It Comes

8.3.5 SW
Evening
East Wombwood > Mobile Research Camp

“Anybody got eyes on this thing?” Montana shouted over the rainstorm. “Dev, try to get a shot with a tranq dart! They’d rather us catch it than kill it, I’m sure!“

Devereaux winced as the lights turned on manually. The rain and the sudden shift from dark to light was irritating. But the light did help reduce his fear. Aiming into the dark, where every silhouette or sound, was magnified with the unknown was nerve racking. And when he caught a very brief glimpse, it did nothing but make him feel worse, if he even saw anything. It could have just been a figment of his stressed imagination.

Devereaux shouted back, “Thought I did a second ago, over there.” He was aiming in that general direction and scanning the threshold of light and dark with his eyes. “But no concrete identification of the target yet... wait...”

From his angle, Dev now had a good view and a clear shot of the predator. However, he was momentarily frozen in fear and awe, mesmerized by the dread beauty of such a beast that nature, or god, or the devil has created.

Although he was slightly stunned by the visage of the xenomorph in his sights, he was instantly glad that they were on top of the trailer and not on the ground.

The creature looked designed to be a lethal apex predator, an interesting combination of humanoid like frame, with insect and machine-like detailing, and perhaps an exoskeleton all painted in darkness. If they didn’t have the lights, they would all have been in serious trouble. It was lithe and powerful in its body composition and looked fast.

Judging by its appeared and from the way it moved, Dev was skeptical if they could capture it, let alone take it out. He got Montana’s attention with a whistle, certain they made the right decision to stay with the trailer. Trying to flee on the ATV in the dark and rain they most likely would have been easily overtaken.

“Target, three o’clock,” he whispered forcibly as he took aim to fire. He wasn’t too confident in his shooting ability, especially since it was a tranquilizer in the rain and the alien was black on a black background.

Montana, turned his crossbow toward Dev’s designated direction, “…Iiiii see it.”

Devereaux, determined to neutralize the xenomorph's threat, steadied aim with the tranquilizer rifle. With a deep breath, he squeezed the trigger, launching the dart toward the creature. It found its mark, striking the xenomorph's exoskeleton. For a moment, it seemed as if the tranquilizer would have its desired effect, as the creature let out an otherworldly scream that reverberated through the night.

Montana followed up by firing a shot to its leg and Vail watched in complete silence as the creature let out its haunting cry. The Xenobiologist felt a sensation in the core of her stomach. A pure manifestation of fear, like a bullet to the chest. She tightened her hands around the grips of both the motion detector and stun pistol, pulling them closer to her. She had no words for the others, she could only study it.

Dev mumbled, “I hit it?” Then shouted louder, “I hit it!” He could hardly believe it. Despite the rain, the low competency levels to shoot with precision, the stress and a live target he actually hit the mark. This made him feel pretty good until the horrific wail from the creature shattered any positive feelings. It was an awful and foreign sound.

He continued to track the alien using the end of the tranquilizer gun as an extension of his sense of sight. He was concerned he hadn’t done much to slow it or procure it, instead probably just pissed it off.

To the team's horror, the xenomorph did not immediately succumb to the tranquilizer's sedative properties. It thrashed violently, for a moment, making itself more visible, but seemingly unfazed by the dosage.

Grace’s eyes widen in disbelief as she witnessed the terrifying resilience of their target from the safety of the trailer interior. The xenomorph's scream echoed through the forest, a chilling reminder of the formidable and alien nature of their adversary.

The entity stood almost 8 feet tall as it moved into the light. Montana’s bolt hit the creature’s leg but it quickly melted due to the creature's acidic blood and did nothing but further anger the beast, which sprang from the woods like a bolt of black lightning, running toward the trailer and leaping high up landing right in between the two men and on top of poor Vail.

“Oh merde!” Dev screamed as in the blink of an eye a demonic form burst from the shadow’s edge, traversed the distance to the trailer and leapt itself into an attack. His cortisol and adrenaline levels spiked higher as he saw the abomination grotesquely pin his coworker. His senses were on high alert and his attentiveness was over clocking.

Desperately, Vail attempted a 'Hail Mary' block against the wild thing but her effort was unsuccessful. With a wide opening of its outer jaws, the Xenomorph extended its lethal inner jaws, eagerly gnashing before swiftly lunging forward. The sound of crunching bone filled the air.

The alien was much larger up close. It was beyond frightening. And how it snuffed out the life of his colleague, and dare say friend-in-the-making, was the stuff right out of nightmares. He was certain the sight and sound of the death would haunt him forever. This creature was death incarnate and they had crossbows and tranquilizers. The only smart play would be a retreat and hope luck was on their side.

Dev realized he was close enough to the hatch to get back into the trailer. Montana was cut off from that exit. Shooting it again would be stupid. It wouldn’t stop it at all and even if it took effect it wouldn’t be quick enough with how fast it was.

“Run!” Dev shouted as he went for the hatch. He dropped in head first. The speed of the maneuver caused him to have to let go of the hatch interior as he crumpled like a ragdoll on the floor. He looked at the other two inside and barked the command.

“Lock the hatch!”

Grace didn’t have to be told twice. When she had seen the dark shape of the xenomorph emerge from the woods she nearly locked them all out even before Devereaux managed to duck inside.

Barden backed away from the main door with wide eyes as the he watched the body of one of their companions slump off the side of the trailer. The black creature slipped down onto the forest floor, pulling the second body behind it.

From the dark interior of the trailer they watched it turn around and examine the window. It was hard to tell if it saw any of them or not, but it decided to turn around and through the utility lights it slowly marched, dragging Montana and Vail into the woods from whence it came.