Twenty-Six: The Warrior

High pitched shrieks and hisses came from behind us, they bounced off the rib-like structured walls and right through our eardrums. Heavy footsteps thundered after us as the shrieking continued.

Pastora and I sprinted as fast as we could from the footsteps behind us, keeping our hands linked together and careful of the thousands of eggs all around the floor.

I was starting to think of how foolish it was to run from these creatures, when they're agility is twice as fast than Pastora and I's, maybe even more. However, my flamethrower only had so much fuel and I feared of wasting it on the two xenomorphs I've previously encountered, they hardly flinched as they came after me.

I blinked rapidly as sweat began to fall into my eyes. I was completely soaked, and so was Pastora. The temperature in the nest must be at least a hundred and five degrees. Not only was it hot but it was also extremely humid.

It was almost impossible to tell what area of the tower we were in due to the wasp, rib-like design of the nest from the xenomorphs. It was dark in each area and the walls were covered with resin and web-like structures. Some had corpses in them and each one of them has a bloody hole in the center of their chests.

"This way!" Pastora cried out, pulling on my arm in her direction.

I wasn't in any position to argue, not to mention we didn't have much time, so I just had to trust her with whatever decision she decided to make.

We took a sharp turn down a narrow corridor that seemed a lot darker than the previous ones, and to my liking, less eggs.

The xenomorphs screeched behind us, their footsteps were getting closer.

"They're gaining on us! We can't keep running!" I cried, feeling my heart pounding against my ribcage.

Pastora ignored my comment and continued to run towards the end of the hallway. I strained my eyes to see what was at the end of it. I kept hoping that it was an elevator or an air duct that we could use as an escape route, but it was just a metallic wall with a ladder.

"We're not going to make it!" I cried, my voice cracking halfway through my sentence.

"We have to! It's all we got!!" Pastora wheezed, she gasped loudly and was starting to slow down.

"Pastora, come on! We're almost there!" I cried, holding her hand tightly just as she collapsed to her knees gasping for air.

I stumbled to a stop and ended up tripping over a root, falling face first into a puddle of dirty water again. I gagged and scrambled up to my knees and looked up at the two xenomorphs that have been chasing us this entire time.

The two monsters stood above us, sneering. Drool poured out of their mouths like waterfalls as deep growling came from their throats.

Pastora gasped and grabbed onto me as we slowly backed away from the xenomorphs. To our horror, another one appeared behind the two, and this one looked different.

This xenomorph was taller than the others, at least by a foot, it had a ridged skull and unlike the others who had needle-shaped tails, this one's was shaped like a blade. It looked much heavier than the other two and had blade-like protrusions at its elbows. It glared down at us and aggressively shoved the other xenomorphs out of its way.

"A warrior…" Pastora whispered, grabbing onto my arm.

A Warrior!? Great. It was a different type of xenomorph Pastora had mentioned earlier.

I held up my flamethrower, my hands were trembling along with the rest of my body. It would be a miracle if we made it out of here alive.

The two xenomorphs hissed angrily in response to the warrior's action. The warrior growled back in warning to the two xenomorphs and stepped closer to them. I took advantage of the threat the warrior was creating. I raised the nozzle of the flamethrower and pulled the trigger, engulfing the three xenomorphs in a body of fire. The three of them howled and screamed loudly as they were engulfed In flames.

"GO, PASTORA! NOW!" I cried, keeping my fingers on the trigger releasing more and more fire. I knew by now that the flamethrower wasn't going to kill any of these xenomorphs, but at least it slowed them down, and that was much better than nothing.

Pastora scrambled up to her feet and hurried for the ladder. "I'm not leaving without you Chaeyoung!" She cried.

"GO!!" I screamed, sounding more demanding than I wanted to. Pastora is the last person I want to yell at, but I know that being assertive was the only way I could get her to safety.

This time she did not hesitate with my tone and quickly climbed up the ladder. I slowly backed away from the three screaming xenomorphs as I continued to release fire. I watched as they stumbled into another, clawed at the hot air, and stumbled into the walls.

"Come on!! GO ALREADY!" I shout, pulling the trigger further. The dark hallway glowed with a blinding white and orange color, the fire almost touching the roof of the ceiling of the cave.

The two xenomorphs let out a deafening scream before they scampered off down the hallway hissing loudly at another in pain. The warrior has not moved from its spot but seemed dazed from the fire. Wasting no time, I released the trigger and hurried up the ladder climbing it as fast as I could with one hand, while my casted one cradled the flamethrower to my chest.

Pastora was waiting patiently at the top for me, her eyes as big as plates and her chest was heaving violently. She looked like she was about to throw up and I wanted to do everything that I could to help her, but I had to make sure we were safe first.

"Come on…. the warrior….is on to us…" I gasped, as I pulled myself up and over the edge. I stumbled to my feet and took her hand in mine. I started to break out into a run, not caring anymore if I attracted more xenomorphs. I believed that no matter what we did, we were still going to attract them.

A deep growl came from below us and there was a loud THUD! That came after it. I looked over my shoulder to see the warrior coming after us in full speed, running on all fours. Its mouth wide open, teeth bared and covered in saliva. It huffed and roared angrily as it galloped after us.

I cried out as my legs gave out below me, as I was suddenly pulled in the opposite direction. I squeezed my eyes shut hoping and praying that it wasn't another xenomorph. I landed hard on my side, the floor was cold and hard beneath me and a soft whoosh-ing noise came across from me.

"Shh…."

I swallowed hard realizing it was Pastora. As I slowly opened my eyes, I discovered she had pulled us into an air duct.

The warrior was growling and breathing loudly from the other side. Its loud footsteps thundered as it paced back and forth across the airduct. Slowly, Pastora and I began to scoot back from the spiral door, trying to make as little noise as possible but there was no way that the warrior didn't hear or see us.

I held up my flamethrower to the spiral door, hearing my heart pound in my ears. My entire began to tremble again and a soft gasp escaped my mouth as the spiral door opened.

The warrior stuck its large head through the circular door and let out a deep growl as it sniffed through the air, sensing us.

I pulled the trigger and shot the warrior with fire, it growled loudly and backed away from the vent. I released the trigger and watched In disbelief as the warrior started to crawl into the vent with us.

My eyes filled up with tears. We were doomed. My flamethrower wasn't going to stop this thing. I'd just be wasting fuel and our time if I kept blasting it.

"I-I'm so sorry….Pastora…" I choked on my own sob, cowardly collapsing against her as I started to weep.

The warrior's lips stretched into a big smile, reviling its sharp human-like teeth. Knowing that it had cornered its prey and was about to get a double feast.

Pastora didn't respond, and I couldn't blame her either. I had promised that I wouldn't allow anything to happen to her, and I've failed. I've failed to find my father and I've failed to protect my friends.

I watched as the warrior paused at the rustling sound coming from Pastora's bag. It was too dark In the vent to see much of anything, but if I strained hard enough I could just make out the shadow of her hand as she reached into her bag, and pulled out a circular object. It lit up as she flipped a switch with her thumb. It was a flash bang.

I turned back to the warrior that stood by the door of the vent watching us curiously. I was shocked and thankful that it didn't attempt to kill us yet.

"Cover your ears, and crawl up the duct." Pastora said, keeping her eyes on the warrior.

I obliged and covered my ears with my hands as she hurled the flash bang at the warrior. The stun grenade released a blinding flash of light that might as well have been brighter than the sun. It exploded in front of the warrior with a loud BANG!! That rattled my ears and made them ring.

"HURRY!!" Pastora's voice came out in a eerie and echoed whisper, along with the warriors scream.

I grabbed the flamethrower and scrambled up the air duct as fast as I could. I could feel Pastora besides me. All I could see was a foggy white blur and hear a loud ringing that throbbed and traveled through my ear canal, possibly rapturing my eardrum.

Pastora and I made our way through the air duct, crawling madly.

I ignored the aching pain in my ears, arms, legs, and lungs. Along with the pain in my broken hand that I was putting pressure on. I almost completely forgot that Pastora still had her bag on her. I wasn't sure if the flash bang stalled the warrior completely but I had to assume so. I had to keep moving. Even though Pastora and I had no idea where this air duct lead to….

We had to assume that it's a safer place than the nest.

A/N: Ahh yes, the lovely warriors! I wonder where the Queen is? Or...Chaeyoung's father???

Well....the answer to that second question is: Very nearby.