The Tracker

After two hours of slow movement through the humid forest, the group took rest upon the ground. The Marines where talking quietly amongst themselves. Nix sat with Fagan and Sadrokov, all three silent as the grave.



They were being stalked. Nix had known it not even an hour into their small journey. Above them where three of the predators, unseen so far by the rest of them. She could not speak for the two Death Dealers, however. Occasionally she could see Sadrokov glance out the corner of his eye in the direction that Nix had noted. She refused to say anything about it because she didn’t want to alert the Hunters. She had no doubt that they would recognize the movements of their prey going into defense, no matter how subtle, if not the words spoken to organize themselves.



“Nix…” Nix looked at the Russian and cocked an eyebrow. His voice was almost inaudible. She pressed a finger to her lips and gave him the barest shake of the head. The man looked confused for a moment, his eyes drifting towards the Predator’s position. Nix kicked him in the shin and he swung forward to her.



“Sadrokov, I’m not blind. Knock it off.” She said emphatically. Again, the Russian looked confused before dawning came across his face and he nodded, massaging his shin gingerly.



“No need kick. Hurts.” He complained lightly. Fagan nudged him.



“Just be glad she didn’t aim higher.” He said, the right sight of his mouth quirked upward in a crooked grin. Nix noticed one gold cap with a blue stone, possibly sapphire, embedded at it’s center.



“What’s with the stone?” Nix asked. Fagan looked back at her and grinned even wider.



“Ah. Like that do you? Actually, it’s my daughter Olivia’s birthstone. Twenty-one this year if you can believe it.” The man said proudly. His face dropped slightly. “Course, she wants nothing to do with me. Her mother and I got a divorce when she was twelve and Jennifer’s been poisoning her mind against me since. Won’t even take my letters.” He said, shrugging. A sad smile graced his lips after a moment. “At least I know she’s doing good, though. Going to an Ivy League college and getting straight A’s. Wants to be a Lawyer.”



Nix looked away from him, the sudden pang in her heart unwelcome and distracting. She closed her eyes and cleared the thoughts from her mind.



“What’s with the capsules?” Fagan asked. Nix let go of them, unaware that she had her hand around them and opened her eyes. She stared at the red-haired man, and then the Russian who was looking expectant and interested. To her surprise, the Marines stopped speaking and looked back at her as well.



She felt pressure suffocating her from the inside out. They were all looking at her, waiting for her to say something. Why? Why were they looking at her? She clenched her jaw and looked at the ground, choosing to remain silent. She didn’t know any of them. She didn’t have to tell them anything, and she wouldn’t.



Fagan noticed her tense and patted the top of her booted foot. It took a great deal of self control not to kick his hand for touching her.



“Never mind, Darlin’. None of our business.” He said, reassuringly. The Marines looked away and began speaking amongst themselves again.



Nix tried to smile a little, but couldn’t. Suddenly, her face hardened and she shot to her feet, alerting the others.



“Shut up!” she warned, stark still and ears perked. In the silence that followed, she could hear the sound of a scream somewhere not far from them. The scream of a man.



“The Doc…” Ramone said, getting to his feet.



“No.” Nix quickly replied. “No, it’s coming from the opposite direction. That way.” She pointed. Another sound hit their ears, a shriek like the sound of nails on a chalk board. Then more of them in tandem. Sadrokov cringed.



“The Xenomorph.” Nix said in a hushed tone. She immediately felt the group around her tense, the click of guns cocking. She did not reach for a weapon. Instead, she knelt to the ground and lay the side of her head on the earth, hand outstretched in front of her and closed her eyes. The vibrations of the world hit her, making sense. Her father once told her that to hear something coming through the movement waves it makes is one of the most difficult things to do, for humans. Animals, many of them, had the talent naturally. But because the human race tuned so much out, it was lost on them.



She took a breath and quieted her heart to a low beat, trying to discern anything she could. She was unaware of the strange looks that her fellows were giving her, or the interested looks of their stalkers. After a moment, she sat up and got to her feet.



“They are heading directly for us. Twenty, maybe twenty-one or twenty-two.”



Lewitts cleared his throat.



“Remember, we stick together no matter what. We cover each other’s backs. Don’t let anything through. If anyone dies, mourn later. We can’t afford to lose ourselves right now.”



Nix glanced back at him. “Lewitts, we lost ourselves the moment we got off that chopper. Do you honestly think they expect any of us to come back alive?”



“We can’t have that attitude, or we won’t make it out.” Lewitts said forcefully.



Nix smirked and turned, looking ahead. The trees were moving restlessly, the birds and wildlife silent as the dead, and somewhere ahead of her, Cal and Sam stood waiting.





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The sound of the Kiande Amedha was like a song, and it filled the unblooded with a thrill that Blade could remember very well. The Oomans below them heard the screech and huddled together like their bovine creatures in a storm.



“Remember, the Pyode Amedha we encounter will only be free to you after you make your mark with the blood of your Kiande Amedha kill. The only exception is if the Oomans get in your way. If the Oomans get in your way and you must kill them, a trophy will not be taken from them. This is the Kiande Amedha Chiva. If the Oomans live, hunt them after you have taken all of Kiande Amedha. Not even a single hard meat can live.” They had been told before they left the ship. Blade was the exception to this as a Blooded warrior, but the Oomans were not high on his motivation at the moment, with the exception of the Nix.



How defensive she got when the capsules around her neck were asked about. It was enough to intrigue him further, leaving him wishing he knew as well. What could be so important to her that she centered herself protectively about it, as if her very life force were contained within?



The Unblooded looked to him and rumbled in curiosity. Blade waved his hand in the direction of the Kiande Amedha. With that permission, they jumped ahead and disappeared. Blade watched them and then looked back down at the Oomans. Weapons were in hand and ready at the smallest movement, almost every one of them coiled like serpents. The red-haired male and Nix were relaxed and centered, their eyes missing nothing. Nix did not hold a weapon.



He crouched lower to the branches, the sight of shining black creeping carefully below him to the side, out of sight of the smaller creatures below.



The female’s eyes moved to the Kiande Amedha’s position and her knees bent, shifting into a position very much like the Yautja above. Her hand rested on the large, dull black blade she had been using to cut down the vegetation. Blade trilled quietly in amusement. She would be better off using the ranged weapons she had like the other Oomans.



The black-haired male, Sadrokov, followed her lead. Nix held her hand back to him slowly, seeming to reach for something. Sadrokov pulled an egg-sized device from one of the hidden pockets of his clothing. She took it gently, her hand leaving the blade to pull something from the egg. Blade recognized it now. A Gr-en-ade.



Once the pin was clear, she threw it at the Kiande Amedha and rolled to her side, backing behind a tree. The explosion filled the air, blocking the sky with black smoke and heat. The Xenemorph screamed in its death, alerting the others, who moved faster in the aftermath. The Unblooded were locked in battle, their roars loud and clear now. If anything, the sound spooked the Oomans more than before.



With a yell, the Lead Military unleashed a volley of gunfire as the Kiande Amedha broke into their area. The others followed suit.



As he watched the battle unfold the Oomans fall, he was unaware of the female he had been watching so carefully swinging herself onto the same branch as him.



With admirable balance, she reached for several of the smaller projectile weapons she carried and threw them, one missing, the other three lodging themselves into the weak joints of the hard exoskeletons.



Blade swung his head around to see her, surprised. She paid him no mind. It was almost as if she did not know he was there. She pulled the dull black blade from its place on her side, as well as another that she had not used yet.



With a war-cry to rival even the Yautja warriors, she dove from the branch, straight into the mess below.



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Nix was blind with adrenalin. The explosion set her off in ways she had never felt before, and before she knew it, she was scaling the tree she had used to protect herself from the blast. With a graceful heave, she stood steadily upon the branch, the cool metal of the throwing daggers leaving a tingle in her hands. Her skin felt like it was crawling, her mind was as clouded as the sky. She knew and understood one thing: fight. What made it even more firm in her mind was the sound of Cal’s voice telling her to do it.



Fight. Live. Fight. FIGHT!



She was aware of the being next to her, but only barely. She pulled her machetes out and screamed, the yell inhuman even to her ears. Without hesitation, she jumped, blades prepared to swing. Sadrokov and Lewitts were distracted by her movement. Sadrokov immediately found the sharp ebon tail through his gut, bits of intestine tangled around it. Lewitts was lucky. He picked himself back up and kept fighting.



Nix landed hard on the back of the xenemorph below her, swinging the blade in a powerful arch through the creature’s long head. It fell dead beneath her, acidic blood pooling and burning the ground. She immediately spun the blades in her hand, the speed throwing the caustic liquid from its metal meal. She jumped to the next one, slicing through the tale before plunging it deeply into the side of the creatures head, the blade burning away even as the creature joined its fellow. She pulled a smaller dagger from her side and jammed that into the xenemorph that was trying to pull Fagan apart.



Blind. Unfeeling. Dull. Red. Clouded. Kill. Fight. Kill…



She felt something pointed force its way below her collarbone, through her shoulder. With a scream of pain, she pulled herself from it, hearing the sound of crunching as she did, and pulled her gun, unloading the clip into the alien.



The clearing was devoid of life. The Marines, even Lewitts, were dead…Sadrokov…How had it happened? Weren’t they supposed to be the best? She collapsed against a tree, breathing heavily. She couldn’t feel her arm. Where was Fagan?



Xenemorph bodies were littered around, blood eating through everything it came in contact with. She looked to her side at the dead alien Lewitts had killed first and kicked it forcefully.



“Fuckers…Son of a bitch…” she cursed, her hand reaching up to gingerly touch the wide hole in her shoulder.





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