Chapter 7: Helping Hands

Amun laid in absolute silence behind the cover of a large amount of bushes and trees, not moving a muscle as he scanned the forest with his eyeless vision. Nothing was moving and he did not see a single pheromone trail. That was not good. He knew they were out there, waiting for him to make a sound. However, Amun was the one with the advantage. He now had two more sets of eyes and ears that he would utilize to the fullest. He reached out to Bobby who was in the forest canopy fifty yards to his right. She gave a silent negative for she could not see anything as well. Perhaps they had scared their targets off without knowing it. However, he knew better to underestimate a situation, to think it was all clear before he knew better. He kept scanning for anything that moved or made a sound. That was when he felt a mental touch from another mind nearby.

"Daddy, I want to play!" Amun's second born, Thea, was hiding behind Amun in the trees waiting for a signal to hunt. She was a runner class Xeno and was turning out to be a superb hunter. He speed was unmatched but it was her ability to stay silent while she ran that gave her the advantage. She would close a fifty yard gap in seconds without a sound.

"Patience Thea, we need to locate it first before you can play. There would be no sense in sprinting out there without knowing where to go." He explained to her. Thea was now only a week old, but like her older sister, she was learning fast. She did not ask as many questions as Bobby does, but she will listen and observe with such attention that she does not need to ask.

"Ok Daddy." Thea replied. Amun sent her warm feelings in attempts to comfort her. But he was cut short by Bobby.

"Father, something just moved. Thirty yards to your left by the two trees, the ones with the bushed below them." Amun slowly turned his head in the direction she had describedand came upon the trees she had described.

"I see it. Can you see anything else nearby? They usually stick together in groups." A moment of silence from the three until Bobby replied.

"Yes! I see a second one in a bush behind the first and to the left. It moved against the wind and I can see some of its Pheromones." As Bobby was describing their targets, Amun could feel the excitement from Thea growing. He might be able to use this to his advantage. He explained his plan.

"Bobby, can you move to the tree above the first one?"

"Of course Father."

"Good. Thea, I want you to run in a wide circle to the right and capture the second one just as your sister come upon the first. Once you do I want you both to disappear again. I will then come out from hiding and scare anymore of them out of hiding. We should be able to take a few more of them. However we don't know how many of them are there, so be fast. Do you understand."

"Yes Father." Came from Bobby as she swiftly began to moved through the tree tops.

"Ok Daddy! Be scary ok?" Said Thea as she began her wide arch of attack from behind him. He smiled, she was like a child of course, being only a week old. He thought of how far Thea and Bobby had come in such a short time, they were so mature that both of them were almost human adult. Of coarse Bobby was a bit farther along than Thea, but not by much.

Even with the maturity gap between the two, Amun knew his daughters well and knew that they were doing what they did best, hunting. Amun watched from his hiding spot as he saw nothing, which is exactly what he wanted. He could mentally feel Bobby now above her target and Thea coming in from behind the second one at lightning speed. He watched from his hidden location as Bobby dropped from the tree and Thea ran into the bushes. All was silent. He then stood from his hiding spot and slowly walked forward between the trees. He noticed Bobby leap back into the trees and Thea took off back the way she had came.

Everything was working out beautifully. As he walked, he was meet with silence which he did not like.

He was sure there was more of them out there, but where?! He searched the gray landscape and came up with nothing, but kept walking in hopes that something would move. His thoughts were answered when he felt a few impacts on the side of his head. He ducked as a few more projectiles flew over head, missing by only a few feet. As he went down, he spun in the direction they were coming from and noticed something move between two rocks.

"Thea!"

"Got him Daddy!" Amun kept his head down and let his daughter work. He stayed still and did not want to give away that he knew where they were.

"Bobby, keep an eye out. There should be one more."

"Yes Father. I think I have an idea where they are. I will check it out." Just as Bobby finished talking Amun saw a flash of Thea that disappeared behind the rocks he was watching. He heard a small yelp and then saw Thea shoot out from the behind the rock, heading into the distance. She was quickly learning that her speed was her advantage and to always keep moving.

"Bobby?" He asked as he mentally reached out for her and was surprised to find her almost right above him in the trees. He turned and looked up and was shocked to see a figure covered in different colours of pheromones looking down at him, paintball gun pointed right on target.

"Fell for it!" Was all he said. But Amun smiled and pointed behind the boy sitting in the tree. He watched as he looked up just in time to see Bobby in the tree beside him. Bobby hissed and launched herself at the boy, causing them to both fall from the tree. Amun reacted quickly to catch them both as they fell, keeping them from hitting the forest floor. Amun brought his hands close and opened them to see Steve giggling away as Bobby rubbed her head on his chest playfully. "HA HA HA! Ok, ok you win!" He said between breaths.

Amun smiled and placed the two down on the ground gently letting Bobby continue to nuzzle her prize. Amun raised his head to see Jenna and Mark walking towards him from where they had been hiding. He then looked towards the rocks where the sniper had been to see Rob approaching. He mentally laughed as he saw Thea ridding happily upon his back, he tail wrapped around them both. As he approached he yelled out to the group.

"She's getting a bit big for this Amun. I liked it better when she could fit in my back pack!" It was true that after Thea was born, and still a small chest-burster, the four friends had come for a quick visit. Making sure to stay well away from the hive and all the eggs inside. Thea had taken a liking to Rob because he had some beef jerky that he had shared with her. When she wanted more, she went searching into his backpack only to find none. Instead, she decided to have a nap which Rob happy allowed. But now she was the size of a large dog and had to find another way to be carried. As the four gathered and placed their paintball guns in a pile, they all sat down and chatted away about the fight that had just happened.

"Man, I thought I had you in the tree, I had no idea Bobby was right behind me!" Exclaimed Steve as he dropped his behind to the ground to sit. "Never saw her coming." Bobby hissed in glee.

"And you never will!" She proclaimed. Knowing he could not hear her, she straightened her posture to show her pride. She then moved towards Jenna and nuzzled her head upon her chest. It was her way of giving a hug and probably gotten from Amun and Emilia. Jenna sat down and pulled Bobby down with her to rest her head on her lap where she began petting her like a cat. Bobby began to purr. As deadly creatures as they were, they did enjoy physical contact and affection as much as any other living thing. Something that Jenna enjoyed as well, which only reminded Amun of Jolene when they first meet. It was a good memory. Amun reached down and cleared some grass away to expose the forest dirt.

"NOW I HAVE REINFORCMENT" Was all he wrote which grated him some laughs from the four.

"Yea, but I'm thinking that we should get Bobby and Thea to even things out!" Mark said as he took off his boots and rubbed his feet. "That way I don't have to look over my shoulder all the time!" It was true, three Xeno's against four humans was a bit one sided. However it was still just as fun.

"MAYBE NEXT TIME I WILL HAVE AN ARMY." Amun joked, but he noticed that Rob kept silent as he held Thea in his lap.

"How is that going Amun, I remember you said there were no animals left." Amun dropped his shoulders in a visible sigh. The last time he had went out, he travelled for two days and found nothing. They had either been scared off or eaten. Emilia was becoming worried that the rest of her eggs would never be born or die. Amun would not give up, he promised her a hive and he would keep it that promise.

"NOT GOOD. NO MORE ANIMALS. WILL KEEP LOOKING." He explained and the four looked up at him.

"You know," Jenna spoke up. "I know of a cattle farm that's not too far from here. A good days walk. Maybe we could go borrow some cows?" Amun was over taken with excitement, how had he miss something so perfect in his travels! His mental feelings did not go unnoticed.

"What is it father?" Bobby asked as she brought her head up from Jenna's lap. "What did she say?"

"She says there is a cattle farm nearby. It would be full of cows that we could use as hosts for the rest of your sisters!" With that, both Bobby and Thea got up in excitement and looked towards their father, happiness flowing from both of them.

"Whow! someone's excited!" Rob said as Thea practically leapt from his lap.

"THEY WOULD LIKE MORE SISTERS. SO WOULD EMILIA." He wrote.

"Well you did you not say you wanted a hive of around twenty or thirty? Bobby and Thea are great, but you are a bit short." Jenna said as she stood and put a hand on Bobby's head. "I would be willing to take us all if you want, it sounds kind of fun." Amun could not hold his excitement, he mentally reached out to Emilia to relay the news.

"Emilia, Emilia are you awake? I have great news!" He may have been a bit too loud because he felt a small amount of anger from her.

"Yes, I am, what is it?" Her words were calm and drowsy, she must have actually been asleep. No matter, once she heard the news she would perk up.

"Jenna knows of a cattle farm that is not too far from here. We can gather all that we need for hosts rather quickly!" The feeling of excitement that flooded his mind nearly knocked him off his feet!

"What are you waiting for dummy! Take the kids and go! Don't wait on my account!" Amun mentally smiled, knowing that she was still firmly attached to the walls of the cave. "And Amun?"

"Yes my Queen?"

"...Bring a few back to eat would you?" He smiled.

"With pleasure, my Queen. Bobby, Thea, come along." Amun lowered his hands to the ground near the four friends and waited for them to climb on. He then raised them up and let them crawl onto his large crown to sit. Thea and Bobby made their way up his legs and rested upon his shoulders.

"Head to the East Amun, over to your nine o'clock." Jenna explained to him from above. He slowly turned and started on their mission. Amun could hardly keep from taking off on a full sprint, but he knew that the small ones would not be able to hold onto him if he did.

The hike was rather uneventful with most of the entertainment coming from Bobby and Thea chasing one another over Amun's large body. The four humans chatted away among one another about their everyday lives. He was happy to hear stories from their normal lives, it made him feel as if nothing was out of the ordinary. They were all doing well in school and all had various exams approaching as well as after school activates. Mark was particularly excited for his track and field championship that was in a few weeks.

As he listened to their conversation he had not noticed that he had stumbled onto a paved road within the lush forest. He stopped as his large feet hit the warm pavement, looking down to the flat, gray surface. A hint of fear took him and he quickly looked left and right for any cars that may have been approaching. Thankfully there was no one in sight so he crossed the road and disappeared back into the trees.

"We need to follow that road Amun, it will lead us towards the farm. Take a right." Amun did as instructed and followed the road from the protection of the tree line. He had a feeling that they were on a very deserted road, but he wanted to be safer than sorry. The group walked for another few hour or so before Amun was asked a question by Bobby.

"Father, why do we not taken humans as hosts? I know that you were once human and do not wish to harm them. But from all your stories there are more than a few bad ones. Could we not use them? We could have had a few more sisters by now." The question did not make Amun angry, he knew that she did not fully understand what he was. To her, he was her father. Not some human experiment that had escaped the fate of a cage in some lab.

"You are right my first born, there are more evil humans in the world that I care to think about. But that does not give us the right to take their lives, even if they deserve it. I want us to be above that as a species that is growing in secret." He could feel that she understood, but was still a bit confused. "Imagine if we ran into a few of them and they decided to take my life, or your mother's, just because they wanted to. You would be angry would you not?"

"Of course I would be." She snapped. "You are my family and I love you all very much. I would kill them if they attempted to take your life."

"And that is why we must not take lives with such disregard. They too have families and loved ones that would be rather angry at us if we used them for hosts. And I would, at some point, like to live open and freely among them. That might not work well if we have kill them for hosts."

"You are right father, and I too would like to live among them one day. The ones we have are fun to be with." Amun knew that she truly would like to be out in the fresh air and exploring whenever she could. Not hiding within a small cave when ever they heard a helicopter flying over the forest. Amun felt Thea move from his back and joined Bobby upon his head, where she playfully attacked her sister.

"You would miss me too sister!" Thea yelled as she wrestled and flopped around with her bigger sister.

"You smell too much, I would not miss you." She responded playfully. Amun smiled as he felt the two begin to chase one another around his back and stomach. He was careful with his arms as they crawled around his body with speed.

"Amun, what's got the girls in a tuffle?" Steve called from his crown, concerned for the two Xeno's and their rough housing. Amun slowed to a halt to write into the ground beside him.

"JUST PLAYING AROUND." He explained.

"Got yea. Hay Jenna, how far now? It's getting pretty dark out." He asked.

"Hay Amun, do you see that open field in the distance? That's the edge of the farm." Jenna said which got Amun excited, his two daughters felt his emotions and knew what it meant. They both ran from their positions on his back and launched off of his shoulders, Bobby into the nearest tree and Thea onto the ground. "You weren't kidding Amun, someone's excited!" Amun let out a low thrum, letting the four know he was excited as well. He continued to walk towards the clearing.

"Stay in cover girls, we do not want to be seen." He felt their agreement as he lost sight of the two within the forest vegetation. Amun slowly made his way to the tree line, not wanting to make any more noise than he had to. Once there, he reached his hand up towards the four friends upon his head and waited for them to climb aboard. Once they were all on his hand, he lowered them to the ground an he watched as they leapt to the ground. He then reached to the dirt to write them a message.

"IS IT DARK ENOUGH TO PROCEED. CANNOT TELL." There was a pause from all four of them. Jenna and Steve looked towards the farm in the distance while Mark and Rob proceeded to taking off their back packs and placed them on the ground. Amun stood up and waited for a reply. Steve approached his feet and looked up at him, the cloud of purple/teal surrounding him gave away his excitement.

"I think we should be alright Amun, but we need to stay away from the huge flood lights. Can you see them?" Amun crouched low so he could look between the trees and out into the field before him. He noticed the herd of cows that dotted the ocean of gray grass with such ease because of his vision. The large, smelly animals were covered in clouds of many colours. None of which were very nice colours. He looked a bit more and noticed some large poles that were around the large barn in the distance as well as a few of them in the field.

"CAN SEE THE POLES BUT NOT THE LIGHT." He explained to the small human below him. Steve smiled.

"I'll take you in and help you avoid them!" He said with glee.

"Hay, not fair! I want to ride Amun out! It would be the best real life video game ever!" Jenna shouted. Amun had to mentally laugh, not in a million years did he think he would be fought over as a character to play in a quest. That's when Mark and Rob walked over and began to argue with the other two. All of them wanted to drive the Xenomorph King. Amun's attention was grabbed by Bobby.

"Father, I can see a human walking near the barn, can you see?" Amun looked through the trees once more. After a moment he did notice a small figure moving beside the large structure, trailing a cloud of orange behind him. Amun had figured out that orange represented sweat or perspiration on someone's body. It usually followed from someone exerting themselves physically, but Amun also noticed that it happened when someone lied. Probably due to them being nervous. He had seen it before between the four friends on their visits.

"I can Bobby, thank you. Thea, I need you to sprint to the barn, it is the big thing with the pointed roof on the right. Keep an eye on the farmer and let us know if anything happens ok?" Amun asked his daughter.

"Ok daddy!" She said as she began to run through the open field.

"And no playing Thea, we cannot be seen." A small feeling of disappointment, but understanding came from his daughter.

"Ok Daddy, I promise." Amun watched his daughter as she sprinted through the cold night, taking a wide circle in the field to avoid the herd and hit the barn from the side opposite the house. He felt a surge of pride as he watched his second daughter come to the barn in no time and raised no alarm. She was becoming a very skilled hunter indeed. His attention shifted back to the four bickering friends below him, it seemed that they were not done arguing over who was to ride Amun. In truth, all four of them could sit upon his crown, be he did not want to take away from their fun.

"Bobby, I need you to pick out five cows for us to take with us. They should be isolated away from the others which will help us not spook the others into a panic."

"Should I attempt to scare a few towards us? That way you do not have to leave the tree line too much to gather them." He took a moment to think her plan over and had to admit that it was rather effective.

"Excellent idea, that should work perfectly."

"But only five?" She asked in disappointment.

"I think five will be all that I can carry. Three in my arms and I will get you and Thea to hold two of them on my back." As strong as he was, carrying the large animals would be awkward on the long trip back. He would sadly have to limit how many they could fetch on this first trip.

"Daddy! The man is crawling into something with another human...it looks...like something is eating their bodies!" It took a moment for Amun to realize what she was describing to him.

"It's not eating them Thea, they are laying under a blanket on a bed. It is a place that humans use to rest upon and stay warm. It is just blocking their pheromones so it looks like he only has half a body."

"Ooo...weird." He smiled, he always did find amusement in trying to explain what would be a simple thing to a human, but a strange thing to a Xeno. As Amun stayed low to the ground, he felt Bobby drop onto his back from the trees. She placed herself upon his hidden spike.

"Father?" She did not even have to finish asking, Amun got up and lined her up between the tops of the trees. He took a moment to judge power and trajectory before he snapped his spikes open from his back.He watched as his first born glided though the air in perfect silence, like a bird of prey as it closes on its victim.

"Hay, what was that?" He heard one of the kids ask from below. Amun bent down low and pointed out into the open field, where all four heads turned just in time to see a black shadow land among the herd of cows. As Bobby landed, he presence was realized by only a few of the drowsy creatures and they scattered quickly.

"Was...was that Bobby?" He heard Mark ask, Amun simply responded with a low growl and kept watching. Slowly but strategically, he watched as one cow would be lead away from the others by an invisible threat. Closer and closer it came to the tree line where Amun and the children sat in silence as they waited for their prize. Once the cow was close enough that Amun did not have to travel far to retrieve it, he instructed Bobby how to proceed.

"Scratch it with your tail Bobby, your blade is covered with a sedative and will send them to sleep. Near the neck should be good, and nothing too deep. We don't want it to bleed out on the way home." As he finished explaining what to do to his daughter, one of the large mammals let out a low yell and toppled over. "Perfect."

"Let's go get it!" Mark exclaimed and began to run into the field. He was quickly scooped up by a giant hand and set back down with the others. He looked up and Amun. "What gives, let's go!"

"GATHERS THEM ALL, THEN COLLECT ONCE." Amun explained. He did not want to be out in the open longer than was absolutely necessary. Mark took a reluctant knee on the ground once more.

"Fine...party pooper." The comment got some giggles from the others and Amun didn't mind. He was too excited to be gathering hosts for their hive. He also wanted it to go off without a hitch so everything had to be calculated. He looked back out over the gray ocean and saw the large, smooth domed head of Bobby as it snaked it's was back towards the heard. She knew what she had to do.

"Daddy, did we get one?" Thea asked, her excitement flooding his mind.

"Yes, we did my daughter, yes we did." He sent her a mental smile.

"YAY! Imma have more sisters to play with!" She yelled with excitement. Amun was pretty sure she was actually jumping around the roof of the barn in pure joy.

"Ha ha yes Thea you will, but we still need to be quiet so we do not wake the farmer. Please."

"Ok Daddy." As Amun looked from the barn back to the field, he was surprised to see another cow already half way towards the tree line. Bobby was as efficient as she was deadly. He reached out to touch her mind and was met with something strange but after a moment knew what it was. She was trying very hard to hid her excitement.

"Bobby, it's ok to be happy you know, there is no reason to hide it." Amun said as she herded another cow towards the sleeping one. As it let out a small yell of pain and fell over, Bobby then crawled on top of the sleeping animal.

"I know Father, I will be excited after I have gathered them all, I have to concentrate on herding these beasts. They do not seem to be very intelligent." He laughed at the remark and could imagine that it was a bit difficult to get the beats where she wanted them to go. Where Bobby had to persuade the animal in a direction, Amun could simply pick it up and walk away. As Bobby started her way back for a third cow the four friends chatted among themselves.

"It's going to be so sweet having so many aliens running around! I can't wait!" Steve exclaimed.

"Yea, it's a good thing they are not trying to kill us. By the way, thank you for that Amun, it would have sucked if you had used us as hosts!" Jenna said as all four of the humans looked up at the King. He watched as some of them were over taken with a mix of fear and excitement. He let loose a low thrum.

"Hay yea, I had never thought about how lucky we are. If these Xeno's didn't have Amun we would have been toasts!" Steve replied.

"Well you would have been we all run faster than you." Claimed Mark.

"Screw you, I out run you at track and field all the time."

"Yea...after a head start." Jenna said quietly. They all laughed at that. "But try outrunning Thea, all I'm going to say is good luck. That girl can move." They all agreed in silence which was broken with another soft yell of a cow and a loud thud as it hit the ground.

"Two more father?" Bobby asked as she circled over the sleeping cow.

"I think that shoul-" He felt a sense of fear from Thea. "What is it Thea?"

"The man is up and moving around!" She said, he could feel her emotions running far to quickly to distinguish one from another.

"Stay hidden and keep an eye on him. If he comes outside I want you to run back to us. Bobby, stay here for a moment."

"Daddy, he is outside...he has something in his han-" Thea's thought was cut short with the snap of a rifle. Amun stood up quickly.

"THEA!" He mentally reached out to find her and was relieved to hear her thoughts within his mind.

"I'm ok Daddy!" She responded quickly.

"Back here as fast as you can. Bobby meet her half way I will gather the cows and the kids!" Amun moved with precision and force as he scooped up all four of the teenagers in one hand and placed them atop his crown. He then made his way into the field to gather the sleeping animals.

"Amun! What`s going on!?" Jenna asked as he ran the short distance to gather the animals. He had no time to write an explanation, he got right to lifting the three large beasts in his arms. Once he had them all he turned and made hast to the protection of the forest. As he moved with speed towards their home, he was glad to feel both Bobby and Thea approaching from the side, but he felt something from Bobby`s emotions that was out of place. She knew that her father had felt it.

"Thea is hurt Father." She told him with fear in her voice.

"I'm ok Daddy." She responded quickly and with confidence. Amun stopped so his two daughters could catch up to him. In the mean time he set down the three cows and watched as the two Xeno's appeared from the forest and stopped in front of their King.

"Thea , are you sure you are alright? Where are you hurt? He asked as he picked up and examined his daughter with gentle hands. That was when he saw the acid blood flowing from her side. The bullet had gone through the front of her rib cage and out the back. He felt feelings of embarrassment and fear from his daughter. "O Thea! It is alright, I am not angry. You are going to be ok and that's all I care about."

"But...you wanted more cows." She whispered as she avoided looking up at her father. He gently brought his daughter in close for a hug.

"No Thea, I want a family. And you are part of that now. You are more important to me than any cow could be. Me and Emilia have been through too much to lose any of you." He brought her in close and felt her nuzzle into his embrace. The thought of losing his daughters spilled into his mind along with the feeling of sadness.

"I promise I will not go Daddy, I'm sorry." Xeno's could not cry, but if they could, Amun knew that his eyes would be filled with water. He set his second born down and watched as Bobby circled and caressed her little sister. Comforting her in any way she could. He sent warm feeling to both of his daughters.

"Bobby, try to use your resin to stop the bleeding, it will be the only thing that does not melt. from the acid." His daughter nodded and then started to cough up the clear mucus they used as their building material. She smothered the entry and exit wounds with one handful and watched as it easily stuck to Thea's exoskeleton. Thea softly purred as her sister tended to her wound. Once it was tended too, Amun lowered himself down to let his daughters onto his back. He felt them climb on with ease and settle in near his back tubes. Amun then cleaned his hands of acid and gathered up the four friends that had watched in silence. "Let's go home."