"Curse this!" Carmelo hit the duct's wall with the stock of his gun. Irritated he tried to look around back at his men, but the tunnel was too small to maneuver. He sighed heavily. "Move back. There's no way in from here."
As the group backtracked to the duct's exit an eerie feeling hit them all. The breathing sound that followed made them stop to listen. It was unworldly. It sounded like nothing any of them have heard before and it was all around them, reverberating inside the metallic walls. They all got nervous and some started moving faster, eager to find the exit.
"Curse me! What the hell was that?" the man behind Carmelo lingered.
"I have no flipping idea!" Carmelo said impatient. "Whatever that was, I don't want to fight it from here. Move!"
The duct was connected to a ventilation shaft coming from the upper sections of the ship. As the last man crawled back out of it and reached in for his vest, they heard desperate cries and gun shots coming from inside that shaft.
Carmelo paused to listen while his men shared puzzled glances. "The bridge. It has moved to the bridge! Let's go!"
As the realization of that sort of mess reaching the ship's command center came, the group went from an accelerated march to a frantic run. Carmelo took point as they reached the spiral stairs leading to the upper levels.