0:00

I've always had a fascination with death.

0:03

I guess it's not uncommon, especially

0:06

for people who work in hospitals. After

0:09

all, death is something that none of us

0:11

can avoid, no matter how much

0:14

we may want to. Death

0:16

comes for us all. I

0:18

just didn't think it would come for me while I was in the

0:20

prime of my life. I didn't

0:22

think it would come for me on a Tuesday night while

0:25

I was at work. And I certainly

0:27

didn't think it would come for me in the form it did.

0:34

I watch Nurse Shelly walk away

0:36

down the hallway from my security desk, thinking

0:39

about what she would look like with her scrubs off.

0:42

She definitely works out, no

0:44

doubt about it. Or maybe it's all

0:46

the walking she has to do. You're

0:49

gonna get written up for sexual harassment one

0:51

of these days, the other security

0:53

guard, Aguilar, says. I

0:56

pry my eyes away from Shelly's rear end

0:58

and look up at Aguilar. I'm just

1:00

looking, I say. You're

1:02

staring. There's a difference. Shrugging,

1:06

I sneak one more glimpse before checking the

1:08

clock. It's about time to lock

1:11

up the morgue, which is something Aguilar

1:13

gladly lets me do. He thinks

1:15

it's creepy down there. Me? I

1:18

don't mind it. I'll be back in

1:20

fifteen, I say, standing

1:22

up from the desk. I'll be here,

1:25

Aguilar says. I

1:27

take the stairs down to the morgue, not

1:30

only because I need the steps, but

1:32

because it's what we're supposed to do, to

1:35

make sure the stairwell is clear and

1:37

that no one is there who shouldn't

1:38

be. Stepping into the morgue,

1:41

I find that there's no one in the reception office,

1:44

which is common at this time of night. I

1:47

move through the door and into the back area,

1:50

looking around for the morgue attendant I

1:52

know is on shift. She's

1:54

the one who shuts everything down at night after

1:56

the medical examiner has left for the day.

1:59

I find her in the body holding area, standing

2:02

with her hands on her hips and looking at

2:04

two body bags that clearly contain

2:06

fresh bodies. Hey Shaw,

2:09

I say, what are you doing? Shaw,

2:12

a woman in her late twenties with curly

2:14

dark hair turns to look at me. Her

2:17

brows are furrowed, mouth slightly

2:20

open. You okay? I

2:22

ask. I might be going nuts.

2:25

Why? What happened? These

2:28

two were just straight in, she says,

2:31

gesturing at the only two bodies not yet in

2:33

the cold room. Those bend and waltz.

2:36

They both died around the same time, according

2:38

to the paramedics who took the call. How

2:41

did they die? We don't know,

2:43

Shaw says. No

2:45

signs of violence that we could see. We'll

2:48

be doing the autopsy's tomorrow.

2:50

You suspect I'll play?

2:53

When two people in the same house die suddenly,

2:55

and there's no apparent cause, we

2:57

do autopsies. It's not

2:59

a common occurrence.

3:01

Okay, I

3:02

say. Still not seeing why she's so

3:04

freaked out. So why do

3:07

you think you're going nuts? Because

3:09

I swear I just saw one of them move inside the body

3:11

bag. I stifle a

3:13

laugh. Seriously? Justice

3:17

Shaw is about to answer. Something

3:19

presses against the inside of one of the

3:21

body bags, making it move up

3:23

slowly before it goes back down again. Did

3:26

you see that?

3:27

Shaw asks. Yeah,

3:30

I say. I saw it. Is

3:32

it some battery-operated toy or something? You're

3:35

messing with me, right? Shaw

3:37

shakes her head. Dark curls swing.

3:40

I swear this isn't a beak. Okay,

3:43

so it's a muscle torch or something, right? Doesn't

3:46

that happen? Sure, it happens. And

3:49

not like that. Not a deliberate

3:52

movement like that.

3:53

Suddenly, something bulges up within

3:55

the other body bag. The movement

3:58

is similar to the first.

3:59

a little quicker and more violent. Shaw

4:02

swallows her throat clicks. I

4:05

have to see what it is, she says, moving

4:08

over to retrieve latex gloves from a box.

4:11

I keep my eyes on the body bags. They

4:14

both move again. This time,

4:16

I swear I can hear something tearing, something

4:19

wet and tough, like skin. Are

4:22

you sure that's a good idea? There

4:24

must be some explanation, she says,

4:27

sounding like she's trying to convince herself of her

4:29

own words. Bebe cast filled up

4:31

in the abdomen or something. She adorns

4:34

a surgical mask and a clear plastic

4:36

face mask, then moves over to the

4:38

body bag on the right. I

4:40

stay where I am, not daring

4:42

to get any closer. Shaw

4:45

reaches for the zipper, slowly. Her

4:47

hand shakes. She unzips

4:50

the body bag, and as she reaches down

4:52

to part, the two flaps. There's

4:54

a blur of movement. A dark

4:56

creak

4:56

on the side of a cat shoots out of the bag

4:59

and scrambles up Shaw's chest with spider-like

5:01

legs. Shaw's double-back in the

5:03

mountains of the other morning as the creature is

5:05

in its own way. The

5:08

other body bag is now moving by now as

5:10

whatever is inside fails to get out.

5:13

The creature in the shower's

5:14

chest grabs its beak

5:15

into her throat repeatedly, and

5:18

I see with Shaw's confusion that its body

5:20

is shaped like a stomach. The

5:22

legs, crowding out of it, look like tuna

5:24

coke, and the beak seems to be sticking

5:27

out of the esophagus. Shaw

5:29

gets her hands around the thing and throws it off. It

5:32

hits the floor with a spot and then skitters

5:34

off into the darkness toward the back of the mold.

5:37

Coming back to me, I rush forward to

5:39

help Shaw, who's bleeding profuse from

5:41

her throat. But before I

5:43

take in two steps, the other body bag

5:45

tears open. The snake shoots

5:47

out of the bag, wrapping around Shaw's

5:50

throat. Only, it's not

5:52

a snake. It's lumpy and pale pink.

5:54

It's a large intestine, and it has a

5:56

long, triple-segmented beak

5:58

at one end.

5:59

The creature jams its beak into Shaw's stomach,

6:02

tearing through her shirt and skin. Its

6:04

head, if it can be called a head, disappears

6:07

several inches into the Morgantenden's body.

6:10

A moment later, it comes out. Shaw's

6:13

large intestine and his beak exist

6:15

to the organ out and proceeds to gulp it down

6:18

as Shaw passes out and falls to the floor.

6:20

The thing unwinds itself from around Shaw's

6:23

neck and finishes feeding the large intestine

6:25

after giving it a good tug to rip it completely

6:28

from her body. I back up,

6:30

reaching for my taser, wishing I carried

6:33

a gun. There's a skittering

6:35

noise and the other creature, the stomach,

6:38

flashes across the back of the room, moving

6:40

like a cockroach. The intestine

6:42

turns its beak toward me, seeming to

6:44

notice me, even though I can't see any eyes

6:47

on it. The thing is about five feet

6:49

long and it moves

6:50

just like a snake.

6:52

There's more skittering and the other

6:54

creature shoots toward me. I scream

6:56

and spin around, running out through the popped open

6:58

double doors. I kick the doorstop

7:01

up on the left door and swing it shut. Glancing

7:03

up, I see the creatures, speeding toward

7:05

me as I move to the other door. Kicking

7:08

the other stop off, I slam the door just

7:10

a moment before both creatures crash into it.

7:13

I put my shoulder against the middle of the two

7:15

doors as I reach for my keys to lock it.

7:18

One of the handles suddenly moves. I

7:20

grab it, keeping the door from opening. And

7:23

the other one moves. I drop my keys

7:25

and grab the other handle. Those things

7:27

are strong and it's all I can do to keep

7:29

the handles from moving. Sweat

7:32

springs up on my forehead and in my armpits.

7:35

Without a free hand, I can't reach down to get

7:37

my keys. I also can't grab my

7:39

rodeo to call Aguilar for help. So

7:42

I do the next best thing. I scream.

7:45

After about two minutes of screaming, my hands

7:48

are weakening and my voice is hoarse. I

7:50

give it one final shout, thinking no

7:52

one will hear me. A moment passes,

7:55

despair settling in on my hunched shoulder.

7:58

Then

7:58

there's the sound of footsteps.

7:59

falls rushing down the nearby stairwell. It's

8:02

the most beautiful thing I've ever heard. Nurse

8:05

Shelley bursts through the stairwell door and

8:07

lives at me. Oliver? She

8:09

asks, what's wrong? Help

8:12

me. I say, grab my keys

8:14

and lock these doors. She moves

8:16

closer, steadying me for the moment. What's

8:19

going on? Please, just do

8:21

it. She moves up and reaches down

8:23

between my legs to grab the keys. She

8:26

stands back up and looks through the small square

8:28

window in the right-hand door. There's

8:30

no way she'll see the creatures from her angle.

8:33

What's the money, man? She says, turning

8:35

to me. Is this some kind of joke?

8:38

Suddenly, the door handles stop moving.

8:41

I look down at them, eyes wide, but

8:44

I don't take my

8:44

hands off them. Is that the door? The

8:46

door? I shout. Wow!

8:49

She says, shocked. There's

8:50

no need for... The

8:52

window used to her head shatters as the large

8:55

intestine bursts through. Having

8:57

its sharp beak into the height of Nurse Shelley's head,

9:00

she stumbles aside, dropping my keys, reaching

9:03

up to grab the slimy creature. The

9:05

thing pulls its beak out of her, and blood

9:07

skews out of her head wound. She stumbles

9:09

to the ground. I look up to see

9:12

the other creature squeezing through the broken window. I

9:14

throw myself away from the doors and grab my taser,

9:17

pulling it out as the spidery stomach creature

9:19

lunges at me. Staying out of the

9:21

way, I lose my feet and fall in

9:23

the hallway. The creature skitters

9:25

across the wall and launches itself at

9:27

me again. I get the taser up

9:30

and hold the trigger, but nothing happens. I

9:33

haven't disengaged the safety switch. I

9:35

put my left hand up, and the creature hits it,

9:38

stabbing its beak through my hand. I

9:40

scream and instinctively grab the thing,

9:42

keeping it from pulling its beak out of my palm.

9:45

I slam it into the walls, I'm disengaging the safety

9:47

switch on the taser in my right hand. The

9:50

thing gets its tentacle-like appendages around

9:52

my wrist, saying to pry its head on my

9:54

hand. But I hold tight as it adds to

9:57

pain, slamming it into the wall, and beating

9:59

him again. Two flies from

10:01

the thing, splattering the wall, the

10:03

floor, and my face. Very

10:05

soon it goes limp. I

10:07

toss it away from me and scramble to my feet, pointing

10:10

the taser toward Nurse Shelley, looking for

10:12

the other creature. It's not there. Only

10:15

Nurse Shelley's body is there, lying

10:17

face down in an expanding pool

10:20

of blood. I notice a trail

10:22

of blood leading down the hall and behind me.

10:25

I spin around, just as the creature jumps

10:27

at me. This time, the taser

10:29

fires, the barbs striking the creature

10:31

in midair. I step aside and

10:33

the smokelight thing hits the floor with a splat,

10:36

rising as electricity courses through it.

10:39

When the taser is spent and the creature is no

10:41

longer moving, I step up and

10:43

stomp on it with my feet. The

10:46

smell that comes out of it as it spills open

10:48

is horrendous, but I keep stomping

10:50

it until I'm sure it's dead. The

10:52

stairwell door opens and Evelar steps

10:55

into the hallway. He looks around for a

10:57

moment, then he looks at me. What

10:59

the fuck, man?

11:04

While we wait for the authorities to arrive, one

11:06

of the doctors in the new locked down hospital

11:09

cleans and dresses the wound in my hand.

11:12

While she's working, I notice some

11:14

blue goop on my arm, along with

11:16

some blood and what can only be stomach

11:18

bile. But as I watch, the

11:21

goop seems to evaporate. Either

11:23

that,

11:23

or is disappearing into my skin. I

11:26

say nothing to the doctor about the strange goop,

11:29

but when she's done, I go straight to the bathroom.

11:32

Using plenty of soap, I wash my

11:34

face and any other exposed skin

11:37

quickly, afraid to think what I might

11:39

have caught from those freakish things. By

11:42

the time I'm done, the police have arrived.

11:45

But once they see the dead creatures, they

11:47

know it's clearly above their pay grade. So

11:50

they take a statement and escort me to the

11:52

morgue office, where I'm to wait for

11:54

whatever three-letter government organization

11:56

is coming to take over.

11:58

They post a uniform outside.

11:59

the office door to make sure I don't go

12:02

anywhere. I'm not planning

12:04

on it. I take a seat, lean

12:06

back, and close my eyes, trying

12:08

to calm my mind. My eyes,

12:11

shoot open as a terrible pain erupts in my abdomen.

12:14

Panicking, I pull my shirt up and look at

12:16

my stomach. The skin bulges

12:19

as something moves inside me. SCP-1429

12:25

is a luminescent amoeboid organism

12:28

of fluorescent blue coloration and

12:30

unknown origin. After

12:32

the incubation period, SCP-1429

12:35

causes acute and variable mutations

12:38

in human tissue. The organism

12:40

does not share physical characteristics with

12:42

any known terrestrial microorganisms

12:45

and does not appear to have a detectable DNA

12:47

structure. Upon infection,

12:50

an instance will enter a human body painlessly

12:52

through the skin and settle within a large

12:54

internal organ, rooting itself

12:57

and becoming effectively undetectable by

12:59

conventional means. The time

13:01

between infection and activation varies

13:04

greatly, with test subjects displaying

13:06

incubation times in minutes in some cases

13:09

and months in others. After

13:11

incubation, the instance of SCP-1429

13:14

becomes active and causes a series

13:17

of radical mutations to the infected

13:19

organ through an unknown process. Organs

13:22

undergo genetic and morphological changes

13:24

and become ambulatory, growing limbs

13:27

and simple bodily systems of their own, effectively

13:30

becoming independent organisms. These

13:33

organisms, in every case to date, have

13:35

caused massive trauma and eventual

13:38

death in their hosts as they tear their

13:40

way out of the host's body.