered, a few more guards following behind.

Marshall squinted to get a better look at them as they all re-entered the ship, "What the f**k are they doing?"

Saul raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

"Well, I don't know if you were paying attention, but all of the guards had filled the deck to almost a spilling point, and then a small group had just gone back inside."

"Sabía que se fueron a la cubierta ya pendejos." Saul clicked his tongue.

Marshall thought to himself for a second, "I don't think a scream should be enough reason for them to go back inside."