Author's Note: Hello all! Sorry for the long silence, but the wait is over! We had to get our ducks in a row. Lots of planning goes into these big stories before they kick into gear. You wouldn't even believe. Well, maybe you would. Beside the point.
So, here is our new long story! Huzzah!
Disclaimer: We are happy to claim Julietta and Juan Carlos. They are awesome.
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Chapter 1: My friend, the Enemy
"Juan Carlos! I am tired. Can we camp yet?"
Juan gritted his teeth at his mother's complaints. "No, mama. We can't stop yet. Just sleep in the seat, or the back seat. You'll be fine."
Julietta Maria Fernando Onobanjo pouted, crossing her arms. "You know perfectly well I cannot sleep in the car. I get sick. You wish for me to get sick all over the car? What kind of child did I raise?"
Juan Carlos Fernando Onobanjo was deeply tempted to begin beating his head against the steering wheel. "Mama. Of course I don't want you to be sick all over the car. But, we can't stop now. We haven't gotten far enough. What if the aliens come for us? We're just too close. And you are tired, so I offered a suggestion. That's all."
He didn't mention, except in his head, that the other suggestion was to let his mother sleep in the trunk. Sighing, his eyes straining, he resigned himself to listening to his mother complain about many various and sundry things, like the lack of useful appliances, and being forced to leave the house that she had just finished paying off.
Finally, another hour or so later, they stopped and parked. Juan got out first, with his weapons, making sure the area was clear of the face jumpers and the adult versions of them. When he was certain everything was clear, he unpacked their tent and set it up quickly.
Julietta was also out of the car, puttering about, helping set up camp, before she crawled into the tent to sleep. Juan Carlos sat outside the tent, keeping a sharp eye out, ready to get his mother and run if the need arose.
Juan had fallen asleep, when he heard noises. Jerking awake, he stared wide eyed into the pre dawn darkness. Whatever was out there was making a lot of noise. Standing, he cradled his gun carefully. Julietta poked her head out of the tent, afraid. Juan shushed her and crept forward.
There were bright lights. Flashlights by the look of it. The group seemed fairly large, around thirty if he had to guess. They were around the car he'd been using to get him and his mother far away from their home in Florida.
Julietta, who had been the mechanic the whole trip, keeping the car up and running, had ignored her son's gesticulations to stay in the tent. Grabbing her gun, she stormed out of the tent and straight towards the mob around "her" car.
"Hey! All of you! Get away from my car! I will not let you take it!"
The men all started, staring at the tiny woman waving a rather large looking shot gun in their direction. One of the men, who had been trying (unsuccessfully) to hotwire the vehicle sat up quickly, hitting his head on the wheel and swearing in pain.
Stopping a bit away, Julietta looked appalled. "Young man! Don't you dare swear like that! That is terribly inappropriate, I hope you know!"
The men gaped at her, clearly bewildered. Then, one stepped forward, sneering. "And why should we care what YOU think, bitch? We need this car. Hard to find working ones. So, you and the big nigger over there are just shit outta luck."
Horrified, Julietta's face clouded in rage. "How DARE you! Do not call my son such awful things! You! You are… mal educado!"
"I'm a mall? What?"
"Your mother didn't raise you right!"
The leading man scowled, stepping closer. "WHAT did you say about my mama?"
"She raised you poorly and your community failed in raising you properly! Such poor language and behavior! God was clearly not in your household."
Rumblings of anger swept through the much larger group. Horrified, Juan Carlos went closer to his mother, pushing her behind him. "Mama! No! Why are you trying to make things worse for us? We can't fight all of them. If we had just let them take the car, they may have left us in peace."
Scowling, Julietta sulked. "They were saying bad things about you, my Juanito. I could not stand for it. Doesn't a mother have a right and a duty to defend her children?"
Before Juan could reply, and before the opposing group could attack, an awful sound shrilled through the air. It was the scream of not just one, but many Xenomorphs, sounding nearby.
There was silence in the clearing, then a mad dash for the car. All the men of the opposing group charged the vehicle, screaming that they had a right to get in first, to drive away. None of them seemed to remember they didn't have the keys, and couldn't hotwire it.
Juan Carlos grabbed his mother's hand, running back to their tent and grabbing all their weapons. They could come back for food and clothing and other things later, or scrounge more later. He had to get to a more defensible position.
He and Julietta ran into the woods, and some of the smarter enemies they had faced off against followed them, knowing the car was a lost cause. After awhile of running, they heard the screams as the men still at the car were attacked and killed, or dragged off.
Smiling grimly to himself, Juan Carlos was thankful for those men. It meant, hopefully, that fewer of the Xenomorphs would come after them. By the time he found a niche suitable enough for defense, the sun had begun rising, gently lighting the world with its rays.
Squinting in the brightening day, Juan and the other men and Julietta kept watch, waiting to hear the Xeno screams come closer, to be attacked. There were about 20 total on guard, minus Julietta and Juan Carlos. Almost half the other group had been lost to the Xenomorphs.
After a bit, Juan Carlos stood and looked at the men that had tried attacking him and his mother the night before. In all the rush and the battle, he hadn't bothered looking at them. Sighing irritably, he realized, to his mild horror, he was dealing with a group of skin heads.
They all glared at him and his mother, muttering angrily amongst themselves. He didn't want to deal with this right now. Or ever. Not only was he black, which they hated, he was Catholic, which they hated almost as much.
Deciding now would be an excellent time to make a run for it, Juan Carlos grabbed his mother and began backing away. "We'll be going back to the camp. You do whatever you like. Good luck."
With that, he scooped up his mother and took off at a sprint, leaving the men in the dust.
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The clearing where Juan and Julietta had set up camp was now in shambles. The car was still there, but it was pretty scratched up. Their tent and supplies were scattered all around, further evidence of the massacre that had taken place. There were one or two men still there, but with the face grabbers on them.
Juan checked around cautiously for any threat to him or his mother, then began to hurriedly gather their things together, Julietta helping out as much as possible. The men that had followed them to their hiding spot had followed them back here and were wandering around, clearly at a loss of what to do.
Juan froze. He had heard a noise. Shushing everyone, the day was still, and growing hot. A few minutes passed. The skin heads began to relax, laughing and making fun of him. On particularly brave fellow laughed loudly. "Well, jeeze, boy, no need to freak us all-"
His head was gone before he could finish the sentence. After a moment of silence, full blown panic erupted. This was no xenomorph attack. This was the work of the OTHER aliens. The masked ones. Juan had seen them from afar. Seen what they did to humans and Xenomorphs alike.
He could see the barest hint of a shimmer. It moved, and the men who had been face grabbed were blown to pieces. No monstrous Xenomorphs would come from them. Then, the shimmer started towards the others.
They began to flee. Three men fell before anyone knew what was happening. Chaos reigned supreme. Juan grabbed his mother, trying to flee. She tripped, was about to be trampled by the fleeing men. She screamed as a fifth man was skewered near her, splattering her with blood and intestines.
Rage filled Juan Carlos. A temper he tried desperately to never let out came to the surface with a roar. Charging forward, he grabbed his mother from the battle, tossing her away from where someone else was about to fall on her.
A glint of light and he had his gun up, blocking the double blades that had been set to skewer through his torso. Slamming back, he hit something metal, high up. Jumping backwards, Juan waited, knowing he'd attracted its attention now.
Crouching, he held his gun more like a staff. Hearing a sound behind him, he ducked as a laser blast flew over where his head had been. Instead, the blast hit the car, blowing it into pieces, igniting the fuel tank, turning it into a spectacular explosion.
The smoke and crackling of the flames made it much more difficult for Juan to see or hear where his opponent, or his mother, was. Growling, he crouched, pulling a knife, waiting quietly. He moved slowly, cautiously. Nothing.
Then, he was grabbed by his neck. Choking, he watched as the monster revealed itself. It pulled a spear out, clearly intent on skewering him. With a snarl, his own knife flashed out, catching the monster just underneath its helmet, slicing and stabbing as quickly as he could, to inflict the most damage.
It dropped him, stumbling backwards and clutching its throat. Juan stood, and charged it again, picking up his gun on the way and firing as many shots as he could, as fast as he could, into its torso. Soon, it fell, growling and gurgling.
Standing over the monster, Juan scowled, hating it with every fiber of his being. As if dealing with the xenomorphs wasn't bad enough. Then these guys had shown up and made everything even worse. For them, AND the xenomorphs. He supposed he could thank them for the last.
The thing was trying to reach for something on its wrist. Some pad or something. Aiming his gun, he blasted its arm, so it couldn't type in anything. It could be calling for friends. Then, before it could do anything else, he fired a shot into its neck, severing its spinal cord.
Glaring down at the monster, Juan nudged it with his foot. It was, more than likely, dead. Turning away, he looked for his mother. He found her huddling behind a tree. Leaning down, he smiled at her tiredly. "Mama? Are you all right?"
She looked up, sniffling. "I-I'm fine, Juanito. Oh! I'm so glad you're all right. I was so worried about you! Are you injured? Are we safe now?"
"Yes, I'm fine Mama. No need to worry. I'm not injured. And we're as safe as we ever are. Unfortunately, we gotta walk from now on. Until we find another car for you to fix up. Now, we need to hurry and gather whatever we can find. Just give a shout if you are attacked or see anything bad or anything."
Julietta nodded, wiping away some of her tears, still clutching at the small rosary that she'd been holding the whole battle. She puttered about, looking for what was still good to take. Juan Carlos took guard, watching for any more Xenos or Masks or humans that may come to attack.
Soon, they had what they could carry, including their tent, which managed to avoid too much major damage. Juan took most of it on his back, Julietta only taking a few things and her weapons. As they began walking down the road.
After walking most of the day, Julietta was even more tired than she had been the day previous in the car. But, she refrained from complaining. Her poor Juanito was clearly exhausted, and had sustained injuries. But, if he refused to complain about how bad off he was, she refused to as well. She could be tough. She just hoped her stubbornness would be enough to keep her going.
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They finally set up camp that night. Julietta lit a fire, just enough to cook Juan Carlos a good meal, that he deserved. She insisted he sleep first and he gave in after only a little bit of a fight. This was a very bad sign. Juan Carlos was never this cooperative, unless he was hurting.
Sighing, she sat guard, watching the night sky. It was only a bit cloudy, so she could still see the stars. Gently holding her rosary, she whispered prayers to herself, thinking on her God and the way the world had turned out.
She heard a noise. Starting, she dropped her rosary and grabbed her gun. "Who's there? Come out with your hands up! I'm not afraid to shoot you!"
Juan Carlos came out of the tent, holding his weapons. "What is it, Mama?"
"I-I thought I heard something. Over there."
Juan went over, scowling. "Come out. Now."
No response. Even angrier, Juan lifted his gun and fired a few shots into the bushes. With shouts, some men stumbled out of the bushes. "Don't shoot! Don't shoot!"
Juan didn't lower his gun. "Why didn't you come out when we called?"
"W-well, we, were, you know-"
"Trying to sneak up on us while we were asleep. To steal our things. To kill us. Any number of things. I don't appreciate it."
One man threw up his arms. "No! Nonono! We were coming to ask for help!"
Juan Carlos lifted on eyebrow, quirking his head, beads in his hair clacking. "Help?"
"Y-yeah! You were great in the fight! You-you might be able to keep more of us alive!"
"How so?"
"Well, we lost our leader to the Xenos. And, we don't really have anyone to take his place. Please, help us."
Juan crossed his arms. "But, you're a bunch of skin heads. You hate my skin color, you hate my heritage, you hate my religion, you seem willing enough to hurt helpless people, or those who you think are helpless."
The men flinched, like whipped dogs. "W-well, that's some of the guys. We joined up with them cus they were strong, kept us safe. Now, they failed. And we need help. A lot of the guys feel that way. They'll be dicks to you, but if you can keep us fed and safe and happy and all that, then they'll be okay."
Juan thought on this, then nodded. "I'll go with you. Mama, stay here. I'm just going to see if this will work out. Okay?"
Julietta was prepared to argue. But, the look on her Juan Carlos's face told her that now was not the time. Scowling, she nodded, then went into the tent, sulking. Juan sighed. "I love you, mama. I'll be back in a bit."
Juan went with the three men, to the camp they had set up. He sat with the man who was in charge for the moment, a man named Ron.
Ron scowled at Juan as he came in. "So. You're the nigger that 'saved the day'."
Juan frowned. "Evidently."
"Well, see, I don't appreciate having my authority usurped by some upstart punk like you."
"Then, don't. My mother and I will be on our way. Bye."
As Juan Carlos turned to leave, there were dangerous rumbles in the camp. All the men, save a few, glared angrily at Ron. Scowling, Ron backpedalled . "Wait, wait, wait! Goddamn, I'm sorry. Look, we need your help. I can't lead these guys half as well as you can. Plus, you killed one of those big alien guys. They respect you for that. As long as you're willing to deal with us, in all the ways we are, we'll let you lead. You'll be safer."
Juan thought on this. "I can deal with your idiocy. But, there is one thing that will be a deal breaker. My mother comes with. You will not say rude things around her. You will not try to harm her in any way. You understand? My mother is off limits, completely."
"Fine. Go get her, and we'll follow you."
"Deal. Break it, and I leave. And I'll leave a few bodies behind me. Got it?"
Ron smiled, about to agree flippantly, when he saw the look in Juan's eyes. There was death in those eyes. Swallowing his grin, Ron shrunk down, nodding. Giving a curt nod, Juan stalked off.
Some of the men began muttering and talking about all the changes, including being led by a nigger. Ron shushed them. "Damn it, boys! We got no choice. These aliens are way worse than any nigger. Just deal with it, all right? We don't want to cross that guy. He'll kill us for sure."
Most of the men subsided, remember how the man had fought, and killed, one of the Masks. It was still terrifying to remember. They sat and waited for Juan's return, watching the woods in fear, wondering where this new guy would lead them.
Juan returned with Julietta a bit after midnight. They set up their tent, informing Ron that they would have a meeting in the morning, to determine where to go and what to do next. Ron agreed, and the camp settled down for the night, cloaking all in silence and darkness, waiting for the dawn.
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End Author's Note: We wish we were as cool as Julietta. She gets even more awesome, have no doubts. If you weren't impressed by her now, you will be soon. Juan Carlos is also pretty fabulous. We love him, too. ^_^ ^_^