The origional Thaw story posed some questions. That was a great oversight on my part. So, here's what went down before the story of Thaw. If you want to know more, you're going to have to watch John Carpenter's The Thing. The beginning of this story takes place at the end of that movie.
Chapter 1: Frost Bite.
US Antarctic Research Station 13. Nicknamed "Outpost 31". Antarctica. Winter, 1982.
"Yeah, well fuck you, too!" shouted McReady, throwing a lit stick of dynamite at what had become of Blair-Thing.
McReady leapt out the door and rolled to safety as the dynamite exploded. This explosion set off a chain reaction, causing the bundles of dynamite McReady had planted around the Outpost to detonate. Blair-Thing was reduced to small chunks of charred flesh. The Outpost was soon reduced to burning rubble. McReady stood up and looked around, pulling his pistol from its holster. He was walking over to a crate, when he noticed Childs, standing there with the flamethrower. The two men eyed eachother suspiciously, both knowing the the other could have been assimilated. After a tense stand off, the cold began getting to them. The sat with backs turned to the crate, on opposite sides...
Hours later:
The chunks of flesh that had been Blair-Thing began to stir. The living cells consumed the dead, providing the chunks with the energy needed to move again. They formed tentacles and sent them out, toward eachother. The tentacles merged when they touched, allowing the baser minds of the chunks to coalesce into one more advanced mind, through the wonder of distributed biological computing. More and more chunks joined the new mind. Soon, advanced feral intelligence gave way to sentient though. As the last chunk joined in, a debate began.
Who should they be, now? Blair? No. He was unreliable and his hesitance to take out McReady had gotten them into this mess. Norris? No. He was too weak. Palmer? No. He was a pot head. Lfhalinsy? No. The humans would react negatively to a giant scorpion. Jed? Yes. The wolf-dog. He had been quite useful. Able to walk freely amongst humans without suspicion. Capable of infectious assimilation through shed fur and saliva. Powerful, yet relatively compact body. Insulation from the cold. Capable of running for hours on end without tiring. He had shown great restraint and cunning in not simply trying to assimilate the men all at once. And setting Clark up as a red herring was a stroke of genius. Man's Best Friend, indeed... Yes. Jed was the clear winner.
The chunks drew closer to eachother, merging into a single large chunk, resembling a massive tumor. The larger biomass shuddered and shifted and twisted, soon taking on the form of a wolf-dog. The outer layer of skin grew numerous tentacles, which split and formed fur and whiskers. Jed-Thing was once more among this world. He blinked and pitch black eyes became yellow wolfish eyes.
~Alright, guys,~ Jed thought to the subconscious collective, ~What now?~
For a few seconds, there was only mental static as the other cells argued over the best way to proceed. Eventually, the coalesced into a coherent thought: ~Go to the ship~
Jed walked out of the cavern and looked around. He was a moment too late in spotting the humans sitting by the crate. A shot rang out and a bullet splattered his right eye.
"What the hell?!" Childs exclaimed.
"It's that dog!" McReady shouted, firing another round, "Quick! Burn it!"
~Dammit!~ Jed thought as a bullet lodged in his chest, ~Enough!~
~NO!~ the others shouted into Jed's mind, ~YOU MUST NOT FIGHT THEM!~
~SCREW YOU!~ Jed thought back, dodging McReady's 3rd shot and lunging at his throat, "VEROLF!"
Jed's attack hit its mark. His mouth merged with McReady's throat as he began an aggressive assimilation. McReady's words became wet gurgles as his voice box dissolved. Childs was having a hard time getting the flamethrower to light. But he finally managed to do so as McReady and Jed fell to the ground. Jed caught the sight of the the pilot light flaring up with his good eye and separated from McReady's body just in time to avoid being fried. Childs and Jed watched eachother carefully, calculating their next move. Childs had only one burst left in the flamethrower, and Jed had yet to regenerate his wounds. It was then that Jed noticed a familiar hissing sound. Dynamite fuse. Before he could turn to run, the dynamite belt that McReady had been wearing exploded. Both were ripped apart by the explosion. Being human, Childs died. Jed did not. He managed to pull himself back together, but he had lost a lot of biomass. Reaching the ship now was an impossibility. No... He just decided to lay down and hibernate. Someone would come to see what had happened to Outpost 31... They would dig him out of the ice, like so many curious beings before them had done... It would simply be a matter of time...
