Run Part One

Having failed to stop the alien symbiote from escaping from Christmastown, the suit now makes the arduous trek to civilization form the Arctic Circle carrying Patricia Robertson, the lone survivor at the facility, on his back. When Patricia wakes up she is shocked to discover the suit carrying her away. He tells her that she should eat and that he has carried her some seventy miles from the radar station where she was stationed. He tells her that they need to stop the symbiote before it reaches civilization. When she asks why he didn’t kill her, the man in the suit does not give an explanation. When she suggests they contact her superiors, the suit refuses to do this, saying that nobody can know what’s going on as it might lead to interference. When she protests this, he shocks Patricia into unconsciousness by the suit’s weaponized cell phone. Carrying Patricia again, the suit then uses the same cell phone to track the monster. As he reaches the tree line, he discovers the dead body of Ivan, a Husky that was part of the sled dog team at Christmastown. Inside the forest, he discovers an even more grisly scene, a number of dead woodland creatures webbed to the side of a tree. Examining the tree, he finds some loose hair, and his scanners indicate that it belongs to a bear. When just such a creature sneaks up behind him, his cell phone confirms that the bear is not a host to the symbiote and uses the device to jolt the creature, making it flee the scene. The suit, unaware that he is being watched by a crow, activates a device that cloaks himself and Patricia. This is because a massive ship has just arrived scanning the area searching for the monster. Aboard the massive ship, two identical women can’t find any trace of the symbiote and continue on, confident that they’ll find it eventually.

Once the ship is gone, the suit drops his cloak and contacts his superiors to warn them that others are searching for the symbiote as well. He figures he’ll reach civilization by dawn but fears the creature will have entrenched itself, as he looks at Patricia’s sleeping body, is already formulating a plan.

Meanwhile, at a house in the village of Voici, a man named Clem is admitted through the back door by Orrie, the owner. When Clem asks Orrie what he has been doing while waiting for him to show up for their backroom poker game, Orrie says he was just killing time. Outside the bar, the body of a dead crow is unseen by Clem as he goes inside. When Clem asks where everybody is, Orrie leads him into the back. Clem is horrified to discover all the other players are dead. Orrie — the current host for the symbiote — then transforms into his monstrous form and ambushes Clem from behind.[1] Once the symbiote has taken possession of Clem’s body, it hops on his snowmobile and heads toward town, intending to paint it red.

At that same moment, the twins that have been tracking the symbiote have arrived at Bob’s Tavern and order water after water as they ask questions about the community. The bartender tells them that Voici is home to about 150 people, mostly loggers and pipe-line workers. Their questions get the attention of the mutant known as Wolverine who instantly knows they are from out of town. When the two women ask Logan how he could know this, he tells them that he just has a way of knowing.

Recurring Characters

Patricia Robertson, the man in black, Frankie, Vic, Clem, Wolverine

Continuity Notes

1. Although this symbiote resembles the Venom symbiote, it is not the same creature. As explained in Venom #11-14, this is actually a clone.