26

Zheng looked around at everyone. “I don’t know what you’re all thinking, but to bring the Aliens to Earth? Even if I don’t belong to this world, even if I can live for a few more years, I can’t allow myself to do this. I can’t…”

Then he hesitated, he was going to say he would continue fighting even if he was the only one left, but he couldn’t say that last line. He was still afraid of dying deep within him.

Xuan nodded. “You probably think the second plan is crazy. Though if the conditions are there, I believe the second plan is more dependable. But there are two flaws in this plan, if we can’t fix the flaws, then there is a possibility of failure. First, since the plot has already changed, we can’t guarantee that the government won’t destroy this spacecraft before we reach Earth. Do you think they don’t have such weapons with their technology?”

“Second, I worry if the isolating steel walls can actually trap the Aliens. Since their blood is highly corrosive. In Alien Resurrection, they used their blood to escape from the prison. If they use the same tactics here, then I think the next time we wake up, we will see them jumping at our faces.”[1]

Zero said coldly, “Then why do you suggest the plan if there are so many flaws?”

Xuan waved his hand. “Even with the flaws, it’s still the safer plan. You should know that once we choose the first plan, we will have to fight the Aliens head on. The walls won’t save us if we fail. And failing means everyone will die. Plus we have to take such risks multiple times. Do you have to confidence to survive these trials?”

Kampa said, “Isn’t there an old Chinese saying, live as a hero, die as a …ghost hero. Something like this. I don’t want to give my fate to uncertainty. What if we can’t wake up again? In comparison, I’d rather get a hold of my own future. Even if I am to die, I will die fighting, and not live on a gamble of fate.”

He got more emotional as he spoke. The last line even came out in Russian. Xuan had to translate it for him.

Jie nodded immediately. “I also think we should choose the one that we have control of. Even though it’s dangerous, we will have control over the situation and not depend on luck to survive.”

The others nodded silently. Xuan sighed. “Fine then. We will vote. I think that will be the most fair.”

The results were unexpected, even though the first choice won, only four people voted for it: Zero, Kampa, Zheng, and Jie. Aside from Xuan and Shuai choosing the second plan, even Lan chose it.

Xuan exhaled. “Since we’ve decided to fight, then I will respect your decision. Let’s face the Aliens together. First of all, please have Zheng take out the food and water. I think everyone is hungry by now right?”

Zheng laughed then focused his Qi. He had recovered some Qi from the resting, though it’s not enough for a fight.

A few seconds later, there were boxes of biscuits, bread, cheese, dried meat and water. After taking all the food out, Xuan was the first one to crouch beside it. He opened some boxes then counted the number of bottled water. “There is an adequate amount of food, if we limit our portions, it can last seven people about a week. But I suggest we split this into portions for three days. Then we can stay full and have the energy to fight.”

Lan had been avoiding Zheng since she chose the second plan. At the moment, she habitually wanted to touch her forehead, yet there was a hole in her shoulder. She didn’t realize it during the run due to nervousness, but it was painful as she calmed down. She touched her forehead with the other hand and said, “Why not split the food for seven days? If we can wait for the Aliens to get trapped and isolated, then we can clear a safe path to the kitchen. By that time we might not even have to fight them and just starve them.”

The others also looked at Xuan with confusion. He smiled bitterly. “I also thought about this hypothesis, but a few reasons made me abandon a dragged out fight. First, we don’t know the biological structure of Aliens, what if they are similar to some desert creatures in Earth and can hibernate days without food and water? Then we can’t compete with them by lasting longer. It may even be that once we finish all the food and water, we will be the ones that are trapped.”

“Second, how many people do we have here? Seven, yes, I remembered when we first woke up, we had fifteen people. Then where did the other eight go? To be more accurate, where did the flesh of the other eight go? Then add in the bodies of the movie characters, this is enough for the Aliens to maintain low level activities.”

“Third, this is the most important one, I don’t want to push the Aliens to desperation. If we actually trapped them and got to the kitchen, then when they are extremely hungry, can you be certain that they won’t use their blood to corrode the wall and come to eat us? Therefore I’d rather get well rested and fight the Aliens within a shorter period of time. This is the best strategy I can come up.”

Zheng exhaled. “If we can survive this movie… then you will get the most credit. What else do you have in mind? Just say it all out. Since we are comrades, we will trust you with everything.”

Everyone else nodded silently and looked towards Xuan. Even though they didn’t want to admit it, but his wisdom surpassed everyone. They knew his importance in a situation like this.

Xuan smiled. “To be honest, I heard Jie say that there will be new people in every movie and the qualities of these people are not guaranteed. The power of a single person is limited in many horror movies. If we can survive through this one, and enter more dangerous movies, I hope my team can at least have the courage and strength to live on. Then I will contribute my brain, otherwise everything will be meaningless. In the seven of us, at least six people are elites. I am very satisfied with this team, I hope we can all survive… at least the six of us can survive.”

Shuai’s face got red. He was just a normal young man and had no speciality. Of course he recognized Xuan was talking about him. Then Zheng patted on his shoulder. “Rest assured, as long as you can survive, you can train yourself to become stronger. Don’t give up hope.”

Shuai looked at him thankfully. Then Xuan continued, “So, my isolating plan is… bait! Open up a section of the walls, then lure the Aliens into our plan. This bait will be Li Shuaixi!”

Alien Resurrection (1997) is the fourth film Alien franchise. This is the Alien escape scene Xuan is referencing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFN4NtioY8Q