The tunnel was empty, no doubt the aliens were with their Queen, awaiting her orders. Halfway through the tunnel, Ali started to feel better and she pulled away from Devon to walk on her own. Not long after that, a light shone through at the end of the tunnel and Ali and Devon, along with the Warriors, hurried towards it. Devon got there first and quickly climbed out.

"Are you okay?" Devon asked as Ali climbed out behind him.

She was clutching her bleeding shoulder with her good hand. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Then why are you holding your shoulder like that?" Devon asked, suspicious.

Ali rolled her eyes. "I'm trying to prevent my blood from ruining my one pair of clothes."

"Are you going to be able to make it?" Devon asked.

Before Ali could answer, the wall behind them exploded, sending bits of wood and Hive debris everywhere. Aisha climbed through the giant hole, angry and hissing.

"Let's try it!" Ali shouted.

Luckily, she was able to run well enough, but the Warriors still hung back to distract Aisha long enough for her and Devon to make it back to the Hive. But, even as they ran, Ali and Devon could hear the sounds of the Warriors screeching in pain. They burst out of the abandoned building and tore across the street.

"Ali, look, there," Devon said, pointing ahead.

"What?" Ali asked.

But before Devon could answer, Ali saw what Devon was pointing at; a manhole cover.

"Great idea," Ali said.

Devon ran ahead and pulled the cover off, flinging it aside and jumping through the hole. But, when Ali tried to follow, something caught her braid, yanking at her scalp and stopping her fall. She clutched at the base of her braid, trying to lighten the pain. A hiss sounded from above and Ali glanced up as best she could without causing herself too much pain to see the giant claw pinning her braid to the edge of the manhole. Aisha's giant head loomed over the hole, grinningviciously . The sound of her aliens screeching reached Ali's ears and she knew it wouldn't be long before they came flooding through the hole and overwhelmed her.

"Ali?" Devon called from below.

Ali tried to look down, but it was too painful so she kept her gaze straight in front of her as she responded, "I'm okay, give me a moment."

"What's going on?"

Ali ignored him and looked around her to see if she could dislodge a sharp rock or something to cut through her braid, but the walls of the pipe were completely smoothed down.

"Do you need help?" Devon asked.

Ali huffed in annoyance. "No, I'm good, stop distracting me!"

As Ali shifted her hands to lessen the pain, a different pain flared up on her arm. She lowered her eyes to see the claw that Aisha had lost when she had stuck Ali. Ali grinned and let go of her braid with one hand and gripped the tip of the claw. She squeezed her eyes tightly, getting ready to pull. She took a deep breath and yanked hard. She hissed in pain as the claw tore out of her shoulder. Moving quickly, she slashed with the claw at her braid just above her head. The claw tore easily through her hair and she dropped to the ground swiftly, landing on her feet. Brushing the dirt off her pants, Ali looked up to see Devon giving her a look of shock.

"What?" she asked.

"You cut your hair," Devon said, "You never cut your hair."

"I didn't really have much of a choice," Ali said, touching the severed ends of her hair. The ends were uneven, but she would have to worry about touching it up later.

"Just a thought here," Devon said, looking up through the top of the manhole.

"What?" Ali asked as Aisha screeched above them.

"How are we going to lure Aisha to our Hive if she's up there, and we're down here?"

"They'll follow us."

"Whose 'they'?" Devon asked.

Ali just pointed up to the opening of the manhole. Devon looked up in time to see a swarm of aliens flood through the hole.

Devon nodded slowly. "That would be a good way…"

"Yeah, now let's hurry!" Ali said and she grabbed Devon's hand, pulling him along.