Survivors, Chapter One
Her bones ached like hell, her head still throbbing and ears still ringing as she struggled to stand. It would have felt so nice to rest, to give up and die, but she needed to make sure the others were safe after such a blast. A cold table granted her much needed support as she scanned the room with weary eyes.
Amanda Ripley found herself in a small medical facility within one of Sevastopol's security stations. The lights were dim, one bulb in the other room still flickering, but her eyes adjusted quickly. The room, nearest she could tell, was vacant, void of all other life. With a single exception.
Lying on a cot just a few yards away from her was Nina Taylor, a member of Amanda's crew who had been injured on the spacewalk over to Sevastopol. Silently praying the woman was alive, Amanda dragged her feet toward the cot, her muscles stiff and sore as she did her best to orient her uneasy mind. Stumbling as she arrived at the woman's side, Amanda did her best to gently shake her.
"Taylor? You awake?"
It took her a moment, but the woman slowly opened her eyes and groaned.
"Ripley? Is that you? Oh, my head hurts like crazy...what happened?"
"I don't know, but everyone's gone. Listen, I'm gonna..."
A loud yet distant thumping sound cut her sentence short.
"What was that? I didn't hear you," Taylor asked tiredly, rubbing her temples.
"Stay quiet," Amanda whispered urgently, easing the woman with a palm.
"Ripley, what's wrong?" Taylor inquired, suddenly nervous as she forced herself onto her elbows.
The dull thumping sound continued, playing over and over again, every time growing in volume. Amanda pressed a finger to her lips as she moved to a bedside window, staring into the dark room beyond as the thumping of the drum continued to draw closer. Soon enough, she heard the all-too-familiar sound of hissing followed quickly by a thick liquid slapping the floor and her fears were realized.
Trembling in both body and voice, Taylor crawled out of her cot, cowering behind Amanda as she took a good look through the window.
"What is that?"
Amanda's voice was grave and unapologetic, "The alien."
As if summoned by the word, the tall, sleek figure stalked into their view through the window, its neck outstretched as saliva seeped from its hanging jaws. Every step it took shook the very air of the station. Ripley watched carefully as the creature overturned a desk to discover an animatronic rooster desk ornament. Clearly curious, the creature plucked at the moving object with a long, toothed tongue as if it were tasting the decoration.
"Follow me and keep quiet," Amanda whispered to Taylor as quietly as she could. The frightened woman only nodded in response.
Crouched in a horribly uncomfortable position that set her legs on fire but kept her out of sight, Amanda led Taylor over to a door and into the same room as the alien. The odd sound of metal bursting froze the very air as the hulking figure in the middle of the room snapped to attention before stomping around a cubicle, toward the source of the sound and away from the women. Seeing this as a golden opportunity, Amanda quickly but quietly led Taylor out of the police department and away from the creature. A few long moments passed before they could no longer hear the alien's thunderous footsteps and rummaging through desks.
"Hold on, Ripley," Taylor breathed, slowing her pace as she leaned against an awkwardly placed table. "The drugs are still wearing off."
Amanda, a few yards ahead of her comrade, slowed her own pace, sighing as she turned to face the woman, "Alright, we'll rest, but only for a moment. I don't want that thing catching up with us."
Taylor nodded, suppressing a cough as she leaned more of her weight against the table. A few moments of silence passed as Taylor took deep, easy breaths and Ripley utilized her portable motion tracker to inspect their immediate surroundings.
"How do you do it?" Taylor inquired suddenly, snapping Amanda back to attention. "This whole 'fighting for your life' thing, I mean."
Ripley smiled softly at the question, shaking her head as she returned her gaze to her tracker, "I'm no survivor. Our circumstances are simply...dire. And I pulled the short straw."
"But I would never have been able to do what you've done. Going down, into that facility to fetch my medication when you knew that that thing was already down there...that took courage," Taylor explained awkwardly, avoiding eye contact.
Amanda offered a simple smile and a glance, "You're welcome."
The device in her hand roared to life as a dot began to approach them on the miniature radar.
"Ripley, what's that?" Taylor asked nervously.
"Taylor, hide under the table," Amanda spoke quickly, shaking ever so slightly.
Taylor opened her mouth to ask something more, thought better of it, and ducked under the table as instructed. Ripley lowered herself to a knee as she slid into cover behind a cabinet, a revolver in her hand.
Upon spotting the weapon, Taylor exclaimed impulsively, "Ripley!"
Amanda silenced her with a finger and an aggravated look.
Further down the hallway, a door slid open and a man in a peculiar power suit stomped through, a holographic image of static hovering before his face.
"Daina? Daina?! Are you there?! Can you hear me?! God damn it!" the man growled angrily at the holographic projection before it switched off. "This better be the right fucking way."
Amanda watched carefully as the man continued down the hall, a small weapon with laser sights and a flashlight attachment in his hand.
A deep bellowing rippled the air and Amanda's eyes opened wide as the alien creature slid down, out of the ceiling behind the man. Startled, he pivoted, raising his makeshift weapon as the creature rose to tower over him with its teeth bared menacingly. Plasma seared through the air as the man pulled the trigger. A green gash was torn in the creature's shoulder before it screeched an earsplitting scream and steam sizzled into the air. Quicker than any human reflex, the alien pounced back up, into the ventilation shaft from which it had arrived as the man fired a second shot but missed.
Lowering his weapon as the alien's tail slithered into the ceiling behind it, the man took a deep breath, "The fuck was that thing?"
"You beat it!"
Amanda turned to see that Taylor was standing out in the open, a smile on her face.
The man turned to face her quickly before sighing with relief. As he started toward her, his helmet retracted itself into a device on his back. Once he reached her, he stretched an open hand out casually, "I'm Isaac. Isaac Clarke."
Amanda watched the two but stayed hidden, her revolver ready should anything go wrong.
"Nina Taylor," she responded happily, shaking his hand. "And my friend over there is Amanda Ripley."
With a disgruntled sigh, Amanda rolled her eyes before stepping out of her hiding spot and into the light. Isaac eyed her curiously, a slight smirk on his face as he greeted her with a nod.
"She likes to keep to herself, so if she doesn't say much, don't take it personally," Taylor explained quickly.
"Well, it's good to meet both of you. Where are you two headed? Maybe we could help one another?" Isaac offered.
"That'd be splendid!" Taylor smiled.
"We're just trying to get out of here, find the rest of our crew. What about you?" Amanda responded slowly, choosing her words carefully.
"I'm trying to find my way to the Cassini Towers. I have a, uh...a friend waiting for me there. You two are welcome to tag along if you'd like," Isaac answered.
Amanda narrowed her eyes, thinking over his words carefully as Taylor exclaimed happily, "We'd love to! Strength in numbers and all that!"
"Great!" Isaac smiled uneasily, somehow offset by her ecstasy. "The towers are this way."
As Isaac continued across the hallway, Amanda grasped Taylor's arm, pulling the woman close as she whispered, "Next time, can you let me do the talking?"
"Why?" Taylor questioned, genuinely confused. "Everything went just fine."
Amanda glanced at Isaac, who had his back turned to them, before replying, "We got lucky, Taylor. There are bad people on Sevastopol. People we can't trust."
At that moment, Isaac arrived at a door and turned to face them, his helmet back on, "Is something wrong?"
"No, nothing to worry about," Taylor assured him before pulling herself free of Amanda's loose grip and walking his way.
"Just be careful," Amanda uttered to her, though she wasn't sure Taylor was even listening. When the woman didn't respond, Ripley sighed and followed her.
Taylor passed Isaac, stepping into the next hallway while Isaac waited for Amanda. Upon her arrival at the doorway, he spoke, "I understand that it can be hard to trust a stranger, especially nowadays, so I want you to know that you're free to leave whenever you'd like."
"Thanks, but I promised Samuels I'd keep Taylor safe," Amanda replied drily. "Wherever she goes, I go."
With that, Ripley followed her ally as Isaac watched her for a moment before following, quickly making his way to the front of the group. As Clarke led them down the hallway, Amanda eyed the elaborate suit he was wearing, especially the device on his back that appeared to have a glowing spine over top his own.
"What is that weapon you're carrying, anyway?" Taylor asked, breaking the silence.
"What? This? It's just a plasma cutter, standard issue. I'm an engineer, tier 4, so I always carry one with me," Isaac explained.
Pretty fancy for a standard issue cutter, Amanda thought to herself.
"Ripley, do you have a cutter like that?" Taylor wanted to know.
"You're an engineer?" Isaac asked quickly, turning his head.
"Yes, I am. But no, my plasma torch is short-range," Amanda explained.
"Oh, yeah, the old Mark I's. I remember those days," Isaac chuckled, shaking his head. "God, I feel old."
Without warning, a vent before them burst under the weight and sheer force of a withered, lanky creature with blades for arms.
"Shit! Get back!" Isaac shouted, raising his weapon.
The creature twisted its head at an impossible angle, long sharp teeth bared and colorless eyes void of emotion, even aggression. Somehow, its crackling body and contorting flesh looked human. Its hair clung to its cranium with grease as loose trousers threatened to slide off of its skeletal hips.
"What is that thing?!" Taylor cried, moving to hide behind Amanda, who was readying her revolver.
Isaac fired his weapon, the super-heated discharge slicing straight through the creature's bony arms, severing the limb. Still twitching with life, the arm hit the floor with a thud as the creature stumbled from the sheer force of the blast, blood squirting out of its stump and onto the floor and wall. Within seconds, another, similarly structured, albeit better clothed, creature dropped out of a hole in the ceiling behind Taylor and Amanda. The first one rushed Isaac as Amanda pulled Taylor back, behind her, firing her revolver. The bullet struck the creature's chest but the beast did not falter as it rushed her.
A single blade scraped Isaac's shoulder plating, nearly cutting into the padding, and he cracked his plasma cutter against the side of the creature's skull. Bone crackled as the creature stumbled furiously and Isaac turned to watch the second monster lash out at Amanda, who caught its arms and struggled to force it away. Isaac fired his cutter, the plasma crackling through one of the creature's arms, the sudden loss of force throwing Amanda off balance. The monster thrashed wildly, throwing her to the floor. It readied its blade but Isaac shot its other arm off as well. Once again, the creature refused to surrender as it dropped itself on top of Amanda, who used her arms to keep its vicious jaws away from her throat.
Taylor, between Isaac and Amanda, found herself petrified, unsure of where to go or what to do as the first creature came back to Isaac, pulling him into an awkward, one-armed embrace before tearing its teeth into his shoulder. Using as much of his strength as he could muster, Isaac forced the creature away before grabbing its arm and slicing the blade off with his cutter. He then forced the sharpened bone through the creature's eyeball, spraying himself with blood before kicking it onto its back.
Amanda forced the creature far enough away for her to slide a leg between their bodies, kicking the creature off of her forcefully. Unhooking her maintenance jack from her utility belt as the beast attempted to stand, Amanda cracked its jaw before splattering its brains against the floor. The mutilated beast writhed and squirmed but, armless and headless, was unable to stand.
With his metal boot, Isaac finished the other creature in a similar fashion.
Between gasps for air, Amanda demanded, "What...were those...things?"
Taylor watched the squirming corpses in horror as Isaac responded, clearly uneasy as he scanned their surroundings, "Necromorphs. They're everywhere."
"Then why...haven't we seen any...before now?" Amanda questioned tiredly.
"I could ask the same of your alien buddy back there," Isaac countered. "Look, if we run into any more necromorphs, know that you can't kill them, but you can render them harmless."
Amanda looked from Isaac to his plasma cutter, then back to him, "You...wouldn't happen to have any more of those torches...would you?"
"I do, but not on me," Isaac answered apologetically. "Sorry."
Large feet pounded the metal floor behind them as the alien rounded a corner, screeching at the sight of the trio.
"Oh, no," Amanda breathed, moving to stand behind Isaac.
The creature screamed once more as Isaac raised his weapon. With surprising speed, the massive creature lurched forward, bending its spine as if to make itself a smaller target. Isaac pulled his weapon's trigger and heard a click.
"Shit! Run!"
Acting on impulse, Amanda firmly grasped Taylor's wrist before turning and sprinting down the hallway. His currently loaded magazine empty, Isaac raised his hand, a small meter on his back depleting as a deep blue energy shot out of his palm. The substance, neither solid nor gaseous, collided with the alien, engulfing its jet black exterior with an odd blue film. Slowing substantially, the creature moved as if it were in a slow motion cinematic. Quickly loading a new magazine into his cutter, Isaac turned and raced after his new allies.
The trio rounded a corner to find themselves in a large room, filled with old-fashioned computer monitors, that faced an even larger window. Through the window, they could see Saturn, a massive gas giant against a black background sprinkled with white powder. But the moment Amanda saw the planet, she knew something was very wrong. A large patch of gray was stitched into the giant's atmosphere like a bruise. It was unlike any storm she had ever seen, though she was no meteorologist.
"There! Escape pods!" Taylor exclaimed suddenly, pointing a finger to an enclosed area across the room from them.
"Oh, thank God!" Amanda gasped as she led her comrades toward the sealed area.
Steadily, they heard the thunderous footsteps begin to speed up behind them.
Amanda was the first to arrive at the door but pounded it with her first in frustration, "Oh, come on! Stand back, I'll need to cut it open."
Lowering herself to a knee, Amanda pulled her plasma torch from her utility belt, pulling the trigger to ignite the nozzle. The metal door burned easily, but it would take time to carve a sizable hole.
"Hurry, Ripley!" Taylor cried, frightened.
"I am," Amanda responded, annoyed.
A door on the left side of the room was blown open with an explosive charge, a group of seven security officers in blue armor rushing through, firing at something behind them. Isaac recognized one of their faces.
"Daina!" he called out, moving toward the group.
A blonde woman turned, startled, "Isaac?! Oh, thank God you're safe! Listen, there's no time to explain, we...!"
Daina was interrupted by the screech of the alien as it rounded the corner across the room.
"Oh, shit! Get back!" Daina shouted over the sounds of chaos as she raised her pulse rifle. Her bullets did nothing to the alien's hide as it rushed forward, swinging its pelvis to plunge its needle-tipped tail through Daina's heart.
"Daina!" Isaac cried, taking several steps back as the creature flicked its tail, tossing the dying woman against the window and cracking her bones.
The alien screeched once more as it turned to face Isaac. One of the other security officers turned, firing up at the creature and capturing its attention. Enraged, the alien lunged at him, throwing the two into a roll across the floor before standing over him, tearing its tongue into his face.
"Oh, fuck!" Isaac breathed, taking another step backward.
"Isaac!" Taylor shouted as Amanda forced the door open. "Over here! Hurry!"
With one glance at the officers, Isaac rushed toward them. Behind them, a slew of necromorphs swarmed into the room through the busted doorway, slaughtering the remaining security. Isaac took note of the fact that one of the corpses engaged the alien only to be ripped in half.
Amanda pressed a button on a terminal before a door slid open. Inside was a well-sized escape pod with six seats.
"Inside, hurry," Amanda demanded surprisingly calmly. Taylor and Isaac didn't hesitate to take their seats.
Amanda was the last one in, closing the door behind her before clamping herself into a third seat beside Taylor. She quickly dialed a few numbers into another terminal. A moment passed before the pod lurched to life, slowly sliding them out, away from the station.
"Where are we going?" Taylor inquired worriedly.
"Close enough for Verlaine to detect our distress signal," Amanda answered as the pod continued its gradual path.
White lights turned to red as the pod jerked suddenly, detaching them from the station. An arm swung, sending them spiraling toward the planet.
"What the fuck?" Isaac uttered, looking about the pod.
"Oh, I think I'm gonna be sick," Taylor moaned, her hand over her mouth.
"Why?! Why does this always happen?!" Amanda hissed.
A sleek black figure appeared in the pod's window, two sets of teeth leaking saliva like a rabid dog.
"Oh my God!" Amanda gasped.
The alien turned, crawling away from the window as the pod occupants felt gravity begin to set in, clouds appearing out the windows.
"God damn it!" Isaac growled.
Taylor vomited on herself and Ripley as their pod began to fall faster.
"Oh, gross!" Ripley gasped.
Isaac spotted trees out a window, "Is that land?!"
Everything was spinning, the windows flashing from green to orange to black to blue.
"Brace for impact!"
Rocks cracked the windows as dirt sprayed into the air and the pod rolled madly, throwing the occupants in every possible direction. Amanda's head was thrown backward, into the wall, knocking her unconscious.