Hello, readers!

Here's a brand new chapter that I decided to add that wasn't in the original story at all. I'm not sure why, but the scene was just stuck in my head while I was going through these revisions and I couldn't help but add it in for a bit more oomph on Nichole's character and growth, I guess. I was a little afraid that it wouldn't go over well, but initial responses on A03 were good, so maybe it's a fine addition to the story and I'm just overthinking everything as usual.

The story's gonna be a little...disjointed after this, though. I've got one more chapter update to post, so hopefully, it kind of eases the transition a little bit but I don't know.

This chapter has been added as of 4/30/17.

~ Crayola

Chapter Thirteen

The Other side

The ship had fallen silent except for an ominous screeching somewhere in the bowels. It echoed through the corridors and raised the hair on the back of my neck. Something about it was familiar, but quite unlike the screeches I had become accustomed to.

Nothing stirred in the hallways. No drones, no chestbursters, not even a stray facehugger skittered along the ground. The Echo had even fallen into obscurity.

"Where'd everything go? Did we kill them all?" I asked in a misguided attempt at some humor. After a while, the bouncing of the weird trophy-necklace Wolf had made irritated me enough that I tucked it under my shirt with the dog tags.

Wolf didn't dignify my stupid question with a response.

Sighing, I trudged after him with my weapon held the way he had showed me. It felt strange, but I was slowly growing accustomed to it. From time to time when I thought Wolf wasn't looking, I'd turn my wrist to a more natural resting position, but he'd always turn and smack me for it. Made me wonder if he had eyes in the back of his head like my parents did.

I wasn't sure why it mattered so much. What did it matter how I was holding it so long as I still hacked something apart? Making him mad seemed like a poor choice, though, so I went with it. If it helped me kill aliens better, then so be it.

He lead us expertly through the dark halls for what could have been the better part of half an hour. The first few twists and turns had me tense and ready for action, but the longer we went without interruption or event, the more I relaxed. If nothing was going to happen, I couldn't keep up the levels of adrenaline necessary to stay on edge.

And, of course, the fatigue threatened to overtake me. I fought against it and rubbed the weariness from my eyes.

But the further we travelled, the louder that strange screeching became. Eventually, the familiar sound of the Echo joined it. Then, seconds later, I could barely make out bellows that stirred my memory—a sound I was vaguely acquainted with.

It was coming from far into the depths of the ship, but it was enough to bring Wolf to pause. I waited for him to finish listening, and then he took off at a faster pace.

His increased urgency and the roars clicked together in my mind.

"Friend of yours?" I panted between breaths.

Again he ignored my questions, sparing me only a brief sidelong glance.

The rolling cry of the Echo took a sudden change and Wolf put his arm out to stop me, skidding to a halt himself. I crashed against his limb and he pushed me against the wall just as the Echo slammed into the hallway, collapsing in a heap when it ran head first into the wall across from it.

Stupid thing still seemed to have trouble with corners.

My breath caught in my throat and I watched from around Wolf's bulk as it untangled itself. It gave its head a hefty shake, then trained its sightless gaze on us. As a whole, its head was not dissimilar to the drones running everywhere—elongated skull, jaw full of teeth—it was perhaps wider and more flat, but the body was the main difference.

It was still biomechanical in design, but it skittered along on six legs instead of two or four. The front two were the biggest of the limbs, powering it along. Its head sat on a muscular and wide thorax, while its abdomen was the most streamline part. It, too, sported a barbed tail.

The thing took up the entire hallway, blocking our path, and it had noticed us. Wolf's buddy was going to have to wait.

As if it was surprised to see us, the Echo spent a few precious seconds staring in our direction. Wolf made the first move; with a flex of muscle, his gauntlet blades extended. The hiss of metal pierced the silence and elicited a strangled pulse of sound from the Echo.

It charged toward us, tossing its head like a raging bull. My legs tensed to run, but Wolf grabbed my arm and held me still. It closed the twenty-yard gap quickly, and every instinct was telling me to run, but Wolf would not budge. He held his ground with a fierce pride, and I had enough time to wonder if he was trying to teach me another lesson.

"Stand your ground!"

"Never back down!"

Shit like that. I wanted to stay, but the thing was so much bigger than the normal drones. I had barely survived my first armed, solo encounter with one of them as it was.

Suddenly, he yanked me toward him and nearly wrenched my arm out of its socket doing so. I was powerless to keep my footing as I was pulled forward, and he let go of my arm to fist the back of my jacket. With inhuman strength, he hurled me down the hallway—right at the giant alien parasite.

I had the grace to withhold my scream of fear, instead closing my eyes tight so I wouldn't have to watch myself get trampled. The ground came up to meet me, and I hit it hard. Though the wind was knocked from my lungs, the impact didn't break anything. I skid across the floor for a few inches on some slime before coming to an abrupt stop.

Instantly, I curled up with my hands over my head and neck.

Half a foot of clearance—maybe, it was hard to tell through half-opened eyes. If I was Wolf's size, I would have been struck by its underbelly. There was plenty of room between left and right legs, given I wasn't lying horizontal. As it was, I was curled into the fetal position and was spared being crushed to death.

Half a second passed and I decided I wasn't going to be flattened. I flipped over to my stomach, wincing against various new pains and several old ones. The thing was still charging, and I heard Wolf's bellows on the other side.

When my wits returned, my face burned with embarrassment and shame. I cursed under my breath and smacked the floor with my palm before scrambling up.

Shoulda cut the thing open! Like in the movies!

Soon as the thought crossed my mind, I remembered the whole acid for blood bullshit. That wasn't something I particularly wanted to bathe in, and it probably wasn't why Wolf threw me—almost literally—under the bus.

While the Echo was busy trying to pound Wolf into the ground with its massive forelegs, I looked for an opening I could use.

It wasn't after me, so I now had the advantage of being behind it.

One step. . .another. . .another. . .inching my way to the Echo's exposed back. I leaned down to pick up my blade again, having dropped it sometime after landing. My throat and mouth were dry, tongue thick in my mouth. I had to grip the hilt tighter to keep it from slipping in my sweaty palms. All of Wolf's slapdash tutelage went out the window and I fell back to what was comfortable.

Swinging a bat.

Wolf gained ground with a couple of well-placed shots from his shoulder cannon and the Echo took a massive step back, screeching. I lost my nerve and stumbled away, barely dodging its swinging tail as it tried to balance.

When I stood again, I took four or five quick breaths.

Don't lose focus. Don't let fear win. Just go.

After one last breath, I rushed in. Wolf lost ground and the Echo moved forward. His blade met hard talons in a solid clash, but it all dimmed as my adrenaline spiked. My vision tunneled.

Its tail swung and startled me. I lashed out of surprise, swinging with both hands even though I knew Wolf would be pissy about it later. Right then, all that mattered was results—and that was just what I got. The business end of my sword sliced through skin and bone. My raised arms shielded my face from any blood droplets, and if they ate through my sleeves I didn't feel it.

I did it! I thought for a brief moment, watching the tail twitch and jump. It only lasted a second, and then fell still.

The Echo snarled and tried to turn around, only to wedge itself between the walls. It scrabbled for purchase, sending out its pulses to see where I was. I fell as far back as I dare: it was lashing its tail all around with its flailing, threatening me with a spray of acid.

Though the beast was stuck, I couldn't get anywhere near it with that bleeding tail on my side of the hallway.

Wolf attacked from his end, but all it did was spur the Echo onward. It popped free at last—and was facing me. My heart fell into my shoes. I could put up bravado when the creature wasn't looking right at me, but all my courage fled when three tons of beast were coming my way.

I held my ground for all of two seconds, trying to find the nerve that would make Wolf proud, but I couldn't dig deep enough.

So I turned tail and ran.

Without a real sense of direction, all I could do was try to weave and wind through the curves and forks. All the while, the Echo screamed after me. I imagined I could feel its hot breath on the back of my neck, but wasn't even sure if it breathed in the traditional sense. They didn't seem to take issue with the ship's atmosphere or the mountain's.

But I ran—kicking myself all the while. I kept telling myself that I couldn't do much when up against a monster four times my size. I was so small, and all I had was one slashing weapon.

I was fast, though. Small enough to navigate the halls. The Echo kept slamming into things. Kept slowing down. However, I seemed to pass an invisible threshold where things in the ship still worked. Working red lights became intermittent. Some were off, others flickered—until I was completely in darkness and running blind, hardly able to see three feet in front of me.

Part of me wanted to slow down, play it safe. But if I slowed down, even a little, the Echo might be right on top of me in an instant.

Unlike me, it could see in pitch black.

Instead, I held my free hand out to my side, dragging my fingertips along the side of the corridors. I was trying to give myself at least a fair bit of warning before I ran into something. For the most part, I could see the walls about three seconds before I hit them and alter course instead of breaking my nose.

Wolf was in pursuit as well, but he wasn't firing his weapon. Had to save the ammunition and use it sparingly, I presumed.

Around one sharp corner, maybe two minutes into running for my life, I couldn't turn fast enough and bounced into the next stretch, almost losing my footing. I scrambled to stay upright and managed somehow, still losing a few precious seconds. The echolocation pulses assaulted my ears.

And then the world fell out from underneath me.

This time I didn't have the grace to hold in a scream as I went plummeting down. There was only a few seconds of free fall before I landed on the inclined floor and skidded the rest of the way down. All I could see was darkness at my feet, so I had no idea where the end was. If there was one.

I fell maybe five feet before I hit the bottom and collapsed in a heap on the ground, face down. I recovered as fast as I could and looked around on my hands and knees. I couldn't keep running forever—I was on my last legs, lungs burning and muscles shuddering in protest. The fall had knocked the wind out of me again and I wasn't sure how much longer I could go.

Somehow, the ship had been snapped in half, and it had left an electrical mess on the inside. I scrambled over to the nearest wall, still clinging to my weapon, and shoved myself inside the first hole I found. I had to push wires and tubing out of the way and squeeze between metal panels, but I did it.

Jammed in good, I backed the rest of the way in as far as I thought I could go and held my weapon in front of me. I didn't have much maneuverability, but I could still jab if I needed to.

Seconds later, the Echo went rushing past, screeching all the while. I held my breath and ceased all movement, afraid that even the slightest shift would bring it back for me. Would allow it to discover my location and it would drag me out.

But it went by without incident, and I allowed myself a brief sigh of relief. I started to wiggle my way free so I could meet Wolf before he ran ahead without me.

I grunted and tried to push a panel out of my way, and something above me clanked against metal. First I was taken by surprise, then I froze. My breath stuck in my throat, but after a second it seemed the sound had gone unnoticed and I went back to freeing myself.

When I turned my head to check my progress, something moved at the entrance. I stopped to watch, hoping it was Wolf.

All that was there was black. And then it moved.

Lips peeled back over teeth and I let out a shriek of surprise, crawling back into the hole I'd been working so hard to get out of. The Echo used its powerful forelimbs to pull the wall apart, using each structural flaw to pry pieces away and make the entrance wider. I worked double time to shimmy through the tiny breach, doing my best to ignore the sounds it made. In the small space, I thought my eardrums might shatter if it went on any longer.

Somehow I was making better progress than the Echo. I managed to find a wide enough space to turn around in and buried myself deeper into the inner machinations of the ship. At some point, a change happened in the cries, but I pushed everything away except the thoughts that drove me onward.

Escape. Get away. Deeper, deeper.

When the sounds petered out and were replaced by silence—save for the sound of me rooting around like a rat—I finally paused. It wasn't trying to burrow after me anymore. Nothing shifted in the small tunnel I had made.

I counted to ten.

Then started over and went up to fifteen.

Again—to twenty.

There was nothing, and then there was the encouraging chittering from Wolf. My fear melted away to an almost incapacitating relief. I let myself flop facedown for a moment in this short reprieve. I took a deep, shuddering breath, and started to crawl back out.

Again.

But something stopped me. A small tickle on my face, down my partially zipped jacket. My eyes widened and I held my hand out, twisting it around until I felt it again.

A breeze.

Cold air.

Again Wolf called out to me. I was maybe thirty feet into the hull of the ship, and I looked over my shoulder to see if I could spot him, but all I saw was broken bits of metal and circuitry. I contemplated for a moment, chewing on my lip, then turned back and continued toward the breeze.

I had to try.

I had to know.

Behind me, Wolf still chattered and called out. I forced myself to ignore him, if only for a few more minutes. All I needed to do was check it out. That's all. It would be okay, everything would be okay, if I could just know. Know that—that—

It took a lot of doing, a lot of squeezing. I tore my jacket more, but it was just a thing. A material that could be replaced. Eventually I saw a light. A dim light, a gray light, but it was there. It wasn't the ambient red of the hallways and rooms. The cool breeze washed over me and excitement had me giddy. I choked back a jubilant squeal.

The hole was right there. The cold breeze turned into a frozen chill and snow drifted in, making a light dust. I grabbed at it greedily and pulled myself out from under a chunk of metal like a desperate cat and popped out in front of the hole.

For a few minutes, the blinding light from outside left me sightless. I squinted against the glare of the outside world, but eventually my eyes adjusted and I was able to peer beyond.

Dawn had almost passed. I worked to pull out my phone, but grimaced when I twisted my arm the wrong way and sent a shrill pain through my burned skin. It took a moment to recover, then I used my other arm to retrieve my cell and check the time. There was less than an hour until Anderson's squad was due to check in.

Then all there would be was the time before they arrived. The nearest base was in Colorado Springs, a little more than two hours away by car.

If I could get out, though, I could go somewhere they'd find me. I could go home.

There was no way I could fit through the hole as it was. Maybe if I was five years younger it wouldn't be a problem, but it was too small now. Without thinking, I dove into the task of making it bigger. I tugged at the edges of the hole, trying to find a loose section, and managed to find a side that had some wiggle to it. I flipped over so I could kick it with both feet—over and over and over again until popped free.

Though I had to pull off some contortionist shit and nearly cut my side wide open, I was out. I fell into a shallow pile of snow and rolled a few feet down the hill. For a moment I didn't get up. I reveled in the cold snow. I laughed for several seconds before I sat up and looked around.

Trees. Tall mountain peaks above them. The wind made them sway and dance, whistling a faint tune as the breeze wound through their branches. Over my head, the sky was grey with clouds and small flakes of snow fell on my face. I closed my eyes and drank it all in, taking a deep breath of fresh air.

After a moment, I opened my eyes again and looked over at the massive ship. I stood and walked backwards, trying to see where the stop of the ship was.

It had to be bigger than a cruise liner. Three—no four. It had to be bigger than four of them put together. More, even. From the angle of the ship, it seemed as though it had rammed nose-first into the mountain and then snapped in the middle. The bow of the ship was imbedded in the hill, and a small section hung down the side. Everything else was resting against the ground, as level as it was going to be with the incline. Navigating that part would be a lot of sloping passages.

Once I was over the scale of the ship, I whirled around to search for danger. There was nothing but quiet pine trees and the wind whipping around me. For the moment the cold was a welcome sensation compared to the stifling heat of the ship.

The snow had been falling all night and was above my ankles. Had none of this happened, had we been wandering around the woods all night looking for something that didn't exist, my classmates and I very well could have been caught out. Lost and turned around while we tried to see in the dark and in a snow storm. If it wasn't the aliens, it would've been Mother Nature.

None of that mattered. The sun was on its way up and I could see. The storm had died down to a gentle snowfall. I could work with that. Maybe I didn't have a shirt on, but I still had my long underwear. I could zip up my jacket. After the night I'd been through, I could handle some cold seeping through the tears and nipping my skin.

I could walk back. Down the hill, that would be where I started. Or, or I could—

When I went to look at my phone, I realized it wasn't in my pocket. There was a moment of panic, and I fought my way up the distance I'd fallen, searching the snow along the way. I found my phone right at the entrance, buried a bit with a pile of IDs. I brushed the flakes away, put the IDs back in my pocket, and turned on the cracked phone screen.

Ten percent life.

One bar of signal.

My breathing deepened and my hands shook. I was almost unable to unlock the screen, but then remembered I didn't have to. I hit the emergency call button and dialed nine-one-one. The call screen started, and it announced that it was dialing.

Dialing . . . .

Dialing . . . .

Dialing . . . .

Teeth grinding, I shook the phone and put it to my ear. There was no ringing. No dialing tone. There wasn't enough service to send a call out.

It brought frustrated tears to my eyes, but I wiped them away and tried my hand at unlocking the phone. After the fourth try, I managed to swipe the phone open. I went straight to the settings and turned on my GPS.

I found my search function and demanded that it find directions to my address. It was almost impossible for me to speak coherently enough for the speech-to-text function to understand me.

However, it wouldn't load the maps. There was no acknowledging ping; it brought up the internet connection error page instead. My phone no longer had a bar of signal, and the internet wasn't on. No Wi-Fi, no data, nothing. The panting turned into hyperventilating and I had to force myself to calm down. Nothing had changed, so there was no reason for me to freak out.

All I had to do was start walking. Head down the hill, find my bearings, and figure out if I recognized anything that could lead me home. Or I could walk up the hill and see if I could pick up a better signal at high ground.

Eyes closed, I sat in the snow and tried to catch my breath. Up. Climb up and see if I could find reception. That's what I would do. Make a plan, and stick to it.

Moments into the climb uphill, I heard a screech that had me right back on the defensive. It came from further downhill, and I threw myself prone, slowly raising my head to see what was there, but there was nothing.

No drones. No Echo. Just more hill and snow and trees. The cry must have come from inside the ship, further down.

All at once I remembered Wolf. Still inside, fighting to avenge his friends and kill off a growing infection. A fight I'd decided to be a part of. Now what was I doing? I'd taken the first change that presented itself out of that hellhole. I had hidden away when danger came at me.

I'd ran.

At last the cold surpassed my threshold and I zipped my jacket up to my neck—but it stuck. I looked down to free the catch and found the dog tag chains bunched up under the horrible trinket Wolf had so thoughtfully made me.

He had recognized me, on some level, as being worth his time.

And what had I done?

Thrown it his face and retreated with my tail between my legs.

I looked over my shoulder at the woods. So quiet, so peaceful, while inside aliens killed each other and were hunted down. It would be so easy to walk away—to try and forget. But what waited for me? Chances are I'd wind up lost and die from exposure.

Maybe another drone would find me and I'd wind up back at square one.

"Nichole wait!"

The memory was like a punch in the gut. Jess' desperate voice, begging me to help Michelle.

My lip trembled and I stood up, grabbing the chestburster skull in my fist. Was I going to run away from another friend? Was I going to leave another behind to die while I fled to safety? Whether or not Wolf understood the concept, he was kind of a friend. A comrade, a companion.

Maybe running was the correct choice, but I didn't feel like it was the right choice. Not after everything. It didn't sit well in my heart, and I didn't want to take the easy path anymore.

Once already tonight I had abandoned someone I cared about. Maybe Wolf wasn't my best friend, maybe I hadn't known him for forever, but he'd been there for me. Out of convenience at first, sure. Maybe he'd seen something in me I hadn't. Maybe he'd just wanted the company. I didn't fully understand his motivations, but he'd been there.

After staring at my phone for a second or two, I shut it off to conserve battery. With a new sense of resolve, I stuffed it back into my pocket with the other stuff shoved there. I started down the hill, trudging through the ankle-deep snow and backtracking the short distance I'd gone.

When the first drone found you in that egg chamber, he was there.

Faced with the hole back into the ship, I crawled in before I could talk myself out of it. I left the forest behind in exchange for the dark alien ship. I left the cold behind in exchange for the wet heat of the interior. This time I was careful of the jagged pieces that had nearly sliced me open on the way out. I had a clearer head on me.

My blade was abandoned inside, but it was still close enough to the escape hole that I was able to find it with the light. I made a mental promise to never drop it again. With it in hand, I began my journey to the ship proper.

After another drone attacked you and Simmons, he was there.

Navigating the path I'd made was easier now that I wasn't scared out of my mind. I was able to wiggle my way around until the light from outside faded back into the pitch. There was nothing waiting for me at the entrance, now shredded wide open by the Echo. No calls from Wolf, no shuffling or searching.

I didn't let it bother me, certain that I could find him. After all, he would have gone after the Echo, so he probably didn't climb up the drop I'd fallen from.

When you found your friends and begged him to lead them out, he'd been there.

Finally, I broke out into the hallway, no worse for the wear. I shivered as a glob of snow melted and slid down my back, but already the overwhelming humidity had chased away the chill from being outside. I stood on slightly unsteady feet, then took off at a jog down the hallway.

Every time you suffered a major injury, he was there.

It was my turn to be there. It was my turn to go back and make sure a friend was okay. It was my turn to show a little integrity and loyalty. If anything, I just wished I could have been there for Jess when it had really mattered. That I could have found this side of me when it had counted.

The smallest of voices told me I was being ridiculous. Told me that I should follow my instincts and run, run, run and never look back.

But the outside world would still be there when this was over. It wasn't going anywhere.

I had to prove—to myself and to Wolf—that I was the warrior he thought I was. That I was worth the praise he'd given me. That I was greater than the sum of my parts. No more running. No more fear. I could do it. I had to do it.

And so I went trudging through with a purpose again.

At first I wasn't sure if I'd be able to find Wolf again. I trotted down the halls blind as a bat, using my fingertips against the walls for guides yet again. I can't imagine he would have waited long for me. Had he figured out I'd found an escape? Maybe he thought I'd gotten stuck and couldn't get out. Who knew if he'd even gone in the direction I was headed.

I didn't think he would have scaled the drop, not when we'd been traveling the way I'd fled in the first place. Even if he had, I never would have been able to climb back up.

When I was certain that I couldn't hear the Echo, I started calling for him.

"Wolf? Wolf!" I kept my voice down to a harsh whisper, and waited several beats between calls to make sure I heard a reply.

My bravado was starting to wear out the longer I went without finding him. As I'd thought, the ship was slanted and I was finding it more and more difficult to continue at a brisk pace. I had to slow down to ensure that I didn't keep falling down.

At a long stretch of hallway, I caught distinct movement. It was a shadow within a shadow, and I froze to watch it, afraid that it was maybe one of the parasitic aliens. The Echo, a drone . . . . My eyes were wide open, trying their hardest to pick up any light. I resisted the urge when my fingers twisted to grab my phone. Use the flashlight . . . .

What harm would it do, though? I only had ten percent battery, maybe, but what else was I going to use the phone for? So long as I was careful, I just needed a small burst of light.

So I pulled it out, turned it on, waited a minute for it to warm up, then quickly flashed the light down the hall. It illuminated almost the entire passageway and I flinched at the sudden brightness, but I sure enough spotted the familiar humanoid form of Wolf.

I sighed with relief and jogged toward him at him at an angle, bracing myself against the wall.

"Wolf! Wolf there you are. I got stuck, and—"

My words were met with an unfamiliar growl and I stopped short. Almost instantly my heart was in my throat, beating a mile a minute. The color drained from my face. There was something wrong—the way he held himself, the shape of his body, that voice . . . .

He turned toward me and a set of three dots appeared on my chest.

As I held up my sword with trembling hands, I took a step back. The alien in front of me advanced again, and I found my voice.

"You're not Wolf!"