Thirty-six: Flee (Final Chapter)

The three of us made our way down the dark staircase as fast as we could without tripping on the roots of the facehugger eggs and dead bodies. It seemed to get darker the further we descent.

"Hurry kids!" We heard Jiyong call down from below.

"Damn! How many stairs are there!?" Sunghoon sneered behind me, he was huffing and puffing along with Pastora and I. I was glad that I was carrying Chelsea down these stairs because she would have never made it.

"I wish I brought my flashlight!" Pastora rasped. "I dropped it somewhere when I burnt down the lab!"

"Well, we'll know when we've reached the end." Sunghoon replied. "I'd expect more xenomorphs down here."

"Me too." I agreed, watching my steps as carefully as I could, despite how dark it was.

A faint light glowed in the distance from below. It was a small light bulb on the wall that flickered every few moments.

"Well, I guess this answers our question!" Sunghoon announced.

Carefully, the three of us descended down the rest of the stairs. The entire hallway was gloomy, but much brighter than the staircase.

"Don't move!" A voice whispered behind us. It was Jiyong.

I felt my heart flutter at a low growling sound ahead. Slowly, I turned to look in the direction it came from and could see the dark and large figure of a xenomorph feeding off Adam's body. The most disturbing part was that he was still alive. It was eating him alive.

"Please….k-kill me!" Adam croaked, reaching a shaky arm towards us as the xenomorph tugged and ripped at his intestines.

Sunghoon retched behind me and Pastora started to cry. I could only just stand there and watch. I don't know why, but from everything I saw today, this had to be the most disturbing thing. Watching a human being suffer as they were being torn and ripped apart.

"Kill him, Sunghoon…put him out of his misery." Jiyong said from behind us.

"I-I can't." Sunghoon cried. "That would be murder…."

"He's pretty much already gone." Jiyong reassured him. "You'd be doing him a favor."

Adam screamed and cried out in agony, rattling my ear drums. I felt hot tears sting at my eyes as I continued to watch the xenomorph feast on him.

"If not him, then shoot that xenomorph!" Jiyong said. "The airlock is just down the hall!"

"That's not just a xenomorph!" Pastora whispered. "I-it's the Queen."

I gasped as I stared at the creature, realizing it was at least three feet taller than the other xenos. Instead of a dome shaped head it was crest shaped. The Queen had to be at least twenty feet tall. Looking down at Adam I realized that all of his bones in his arms and legs were mangled and broken.

"A pulse rifle won't stop the Queen!" Pastora cried. "We're trapped! There's no way that we can outrun it!"

"Yes you can…." Jiyong replied, slowly walking over to us. He placed a hand on Sunghoon and I's shoulder. "I'll distract it. Go home kids. Live your lives."

"But what about you!?" I cried out. "Your wife! Your daughters!"

"I know." Jiyong sighed and squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. "The escape pod can hardly fit three people. I knew I wasn't going to make it anyways."

"No! We're not leaving without you, Jiyong! There must be another way! We'll think of something!" Pastora cried. "Please!! You have a family!"

"And you're all just kids. It would be selfish of me to leave you four in this mess. Maybe I can find another way…." He took a deep breath and gave us all a smile. "I am an engineer after all!"

"No…" I whimpered, blinking tears away. "I-it's going to kill you!"

"Here." Sunghoon said, passing the pulse rifle over to Jiyong. "It's better than nothing and you'll need it more than us."

Jiyong excepted the pulse rifle and gave us all a nod and a smile.

"You kids can do this. When you enter the escape pod, be sure to activate and seal the doors before you blast the pod out from the station. The escape pod has enough food and water to keep you all alive for two months. If you think you'll be out there longer, limit your portions, do your best judgment. There's a small bathroom in there too."

"Thank you." Sunghoon said, looking into Jiyong's eyes. "For everything."

A low growl from the Queen came from across the hall. Jiyong looked over at the Queen as he nervously adjusted the pulse rifle on his shoulder, he then turned to look at us.

"Good luck, kids."

"Please, be safe." Pastora whispered, placing a hand on his arm. "and maybe one day, we'll meet again."

"Maybe, but if not…please tell my family, I love them. Now go!" Jiyong said before hitting the barrel of the gun against the wall.

"OVER HERE!" He shouted.

The Queen jerked her head in his direction and bared her teeth, hissing at him. Jiyong slowly stepped backwards towards the stairwell, holding the pulse rifle out in front of him. "HERE!" He shouted again before he took up the stairs. The Queen screeched loudly and ran right past us going straight for Jiyong.

My heart hammered in my chest, if we could hardly outrun a drone how could Jiyong possibly outrun a Queen?

Jiyong and the Queen's footsteps began to fade up the stairwell, leaving us four alone once more.

I stepped towards the stairs, staring up at the dark staircase.

"Thank you…" I whispered.

"Chaeyoung, let's go! We don't have much time!" Sunghoon said tugging at my arm.

I turned to him and nodded.

The three of us ran down the hallway as fast as we could, we didn't look back nor did we even stop to take a break.

"Please tell me that Jiyong was able to open the airlock for us!" I cried out, as Sunghoon ran over to it. He slammed his palm down on the red 'OPEN' button and to our relief, the red metal doors opened automatically, giving us access to the airlock.

Like Jiyong said, it was pretty cozy with three seats and a door that I assumed lead to a bathroom. There were a few cabinets labeled 'FOOD' and 'WATER'

We hurried inside and Sunghoon closed and sealed the doors behind us. Pastora and I took our seats and strapped ourselves in. I kept Chelsea close to me and buckled her in with me.

Sunghoon turned to look at us.

"Ready to go home?" He asked, taking his seat in the drivers.

"More than ready." Pastora said, turning to look at me, I gave her a nod.

Sunghoon strapped himself in and studied the keyboard of buttons for a moment before operating the escape pod. A computerized voice spoke out from the speakers.

"Self-destruct in ten seconds...ten…. nine….eight….seven…..six…-"

A loud hiss came from behind the doors of the escape pod along with a series of loud banging noises. Pastora and I exchanged a petrified look.

"They're trying to break through the doors!" Pastora cried!"

"HURRY UP!" Sunghoon shouted, slamming his fist down on the counter.

"Five…. four…..three…."

The pounding got even louder and the doors rattled, and just when I swore they were going to break through the computerized voice finished up its countdown and we were blasted out from the station with an intense speed.

The turbulence was rough and the engine of the escape pod roared loudly beneath us.

"GRAB ONTO SOMETHING!" Pastora cried, as she grabbed to the arm rests of her chair tightly.

I held Chelsea closer to me and my arm rest with my free hand that was now completely healed. Our escape pod flew us out into space at a blinding speed. I turned to look back at The Amhul, my mind on Jiyong.

"Please be safe. Please live." I whispered as I watched the space station get farther and farther away. I could see the other half of The Amhul in flames.

I felt a warm hand over mine as our escape pod started to decrease its speed once Sunghoon was able to figure it out.

I looked over at Pastora, who stared at me with her big brown eyes.

"Are you okay?" She asked me.

"Y-yeah…�� I answered, my voice husky and hoarse. "Better than I've been in a long time…"

"Attention, attention, this is an emergency." Sunghoon spoke into the speakers. My name is Sunghoon. I'm a survivor along with my friends Pastora, Chelsea, and Chaeyoung. We come from The Amhul, a space station by LV-426, if anyone has reached this message please respond. We need help."

The three of us sat there quietly. Waiting. Waiting for someone to respond to our call. Minutes went by then hours.

"It may take days for someone to pick up our call." Chaeyoung muttered, resting his face in his hands.

Static and loud buzzing came from the radio causing the three of us to jump and for Chelsea to stir out from her sleep.

"Hello Sunghoon, I'm Captian Richards from The Mogles. We read you loud and clear." A voice came from the speaker.

The three of us looked at each other and gasped and cried out, puling each other in for hugs.

"Thank you! Thank you SO MUCH!" Pastora cried, as tears fell from her cheeks. "THANK YOU!"

"We should reach you in about three days, do you think you all can make it by then?"

"Yes! We should be fine!" I said as Sunghoon patted my shoulder.

"Very well, we'll call you back when we get closer, hang tight."

The static went out as Captian Richards turned off his speaker.

"I can't believe it." Sunghoon said, running a hand through his hair. "We made it…."

"We're alive." Pastora added, leaning in to kiss his cheek.

"Chaeyoung?" Chelsea whispered against my chest.

I looked down at her, feeling myself starting to tear up. So many different emotions were running through my body at once and I was so exhausted I couldn't tell what I was feeling right now.

She looked at me with her big hazel eyes.

"W-where are we going?" She asked.

I exchanged a smile with Sunghoon and Pastora before I looked back at Chelsea. Ever since this situation with the xenomorphs I'd never thought I'd get to say this word again.

"Home."