[PUNCH CLOCK ANIMAL] MAYBEQUEST: PART 1

[skinstealer]

You’re not about to disobey the Doc’s orders on this one. Now’s not the time for panic, but you need to get out of here, now.
 

MAY: Fucking book it!

 

 
Chance goes for Melanie, swooping down to pick the kid up into his arms. He gives you a glance, and you go for Maes, fumbling a little at first with no thumbs to grip onto anything- you have a fleeting thought about how light she is, but you don’t have time to dwell on it. Mason’s a hell of a lot heavier, but you get him in your tail with a yowl of protest, his claws digging in as you startle the shit out of him. 
 

MAY: Sorry kid, no time for warnings!
 

 
With the kids quickly secured, you both take off running.



 
Dwayne, Nelson and Fuller are already ahead of you by the time you’re moving, having no kids to carry. There’s another huge crash behind you and your best guess is the safe room door getting kicked off its hinges, confirmed by the sound of something hitting the ground, hard. 
 

DOC FULLER: Oh shit oh shit oh fuck oh god
DWAYNE: Stop panicking, just keep moving!

 

 
You feel Mason’s claws grip deeper into your tail as you pick up the pace, your heart pounding hard in your chest. There’s someone starting to run behind you, and the smell of blood and rot fills the hallway-

A wall of raw flesh rises in front of your party before anyone can do anything about it, and everyone skids to a stop. 
 

DOC FULLER: Oh god, oh no-
NELSON: Wh-what is that?!
DOC FULLER: It’s her mark, it’s hers-

 
Someone’s approaching.
 


  
You turn away from the wall, and you feel a knot twist up in your stomach as you recognize the bloodstained form coming towards you, the hall around her staining with red as she gets closer. Her staff drags along behind her, scraping loudly against the tile. She almost seems to prop her weight against it, looking exhausted but no less intimidating.
 

CHELSEA: …
CHELSEA: I really wish it didn’t have to come to this.
CHELSEA: And if you’re smart, you’ll hand over the kids and let me finish things quickly.

 
Chance pipes up, looking more resolute than you’d seen him before as he squeezes Melanie tight to his chest.
 

CHANCE: They’re not staying.
CHELSEA: My orders are to bring them back alive and to kill the rest of you.
CHELSEA: It would be more of a mercy to cut you all down as quickly as I possibly can, and spare you whatever tortures you’d endure in the case of you either defeating me, or in the case of the children, returning to their mother.
CHELSEA: I’ve been here longer than you have. I’ll be here longer than you ever will be.
CHELSEA: I've seen how these kinds of things play out.

 
Her eyes have an almost glazed look to them as she approaches, nowhere for you to run.

 
CHELSEA: Don’t make me fight you.
CHELSEA: I’ve already taken so many today.
CHELSEA: Please let me make this easy.