(Based on characters created and owned by Nickelodeon and Phobia Game Studio)

I woke up on the morning of my 21st birthday like any other day.

I brushed my teeth and had breakfast.

I got dressed in the same cloths I usually where. A green sweater and red lounging pants. A style that I have not changed since I was four. I have more important stuff to focus my mind on than fashion unlike my older sister Leni, who bless her soul, didn't have much of a mind to focus in the first place. I put on my glasses and looked at myself in the mirror.

My brown hair was thick, long, and messy. I tied it back in a ponytail to keep it out of my eyes. I could get a haircut, but all my time and resources as of late had been devoted to a very important project for work.

I have a very slim body type. Almost so that my colleagues seem to think I'm mal nourished, though I do try to eat three meals a day. I also happen to be quite short. My small stature was only emphasized by my baggy clothing.

I put on my white lab coat and fastened my name tag which proudly read "Lisa Loud".

My phone rang.

"Hello." I answered.

"Happy Birthday Lisa!" It was my older brother Lincoln.

"Thank you, brother." I replied on my way to my car. "I hope your day is well."

"Uh... Yeah." Lincoln said. "I'm doing great, so is the rest of the family. How've you been? Any plans for your birthday?"

"Sorry Lincoln, I can't talk right now." I cut him off. "I gotta get to work."

"Well after you're done, we have a big surprise for you." Lincoln said.

"That's nice, we'll talk later." I hung up.

Had I known of the strange and bizarre events that were about to unfold, I would have talked to him a lot longer. Even if it made me late for work, just to talk to my family one last time.

Hell, if I had been late for work that day, or not even gone to work it might just have saved my life.

...

I headed to the lab where I was employed. It was a company called Relith Science. The company had their hands in many things from electronics to bio engineering, to medicine. The later of which was the department I worked in.

I should mention there had been rumors of Relith Science doing some shady stuff. Some crack pot conspiracy theories about them making monsters or something.

If they are up to no good, it's not in my department.

My work was in finding cures for diseases. Specifically, Alzheimer's disease. A condition which, sadly my dear grandfather has become the victim of.

So, I have been really working hard at creating a cure. And I think today might be the day I finally crack it.

...

I entered the lobby of the Relith science lab. A large room with plenty of windows to let in a lot of light. I was greeted by the receptionist, Deborah who wished me a happy birthday.

I thanked her and went on my way.

I got into the elevator that took me down to the lower levels.

I stopped in the break room for a cup of coffee. There I was greeted by my boss, Dr. Frank Stein (in retrospect that name should have been a red flag). He wished me a happy birthday in his thick German accent (Again, should have been a red flag). I thanked him and headed down the labyrinth of hallways to my office.

My office was an average sized room. At one end of the room was my desk with a computer, two chairs, and a bunch of lab equipment.

At the other end was a black leather couch.

"Hey girl, you having a great birthday so far I hope." I was greeted with a smile by my best and only friend Darcy.

Darcy was an energetic and pretty girl with dark skin. She had straight black hair that reached the base of her neck and curled at the bottom. She had a red crop-top sweater and blue jeans.

(Someone had said she looked like a cross between Zendaya and a young Halle Berry. But I don't see it.)

Darcy stuck out like a sore thumb in a building full of introverted scientists. She seemed more like she should be working at a clothing store in the mall. (Much like the store my older sister Leni worked at, and now managed.)

But being friends with me, she developed a healthy interest in science, much to my pleasure. We were both lucky enough not only to work in the same building, but the same office as lab partners. Our co-workers often joked about us being joined at the hip. (And a few incorrectly thought Darcy and I were romantically involved. Shippers are fucking weird)

While I got my PHD at a very young age, she was still working on hers. She was working as sort of my assistant while she went to school.

"Well, the day's just started Darcy." I replied, hanging my lab coat on the coat rack, "And I have a good feeling about today."

"Not often you get to make scientific history on your birthday." Darcy said.

"Well, we don't want to jinx anything. But we best give it our all." I said.

"Well, since you're legal now" Darcy said. "I bought some champagne to toast to the occasion."

...

The two of us had been working for what felt like forever. I had a sample of some brain tissue under an electronic microscope and was about to inject it with the concoction Darcy and I had been working all day on.

"Eureka!" I shouted. "It's working!"

The brain cells had begun firing in response to the treatment I created. This was a very good sign.

"Wow!" Darcy said, "Did we seriously just cure Alzheimer's?"

"Not exactly." I said. "But now we can move on to animal testing. And we will be yet another step closer to being able to run human trials."

"Uh... ok." Darcy's smile faded. "Not too keen on testing innocent animals though."

I sighed. "I don't like that much either. But that's just how science works. You know the old saying, to make an omelet you need to break a few eggs, which by the way omelets are best made with three eggs not two. Back to the matter at hand. Sure we may have to do some questionable things in the name of science, but in the end we will save millions of lives."

"Hey, Doctor Loud." Frank barged in.

"Uh... we're kind of in the middle of a breakthrough, can this wait until later?" I asked.

"No, it is your birthday now." Frank said. "As a present, I show you something top secret we've been working on."
"Top secret?" I said.

"Do not worry." Frank assured us. Oddly, the man seemed to have been drinking a bit himself. And by a bit, I do mean quite a bit. "the creature is safely contained, it cannot get out."

"Creature?" I said. "What creature?"

"My dude, have you been drinking?" Darcy asked.

"um..." Frank paused for a moment. "Yeah, a little. But it is birthday of my favorite employee. Is time to celebrate. Now come on, I show you my monster."

Rumor had it, Frank was quite the alcoholic. But I've never interacted with him enough to notice.

"Monster?" Darcy said. "Are we about to see a bunch of dead people parts stitched together into one body?"

"No of course not." Frank laughed. "It is much more horrifying than that. But first you two will need to be sworn to secrecy. If you let word of this get out. I will have to have you both shot dead. HAHA! I am kidding... no I am not kidding, now come on."

It really didn't feel like we had much of a choice in this. After signing a lot of papers swearing to secrecy under threat of execution. We were lead deeper and deeper into the Relith labs facility to see this so-called monster that my boss assumed I'd view as some sort of birthday gift to be able to see.

Boy was he wrong about that, he better not be expecting any "World's greatest boss" mug when his birthday comes around.

My heart raced faster and faster as the three of us walked slowly down the hallway. Whatever this was, I new it would only end badly.

All I wanted was to just go back to my nice safe office. I hated getting invited to social events for fear of getting embarrassed. But this was even worse, a much more primal fear. I felt like I was being marched to my death.

Calm down Lisa I told myself, They're only going to kill you if you don't keep you're mouth shut. Just don't tell anyone and you'll be fine.

But what if something goes wrong? I don't want to be here. I just want to go back to my office. I should just ask Frank if I can go back, I don't need to see this thing. Oh but what will he say if I do? Will he fire me on the spot? After everything I've done?

"Hey, it'll be ok." Darcy said, clearly noticing how nervous I was.

We entered an elevator. I held my arms to my sides, despite the fact that it was warm in the elevator, my whole body was shaking under my oversized sweater.

Darcy wrapped her arms around me as the elevator slowly descended into what would soon become the depths of madness.

...

"Did you bring a civilian in here Dr. Stein?" a man in a yellow hazmat suit asked. The room we entered when the elevator opened was full of these scientists in yellow hazmat suits.

"This is Doctor Loud and her associate doctor um..." Frank introduced us.

"Helmendollar." Darcy said.

"Doctor Loud works in our medicine department. Today is her birthday. So, I wanted to show her our new asset." Frank explained. "Don't worry they signed a confidentiality agreement."

"Have you been drinking again?" The man in the hazmat suit got close to Frank's face. His voice was getting more aggressive.

"That is none of your business." Frank said.

"Whatever." The man shrugged Frank off and turned back to his work. "Just make sure they don't touch anything."

I walked to the other end of the room. The entire wall was a pain of thick bullet proof glass. On the other side of the glass was a large transparent cylinder. A containment unit holding something. I looked closer, I couldn't exactly tell what it was.

The creature inside the cylinder (if it even was a creature at all) was a pulsating ball of red gooey flesh, no bigger than a baseball. If I didn't know any better, I'd say they just threw a ball of ground beef in a glass tube and let it rot for a few weeks.

It was gross, but not really scary. More confusing than anything. My fears had gone and were replaced with confusion, and a little bit of anger. They pulled me away from what might be the most important project of my life only to show me someone's left over lunch?

"Uh... what is this?" I asked. "It just looks like a ball of rotten meat."

"That is a sample found in..." Frank started to explain but was cut off by the scientist who greeted us when we first arrived.

"That's classified information." The scientist scorned. "I don't give a shit what she signed. She can't know about that."

My confusion was replaced with genuine interest and curiosity when the creature started to move.

The ball started to wiggle and roll about in its holding cell.

"Wait is that thing alive?" I asked. I pressed my face and hands against the glass and smiled. I felt like a little kid on her first trip to the petting zoo.

Then the creature did something even more astonishing. A fleshy red tendril shot out of the ball of flesh and stuck to the top of the holding tank. The tendril then started to contract, pulling the creature up into the air. The fleshy blob, now suspended in mid air started to swing back and forth.

"You guys may have just made the zoological find of the century." I exclaimed. "I've never seen anything quite like this."

Then the creature started banging itself against the side of the tank.

"Uh, should we be concerned about that?" Darcy asked.

"Oh, don't worry." The hazmat scientist explained. "there is no way that thing can..."

SMAHS!!!!!

The creature burst through the glass cylinder it was contained in. it landed on the floor with a plop. Then it leaped into the air and slammed onto the wall in front of me, sticking to the glass.

"WAAAHHH!!!!" I let out a shrill shriek of horror, jumping away from the glass.

A glowing green eyeball opened in the center of the ball of flesh and stared straight at me.

My feelings of anxiety quickly returned in full force. My pulse quickened and I felt my body grow cold. My eyes fixed on that green glowing eye that stared right back. Then to my horror an orifice opened in the middle of the creatures body. Like a mouth, one full of pointy sharp teeth. A tongue slithered out of the mouth and licked the glass while the creature continued to stare right at me, as if it wanted to taste me.

I swallowed a lump in my throat. I tried to speak but the words would not come out of my mouth.

"Don't worry. It can't get through the bullet proof glass." One of the scientists said.

"You mean like it couldn't get out of its holding cell?" Another scientist refuted.

Then a tentacle shot out of the creature, which it used to open a vent on the ceiling and climb into it.

"As if I don't have enough nightmares already." I grumbled.

"What the hell is that thing?!?!" Darcy yelled. "And why did you want to show us that?"

"I thought you'd think it's cool." Frank said.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

An alarm went off and the room was flooded with red light.

"Lisa, we gotta get out of here girl!" Darcy grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the elevator.

"The base is on lock down!" one of the scientists proclaimed. "The elevator's been shut down."

"Then let's take the stares." Darcy said.

All the people around me started to panic and run around as I was still trying to process what had just happened.

Somehow me Darcy, and Frank managed to push past everyone and get up the stairs. We found ourselves piling out into another hallway.

"What is that thing? Frank!" I yelled.

"Oh man, we're about to get killed by the meatball guy from Aqua Team Hunger Force." Darcy moaned.

"We call it, project Carrion." Frank explained. "We don't really know what it is. But what we do know is that every time it eats it gets bigger and stronger. If it consumes enough biomass, it will become unstoppable."

"And by biomass you mean..." Darcy said.

"People, it eats people." Frank said.

"I... I need a gun." I said. "I'd feel better if I can protect myself."

"I see where you're coming from." Frank said. "Fallow me. The armory is this way."

We fallowed Dr Frank Stein down the hall to a sealed door to an armory.

He opened the electronic lock with his security badge and we piled in. inside the room was full of racks that should have contained guns, however most of them were empty.

"Where'd all the guns go?" I asked.

"The soldiers must have cleaned this place out." Frank said. "Relith employs a lot of soldiers, and now I think you know why."

"Because y'all got crazed meatball monsters running around?" Darcy said.

"There was also an incident with a yeti a few years back." Frank said.

"Well, there has to be something left." I said.

We managed to find a few guns. Frank got his hands on an assault rifle, Darcy found a shotgun, and all I could find was a small handgun.

"You don't suppose you'd let me use that rifle?" I asked.

"Finders keepers little girl." Frank bragged.

"If you're on the playground." I remarked. Then I looked at the pistol in my hand. "I guess this is better than nothing. After all, beggars can't be choosers."

"Where to now?" Darcy asked.

"We get the hell out of here." I said.

"This place will be quarantined." Frank said. "The company can't risk anyone who is infected getting out."

"Infected?" Darcy asked. "By what?"

"By project Carrion." I said, cocking my gun. "Isn't that right, Dr. Stein."

"Yes." Frank confirmed.

"But that thing is some sort of animal, not a virus." Darcy said. "Right?"

"They don't know what it is." I said. "But we do know it's like some sort of living fluid. It could be parasitic. Or at the very least chunks of it could grow into new creatures. It could get on someone's cloths or get into someone's body somehow."

"It's better to be on the safe side." Frank said. "But if we get to the exit fast enough, we may be able to beat the lock down and get out of here before we get locked in with that monster."

"Then what are we waiting around here for?" I asked. "Let's get going."

We left the room and headed down the hallway.

"So how do we get upstairs." I asked. "That staircase just led us to this floor. What floor are we even on?"

"We are not above ground yet I can tell you that." Frank said.

"Guys, I gotta use the bathroom." Darcy said.

"There's a bathroom right there." Frank said.

"And make it quick." I added. "I really don't' want to become lunch for a pile of living meat."

Darcy opened the bathroom door, took one look at what was inside and backed away with a terrified look on her face.

"What is .... Oh, sweet Jesus." I said as I saw the inside of the bathroom.

"I... don't need to use the restroom anymore." Darcy said.

The inside of the room was completely covered in blood. A big gaping hole was chewed out in the floor where a toilet used to be. Around the hole was somebody's large intestines.

"Oh gosh." I said. I started to gag, I felt sick to my stomach. A backed away as Darcy did. Then my eye caught what was just around the corner where another hallway intersected with ours.

The other hallway was covered in blood, severed limbs and guts. A few arms of what were once soldiers lay on the ground still clutching their guns.

Suddenly I thought back to that thing, how it looked at me. Eying me up like a piece of fresh meat in a grocery store.

Thinking about it, thinking about the possibility of my own guts being spilled on that floor. I felt a hot burning feeling in my chest as my heart began to beat faster and faster like one of those punching bags that kind of looked like ball sacks, you know the ones.

"BLAH!" I hurled, my vomit hitting the ground with a sickening splat.

"So, this is what awaits us." Frank said as he saw the carnage. "Uh... here Lisa, you can have my rifle, I'll take that pistol."

I wasn't really thinking why he suddenly wanted to trade. I wasn't thinking anything, I just handed him my handgun.

I could feel hot tears filling my eyes.

"Please, let's just get out of here." I begged.

"We're not getting out of here." Frank said.

"What?" Darcy said in a voice that was both confused and angry. "But you said if we got out before the quarantine started..."

"It has already started." Frank admitted. "When that thing broke out. Those warning lights. That's what they meant. It's standard procedure whenever there is a containment breach. The base will be locked down until either that thing is killed, or all living things in the base have been terminated."

"Then, why did you tell us we had a chance?" I asked.

"I'm sorry." Frank said. He placed the barrel of the handgun to his head and blew out his own brains.

Darcy and I both screamed as his limp body collapsed to the floor.