Ali punched the wall of the Hive, the resin cracking and crumbling beneath her hand. Emery had searched out for another Queen and had just confirmed the existence of another Hive.
"This is just perfect!" Ali screeched, punching the wall again, "not only do I have to worry about destroying Ripley, I have to worry about another Hive?!"
"Does she always act like this when she gets bad news?" Devon asked Emery.
I do not know. I have only known her for a short time. All I know is her hatred for Ripley; every time she thinks of it is like her vision goes red with anger and she has flashbacks of trying to kill Ripley many times, Emery answered.
"Both of you realize that I can still hear every word you're saying, right?" Ali asked.
"You've been pacing and punching walls for half an hour now! You need to calm down!"
"How can I be calm?!" Ali screamed.
"Well," Devon said, startled, "It's not that bad. We still have a chance to build up this Hive. And I don't think they know about us yet."
"You're right," Ali said, taking a deep breath, "We can still come back from this."
You can start by getting me human hosts, Emery said.
The Hive grew quickly, with its first alien being born from Johner, and the months flew by. Ali took Devon with her whenever she went hunting however he always hung back, still afraid of getting into the mix. Ali took care to take humans sparingly and avoiding the places where the scent of the foreign aliens was strong. Within no time, the Hive had reached fifty members, and still growing. The other Hive had remained oblivious the whole time, not suspecting the threat of another Hive. Ali had long since moved her thoughts from it to Ripley, wondering where she was now, if Call as still with her, and if she was preparing to fight Ali.
"I need to teach you to fight," Ali said to Devon one day.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, there's a chance that we may have to fight another Hive and, later, Ripley. You need to be able to fight and defend yourself, or you will be no good to me."
"Aren't I a little young to be fighting?" Devon asked.
"I'm only a year older than you, not much different," Ali answered.
Devon shrugged nervously, "Okay."
"You'll first lesson will start tomorrow," Ali said.
The training lessons began slowly; Devon was like a delicate bird and was always easily overpowered by the aliens he was training with. Because Ali refused to let the aliens go easy on him, Devon's small body was constantly covered with bruises and scrapes. Eventually, however, he started improving, getting quicker, and he was starting to dodge the blows. Within no time, the days became weeks, the weeks months, and the months, years.
A/N: Sorry for the short chapter, I've had a lot of other things going on....but don't worry, there will be more in the next chapter.
~Ali Wenstern
