[IC] Stand Alone(Summers and AHeartlessNobody)

[AHeartlessNobody]

It seemed like forever since the world had turned into this wasteland. The streets were often empty and quiet during dawn and sunset. That was usually what Cassie called 'the in-between time'. The animals that ran around and hunted anything they could eat were kind of like humans in some ways, in terms of they slept. And like human they had different sleep schedules, some sleeping during the day and others sleeping during the night. Usually during sun rise and sun set, they were all either getting ready to sleep or just waking up, meaning not many of them were out on the streets, giving Cassie a moment of having less risk in moving about outside of her makeshift home. If she was quick enough, sometimes she would be able to go out without running into any starving animals wanting to eat her.

And right now, that was what she was trying to achieve. She watched outside of the plane's window as the sky took on an orange tint, meaning it was time to head out. She threw her bookbag onto her back and pushed down as hard as she could on the heavily sealed plane door. If one thing was good, it was the safety this plane provided her. If she had a hard time opening that door, then it would be impossible for those animals to break it down. Once she had it open, she pushing it closed and rushed down the runway, toward the tall gate. She scaled it pretty easily and was on the ground in a flash, running once more.

There were plenty of stores in this area, she found, that still had a lot of supplies in them. She guessed it was because this was a big city. Back when the virus had first started spreading, everyone fled the cities, thinking staying there would make it spread faster. They had all moved to the country or left the nation all together, leaving all these stores abandoned and quite easy to break into. She stood in front of one of the windows and was quick to pick up a rock and bust it out, stepping into the store. Once in, she immediately opened her bag an began to throw anything she needed in there, mainly water and food. Stocking up the way she did usually lasted her a couple of weeks, so this would be her only raid for a while, making the risk of actually going through some of the items in the store worth it.

Once she had her bag filled as much as possible, she hopped out of the window one more and started running again down the street. It was only when she turned a sharp corner that she came face to face a rather large and growling dog. Wild dog gave a snap right in her face(if it weren't for her jumping back it might have even taken a chunk out of her) and tried to jump at her, to which she dodged with a yelp and started running the other way. She had learned that animals like this tended to travel and packs and she didn't wan to stick around to see if this particular dog did. She was pretty fast moving, faster than any human she had ever known. Even her uncle praised her for it, and he hadn't given many compliments to people in his life time. Her speed was always giving her the advantage. That was, if she hadn't turned another corner and come face to face with wild dog. Soon, she was surrounded by them, all the animals snapping and growling. They seemed more aggressive than the animals normally were. Even as she took out her pistol, which usually sent them running, they still continued to try and size her up and look for an opening. And soon she found out what might be making them so aggressive.

There was a loud noise that made her cover her ears at first and made the dogs stop their advances to look up at the sound that had been causing their aggitation. And then, something strange happened. It was almost as though the animals feared this thing, because they began to whimper and ignore her presence and skitter off into the nearby buildings, as if hiding. She stood there, looking up at the sky, squinting to see what it was, only for her eyes to go wide with fear. Up in the sky, coming down to land, was a type of ship she remembered well and it was a horrifying memory. The last time she had saw that type of ship land here on earth, a day later she had lost her parents.

The aliens.

In an instant she was running, heading back as fast as she could for her airport, scaling the fence and making it back into her plane even faster than she had left. She pushed down on the plane lock as hard as she could, letting it airlock before she took a moment to sit in on of the seats and catch her breath. Cassie had no idea what she was going to do. She was the last human alive as far as she knew, and if those aliens were back, who knew what they would do to her? Kill her? Experiment on her? Keep her as some pet? The threats were endless and so were her fears.

After a moment of being glued to her seat, she shakily stood to her feet and began to put her supplies on the shelves above the many seats of the plane, where other supplies had been stacked. Once they were stacked, she moved to the back of the plane were her make shift bed, a bed she had made from unscrewing seats from the floor and stacked the cushions, was and layed down on it, expecting to sleep, though found herself wide awake and ears listening for any signs of what the aliens might be doing, and more importantly if they were coming close to the abandoned airport she had claimed as her home.

[Rogue Sloth]

The cargo hold was dank and dark. Nothing could be seen except for the dim purple glow of Lunairan eyes, flickering as they blinked. Serix leaned against the back wall of the hold. His own eyes shifted between the faces of the others. He had never met any of them before, as the higher powers had selected the Scouts from an unusually large pool of volunteers. Everyone wanted a chance to prove their bravery and help pave the way for settlement in this new planet, however only the “best fits” were chosen to actually take on the mission. How the best were picked, he was not sure. All he knew was the higher powers thought he was one of them.

Serix drew his legs to his chest and closed his eyes. The cargo hold wasn’t properly insulated, and he was beginning to feel a bit cool. He gauged the hold to be at a temperature where water would freeze, as he had to make a conscious effort to keep his own temperature from dropping by this point. There were plenty of other, better ships the higher powers could have let the Scouts use for the trip, but they didn’t want to “waste resources.” That was their excuse for sending the Scouts on their mission in the old cargo ship. Supposedly, the military-grade crafts were currently being used to protect the Lunairan mother ship. None could be spared for such an anecdotal assignment. Serix suspected that in truth the higher powers didn’t believe all the humans were dead yet, and they didn’t want to risk losing an armed ship to the Earthlings if the Scouts came under attack. Of course, they would never hint at such a possibility to the Scouts. It would cause some unwanted setbacks if anyone tried to abandon the mission.

Serix opened the bag of equipment he was provided with before he boarded the ship. He couldn’t see very well in the darkness, so he used his hands to figure out what the objects were by touch. He reached in and picked up one at a time, tracing his fingers carefully over each item. From what he could tell, he had been given three small, empty containers, a visual and audio recording device, and a few packs of dehydrated food. There was another object at the bottom of the bag, but he was still unsure as to what it was so he left it alone.

The ship began to rumble and groan. They must be entering the atmosphere of the planet. Serix looked to the eyes of his still unknown companions, which were alight with a mixture of emotions like fear and excitement. It was the first time in many years that a Lunairan set foot on the Earth. None of them knew what to expect. Serix was even more enthralled by the idea of exploring the new planet than the others were. Since his father was among the last group to travel to the Earth – he was one of the soldiers assigned to spread the Plague – he had told Serix stories about the humans and their home. Now it was Serix’s turn to see the mysterious place with his own two eyes, and he couldn’t wait.

The ship lurched as it landed and Serix could hear shuffling as the others stood up. The door to the hold slid open, momentarily blinding them with a flood of light. Serix squinted and shielded his eyes with a hand. Their pilot stood in the entryway, silhouetted against the sunlight. After taking a moment to adjust to the brightness, the Scouts moved to stand in a line and the pilot addressed them.

“As you already know,” his violet eyes swept over them. “We will only remain here long enough to verify the extinction of the humans, and then we will return to the Base. You have each been provided with enough food for two days, containers to collect physical samples if you find it necessary, a recorder for visual and audio samples, and finally,” the pilot’s expression turned cold. “In the rare event that you encounter any living humans, you have been provided a Silencer to exterminate them on site.” Serix adjusted the bag slung over his shoulder. So that was what the unknown object was. He had never wielded a weapon like this before. Silencers were about the same size and shape as a ray gun – small enough to fit in one’s hand – but they used high-voltage electroshock projectiles that were powerful enough to knock a Lunairan unconscious… or stop a human’s fragile heart.

“You will all be working separately to cover more ground,” the pilot continued. “Record any significant findings with your devices and collect samples along the way. Report back to the ship every other day to replenish your food supplies. You will repeat this process until I receive orders to fly us back to the Base. Are there any questions?” One of the Scouts raised his hand and the pilot nodded at him to speak.

“What if the humans overpower us?” he asked. “We are at a disadvantage if we travel by ourselves.”

“Overpower you?” the pilot echoed with a slight chuckle. “If a disease-ridden, physically and intellectually inferior being overpowers you then deserve to die. But,” he gestured at a small electronic device on his belt. “There is a system in place in the event that this does happen. If you ever find yourself in any danger, just press this button. The rest of us will be alerted of your position so we can come to your aid. Are there any other questions?” No one moved. “Very well then. I will be in the ship. You may begin scouting.” He stepped aside to let them file out of the ship and went back to the cockpit, closing the door to the cargo hold once they were all out.

Serix didn’t waste a moment. As soon as the pilot finished speaking he took off, heading for the nearest city. He wanted to see it for himself: the accomplishments of the humans. Up until this point all he had were the descriptions his father gave him as a child, but now he finally had an opportunity to view them firsthand. He quickened his pace.

--

Serix spun around in a circle, his eyes lit up with childlike wonder. He was surrounded by large, blocky constructions that seemed to reach up to meet the sky. Perhaps the Lunairans created things like these back on the home planet, but he would never know. He wasn’t old enough to remember those days. He wandered through the city, which was now overrun with wild plants. But perhaps the plants were already there to begin with? It was another curiosity he doubted he would ever solve.

He crouched next to one particularly interesting plant. It was spotted with small yellow and orange things. What were they called? Oh yes, flowers. He leaned closer to get a better look at them. The petals were frail but colorful, and the plant smelled of something sweet. The bare chrome walls of the ships could never compare to such beauty. He reached for one of the empty containers in his bag and popped the lid open. He gingerly plucked three of the flowers and dropped them inside, sealing it shut again. Surely the others would want to see these as well.

As he was stashing the container back in his bag, Serix heard a noise behind him. He turned to see an odd four-legged creature standing behind him with its head down and its legs splayed. It emitted a deep rumble from its throat. While he had never encountered such a beast, Serix instinctively knew it was dangerous. Even so, there wasn’t much it could do to harm him. He stood up and dusted off his pants, then retrieved his Silencer, taking aim at the creature’s head. It wavered for a moment at the sight of the weapon. Strange. How did it know the Silencer was a threat?

Serix didn’t have time to puzzle over the thought, as the beast leaped towards him, overcoming its brief hesitation. There was a bright spark of blue from the barrel of his weapon and the creature tumbled to the ground, either dead or unconscious. As he approached the body, he heard other noises around him. There must have been more of the beasts lurking nearby, but they were fleeing now. He knelt down next to the creature and ran a hand over its side. It was covered in something soft like short hair. He almost felt sorry for killing it, as he was sure now that it was dead. He took out his recorder and captured an image of the creature for the others to see.

Serix rose to his feet and continued exploring the city, leaving the corpse of the beast behind.

[AHeartlessNobody]

A few hours had passed since she had spotted that ship coming down from the skies and yet she had yet to hear anything outside of the plane. Why was it the silence outside worried her more than hearing those beasts outside her plane would have? Maybe it was the not knowing. Being unsure of what was going on was something she wasn't used to and it made her feel so weak. Very slowly, Castiel sat up from where she lay on the bed and moved from the end of the plane to the side door, reaching up on her tip toes to sneak a peak out of it. Nothing. Maybe the aliens hadn't come her way yet then? Maybe this city was still safe to travel? It was possible. After all, they may have had a lot of ground to cover and had overlooked the city they had landed next to. Whatever the reason they weren't near by though, she needed to take advantage of this and gather more supplies and weapons. Who knew ow long she might be cooped up in this place when they finally did start searching her area. She needed to be prepared when that happened.

Nodding to herself once she had that in mind, she rushed over to grab her backpack, throwing it onto her back. Pushing open the heavy metal door for the second time that day(which was more than she had in months), she quickly made her way down the runway and climbed to the top of the fence. Once at the top, she scouted the area, looking around with wary eyes for anything that might seem suspicious. Once again spotting none of the aliens, she hopped down to the other side of the fence, landing gracefully before she continued to move toward the city, "So far so good..." She moved into the thicket of the city, first moving to go to the supplies store, hoping to grab mainly water bottles for now and just a little bit of food. Food she could ration and find easily, water though was something she couldn't go without.

As she headed toward the food store though, she saw something she didn't expect to see. Approaching the creature laying on the ground, she slowly crouched to look at it. Dead animals was nothing new. Animals died all the time of either starvation or of being eaten by other animals But this dog looked at least fed enough to not have starved and there was no blood to show he had been attacked by another animal, "What happened to you....?" She spoke, mainly to herself, raising to her feet. Maybe coming here wasn't such a good idea. She needed to get her rations and leave.

Quickly rising to her feet, she moved to the food store right up the street and went around back. This particular store she had found years ago and while there was no windows to break and both doors were locked. There was a place there that had a metal door to which the food used to be brought in and though the metal door was down and barred, she had learned years ago that she could pry a small corner of the metal door up big enough for her to crawl through. She smirked to herself as she approached it, doing just that, prying the door up and when she had crawled through it slammed back into place. She crawled into the dark and dusty storage room, making her way from there and into the main market section of the store where she set her bag down before going to her gathering.

She put water bottle after water bottle in her bag, stacking and fixing them so she could fit as much as she could in there as possible. She hummed softly to herself as she did so, though it was as she did this that she hear the very familiar sound of the metal door she herself had come through. Someone was pulling back the corner she had pulled back to get into the store, and whoever this was, she didn't want to meet them, for she knew this person was likely one of them. An alien. Her heart beat fast in her chest and she could feel her panic rising as she crouched there next to her bag full of waters. What could she do? If she ran surely she woudl run into them on her way back to the storage room. What if she hid? Would they find her? Maybe, but it was worth a try.

Hastily zipping up her bag, she put the strap over one of her shoulders and crawled to the end of the isle, peaking around the edge of the shelves to see a silhouette with glowing eyes enter into the dark store. Cassie was frozen with fear for a moment but she was quick to get a hold of herself and back back down the isle, and move toward the other end of the store, where many of the outdoor supplies where. There she saw some fairly sturdy looking shelves. She was light and maybe if she climbed up to the top and surrounded herself was some of the items up there she could hide well enough for him to not find her.

So she went to that, silently climbing up the shelves until she at least six shelves up and had climbed up to where many heavy boxes were stored. She was right, it was a fairly good hiding spot, if not for the slight swaying of the shelf at her movement. She noticed this and did her best to stay still. As long as she was still, the shelf held her weight and she was safe. She stayed up there like that for a few long moments, until she heard the footsteps of the alien approaching the outdoors section. Now, Cassie had always been a curious person and unfortunately, that curious attitude was what always got her in trouble because, as she moved slightly to lean forward and peak between the boxed down at the alien, who in her moment of peaking down she saw was a young man, the shelf began to once again teeter and this time she couldn't stabilize it in time, "No, no, no--" She screamed out in surprise as the shelf fell over and she tumbled roughly onto the ground with a pained yelp.

Still, even though that hurt, she was quick to get into a crouched position, looking up at the alien, eyes wide with fear. That didn't last but a second though, because soon she was scrambling to her feet and running back toward the storage room. She had made it to the entrance when she felt him not too far behind her. In a attempt to slow him down she at first threw her bag back at him in hopes it woudl either hit him or he woudl trip over it and after that, she began knocking over box after box to block his way, swiftly making her way through the scattered mess and to her metal door. She crawled through and the corner slammed down in the aliens face, giving her more time in her run.

Cassie knew this city very well. After all, she had been living near here for four years and that was an advantage to her because this alien chasing her didn't. Yet, he seemed to be doing very way at catching up to her which was why she was throwing things back at him and in his path every chance she got. She moved form the streets to the alley ways, turning corner after corner, hoping to throw him off, but so far it wasn't working very well. Turning another corner she moved to quickly pull on something on the side of one of the buildings, the ladder sliding down with a rough tug at the rusted metal and she climbed swiftly up, to the roof of on of the buildings. Still, even when she was up, she could hear the metal of the ladder shaking as the alien began climbing up as well.

She cursed and started running again, jumping down the one of the other roofs and doing the same across some of the other roofs as well. She was doing well at this at first, that was, until she made it to a roof that was impossible for her to jump to without falling off. pinning around wide eyed, her golden blonde hair blowing in the harsh winds of the rooftops, she saw the alien approaching the roof top she was on and she went to reach for her pistol, only to grow even more scared. In her tumbling about her pistol had dropped from her pocket and was no longer there. Now, she was left defenseless against this alien that was likely out to kill her or do what ever it was these aliens wanted to do with the humans for all she knew.

In a last attempt to protect herself she grabbed a nearby thin metal pole, holding it tightly in her shaking hands as the alien finally made it to her roof and she was quick to take a swing in his direction. She knew she wouldn't be able to fight him off but at least she wasn't about to go down without a fight. She took another swing with the pole hoping to hit him, "Get away from me!"

[AHeartlessNobody]

(the city)

[Rogue Sloth]

Serix was beginning to tire of his scouting in the city. While it was all very interesting and new, most of the doors he found were locked tight, blocking off his access unless he broke in. He was just about to do so when he spotted a flash of movement. He had just picked up a rock to throw through a window when he saw something skirt past in the edge of his vision. The something walked on two legs.

He whirled around in time to see a figure round the corner of one of the shorter constructions. It moved in a stealthy manner that led him to assume it wasn’t one of the other Scouts. The Lunairans had no reason to avoid one another, and besides, the Scouts all went in different directions. He felt his heart rate pick up. Was it possible there was a human survivor living in the city? He couldn’t believe his luck.

He drew his Silencer, keeping one finger hovering over the trigger in case the human proved to be hostile, and chased after the figure as quietly as he could. He poked his head around the corner just in time to see the human slip its leg through a small opening in the back door. He crept closer and crouched down beside the metal door to examine it. It appeared to be stuck, but he could wedge it open just far enough to squeeze inside.

It was a tight fit, but Serix manage to worm his way through the opening. He blinked against the darkness, his eyes slowly adjusting until he could make out shapes and dimensions. Looking around now, the human was nowhere to be seen. Could it have left already? It didn’t take him that long to get past the metal door, so he doubted the Earthling would have had enough time to flee. It must still be hiding somewhere in the room.

Serix moved slowly so as not to trip on any of the boxes that littered the floor. He held his Silencer in front of him with both hands but kept the barrel pointed down at the ground, his violet eyes flickering back and forth in search of any sign of movement. The human had an advantage if it wanted to strike at him now. He was well aware of how visible his eyes were in the dark, giving his position away. In contrast, the Earthling completely blended into wherever it was hiding. He would have to keep his guard up in case the human tried to make any sudden moves…

Serix jumped back as a rack of shelves to his right tumbled over. The noise of the fall was accompanied by a shrill yelp and the thud of a body hitting the ground. The human fell at Serix’s feet. It lay there for a moment before it scrambled to its feet and ran, throwing down random objects to try and prevent him from pursuing.

Serix grinned. If the human wanted a chase, it would get one. He leaped over the boxes and took off after the running figure. It dove out through the small opening in the metal door, and then slammed it shut. Serix clicked his tongue in annoyance when the door almost hit him. However it didn’t take him long to push it open just wide enough to slip through and continue running.

The wind ripped at his hair and clothes as he took off in a full sprint to catch up with the human. He laughed aloud from the raw joy of the chase. Life in the ships was never this much fun. He whipped around corners, keeping pace with the human but never gaining enough ground to catch up. He could run faster if he wanted to, but then the pursuit would end quicker and so would the adrenaline rush.

The human made another sharp turn and began clambering up a ladder. Serix watched it from below for a moment before following it up. He ended up on top of one of the constructions only to find that the human had already taken off, leaping across to the next construction. He scrambled to his feet and took a running jump off the side of the construction. He felt himself suspended in the air for a moment before he hit the ground with a jolt. He kept running, enjoying the hammering of his heart and the burning of his muscles. Up ahead, the human had stopped on the next construction top. He leaped across the gap and slowed to a stop, waiting to see what it would do next.

The human bent to pick up a long metal pipe and swung it in his direction, although he was still far enough away that it didn’t reach him. The Earthling cried out in rage and lunged at him again. Serix grabbed the pipe with his free hand before it could make contact, putting a stop to the human's attack. He twisted the pipe around to wrench it out of the human’s grasp and tossed it aside so it clattered to the edge of the construction top. Quick as a flash, he caught hold of the human’s wrist and pulled it close, pressing the barrel of his Silencer against its side with his other hand so it couldn’t run away.

“Is that all you’ve got?” Serix frowned and tilted his head slightly. He was close enough to get his first real look at the human; close enough to realize… it was a female? That was another interesting detail.

“Are there more?” Serix asked, tightening his grip on the human’s wrist. “Tell me. How many of you are left?”

[AHeartlessNobody]

This was her first time coming face to face with one of these aliens. Sure, she had seen their ship so many years ago. But the moment it landed her mother had taken her away to their home and hid her. She had heard the aliens come in and kill her parents. But, she had never seen one. They looked more like humans than she thought they would. Minus his glowing violet eyes that was. Still, whether he looked human or not, he was in no way close to a human that was for sure. He had been able to catch up with her too easily. She had never met another person to be able to keep up when she ran so for this alien to do so was quite an annoyance and frustration.

She had swung her pole and for a moment she thought she might at least be able to hit him, but that hope was gone quickly as the alien intercepted her swing to jerk the pole from her and fling it away to the other side of the roof. Well, so much for that last attempt to defend herself. She went to move away, maybe even make another run for it, but quicker than she woudl have thought the alien reached out, grasping hr wrist and pulling her forward to stand closer than was comfortable to him, his gun pressed against her side. If it was gong to shoot her she just hoped it would make her death quick. But than again, these aliens were never known for being merciful and her hoping thus far hadn't done her much good.

Cassie looked up at him when he spoke, asking her if that was all she had and she glared at him with her bright blue(or what she considered blue anyway) eyes. At this point she tried to jerk her wrist away, even clawing at his hand with the nails of her free hand, but she didn't have much luck in getting free. He spoke to her again and she winced when his grip on her wrist tightened, him asking her how many more humans were left.

None. That was the real answer. She was the last human on this planet, and as soon as he killed her there really would be no humans left on the planet. But, she didn't want to let him know that. She didn't want to give him that satisfaction. She didn't want him killing her and then walking away smug knowing he had just single handedly taken out the remaining of Earth's population. So when he asked how many were left, she returned her gaze back to him and with a defiant look on her face, she spoke with venom in her voice, her hatred for not only this alien, but all the aliens, in her gaze.

"Hundreds. There are too many of us to count. We're everywhere, so you better watch your back because killing me will be nothing compared to all the actually trained humans on this planet. They'll kill you and all the other aliens that land on this planet." That was a huge bluff. But, with these aliens just now landing here for the first time in years, they had no reason to doubt what she was saying. After all, why were they sending in all of these armed aliens to take just little ol' her out if they really thought there weren't other humans on this planet. Her defiant gaze stayed locked on his, waiting for either his response or for him to kill her.

[Rogue Sloth]

“Hundreds?” Serix breathed in amazement. If this was true, that meant the Plague had failed in a spectacular way. The estimated margin of error was only supposed to leave maybe fifty at the very most, and even that was extremely unlikely. There was always the chance this human was lying to frighten him off. In fact, if there were so many Earthlings, why hadn’t they taken the opportunity to attack him while he was alone? They would completely outnumber him. The prospect of there being that many humans left was becoming more and more unlikely as he thought about it. Still, there was an easy way to find out the truth.

“Take me to them,” Serix said, slackening his grip on the human’s wrist. He held up the Silencer so she could get a better look at it. “Don’t bother trying to run. I never miss.” It was technically true. He had only fired the Silencer once and he had hit the hairy beast, but the human didn’t need to know that. In all reality, he hoped she wouldn’t force him to shoot her. He still had so many questions he wanted to ask. What was that creature from before? Did the humans really create mechanical beings that could work and fight? His curiosity was insatiable, and this human was his only link to finding the answers. However, he had a responsibility to his own people. If the human tried to flee, he wouldn’t hesitate to shoot her down. Even if he didn’t want to do it.

He wondered if any of the other Scouts had encountered these humans as well. Even if it turned out there weren’t hundreds, that didn’t necessarily mean this female was the only one left. Although if any of the other humans were spotted by his companions, they were probably dead by now. Their pilot had given them specific instructions to shoot any survivors on the spot, after all. Serix knew he was disobeying his orders, but he could just kill the human off later, right? Why not coax some information out of her first while he had the chance?

Another thought occurred to him. What if the human had some kind of trap set up? If there were others, she could lead him into an ambush. Surely the humans would have had enough time to scheme something up if they wanted to. He could be playing right into their hands. Still, he decided it was worth the risk. Judging from the abilities of the human he had in his grasp, he was stronger and faster than they were. He could fend off an attack if he had to.

“Lead the way,” Serix stepped aside and gestured to a ladder leading down from the top of the construction.

[AHeartlessNobody]

"Take you to them?" He actually wanted her to take him to them? Why hadn't she seen this coming? Now what had she gotten herself into? How was she supposed to lead him to people that didn't exist? She watched him as his grip on her wrist loosened just a little bit and he held up his gun (well what she assumed to be a gun anyway) at her to say that if she ran he would shoot her. She supposed now she had no choice. Maybe she could think of a plan along the way? She eyed the barrel of the gun and moved her eyes back to his own, "Fine. I'll take you to where the last of the humans live. But I'm warning you, you won't like what you see." She stated, which was actually the truth in some ways. When she took him to the air port, which is really the only place she could think of to take him, he wasn't going to be happy to see there were no humans there. But she had to try something.

Walking to the ladder he gestured to, she gave him an annoyed look and began climbing down, mumbling inaudibly under her breath. When she was half way down, she hopped down the rest of the way, landing rather gracefully on her feet. She had explored this city a good number of times and so jumping down from that short height was nothing to her now. She brushed her long blonde hair from her face and looked back at him to make sure he had come own the ladder as well before she began to slowly walk back toward the way of the air port. The slower they went the better, as that would give her more time to think up some sort of plan or a story as to why there were no other humans at the airport.

As they walked along, Cassie glanced over at him, taking in the sight of his pale skin and bright, basically glowing, violet eyes. Those two features really stuck out to her because she had seen them before, only as a child. Which was strange, considering she hadn't thought much of these features back then. And even more strange that those features had been on her own mother. Only, there was the fact her mother had only ever shown that to she and her father. Any other time, when they would go out in public, her mother would put in contacts that changed her eye color from that violet color to a green color. Growing up with her mother doing that, Cassie had never thought much of it. It had been something she had grown used to and had hardly ever questioned her about. And when she had questioned her mother about it, both she and her father had been very vague in their answers. She had never really questioned that much either because she had never seen one of these aliens until now. But now that she had, she was starting to it mentally more and more in these past few minutes.

She couldn't help but wonder why. Why did her mother look so much like these aliens? Why had her parents never answered her questions about her mother's strange features? What had they been hiding from her? And why had they felt the need to hide these things from their own daughter? Was it to protect her, or simply to protect their family in general? She shook her head at all these and the other questions slowly forming in her head and looked away from the young man. She could wonder about these things later. Somehow, she knew the answers to these questions, yet didn't want to think on the right now. No, right now, she had to think of some excuse to give when they would get to the airport.

Still....maybe asking one question wouldn't hurt, right? She looked over at the alien boy once more, seeming hesitant in trying to piece together what exactly it was she wanted to ask until finally she just let out the question she thought wouldn't raise too much suspicion as to why she was asking it, "Do all your kind have those glowing violet eyes? Or do you all have different eye colors?" That wasn't too bad of a question right? Maybe he wouldn't think too much before answering.

Stepping over a fallen street lamp, they made their way back o the center of town and back toward the way she had come from, even passing the dead dog as she waited for his answer.

[Rogue Sloth]

Serix let out his breath in relief when the human chose to comply with his demands. He didn’t have to kill her… yet. He followed her down the ladder and hopped to the ground, fixing the barrel of his Silencer on her in case she tried to make any sudden move to escape. Instead, she began to walk slowly into the city. He walked after her, staying close and keeping his weapon trained on her back.

They traveled in silence for a while. Serix noticed the human was sneaking glances at him. A smile played on the corner of his lip. It seemed like she was just as curious about him as he was about her. He didn’t know much about the lifespans of humans, but she looked to be about the same age as him. Considering she was also young, perhaps it was the first time she had encountered a Lunairan. He was tempted to ask, but the human spoke first.

“Do all your kind have those glowing violet eyes? Or do you all have different eye colors?” she asked. Serix looked at her in amusement. Of all things, she was interested in his eyes? Yet maybe this was the opportunity he was looking for. He could trade information with her. It wouldn’t matter. She would be dead soon anyways.

“We all have the same shade of purple in our eyes. It’s one of our distinguishing features,” Serix confirmed. “Now it’s my turn.” He stopped walking and leaned in close to the human, putting his face right next to hers and looking into her eyes. “Do all humans have blue eyes?” His gaze flicked up to her hair. “And I’ve never seen that light color before. Do all humans have yellow hair?” He had already asked two questions and he had to stop himself from asking more. It was so difficult. He wanted to pour out everything at once, but he knew he had to pace himself so the human wouldn’t get overwhelmed. He blinked, waiting for her to answer.

[AHeartlessNobody]

So...all the aliens had purple eyes? It was a distinguishing trait among them? his was beginning to open up so many questions about her parents and namely who or what her mother had actually been. But, she didn't exactly get much time to dwell on it because almost right after answering her question, the young man had stepped around her to put his face a little too close for comfort to hers, asking about her own eyes and hair color. Her cheeks reddened and she took a step back from him, looking at him like he was strangest thing she had even seen, "You aliens don't really know about personal space, do you?" She asked, putting her hands on her hips, tilting her head to the side, finally letting that look of curiosity reach her expression. From what she could tell, there were not only differences in their appearance, but apparently their customs as well.

She thought about his question for a moment, taking a stand of her long hair in her hand and looking at the golden strands, "Not all of us have blonde hair. There are different colors. Like brown. There are some rare cases of red. The older people have grey and white hair." She shrugged and brushed the strands of hair behind her ear to look at him, "And not all eye colors are blue either. Some are green or brown. But never bright colors like that violet of yours. It's really weird to look at for me actually. Doesn't seem like it should be real."

She stepped around him, circling him a moment, the curiosity still on her face, "In fact, you're really different from what I thought the aliens woudl look like. I expected your kind to be more....well....strange? But you look kind of like a human. Minus your eye color that is." She stopped circling him now and started walking again, pausing when they came to the dead dog lying in the road. Honestly, she was surprised some of the other animals hadn't come along to eat the dead thing, but then again, maybe they were avoiding it for the strange way it died? Taking this as an opportunity to ask him another question, she approached the dead animal and looked down at it for the second time today before looking up at him again.

"You killed it, didn't you?" He had to of. He was the only alien in sight and she couldn't think of anything else that could have done this damage without causing blood loss from the creature, "How did you do it? It's a pretty clean kill. No blood or anything."

[Rogue Sloth]

Serix straightened his posture when the human reeled back from him, “’Personal space’? No, I’ve never heard the term, but I think I understand the concept.” He listened to her explanation about human hair and eye colors. So humans had various physical differences? That was something different between the Earthlings and the Lunairans. Apart from some rare genetic mutations, all of his people had luminescent violet eyes, dark hair, and fair skin. The variations in human traits intrigued him.

The human began circling him. Serix tensed up slightly and followed her with his eyes as she moved behind him, unsure of what she was trying to do. He relaxed a bit when he saw curiosity in her eyes rather than malice, but his finger still hovered over the trigger of his Silencer just in case she was trying to trick him.

“In fact, you're really different from what I thought the aliens would look like. I expected your kind to be more....well....strange? But you look kind of like a human. Minus your eye color that is,” she said when she finished looking him over. Serix let out a curt laugh at the comment about their similarity.

“Actually,” he said. “You humans look like us. From my understanding, we came first.” He followed her as she started walking again. Up ahead, the creature he killed earlier still lay on the ground. The human approached the corpse, looked down at it for a moment, and then glanced back at him, apparently making the connection.

“You killed it, didn't you?” she said, confirming his thoughts. “How did you do it? It's a pretty clean kill. No blood or anything.” Serix hesitated, shifting his weight. He didn’t like the idea of openly explaining Lunairan technology to a human. He had to remind himself that it didn’t matter. She wouldn’t be around long enough to spread the word to any other surviving Earthlings, so it wasn’t necessarily a treasonous act on his part.

“With this,” he held up his weapon again so she could see it. “We call it a Silencer. It uses electroshock technology to seize up the target’s muscles and stop its heart.” He paused, narrowing his eyes. “Don’t think for a moment you can use it to kill me, though. Even if you were somehow able to steal it away from me, it wouldn’t do you any good. The voltage is strong enough to take out one of your kind, but it takes more than a simple electric shock to kill one of us.” He left out the important little detail that it was still potent enough to knock him off his feet and give her enough time to escape.

“Anyways,” Serix waved the human on. “Keep moving. I want to see the rest of the survivors.”

[AHeartlessNobody]

Was it just her, or was this alien actually really arrogant? She supposed she shouldn't have put it past someone of his race to stick his nose in the air and act as though he were higher than her in every way. Almost as quickly as it came, her curious expression turned back to one of annoyance and she was much less willing to talk, whether it be to ask questions or answer them. She stood up straight again and huffed, turning as she began her walk again, muttering to herself with words inaudible, other than a few such as 'rude' and 'narcissistic'. So maybe she wasn't the most sociable person herself, but for all the time she had spent alone of this forgotten planet, who could really blame her?

They went through the city, though still Cassie kept her pace just slow enough to give her some thinking time on what she might say when they would get to the air port, yet still, nothing seemed to really stick out to her as a good plan. She walked along, silence hanging in the air as she kept her eyes on the road ahead of them. It wouldn't be long now before they would be approaching the runway gate to the air port. She could only hope she would live long enough to actually get in there and come up with an escape plan that wouldn't get her blasted with that Silencer as he called it.

Finally after long quiet minute of walking, the tall gates came into sight and she nodded her head toward them, "That's my home. The Pine Mountain Airport." Which was the truth. But she of course left out that it was just her home and that no one else lived there with her. Though, she kept a straight face to keep from suspicion and thanked her uncle for such a skill. Her uncle had been the best at keeping secrets, namely from other human survivors during the early days of this apocalypse. She had watched him tell lie after lie without an ounce of a hint he was lying. Over the years, after he died and she had to fend other humans off, she had learned to do the same and lie pretty well. To a certain extent that was. She hoped that skill would see her through in this situation as well.

As they approached the fences, she could fell something wet hit her head and looking up, she frowned at the darkening clouds, "Great. A storm." In this area, with all the humidity in the air, storms weren't uncommon and could get bad fast, as soon when in seconds the water was pouring from the sky, thunder and lightening crashing. These things didn't seem to bother her though. This was a normal occurrence for her and wouldn't be shaken by what she thought was a little storm. Standing in front of the fence, she was quick to climb to the top despite the water making the chain links slick, and looked down at him as she sat there for a moment, "Come on. Don't tell me a strong and oh so superior alien can't climb a measly fence in the rain."

Shaking her head, she hopped down to the bottom and once he had made it inside as well, she looked around, feigning confusion, "That's weird. Its way too quiet. Even in a storm there should still be people out. Training never quits for the weather." As she walked around, she turned in circles, as if looking to see someone, even calling a few names of people that woudl never answer and some 'hellos' in question, "Where are they all at. I know they were talking about moving on after the ship landed, but...." Her eyes widened with mock fear, "Did they move on without me?" She went to a few of the planes, looking in windows in pretense search, looking worried, "Nothing's here. They even took their supplies with them instead of just stopping."

Walking over to her own plane, she pushed the heavy door open and walked inside, ringing out her damp clothes and blonde locks, "At least they left my stuff..." She mumbled, speaking the alien as she went through some things to grab a water, not meeting his gaze, "Guess your luck ran out big guy. No humans for you to kill today. Well, except for me maybe." She glanced over at him for a moment before taking a sip of her water, "Admit it. You're going to kill me. Might as well get it over with. I don't know where the others are so I'm of no use anyway." She looked back to him, her gaze locked on his, clear that it was as if testing him to see if he really had the guts to take her out with that gun of his.

[Rogue Sloth]

Serix worried that he might have overstepped the boundary when the human flashed him an irritated look. She turned away from him and continued walking, apparently finished speaking with him. He shrugged and followed her again. He would get the information he wanted sooner or later, whether she was willing to cooperate or not.

Eventually they came upon a gate leading to an area the human called “Pine Mountain Airport,” whatever that meant. Supposedly, the other humans were just beyond the perimeter – if there were any other humans at all. She directed him to a chained barrier. On the way over, she paused and looked up at the sky where large, dark masses had begun to block out the light and muttered something he didn’t catch. In the next instant, he jumped when something cold hit him on the shoulder. He spun around, but there was nothing there.

“What—” Serix started to say when another cold projectile hit him on the head. He lifted his gaze to the sky and another one fell on his cheek, and one more on his forehead. Soon, the cold, wet drops were coming down in numbers far greater than he could count. He looked back at the human, wide-eyed. Was this some kind of trick? He cupped his hands to catch some of the falling liquid. Some of it trickled through his fingers, but he managed to contain enough of it to see that it was only water. Water fell from the sky on Earth? This planet was full surprises.

Serix started again when a blinding flash of light ripped across the sky. Seconds later, a booming roar followed it. Now what kind of creature was large enough to make a noise like that? He tightened his grip on the Silencer hurried to catch up with the human, eager to avoid the invisible threat. When he looked back at her, he was surprised to see that she was perfectly calm. The tumultuous monster didn’t seem to faze her in the least.

He regained his composer quickly enough that when she turned around, she probably didn’t notice it, but he couldn’t help his racing heart. He wished she would hurry up so they could find somewhere to take shelter. The human clambered nimbly to the top of the barrier and sat on the top, looking down at him smugly.

“Come on. Don't tell me a strong and oh so superior alien can't climb a measly fence in the rain,” she called down and jumped to the other side. So the falling water was called ‘rain’? Serix rolled his eyes in response to her jibe and lifted himself onto the steel mesh, testing his grip to make sure it would support his weight before climbing up the side and hopping over the top. He landed smoothly on his feet and smirked at her as if to say, I can do that, too.

Another flash of light and angry boom set his heart to pounding again. It didn’t help that the human was now wandering around with a bewildered expression, saying something about being abandoned by the others. Serix glared at her. He was now sure of it. There were no others. With so few of their kind left, the humans would never abandon one of their own this easily. He felt a pang of disappointment. She was the last one after all, and he would be the one to finish off their fragile species.

The human began walking towards a large ship-like vessel. Serix quickly trotted after her, trying to convince himself he was only shivering because of the cold water that drenched his hair and clothes. He stayed close as she heaved open the heavy metal door and slipped inside. She stepped over to a bag and rummaged through it, looking for something. Serix leaned against the metal door and closed his eyes, willing his heart to stop hammering. He knew he should be worried that she had some kind of weapon, but he couldn’t care less at the moment. The deep rumbling sounds permeated even the thick walls of the makeshift home. He opened his eyes to slits when the human spoke up.

“Guess your luck ran out big guy. No humans for you to kill today. Well, except for me maybe,” she cast him an uncaring glance and took a drink from a container of water. “Admit it. You're going to kill me. Might as well get it over with. I don't know where the others are so I'm of no use anyway.” She was testing him. Considering the situation, she was taking a huge gamble. He could just raise his weapon and shoot her dead on the spot, and she would have nothing to defend herself. Well fine. He could bluff too.

“I could kill you now,” Serix said slowly. “Or I could take you back to the others and see what they want to do with you.” He didn’t want to kill her just yet. There were still too many things he wanted to ask, and he now knew she was the only one who could give him answers. “You would make an excellent test subject. I’m sure the others would all love to find out what protected you from the Plague.”

[AHeartlessNobody]

Cassie put the cap onto her water bottle, tossing it onto one of the plane seats as she listened to his threat and walked over to him, putting her hands on her hips once again as she looked over at him, speaking in a tone that was rather mocking, as it was exactly what he had said to her earlier, "Is that all you got?" Shaking her head, she turned from him, flipping her blonde curls in his face as she did, and she walked over back toward some of the shelves her supplies were on, "You know ,that is a pretty weak threat. But then again, any kind of threat you could use would be weak considering all the damage you people have done." Reaching up, she pulled a can off of the shelf, examining it for a moment, "Your kind killed my family, destroyed the planet essentially, sent a plague to kill off all the remaining humans. Believe me, there isn't much you or 'the others' as you call them, could do to make my life any more worse than it already is."

She put back that can and went to looking at another before nodding, deciding on her dinner. Once she had that in hand, she grabbed her can opener from one of her bags, as well as grabbed a plastic fork to eat her ravioli with, "So, as you see, whatever you decide won't matter. Though, if you do kill me, I suggest waiting until this storm is over. You wouldn't want to spend the night in a pane with a dead body after all. And believe me, this storm will last all night." She took a bite of her food and pointed back to the shelves with her thumb, "If you're hungry there's food and drink stocked up there. Obviously it won't be doing me any good after today."

Another strike of lightening and thunder roared outside, to which she merely looked out the window and spoke non-nonchalantly, "Seems like it's getting worse. Wouldn't want to be out in that right now." She moved her gaze over to him and though it was barely noticeable, she could see the nervousness in his body language and raised an eyebrow at that, a grin on her face, speaking in a teasing manner, "What's the matter, scared a little storm."

Only, after she said that, she realized that maybe he was really scared of the storm. Had he never seen a storm like this before? She had never really stopped to think about that. Where did the aliens go after they left Earth? Did they really stay in one of those hips of theirs all this time. It would make sense she supposed and would explain that worry written all over him, "Oh....oh wow, you really are scared of the storm aren't you?" She tilted her head to the side, watching him, "It's just water. Okay, and maybe thunder and lightening, but it's not going to hurt you. Unless you walk around with something that attracts electricity that is, but here inside the plane we're safe."

Finishing up her can of food she tossed it into a bag that was meant for trash and walked over to her makeshift bed, kicking her boots off her feet before sitting cross legged on it, looking at him, "Storms are something normal here on earth, so if your staying a while you'll have to get used to it. It's just part of life here." She thought for a moment before speaking again, "If it helps, think of it as just the clouds playing bowling. When the lightening comes, that means they got a strike and the thunder is like them celebrating. But, wait....you probably don't know what bowling is....hmm...then how can I explain it in a way its not frightening...." She began thinking again, before she nodded to herself, "Okay, think of it like those huge ships of yours. Imagine standing here on earth and looking up at the sky. What you'd see first is the lights from the ship, but then a few seconds after, you'll hear the roar of it as well. Lightening and thunder are kind of like that. Does that make sense? Or....even help at all?"

She shook her head and layed back on the makeshift bed, "Eh, who am I kidding. I'm talking to a bloodthirsty alien. You don't care about what I have to say. You probably weren't even listening to me."

[Rogue Sloth]

Serix wasn’t surprised when the human saw through his bluff. It didn’t matter. Even if she bought it, he couldn’t act on it anyways. If he were to actually bring her back to the ship, the pilot would know he was disobeying his orders. The human would end up dead and he would be in trouble as well. It was looking more and more like he would have to kill her while they were trapped here. But why did he feel so strongly against it? He shot the beast from earlier without a second thought. Why was the idea of doing the same to this human so off-putting? Getting information out of her wasn’t nearly so important that he would repeatedly ignore his orders like this. He looked her over again. Maybe it was because she was so similar to the Lunairans. It almost felt like he would be murdering one of his own. Yes, he decided, that was the problem: the humans were just too much like the Lunairans for him to just shoot them like mindless beasts.

The human female offered him food and drink, but he just shook his head. He was beginning to feel hungry, but she could easily slip poison into his meal. He didn’t trust her enough to accept edibles yet. Just then, another deafening boom shook the vessel and Serix closed his eyes. He cursed himself for his irrational fear. The human wasn’t showing any signs of impending danger, so whatever was making the noise obviously wasn’t a threat. The rational part of him knew he had no reason to feel such anxiety. To make matters worse, the human had noticed his discomfort.

“What's the matter, scared of a little storm?” she drawled condescendingly. Serix glared at her. He wanted to snap at her that he wasn’t afraid, but he bit his tongue. It was pointless. His body language had given him away, so it would be useless to try and cover it up with lies. He leaned into the metal door and slid down to a sitting position, refusing to meet her gaze. He hated the weakness he was showing. He needed the human to be afraid of him so he could get what he wanted from her, but so far she only thought of him as some kind of joke. In fact, they had almost reversed their roles. She had taken him into her home, where she had the advantage if she were to try and fight to escape; whereas he was trapped by the raging leviathan she called “Storm.” He would have laughed at the irony if he wasn’t so panicky.

“Oh....oh wow, you really are scared of the storm aren't you?” the human spoke again. This time, her tone was surprisingly gentle. “It's just water. Okay, and maybe thunder and lightning, but it's not going to hurt you. Unless you walk around with something that attracts electricity that is, but here inside the plane we're safe.” Serix looked up at her warily. Was she trying to comfort him? After all he’d done to her, she was being… nice? He suspected it was some sort of trick, but what would she gain by making him feel better? No matter how he looked at it, it made no sense.

“Storms are something normal here on earth, so if you’re staying a while you'll have to get used to it. It's just part of life here,” the human continued. “If it helps, think of it as just the clouds playing bowling. When the lightening comes, that means they got a strike and the thunder is like them celebrating. But, wait... you probably don't know what bowling is... hmm... then how can I explain it in a way it’s not frightening...” She trailed off, knitting her brow in thought. Serix didn’t doubt now that she really was trying to comfort him, but instead of feeling calmer he was only growing more confused. Her behavior was so illogical. Why wasn’t she taking advantage of his panic to make a move against him? She had nothing to gain by her current actions. He found himself almost wanting her to attack him because it would be less stressful than what she was doing now.

“Okay,” the human went on. [/b]“Think of it like those huge ships of yours. Imagine standing here on earth and looking up at the sky. What you'd see first is the lights from the ship, but then a few seconds after, you'll hear the roar of it as well. Lightning and thunder are kind of like that. Does that make sense? Or....even help at all?”[/b] Serix just stared at her. Her explanation did sort of make sense, but he was still just as perplexed as before. The human just shook her head and lay down. “Eh, who am I kidding. I'm talking to a bloodthirsty alien. You don't care about what I have to say. You probably weren't even listening to me.”

“Why?” Serix said quietly. He couldn’t stand it anymore. Her actions were too confusing. He had to know what she was plotting. He looked back down at the floor and shook his head. “Why are you trying to help me? You said it yourself: I’m going to kill you eventually. So just what are you trying to do?”

[AHeartlessNobody]

Cassie layed there on her bed, staring up at the ceiling, and she hadn't really expected to hear a response from him when she spoke to him, calling him a 'bloodthirsty' alien. Or at least if she expected a response she would have thought it to be him yelling at her or snapping at her in some way. So, when his tone was soft and confused, much different from the tones he had used with her before, she herself grew confused and sat up, looking to him. His expression was jut as confused as his tone and she really couldn't understand what he was so confused about. If anything, his confusion was just causing her to be confused as well. She paused as he looked to the floor and shook his head, trying to come up with the right words to say or even if she had an answer to his question.

"What am I trying to do?" She asked, tilting her head to the side. After a moment, she shrugged slowly, gazing around the room before she looked back to him, "I' not trying to do anything." She stood up and walked over to him, crouching down to look at him face to face, "Look, you obviously don't know a lot about humans, so I'll kill you in on something. No matter what your people have said about us, we are smart. We're brave. Maybe weak. But there's one thing our kind have that myself have known and every other human on this planet probably noticed before they died, and that's our nature is much different from yours. On Earth, we don't need a reason to help some one. We just do it. We don't need something in return, because what goes around comes around. That's something we humans learned, yet something your people have yet to understand."

She stood up straight from her crouched position, though still looked down at him, "My father used to say that you should always help someone when you can, no matter how they are toward you, and good things will come your way. But when you're cruel to someone and you're likely to get a bullet in the back. So to say." She turned now and walked over to one of the windows of the plane, watching lighting strike the ground about thirty feet form the plane. She stared out at the rain, which was a sight she had always enjoyed. It relaxed her and maybe even made her a little tired too, "So, you can call me weak. Maybe even say I'm stupid for having such morals in a time when I'm likely to die. But it's who I am. Deal with it."

Walking back over to the make shift bed, she flopped down sitting criss-cross on it, looking over at him, and after speaking about her father in such a way, it made her think back to her parents once again, namely her mother, which of course, brought more questions to her mind, "My turn for a question," She paused, as if trying to figure out how to word what she wanted to ask before she looked back to him, "Were there any of your kind that switched sides in this war? You know, took our side in all of this?"

[Rogue Sloth]

The human was trying to be helpful without looking to gain anything in return? Serix found that hard to believe. He froze when she crouched down in front of him to speak with him face to face and found himself leaning further into the door. She had closed the distance between them enough that he had to look her in the eye, which was exactly what he was trying not to do at the moment. In that instant, he thought he understood the concept she called “personal space.”

“Look, you obviously don't know a lot about humans, so I'll kill you in on something. No matter what your people have said about us, we are smart. We're brave. Maybe weak. But there's one thing our kind have that myself have known and every other human on this planet probably noticed before they died, and that's our nature is much different from yours. On Earth, we don't need a reason to help someone. We just do it. We don't need something in return, because what goes around comes around. That's something we humans learned, yet something your people have yet to understand.”

Serix contemplated her self-righteous little speech. So humans believed acts of goodwill were to be done without expecting to be compensated? Thinking about it now, it wasn’t a bad idea. He tried to imagine how his life would have been on the ship if the Lunairans behaved in such a selfless manner. Maybe his mother wouldn’t have embarked on her suicidal mission if she thought about her child’s best interests rather than her own. The memory made his chest tight with complex emotions, so he shoved it away.

The human stood up again and looked down at him, “My father used to say that you should always help someone when you can, no matter how they are toward you, and good things will come your way. But when you're cruel to someone and you're likely to get a bullet in the back. So to say.” She crossed to one of the windows in the vessel and peered out at the rain. Another flash of light lit up her face. The booming noise that followed it was even faster and louder than before, making Serix jump again. It sounded like the Storm beast was getting closer. Still, the human wasn’t worried. If anything, she looked peaceful, staring out the window like that. Her serenity made him relax a bit.

“So, you can call me weak. Maybe even say I'm stupid for having such morals in a time when I'm likely to die. But it's who I am. Deal with it,” the human said. She turned away from the window and sat back down on the bed. Serix watched her from his spot on the floor. He didn’t think her ideals were foolish. He almost wished the Earthlings and the Lunairans had tried harder to come to peaceful terms. Maybe they could have exchanged customs and information and learned to live with each other. But it was too late for that now. His people took matters into their own hands and exterminated the human beings. Such was their nature.

“My turn for a question,” the human spoke up again. Serix raised a brow at her. So she was willing to trade inquiries with him again? “Were there any of your kind that switched sides in this war? You know, took our side in all of this?”

“I’m not sure I know the answer to that,” Serix tilted his head. There probably weren’t any, but he didn’t remember that far back. “To my knowledge, none of my people defended the humans, but…” He frowned. Could the higher powers have kept some information from the rest of the population? Were there others who shared his opinions about the humans? If so, what happened to them? The human’s single question raised a number of others in his mind. “I suppose it’s possible.”

Serix looked at the human skeptically, “Why do you ask?”

[AHeartlessNobody]

Cassie nodded slowly when he said he wasn't sure. That is was unlikely but possible. Well, that didn't help her get any answers about what she was pondering. If anything, it made her questions about her parents grow even more in her head. So many were forming, and yet for every question she asked and got an answer, that caused a hundred more to come up. She had a feeling she wouldn't be winning or getting any real answers any time soon, which was really bothersome because she wasn't even sure how long she would be alive to try and get these answers. For all she knew he would probably kill her in her sleep and she would never find out the truth about her parents. It was all very frustrating.

When he asked her why she had been bringing up such questions, she looked up again, a little caught off guard at the alien's question. She blinked in surprise and seemed unsure of how to answer before she finally just shrugged, "No reason really. I was just wondering, that's all." It was her turn to avert her gaze now. So what if she lied to him on this little matter? It wasn't any of his business who her parents had been, or even more so, what they had been. Besides, if she did tell him he would probably call her a liar and try to say she was just making up stories to save her skin.

Could her possibly being half Lunairan(wow, that was hard for her to think after so long of thinking to hate the Lunairans for the destruction of their planet and the death of those around her) even save her? Maybe. Maybe not. On one hand they might give her a pardon because she did have Lunairan blood coursing through her veins. And on the other they could think of her as an impure mutt and kill her anyway. Either way, she wasn't sure what sounded worse, living with these aliens or being killed by them. Well, whatever it was, maybe giving a little information would be too bad. Maybe she didn't even have to let him know it was her mother she was speaking about.

She shook her head at her, sighing as she gave in to her own thoughts and looked back to him, "I just.....I thought maybe I might have seen someone on our side all those years ago. She...spent a lot of time with my father. I didn't think much of her appearance really.....until I saw you and put together how similar she was to your kind. I thought.....maybe she might be like you. And alien."

[Rogue Sloth]

Serix studied the human’s face. He was tempted to ask more about this possible human-sympathetic Lunairan, but her guarded expression told him she wasn’t going to give him any answers. Instead he just nodded and rose to his feet. He was still a little shaky, but he ignored it as he found a more comfortable place to rest in one of the cushioned chairs.

When he sat down again he realized just how tired he was. At least the anxiety he was feeling from the Storm would help keep him awake to guard the human. He didn’t want her slipping off into the night while he slept. Serix leaned into the soft chair and let out his breath in a quiet sigh. He still had to figure out how to take care of the human before the following night, when he was supposed to return to the ship to report his findings and replenish his supplies. His eyelids felt heavy with sleep. There was still so much thinking to do, but he was too weary to plan rationally.

Another flash lit up the vessel, accompanied by the usual boom. This time, however, Serix was too exhausted to feel the usual leap of his heart. That wasn’t good. He couldn’t afford to fall asleep now.

“I guess it’s my turn,” Serix said, stifling a yawn. Talking to the human might help keep him awake. “I heard that your people created machines that could fight without a driver. Is that true?”

[AHeartlessNobody]

Cassie watch the alien as he stood up from where he sat on slightly shaky legs before he moved to one of the airplane's chairs to rest instead. She herself layed down in the bed, getting comfortable, yet keeping herself turning to the side and laying sideways on her bed so she could keep an eye on the alien n case he tried to kill her or something of the sort in the middle of the night. That is, if she didn't fall asleep. She was bad about being a deep sleeper and no matter what she did it had never gotten better over the years. Falling asleep in this situation might very well turn bad for her in this situation. Then again, this situation was already bad. He could probably kill her at any time, asleep or not. So, why shouldn't she at least get some sleep while she could?

That sounded like a good idea actually now that she thought about it and she curled up, pulling her blanket around her, about to close her eyes when she heard the alien's question about giant robots. She looked over at him as she layed there and shrugged, letting out a yawn as she did, "It's completely true. They were huge. Bigger than some of the buildings that were in that city. Some times they were run by remote control but most of the tie they had special fighting techniques and weapons programmed into their systems to use. It took a lot of work to put those thing together."

She paused, smiling slightly as she thought back, "My father was the one who invented the technology to go in almost all of those robots. I used to go with him all the time. I even still remember where they are probably still stored. I would get to see how they fought and which ones were the strongest. One time I got to control one of the remote controlled ones." Rolling over she stared up at the ceiling now, "I tried to reconstruct my own smaller versions in my first few years here. You know, just to see f I make something that would be of use to me. Not a giant one of course, but just something maybe the size of that dog you killed. Or possibly smaller. I think what I was doing was right, but my materials were far from usable. All rusted and such by then. So, I obviously didn't get very for in any of those protects."

Once again she rolled over to look at him a she layed there sideways, smiling still, "What makes you so interested in the robots? Aren't they so much inferior to your people's technology?"