Ali was so furious at Devon that she stormed around the orphanage for several minutes before making her way back to the Hive. Emery turned her head as Ali walked down the stairs.
Devon's human has awakened. She said.
Ali grinned and walked over to the man. Since walking around hadn't calmed her down, she decided she had to take her anger out on something. And the human was the perfect thing.
"Good Morning!" Ali said cheerfully.
"Where am I?" the man asked.
"In an alien Hive. Surely you've heard of them before. That's why you're living underground, isn't it?"
"No, you're lying!" The man said in hysterics, "This kind of stuff can't happen to me!"
"Oh, well, that's too bad," Ali said, noticing Devon descending the stairs and moving off into a corner, "it did."
"God, please," the man pleaded, looking up at the ceiling, "Help me!"
Ali burst out laughing and the man stared at her in shock. "You actually praying to your god to help you?!"
"What?" the man asked.
"Do you really think that there's anyone out there that's going to come and save you?"
"God saves his people," The man said.
Ali nearly doubled over in laughter. "Do you really believe that there's a god? Think about this; if there is a god, why would someone like me exist? Do you really think that your 'merciful' god would allow someone like me walk this earth?"
"You, boy!" the man asked, ignoring Ali and moving his head to stare at Devon. "You're not the same as her! Please, help me!"
"Yes, Devon," Ali said, turning to face him, "You're not like me, you have your emotions."
Devon said nothing. He was leaning up against the Hive wall, with his right leg propped up against the wall as well. His arms were folded tightly across his chest and he stared at the ground. His long hair kept his face in shadows, preventing Ali from seeing his expressions.
"You aren't like her!" the man insisted, "You can still turn around and do the right thing. God forgives those who act for forgiveness!"
Devon again said nothing, but Ali saw his hand clench tighter at his arm. Ali grinned when she realized that this was torturing Devon just as much as it was torturing the man.
"Yes, Devon, god forgives the sinners. You can get forgiveness if you save that man right there," Ali said.
The man started praying some sort of prayer, eyes closed and lips moving at high speeds.
"Go ahead," Ali said, "Pray all you want, it won't do you any good. You're going to die. Maybe you can ask your god why he abandoned you when you--."
A five fingered slap came sharply against Ali's cheek, snapping her head back. Her hand flew to her face as the skin burned from the force of the strike. She looked up to see Devon had moved from the wall and was standing right next to her. His hands were clenched tightly into fists and they shook with fury. Ali was struck speechless and could only stare at Devon in shock. But suddenly, the man in the cocoon let out a tortured scream and threw his head back in agony. Ali's shock vanished and a dark smile crept up at the corners of her mouth as the man let out another scream. A loud, splintering crack filled the air as the man's rib cage snapped and something inside of him forced its way out into the world. The man's body was still twitching when the third stage crawled, screeching, out of it.
Ali was in a better mood after the third stage was born from her victim. She sat in a corner of the Hive, stroking the third stage's head gently as it rested in her lap. She eventually got bored and rose from the floor, allowing the third stage to scamper off into the darkness, making her way to the stairs.
"Where are you going?" Devon asked.
Ali didn't respond. She snapped her fingers and a Runner raced forward and came to a skidding halt next to Ali. It waved its tail in anticipation as Ali climbed up gracefully on its back.
"You've been looking for her for months," Devon said. "You're not going to find her."
"I don't care. I just need to do something to get my mind off of you!" Ali said and the Runner took off up the stairs.
Ali kicked a loose pebble at her feet as she studied the barren wasteland. The vast brown sandy world spread out as far as she could see, Ripley could be anywhere. The hardest part was that Ripley and Call seemed to be everywhere, both of their scents were constantly picking up in different areas. But no matter how fast Ali got to the location of the scent, there would be no sign of the woman or the android. After many months of endless searching, it was getting frustrating.
But, now, Ali couldn't even pick up a faint smell. She decided to call off the hunt after three days of no luck.
"Come on," Ali said, walking back to the Runner, "Let's get back home."
She climbed up on the Runner's back and it took off with a screech. It sped across over the ground, barely touching it, as it raced home. Ali wasn't paying attention to its path, she was thinking about Ripley. She came to the conclusion that Ripley was hiding from her, too scared to come out and face her. Well, sooner or later, Ali would find her and flush her out. There's only so far that Ripley could go to escape, and it would be there, at the end of the line, that Ali would find her. Suddenly, the Runner screeched and came to a stop, almost throwing Ali over its head. Ali looked up over the Runner's head to see what it had stopped for. Her mouth dropped open when she saw four aliens, obviously enemy, standing in a line directly in her path. They obviously weren't there by accident, which meant the Queen knew that Ali's Hive existed.
Ali dismounted off the Runner slowly and stood next to it, studying the Warriors that blocked her path. They hissed threatening at her and swung their tails back and forth. Then, without warning, they jumped forward and charged towards Ali and the Runner. The Runner moved in front of Ali in an attempt to protect her and was hit by the force of three Warriors. One of them had managed to get around the Runner and moved to tackle Ali while she was distracted. But she managed to dodge it and she moved to help the Runner. It was screeching in agony as the three Warriors clawed and tore at it; weakening it. Ali grabbed one of the Warriors and it hissed in shock as she threw it off the Runner's back. One of the Warriors released the Runner and jumped towards Ali, but she twisted out of the way and struck it at the base of its neck; it dropped to the ground, dead.
Suddenly, something slammed into Ali's back and she realized the Warrior that she had first thrown off her and managed to get back to its feet and launch an attack while Ali was killing the other Warrior. She shoved it off in anger and sent it hurling across the sand. It recovered more quickly than the last time and came back for a third attack. This time, Ali was waiting for it and she dodged out of the way. The Warrior hissed in annoyance and swung its tail out, catching Ali around her legs and knocking them out from underneath her. She tried to roll into an upright position, but she forgot about the bruise on her back and it flared up with pain. She screamed in pain as the Warrior jumped on top of her. It hissed and a demonic grin spread across its face as it studied Ali. Then, after several seconds of gazing, it hissed and pressed its clawed hand on Ali's shoulder wound. Ali twisted underneath the Warrior in agony and tried to throw it off, but it remained firmly on top of her. Suddenly, as Ali was being swallowed up by the fiery pain, she felt herself being lifted into the air. She fought weakly at whatever it was that held her, but the pain had spread through her arms, numbing them, and she stopped struggling. The pain spiked and blackness clouded her vision and she went limp.
