At first, she was just screaming.

It was hysterical, so deafeningly loud that for a moment you had to cover your ears. She started slamming her fist against the door and the screaming became coherent. Shouts of "No!" and "Not like this!" and every curse word you knew, plus some more in a different language. You approached her, hoping to quieten her down before she drew any unwanted attention.

"Dr Shepard..?"

Your voice came out far softer than you expected and was completely drowned out by Catherine's yelling. You cleared your throat as you stood beside her and prepared to call out again.

"Um, Dr Shepard I don't think that's going to hel-." You were cut off as she unexpectedly span around started angrily pulling off her lab coat. She threw it to the ground and you took a step back as she proceeded to stamp on it, digging her red kitten heel into the SCP logo.

"I fucking hate this fucking messed up place!" She shouted before finally kicking the beaten coat away from her.

"Okay then..." you muttered awkwardly, not really knowing how to respond to her outburst. She was visibly out of breath as she leaned back and slowly slid down the door until she was sitting on the floor.

You simply watched her as she started fiddling with her hair, attempting to tidy the loose strands that had escaped from her ponytail during her fit of rage.

She glanced up towards you, seemingly embarrassed.

"Sorry you had to see that." She laughed nervously. "I've been holding that in for a really long time."

You glanced up each of the halls both looking and listening for anything approaching. This area was very exposed and you were eager to get moving. You didn't know where you were meant to go now that the safe room doors were locked, but what you were sure of was that staying in one place was most certainly a death sentence. Unfortunately, you weren't entirely sure how to approach Catherine on the matter. Having just witnessed such a volatile outburst you didn't want to trigger another one.

You quietly sat down beside her.

"You really hate this place? Could have fooled me. It always seemed like you enjoy your job." You noted, hoping lighten the mood. You were staring at the torn lab coat but you could see her shake her head out of the corner of your eye in response.

"This place isn't my job."

Her answer took you by surprise and you looked over at her to try and gauge what she meant. Her expression was blank and she was staring at the floor as if lost in thought. You took a moment to observe her. A person's clothes can say an awful lot about their personality, but even then you couldn't quite decide what Catherine's clothing said about her. She wore a dark navy blue pencil skirt that reached just above her knees and a pale blue camisole top with spaghetti straps. A small silver pendant hung from her neck, but from the angle you were sat it was impossible to see what it was. On her right shoulder she had a very artistic tattoo. It was inked in black and made the silhouette of a hand reaching for the sky. Around it, several snakes curled with their heads facing up as if travelling up the arm towards the fingers. It was surprising, as you hadn't taken her for the kind of person who'd have a tattoo like that. You wondered if it had some kind of significant meaning behind it. You were about to ask her about it, but before you could speak a distant sound made you stiffen.

It was a few corridors off but you were sure you could hear some kind of scraping sound. It was as if a heavy stone was being dragged down one of the halls. It seemed Catherine had heard it as well as she was already getting to her feet.

"We need to move." She said, stating what you had been thinking ever since the door closed.

You quickly got to your feet and the two of you made your way down the corridor. You followed her silently for the first several halls, your only concern being to get some distance between you and the safe room door. Once you were far enough away that you felt anything investigating the noise wouldn't find you, you turned your attention to your destination.

"Where are we going now?" You asked in a hushed tone. The halls were mostly silent but every now and then there'd be a distance scream or some other indistinguishable sound that kept you on tender hooks. You weren't about to raise your voice and draw attention to yourself.

Catherine answered you in the same hushed tone, barely above a whisper. "We're heading for one of the exits although the chances of us making it there are....slim...less than slim."

She gave you a quick glance, as if checking to make sure her point had been made before concluding.

"Anyway, the alternative is to wait here and hope that nothing finds us which is even less likely."

You took in what she said for a moment before realising something that left you slightly sceptical of her plan. If the facility was suffering a containment breach, wouldn't the outer doors be locked? You decided to voice your concerns.

"What if the doors are closed?" You questioned softly.

Catherine's response was swift. "They are...usually." She looked around at you once again. You didn't bother to question her, knowing full well that your expression must have displayed your confusion perfectly.

For a moment you saw a glimpse of humour in her eyes. She opened her mouth to say something but cut herself off as her expression suddenly changed to one of worry. "Shit, I forgot the tesla gates will be active."

She stopped dead in her tracks as she said this, almost causing you to bump into her as you turned to see what she was doing. She seemed to be considering different options very carefully before finally looking over at you.

"We're going to have to pass through active tesla gates." She stated simply.

While you knew what tesla gates, thanks to your so-called 'safety training,' you had no idea how they worked or how you were meant to pass through one. You followed Catherine down the hallway, secretly thankful that you had her to guide you.

After a few minutes of walking the endless halls seemed to have blurred into one single never ending hallway in your memory and you honestly couldn't remember just how many you had passed through. However, a change of scenery finally came in the form of an open walkway. You'd never walked this area before and your curiosity quickly got the better of you. You casually walked over to the railing to gaze over the side. The room seemed to drop down for an extraordinary distance to the point that the far most walls seemed to just fade into darkness. You assumed this wasn't an anomaly, and there was indeed a floor down there somewhere, but even so the seeming endless darkness gave you the creeps and you quickly stepped away from the edge.

Turning back to follow Catherine, you casually glanced up towards the ceiling, wondering if the roof stretched up just as far. Your eyes locked with another pair of eyes and you felt your blood freeze. Above your walkway was another balcony that crossed from the upper floor, and standing on that balcony was a very familiar figure. The hairs on your arms stood on end and you stared back at him. From this distance you couldn't see his eyes, but you could tell that he was staring at you. You watched him, half expecting him to do something but he simply kept his eyes locked on you until you passed underneath the balcony and out of his sight.

Even though you knew he was out of sight, you kept on looking over your shoulder at the underside of the bridge until the door slid closed, blocking your view of the room. When you turned back, Catherine was looking over your shoulder as if trying to figure out what you were looking at. When she saw nothing, her eyes instead locked with your own.

"Are we being followed?" She questioned nervously. You shook your head no. Apparently satisfied by your response, she continued walking and you followed silently. For some reason, it hadn't occurred to you before that 049 could be wandering freely around the facility. The realisation put you on edge even more. You weren't sure what he would do if you both crossed paths. This time you'd been out of his reach, but you worried about what might have happened if he'd been on the same walkway. You shook the thought away, not wanting to get you mind mixed up in the SCP's contradicting words and actions. You didn't have the time to get lost in your thoughts.