"You sure we should be trusting that thing?"
"It's holding her fucking hand, I'm pretty sure its tame."
Kaylin glanced at the marines, but tried to ignore them, Jitar had just killed a number of their buddies and she was sure the only reason they weren't gunning him down was because he had killed a xenomorph bare-handed and naked. They were going to keep him around for their own survival if nothing else. Kaylin kept her small hand wrapped around three of Jitar's fingers, but her eyes were on Adolfo, leading the group with his gun pointed forward.
"How did they get out?"
She asked finally, quietly.
"My guess?" her friend answered, "psycho Weyland let them out once he saw things weren't going his way. Course he never told any of us here on the upper levels that they were even here, power goes out and fucking bugs come pouring out of the vents and coming out of the fucking walls."
Kaylin frowned, looking at the ground, "how… what's going on upstairs?"
Adolfo hesitated, the barrel of his gun tilting slightly, "still fighting, last I heard, might be a free-for-all up there now between the marines, the gangs and the xenomorphs."
Kaylin frowned again.
"It's this way," he said, checking down a tunnel and gesturing to the other marines, everyone filed in and moved down, guns pointing at vents and doors as they passed until Adolfo moved to one and slid his card through, it opened and he stepped inside. Red light illuminated more weapons, and the marines moved to reload and stock up for getting out of this place., Adolfo moved to and unlocked a case, beginning to hand things to Kaylin, who in turn handed them to Jitar.
The huge alien rattled as it began to suit up, putting on its kilt and codpiece, greaves, bracers with the curved blades on them, his bandolier and harness, then the metal pack and other equipment before putting the maul on his back.
Kaylin handed him the handful of ornaments that went into his hair and he looked at them, the waved his hand. She looked at the pile and then split them into two and pocketed them.
"Definitely looks meaner," Adolfo said, eyeing Jitar suspiciously. She couldn't forget he had seen the alien slaughter nearly a hundred people he had called something of family. Or maybe he didn't consider them as such. With so many people pretending to be what they weren't, even herself, who was to know?
Kaylin turned to Jitar and he looked at her through his mask. She reached and tapped the pack on his back where she knew his medicine was and he looked, rattled, then reached over and removed it, handing it to her.
She set it on the table and after some prodding opened it and began to take out the contents.
"Uh… Kay, we don't have time for that."
"He has a xenomorph nymph inside of him," she said and Adolfo looked at her confused, then his face paled. She saw his finger move to the trigger and she looked at him.
She herself didn't know what she looked like angry, but it was apparently enough for him to reconsider his thoughts, "I know how to get it out, once we're out of here I'm going to surgically remove it, but before I can do that I need to slow its growth."
"So like," Adolfo began, looking at Jitar, "like what you did on LV-7."
"Yes."
Adolfo looked from the alien to her as she finished mixing some chemicals and looked to Adolfo, tired, "it's why they kept me alive here."
Realization dawned on the marine, and the others in the room who looked confused, betrayed, and she merely turned and grabbed the empty syringe from his kit and drew her concoction into it. She tapped the air out then looked to Jitar.
She tapped his arm and he rattled, looking at her then the needle in her hand. She could understand his mistrust, but made the motion again that she was going to cut the parasite out, and he lifted his arm. She turned it, murmuring to herself to remember where the arteries where in his body, then stuck the needle deep into his underarm.
He snarled, but didn't fight it otherwise. She withdrew the syringe and put it back in the kit, packing up the other chemicals as well before closing it and handing it back. Soundlessly Jitar replaced it and turned to look at the others.
"How do you get it to do what you want?" asked one of the marines and Kaylin looked at him.
"I'm nice to it," she said simply, like it was the most obvious truth in the world. They shifted uncomfortably, like they were being scolded by their mother.
"Kay," Adolfo said and she looked to him, then down at the weapon he was offering. A small handgun. She stared at it for a long time, before lifting her hand towards the handle.
"You know how to use one of these right?"
Kaylin hesitated and breathed, "no."
Adolfo tipped the weapon away, lips thinning in consideration about giving her the weapon or not, just as much as she was considering taking it, it seemed.
Neither of them made a decision, as the hilt of a knife was placed in her hand. Her fingers slowly curled around it and she closed her eyes tightly. Jitar rattled behind her and she heard Adolfo holster his gun.
"Stay in the middle of us," he said simply and she opened her eyes, looking at the jagged blade that still appeared to have blood on it. She didn't want it, even after everything she didn't want it. Her face scrunched and she held back a sob.
"Hey, Kay look at me."
Dark eyes obeyed and she looked at Adolfo, "it's going to be okay, just stay in the middle of us."
Kaylin nodded and Adolfo nodded, smiling, then moved to the other marines. Kaylin felt a heavy hand on her shoulder and she sobbed once, then composed herself, lowering the dagger and not looking at Jitar. Silently she moved and took up the position in the middle, the civilian among the non-combatants and they began to move.
Jitar took up the rear, and the marines the sides, while Adolfo was at the front. They made their way back to the elevator, the fastest way back up. They could hear screeching and gunfire all around, but it was impossible to tell which directions they were coming from. She wanted to go help.
"What about the others?"
"All units were ordered to the surface and out of the compound, if we come across them we'll group up and keep moving together," Adolfo said quietly, "as far as I know we're the only unit left on this floor."
"There was one below us…," Kaylin said, remembering getting shot at.
"There's more than one way to get to the upper levels," Adolfo said, looking back at Kaylin, "the elevator's just the closest one to us."
"Aw shit, eat those words lance corporal," said one of the marines and Adolfo looked ahead, Kaylin moving to see as well. The elevator had been called to another floor, all they had were cables to look at.
"We're still good," Adolfo said, moving and pressing the call button, "as long as it's still working."
The elevator hummed, the cables swaying slightly and Adolfo nodded. Kaylin shifted and looked back to Jitar putting a hand on his chest. He rattled behind his mask.
There was a sound of twisting metal. Kaylin turned to see the cables jerking erratically, then a screech, not a xenomorph but almost just as terrible, descended upon them. There was a flash of bright orange light and heat as the elevator careened past them in flames, down into the shaft.
"Shit," Adolfo said and turned, "follow me, to the stairs."
The whole unit turned, following Adolfo briskly down the hallways, they got part-way in when the marine to her right fired his weapon, and the dying scream of a xenomorph was heard, then another, dying by Adolfo's gun, then more, crawling in towards them, screeching and skittering along floors walls and ceilings.
A tail lashed out, Kaylin could hear it slicing through the air and she ducked reflexively, feeling warm blood spray across her as the marine screamed and was dragged away.
Her hand snatched to try to catch him, but his glove slipped off in her fingers and he was dragged away. Her heart felt like it was in her throat, but she didn't get time to be in shock, Jitar roughly pushed her ahead to stay in the middle of the group, just as Adolfo yelled.
"There's nothing we can do for him keep moving!"
This was the gang wars all over again, people dying horrible deaths and her only able to stand by and watch and scream for it to stop. But these would never listen to reason, ever.
"We need to cut a path to the stairs, focus as much fire ahead as you can!"
Adolfo and the others periodically took shots ahead of him, but where one xenomorph fell another took its place like a black writhing hydra. Adolfo and the other marines, yelled and cursed, while Kaylin stayed silent and wept.
Just when it seemed to be overwhelming, Jitar moved, the weapon on his shoulder shifting and a blue light streamed out and blazed through several xenomorphs.
"Damn!" gasped one of the marines.
"Move!"
The group lurched forward at Adolfo's command and dashed towards the stairs while there was a moment's hesitation in the swarm. The cry of the insects sounded like it was right in her ear as they piled into the stairway. Adolfo immediately pointed his gun up and Kaylin turned and tried to slam the door behind Jitar, but a three-clawed hand jutted through, followed by a tail. Kaylin felt it slice her arm and yelled, but kept pushing against the door, a marine turning and helping, and then Jitar roared and kicked the door.
Hand and tail severed and acid blood sprayed, forcing them all to back up against the walls.
"That's gonna weaken the frame, we need to move quickly," Adolfo turned and began leading the way up the stairs, Kaylin and another marine had to gingerly step over the blood and follow. Guns were still pointed every which way and Kaylin held on to Jitar's dagger.
They could hear fighting as they passed a few closed doors, until Adolfo stopped and turned, moving back down. He stood in front of a door and Kaylin and the others looked at him, wondering what he was waiting for.
"This floor's completely quiet," he said softly, and the silence dawned on her then. Holding up his gun, he ran his card through the slot and the door opened. He stepped through with the other following as the door swung open. A single shot rang out and Adolfo dropped. Kaylin screamed and dropped next to him, pressing the heel of her palm against the bleeding wound in his abdomen. The other two marines yelled out and opened fire, only for fire to be returned so precisely that neither Jitar nor Kaylin were hit by the automatic fire.
She turned to check on them, crying out for them as well, one already dead, the other becoming still just as she touched him, and she returned to Adolfo, pressing her hand against the wound again, looking up at the gunman.
Weyland stood there, flanked at either side by four battle synths, four guns were aimed at her, the fifth aimed at Adolfo still. Jitar roared and shifted and Weyland's gun aimed at Kaylin.
"You move, she dies," he said simply. Jitar hesitated, looking at the weapon, then at Kaylin.
Kaylin was looking at Adolfo, who was smiling with bloody lips, "hey, Kay," he said hoarsely and she whimpered, "don't cry, I had it comin'."
He breathed shallowly, forcing lungs to move and tears fell into his vest. He only smiled again chuckling.
"You know— how to use one of these— right?"
He choked, and then was still. Kaylin whimpered and bowed her head against him, sobbing. Jitar moved beside her but Weyland's voice called again.
"Ah ah."
Kaylin looked up at him, Adolfo's blood staining her face and hair, tears streaking through it. Jitar rattled again then slowly and deliberately moved his hand, knuckles pressed against his chest, the tips of his twin curved blades on his wrist pointed straight at his heart.
"You move," he growled in Weyland's voice, "she dies."
"Well then," Weyland said, grinning but with malice and anger behind it, "we appear to be at an impasse here. You know what's valuable to me, I know what's valuable to you. I'd offer a trade but that won't work because I need her," his gun pointed at Kaylin, "to get that out of you, or," he held up a finger, pausing to make sure he had their attention, "I can trade you for her, and I can have just the one specimen, how's that sound?"
A sound of thunder shattered the relative silence and Weyland's body jerked back and fell backwards. A blast of blue light and a flash of silver a split second later and the synths beside Weyland fell into pieces, or worse, with just enough time to futilely open fire themselves.
Jitar caught the ringing shuriken as it circled back to him, and he rattled, looking down at Kaylin, still staring ahead with hard eyes, Adolfo's gun aimed where Weyland had been standing. Deep breaths shook her shoulders, and she lowered the gun, held awkwardly in her hand.
"Let's go," her voice said to her and she turned her tear-streaked face to Jitar.
"Yeah," she said quietly, looking down at Adolfo one last time. She closed his eyes, and ran a hand down his chest. She stood shakily to her feet, gun in one hand, dagger and dog tags in the other, looking down the hallway.
"Your ship may be on this floor," she said, given it seemed the most protected by lack of xenomorphs. She shut the door behind them and sniffed. She turned and moved down the hallway, pausing only to snap Weyland's keycard off of his body, and not giving it so much as a second glance.