Nate DuFort

I put in the code shakily and passed the door, closing it behind me.

The lab lights came on, and it was exactly as I remembered.

My notes were even on the table where I'd left them.

In a room with glass walls was a single pod.

Inside was 313.

I shambled over and opened the door, even as things lunged at me from the walls.

Her face was shrouded in hair, and the IV and feeding apparatus still hummed.

I raised my pistol to shoot her, but remembering the file I'd read, I lowered it, opened the hatch, and the pod hissed as it depressurized.

I reached in and picked her up,

pain in my leg blurring my vision.

I found a wheelchair, a gown, and wheeled her out using it to take the brunt of the weight off my leg.

Nothing jumped out at me.

There were no screams or strange monsters, just the bright, warm sun of a new day.