Heading out of the gift shop with a few bits and pieces slung over his shoulder and towards the stairwell, John only caught sight of the creature by virtue of one of the better hold-overs from his injury- his hyper-vigilance. The moment he saw movement out of the corner of his eye, everything kicked in. His whole body tensed and poised with anticipation, he drew out his knife and picked his way into a more defensible position almost automatically, a solid wall behind his back and just out of the light. Adrenalin surged, bright and sharp.

The shape of the thing moving was human, or at least it had seemed that way- but a second glance told him it was large and definitely moving towards him. Possibly simply because he was between it and the stairwell, he reasoned quickly- but wouldn't that be lucky? Too lucky, probably. He wet his lips and watched, as still, steady and quiet as he could.