THE THING II: Hawke Station Chapter 12: Finale, a the thing fanfic

THE THING II: Hawke Station

Disclaimer: John Carpenter's THE THING is property of Universal.

Some of this chapter was written while listening to the soundtracks for both John Carpenter's THE THING (1982) and Prince Of Darkness (1987), which I feel is a very "End of the world as we know it" type score. I feel that the main "theme" of Prince Of Darkness also bears more than a passing resemblance to Morricone's THING theme at times. Listen to both scores back to back, and you'll eventually notice the similarities. I also listened to the tracks Too Hot and Escape Bubbles from the score for Leviathan (1989) by the late Jerry Goldsmith.

UPDATE: 3:24 pm, 02/24/2017. I have decided to alter the final climax by replacing the original one with the alternate one, as it is more exciting and energetic.

Chapter 12: Finale

Date: Winter 1982 - 1983

United States Antarctic Research Outpost "Hakwe Station"

The harsh winter winds whipped around outside the camp, howling as it cut around the building and piles of snow built up against the various structures. The snow fell heavily, illuminated by blue lights outside near the entrances and exits of the main building. This building, at one point, housed as many as forty to fifty people during the summer, and during the winter it would hold twenty. Now, it only held a fraction of those numbers, as an unwelcomed intruder had disrupted the daily lives of the men who operated and maintained the facility.

Inside the recreation room, Barclay leaned back against the wall with his head in his hands. He looked over at the other six men standing in the room. Thomas Van Wall, Benjamin Ralsen, Louis Atkins, Dillon Walters, Victor Silva, and Martin Crenna were all watching him expectantly, pondering their next course of action. "We still have to test Hendry," Barclay said after a minute. "He should still be sedated. We shouldn't have too much trouble with him," Crenna said.

"Yeah, and I'd given the keys to Dutton on a few occasions," Barclay said in dismay. "Well, he was never alone with him long enough to do anything, right?" Walters asked. "I don't know," Barclay said as he looked over at the charred bodies of Connant and Carrington on their fallen stools. "Well, I'm... sure he'll be pleased to know that he was right about Kinner," Ralsen said with a shrug.

Barclay looked over at the dishes on the desk, and saw that there were still a few unused ones lying inside the medical bag. Everyone felt tense, and mournful. "So... I got some weed in my room for when this is all over. I'm willing to share," Ralsen said suddenly. "Yeah, well... we'll wait until we've tested Hendry to use any of it," Barclay said with a wry smile after chuckling.

The other men snickered and chuckled as well for a brief moment. "Enough stalling," Barclay said after a minute. "Van Wall and Silva, go get the remaining flamethrowers. Doc, you and Crenna get the other medical supplies and meet the rest of us outside Hendry's room," Barclay said. "Wait... before we go over there, shouldn't we, you know, test... Sanchez's body again?" Atkins asked him.

Barclay glanced over at the headless corpse lying on the floor near the couch. "Yeah. Yeah, we need to test that," Barclay conceded before grabbing the wire and heating it again. When it was ready, he made his way over to Sanchez's corpse and dipped the hot wire into the blood on the floor. There was no reaction, other than a sizzle.

Cleaning the wire, he reheated it and hesitantly poked at the gaping stump that had once been the radio operator's neck. Again, nothing happened. "Okay," Barclay said quietly. "The body is still human. Let's get ready to test Hendry."

"Wait, Dutton still had the keys on him, didn't he?" Silva asked. Barclay frowned upon realizing that Silva was correct. Looking at the burnt corpse on the floor, Barclay quickly walked over and knelt down to try to find the keys, grabbing them and holding them up before realizing that the constant barrage of intense heat from the flamethrowers had caused the cuts to warp and melt just enough that they wouldn't be able to work properly anymore. He sighed in dismay before remembering that he had a set of spare keys hidden somewhere in Hendry's office. "We have some spares," he announced. "I know where to find them."

The halls of Hawke Station were devoid of the usual chatter and jokes among its personnel. The subtle hum of the underground generator remained at its normal volume, and the usual faint buzzing of the ceiling lights had been unchanged. The only other sounds now were the boots and shoes on the floor as seven men made their way from the station commander's office to the dorms, carrying medical supplies and weapons.

Walking over to the closed door, Barclay hesitantly knocked on it. "Charles? Listen, we're coming in. We've, uh... we've found a test to determine who's human," Barclay said loudly, listening for Hendry to reply. After a minute of silence, Barclay knocked on the door again, thinking that perhaps Hendry was asleep.

"Hendry? Ready or not, we're coming in," Barclay said before inserting the spare key into the lock and turning it. He then opened the door outwards, revealing an unlit room. "Silva, shine a light in there," Barclay said. Silva nodded his head and turned on a flashlight, pointing the light into the room and slowly panning around to show Hendry's empty bed.

Barclay carefully reached inside and felt around for the light switch. When the lights came on, everyone could see that the room was empty. Barclay hesitantly entered the room and knelt down next to the bed, looking under it before standing back up. Hendry was nowhere to be found. "Where did he go?" Atkins asked. "Dutton," Barclay said, narrowing his eyes. "Dutton got to him at some point, and then he let him out when no one was looking. Son of a bitch!" Barclay swore in anger.

"So, where's he at now?" Van Wall asked. "He could be anywhere. We've no idea how long he's been loose," Barclay said. "We don't know for certain that he's infected. He could have found a way to unlock the door on his-oh," Crenna said before he noticed that the lock was only on the outside of the door. There was no inside hole for the key.

"What do we do?" Walters asked nervously. "We stick together. We know that we're all human. If we split up, then we have to do the blood test all over again," Barclay said. "Anything else? Any other plans?" Ralsen asked him. "We check the exits and make sure that they're all locked," Barclay said. "We'll search the camp, room by room, until we find him, starting with the dorms," he added.

The group quickly began searching each dorm room, one by one, until they were certain that Hendry was not hiding in any of them. "Where do we go now?" Ralsen asked. "The laundry room," Barclay said before leading the way, gripping his flamethrower securely.

The laundry room was soon found to be empty as well, with no trace of Hendry in sight. "The shower room," Barclay said. The group followed him back into the hallway before heading to the main bathroom, checking each shower and toilet stall, along with the laundry bins.

After exiting the bathroom, Barclay looked over at the staircase that led down to the generator room. "Let's try the generator room," Barclay said. "The generator room?" Ralsen asked him.

"Yeah. The old storage area is located down there too. Plenty of places to hide," Barclay said before heading back to the dorms. "Everyone grab a jacket and winter gear," Barclay ordered as he made his way to his room. The other men quickly followed suit and dressed themselves appropriately before making their way back to the staircase.

"Who wants to go first?" Van Wall asked. "I'll go first," Barclay said as he gripped his flamethrower tightly. Carefully descending the stairs, Barclay grabbed the door handle and opened the door before stepping inside the icy cavern housing the generator and old storage area. Walking down the steps further, Barclay kept one hand gripping the safety rail as he continued his descent, before finally reaching the bottom.

Barclay listened to the footsteps of the others behind him as he slowly walked over to the generator. The generator was inside its cage, running properly and free of frost since the last maintenance check had been performed. "Any sign of Hendry?" Walters asked as he neared the bottom of the stairs.

"No. Not yet," Barclay said as he turned away from the generator and walked over to a short series of steps that led up to the old storage area. There were snow-covered chairs, small tables, crates, and various other objects and furniture lining both sides of the icy tunnel. The area had not seen much use in the past several months.

Barclay looked over and waited until the others had made it to the bottom landing before gesturing for them to follow him. Ralsen and Van Wall were soon right behind him as he made his way down the tunnel, scanning every crevice, nook, and cranny for signs of Hendry or recent activity. There were no prints in the snow, no imprints from moved objects, and no signs that anyone or anything had been in the area.

"He's not here," Barclay eventually said as he had scoured the storage area. "Let's go back upstairs," Ralsen said, nodding his head. Barclay nodded his own head in agreement before gesturing for the others to make their way back up the stairs. Barclay stayed in the rear as the men ascended the frozen stairs and returned to the warmth of the above-ground building.

After closing the door behind him, Barclay joined the others at the top of the stairs. "Okay, so he's not down there," Barclay said in frustration. "We still haven't finished checking the rest of the building," Crenna said. "Right," Barclay said in agreement. "Okay, let's check the storage rooms," he said before leading the men down the hall and into said rooms.

The Workshop, One Hour Later

Barclay opened the door to the final unchecked room of Hawke Station. Looking inside, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, until he saw that several cutting tools and tool cases were missing. Gas tanks for certain torches were gone, along with multiple battery packs, saw blades, welding tools, and power cables.

"He took the cutting and welding tools," Ralsen noted as he looked around the room. "Why? What would he use them for?" Crenna asked. "I don't know," Barclay said, confused by the stolen equipment. "The last time I escorted Hendry to the bathroom was earlier today. Dutton had the keys afterwards, but how could... no," Barclay said, realizing that the time frame was too close for Hendry to be properly infected and assimilated by Dutton prior to escaping.

"Bar? What are you mumbling about?" Silva asked him. "Hendry was infected the whole time, wasn't he?" Barclay asked himself. "Huh?" Van Wall asked him. "Hendry was already an imitation when we locked him up," Barclay said as the pieces began to fall into place.

"That son of a bitch," he swore. "So, where's Hendry?" Ralsen asked rhetorically. "We've checked the entire station top to bottom, and he's nowhere to be found," he added. "Not inside," Barclay said in realization. "What?" Crenna asked him. "Hendry's not inside. He's out there," Barclay said as he exited the room and made a B-Line for the nearest exit, close to the radio room.

"Wait, Bar! Where the hell are you going!?" Silva asked as he ran after him. "Hendry's outside somewhere," Barclay said as he entered a winter gear room and opened a box of flares. "Bar, slow down. You can't go back out there on your own," Silva said to him. "Silva, we gotta go out there," Barclay said with urgency. "Bar, do you have any idea how cold it is out there by this point?" Silva asked him as the others caught up to them.

"I walked back here in this weather, Silva. I know how fucking cold it is outside," Barclay retorted. "Then why the hell would you wanna go back out there!?" Silva asked him. "Haven't you been paying any fucking attention!?" Barclay asked him incredulously. "Hendry is one of those Things!"

"Then let it freeze to death out there," Walters said. "Dillon, this Thing slept for thousands of years trapped in ice. It'll be like taking a nap for that Thing out there," Ralsen spat. "He's right," Barclay said in agreement as he grabbed a pair of goggles from a rack and re-adjusted his hood over his head. "We have to find him. Even if we only find a trail, it's better than nothing," Barclay said with finality before walking out of the room and into the next one.

He stopped just as he gripped the door handle and looked over at the others. "I want at least two people to stay here and get supplies ready for another test. When I or anyone else come back inside, we'll need to be tested again," Barclay explained. "So, who wants to join me?" he asked.

"Aw hell, I'll go," Ralsen said reluctantly. "Me too," Silva said. "I'm coming along as well," Walters said. "I'm going too," Van Wall said. "Doc, Crenna? I guess you two get to stay here and get that test prepared again," Barclay said. "We'll get right on it," Atkins said, nodding his head before gesturing for Crenna to follow him.

Barclay looked at the other men who had volunteered to head outside with him. They each held flamethrowers in their gloved hands. "Grab some flares," Barclay said firmly, waiting until the men had returned from the other room before opening the door and venturing out into the cold harsh winter storm.

The wind whipped about and lashed across Barclay's jacket as he held his flare above his head, illuminating the immediate area around him as he and the others held onto the tow line between them. They had already scoured the immediate outside of the building, on all sides, and were nearing the entrance to the kennel when Barclay noticed that the tarp on one of the snowplows had been dislodged.

Making his way over to the vehicle, Barclay grabbed the tarp and prepared to secure it when he noticed that the door to the vehicle had been opened. Stepping up and looking inside, he saw that almost half of the front controls had been removed, with wires sticking out and all of the steering column having been gutted. "What's the matter!?" Van Wall shouted at him, the wind picking up in both speed and sound volume.

Barclay turned his head to look at the others. "The controls are gone!" Barclay replied. "What!?" Van Wall asked him. "I said, the controls are gone!" Barclay yelled. "How bad are they broken!?" Ralsen asked him. "No! Not broken! GONE! REMOVED!" Barclay shouted until the wind died down again. "Removed? What do you mean, 'removed'?" Ralsen asked him skeptically as he walked forward.

Barclay held his flare carefully out of the way as Ralsen stepped up next to him and looked inside the cabin of the snowplow. "Jesus Christ," Ralsen muttered in shock. "Do you think Hendry did this, or one of the others?" Ralsen asked Barclay. "Could have been any of them, but I'd put my money on Hendry," Barclay replied.

Ralsen hopped down and lifted the rest of the tarp from the cover of the plow, seeing the lost grill and other parts that had once been inside the frame, leaving only the essential pieces holding it together in place. Ralsen looked over at the other snow plow and made a gesture to Barclay. Barclay hopped down and motioned for the others to follow them as he and Ralsen made their way to the next vehicle.

Lifting the untouched tarp, and opening the cabin doors, the men saw that this vehicle had been left intact. They quickly replaced the tarp and closed the door before making their way over to the next one. The third vehicle's tarp was still in place, and so it also seemed untouched until the tarp was lifted, showing the vehicle to be almost skeletal with the amount of inner workings and cover parts that had been removed.

"I don't get it!" Silva exclaimed in confusion. "Why disable the vehicles? Why take them apart!?" he asked. "He must be trying to strand us!" Van Wall said. "Remember that tape we listened to? Remember Macready's tape? He said that one of the men had sabotaged the vehicles to trap them and the Thing," the helicopter pilot explained.

"So you think Hendry's actually trying to trap this Thing here with us?" Walters asked him. "No. He'd only have smashed up vehicle controls if that were the case," Barclay said, shaking his head. "No, he's stealing parts of the vehicles for something," he concluded. "Like what?" Ralsen asked him.

"I wish I knew," Barclay replied. He then saw Van Wall looking over at where the helicopters were covered up. "Van Wall, what's wrong?" Barclay asked him after glancing in the same direction the pilot was looking. "Where's the Mil Mi?" Van Wall asked. "What?" Barclay asked in response.

"The Soviet helicopter; It's not where I parked it," Van Wall explained as he pointed over to the space near the bulldozer. "It's been right there since we returned from Lazarev," the pilot said with confusion in his eyes. Looking over at the spot, Barclay saw something shiny over by the tool shed. Gesturing for the others to follow him, he led them over to the shed, before realizing that the door was open and the object was partially inside.

Kneeling down, Barclay saw that the shiny object was a very large rolled-up tarp. "It's the tarp for the Soviet chopper!" Barclay exclaimed. "Shit, Hendry took off in the helicopter!?" Silva asked incredulously. "No! No way! Not in this weather!" Van Wall shouted.

"Human or not, you don't fly one of those things in this kind of weather. Too cold, too much snow, and too much wind to start it up. You'd have to already have it running before the storm started if you wanted to use it at all!" Van Wall explained. "Then where is it!?" Barclay asked him.

Looking back over by the bulldozer, Walters saw that the trench where Pomroy and the Things had been deposited seemed disturbed. A trail was leading out of the snow mound, and Walters squinted his eyes as he followed the trail in the snow, as though something had been dragged along the ground. Following it with his eyes, he saw it soon disappear in the storm, but not before noticing something else through the falling snow in the distance. "Hey, guys?" he asked loudly. "Huh?" Barclay asked him. "Hey, do you guys see that?" Walters asked as he pointed to the faint glow in the distance.

"That's the vehicle garage," Ralsen stated. "That's where Hendry is," Barclay said after a minute. "Van Wall! You go inside and tell the others that we've found Hendry. Have Doc and Crenna test your blood and then stay inside and wait for us to return," Barclay said. "You sure?" Van Wall asked him.

"Yeah. Hold onto the tow line and and get back inside," Barclay said. Van Wall reluctantly nodded his head before turning around and making his way back to the main building, leaving the other four men where they stood, keeping one hand gripping the handle of his flamethrower. The other four men looked over at the vehicle garage pensively.

"Let's move," Barclay said firmly as he glared at the glowing building. Making their way through the snow and the wind, the four men slowly but surely reached the outer walls of the garage, stopping to check their line. "Are we secure?" Barclay asked Ralsen. "We're good," Ralsen replied as he checked the the line.

"Disconnect from it. We need to move freely once we get inside," Barclay ordered before unhooking the clasp from his harness and tying the rope to a blue light pole outside of the garage. When the other men had unhooked themselves, he motioned for them to follow him away from the main vehicle door, staying close to the wall as he slowly made his way towards the end of the building and rounded the corner before slowly walking over to the smaller entrance door.

Grabbing the handle, Barclay turned it slowly, listening as it opened without a struggle. The door did have a lock, but it was hardly ever used. Slowly opening the door and peeking inside, Barclay's eyes widened as he saw a strange craft in the center of the garage, with the Soviet Helicopter having been reduced to a skeletal frame and pile of parts nearby. The new craft was saucer-like in shape, with two nacelles, or nacelle-looking objects, visible at what was most likely the rear of the vessel. From the center of the craft was an unearthly greenish-blue glow.

Barclay slowly stepped inside the garage, motioning for the other men to join him as he quietly tip toed over to the stair case that led up to the catwalk. Several work benches stood nearby, along with racks of power tools on the wall, and several barrels of kerosene, all tied up and secured in a corner of the room. "What is that?" Silva asked quietly as he crept behind Barclay.

"Some kind of ship, I think," Barclay replied quietly. Ralsen and Walters soon crept inside the garage behind Silva, staring in confusion and fascination at the partially-completed ship in the center of the garage. "Where the hell is he trying to go?" Walters asked in a whisper. "Any... any place that isn't here, I guess. Doesn't matter. We can't let him leave," Barclay replied quietly and determinedly. Slowly raising himself up to get a better look, Ralsen accidentally bumped his shoulder into one of the light switches, illuminating the room.

Barclay, Walters, and Silva all turned to look at Ralsen in admonishment. "Uh... oops?" Ralsen apologized sheepishly. "You dumb shit," Walters hissed quietly. Quickly looking back over at the ship, Barclay saw movement behind it. "Great, he knows we're here," Barclay muttered as he slowly stepped over to the stairs of the catwalk. He kept his flamethrower pointed towards the craft, glancing left and right for more signs of movement.

"Hendry," Barclay finally said, "I know what you are. And I know that you're in here." The room was silent, and no response was made. "Are you gonna answer me?" Barclay asked as he motioned for the others to make their way to the stairs. "Hendry?" Barclay asked again.

"Hendry, if you're still human, answer me," Barclay requested, before hearing the sound of something dragging on the ground, along with faint gurgling, wet popping and tearing, and other noises that he couldn't immediately identify. "Hendry? Charles?" Barclay asked again. Barclay soon heard a gasp above him, and turned to looked at Ralsen. Walters was staring wide-eyed at something on the other side of the saucer, which Barclay couldn't see.

"Bar, get your ass up here," Silva said in a slightly panicked tone. Barclay slowly began backing up towards the bottom of the stair case, until he saw the monstrosity that Hendry was becoming as he moved around the craft and into view. A gray hairless dog, wet and slimy, was connected to a larger tentacled beast, with a slightly visible portion of Hendry's head fused with what seemed to be a malformed dog's head, with an open maw of sharp teeth.

Large, almost tendril-like legs found at the bottom of the body were being used for locomotion as the Thing crawled around, with the emerging dog portion snarling at Barclay and Ralsen. Ralsen backed up against the wall before darting over to the doorway, high-tailing it out of the building and running out into the snow. "R-Ralsen!? Ralsen!" Barclay shouted as he saw the man exiting the garage.

The Thing snarled and roared at Barclay again, with veins visible all over its body, and large arms ending in sharp and powerful claws waving slowly in the air as it grabbed a desk and threw it out of the way. The only visible eye on the remaining portion of Hendry's face narrowed as it looked at Barclay, while the fur-covered portions of the body wiggled before splitting open to let more tendrils flow out.

Barclay aimed his flamethrower at the abomination and let loose a stream of fire, before the dog portion tore itself away from the main body, revealing that it only had two front limbs for locomotion. The dog Thing dragged itself across the floor and hissed at Barclay, who glanced at it before backing over under the catwalk and running into the shadows. Walters and Silva both stayed up on the catwalk, aiming their flamethrowers at the Things below.

The dog-Thing began chasing Barclay under the catwalk, while the Hendry Thing grabbed a work bench and threw it up at the two men on the catwalk. "Jesus! Duck!" Silva cried out before he and Walters leapt out of the way. Meanwhile, Barclay was busy keeping the Dog Thing at bay while trying to get out from under the catwalk.

The Thing snarled and hissed at him as it closed in. Barclay let another stream of flame loose as he kept backing up, with the Thing dodging each blast and using its surroundings for cover to avoid the fire. Soon, Barclay could no longer see the Thing. He glanced around, eyes wide and alert as he listened for sounds of the beast.

He could see the Hendry-Thing near the other side of the room as it fought against the two men on the catwalk, using machinery and whatever else was at its disposal for cover and offense. After backing up into a metal beam pillar, Barclay glanced around again, until he heard heavy panting. He turned his head to the left just in time to see the open maw of the Dog Thing moving towards him.

He quickly turned his body and held up his flamethrower nozzle as the Thing moved closer, letting it bite down on the metal portion as its feet pushed him back against the wall. Barclay wrestled the nozzle out of the Thing's mouth and elbowed it in the face, pushing it back and forcing its legs off of him as it fell back to the floor just long enough to re-orient himself before the Thing steadied itself and prepared to lunge forward again. Barclay frowned and aimed his flamethrower forward, letting the Thing latch its jaws around the nozzle before he sent a blast of fire inside of its mouth, igniting the Thing from the inside.

Barclay squeezed the firing trigger again, making sure to burn the creature in its entirety as the flames shot out from inside of it, causing its insides to boil and its skin to crackle before it fell to the floor. Taking his flamethrower out of its mouth he sent one last stream of napalm onto the creature before stepping around it, just before he heard the catwalk creak.

"Walters! Silva!" Barclay cried out as he ran out from under the catwalk, looking up at the catwalk as the two men were thrown about. "Hold on to something!" Walters cried out as the Thing gripped one of the support beams and began yanking on it and trying to break it, bending it in its claws. Silva sent a stream of fire down at the Thing, forcing it to back off, before it used several tentacles to grab the beam and pull on it as it moved away. "Shit!" Silva cried out before the beam gave way and the portion of the catwalk above them tilted, causing Walters to fall over the safety rail.

Silva grabbed Walters by the arm and tried hoisting him up as the Thing let go of the beam and began making its way forward. Walters glanced back over his shoulder. "Pull me up! Pull me up!" he cried out. "I'm trying!" Silva exclaimed as he tugged on Walters' arms, getting him to grab onto the safety rail. A tentacle grabbed onto Walters' legs and pulled him down, throwing him over to the side before letting him go.

Walters let out a gasp of pain as he landed on the floor and rolled over near the kerosene barrels. Silva quickly made his way over to the stairs, aiming his flamethrower at the beast as it moved towards Walters. "Walters, get up!" Silva yelled as he stopped in the middle of the stairs and squeezed off a blast of napalm at the Thing. The Thing turned to face him and snarled before sending a series of tentacles towards Walters, who frantically and painfully tried to scoot away from them, his back and limbs still stinging from the cold and the impact of the hard landing.

"Hey! Hey!" Barclay yelled out as the Hendry-Thing closed in on the two men. "Hey, Charles! Hey, fuck-face!" Barclay shouted, grabbing the Thing's attention as it turned away from Walters and Silva to glare at him. He saw a frown on the surviving portion of Hendry's face, his green eye narrowing in anger and contempt.

Barclay made his way around the saucer, watching as the Thing kept its focus on him. Barclay glanced over at the open and unfinished cockpit of the small craft, seeing that parts of it still weren't finished. Looking closer, the whole craft appeared to have been a somewhat rushed effort. Retrieving a stick of dynamite from the harness he was wearing, Barclay held the stick near his flamethrower's nozzle.

"So, where are ya goin'?" Barclay asked the Thing contemptuously. The canine head attached to Hendry's let out a hiss as the massive creature slowly made its way around the vessel, its tentacles and tendrils retreating from Walters, who breathed a sigh of relief. "Our company's not that bad, is it?" Barclay asked it as he gestured to the ship.

Keeping part of its body just out of view, a series of tendrils and tentacles slowly made their way under the saucer. "Silva, get Walters and get out of here," Barclay said. "And when you find Ralsen, deck him for me," he added, just before he felt something curl around his right leg and pull it out from under him, twisting his leg painfully.

Barclay let out a yell of surprise as he fell onto his back, banging the fuel and gas canisters of the flamethrower against the floor. "Oh, shit!" he swore as the tentacle pulled him along the floor and slammed him into a crate. "Oof!" he let out at the impact, before the tentacle pulled him along and threw him over towards the skeletal frame of the Soviet Mil Mi-17 helicopter, letting go of his leg and sending him sliding across the floor. Barclay grabbed his leg and let out a gasp of pain.

Barclay opened his eyes and watched as the Thing slowly advanced upon him, holding up his flamethrower and squeezing the firing trigger, only to watch it sputter. "Shit!" he cursed with wide eyes as the Thing snarled at him. He desperately tried squeezing the trigger as the Thing advanced, only for the Thing to stop as it turned to face the vehicle door, just before a bulldozer broke through it.

"The hell!?" Barclay asked incredulously as he saw Ralsen sitting in the cabin. Ralsen looked over to his right and turned the vehicle to face the beast. He opened the door of the cabin and leaned out. "Hey! Hey, asshole! Pick on someone your own size!" Ralsen yelled out. The Thing roared at him and turned around before grabbing the metal plate with its front clawed hands. Ralsen backed up and turned the vehicle as he struggled with the Thing.

"Holy shit," Ralsen muttered as the Thing pushed back against the bulldozer, roaring in defiance as it wrapped several tentacles around the wheels and the metal plate. Ralsen quickly realized that he was going to be overwhelmed. He turned off the engine and got out of the cabin, aiming his flamethrower at the massive beast before letting a stream of flame shoot out and consume the abomination.

Ralsen backed away as he continued setting fire to the monster, before a tentacle lashed out and smacked him away. He quickly let go of the nozzle and the flame ceased firing as he fell to his side. Grunting in discomfort, Ralsen pushed himself up and crawled away from the burning monstrosity.

Watching the Thing burn, Barclay let out a sigh of relief. The relief, however, was short-lived, as he heard a sickening flesh-tearing sound. He looked over and watched as the Thing tried tearing part of itself away from its body. "Oh, give me a fucking break!" Barclay spat as he saw the malformed humanoid portion crawl over to the saucer, smoke and steam rising from its burnt body.

The Thing entered the craft and began a startup sequence, causing the nacelles on the back to began heating up as exhaust began to spill out. "Shit, he's gettin' away," Ralsen moaned in dismay. "No. No, he's not," Barclay said with a frown.

Barclay quickly undid his flamethrower harness before grabbing the stick of dynamite that had fallen from his grip. He grabbed the flamethrower nozzle and held the fuse up to it before letting the heat ignite it. Quickly getting up, hissing in pain as he did so, Barclay limped over to the saucer, stopping by the still-burning portion of the larger Thing mass before pulling his arm back, aiming at the open cockpit. "No way. No way you're getting out of here alive," he growled before throwing the dynamite into the open cockpit, just as the thing closed a makeshift metal hatch on top of it.

The small ship soon lit up as the engines roared and the nacelles sent out a stream of fire and exhaust, propelling the small craft forward and into the air. The saucer crashed through the garage as it rose into the air. "It got away!" Silva cried out. "Uh-uh! He's fucked," Barclay said with a wry smile on his face.

Inside the saucer, the Thing looked around its small cockpit, searching for the hissing and sizzling sound that surrounded it. The Thing soon saw the stick of dynamite lodged in a small gap between two metal plates behind its seat. Its lone green eye widened as the fuse ran out and it let loose a horrified cry just as its world burned white.

The dynamite exploded, destroying the cockpit, and rupturing the canisters of kerosene fueling the engines. Said engines erupted and exploded violently, further consuming the metal vessel in flames and lighting up the night sky. Debris rained down onto the snow-covered Earth below, while the men of Hawke Station looked up and collectively sighed in relief.

Down below, Barclay and the others looked up at the burning wreckage as what was left of it began falling to the Earth. "Ha-ha!" Barclay let out victoriously. "You got fucked!" he exclaimed with a grin before leaning back against a support beam. Looking at the burning remains of the larger portion of the Thing, Barclay sighed. "Hey, Silva! Get some kerosene!" Barclay yelled tiredly.

"Why?" Silva asked as he helped Walters to his feet. "Because this part over here might still be raw and uncooked inside. I don't wanna take any more chances," Barclay replied before walking over to where Ralsen was sitting, slowly leaning himself back against the wall. "You... you don't think it's dead?" Ralsen asked him, keeping his eyes on the burning mass of flesh. "I don't know. Even if it is, better safe than sorry," Barclay said tiredly as he slowly slid down the wall and sat next to Ralsen, letting out a sigh of exhaustion.

Silva soon made his way over with the kerosene and began pouring it onto the still burning mass of the Thing. "Yikes!" Silva cried out as the flames rose up fiercely, almost catching his arm. The smoke billowed and rose up through the new hole in the roof, and the men stayed in the garage until they were certain that the Thing was dead.

The Recreation Room, An Hour Later...

After the four men had returned, Barclay had ordered the others to prepare a test for them, just to be safe. The four men were quickly led into the rec room and forced to sit on the couch, with Van Wall holding a flamethrower towards them at Barclay's orders. Each of them had their thumbs sliced for blood, and each of them had clean petri dishes filled up.

Barclay watched as Atkins and Van Wall cleaned and prepared the copper wire before inserting it into Walters' blood. Walters was proven human once more and was allowed to walk away from the couch. Silva was tested next, and he, too, was proven human. Only Barclay and Ralsen were left.

The wire was inserted into Ralsen's blood after being cleaned and re-heated, sizzling in response to the wire. "You're clear... again," Barclay said as Ralsen walked away from the couch. Barclay sighed as the wire was cleaned and re-heated, before Atkins held up the dish.

"Are you ready?" Atkins asked him. "Yeah," Barclay said with a tired nod of his head. "Okay," Atkins said. He then lowered the wire into the blood, confirming that Barclay was human.

The End

Ending Theme: Humanity Part 1, by Ennio Morricone.

Author's Note: Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-That's all, folks! Well, that was the final chapter of Hawke Station. The story itself isn't quite what I'd planned or how I'd hoped it would turn out. What I'm probably going to do at some point is either do a Redux version of the story, with a few less characters and a more streamlined plot, or I'll save something like that for, say, another adaptation of the original novella. Yes, I plan on doing my own fan-adaptation of the original novella at some point, set in the 21st century, taking characters from the 2011 prequel and 1982 film in addition to the characters found in John W. Campbell Jr.'s original work.

But, before that, I have an ALIEN fan fiction that I'd like to write. Since there's a new ALIEN movie coming out this May, my appreciation of the franchise has been re-awakened. I also won't include quite so many characters, as while I do enjoy reading what I've done with THE THING to a degree, I feel that I had way too many characters in Hawke Station.

Also, I will have one more chapter posted, which will be a collection of unused and alternate material, including the original version of the final battle, which I have since replaced with another, more action-packed version as of 10:43 pm on 02/24/2017. So, uh, I guess let me know what you think of the story in your reviews. And, again, I'd really like to know what people think of my characterization of Barclay, as well as how he compares and contrasts with MacReady from the Carpenter film and Kate from the 2011 film. I know how I feel about the way I wrote him, but I'd like to know what others think. So, with that being said, I bid you all adieu... for now.