Author's Note: Thought I'd throw in a bit of a twist with this one...
Alec watched the camera feed, replaying a clip from about a minute ago. There was a flash of movement in the corner of the screen, the image already as magnified as possible with the limited equipment, it was brief but it was definitely there.
He was almost tempted to smile, if it wouldn't have tempted fate. Alec slowly rose from his chair, the movement had been in the direction of what had once been a supermarket, most likely he'd find them there, if he hurried.
Still Alec wasn't one to forget his responsibilities either. He quickly used the translator to inform Piusnex of his departure before knocking her out and untying her, leaving the praetorian with enough food to last her a week, then he was gone, out the door and fully armed for once.
He made it to the supermarket easily, repulsors circling him but not active, he raised his rifle, it was an old hunting rifle, probably it had once belonged to some rich gentlemen or other, it didn't matter, the xenomorphs had got them whoever they were. Carefully lining the sight up to eye level he strafed the shelves, stepping quickly as the rifle sweeped this way and that, sight never leaving eye-level, it was an amateur mistake but when it came to guns Alec was an amateur.
There was a crash as something was knocked off a shelf, Alec hoped it was his quarry rather than a warrior or praetorian, though comparatively powerful amongst Alec's small armoury the rifle simply lacked the stopping power to deal with the larger xenomorph castes, he privately wished he'd brought the alien's plasma weapon with him but it was still being prepared.
Another crash, close this time. Alec rolled out into the middle of the aisle, dropping to one knee as he aimed up the aisle. It was a move he'd seen in a number of the older films, from before the colonisation, surprisingly he pulled it off. There was a loud bang as the gun discharged, the drone dropped mid-jump, the bullet had caught it in the head, an instant kill shot. Which, while effective, said volumes about Alec's marksmanship, he'd been aiming for the xenomorph's chest.
He turned his attention to the human he'd just saved. They were wearing combat fatigues and carrying what Alec recognised as an old AK47, after centuries of service it was still viewed as the most reliable gun since time began.
"Follow me, quickly." The other guy obeyed, there would be time for talk later, now all that mattered was running.
Alec turned the repulsors on, now he'd got a decent look at the xenomorph he realised he'd been wrong, it wasn't a drone, it was a runner, and this deep in hive territory there was never just one runner.
By the time they got back to the power plant the sun had begun to set, slowly slipping past the horizon, bathing the sky in crimson light. They'd been cut off repeatedly, forced to make a number of circuits as Alec led the pair of them home.
Alec carefully removed the grille he usually used to enter, the small space was barely enough for a human, let alone a xenomorph, he threw his backpack in before climbing in after it, his still unnamed companion did likewise, replacing the grille without even needing to be asked. Alex pushed his backpack ahead of him, his rifle, still on his back, kept banging against the top of the vent but there was no longer enough room to remove it.
At the first turning he pushed the backpack into it, the small thing had just enough food and water for two days, just in case the aliens did ever get in and he had to leg it.
Finally Alec emerged from the vent after about two minutes crawling, he helped the other human up before removing his equipment, dumping it on a bench, he'd have time to sort it all later. "Put your stuff down whereever." Alec said before leaving the room, heading to what passed for his living room, noting the layer of dust on a lot of the objects which had once been the only things keeping him sane. It had been a month since that fateful day, and for good or ill Alec wouldn't change his decision for anything.
Settling into an armchair he waited. When the young man walked in, a pistol still strapped to his hip, Alec gestured to an armchair opposite, it had been Emma's, way back when they'd only just begun to dream about having a security system as effective as the repulsors.
"Welcome to my humble abode, it's not much but it's home." Alec said calmly.
"Seems like a lot where I'm sitting."
"Perhaps." Alex conceded. "Although, if you don't mind my asking, where have you been sitting?"
"Out in the countryside, there was a military complex on the edge of the city, we're holed up there." The soldier explained.
"We? You mean you're not the only one?" Alec asked, barely able to comprehend the concept, for so long it had been a given that he was the last survivor.
"Yeah, there's five of us. Capt. Williams, Sgt. Renalds, two civvies, like yourself, and me of course."
"And you would be?"
"Private Hunter."
"So what brings you to the big city, so to speak?"
"A supply run, we're running low on a few things." Pvt. Hunter explained.
"And they sent you on a supply run on your own?" Alec demanded incredulously.
"Yeah, you're on your own, what's the difference?" Hunter asked irritably.
"I don't have a choice, and I've got the repulsors."
"Repulsors?"
"I'll explain in the morning. For now, there's a spare bed somewhere in the east wing, the entire place is sealed off other than a couple of controlled exits so you're safe from the xenomorphs, and don't go into my lab until I've had a chance to explain things."
"Lab?" Hunter said suspiciously, the pistol came out in a smooth draw, the barrel centred on Alec's forehead. "You from Yutani?"
Alec just laughed. "Nothing so sinister, I've got someone living in there at the moment, they aren't good with people and I just want to explain your presence before I introduce you. Like I said. In the morning, ok?"
"Fine." Hunter grumbled, clearly unhappy.
"Good." Alec got up from his chair and went to his room, grabbing his sleeping bag before settling outside the door to the lab, despite Hunter's annoyed acquiescence he wasn't taking any chances.
Piusnex was content for the moment. Her human was busy at one of it's machines but was due to 'talk' to her soon. It wasn't the most efficient method of communication but over the last month the two of them had established something of a rapport.
The praetorian still hadn't figured out why the human had saved her life but she had over the last month come to that conclusion, still her wounds were almost healed now and she wondered what her human would do when they did. Her human. That thought had taken some time to get used to. A lot of time.
Her human was excited about something, she could smell the adrenaline in the air.
"Leaving. Day. Sleep. Room. No leave. Please. Leave eat in room." Said the machine. It had taken her some time to figure it was one of her human's machines, it was a slightly difficult method of communication but it worked, if somewhat limited.
She didn't struggle as her human pushed the needle through her chitinous armour, it had become something of a routine, when her human left he used one of the humans strange liquids to knock her out. And when she woke she was free, unrestrained. Admittedly the door was locked but at least she had some freedom. She could probably break the door down before her human got back, but she wouldn't.
Instead she settled down in the human's chair. It creaked slightly under her weight, it was surprising but the chair was the comfiest object she'd even come in contact with, something that wasn't stone or metal, it was bizarre that only as the human's captive had she come to known luxury of any kind.
She used her feet to kick the chair towards the music machine – like most praetorians Piusnex was bipedal when an opportunity presented itself. Carefully she manipulated the buttons with her claws, scratching the slightly, the music washed over her, wonderfully calming, the human left one of the nice devices in the machine. She couldn't handle them herself, her claws went straight through them. Her human had been most upset.
The spines on her back tore the chair apart but she knew the human would replace it, his own chair had been removed before he left she noticed. Again it was ironic that it was only here, after two years of life, that the praetorian learnt how to relax. There was no prey to hunt and no hive to defend, the calmness of it all gave her time to sort out her chaotic thoughts which were evermore about a certain human.
Piusnex woke, there was a strange smell on the air, , something other than her human was inside the building. Another human and even through the locked door she could smell it's barely suppressed aggression along with her own human's excitement, or perhaps fear, there was no way to tell with adrenaline. While she preferred relying on her sense of hearing her nose was still keen enough to pick up trace elements about the new human. He stank of the humans' exploding powder, that noxious thing humans used to wash and of hive blood. Her human never smelt like that, he smelled of metals and chemicals and sweat, far more peaceful than the newcomer. There were sounds coming through the door, the human language just loud enough to make out but she couldn't understand many of their words. Military? That was the one of the words for the killer humans with their projectile weapons. Supply? Her human used it a lot, usually just before food, perhaps the new human was after food? Or trying to take her human's food. The human had given her some food when he'd left, red meat, still raw, far better than the eatable mould he usually gave. She couldn't understand her human's response though but it didn't seem angry.
Couldn't he tell the new human was dangerous? The humans left the room they were in, she could here their footsteps, the new human's fading in the distance while hers passed by the door before returning and stopping outside. She soon recognised the sound her human made when asleep. He was always clumsy when he woke, she settled down to sleep in the chair, her human would wake her when he woke. By accident, but still he was reliable in that way, like a well-trained drone.
Yeythwei watched the oomans carefully, hidden by both the night and the cloaking device. There were four of them inside the building. If he still had his plasma caster it would have been easy to kill them but his smartdisc was too large to get through the window and even humans could see him under the glare of their lights.
He couldn't kill them, not yet anyway, but he was content to wait until an opportunity presented itself. It wasn't really trophies he was after, their weapons intrigued him. They would make a good replacement for his plasma caster.
A Hard Meat drone hissed in the night, he whirled around but there was nothing, he was just jumping at shadows. The khainde amedha had been fighting a lot lately, hive conflicts were always bloody, or so he'd been told. All the better to wait, a hive conflict meant weakness, once one hive had won, that would be the time to strike. When the survivor was at it's weakest, over-extended and desperate for food. Taking one last look at the ooman dwelling he left for his ship.
The Queen hissed angrily, one of her patrols had disappeared that morning. The enemy was getting bolder, or more desperate, a mere weak ago it would never have dared venture into her territory in daylight. The time for drones was over, now was the time to produce warriors and runners – one of the few xenomorphs with the sense of sight. The warriors would provide the bulk of her army while the runners made most effective scouts, soon the time would come for the hive to go to war.
Another bit of news caught her attention, the human had been seen earlier in the day, normally it's escape would have infuriated her but the looming danger of the other hive was far more important, what was interesting though was that it had been spotted with another human. Still it was unimportant for the moment, only the hive mattered now.
Author's Note: Sorry about the time jump but I was running out of ideas, as always please review, and should Pvt. Hunter get his own point of view, particularly considering he'll be meeting our favourite praetorian next chapter?