Twenty-Five: The Nest

"PASTORA! PASTORA! NOO!!" Sunghoon screamed as the xenomorph dragged her down the hole. Her screams echoed off the walls and grew fainter as fast as it dragged her down there.

"No….no…no…" Sunghoon wailed as he started purposely bumping into the walls.

"I'm sorry kid. She's gone." David said, his voice monotone. "There's nothing we can do."

"YES WE CAN! YOU SHUT UP!" Sunghoon shouted, fuming at him. His eyes were as dark as the night sky and his cheeks were flushed with anger. "YOU GET DOWN THERE AND SAVE HER! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" He turned and looked at me. "WHY DIDN'T YOU BLAST IT!? YOU COULD HAVE STOPPED IT!!"

"No I couldn't!" I cried to my defense. "You saw how it lifted her over his face! It KNEW what would happen! These creatures aren't stupid!"

"You just wait until I get my hands untied!" Sunghoon growled. "I'm going to ring your neck and make you wish that you were never born!"

I looked down at the hole and bit my lower lip. I had no idea where that xenomorph was taking Pastora or if it was too late, but I had to try. I know if I was in her position she would do anything to save me. I let enough people die today.

"No you won't." I say, looking back at Sunghoon.

He raised an eyebrow at me as I stepped right at the edge of the hole.

"Because I'm going after her." I said, looking over my shoulder at David who had a perplexed expression on his face.

"You can't be serious, kid! That's suicide!" David cried.

"Pastora is worth it. I promised Sunghoon that I wouldn't let anything happen to her. My father is going to have to wait." I looked at Chelsea and then back at David. "Take care of her."

"Chaeyoung, no!" Chelsea cried behind me, but I didn't have time to reassure her. I had to save Pastora. I was going to save Pastora.

I took a deep breath and jumped down the hole. Moist warm air whizzed by me, blowing in my face and through my hair. I cried out and squeezed my eyes shut, holding the flamethrower close to my chest as if my life depended on it, which it pretty much did.

I hit the ground as fast as I fell down the hole, landing hard on my side. However, the ground wasn't hard at all. It was…. squishy…and wet. I looked down and really wish that I hadn't.

The reason why the ground was so soft because I had landed on a pile of dead bodies. Each one had a hole the size of an apple in their chest. I could smell the bitter rotting of their decaying bodies and the metallic scent of the dried blood, causing me to gag.

"CHAEYOUNG!!"

I heard faintly in the distance, and at first I thought that it was Chelsea from above, but once I heard the screams I knew right away it was Pastora.

I quickly scrambled to my feet, holding the flamethrower in front of me. I couldn't be scared. Not now. I needed to save my friend.

"PASTORA!" I screamed as loudly as I could.

"CHAEYOUNG! HELP! HELP ME! PLEASE!"

"KEEP TALKING! I NEED TO FIND YOU!" I shouted back, taking a look at my surroundings for the first time.

The area that I have fallen in was dark and resembled a bees or a spider's nest. The ground was wet and filled with puddles, my guess was that there was some leak or it was from all the resin from the xenomorphs.

Pastora said no more, but I could hear her sobbing and shrieking that made my heart sink. I denied the thought of her being eaten.

"DON'T WORRY! I'LL FIND YOU!" I called out, keeping the flamethrower aimed in front of me, using it's torch as light.

There was a low growl from behind me, causing me to nearly crash into one of the slimy walls. I turned and held out my flamethrower to see a xenomorph about ten feet away from me. It's human-like teeth were bared as it slowly stalked towards me.

Was it following me this entire time!? I didn't want to know how many of these drones were down here. From the report that Pastora read, the drones are the ones who protect the Queen in the nest.

The nest. I was in the nest.

The xenomorph that took Pastora was collecting her as a host.

"GET BACK!" I shouted to the xenomorph, pulling the trigger of my flamethrower and releasing fire.

The xenomorph screamed as it's body caught on fire and scrambled away, disappearing down one of the hallways for safety. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears. My hands shook and slipped on the grip of my flamethrower for being so clammy.

I didn't trust having my back in the open. For all I know, that xemomorph could have been watching and following me since I fell in the nest.

Something hard brushed against my leg, causing my heart to flutter. I whirled around and aimed my flamethrower in its direction out of instinct. It was a black-greenish or maybe black-brownish shaped capsule. At the top of it there were four petal shaped points that covered it. I took a step back from it just as the four petals slowly started to unfold.

It was an egg.

Inside it was this pink fleshy-like substance. It was wet and something underneath the skin was moving around. I gasped as a bony leg poked out to the surface and grabbed at the edge of the egg. A soft squelching sound came from the egg, making my stomach turn and my entire body to tense up.

I watched in horror as the rest of its thin spider-like legs appeared from the flesh layer of the egg and gripped onto the opening. The facehugger has sensed me when I bumped into the outer part of its egg. I released the trigger and set the egg ablaze, not letting go until I heard the foul parasite screams die out and the egg coil and burn to crisp.

Looking around, there were at least three eggs lined up against each corner. How I missed this? I had no clue, but I had to be more careful. I glanced over my shoulder expecting another xenomorph to be standing there watching me, but fortunately there wasn't.

Pastora's cries have gone softer but they were still audible.

Slowly, I started in the direction of where her cries were coming from. I tried to mind how loudly I trudged through the water that was only ankle-deep. The less attention that I could attract to the xenomorphs and the facehuggers inside the eggs, the better. I wanted to save as much fuel as I could.

There was no doubt now that there's a queen on the station, and something tells me that I need a lot more than just a flamethrower to kill it.

The further I stepped into the nest, the more the walls resembled ribs. The substance was purplish, a dark purple…almost black. To my relief, I could hear Pastora's voice getting closer. To my horror, there were many corpses or passengers trapped in the purplish substance with holes in their chests or their limbs torn off or throats ripped out, or all together. Their faces were pale and they all had the same pained expression on their lifeless faces.

I didn't want to imagine the pain they've felt and experienced during their last moments alive. Being chestbursted seems like the worst way to go…more painful than drowning I can imagine. I swallowed hard, pushing the thoughts way of the chestburster bursting through your chest cavity.

I looked down at my feet seeing egg after egg alongside of me. I would have felt much better if I could set them all on fire, but I knew I didn't have enough fuel for that. I must have walked by hundreds of them already.

As I looked around in front of me, there were easily about hundreds of more. Maybe thousands. This wasn't good. At all.

I couldn't destroy all these eggs myself and we can't let the nest stay like this, or we'll never make it out of here alive. Something had to be done.

Heavy footsteps thudded loudly from behind me, forcing me to think quickly. I could blast this xenomorph or I could hide from it. The more hiding I did slow me down, but I had to keep in mind that I was by myself now with limited fuel. I may not be as vulnerable as before, but if I overused the flamethrower I would be in more trouble than I already am now.

I spotted a small square-shaped cabinet that was slightly askew in the water. I hurried over to it and climbed inside shutting the small metal doors behind me. I curled my long frame as much as I could in order to fit in the small cabinet. My knees touching my temples. I kept a steady and safe hold on the flamethrower so I wouldn't accidentally blow myself up.

The footsteps got louder, and I could hear them splashing around as the water got deeper. Slowly, I peered through the opening grates of the door to see another drone, possibly the one I burned step in the room, with its grinning teeth.

It craned it's neck up as if it were stretching, but the more I watched I realized that it wasn't stretching. It was smelling.

A low growl came from its throat as it sprinted off, past my hiding place, its long thin tail trailing behind it. I heard Pastora cry out and scream and the xenopmorph growl in response.

"HELP! SOMEONE HELP!"

I pushed the metal doors open nearly ripping them off their hinges as I threw myself out of the small cabinet. Gripping my flamethrower tight, I ran straight for the direction the monster headed to, not even caring at this point if I was alerting the other xenomorphs and facehuggers.

I was not going to risk losing Pastora. Her, Chelsea, and even Sunghoon are the only friends I've ever made in my entire life and it was my job to protect them. I continued to run as fast as my legs could carry me, Pastora's cries echoed off the contaminated walls.

Looking ahead, I spotted two xenomorphs stuffing Pastora into the rib-like structures made out of their resin. The stuff looked impossible to get out of, but fortunately the xenomorphs have only managed to stuff her leg in there.

"HEY!" I shouted, sounding more fearless than I felt.

The two monsters jerked their heads in my direction and hissed loudly at me, not pleased with my arrival.

"Let her go, now." I demand, stepping towards them.

"Chaeyoung!" Pastora cried with relief.

The xenomorphs let go of Pastora, she cried out as she stumbled and tried to regain her balance with her leg being stuck in the resin.

I watched as the two xenomorphs stalked towards me, sneering at me as if this was all a joke. I couldn't help but smirk back.

"You think this is funny? Good. Then start laughing." I say as I release a body of fire at them.

To my surprise they continued to walk towards me, with their bodies on fire and all. I backed away in a panic and continued to roast them. "What the-die already!!" I cry in frustration, starting to worry about the amount of fuel I had left in the tank.

Were they starting to build a tolerance?

I let go of the trigger and took off down the hall, sprinting as fast as I could. The xenomorphs screeched and I could hear them sprinting after me. They were getting closer with every step.

"CHAEYOUNG! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Pastora shouted after me.

I couldn't respond, not now. I continued to run down the corridor, keeping caution of the eggs and how far away I was getting from Pastora.

Suddenly I felt a strong cold hand grab at my ankle, causing me to lose my footing and hit the floor. Water splashed up in my face and up my nose causing me to sputter and gag.

I looked up at the xenomorph as it hovered over me with a grin on its face. Drool ran down its mouth as it leaned closer to me. I held up the flamethrower and bashed it on the side of the face causing it to shriek and open its mouth where I blasted fire in.

The xenomorph screamed and backed into the other one causing it to stumble and loose its footing. I watched, breathing loudly as the two xenomorphs fell to the ground. The one with its mouth on fire, crushing and trapping the other one.

I didn't know how long the two were going to stay like that, and I didn't want to waste any time that I had to save Pastora. I got up to my feet and hurried over to Pastora as fast as I could.

Pastora remained where she was, unharmed but still stuck in the resin. She looked up at me, her big brown eyes were full of tears and her hair was tangled and a few strands stuck to her face that was flustered and sweaty.

"Chaeyoung! You came for me! I knew you would!" She said, as tears started to fell down her cheeks.

I hurried over to her and pulled her in for a big hug, I could feel myself tearing up.

"Of course I did. I'm so glad you're alive…now let's get you out of here."

"I don't know if I can…." Pastora replied, looking down at her leg that was burrowed in the resin. "It's stuffed deep in there. If I try to move or pull out of it…. I think I might end up breaking my leg…"

"This may sound really heartless and gruesome Pastora, but either you break your leg…or you die here…." I turn to look over at the two xenomorphs who were still shrieking and twisted together from where I left them. "We don't have much time. We have the medkits, and I can carry you. Just try." I look back at her and bend down grabbing at the rib-like structure.

I started to pull and tug as hard as I could. It was hard as rock.

"I understand what you mean, Chaeyoung…. but I can't even move my leg! I'm trying right now…I'm completely stuck! I'm so sorry for putting you in this danger! Please, leave me and get out while you can…."

"NO!" I snapped, looking up at her. "I promised Sunghoon that I wouldn't let anything happen to you. And I'm keeping that promise. You're my friend, and I will do whatever it takes to keep you alive."

Pastora looked at me in disbelief. "I would never forgive myself if something happened to you, Chaeyoung….."

"We can't think about that right now. We just need to focus on getting you out of here, alright!?" I stand up to my feet and raise my leg and bring it down as hard as I could on the resin. To my relief a bit of it broke off and fell into the puddle around our feet.

"It-its working!!" Pastora cried, looking at me with a big smile.

I brought my leg back up and down as hard as I could onto the resin, breaking off a few more pieces. Then I raised the flamethrower and smashed the handle as hard as I could against the resin causing more of the structure to break off.

I repeated that action, but this time it didn't budge.

"No….no! We're so close!!" I cry, smashing the flamethrower against the resin again.

"Let me try and get out now…you were able to break off its base I think." Pastora said, I could tell she was trying to stay calm but I could hear the fear in her voice.

"Hold onto me." She said, holding out her hand. "I'm going to try and wiggle my leg out…and if it doesn't work, pull me out as hard as you can."

I nod and grab her hand, holding it tightly. It was warm and felt so comforting to me, despite our situation.

Pastora grunted and narrowed her brows as she started to wiggle and tug her leg that was still trapped in the rib-like structure.

"Is it easier? Or the same as before?" I ask.

"It's the same…." She wailed, letting out a strangled cry. "It hurts! It-it's digging into my leg Chaeyoung!"

I hear a soft noise behind me. I whirl around spotting an egg directly across from us. Its petals were slowly starting to unfold just like that other one.

I turn to look back at Pastora.

"Pastora. We have to get out of here now. There is an egg containing a facehugger right across from us. If we don't get out now, we're going to be dead like the rest of them. I'm going to have to start pulling you out."

Pastora looked at me, her face blotchy as tears continued to fall from her face. She swallowed hard and nodded. "Don't hold back."

Setting down my flamethrower I grabbed onto Pastora's arms as tightly as I could and spread my legs out for a stable stance as I started to pull her out of the resin. The resin crackled and started to crumble apart from my force. Pastora cried out and held onto my arms tightly, I could feel her nails digging into my arms.

"I'M ALMOST THERE!" I reassured her, as I pulled her out forcefully, I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my viens. I clenched my teeth together and yanked her out with all the strength my body had to offer, splitting the resin that trapped her leg in two, causing us both to go flying to the ground.

"W-we did it!" Pastora cried, quickly getting off to me and helping me to my feet.

"Are you okay!?" I ask, collecting my flamethrower and eyeing her leg carefully. I noticed a crimson circle starting to expand on her pant leg, getting wider by the second.

"I'm fine! Let's get out of here!"

"Can you walk!?"

"I think so!"

A high pitched screech came from behind us, reminding me of the little terror that was across from us. I look back at the egg seeing it's been completely opened with the newly hatched facehugger on top of it, its tail sprung up ready to propel itself at us.

"Pastora, RUN!" I cry, pulling the trigger of the flamethrower and blasting the facehugger just as it leaped at us. It screamed and curled up in a ball before it hit the floor.

Deep growls echoed down the hallway along with a loud series of splashes. I almost forgot about the two xenomorphs.

"Where are we going to go!?" Pastora asked, looking at me with a frantic expression. "We don't know how big this nest is or where the closest exit is!"

"We're going to have to find one." I reply, taking her hand In my free one. "Are you ready!?"

Pastora looked up at me as she tightened her hand around mine.

"Let's get out of here."