"Look out!" Ben shouted and he pulled Kim to the ground as Cobra sailed over them, hissing angrily.
"What's going on?" Kim asked desperately. Cobra had never shown that kind of aggression to her once she had earned his trust; it scared her to see him attempt to attack her like that. Ben got up and helped pull Kim to her feet. Once Ben let go, Kim looked around for Cobra, but he was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, he reappeared, locked in a fight with a Warrior. Cobra managed to throw the Warrior off and leapt forward to take a defensive position in front of Kim and Ben.
At that moment Kim understood. "He wasn't attacking us. He was attacking the Warrior."
"That's what it looks like," Ben said.
"That's good to know," Kim said. She watched the Warrior crouched in front of Cobra.
The Warrior hissed and stared back and forth between Cobra and Kim. Suddenly, the Warrior made a lunge for Kim and Cobra hissed, moving to intercept the alien. But, at the last second, the Warrior lunged in the opposite direction and barreled into Ben. Ben cried out as the alien slammed him into the ground.
"Kim! Get out of here! Run!" Ben shouted as the alien raised its tail high in the air.
"Ben! No!" Kim shouted as the Warrior plunged the barb of its tail into Ben's shoulder.
Ben's eyes rolled back into his head and his body went limp. The Warrior picked Ben up and, looking back at Kim, ran off into the forest.
"Ben!" Kim shouted and she tried to run after the retreating Warrior. Cobra's tail lashed out and caught Kim in the chest, knocking her back. Cobra placed a clawed front leg on Kim's chest and held her down. "I can help him!" Kim tried shouting.
Cobra shook his head and opened his mouth. He extended his second mouth slowly. The little mouth opened slowly and brushed gently against Kim's cheek. Kim shuddered slightly, remembering how the Warrior used its second mouth to kill Greg. Cobra was trying to tell Kim that no matter what she tried to do, Ben was going to die.
"So what do we do now?" Kim asked Cobra.
Cobra hissed gently and rubbed his head gently against Kim's. He got off of Kim and began walking small circles around her, scanning for forest for more Warriors. Suddenly, the sound of something big moving through the trees could be heard. Kim spun around at the sound of the noise and Cobra hissed to her, swinging his tail back and forth. Two Rejects suddenly appeared behind Kim, causing her to jump and flanked Cobra's sides. They hissed eagerly and crouched down. Suddenly, two armored humanoids came into view. They stood taller than the Rejects, probably taller than the Warriors too, and they were incredibly built. They wore strange masks that completely covered their faces. They seemed to be surveying the area, sweeping their heads back and forth; taking in the three Rejects and Kim. Kim knew that they had to be the Yautja; the enemy of Xenomorphs. Suddenly, twin curved blades extended from a device on one of the Yautja's arms. The two Rejects hissed and pounced on the Yautja. The three fell back into the cover of the forest and vanished from sight, but Kim could still hear the sounds of the struggle. Cobra hissed and dropped close to the ground, just as an object whizzed by. Kim turned sharply just in time to see a spiked-tipped disk burying itself into the ground. Cobra hissed at the remaining Yautja as another stepped out of the forest to join it.
"Where are they coming from?" Kim asked herself.
Cobra prepared to pounce before twitching, as if struck. Kim moved forward slightly, thinking Cobra had been injured. But she could find no wound on him. Suddenly, Cobra spun around and ran toward Kim and she figured out his plan just as he reached her. As Cobra slowed down, coming up alongside Kim, Kim reached out and swung herself onto his back. The moment her feet were off the ground, Cobra took off, hardly giving her enough time to get her grip. Kim finally managed to get her arms around Cobra's neck as he hurtled through the forest. An object whizzed by Kim's head, alerting her to the Yautja's pursuit. She glanced back quickly to see the Yautja running and gaining behind them. Another object whizzed by, this time striking Cobra in the shoulder. He let out a shriek of pain as he lost his balance and toppled over. Kim went flying over him and crashed into a tree. She felt something warm trickling down her forehead and a metallic scent filled her nostrils. She didn't have to look to know it was blood.
"Cobra?!" Kim screamed, getting to her feet.
Cobra rose slowly, screeching in pain. The wound on his shoulder had been sliced open again and the bandage had been melted away by his blood. Cobra hobbled over to Kim, keeping weight off his front leg. There was a crash and Kim's head shot up. The Yautja appeared through the trees, making their way towards Cobra and Kim. Cobra moved to take a defensive position in front of Kim, prepared to fight to the death. Suddenly, the two Rejects from before burst out of the trees and knocked the two Yautja away from Cobra and Kim. They screeched to their leader who screeched in reply. The Rejects turned back to the fallen Yautja and attempted to finish them off. However, there was a dull boom and one of the Rejects screeched and exploded. Kim screamed as two drops of the Reject's corrosive blood landed on her leg, just below her knee.
Cobra hissed in fury and scooped Kim up, running off into the forest. She was barley aware of Cobra running as the pain in her leg intensified. The blood was burning its way through her leg slowly, making it all the more agonizing. Suddenly, water closed over her head and she was sinking in a river. The pain in her leg faded as the water flushed the blood away. Her head broke the surface a second later and she gasped in a lungful of air. Cobra's tail wrapped around her and guided her to the shore. Kim sat down on the bank and turned her attention to her leg. The pants she was wearing had been completely eroded away below her knee. The blood had burned more slowly after going through her pants, so it hadn't burned a hole completely in her leg. She found herself to be very fortunate.
"Thank you, Cobra," Kim said as she took off her sweatshirt and wrapped it around her leg. She bent her knees and pushed off the ground slowly with her hands.
Cobra hissed a welcome and leaned against Kim, supporting her as she tried to stand. Kim managed to get shakily to her feet, but when she attempted to put her weight on her injured leg she almost collapsed again. Cobra hissed and stood taller to provide Kim with a crutch.
At that moment a low moan pierced through the night air, startling Cobra and causing Kim to jump.