Xenophobia (8)
A few weeks later.
"Come on! Is that the fastest you derelicts can run? You pathetic meat sacks can't go any farther with just 20 extra pounds of weight?" Hadrick said as he easily outpaced the rest of the platoon. "I know you can do better than that! Come on, faster, faster, faster!"
Asundhe heaved as he attempted to keep pace. Then again it wasn't his fault, everyone was having trouble keeping up with Hadrick since he'd made them all bring their backpacks. After a short time though it felt like it weighed more than 20 pounds. Asundhe wanted to complain, he felt like he was about to throw up, but he knew it wouldn't do him any good. Any time anybody complained during a run ,or any kind of exercise for that matter, Hadrick would always increase the distance they'd go, only stopping when they reached the intended distance, or when they got so tired they couldn't go any further.
"I'm gonna kick his ass!" Ander Levinson ,one of the cadets who'd approached Asundhe in the barracks, grunted quietly.
He and his friends Daniel Weekes ,the skinniest of the three, and Ollie Mullen ,The big bear who'd swung at Hadrick, were the ones who spoke the loudest, whether it was complaining or talking shit. For the past few weeks since they met in the barracks, Asundhe had wondered why they were so mean as they were, but he couldn't figure them out, and given how much they hated him, he wasn't going to ask them why. For all he knew and cared they were what they were and left it at that. It was less painful that way
"I heard that, Levinson!" Hadrick bellowed angrily, "That's another mile."
Everyone groaned in frustration and exhaustion as they continued trudging forward. Asundhe couldn't believe how endurant Hadrick was. They'd been running for almost five miles now, with almost no breaks and he wasn't even out of breath. And he had a backpack the same as everybody else.
"Goddammit!" Weekes cursed.
"That's another mile for taking the Lord's name in vain, Weekes!"
"You've done it this time assholes, We were almost finished and you stupid putas had to open your fat mouths!" Michelle Roberts ,one of the younger cadets in the squad, groaned.
"Fuck off bitch!" Levinson snapped.
She retaliated by giving him the finger.
"Stop it!" Asundhe exclaimed, "If you keep complaining like this he'll only make our run longer!"
"No one asked for your input, you ugly shit!" Levinson barked.
"Another mile!" Hadrick hollered.
Everyone groaned again. And to make things even more unbearable they were just about to go up a hill.
As they were going up, Weekes bellowed as something caught his foot, causing him to fall. "Fuck!"
"Get up, Weekes!" Hadrick hollered at him. He didn't respond to him and just knelt their huffing and puffing.
"One of you derelicts better pick him up, this run isn't over until you all finish!" Hadrick told them.
Clicking his mandibles reluctantly, Asundhe turned back around to try and help Weekes up. "Come on," Asundhe groaned as he grabbed him by the arm and tried to pull him up. Just as he did that however, Weekes pulled his arm away.
"Get the fuck away from me!" Weekes screamed angrily before smacking him away, causing Asundhe to fall on his back. Weekes then got back up and booked it towards the rest of the group.
Hadrick had seen the whole thing happen and scowled in disgust. He continued to watch as Asundhe struggled to get up. He was having difficulty with the backpack on. It was like watching a turtle that had been flipped over on its shell. Just when he was about to say something, Michelle turned around and went to help him.
"Vamos, amigo, Let's go," She said as she helped him up.
"Thank you," Asundhe gasped.
"De nada, amigo," Michelle said as they proceeded to help each other up the hill. "My name is Michelle by the way. What's your name?"
Before Asundhe could get the chance to answer her, Hadrick called them. "Jonathan! Michelle! Get your asses up here now, none of you are done unless you all finish together!" Hadrick said.
"We'll talk more later, alright?" She asked.
"Alright," Asundhe responded.
/
"I still can't believe that bitch, Michelle. She actually went back to help the ugly little son-of-a-bitch," Levinson said as he, Weekes, and Mullen sat down at their table.
"Tell me about it man. And to think that little shit actually went to help me!" Weekes said with a disgusted face.
"Thought we were supposed to kill monsters like him. Nobody told me anything about working with one of 'em," Mullen snorted as he chewed on a piece of his steak.
"Man, to think what those ugly motherfuckers do to us. As if we'll already have enough to worry about with the xenomorphs, we also have to deal with a damn intergalactic headhunter," Levinson remarked as he thought about the briefing they'd been given on the Predator's species. Just the thought of them made him sick.
"Speak of the devil. Look who it is." Weekes said as he saw Jonathan pass by them. He'd just gotten his tray of food from the kitchen and had taken a seat over by a table in the corner, one that nobody else was sitting on. He normally sat alone like that whenever he ate.
Levinson scowled as he looked at him. He didn't belong here with humans, much less in the Corp. itself.
A smile then peaked itself on Levinson's face when he saw that he was sitting next to the mess hall exit. "Hey, guys. How about we have a little fun, rough him up a bit?"
"Yeah, let's do it," Mullen and Weekes said excitedly as they got up and moved towards Jon's table.
/
Asundhe sat by his table quietly mulling about as he chewed on his food. He didn't really feel like eating at the moment, he was too engrossed in his thoughts to really care. He was thinking about the dreams he'd been having, since his mother died. He would've thought that they would've gone away by now, that all the training would've at least taken his mind off of it. Instead they'd only seemed to have gotten worse. Perhaps it was because he was still afraid of the shadows, or maybe it was because of the sense of loneliness and isolation he still felt, even with the marines. In that regard, it kind of felt like he'd never left the enclosure.
Most of ,if not all of the other marines hadn't bothered to talk to him, or acknowledge he existed outside of staring at him blankly. Hadrick was also there, but he'd become more hardened. Asundhe was sure that he'd always been like that though. He needed to be. He had responsibilities, training the marines and going off on missions. It wasn't his job to be kind to him, it was his job to prepare him for when he needed to fight. Everything he did was for that end. Sure he was mean and cold a lot of the time, but he was just, and never treated any of them cruelly.
There was Levinson and his friends, but they were bullies. He could tell just by the way they acted and by the way they looked at him every time they saw him that they hated him. There were a couple of times they'd approached him. Thankfully, aside from giving him some empty threats and a few swings, they really didn't do all that much to him. Really, they were more irritating than anything else, although he did like to keep his distance from them.
Asundhe's thoughts then abruptly trailed back to the marine from earlier. "Michelle," her name was called. He didn't know what to think of her really. He'd only just met her, and she did stare at him just the same as everyone else did, although earlier she was very friendly to him. He wondered to himself why she acted like that towards him.
Just then, a fist came down hard on his table. Asundhe jumped back as it happened. He looked up to see Levinson, Weekes, and Mullen standing over him.
"Hi there pal," Levinson said with a condescending smile.
Before Asundhe could move or do anything, Mullen moved behind him and grabbed him by the shoulder.
"Don't worry little buddy, we aren't going to hurt you," Mullen said with the same unsettling grin.
"Just want to talk to you," Levinson continued.
"C'mon, let's go outside here," Weekes said as the three led Asundhe out the back exit.
Once outside, they moved over to the alley between the mess hall and one of the other platoon's barracks. Mullen then abruptly threw Asundhe into one of the dumpsters. As he turned around to face them, his back was pinned up against it. He struggled with Mullen for a moment, but Levinson shushed him.
"Listen, we'll make this simple for you Jonathan. You already know we don't like you, and I'm pretty sure you don't like us. I guess that makes it even, doesn't it?" He paused waiting for a response, but Asundhe gave none. "We know we've been a little… rough, with you, but there are a few questions I've been asking myself, like… why in the fuck Hadrick would let you, a fucking Predator into the Corps? Got any answers?"
"I don't know Levinson! He may have taken pity on me. He might've thought I'd make a good soldier. What does it matter to you?" Asundhe replied.
"Nothing really. I'm looking at the deeper meaning though."
"What are you talking about?" Asundhe said right before Mullen punched him in the gut.
"I'm talking about you and your species being a bunch of evil, murderous, ugly, barbaric freaks that can kill more people than Ed Gein, Jeffrey Dahmer, and Ted Bundy put together! Why would he let something like that into the Corps? Especially when we are here to kill ugly freaks like you."
"We're here to protect the colonies! And I haven't done anything to you or anybody else!" Asundhe said defensively.
"Not me, I'm here to kill. And if Hadrick wasn't keeping his eye on you like he is, I'd make sure you never live long enough to do anything to anyone else," Levinson said as he took out his switchblade and clicked it open.
"You don't scare me, Levinson. None of you do," Asundhe told them before getting punched again, this time harder than before.
"You should be, you ugly little shit!" Levinson said as he yanked Asundhe's dreadlocks so his ear could meet his mouth. "We might not be able to kill you, Jonathan, but make no mistake, we can and will make your life a living hell! Even if Hadrick is keeping his eye on you!" He continued as he stroked the blade up against Asundhe's upper right mandible.
"Yeah, and…" Weekes was about to say right before something smacked him on the back of his head. Everyone turned and saw Michelle standing over Weekes with a lunch tray that'd bent on impact with his skull.
"You bitch!" Levinson said as he approached her with the blade.
Just as he was about to swing at her, a fist clasped his wrist stopping him. He turned to see Hadrick standing beside him with a nasty grimace on his face. He smacked Levinson in the face while keeping his hand clasped around his wrist before taking the knife from him. "I'll be keeping this!" He said as he put it in his pocket before proceeding to twist Levinson's arm around his back. He let out a yelp of pain as he did that. "Let him go, Mullen!" Hadrick ordered. Mullen did what he was told obediently. "You all have made your point loud and clear, there's no need to take it any further! Now I want all three of you gone!"
"Sir, yes, sir!" The tree responded before heading back into the mess hall.
"No!" Hadrick called them back out. "You're not going back inside! You're all going for a run! Two miles! Both for threatening Jonathan and Michelle!" The three began to complain, but Hadrick quickly silenced them. "Now!"
"Sir, yes, sir!" They responded with a noticeable growl. As they walked away Levinson turned his head back around and scowled at Asundhe for a short second before beginning the run with his friends.
"You ok kid?" Hadrick asked.
"Yes sir," Asundhe responded.
"Good. Go back inside ,both of you, and finish your grub before the horn blows. You only have a couple minutes left," Hadrick said as he walked back inside.
"They didn't get you too bad did they?" Michelle inquired.
"No, I'm fine," Asundhe responded.
"Hey, don't worry about them, amigo, those guys are putas," She said assuringly.
"I could see that," Asundhe responded.
Michelle snickered at his unintentional joke. "Good one, amigo, good one."
"What is amigo?" Asundhe asked her curiously.
"It means 'friend' in Spanish. That's my native language." She answered.
"You oomans have two languages?" He said, a little stunned.
"Actually we have about 7,000 different languages," She corrected.
Asundhe's eyes widened when she said that. "Really? How many do you know?"
"Just Espanola, and English," She answered. "So your name is Jonathan, right?"
"It's Asundhe actually. Hadrick just calls me Jonathan because it's easier for him to say. B-but you can call me that too if you'd like," Asundhe said, his mandibles splayed nervously. This was his first time talking to someone proper, and he didn't want to make it uncomfortable.
"Oh, okay. It's nice to meet you Jonathan," Michelle said as she brought her hand up.
"Good to meet you too… Mmm." He struggled as he shook her hand timidly.
"Michelle."
"Michelle."
"So how old are you, Jonathan? You don't look old enough to be here."
"I'm fifteen years old… I know that may be a little older for you than it is for me though… I guess our species ages differently."
"Perhaps," Michelle shrugged.
"What about you? You look younger than everyone else here?" Asundhe asked.
"I'm seventeen."
"Isn't that still young for you oomans?"
"Si amigo, I'm not an adult yet either."
"Why'd you enlist so early?"
Michelle sighed, "It was better than starving in an alley. What about you, why are you here so young?"
"I thought it would be better than starving in the lab," Asundhe clicked.
"I thought you came from there. Everybody's been talking about it a lot. Something big happened there about a month ago, didn't it?" Michelle asked.
"Yes. I was there when it happened," Asundhe replied as he thought back on what'd happened.
"May you tell me what happened?"
Asundhe growled nervously. "No… I'm sorry… I-I just… I don't want to talk about it."
"I understand," Michelle said. She could see the painful, fearful look in his eyes. She didn't know what happened to him, and after seeing that look she didn't want to know. Still she couldn't help feeling sorry for him either way.
"Hey, let's go back inside and finish our food. I can sit next to you if you'd like," Michelle said.
"I'd like that. Thank-you," He said, as she helped him up.
"You know kid, you're not nearly as bad as everybody else says you are," She told him.
"Why do they say things about me? I haven't done anything to them," Asundhe asked.
"I don't think that matters to them, amigo. They hate you because of what your species does, and they think you're like them," Michelle explained.
Asundhe sat back down at his table and thought about that for a moment. He wondered why they thought he was like his kind, even though he'd never been around others like himself before, aside from his mother. He'd never grown up around other pups like himself, nor had he trained as they did. Did the marines not realize that… or did they even care?
"Jonathan… Jonathan!" Michelle raised her voice, startling him awake from his thoughts. "Lo siento, amigo. I just saw you staring," She apologized.
"It's alright. I was just thinking…" Asundhe thought for a moment, before stupidly spitting out. "Could I be your friend?"
"What?"
"It gets kind of lonely, not being able to talk to anyone. So… I was wondering… If I could be your friend?" He asked sheepishly.
"Of course, amigo. I'd like to have a friend." She smiled.
"Thank-you, Michelle." He said graciously as he returned the look.
/
A couple days later.
Asundhe did his best to keep up with the rest of the platoon, as he made his way through the obstacle course. Originally when he'd first ran it, he'd thought it would've been fun, but with the way everybody pushed past each other in an attempt to get to the front of the group, it quickly became more chaotic than he thought it would've been. He thought it would've been like the other exercise routines where everyone needed to help each other out, and that the only way they'd pass was if everybody finished at the same time. Instead those who were in front of everyone else were able to skip the other half of the obstacle course if they managed to stay ahead of everyone else.
Asundhe couldn't figure out why Hadrick allowed this, not when all the rest of the exercises required teamwork, but he didn't bother to think about it. All Asundhe was focused on was keeping up with the rest of the group. Hopefully he'd even be fast enough to make it to the front with everyone else and get to circumvent the rest of the course.
He'd just gotten done with the wall jumps, and was on his way to the 20 meter rope wall. Effortlessly he began scaling the wall, making his way past everyone else. Just as he made it to the top, he saw Levinson and Michelle butting heads with each other. They were a little less than half way up. Michelle attempted to end the confrontation and climb higher, but Levinson grabbed him by the foot and pulled. She lost her grip and came tumbling down.
"Michelle!" Asundhe said, concerned. Without a second thought he slid back down the wall to help her. As he went he accidentally kicked Levinson in the shoulder causing him to fall, as he fell, he knocked into Weekes and Mullen who were right behind him.
"Shit!" They screamed as they hit the ground.
Although he hadn't done it intentionally, Asundhe wasn't sorry for doing it.
"Are you alright, Michelle?" He asked her as he helped her up.
"I'm fine," She assured him before climbing back up the wall.
As Asundhe climbed back on, he was grabbed from behind and slammed to the ground.
"Stupid little shit! You wanna screw with me!" Levinson said as he, Mullen and Weekes began pounding him.
"Hey! Leave him alone!" Michelle said as she jumped back down and smacked Levinson.
Mullen and Weekes then turned on her. Weekes attempted to grab her, but she took him by the hand and threw him to the ground in a judo throw. Mullen tried to grab her from behind, but was promptly kicked in the gut. Weekes managed to get up and wrap his arms around her, allowing Levinson to smack her all he wanted.
Asundhe roared angrily as he threw himself at Levinson attempting to pull him off of Michelle. Levinson was able to throw him off however, giving Mullen the opportunity to grab him, pin him down, and beat him.
"Jonathan! Levinson! Roberts! Mullen! Weekes!" Hadrick yelled, stopping the fight just as quickly as it was started. He'd been overseeing the squad to make sure an all out fight didn''t take place. Once he had everyone's attention he dismissed everyone else before focusing on the five of them. "What the hell are you doing?"
"It was their fault, Sarge! This little shit kicked us off!" Levinson said, pinning the blame on Asundhe.
"They pulled Michelle off first!" Asundhe projected adamantly.
"I don't care who started it!" Hadrick silenced them. "Your objective was to make it through the obstacle course, through whatever means necessary! Even sabotage! Not fight amongst yourselves like this is a damn playground!"
"But sir…" Levinson stammered.
"No buts! I have no time to be dealing with children, and adults who act like them! Once you're all finished with the whole obstacle course, I want you all in the mud crawl! Do you understand me!"
"Sir, Yes sir!" They all responded.
"Good! Now get your asses up that wall!"
/
Asundhe turned his eyes up at the large mound of dirt towering over him before training his eyes down at the small hole underneath it. The mud crawl wasn't a pleasant punishment for any of them. It was a tiny cramped space that only allowed enough room for one person to crawl in at a time, although multiple people could go in if they were in a single file line. The 'mud' water inside was also filled with feces which ,coupled with the warmth inside, created a nasty smell that made anyone who went inside want to puke their guts out. Everyone who went in also complained about the heat, but that was perhaps the only thing that comforted Asundhe.
Regardless of the claustrophobic conditions, and the gut wrenching stench, there was one thing Asundhe couldn't ignore, it was dark as hell inside. He'd been afraid of the dark ever since the outbreak, and had made his best efforts to stay away from dark places. They reminded him too much of what happened in the compound. Still he couldn't stay away from it forever. On top of that it wasn't just one straight path through the mound, but a series of twists and turns creating a small maze inside.
He'd actually been through the mud crawl a couple times before, thankfully being one of the ones to follow instead of lead. It just felt a little more comfortable to him that way.
"Ready?" Hadrick asked them.
"It doesn't get any better just standing here," Levinson puffed.
Asundhe couldn't disagree with that.
"Let's get this shit over with then," Michelle sighed in agreement.
"Alright then," Hadrick said before turning to Asundhe. "Jonathan, you'll lead," He said as he gave him a flashlight.
Asundhe felt his heart drop into his stomach when he said that. He began to feel himself shake, but he did his best not to let his nervousness show, and obediently took the flashlight from him.
Slowly, he crouched in front of the hole. As he did, he caught a whiff of the tunnel's awful stench. The scent made him recoil a little, but he did his best to ignore it and turned the light on. Somehow, that made it so much worse. As he stood there for a moment he thought. He didn't know whether it was the darkness itself that worried him or what was in it that did, whether it was what he could see or what he couldn't that made him so scared.
"Come on, we don't have all damn day!" Levinson said irritatedly.
Asundhe clicked nervously, drawing in one last long breath before entering. Once Asundhe was in Levinson followed, then Michelle, then Weekes, then finally Mullen.
"Damn girl!" Weekes exclaimed as he stared at Michelle, "You got something going on back there or are you just happy to see me?"
"Shut up Weekes. Perra estupida,"
"Yeah, I love that dirty talk. Work it girl! Work it! Move that butt!" Weekes continued.
"Save it, Weekes. Let's just get through this shit first then you can look and talk all you want!" Levinson said.
"Alright man. Geez!" Weekes responded.
After some wiggling, Asundhe made it to the first fork in the tunnel. Having memorized the first part of the maze, Asundhe instinctively went right. They came across another right turn, but ignored it, continuing forward until reaching a left turn. From there they continued until they met another split off where Asundhe turned left again. They continued until they found another right turn which they took.
Half way through! Asundhe cheered himself on. Asundhe made another right, then a left. They then met a right intersection where Asundhe… stopped.
"Where to now, kid!" Levinson asked, seeing the intersection.
Asundhe paused. This was as far as he remembered. He didn't know whether to keep going straight or take the right turn.
"Well, what is it!" Levinson raised his voice.
Asundhe didn't respond. He thought he saw something move in the dark. He quickly trained the light ahead of the tunnel and saw nothing there. He had been seeing things move in the dark the whole time he'd been down there. He'd done his best to ignore it and concentrate on where they needed to go, but the dark was beginning to get to him now.
It isn't real. It isn't real, Asundhe told himself, trying to calm himself down. He knew it was all in his head… or was it… No the shadows were too big there was no way they could fit in here with the rest of them… not unless it was one of the small ones.
"What's going on up there?" Weekes screamed.
"Private Pussyface over here is lost!" Levinson replied.
"He's lost!" Mullen hollered from behind.
"I am not lost!" Asundhe defended himself.
"Well then, which way do we go?" Levinson pushed.
Asundhe couldn't respond. He was too focused on the objects he saw moving in the dark to think about which way he was supposed to go.
"Hey! Mejor! You got this, just pick the one you think is right!" Michelle said encouragingly.
After looking at both paths for a moment, Asundhe finally answered. "Right! We go right!"
For a moment the weight of the situation fell off of him, and he was able to catch his breath. The five of them continued forward toward another right turn, ignored a path that led to the left, took another right, then another right, then a left and then… Something didn't feel right. Asundhe could sense that they'd been down this pathway before.
Levinson could sense it too. "Hey! What the hell! We just went in a big fat circle!"
"What's happening?" Weekes asked.
"We're turned around! We've been going in a circle!" Levinson responded before turning on Asundhe. "I knew you didn't know where you were going!" He said as he pulled on Asundhe's legs and attempted to grab the flashlight from him.
"Hey! Stop! You're going to make him drop it, then we'll all be lost!" Michelle screamed at Levinson.
Levinson stopped once she said that. He really didn't want to be routing around in shit filled water trying to look for their only source of light.
"Alright but you better get us out of here, or I swear I'll beat you within an inch of your life!" Levinson threatened.
"Alright! Alright!" Asundhe relented, allowing himself a moment to look at the three paths that laid ahead of him. Once this was over he was going to need to map this whole thing out.
As he concentrated though, he saw something move in the dark. That time he saw it. That time he knew.
"There's something down here with us." Asundhe whispered fearfully.
"What?" Levinson questioned.
"There's something down here with us." He repeated.
"There's nothing down here, damn it! Pick a damn path and let's get out of this shit, I'm sweating in here!" Levinson told him.
Asundhe shook his head. He's right Asundhe. There's nothing down here, just keep going.
He took another moment to consider their options. He looked at the left and correctly concluded it was where they'd come from before. He then looked over to the right, where they'd gone last time. They could go back again and take the other path, but at the last moment he decided to go forward instead. Yes forward was the way to go, he thought.
They continued down to the end of the tunnel before making a left, where they… stopped again…
"Oh no!" Asundhe muttered as he looked ahead fearfully. Dead end. He'd gone the wrong way!
"What now?" Levinson said, irritated as he looked ahead. "We're at a dead end. You took us to a dead end, you little shit!"
"I-I'm sorry I didn't mean to…" Asundhe tried to apologize but Levinson wouldn't listen.
"You lied! You said you knew you were going!" Levinson said as he began attacking Asundhe.
"Levinson stop it!" Michelle screeched as she tried to control him.
"Give me that flashlight!" He screamed as he pulled Asundhe's feet.
Asundhe pulled himself forward, slipping out of his grasp. As he struggled to push himself forward, he saw something moving in front of him. That was impossible though, there was no way anything was there, his face was practically touching the wall. He trained his light on it but nothing was there. Just the wall. He took the light away and saw the object moving towards them, fast. Asundhe felt his heart leap out of his chest as he saw it blazing at him.
Just then Levinson pulled him back. He felt the flashlight slip out of his hands as Levinson pushed his head under the water. The two struggled as Asundhe tried to resurface, while Levinson tried to find the now missing flashlight. The others screamed, complaining they couldn't see anything.
Finally Asundhe was able to lift his head up right as Levinson found his hands on the flashlight.
"There's something down here with us!" Asundhe coughed.
"What?" Levinson asked.
"There's something down here with us! It's after us! It's right in front of us!"
"What are you talking about? There's nothing there," Levinson said as he shined the flashlight in front of them.
Asundhe turned his head forward and then jumped back at what he saw. One of the shadows had found its way inside, and was staring down at him, snarling. Asundhe screamed as the monster screeched in his face…
