The Serpent
Royce awoke curled up around Isabelle. They were close together, almost touching, but not quite. He could smell the scent coming off her hair.
He pulled away, but he could feel his reluctance, and the effect she had on him.
He took care of his condition by pretending to take a piss. He hoped Isabelle did not wake and hear the soft grunts and moans emanating from the "bathroom". Or walk in and see him slumped over in relief.
He wondered how long it had been. Too fucking long, he decided, he couldn't even remember the last time. Another reason to hate the Predators for sticking him on this stupid rock. For a moment he felt like marching back over, waking her up and straight up propositioning her. Or, he had a darker thought, not asking for her permission at all.
He immediately dismissed such a thought. He was a cold, ruthless bastard, but there were lines he could never cross. There were other times he could remember, soldiers, mercenaries would whisper such things in war zones. Talking about it, egging each other on, swapping stories about going out and capturing an enemy woman, or any woman for that matter. He doubted any of them had the balls to do it, although he knew a few who were definitely despicable enough. He never did it, or even considered it, and looked down on those who did.
Besides, he thought, she didn't look like one who would tolerate anything. She'd probably kick the ass of any man who even looked at her the wrong way. He smirked at the thought. Then shook his head.
God this place is fucking with my mind.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
"Sometimes I dream of Earth, and it feels good, like I've escaped."
"But then you wake up and realize where you are."
"Mmm." She nodded, "And then you can feel even worse. Still," she sighed, "It's better than nothing."
Better than nothing. That's the best they can expect from this place.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The Elder breathed in the scent of his Game Preserve. They did not land, but they were not in a vacuum, nor was the air too thin. He savored the scent of "his" moon, reveled in the sight of the unbroken forest, savored the memory of his many successful hunts here.
And somewhere on this moon his little project was slowly coming to fruition.
He dismissed that thought though. He had to focus on other things. An enemy ship had been detected nearby in this system. It appeared to be leaving, which many thought was a good sign, the Elder disagreed and led the expedition. It was boring duty, patrol work, one someone of his status could have avoided, but he volunteered anyway. It was good to get out.
The ship did not land, not with sneaky humans on the planet, including one who had nearly stolen a ship before. Instead it merely hovered and scanned. When it reached the right altitude he and his team jumped.
The forest was quiet, which in itself was not suspicious. It was not a natural system, merely an arena, a world terraformed enough to keep the game animals alive, although if they left it alone for millions of years who knew what would evolve here. He gave the signal and one by one they cloaked, he checked the communication link he had the ship, which was stable, then finally and sternly reminded his charges they were not here to hunt anything, merely patrol. He didn't want his two prize specimens killed.
It was boring duty work. They checked various camps they had set up in the forest, and he could tell the humans had raided some of them in the past, although none were here now. Nothing appeared to be amiss.
Until he saw the empty shell of a dead spider-like creature and the burst chest of it's host nearby.
The Elder cursed.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
It was an odd feeling, knowing anytime you stepped outside you could die a horrible death. Of course that was technically true on Earth. And there was no guarantee you'd die in your home as well, but it's something you had to keep in mind constantly here. You could not take anything lightly.
That point was driven home when they found the eggs.
They were curious things these eggs. Disgusting and slimy, yet they blossomed open like a flower. And when they did all hell broke loose.
Royce killed one of the spider things that emerged with his machete. The machete responded by melting.
He knew then that they were dealing with something new, something terrible. Eggs were scattered throughout the preserve, and when they hatched creatures with acid blood emerged and attacked. They saw other aliens, the animals of the forest, with spiders attached to their faces and their chests burst open, and every instinct inside them told them to run and keep running. So they did.
Unconsciously the humans sought the safety of the drill, their one and only shelter, but an encounter with a fully grown creature inside put any notions of safety to rest. Royce raised his shotgun and aimed, and he realized with dim remembrance and horror the old acid stains on the wall of the drill. The ones Noland seemed to glance at meaningfully when he spoke of "shit you wouldn't believe." It is a long, dark and terrible creature, one that seems to crawl from the deepest, darkest pit of human nightmares. It has arms and legs and a horrifyingly long eyeless head, but its movements are so quick and deadly the Woman dubs it "The Serpent" and the Man does not disagree with the moniker.
Isabelle looks at him. She looks with her big, dark, beautiful eyes full of desperation. They survived many things; horrible, awful things, but they both know deep down that this isn't one of them. He grabs her arm, hauling her after him.
"We leave this valley now." He orders and she says nothing to object. They head off into the deep primeval night, the planets and moons and stars shine coldly above.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
The Elder, is utterly calm, his voice is completely steady. He has lost two young warriors, but he has killed the abominations that have emerged from their chests, and he does not let the slightest hint of panic escape into his voice while he checks the radio link to call for back up, reports his grim news. The False Hunters have left Hard Meat eggs on the moon, and at least one is a Queen- breeder. The moon will be overrun soon. He needs a ship to bring in more experienced hunters and take the wounded away. He needs help now.
To his infinite relief, he gets a response.
As more hunters arrive, eager to stop the infestation and gain glory for themselves against the False Hunter's sneaky trick he spares a brief thought to "his" two humans. How they fared, if they were still alive, if they became hosts or prey. A thought is all he can spare however, as the long hard fight looms ahead of him.
A/N: Aaaghh, this chapter was short and it sucked, but I felt I had to update after years of no response. If you read my Jeepers Creepers fan fiction you'll know I have a lot of difficulty writing and I'm sort of "abridging" my other work now, but I do want to finish my Royce/Isabelle story, so I'm trying, that's all I can say.