She ran down a hallway toward the sound of gun firing. Hesitating at a corner, she cautiously peeked out to see what was down the hallway. A body lay on the ground covered in blood. The ground around was covered in blood as well and sizzling. Whoever it was on the ground was still alive as it raised its head. Ali could feel the eyes of the thing looking at her but she couldn't tell what it was from this far away. She stepped closer to see the figure better. But she let out a scream as she looked down at Timothy's torn body.
"No! Timothy!" Ali screamed loudly as she awoke from her dream. Her body not only was in immense pain, but it also felt like it was being burned from the inside. She screamed again as a shadow fell on her. She could feel something cool touch her forehead and she closed her eyes again.
The next night, she was plagued by the same dream. And each time she would arrive too late to save Timothy. And once again, she awoke to terrible pain and fiery heat.
The next night the dreams dwindled down as did the pain and heat. And when Ali awoke from a completely dreamless sleep she found herself in the Hive. There was a large figure lying next to her letting out a slow deep breathing, the sound one makes when asleep. Ali blinked a couple of times and as her vision cleared she saw that it was TJ. His tail was wrapped around her and he had his head in between his front legs. Ali smiled as she looked at him, he looked like a cat. A pain on her neck reminded her of what had happened and she reached up to touch her neck. Rough fabric met her hand as she ran her fingers along her throat. She looked around the Hive and saw more aliens lying around and the Queen but none were near her and TJ. When she looked down she saw that she was on a bed, one of the ones found in the girl's dormitory. A headless bear sat at the head of the bed where a pillow would be. Ali smiled slightly and reached over, taking the bear in her arms. The bear was dirty but the faint outline of a red heart could be seen on the bear's chest. Ali brought the bear close to her and held it tightly to her chest.
Looking down at TJ, Ali wondered how long she had been here and how long he had been caring for her. Moving slowly, Ali started to stand up, trying not to wake TJ. But TJ must have been a light sleeper because he raised his head as Ali climbed out of the bed. TJ opened his mouth wide and his second mouth came out slowly and it opened wide too. Ali smiled slightly as TJ yawned, stretched, and slowly stood up. TJ hissed and started walking over to the Queen.
Ali followed but something caught her eye. Turing to the wall Ali saw Mary, trapped in the sticky cocoon that held her up against the wall. Mary's head hung down, completely unsupported. There was a dark hole surrounded with a ring of dried blood in her chest. Ali started to laugh but stopped as she began coughing. She covered her mouth quickly and waited until she stopped coughing but when she pulled her hand away, she saw it glistening with blood.
You must take it easy, Mother, the Queen said and Ali looked up to see her daughter staring down at her, You have been wounded deeply and must heal. Ali brought her hand back to her throat and touched the fabric wrapped around it. The fabric wasn't wet so she guessed that she had stopped bleeding.
"But how did you do this?" Ali asked, "I mean how did wrap my neck and stop the bleeding?"
I did not do anything, you just have the ability to heal quickly because of your alien DNA, the Queen replied, But it was TJ that wrapped your neck up. He used the cloth from one of the outfits of our victims and has been caring for you ever since. You are actually quite fortunate. Your injury had become infected after a few minutes in the Hive. TJ thought it would be best if you were not around the Hive in case that was the cause of your infection. Your fever spiked a couple of times and it caused you to have horrible nightmares.
"How long have I been here?" Ali asked
About three days. Your first night was the worst and the second was not much better. But, luckily, by the third night, your fever had gone down and you stopped having nightmares. TJ stayed with you the whole time, never once leaving your side.
"How did he know to come and get me, I hadn't reached the orphanage when I collapsed," Ali asked.
He does not even know how, he just sensed that you were in danger and hurried to your rescue.
Ali turned to TJ and wrapped her arms around her, softly she whispered, "I will protect you with my life. I will not allow what happened to Timothy happen to you."
TJ hissed in reply and rested his head on Ali's shoulder. The memory of Timothy doing the same thing crept into her thoughts and she felt her throat tighten with tears. Pain flared up in her throat and she started coughing. TJ hissed and nuzzled Ali as she continued coughing.
When she stopped, she felt so weak that she could hardly stand. TJ moved closer to her and Ali gratefully wrapped her arm around him. He supported her as she slowly made her way back to the bed. Once there, she fell down and curled into a ball. She reached over and grabbed the bear and held it in her arms as TJ crawled in next to her and wrapped his tail around her again. Ali smiled and she reached up to stroke TJ on the top of his head. She tried to keep her eyes open but it was as if they had suddenly weighed a ton. The last thing she saw as she closed her eyes was TJ's form next to her.
As she drifted off into sleep she was plagued by a horrifying dream. She was running down a white hallway. She looked to her right and saw an alien running alongside her and she instantly knew where she was; she was back in the Company building before Timothy died. Next thing she knew, gun fire split the air and Timothy fell down. She tried screaming but couldn't even open her mouth. The soldiers came closer and closer; Ali tried running but found herself glued to the ground.
Ali awoke screaming with her throat burning. Something touched her and she started hitting at it before realizing it was TJ. TJ hissed gently as if to say it was just a dream. Ali took a deep breath and looked around. It must have been night still because all the aliens were lying in one big group. The Queen's head was hanging down and her egg sac was still. "I guess my daughter spoke too soon when she said my nightmares were over," Ali said with a small smile as she lay back down and closed her eyes. TJ settled back down next to her and soon Ali was surrounded in darkness.