ZED: The Exterminator
By Space Disc Jockey
The chaotic, flickering of flame barely lit the damp darkness of the freezing labyrinth of pipes, wires and death. The aroma of a freshly, ignited cigar butt momentarily hid the stench of rotting flesh. Crimson graced the floor and splattered along the walls. Dirty frozen, dirty fingers gripped the flamethrower handle tighter, as his ice-blue eyes slid left and right, but casually, continued to puff plumes of smoke into the sinister air. His shadow danced violently, while the corpse a foot away, oozed and crackled. Drips of water, slowly plopped and splashed, from above.
Suddenly, among the symphony of environmental sounds, his ears perked-up to the drizzling of rushing liquid drips that were certainly going at a faster pace, followed by a slight hiss, behind him.
A dark mass plummeted and very carefully, rose up. Drool and slime poured from its fanged jaws, as the bio-mechanical insect-like beast struck out its lanky arms and spread its long, reptilian fingers in a striking, pounce position. The tongue glared its incisors, like a piranha. Mists of breath fumed from the creature's mouth. In a blink of an eye, the tongue bolted outward!
Zed jerked his head to the side, as the jaws snapped next to his face. He turned around, jammed the nozzle of the flamethrower into the xenomorph's throat and in an instant, engulfed the monster's head into a ball of fire.
An eerie squeal emitted from the stunned extra terrestrial and echoed through the halls. In desperation, the Alien lashed out its tail and pierced the chest cavity of Zed. The spear-tip tore completely through his body...Zed laughed. The Alien continued to shriek and uncontrollably, shake and wiggle.
With both hands, Zed clutched the serrated, spinal-like tail and easily broke it in two. Acid spewed all over. The barbed tip of the Alien tail was still lodged in him.
Casually placing the cigar back between his teeth, Zed gestured a goodbye with a middle finger, as his face and shoulders sizzled and smoked, and trudged down the corridor, while leaving a trail of a milky-colored liquid.
To be continued...
