I do not own Aliens.

I can't think of anything to say here. That kind of day.

The Survivors of LV-426

What Dreams May Come

Mutilated corpses litter the concrete floor and ear-splitting screams rend the choking air.

And hissing, drooling creatures with . . .

"Ripley! Ripley!"

. . . concentrated acid for blood . . .

"Ripley, can you read me, over?!"

. . . stalk the impenetrable shadows.

He can't find Ripley, can't find the little girl.

Smoke burns his eyes, it's everywhere, visibility down to almost zero.

He scuttles along a corridor, Xenos closing in on all sides.

Hoping Ripley and Newt are finding an escape route while a horde of Xenos zone in on him and him alone.

Fearing they won't make it out.

And in the end . . .

"Ripley! Get out! Go!"

. . . feels the razor sharp talons rip deep into his stomach.

"Don't stop! Keep going!"

And pull out his steaming guts.

She's helpless to stop them, helpless to do anything.

Her head has been ripped off her body, hurled and forgotten by the rumble of destroyed columns.

She should be dead, should be bleeding out and losing consciousness within a second of her decapitation by that lashing, barbed, black tail.

But she's not, she's here, she's wide awake and completely helpless to stop the hideous, eyeless creature from . . .

"NO! NO!"

. . . flaying the skin from their bones.

Helpless little Newt, screaming loud and long and high.

Until her tongue is torn from her mouth.

Hicks, dismembered arm fallen through a hole in the floor, steam rising from acid wounds covering his body . . .

"NO! NEWT!"

. . . still fighting, crawling, clawing to get to her, the little girl, to save her from the monsters her mother told her weren't real.

"HICKS! NEWT! NO!"

And Ellen Ripley can't save them, can't save herself.

Can't even . . .

"NO!"

. . . look away from the gruesome final slaughter.

He splashes water on the side of his face not bandaged up.

Goddammit.

I guess sleep is out now.

His shirt is soaked with sweat but there's not another one available in the room.

He's gonna go crazy if he doesn't get out of here, see that they're alive and not dead.

It's bad enough they tossed Bishop out like yesterday's trash.

Without him, they would have died in the explosion even if the Xenos hadn't already ripped them to pieces or strung them up as hosts first.

Ripley'll probably be fit to be tied when she finds out, she may already have, he'd thought he'd heard her shouting a few hours ago.

He hopes she's okay and he'll get to see her and the kid soon.

These military types, they've got their goddamn protocol.

She jerks up in bed so hard she almost falls out of it.

Drenching in sweat and shaking.

Hot and cold and gasping for breath.

Hands clutching the sheets beneath her so tightly, she'll have to peel them off the cloth when it's over.

Alarms are beeping, lights are flashing.

Her dangerously rapid heart rate has set off the alert system to the medical staff.

And she doesn't fight them, doesn't scream or yell.

"Please. Please. Let me see my friends."

Thanks to RedHood001 and tamarayann97 for adding your support to this story! :D