Author Note: I do not own Predators. Thank you for reading! Thanks to nuttex and Cynnae for the great reviews on Chapter Two. And Cynnae, thank you for the suggestion, and I see how the wording could have been a bit better on that sentence. Anyway, enjoy Chapter Three!

Chapter Three

-Bakuub-

Bakuub and his hunting party returned to the ship, where his brother, Al'nagara, was guarding it. The young medic was killing a small group of zombies that had wandered outside the city. He watched with approval at Al'nagara's skills; even though he was a medic, he was obviously practicing his fighting.

Al'nagara finished killing the undead, then looked over at the group of hunters. "What in Cetanu's name happened?" he exclaimed. "Where's Guan-thwei?"

Bakuub felt a stab of regret and guilt. If he hadn't insisted on taking the ooman and traveling on the streets, Guan-thwei would still be alive. "The whole city is dead," he said. "Or dead in the sense that the oomans were dead and still walking around. We found a survivor, and Guan-thwei activated self-destruct. He was being eaten alive by those abominations."

Al'nagara let out a hiss of surprise, and motioned for them to get on the ship. "I'll look over your wounds, then see to the ooman."

Bakuub waited for his four hunters to enter the ship before walking aboard. They headed to the medical bay of the ship, where Al'nagara had prepared some healing gel. He immediately went to work on Kujhade, who was bleeding the most heavily. The pasty yellow hunter hissed in pain from the healing gel as Al'nagara spread it over his wounds. Bakuub strode over to a medical bed and laid the ooman on it. We got there just in time to save her life, Bakuub thought. I just hope it was worth it.

He stayed silent as Al'nagara healed his comrades' wounds, pondering what had happened. They had gone to N'ithya to hunt, but had found an infestation of walking dead. Guan-thwei had died for the ooman survivor he had insisted on saving. Yeyinde probably hated Bakuub now...and Bakuub didn't blame him. He had lost his closest friend for the sake of an ooman.

"Bakuub?"

Bakuub realized that Al'nagara was trying to get his attention. His brother was looking concerned.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Everyone else has had their wounds mended," Al'nagara said. "You should get those closed up." He gestured at Bakuub's arms.

He just realized that he had some bite wounds as well; he hadn't noticed he'd been wounded during the fight and escape from the city. Bakuub nodded for Al'nagara to take care of them, hardly noticing the pain. He was too preoccupied with his thoughts to pay much attention to pain.

Al'nagara grimaced as he finished. "I can hardly see the wounds through this foul blood," he said. "You should go wash off. It smells horrible."

Bakuub nodded absently. "Can you take a look at her while I do?"

Al'nagara looked down at the ooman and nodded. "I'll see what I can do."

Bakuub left the medical bay, heading to his quarters. Once there, he locked the door and took a deep breath to steady himself. Shaking his head, he stripped himself of armor, then went to clean off the thick blood spattered on his skin. He immediately wished he hadn't removed his mask; the blood did smell foul. The dead, black ooman blood smelled like rotting flesh. He snarled with disgust and held his breath as he stepped into the pool of water, scrubbing the blood off. As he cleaned, he wondered what would happen to the ooman if she ever woke and recovered. Would she be killed, or allowed to live in the clan? It was hard to say; he knew several Yautja might possibly attempt to kill her, and he wasn't sure if even the Elders would allow her in the clan.
Perhaps...if she could be trained, she could have a chance to prove herself. He let out a low growl of frusteration. He hoped the ooman would be allowed to live, otherwise Guan-thwei's death and his team's injuries would be for nothing. Bakuub growled as he finished washing himself off. Taking in a small breath, he was glad to find that the stench was mostly washed off, faint enough to ignore. Quickly putting his armor back on, he went to check on the ooman.

...

"How is she?"

Al'nagara looked up as Bakuub entered the medical bay. The ooman female was lying on the medical bed, hooked up to several montiors.

"She's been unconscious for at least four Earth months. I believe she's in a coma," Al'nagara reported. "She has some recently healed wounds; I'm guessing she was in some kind of accident. She has been off medical care for weeks."

"Because the medics were eaten and turned into undead," commented Bakuub dryly.

"You got to her just in time," Al'nagara said. "She's dehydrated and her body has been surviving by burning fat and some muscle for a couple weeks."

Bakuub nodded. "Will she recover?"

"I'm not sure," admitted Al'nagara. "It's possible that she will die in her coma. But she doesn't have too much brain damage and her organs are intact, so I think there's a good chance she'll survive."

"Good," said Bakuub. "I don't want her to die; not after losing Guan-thwei."

Al'nagara nodded in understanding. "You should go contact the Elders and let them know what's happened. You'll need their permission to let the ooman in the clan."

"I know," said Bakuub. "I just hope they will allow it."

Hope you enjoyed Chapter Three. Please review!