CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Everything was burning.
Danny's nightmares have finally become reality. The same alien creatures from before were now at Origae-6. They were fast and any wounds would unleash a splatter of acid that could go through anything.
"Ten! Get everyone into the Covenant!" she shouted around her second in command. How could this have happened? How had she not noticed anything until now - when it was perhaps too late?
She had failed everyone.
"Danny, they need their captain with them. I'll take care of matters here," he told her.
"And they need their pilot!" she shouted back. All the blood in her body had rushed to her head. It was so hard to think. She could barely function beyond controlling her breathing.
"Walter can pilot. They don't need me, but they need you. They need someone to believe in."
Danny knew there was truth to his words. Walter can do just about anything. And looking at all the colonists who were crying and panicking, she needed to find a way to calm them down. She needed them to work together because alone, they were all sitting ducks. Together, perhaps they could push past this disaster.
"Stay safe, Ten. I want to see you back on the ship before nightfall." The creatures were difficult to spot now. They were extremely skilled with hiding and lurking in the shadows. Once they lose light, it would be over for them.
Tennessee smiled at her. "Of course. I'm a tough motherfucker. Ain't nothing's gonna take me down." He could see her relax slightly and smiled at him.
"Alright, I'll see you soon."
When she was gone, he went into his hut and peeled away a loose floorboard. Beneath was an armoury that he kept secret from everyone, including the captain. He knew it would be difficult to convince people that Cassandra wasn't all she appeared to be, so he had decided to prepare on his own. He knew trusting his instincts was the only way to go, but was it enough?
What if he was wrong?
He gritted his teeth. No, this wasn't the time to doubt himself. He was going to fix this. He had lost enough people.
With guns and knives strapped to every part of his body, he made his way out into the chaos. There were bodies everywhere, missing limbs and some indistinguishable as bloody masses of flesh.
"Come at me, fuckers!" he shouted with his gun in hand.
He could hear screams in the background, but the aliens seemed content with avoiding him and he simply couldn't have that. He needed them to try to attack him so he could make them into Swiss cheese!
"Hello, are you in need of assistance?" a Walter asked him as he walked by.
The synthetic was looking unkempt. His uniform was dark from debris and smoke. His normally perfect coiffed hair was slightly tarnished by the strands that fell over his eyes.
Tennessee stepped back. "Where have you been?" he growled. "People are dying and you've been who knows where!"
"I apologise. I was ushering the colonists into the Covenant and encountered some…. difficulties. I am now available to assist you in any way I can." Walter stops obediently in front of him with no outward intentions to harm, but Tennessee was still wary. He couldn't trust anyone except himself and maybe Danny.
With a huff, he motioned for the synthetic to move forward. "You go first and I'll follow." He had his gun ready in case anything suspicious happened.
"Yes, of course. Is there a destination you have in mind?" Walter asked.
"You know where the fuckers are?" he asked, looking around cautiously.
"They are everywhere. If I am correct, they have us surrounded and are merely hiding just out of sight where we would least expect it." Walter never faltered in his steps. They were even and mechanical. Each footfall the same as the one before.
Tennessee swore under his breath. All around them? Did they even have a chance to survive? The Covenant didn't have enough fuel to go back to Earth and they're definitely not going back to that planet. Should they take the risk set sail once more to find another planet? Were they lucky enough to accomplish such a feat?
If he gambled wrong, then everyone would perish.
"There is one to your left behind the wooden pallets," Walter's voice cut through his thoughts.
Tennessee immediately aimed his gun and saw just a sliver of the creature's sleek, black body. The tail raised, ready to attack, when it realised that it had been spotted.
He wasted no time, firing through the poorly made wood and into the body that sprayed its life source everywhere. It let out a loud, bone chilling screech that made Tennessee jump back. Was it going to pounce? He couldn't be sure. Wherever the blood hit, smoke followed, melting anything in its path.
Suddenly, he was tackled to the side; the gun in his hand went sailing through the air. "Shit!"
He blindly reached for another weapon as he used one hand to keep the creature from burying its sharp teeth into him. Long strings of saliva fell on to his face, making him grimace with disgust. At least it wasn't acidic or he would be dead by now.
Just as he managed to grab a hold of his taser, the creature was lifted off him. Walter stood in its place having just tossed the alien to the aside as if it weighed nothing.
What the fuck?
"Please, so be careful. You are a valued member of this colony," Walter stated as the Xenomorph crouched down low and raised its tail, readying to attack once more. "Please, leave this one to me. I shall get rid of it for you."
"Like Hell…. if I don't see it dead myself, I'm never going to be able to sleep!" Tennessee grunted, shaking himself off as he finally managed to pick up his fallen weapon from the ground.
Walter nodded his head. "Very well. I shall help you where I can."
Tennessee aimed his gun at the alien, but it had already darted off, poised upon the roof of the school. It bared its sharp teeth at them, but remained stationary, as if waiting for its prey to strike first. Tennessee wasn't going to let it have the satisfaction of digging those disgusting fangs into him!
He fired several bullets its way, but the creature was much too fast. It leapt on to a hut before disappearing out of sight.
"Fuck!" He chased after it, determined to take at least one down. "Come here, you assholes!"
The alien jumped out from behind the hut and was promptly shot four times in the chest, spraying acid everywhere. A droplet hit him, leaving a burning sensation in his thigh that he couldn't get rid of no matter how he dug at the wound. It was excruciating and in a matter of seconds, hit bone. He had never felt such pain before and even now after it had stopped its travels, the burn grew.
He gasped and cussed, shooting almost blindly at the creature while stepping backwards to gain some distance between them. Shit! Those motherfuckers really hurt and that was with just one of them! How could he go against more?
Walter stepped in when Tennessee stumbled over his own feet while trying to get away. The synthetic moves in ways that the pilot could never comprehend. It was smooth and calculated as if he could predict what the creature was going to do before it did it.
A loud screech suddenly ripped through the air and the creature fled out of sight.
"Go after it!" he shouted at Walter, hobbling on one lamed leg. "Don't let it get away!"
Walter nodded and ran after the creature.
Shit!
Was he really this weak? Even armed to the teeth, he could barely stay alive against one of them. This was bad. This was really bad.
He made his way to his hut, slamming his fist against the door once he was inside. There had to be something he could do. Perhaps even stalling for time if leaving became the only choice.
He had explosives hidden away as well, but that had been placed there as a last resort. He may need that now.
All that they had built would be gone in an instant, but he was hoping to take some of those motherfuckers with him.
Just as he made up his mind, his door opened and he aimed his gun at the synthetic that was standing by the threshold. He sighed, lowering his gun again. "Did you get it?"
Walter nodded. "It is dead. I left its body in the woods."
"Good…" he sighed. One out of however many that was here… But one was one and he wasn't going to let that piece of shit ruin his day! "Go search for the others and kill them all and make sure all the civilians are on the ship."
Walter nodded and silently left, closing the door behind him.
Good, at least he could rely on this synthetic….
…
Daniels was trying to calm everyone, while dictating where each of them should go. The children were all crying and their hysterical parents weren't helping either. She knew these were hard, scary times, but if they all remained level headed, they could come out on top.
How many times had she already beaten the odds? Losing her husband had been a big blow to her, but she knew - she knew - that she could do this. Tennessee has faith in her. She just needed faith in herself now.
"To your left, single file," she shouted, beckoning for the next batch to move forward. "Calmly. We are safe on the Covenant. They would be able to. Real through our barriers. If we keep all the exits closed, we'll be safe."
"M-My husband is still out there!" someone shouted in despair. "They'll eat him alive!"
Her fear quickly travelled around her, triggering more chaos.
"He'll be…. he'll be…" As she tried to explain, they kept speaking over her. "You guys need to be quiet…. QUIET!"
Everything fell silent. Wide eyes stared at her as if she was suddenly going to gain magical powers and teleport them to somewhere safe.
She pushed back a blush at the outburst. "Look, I understand that this all seems scary, right now, but Tennessee and the Walters are doing searches for anyone who isn't on board yet, so don't worry. We won't leave unless we have to. I want to get all of you to safety, however that may be."
Turning to several trained soldiers, she began to direct where she wanted them. There were still aircrafts and rovers they could deploy and each one of them was valuable. They had to suppress this attack as soon as possible.
She began to look at all the surveillance cameras when everyone was either safely in their rooms or outside performing their duties.
"Ten, where are you…?" she mumbled, scrutinizing each screen until she found who she was looking for. Tennessee was looking a little worse for wear. He was clearly injured, but seemed to be fine
She pressed the button on her communicator. "Hey, Ten, it's Danny. How are things looking out there? You should come back so we can have a look at you."
"I'm fine…" he stated, walking forward with a look of pure determination on his face.
"You're hurt. Isn't it better if you recuperate here and then go ba -"
"I SAID I'M FINE!" he shouted. "I need to do this, Danny. I'm not going to let you or anyone else end up like Maggie. Even if I have to give my life in the process, I refuse to just bend over to those mother fuckers!"
The pain in his voice was clear. Tennessee wasn't ever going to stop unless they were all gone or if he could physically no longer go on. It was heartbreaking to see and hear. They had been through so much together - dreaming big dreams that led them from one planet to another. They had survived so much hardship, but now…
Danny clenched her fists. She wasn't going to let him do this alone. Her people were important to her, but so was he.
She began to look more fervently at every camera, making sure that none were lurking just beyond Tennessee's sight. She was going to try to be his eyes.
"There is one just to your left. I don't think it's going to attack yet, but you should be careful."
Tennessee readied his gun and was able to take the creature down with no problem. It's acidic blood splattered everywhere, hitting wooden walls and pebbles pathways.
Danny cheered with him.
Things could already be looking up.
Many hours later, her eyes were watering, but they were making progress. One by one, they could do this. They could take all of them down and make this planet theirs again.
"I'm going to get some water. I'll be back soon. Stay safe, okay?" she told him
He gave her a full arm wave. "Go. I'll be fine."
"I'll still have my communicator, so just shout if you need help."
"Okay, mother," he snarked.
She rolled her eyes before getting up, stretching her back and hearing her bones crack. That felt good. She had been so tense looking at every camera and every angle. A little walk would do her some good.
As she made her way to the kitchen, she passed by the med bay and froze at what she saw. A familiar blonde was laying in one of the stasis chambers, unmoving and lifeless.
Had Walter brought her back here? Surely if she was actually dead, he wouldn't have bothered with taking her to get fixed. So then…. was she…?
She walked up to the glass pod, leaning over to get a better look.
Cassandra looked dead, but someone had taken the time to clean her up - most likely Walter.
If it wasn't for the soft beeps and the heart monitor screen, Danny would've believed that she really was dead. Her chest wasn't even moving.
"Cassandra…?" she whispered, knowing the other woman wouldn't wake, but there were so many questions she wanted to ask. It seemed like the last Weyland daughter knew more than she was telling them and that knowledge was invaluable. "What is going on?"
Her eyes were pulled away from the pale, doll-like face to the reflection that appeared to be standing behind her. Danny quickly spun around with a startled gasp. "Walter! Don't do that! Not when there are man-eating monsters running around!"
"I apologise," he said. "Do you need assistance?"
"Uh…" She looked back to Cassandra's body. "Wh- What…. happened to her? Was it those creatures? Did they attack her?"
"Something similar…" he replied, piercing eyes trained on her.
Why was she feeling so nervous? She had been coexisting with these synthetics for years! She even trusted them to watch over her while she was in the cryopods! Why did this particular one put her on edge? It was almost as if…
No, it couldn't be!
She was thinking too deep into this. Ten was really getting to her!
Oh, shit!
Ten was still alone out there!
"I've got to go! Please, take care of Cassandra and the people!" she practically shouted as she ran out of the med bay, snatched a glass of water from the kitchen, and slid back into her chair at the control room. "Ten? Ten, you still there?"
She searched frantically for him, but he was nowhere.
There was nothing except static for the longest seconds of her life before his voice filled the room. "I'm fine, just hiding. There are three of those fuckers outside the school. I have two kids with me and one of the teachers."
"Okay, let me send Wicks and Keever your way. I had them take the rovers, so it shouldn't take them long to get there," she told him, quickly instructing two of the soldiers out to help them. "Hang on, okay? I expect to see you back on the ship in one piece, Ten."
He let out a broken chuckle. "Alright, Danny. Don't want you kicking my ass in the afterlife."
She laughed weakly back at him. "You bet I'd do that!"
They waited together for backup to arrive, but they were too late.
Danny could hear screaming from the children and loud banging, followed by curses and gunshots. She looked at every school camera they had and finally two frightened children sprinting down the hall and crashing into Wicks who immediately took them away. Keever moves forward with his gun at the ready.
She needed to know if Ten was okay, but that meant making noise that could be detected by the aliens and the last thing she wanted was to attract them to him, so she kept vigilant, searching each camera, but he remained out of surveillance sight. She did, however, see the familiar ribbed tail of the alien pass by.
It drew closer and closer until it's bulbous head popped up and it opened its maw before attacking the camera. The screen went black.
Damn it! Did it know? Was it developed enough to understand cameras? Or perhaps it was just trying to eat it?
This could be extremely important or just a useless point she was fixating on.
Whatever the case, it was less important than making sure Tennessee hasn't gotten himself eaten. She knew how reckless he was being, but she didn't know how to stop him, so the only thing she could do was try his best to help him.
Minutes went on like an eternity; each second was longer than the last. Yet, it felt as if she had already spent too much time looking for him. "Please, be okay…" she whispered, running her hand through her hair.
Another long pause and finally, her communicator crackled and his voice could be heard. "D-Danny, you have to leave. Take the ship and g-go…"
In the background, she could hear a scream of pain and terror. Was that Keever? What was happening there?
"There's no time to wait for us. You have to leave, now. I'll try to hold them back as long as I can, bu - " He was never able to finish before there was a loud crash and his muffled voice of him struggling could be heard. She shouted his name over and over again, but he never replied.
It wasn't loud before there was another loud crash and then, absolute silence.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Sorry for how long this update took! I'm not sure if the next one would be any quicker, but I am slowly working on this and have no plans to go on another hiatus.
I hope all of you are staying safe.
Also, I really appreciate everyone for being so supportive. It really helps me. I would like to say that the review from Kevin J Rosario Cruz didn't affect me, but that would be a lie. He said that his opinion didn't matter to me without knowing that being called the "destroyer of a good story" really didn't feel that great and not something anyone would like to read regarding themselves. Or perhaps he did and that was the point. I can take constructive criticism, but I'm not sure if it was necessary to call me names.
Once again, I express my utmost gratitude to all my faithful readers. I really hope you've been enjoying this story.
Thank you MageVicky, casperspalercousin, sansviolet, acetworlf94, SaltedChips, guests (UnderTheSand, Guest, Guest) for reviewing!
Thank you as well to everyone who has favourite and followed this story!
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