Suddenly, Andy's heart caught in his throat. A sudden gust had brought him a scent, one which even an ortho-human coulfd have smelled over the traces of blood. Alien! Wrong! It was close, very close. Even over the sudden frantic beating of his own heart, he could now hear the crunch and crackle as something large trod the concrete. It had clearly been stationary when he'd arrived. He shuddered to think what would have happened if he'd blithely stepped right out onto the street.<br/><br/>Not that this was much better. He opened his eyes in time to see the light level change as something huge shadowed the street outside. From his recessed viewpoint he saw a spiked chitin shelled digigrade leg move into view, his own head didn't even come up to it's knee. Wicked spine edged, overlapping plates shielded the legs, and feet with cruel claws as big as his forearm ground into the tarmac. For all it's bulk, Andy was of no doubt to could move with lightning speed if needed.<br/><br/>The tips of two sythe-blade claws could be seen, and the lower end of some sort of unpleasantly organic cannon was held low. A whip threaded down from the far side, and Andy quailed. "Don't let him sense me... don't let him sense me..." Even in his state of gibbering terror the small part of his mind that was eterbnally logical could see what happened. The traces of blood and other bodily fluids generated by the retreat of those soldiers down into the station were clear to his senses. The Hive Tyrant must have followed them.<br/><br/>He blanched. The thing looked quite capable of burrowing down the entranceway, or just ripping the whole place apart until it found the wounded, and his companions. It made him feel physically sick, but there was only one thing that might attract it away from here. Another target. He concentrated on looking past the monster, and found a narrow alley on the far side of the street. If he could make that alley... It could follow him, but it wouldn't be able to move full speed in a place like that, and hopefully the walls would interfere with aiming the cannon. Andy, on the other hand, would have plenty of room to dodge.<br/><br/>He shifted the gourd around so he could grab it in a moment, set himself and... couldn't move. He was just too scared. He gritted his teeth, tears starting to leak from his eyes as he tried to make his traitor body move. It did, taking a step back. Then his heel encountered a dropped candy bar wrapper, with half a bar of chocolate coated peanut butter still in it. He skidded and went down on one knee, making a scraping noise and a muffled grunt.<br/><br/>He saw the monster start to turn, and that finally galvanised him into motion. He took off like an Olympic sprinter, diving between the spreading legs and veering to avoid the lashing tail. Any second, he expected to feel a massive blow across his back. He ran at full tilt for the dubious safety of the alley, and he could only one thing.  'My doctor was right. Chocolate could be the death of me!"