Author's Note: And here we are again, for chapter 1! We hope you enjoyed the Prologue. Please forgive us for the necessary information dump that preceded this. It was painful, but required. We don't like doing any more flashbacks than necessary. Sorry.

Thanks to those who reviewed, Clear as Mud and Possumpie. You are awesome!

Now, go and enjoy this next bit from the Predtards. Read and REVIEW!

Disclaimer: If we owned it, we would share. Maybe.

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Chapter One: Taking the Job

"Okay, we're going to go to this last caravan grouping, scout the goods, and get back to you within the week. Be prepared to do emergency surgery on Goners. He's needing it really bad. Over."

"Good deal. Marv out. Over."

The lanky brunette set the radio back into its handle before swinging her legs out the door of the van, stretching her legs and running her hands through her cropped hair. She leaned further out, searching for her partner. She spotted the dark brown pig tails of her companion bobbing up and down as she surveyed the lower portion of their vehicle.

The girl with the pig tails looked up, glasses flashing in the setting sun. She paused her perusal of the car to stand and charge over to the woman still lounging in the passenger seat.

"EEEEVIIIIEEE! Just LOOK at this list! Just LOOK at it! I'm not even done yet! How is Marv EVER going to fix all this? We're going to need ANOTHER new car!"

Evie smiled, taking in the visage of outrage on her tanned comrade's scarred face. "Calm down, Marie. Marv is great with these things. You know that. And there are plenty of cars around that people aren't using. Getting a new one isn't difficult. I'm sure you'll love Goners the fifth as much as you love Goners the fourth."

Marie pouted, turning away from her taller partner. Evie slipped out of the car, carefully locking and shutting the door, before wrapping her arms around her disgruntled companion's shoulders. "Aw, don't be mad, Marie! We're almost back to Marv's. We'll get Goners fixed up, get a nice shower, and chill for the winter. We found lots of books this time around. I KNOW you're excited about that!"

Marie's shoulders relaxed, settling in comfortably to the familiar embrace. She turned her head, ready to respond, when a youthful face thrust itself into the space in between the conversing women. The two started, striking out and knocking the teenager into the dust.

Unfazed, the scrawny ginger grinned up at the two, and then launched into a barrage of questions. "Hey, you wanna hear a bad pick up line that my dad told me? Hi, I'm foreign. I've got Russian hands and Roman fingers. Do you get it? Rushin' and roamin'? Isn't it great? Who were you talking to? Is he your friend? Are you related?"

He paused, looking expectantly at the older females, before his face turned into a mask of horror. "Are you DATING him? How could you DO that to me? I thought we had something special! I thought you LIKED me! Do you know what's for dinner? Cus I can't tell. It all looks the same to me."

The distracted boy wandered off, humming to himself, before accosting another hapless victim on his way to the fire side. Evie and Marie looked at each other before bursting into laughter.

Marie gasped, trying to catch her breath. "Damn! No wonder his nickname is Chatter! That boy could talk the ear off a rock! That is one thing I won't miss when we hunker down for the winter."

Evie nodded in agreement as they walked over to where the food was being served. They both noticed Chatter at his father's side, rambling on about something rather improbable involving a taco, a skunk, and a pair of pliers. The two gals gave each other side long glances, before giggling.

Evie whispered to Marie. "How that boy could be Bossman's son, I have no idea. Bossman IS a rock. I think we can safely assume Chatter's mother was a terror."

Marie just smiled, accepting her plate of slop, before settling down in the ring of men and diving into the unrecognizable glop of food. Evie wrinkled her nose, turning her plate this way and that, observing the congealed mess oozing across her plate. Gagging, she promptly dumped the vast majority of her portion onto Marie's plate. Marie chuckled, wolfing down the extra food with ease. "You know, you'd think after awhile you would become LESS picky. Not more. Not that I mind. More for me!"

The fire light was blocked as a monster of a man loomed over them. "What's this I hear about unauthorized radio contact?"

Marie quirked her head to the side, grinning up at the leader of their partner group. "We were contacting our home base. We needed to let him know we were back in the area and that we'd get in touch with him tomorrow. You know, in case he needs us to trade for anything specific. Besides, we're not under YOUR jurisdiction. We just work together occasionally."

The cook looked up from the pot of gruel he was tending to, confusion written upon his face. "But, wait. Your home is here? Then what were you doing way out in the central plains? In IOWA of all places? People didn't even go there BEFORE all this happened."

Marie had returned to her food before the cook had tossed his inquiry at them. She finished chewing, swallowed, and shot him a wicked glare. "What is this, 20 Questions? Back off and let a girl eat, would ya?"

"We used to live there. Went back to check things out, you know?" Evie answered, having quickly finished the miniscule amount of food she had kept. Marie grunted in agreement, still shoveling food into her face.

Cook nodded, returning to his task. Bossman still shot them a few strange looks now and then, but Chatter kept him well occupied. Marie finished her pile of a meal, and the whole group of men, and two women, settled into a quiet evening lull.

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The next morning camp was packed up and the teams of people moved out to the caravan meeting point. Evie and Marie got into their minivan and began their work as forward scouts. The mercenary team broke into three teams; two teams of four to cover the sides of the caravan and one team of two driving the merc's only vehicle at the rear. The caravan itself was fairly small, only fifteen strong.

They made it to their destination near Bobbie's Cliff by midday. As the caravan leader haggled with Bossman over the price of the mercs' services, Marie shifted uneasily, her green eyes darting about the surrounding plain. Evie had been amusing herself by observing the men ogling her and her comrade. She turned to Marie, giggling to herself. "Dude, those guys over in the next caravan are TOTALLY checking us out! Yay for there not being much competition!"

"Wait, what?" Marie started out of her daze, blinking rapidly.

Evie's brow furrowed. "Hey, are you all right? You've been acting stranger than normal."

Marie looked back out into the hazy distance. "Something isn't right."

"Yeah, we've gained fewer scars than we normally do on caravan trips."

"No, it's more than that. We hardly got attacked at all. And all the attackers were the young and stupid ones. It isn't right. Where are the leaders, the smart ones? Where are the rest? Normally by now there'd be huge herds of them charging through here. So why haven't they come?"

Evie shrugged, letting her own eyes look out at the horizon. "You have a point. Hopefully we'll be gone before the shit hits the fan."

Marie just snorted. "We are NEVER that lucky."

Evie shook her head, grabbing her partner's arm, tugging Marie towards the trading groups. "Come on. If the shit DOES hit the fan, I want to make sure we've got what we need. So, let's go see what the other caravans have."

Marie trudged along, still sullen and worried. She began to perk up a bit at all the goods presented by the other groups. She rushed to one particular person, dragging Evie along behind her. They both crouched next to the dirty blanket, ooing and aahing over the cheap, already tarnished jewelry on display.

As the two gazed longingly at the useless collection, Chatter proceeded to tackle hug the two of them from behind. Marie yelped in surprise, swinging her elbow back, almost catching the young teen in his prominent nose. He stumbled back, arms flailing, grin still plastered on his face. Marie glowered at him as he regained his balance. "Chatter… How many times do I have to tell you to NOT sneak up on us? We could have shot or stabbed you in a heartbeat, you dolt! You need to be more careful!"

Chatter quirked his head. "Sorry, Red One. I just missed you both so much!" He looked down at the blanket and the items placed upon it. "Hey, those are really nice! Wait… Do you like those better than the ones I gave you?"

Marie and Evie both looked at their wrists. They had identical bracelets, worn and dirty from travel, made of twine, with a single bead on each. The two smiled at the stricken boy. Marie reached out and ruffled his brilliant hair affectionately. "Of course not, Chatter. The ones you made us are much better. We'll never take them off."

His face lit up and he was off again on another round of questions. "Hey, hey, Red One! Why do you have those scars on your face? Where are they from? What about your arm? It's all scarred and yucky looking. Do you have any other scars? What about you, Red Two? You have tons of scars, too! I wish I had more of them… My DAD has TONS of scars! He's so cool!"

Marie's smile faded and she turned, walking off amongst the traders. Chatter looked at Evie, confused. "Was it something I said? I just wanted to know about the cool scars. I didn't mean to hurt her feelings."

Evie and Chatter started after Marie, who had paused to look at some spare car parts on another vendor's blanket. Evie smiled at him. "Don't worry, Chatter. Red One doesn't like thinking about the past very much. It hurts too much. But I can tell you where they're from. See, we both got our face scars at the same time, the first time either of us ever met a Xenomorph."

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The minivan whipped along the highway, music blaring, the driver and her passenger singing along to the pop song on the radio. The two spoke back and forth, laughing wildly as the evening set in. Their waist length hair was tossed about easily in the breeze coming through the rolled down windows.

"Evie, come on. You really shouldn't be such a stick in the mud. You need to try new things more often! I promise that you will LOVE this shrimp recipe. And if you don't, you can pick out the shrimp and just eat the pasta. Either way, you get good food and you've tried something new."

The passenger crossed her arms grumpily. "But, I HATE shrimp! I hate fish! Anything from a body of water, I hate! You KNOW that! And I try new things!"

"Only when I make you!"

"I can't help that I'm a creature of habit. Besides, I tried that one Hot Pot thing your parents' friend brought over. That was, like, ALL seafood stuff! And I ate it! And pretended to like it. I was polite."

Marie rolled her eyes. Her bracelets chimed as she turned the wheel, sending the vehicle onto a quiet suburban cul-de-sac. "Again, I MADE you try that. And I've taken you to places that you've liked! You're such a pansy sometimes. But I love you anyway."

The driver chuckled as Evie focused her attentions on untangling her hair. Blue eyes glowered, or attempted to. "Aagh! Maariiee! The wind is tangling my hair AND messing with my contacts! AGAIN! Ow! Stupid earrings! Getting caught in my hair… The world HATES me!"

"Oh, hush you silly goose. You'll live. We're almost home. We'll get in our PJs, grab some munchies and drinks, then watch terrible horror movies. All will be well. I promise."

Marie brought the car into the three car garage, placing it in park. The two got out, Evie grabbing her overnight bag. The girls started for the garage door, both fussing with their skirts and tops. Marie attempted to tame her mussed bangs. "Man, you're right. The wind got to my hair, too. It's gonna take me FOREVER with a brush to get this all out."

Evie had begun to reply, when they heard something rustling in the woods behind the house. Evie took a step closer to Marie, hiding behind the stockier girl. "Marie… Let's not sleep in the basement tonight. Your woods are just too creepy. I hate seeing the shadows in the trees out the basement doors. Why do you have glass doors down there anyway? And no curtains!"

Marie hit the button to shut the garage door. The door began sliding down behind them as they entered the shadowy house. Marie's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. She slowed her steps, the clacking of her heels sounding loudly on the wooden flooring. "That's odd… Mom and Daddy always have the lights on when it starts getting dark."

Evie shrugged. "Well, both their cars are here. Maybe they went for a bike ride? They do that. And it's finally nice enough out to go for awhile."

Marie nodded, flipping light switches as the two made their way across the first floor towards her room. They settled into the wildly colored room, kicking off their shoes and changing into their more comfortable pajamas. They grabbed their candy and soda laden purses and headed towards the basement stairs.

Before descending into the basement, Evie reached out and flicked on a light at the top of the stairs. Marie had gone ahead, and another light flicked on at the bottom of the staircase. Evie started down the stairs when a scream tore through the silence.

"MARIE! Are you okay? Why are you screaming? Did you see a spider or something? I'll get it, don't worry!" Evie careened down the last of the stairs, but was drawn up short at the sight in front of her friend, crouched on the ground, sobbing next to the bodies of her parents. Marie was shaking her father as her dog nudged the joined hands of the two bodies. They had gaping holes in their chests.

"DADDY! DADDYDADDYDADDY! Wake up! Please wake up! I'll call the hospital! They're your friends! They know you! They have to help you! You and mommy! You can't DIE!"

A shrill scream broke through the open basement doors from the woods and Marie's dog, Holmes, began growling and snarling. Marie continued sobbing, clutching at the still warm bodies of her parents, soaking her shirt in blood. Evie stepped forward, picking up her friend's purse and reaching for Marie's arm.

"Marie… Something isn't right. We need to leave. We have to get out of here. Look at Holmes. He NEVER growls. He's terrified. Whoever did this to your parents could still be around. We need to be smart. You can't break down now."

Marie shook her head. "I can't leave them! I can't leave them like this! The hospital could still do something!"

Evie began to respond when something pale flashed out of the shadows. Marie screamed, falling backwards away from the strange creature screaming and snarling at her. Just as it was about to reach her, Holmes barreled into it, knocking the monster off balance. It still managed to slash Marie's face, slashing deep gashes across her lower left cheek. Holmes stood in front of her, facing off against the tiny terror.

Evie grabbed Marie's arm, forcibly hauling her to her feet, pulling her back towards the stairs. "MARIE! We need to get out of here, NOW!"

"NO! No, I can't leave Holmes! I can't let him die! HOLMES!" Marie tried pulling away from Evie's grip. The creature shrieked and made another lunge for the two girls. They both screamed and threw their arms up in an attempt to ward off their attacker.

A snarling howl broke through the higher pitched noises and the small beagle attacked the pale monstrosity. The alien beast screamed again, blood gushing from the bite wound inflicted by the small dog. Holmes' howl climbed in pitch suddenly, before it was cut off by a panicked cough as the creature's blood trickled down the brave dog's throat.

Marie screamed again, crying for her dog as he toppled over, gasping for breath and making small, pained noises. Evie, tears streaming down her face, tugged on her friend once more, this time managing to get her up a step. Marie began back down the stairs, when the injured beast charged for them a third time.

The two girls screamed, running up the stairs, tears blinding them. Marie continued calling for her dog and her parents, while Evie screamed at Marie to focus and to keep up. In all the ruckus, neither noticed another of the small pale demons above a cabinet in the dining room.

Another scream joined the first and Evie looked back to check on Marie. She stumbled over the leg of a chair, just as the alien launched itself off the top of the cabinet towards her face. The young creature misjudged the trajectory of Evie's fall, its claws cutting across the bridge of her nose, rather than gouging out her eyes.

Evie cried out in pain and threw the small bugger as far from her as she could, before continuing to drag Marie towards the garage. She opened the door to the garage, slamming the door behind them as Marie finally broke out of her daze. Marie pulled her car keys from her purse and the two scrambled back into the van as a series of loud thuds came from the door behind them.

Marie hit the garage door opener and began backing out before it had opened all the way, as several more of the monsters lunged for the vehicle. Marie slammed on the gas and careened into the street, bending part of the garage door in her haste to escape.

Marie drove them away, face bleeding, tears still running down her face. Evie sat in shocked silence, nervously twisting her hair, wishing she knew what to say. She opened her mouth, ready to try and comfort Marie, when a choked gasp of horror came out. Marie didn't look over, but asked what was wrong.

"Marie… What if it's happening everywhere?"

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Chatter stared at Evie for a few seconds, then over to where Marie was checking out some tires. He had a small frown on his face. "That's a really sad story. I'm sorry. My dad has scars. His aren't so sad. He got one of them by wrestling a zombie elephant! He TOLD me so!"

Evie giggled at the teen when Bossman spoke up from behind her. "That's a very good story and I'll make sure to tell it to you sometime. But, we have a situation right now."

Marie perked up, a tire looped over her arm, and sent an "I TOLD you so!" glance at Evie. Evie rolled her eyes and turned back to Bossman. "What's happened?"

"Well, we seem to have a rather large group of Xenos heading our way."

Evie quirked an eyebrow. "How large is large?"

Bossman stroked his trim beard. "Weeelll… Enough that we can't count them all. And there seem to be more joining every minute."

Marie walked to stand next to Evie, face deadpan. "Oh joy."

Bossman nodded. "Indeed. So, the caravans have pooled their resources to hire me and my boys. You want a cut? Your expertise would be valuable."

The two women looked at each other. Marie shrugged. Evie turned back to the large man. "What would you need us to do?"

"You'd do what you usually do as Red Herrings. Get as many of those buggers away as possible. There's a set up nearby, done by one of the locals. They'll get you a map and point out where it is. Then you'd rejoin us and we'll all be on our merry way, once we finish off the left overs. Sound good?"

Marie glowered at Evie. "Goners has gotten enough battle wounds this year. And those books are sounding really nice. We don't NEED another job. We can just go while the going's good."

Bossman leveled his steely gaze at Marie. "They've got corn. And they're willing to give you all the tires that fit your van."

Evie gazed at her still disgruntled partner. "Marie… Maybe they have sweet corn. It's been FOREVER since we've had good sweet corn!"

Marie continued glaring. "I'll just bet it's feed corn. That stuff isn't good for eating and you know that."

"Tires for Goners, Marie… For FREE. I KNOW you love FREE stuff!" Evie continued wheedling.

Marie began stomping towards Goners. "FINE. You're just going to keep bothering me about it until I give up anyway. Let's just get this over with."

Chatter began tugging on his father's sleeve. "Dad! Hey, do I get to be on the com? Please? PleasepleasepleasePLEEEAAASE?"

Bossman looked down at his son's hopeful face and smiled. "If you're good and don't yatter on too much, I'm sure you can. Let's get going to plan strategy."