Survivors

The moon was hidden by banks of heavy cloud. The rain fell in an incessant downpour of massive droplets. Heavy rain, really heavy rain seemed to slow the Aliens sensors, not a lot it’s true, only a fraction of a second, but any advantage no matter how small was worth having. In the cold darkness of a river that ran past the base Holly and Joe slid silently through the water towing a pack each behind them. Both were shaped like giant crocodiles. When they did break the surface it was only the very tips of their snouts and it was only for a second or two. They caused barely a ripple before submerging again. Luke was flying high above the river using his bat senses to scan the river bank and ahead to the Alien base further downstream.

They had been over the plan a thousand times. They knew exactly what each other were going to do, they knew exactly what Aliens were in the base. To all intents and purposes they knew exactly what to expect, which was exactly why each of them was so absolutely terrified. This was the first time that they had ever taken the fight to the Aliens. It felt strange, oddly exhilarating and also totally petrifying.

Holly and Joe sank to the bottom of the river and took their guns out of their packs. They were still tightly wrapped inside big plastic bags to keep the water out, but slitting the plastic with a razor sharp claw and freeing the guns would take a matter of seconds. They waited, looking up through the water for the first sign of Luke’s attack. The moments seemed to drag into hours and they could feel their hearts pounding hard in their chests.

High above them Luke hovered. Even though his wings beat swiftly his body and head were completely still. He flicked the safety catch off on his laser rifle and looked down the sight. There were three turrets on the base, each with a laser mounted on the top. Luke practiced aiming his gun at each turret moving swiftly and accurately from one turret to the other. When he was happy he knew the exact distance between each target he returned his aim to the first turret. He took a deep breath, carefully lined up the sight and fired. Almost before the first energy bolt had hit he was already lining up the second target.

The flash of the first explosion was Holly and Joe’s cue to push off from the river bed. Before they broke the surface the second and third turrets were already smoking ruins. In semi crocodile form they dived for the river bank and slashed the plastic off their rifles.

The large metal doors to the base started to slide open and four Alien hunter killers appeared in the doorway. From the activity on the array of lights on the front panel of the hunter killers it was obvious that they were frantically scanning for the attackers. Holly and Joe, because of the cold, the mud they were covered in and being ninety percent reptile, were barely giving off any body heat and therefore didn’t register as potential targets to the Alien weapon systems.

High above them Joe was already streaking away into the night sky with powerful beats of his giant wings. There was a moments pause, almost as if everyone was holding their breath (which they weren’t, because Aliens don’t breath). Then absolutely simultaneously Holly and Joe opened fire. Joe took out the two Aliens on the left and Holly took out the two on the right. The laser rifles had more than enough power to punch straight through the Aliens armour into the delicate circuitry and machinery below. Sparks and flares were rapidly followed by a series of short sharp explosions as the killers ruptured from the inside out.

Holly and Joe didn’t actually see this happen as they were already on their feet and running, hard! Huge cheetah like leg muscles made them faster than any Olympic sprinter. As they ran their massive eagle wings began to sprout from out of their backs. Once the wings were fully unfurled first Holly and then a split second later Joe leapt into the air and shot off into the darkness in different directions. The whole raid had taken less than twenty seconds.

Several hours later Holly and Luke were back at the camp. Luke was still buzzing with excitement which was only just about being held in check by his growing anxiety that Joe hadn’t got back yet. Holly checked the monitors for about the twentieth time in the last two minutes.

“Why hasn’t he got back yet?” she asked, not really wanting or expecting an answer.

“If he sticks to the plan he will be fine” replied Luke, trying to reassure himself as much as Holly.

“When did Joe ever stick to a plan” snapped Holly “We should have stayed together”

“We talked about this” said Luke exasperated “We agreed we had a better chance of surviving if we split up”

“No!” Shouted Holly “No Luke we did not agree, you told us it was better like that we did not agree it! It is not the same thing”.

Suddenly a blip appeared on the screen. A tiny blob moving towards them, fast.

“That’s got to be him hasn’t it?” Asked Holly.

They watched the blip moving closer and closer. No other blips joined the first one. Holly could feel herself becoming more and more tense, she consciously unclenched her jaw which only made her realise how much she had been grinding her teeth and how much they hurt. A few seconds later one of the security cameras picked up Joe flying hard towards the base.

“Yeah” yelled Luke “That’s him, well done, well done!”

A minute later Joe came into the room still looking pretty eagley and pretty feathery. Luke dashed towards his brother and swept him up in a great big hug.

“Wasn’t that fantastic” roared Luke, beaming all over his face. “That was brilliant, did you see them go up, boom!”

“No I didn’t see it go boom” replied Joe a little shakily “I didn’t see anything. I was too busy running for my life”.

“I saw it” carried on Luke, totally misinterpreting Joe’s tone. “I stopped and looked back. You hit them really hard, bloody brilliant”.

“No!” said Joe violently pushing Luke away from him. “It was not brilliant, it was terrifying. I hated it. I ran expecting a laser to melt my spine at any bleeding second. I don’t think I have ever been so scared”.

Luke was totally taken aback by Joe’s reaction and so responded in his now predictable manner, with anger.

“Sounds like something melted your spine already” he snapped. He really couldn’t understand why Joe was spoiling this moment for him. It was the first time in ages he’d felt really good about himself and his life. It was the first time in his whole life that it had actually felt likewhat he’d done had mattered. In his mind he’d struck a blow for humanity and now Joe was spoiling it.

“What do you think Holly?” Luke demanded suddenly turning on her ferociously.

“I don’t know” she replied shocked by the level of Luke’s fury. “I just couldn’t help thinking about what Bretnel said”.

“Shut up, shut up” bellowed Luke “To me it felt good, to me it felt like the right thing to do. And do you know what, we are going to do it again and again, till there isn’t a Alien left in these hills. If you two don’t want to help me, I’ll do it on my own!”

With that he stormed out of the room leaving Holly and Joe alone.

After a while Joe said “I think we’re in real trouble now”.