Snippet #2243840

Klaw

Subject X dashed through the caverns of the hive, the head of the group of 5. The hive was connected to all of the mining tunnels, which allowed much mobility throughout the southern end of the colony. Mining Shaft 4 had its entrance right in the center of a group of jungle themed hotels and commercial buildings, and it was here that Subject X was headed. If someone were to be watching the caverns, they would see complete darkness, that is until, the lightning lit them up and revealed the monsters within.

When the group reached the the Entrance of Mine Shaft 4, Klaw slithered along the outside walls of the entrance and then into the drainage chambers, which ran just under the surface of the area and were visible if standing above them. The group, following Klaw, made their way into one of the smaller hotels, where they could smell the cowering humans in the basement. Thunder crackled as they burst through the front window, and like a single unit, scurried into the ventilation shafts. The ventilation system swooped down into the basement and circled around it, and without a sound, the xenomorph pack quickly surrounded the basement while staying hidden in the vents.

The basement was in the shape of a rectangle, about 35 by 40 feet. The stairs came down straight along the east wall. The room was empty of furniture, save a TV, a coffee table, and 2 couches, one of which was barricading the door and the other facing the TV. The only light came from the TV, which was connected to a small generator. Cans of food covered the coffee table. There were five civilians in the basement, 3 men and 2 women. They were all wearing rather expensive clothing, but for them it was probably casual. The first man, a young white man, was leaned up against the east wall at the bottom of the stairs with a rifle in hand. He held the rifle with his right hand and let the end of the barrel touch the floor. In his other hand was a cigarette, which he'd occasionally take a drag of. The second guy leaned against the back of the couch, watching the TV. He was an older white man with gray hair now, but had tight facial features from scowling. He held a pistol in his right hand, which hung at his side. The last man, a young black man, sat in the middle of the couch with his legs crossed on his lap. The two women sat on both sides of him, and they were identical, twins.

The woman to the right of the black man looked over to the man by the stairs. "Jim, when can we go back up? We've been down here for days now and nothing has tried to break in. I think those things are gone now." She tilted her head and gave Jim the sad eyes.

Jim took another drag before answering. "Well, we should probably wait for the storm to pass. Don't want to be running around in the rain, we'll ruin our clothes. You remember what happened last time we got caught in the rain, don't you Lucy?"

The older man, James Sr., looked at them both like they were stupid. "Are you two stupid? Those things smacked Jerry around like he was a rag doll." He looked back to the TV. "There hasn't even been an alert on the television, what the fuck do the people in the city think happened down here? We can't even contact them, not since the power down here was cut." He snapped his head to Jim. "If you want to go out there and find out if those things are still out there, be my guest. But that door is locking behind you, and don't expect me to open the door for you when you're crying to let you back in."

There was a vent right behind Jim, and Klaw positioned himself right in the vent. Two of the other xenos were already on the ceiling, blending in with the darkness. The remaining two slowly started to creep up from behind James Sr.

Jim, in response to his father, took a few steps forward and held the rifle with two hands. "Now I'll have you know I am one of the best shooters out there, and no ugly ass alien is going to stand a chance against that." Jim kicked a nearby bucket over to the other side of the room.

Using the sound of the bucket to stay hidden, Klaw cut through the vent quickly and crawled out like a snake. Klaw stood up on both legs behind Jim, its head touching the ceiling.

Jim continued on his cocky rant. "In fact, if I ever see on again, I'm going to splatter its brains all over-" He stopped his rant short when he saw the bugged out eyes of everyone else in the room that were looking behind him. He slowly turned his head. He began to raise he rifle and let out a "Fuck!", before Klaw grabbed the rifle with its right hand and back handed Jim in the stomach with its left hand. The gun let off a loud bang that blended in with the crackling of thunder. The hit sent Jim across the room and into the opposite wall. In perfect synchronization with this, the other xenos each tagged their target and lunged for them. The civilians were all knocked unconscious, except for Jim, who was now starting to get up, and James Sr., who was impaled from behind when he brought his pistol up the shoot Klaw. Jim, who got to one knee after struggling to get up, looked forward to see what was going on. Unfortunately for him, Klaw's face makes a better door than a window, and once he realized he was face to face with this monster, all he could do was shake with fear. Klaw brought its tail around to the side of his head and slammed it to the floor. He was kept alive however, but was now probably a vegetable.

They dragged the living civilians back to the Mine Shaft 4 entrance, leaving them only a little further than the entrance. They secreted pheromones on the bodies so the drones of the hive would come get them so that they could be used as hosts.

After leaving the bodies, Subject X took his pack down into the southern sewers, looking for more hosts...

Daniels

Mark looked at the faces of the other marines before they landed. They were all ready, but few had anything close to a smile on their face. The strong impact of the rain could be heard hitting the aircraft. The ride was a little rough, and the landing wasn't much better. The marines poured out. They stood still, lined up, awaiting orders. They had landed in a small clearing in the jungle, very close to the southern end of the colony. The rain seemed to land like bombs, exploding with water when they landed. There were 5 squads in the clearing, with a tough-as-nails black man, Master Sergeant Banks, taking position in front of everyone.

He stared at the squads for a little, until finally barking the orders. "Your orders are to sweep the northern part of this jungle until you arrive at the colony. From there you are going to make sure the civilian zone is clear of all threats, and then you will report in to me. Is That Clear!?"

The response was a thundering "Yes Sir!", loud enough to be heard over the thunder itself. The squads all checked their gear one last time, then stood in their formations.

Sergeant Bills once again looked over the marines. "We are talking this very seriously, and after what happened at the Garring Colony, are making sure we have the manpower to keep any more incidents from occurring again." He cracked his neck. "You all know what route you are taking, Now Move Out Marines!"