The creature let out a cackle and slowly advanced toward Sam. Its mouth lacked lips, giving it a horrifying appearance. The creature's skeleton was grotesque, with arms that hung from its shoulders and reached all the way to its legs. Each hand had four fingers, one of which grew from the palm and was the largest. On each finger, there was a long claw, about 20-30 centimeters long, or so Sam estimated.
He still couldn't see it well due to the darkness around him, but for some reason, he could? It was a strange and unusual feeling, as if something was alerting him to his immediate surroundings, like his body was scanning an area 5-10 meters around him.
Sam didn't hesitate and made the first decision that seemed right to him. He began prodding the girl's body with his foot to wake her up. The creature saw his actions, let out a cackle, and suddenly lunged at him, raising its left hand.
"Shit!"
This was bad. Even if Sam dodged, the creature would hit the car first, and then the girl. Losing either of them would be a huge problem for Sam, though he felt worse about losing the car than the girl…
So he made the only decision that came to mind again. Placing his index finger on the small trigger sticking out from the bottom of the weapon's casing, Sam aimed the weapon at the creature's hand. He immediately pulled the trigger, and a blue plasma shot out from the barrel, successfully hitting the creature's palm and burning through it.
Fortunately, the creature decided to retreat after sustaining a new injury, now standing 10 meters away from Sam, still keeping its gaze fixed on him. It seemed to realize that the human before it posed some kind of threat and only let out muffled cackles as it stared at him. Sam decided to take advantage of the opportunity and started prodding the girl more forcefully, knowing one more thing about Sleepers.
They are very—very hard to kill, but they are quite cowardly, preferring not to fight other creatures if those managed to break free from their sleep manipulations. Sam wasn't sure how any of this was even possible and didn't particularly believe in magic. Though he allowed for the possibility that the creature might possess some sort of psychic abilities, despite being a fan of science fiction, which made him slightly uncomfortable.
The girl continued smiling in her sleep, oblivious to Sam's insistent nudges with his bare foot. This slightly irritated Sam. He also kept his eyes on the creature and saw why they were called hard to kill. The hole in its palm was slowly closing up, first growing light skin, then gradually turning gray.
"Great, just great. Couldn't come up with something more original than regeneration, could they?"
Sam muttered a curse under his breath and aimed the weapon at the creature again, which started to move once more. This time, he didn't wait for its attack, as the previous hit on its palm seemed like a stroke of luck. And luck, as they say, is not infinite. The gun fired three shots in quick succession; the creature dodged two of them as if its body was made of jelly, but one hit it, landing just below the chest.
The Sleeper let out a furious cackle and this time decided not to stop, determined to go all the way against the annoying human who had come into its lair uninvited.
Sam felt something again. A sharp pain pierced his consciousness, and his head throbbed as if someone had struck him with a hammer while he was wearing a motorcycle helmet. He staggered slightly, losing focus on the creature. The pain was intense, but not enough to knock him out instantly. He immediately understood what it was. The creature had used its abilities on him again, trying to do something to him.
Sam's instincts screamed at him again, warning him of an imminent attack. He quickly jumped to the side, landing painfully on the sand, narrowly avoiding the creature's vertical strike. Sam's body was already in terrible condition before this. It seemed to him that his ability to sense the area around him had weakened.
He had no guesses yet as to why. Without much thought, Sam raised his gun again, which luckily hadn't fallen out of his hands, and began firing haphazardly at the creature. The previous attack had unfortunately hit the car, though it hadn't struck the girl. To Sam's relief, the car didn't seem too damaged, though its bumper might have been slightly bent after such a powerful blow.
Out of the four shots fired, Sam managed to land only two, but that was already great, as one of them hit the creature near the collarbone, causing it to cackle in pain.
Sam felt the pain in his head intensify, more insistent than before. The creature saw him lying on the ground and decided to take advantage of the human's weakness, literally jumping on him. All Sam could do at that moment was roll to the side while still lying down, avoiding the creature's long leg.
"Damn it!"
Sand scattered as the creature's strike narrowly missed Sam, and he realized he had just dodged certain death. The creature wasn't planning to stop, but it made a mistake. Yes, Sam wasn't the most experienced shooter, who only knew the theory of shooting, and now, for the first time in this world, he was using a weapon. It was hard for him to hit the creature, even when it was 5 meters away, due to the headache and the simple fact that his hand was shaking from both the recoil and fear of death.
But now… The creature wasn't 5 meters away. It was right above him. That was its mistake. Sam started pressing the trigger without pause, thinking of nothing else. He was lucky that the weapon seemed to have a rather large battery or whatever it used for ammo, as he managed to fire six shots before the weapon stopped emitting any plasma bullets.
All the shots hit different parts of the creature's body. Sam didn't care where exactly, as the creature was now retreating from him. Even if it had amazing regeneration and strength… It must have been feeling the pain well, and in some way, that helped Sam a lot. The creature let out muffled, short cackles and was breathing heavily. Sam's chest was also rising rapidly, and the headache was almost gone.
But now Sam realized that the ammo in his weapon was depleted, and the situation was pretty dire. Yes, he still had one more pistol, but would 14 more shots be enough to kill this half-assed xenomorph? He had no idea and wasn't confident about it.
Fortunately, the creature didn't know that he was out of ammo and just stood there, seemingly waiting for its body to regenerate over time. With difficulty, Sam got to his feet, holstered the depleted gun, and pulled out the next one with his free hand. He transferred it to his right hand and aimed at the creature, moving toward the girl.
To his relief, Sam noticed that the creature's attack had seemingly weakened its grip on Jade, as her eyes began to open. She looked disoriented and first glanced at Sam, who was faintly illuminated by the moonlight of this planet.
"What's going on?"
She asked, completely lost. Without a word, Sam grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to her feet. A half-eaten can of rations was on her lap, and it unfortunately fell into the sand, becoming completely inedible. The girl was shocked by such treatment right after waking up, so she tried to push Sam away, which she succeeded in doing, as the guy was utterly exhausted right now.
"What the hell are you doing?!" the girl shouted, looking at Sam. She still hadn't noticed the creature, but Sam didn't care.
"Get in the car! Now!" he said, not looking back at her but keeping his eyes on the Sleeper. The creature was still standing in place, but Sam could already feel the pain in his head starting to grow again.
The girl, in turn, was very frowning and stared at the guy who ORDERED her to get in the car, not asked. Of course, she decided not to do it and just bared her teeth.
"Are you out of your mind? You're not going to…"
She didn't have time to finish as Sam turned his face to her. She saw how angry he was right now. But she also saw how battered he was and only now noticed that he was holding a weapon.
The girl followed his gaze and didn't see much… Although there was some kind of silhouette. She bit her lip and muttered something under her breath, quickly getting into the seat next to the driver. She wanted answers but realized that everything was much more serious than she could have imagined.
Seeing that the girl had gotten into the passenger seat, Sam returned his gaze to the creature. It looked better now, and the pain in Sam's head was back in full force, even slightly intensified by the creature's rage, which was clearly unhappy that its prey was trying to escape the battlefield.
"Start the car! Now!" Sam shouted, already placing his metal finger on the weapon's trigger, ready to fire.
The creature cackled at the same time as the car's engine, which didn't want to start. Fortunately, the girl seemed to know how to do it. The creature began to move, and Sam started shooting. The sound of the shots wasn't too loud. It sounded more like the sounds of plasma weapons in movies, but with something resembling the sound of an electric shock.
"Start the car! Now!" Sam yelled, already placing his metal finger on the weapon's trigger, ready to fire.
The creature let out a cackle at the same time the car engine sputtered, refusing to start. Luckily, the girl seemed to know what to do. The creature began to move, and Sam started shooting. The sound of the shots wasn't too loud. It resembled the sounds of plasma weapons in movies but also carried something akin to the crackle of electricity.
The girl flinched, realizing that things were indeed looking bad, and more urgently tried to start the buggy, which stubbornly refused to cooperate. Sam fired shot after shot, but only 5 or 6 of the 14 plasma rounds hit the mark, which could have been due to the lack of any proper lighting.
Though, with each shot, the plasma bullet briefly illuminated the creature. As soon as Sam realized the pistols' batteries were depleted, a shiver ran down his spine, seeing that the creature was still advancing slowly towards him. He didn't understand why, but he guessed it could be either caution or the possibility that the creature's regeneration had its drawbacks, which were affecting it now.
Then Sam heard the sound he had been waiting for what felt like an eternity—the roar of the engine. The headlights immediately switched on, and now Sam could fully see the monster before him.
The abomination looked severely battered, and Sam realized that his perception had almost perfectly conveyed what it looked like, except that its skeleton had far too many bones, making it look like a grater. The girl, finally seeing the creature before her, let out a slight scream, but Sam paid no attention and quickly got into the car, thankful that the driver's seat had been left open for him.
Shifting gears, he slammed on the gas, and the car started reversing. The creature let out an angry cackle and immediately began to chase the retreating vehicle.
'Okay… Samuel… You've got this, you're the best and the greatest in the world… You just need to pull off what they do in the movies, come on…'
Sam knew only one way to escape the creature rapidly closing in on them. Since the car's engine wasn't in the best shape, the creature quickly caught up with them, moving in a horrifying yet effective manner, using its thin arms as the primary support for its locomotion. Its movement resembled that of monkeys, planting both hands on the sand, lifting itself slightly, pushing its legs forward, landing on them, and repeating the process with the momentum.
He had to admit, although the creature's movement looked both comical and terrifying, it was incredibly effective, as it had almost caught up with them. Finally, taking a deep breath, Sam made his move. He suddenly jerked the wheel to the right, causing the car to skid and turn 180 degrees. The girl screamed and grabbed the top beam that served as a sort of canopy above them. Sam tried not to lose control and managed to keep it together. Then he quickly pressed the clutch and hit the brake. The engine groaned, and dear gods.
He remembered how his driving instructor had recommended slowing down using gear shifts and only using the brake with the clutch in extreme cases, as it was very hard on the car, but unfortunately, there was no other choice. The car skidded slightly but soon came to a stop. The Sleeper chasing them decided to halt, apparently afraid that the strange vehicle housing the humans was potentially more dangerous than they were.
Sand flew into the air from the maneuver, and Sam realized that the next stage was ahead, and the hardest part was over. He immediately pressed the clutch and shifted into first gear. Instantly, he slammed his foot on the gas pedal, and the car roared to life. At that moment, the girl performed an exquisite opera titled "Every Curse Word I Know Directed at My Driver," which slightly amused Sam and brought a smile to his face.
Sam shifted into second gear, then third. The creature had already fallen behind, but he didn't stop accelerating, pushing it to the fourth gear's maximum. The engine roared, the girl screamed, and Sam laughed. He was thrilled that he had pulled off a perfect J-turn on his first attempt, knowing it only in theory, and it was absolutely awesome!
And so, they escaped from their hideout. The desert night echoed with the roar of the engine and a stream of profanity coming from the screaming female voice.
And Sam? Sam savored every fiber of his being, relishing all those sounds.