She walked through the room to her bed at the end by the window. All the other beds were pushed far away from hers which left her with a lot more room. She set her bear down on her pillow and lay down; looking up at the ceiling. As she looked she thought out loud, "I wish Timothy was here, he was my only friend."
A familiar hiss broke the quiet spell and Ali shot up into a sitting position. She looked around the room to see where the noise had come from. A slight movement caught her eye and a tall figure walked out of the corner of the room. Ali smiled widely and she ran forward to the Runner Alien, "Timothy!" she said happily, "I thought I would never see you again!"
The alien made a soft hissing noise and placed its head on Ali's shoulder as a sign of affection. Ali giggled and wrapped her arms around Timothy's torso. Ali turned her head when she heard the sound of scuttling feet on the wooden floor. Her first thought was that it was one of the other children. But then she saw it; it was a small animal. It appeared to be a cross between a spider and a human hand. A long tail dragged behind it as it scuttled behind the bed. It moved like a crab and stayed almost completely out of sight. Timothy turned to the thing and hissed at it. The thing slowly walked out into the opening and came toward Ali. She crouched down and held out her hand. The thing slowly walked toward her and then suddenly jumped at her with a screech. Timothy jumped in front of Ali, protecting her from the thing. Timothy let out a loud shriek and the thing scuttled under the bed.
Timothy turned back to Ali and hissed softly. Ali pressed her face against Timothy's cold chest and breathed in deeply.
The door suddenly opened and a giggling girl, by the name of Kayla, walked in. She didn't notice Ali and Timothy at the other side of the room as she made her way to her bed until Timothy hissed, and she looked up and screamed, seeing the alien and quickly turned and made a rush to the door. Timothy moved quickly and blocked off her escape. Kayla screamed and backed away from the alien. Ali heard a scuttling noise and watched as the thing shot forward and hit Kayla full in the face. The fingers of the facehugger grabbed the girl's head and held her tight as its tail wrapped around her throat.
Kayla fell to the ground thrashing as she tried to pull the thing off. After a minute of struggling she went still. Timothy walked forward and sniffed Kayla and then let out a satisfied hiss. The alien then turned and walked to the window. He crouched down and beckoned for Ali to climb up. Ali lowered her eyes to Kayla on the ground and then gazed at Timothy; shaking her head.
"I can't come," Ali said, hanging her head. "These people ruined my life," she slowly raised her head and her eyes were full of hate, "I am going to kill every last one of them."
Timothy hissed softly and walked up to Ali. When he reached her he placed his head on her shoulder once again.
"You want to help me?" Ali asked.
Timothy nodded in reply. Ali smiled and stroked the top of his smooth head. As she did she felt a strange sensation pass over her. She turned around as the tingling spread throughout her whole body. She realized that she began to feel the presence of another alien. She stepped over Kayla and felt the presence again. She looked down and realized that it was coming from Kayla.
"There is an alien inside of her?" Ali asked looking at Timothy. Timothy nodded and then hissed.
"A mother alien?" Ali asked and Timothy nodded.
"Do you think that you can wait until the mother is born and help me kill everyone?" Ali asked. Timothy seemed to think for a moment and then nodded and walked to the wall. He went to one of the many entrances to the air ducts and crawled in.
As soon as the sound of Timothy walking through the air ducts faded away Ali heard a gasp. She turned to see Kayla sitting up; her face was bare. Ali walked around, looking for the facehugger. She found it lying on its back with its legs curled in over its body; like a dead spider. Ali gently picked up the dead facehugger and walked to the door. It was still full of children but Ali was certain that the other children wouldn't bother her. She walked quickly through the giant room and hurried out the hall at the other side.
Ali walked outside; it was getting dark so she moved quickly to the garden near the fence. She used her hands to dig a shallow hole in the ground and laid the dead facehugger inside. She pushed the pile of dirt back over the hole; covering up the lifeless form.
Ali then turned and walked back into the orphanage that had been her prison for six years.
At breakfast the next morning Ali kept her eyes on Kayla. Kayla didn't seem to have remembered being attacked by the facehugger or know that something was currently living inside of her. The only thing that seemed to have changed was that Kayla had developed quite an appetite. All the other children were starting to look wary of Kayla as she went up for fifths and then tenths.
Ali grinned when Kayla suddenly clutched her abdomen and started to dry heave. Ali watched with fascination as Kayla screamed, still holding her chest.
Some of the children sitting next to Kayla jumped up and ran away from her as she continued to scream. The room was quickly thrown into chaos. Mr. Frankfort rushed over with two other women who worked at the orphanage. One of the women picked up Kayla and carried her out of the room; followed by the other woman. Mr. Frankfort then raised his hand and tried shouting over the frantic children.
Finally order returned to the cafeteria and Mr. Frankfort spoke, "Now children, listen very carefully. Kayla ate too much and thus got sick. Please be more careful when you get your food and don't over eat. If you are finished with breakfast please go to your class." School was required at the orphanage.
Ali watched as the women carried Kayla away, slightly disappointed. She had been expecting to see the alien burst out of Kayla's chest. But she would just have to wait.
Kayla came to class in the middle of the day. She seemed to have recovered from her breakfast epidemic. She sat right in front of Ali. Ali wasn't paying attention when Kayla sat down but a strange noise came to Ali's ears and her head shot up. The noise came again, a small screeching noise that seemed to reverberate inside her head. Ali covered her ears but the noise continued. She looked in front of her at Kayla and realized the noise was coming from her. Ali smiled at this because it meant the baby alien would be born soon.
Ali put up with the screeching of the baby for the last hour before lunch. And Ali wasn't really surprised when Kayla was the first in line to get food. Ali got her food and sat down at her table making sure that Kayla was in her line of sight. Kayla acted somewhat normal as she ate her loaded plate of food. She was laughing with her friends about her little episode that morning at breakfast.
Ali waited patiently as Kayla finished her plate of food. The screeching in Ali's head grew louder and louder. Suddenly, Kayla began to convulse again. She fell to the ground screaming in pain and arching her back. Mr. Frankfort came over with the same two women who had taken Kayla away during breakfast.
Just as they reached her, Kayla let out a loud scream and her shirt was suddenly stained with a thick, dark red liquid. The children next to her screamed as well and ran away from her as fast as they could. Mr. Frankfort stepped back with a look of horror on his face. Kayla stopped screaming and lay there breathing deeply.
But she suddenly began screaming again as blood shot out of her chest; spraying some of the children. Everyone stood there in fear as a small head poked out of Kayla's chest. It looked around at the people standing over it.
The chestburster let out a loud screech and jumped out of Kayla's body and scampered off. Mr. Frankfort crouched over Kayla's body and checked for signs of life. He shook his head when he found none.
Ali stood off to the side, watching in fascination. Suddenly the chestburster appeared in front of her and screeched. It jumped up and Ali wrapped her arms around it. The moment she touched the chestburster a strange tingling shot up her body. The chestburster was still covered in Kayla's blood but Ali didn't care; she was so happy that she was holding the baby alien. But then there was a scream near her and Ali remembered where she was. The cafeteria had suddenly gone quiet as all eyes were fixed on Ali and the baby alien in her arms. Ali smiled and then turned and calmly walked out of the cafeteria.
Ali walked into the girl's room and she placed the baby alien on her bed. A hiss from behind her told her that Timothy was in the room. Ali turned around, smiling at Timothy. The alien walked over to her and bumped her with his head. Ali gave him a hug and then she heard it; a small high-pitched voice in her head. The voice said one word over and over, Food.
Ali turned to look at the baby alien. It was sitting up and staring at her. Timothy seemed to hear the word too because he walked over to the baby and nudged it with his head. The baby jumped up onto Timothy's back and Timothy made his way back to the entrance of the air ducts. But before he left he turned back and let out a soft hiss.
"Of course!" Ali said, "Eat as many children as you want!"
Timothy hissed again and jumped into the entrance and was gone.