All around the prisoners, the aliens were attacking. Garet looked on from his kneeling position on the red sand at the crest of the dune, watching as prisoners were mauled and torn limb from limb by the xenomorphs. Their dying screams rose up and mingled with the hisses of pleasure coming from the aliens. Then it was over. Those prisoners that were still alive were picked up by the aliens to be taken back to the hive.
Garet perked up as one of the aliens slowly slunk towards him. It seemed curious as it approached him, its head lowered to the ground, arms spread and ready to attack if need be. Garet began to pray, calling upon it, hoping it would understand that he meant it no harm, that it was a god to him. His low humming perked it's interest, and it suddenly sprang forward, stopping it's drooling maw an inch from Garet's face.
Garet smiled at its presence, and began to hum louder. He could smell the odor of rot upon it's sweet breath, felt slime drip onto his sandy robes, heard it snuffle softly at him, nudging his hair with it's maw. Garet was overjoyed.
Then Garet heard a shifting in the sand, and he opened his eyes. It was gone, slowly making it's way back to the hive. Garet smiled as he saw the big man from earlier slung over its shoulder. The man looked pleadingly at Garet, then began to scream as Garet looked away, back at the scene of carnage the aliens left behind.
Quickly he looked for some landmark close to the battlefield. He would have to return here to gather anything of use. But now, he decided he had to find the hive. He could come back for the supplies, if any. He made a mental note of an outcropping of black granite rising out of the sand, then turned and cautiously followed after the aliens.
They had been traveling for well over an hour. The aliens walked in silence, every once in a while hissing at one of the indigenous flying insects that buzzed overhead. Garet made sure that he was always at least five dunes behind the last alien, and even that distance was too close. No, not too close. Not for Garet, who wanted to walk among them, to be accepted by them. But he sufficed to stay behind and not incur their wrath at any intrusion he might cause.
After a little over two hours, though, the big man woke up and spotted him. He began to call for help, crying out to Garet. The aliens figured out that Garet was there and one of the last once came bounding over the dunes towards Garet. Garet smiled and began to pray. If he was going to die, at least it was by the hand of one of the xenopmorphs. It stopped right in font of him, and rearing it's long, clawed hand back, struck him. Any normal blow with its talons would have knocked Garet's head off and sent it rolling down the hill. But Garet was surprised.
The Alien barely hit him, and had struck him with it's palm. The hit was still enough to send Garet tumbling down the dune he was standing on, but it had not hurt him. Garet smiled. It was not an attack. It was a rebuke. The aliens had warned him. He was too close, that was all. They did not mind him anymore.
The rest of the trek, the aliens forgot about Garet. Over three hours had passed since the aliens had started back. Garet knew they were close when the aliens started to hiss and make more noise. Slowly, the land was going up, and Garet watched as the aliens hit the top of the rise, then started down. Garet followed, and stopping at the top of one of the taller sand dunes, he saw where they were going.
The land dipped into a shallow valley, going downwards and ending in a small cave in the ground. All around the edge of the bowl lay broken fragments of rocks, smoothed down over time. They littered the rim of the valley, encircling the small cave in its center. The alien hive was inside that cave.
Garet looked around for a bit, trying to find some landmark. There were none. The valley sufficiently hid the hive and all noticeable landmarks. Garet fretted over this. "How will find the hive again?" One of the aliens suddenly stuck its head out of the hole and hissed softly into the night sky. It was not facing Garet, so he knew it did not concern him.
"They'll find me if they need me," he thought, "It's up to them if I am needed." He turned and stumbled back down the sloping rim of the valley, heading back for the sight of the massacre.
Garet stumbled forward and fell over the edge of that rock outcropping. It was the rock outcropping back at the massacre sight. He slowly pushed himself up off the ground, then a fit of dizziness ran through his body and he clutched at his stomach, vomiting onto the red sand. He wiped at his mouth, then felt at his forehead. It throbbed mightily, his old bruises awakened again and taking their vengeance out on him.
He knew now that the alien hitting him had given him a concussion. He leaned against the cool rock of the outcropping, tilting his head back to absorb some of the coolness, and began to doze off. Thankfully he didn't have any more dreams.
An hour later, he was awakened by a scurrying sound from his side. He sat bolt upright, and sent a small scavenging rodent scurrying away. "Must of smelt the vomit and come looking for a meal," Garet thought, as he leaned his head back against the rock and closed his eyes again. Then his stomach growled and he realized how hungry he was. He slowly opened one eye and stared slyly at the small rodent, barely three feet away from him.
He dismissed the thought, disgusted that he would even think of it. Then he thought of his situation, and realized he would be lucky if he didn't have to scrounge the
dead bodies littering the ground before him. "Now THAT's disgusting," he thought, and pounced onto the mouse. Quickly he slammed its head into the ground and shook it.
Sufficed to see that it was dead, he stuffed it into his mouth.
The thought was enough to make him throw-up, and it was all he could do to make himself not. Then he swallowed it quickly then groaned as he felt it come back up. Quickly he swallowed again, grimacing. He had had enough of this. He slumped back against the cool rock and tried to get his mind off of his meal. Slowly he drifted off.
The next morning, he truly felt the effects of his apparent concussion. He could barely stand before he would fall over, and the world was a solid blur, all bright and streaked from his perspective. He managed to maneuver himself into a position to kneel, and he began to pray. His mouth was parched, and when he tried to pray to his alien god, his voice cracked and he tumbled over the words of the chant.
He was bad off, for even the prayer left him exhausted. closing his eyes, he fell softly back to the soft red sand and let the alien sun wash over him. He searched around in the sand, groping blindly for a rock, and hoping he didn't grab anything that stung instead. His cracked and dirty hands closed over a smooth round pebble. Reaching up, he popped the stone into his mouth, hoping to get some moisture from it.
For the third time, he realized how bad off he was. Only two days had he been alone on this planet, and he already was injured and struggling to survive. The Wardens that had dropped him and the rest of the prisoners off really knew there stuff. They had picked the most inhospitable planet they could find, and banished Garet there, sentencing him to die under an alien sun. He would have cried, but he was dehydrated and needed all the water he could get.
Slowly, he rolled over and opened his eyes. Then he noticed the rocks that he had been resting his head on. He reached up and touched there cool surface. "Why are they so cool?" he thought. "They're damp," he realized, and frantically began looking for something to use as a tool.
There was nothing, so he used his nail, trying to dig into the cracks in the rock, pulling and tugging until his cuticles cracked and bled. He began to cry, thinking of his bad luck. "Their is water, trapped within these rocks," he muttered to himself, "and I've been laying on it all this time!" With a groan of pain, his fingers raw and bleeding profusely, a corner of the rock suddenly cracked and fell to the sand.
With a cry of joy, he wondered in amazement as a slow trickle of water ran it's way down the water. Thirstily, he licked the rock to get the quickly dripping water, then placed his mouth over the source of the trickle marveling at the coolness of it.
he sat there, face pressed against the leaking rock, for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, he stopped in his drinking and kneeled once again, clasping his hands before his chest.
Again, he prayed to the aliens. They had helped him in his time of crisis, and needed to be thanked. This time as his chant rose up above the dunes and traveled across the air, he did not stumble over any words, his throat was wet and cool now.
Finishing he bowed his head and sat there, staring at the ground, gathering his thoughts and thanking his gods silently. Something wet hit the back of his head, and he heard a hissing above him. He looked up, shielding his eyes from the sun.. Outlined by the fire of the sun, a alien crouched, leaning over the top of rock outcropping. Hissing softly, it regarded Garet with eyes unseen, looking through him into the depths of his soul. Then it did something strange, something Garet had never heard of an alien doing before.
It reached down, arms wide, as if to grab Garet. But it was not a threatening gesture. It regard for with its head cocked to the side, then leaned forward more. Garet slowly stood on unsteady feet and let the alien grab him by the waist, lifting him up and setting him down on the sand on top of the outcropping.
Its sleek, glistening body was like artwork to Garet, and he cautiously reached up and placed a hand on the side of the aliens elongated skull. Hissing with surprise, the alien reared back and hissed at Garet. Then, sensing no threat, and hunkered back down and let Garet place his hand on it's shoulder. Garet marveled at the power that seemed to course through him, just like when he touched the egg.
He stood there, his hand upon the shoulder of the deadliest creature in known to man, and was suddenly reminded of the lion and the lamb. Maybe they could live side by side after all. Then the alien hissed again and picked up Garet, clutching him to its chest. Garet looked up into the aliens face, then looked away and snuggled against its hard, metallic carapace.
The alien carried Garet across the desert, taking him back to his hive. The whole way, the alien was silent, not hissing, not even regarding Garet. It just plodded onward, shielding the sunlight from Garet's frail, sick figure. Garet was silent too, just laying still, joyous that the alien was allowing him to be this close. It was unreal to Garet, like a dream, only it was real, and not a dream.
At dusk, the alien stopped and set him down. Garet looked about and saw that he was outside of the hive, the dark entrance before him. The alien hissed and cocked its head towards the door. Cautiously, Garet stepped inside, putting his hand on the wall for support.
As soon as he stepped in, the overwhelming odor of death assaulted him. It clung to the walls and floors and ceiling, hung in the air like a cloud, and waited for the chance to catch Garet off guard. He stepped back, gasping, and his hands slipped off of the wall. He fell face first through the entrance, landing in a pool of stagnant water.
The Alien followed him in and stooped over Garet's fallen figure. Reaching down, it gripped the back of Garet's soiled robes and lifted him out of the pool. He hung there for a moment, the alien regarding him in the dim light, then he was set down on solid ground. Garet was careful to not loose his grip on the wall again, and he continued forward, following after the alien deeper into the hive.
The hive was a mass of tunnels, left behind by some long dried up under ground stream. Every once in a while, light flickered down from cracks in the ceiling and walls, allowing Garet to see in the dim light. What he did see, he wished he did not.
The bodies were strung up everywhere, easily hundreds of dead or dying humans. Those that were dead slowly decomposed and added to the stench. Those that were not moaned softly, beyond pain and just moaning to confirm that they were still alive. Garet grimaced and turned away, but quickly turned back, perversely drawn to the sight.
As he went farther on down the wall, he began to recognize some of the faces. "These are the prisoners I came with," Garet muttered out loud, causing the alien to pause and regard him curiously. Then it turned and continued on. Garet stopped suddenly and looked up. There on the ceiling, was his old friend, the big man with the tattoos.
Garet starred on in morbid curiosity, looking down at the faces that he knew. The Big Man from before was attached to the ceiling, unconscious and not moving. Garet looked around, then was suddenly aware that more aliens had gathered behind him. He turned and looked wide eyed at the aliens. Garet didn't understand what they were doing.
They had blocked off the way they had come, had blocked off the way back to the entrance, and they were slowly moving forward, forcing Garet to step backwards. They were herding him deeper into the hive. Garet understood then, and turned and walked the way that they were leading him.
At the end of the passage, the tunnel opened up into a dark antechamber. "This is where they want me," Garet realized. Cautiously, Garet stepped into the dark chamber. Garet stepped in and gasped. The chamber was hotter than the desert outside, and the humid air clung to him. His robes were soaked with sweat and clung to his chest and back as he walked further into the center of the room.
He could see nothing, his feet shuffling forward slowly as to not trip over anything. His hands swung blindly in font of him, making sure that he didn't run into anything. Once he thought he was in the center of the room, he stopped and slowly turned about, waiting for his eyes to adjust. Eyes wide as he tried to see in the darkness, robes clinging to his body with sweat, Garet began to hear hissing all around him.
It was soft, like silk on silk, but it slowly grew in volume, and turned into a million snakes slithering across the floor. The monsters! Garet remembered this! This was his dream! Almost impossibly, the shadows of the huge antechamber grew darker and darker, closing in on Garet. The hissing was everywhere now, all around him, covering him.
Then the shadows lightened, and he saw his monsters, his aliens. There were hundreds of them, all black with teeth and talons. Garet looked in awe, slowly turning about to take in the masses of aliens. He stopped as he looked behind them though. Their against the wall, was the queen!
He laughed with joy, marveling at her magnificent crown and stately limbs. She was beautiful. Her presence to him was omnipotent to him, commanding his deepest and most sincere attention. Every slow strand of slime that slowly cascaded off of her sleek black crown, every subtle movement of her long limbs, every hiss and breath, Garet was riveted.
He couldn't take it. It was like a sensory overload. He began to laugh, looking upwards to the ceiling, spreading his arms, and laughing insanely. He slowly started to spin himself around, the aliens all around him hissing in his ear. He spun faster and faster, and the aliens blurred and meshed together into one solid mass. The black streak of the aliens circled him at his sides, and he laughed harder as the streak slowly grew and enveloped him. Then, his entire world was black, and he collapsed onto the damp floor of the hive.
"Well, well, well! If it isn't the looney!" The big man chided, staring down at Garet from the ceiling. Garet slowly came to and looked around, He was cocooned on the wall, green strands of alien resin pinning his arms to the wall next to him. He looked down, his feet were also cocooned, and on the floor in front of him, was an egg. Garet felt like singing. He was honored! Finally he would give birth to his god!
"Hey Looney! Where's you god now, huh?! He's not gonna save you from that egg there anytime soon."
"Who said I wanted to be saved from this egg, and look around. My god is everywhere around you!"
"What are you talking about Looney?"
"I'm talking about my god. This egg before me, this hive, these aliens that brought you and me here, they are all my god."
"You meant to tell me you worship these things?!" The big man sounded shocked.
"Yes, I do. They are supreme beings, gods among unworthy men, and they have honored me by placing this egg in front of me. By allowing me to be a carrier of part of the god."
"Are you that crazy, Looney?! These things are the devil!"
"No. They are not the Devil.. These would give even the devil nightmares. They are worse than that, and better than that at the same time. That is why they are gods."
Then the pulsating egg opened in front of Garet. He marveled at the strands of slime that formed webs between the opened lips of the egg. The liquid insides stirred slowly, and four fingers slowly hooked themselves over the rim. The facehugger pulled itself out, and coiling itself at the edge of the egg, it sprung out and latched itself to Garet's awaiting face. Garet was in Heaven.
Garet slowly came too. He couldn't remember where he was. He looked around, and saw all the dead bodies attached to wall next to him. He was back in the hive, he remembered. He looked down and saw the facehugger lying dead on the floor at his feet. "Even in death," Garet murmured out loud, "it is still a marvelous thing."
He felt a stirring in his chest This was it. His injuries must have kept him out longer, and the marvelous creature inside was already anxious to come out. Garet smiled and lowered his head to pray. Inside his chest, the small alien began to move about, slowly rocking back and forth, lashing its tail against Garet's spine. He grimaced slightly, but kept smiling, kept praying. The thing began to ram itself against the back of his sternum, trying to break free. Each hit was like a choir of angels to Garet. He began to chant out loud, forcing words out of his parched and dry throat.
The thing started to smash against his sternum harder yet. Garet heard a crack, and knew that his sternum had broken. He laughed and chanted louder. He felt it just inside his skin, pushing and bulging against it. A wet red spot formed on his soiled robes, and his chest bulged out ward. It was almost free. The bulge shrunk back, and Garet felt it gather it's body to spring inside of him. His own chant was defeaning now and he smiled joyously. The thing sprung forward, and with a wet tearing sound it was free.
It hissed softly, turning about to face Garet, and it cried out. It's black, sleek little body was red with Garet's own blood. Garet marveled at it, awed at the god that he had given birth to. It hissed again, then blackness gathered at the edge of Garet's vision, and he slowly lowered his head to his ruined chest.
He felt so tired... he hoped he would dream...
-[Rage]Garet_Jax
[one][two][three][four][five][six]
Marines... we are LEAVING!(Return to Home)
