I yawned as my eyes fluttered open to a bright white sun. I had slept very deeply that night, my legs were a very sore and ached but I ignored it. I expected that to happen after all the running I had done the day before. I remembered that Snake was still in my pocket and reached in to see if I could grab him but I couldn't feel anything other than the pen and paper.
'Huh?' I inverted the pocket to make sure he for sure wasn't in it. Frantically, I patted down my other pocket to see if he had maybe crawled in to that one, but it was empty.
"Snake?" I called, but he didn't pop up. "Snake!" I called again. I sighed. All good things had to come to an end, right?
I stood up and, with my head hung low with disappointment, slowly began to walk away. That's when I heard rustling coming from in front of me. "Snake?" I asked, staring at the spot where I heard the noise from.
Snake came slithering out from under some leaves and looked up at me. His head was stained with fresh blood.
'Ew' I closed my eyes from the sight because the sight made me feel sick. "So, you went to get something to eat?" I opened my eyes slowly. 'He's got to eat something I guess...'
I picked him up noticing that he was a bit bigger than he was before, he looked a lot different too. He had what looked like very small arms curled against his body and no eyes. 'I knew I wasn't just seeing that yesterday! He really doesn't have eyes'
Snake made a hissing sound as he slithered back into my pocket. 'Why does he have arms if he's a snake? It has to be a birth thing like some babies born with 6 fingers... yeah that's probably it. Just like his eyes. Poor little guy was just left out here.' I heard my stomach growl and I whimpered. It was really starting to hurt, I hadn't eaten for over twenty-four hours now.
"I should get some food too." I looked around. "Now the only question is, where do I go to get it?"
That's when Snake slithered up and wrapped around my arm. His head was on my shoulder and he was looking to the side. "What?" I asked him, as he made another hissing sound. "You want me to go that way?"
He nodded slightly and I began to walk in the direction he 'told' me to go. The more I walked the more my stomach growled, so much that I clutched my belly as I walked. Snake noticed and rubbed his head against mine, it felt more like he was pushing me but regardless it was cute. I smiled at him and tried not to look like I hurt as much.
I walked for a very long time. My legs continued to ache and I knew I would eventually have to take a break. In the distance I saw what looked like a shack. There was green paneling that made it camouflage with the surrounding trees and what looked like a brown door. As I approached it I realized it was a cabin rather than a shack.
I gasped, overwhelming excitement filling me and immediately ran to the door. I knocked on it to see if anyone was home. 'I should just walk in, they might be dead by the Xenomorphs anyway' I turned the knob and pushed the door open. I let go of the handle and let the door hit the wall on the inside.
"Hello?" I called. "I've been out in the woods and I need some food." No one answered. I looked at Snake and shrugged. "Guess no one's home." I peered around the corner of the kitchen and walked in, it looked clean for the most part. I rushed to the fridge and opened it. The first thing I noticed was that it wasn't cold. 'Is the power out?'
There wasn't much there, the people that used to live here had grabbed most of the food and probably took off when they heard about the Xenomorphs. There was a milk jug that was a week expired and a few moldy fruits and vegetables. There was a small jar of dill pickles that didn't look bad so I took it.
Next, I went to the cupboards and opened them. There were a few canned goods like beans and corn. I went for my favorite, corn. I couldn't find a can opener so I grabbed a knife and stabbed at the can until it opened. I grabbed a spoon full and ate some. Cold. I hated cold corn but I was so hungry that I ate half the can in less than a minute.
I had stopped and took a spoonful to see if Snake would eat it. When I put the corn in his face he turned away and hissed. "Well okay don't eat it." I ate the spoonful and finished off the rest of the can. I went for the pickles next, I grabbed a cloth to help with grip and opened it before devouring everything within, leaving the juice. I went digging through the lower cabinets and was able to find a few plastic bags and cereal.
I felt Snake slither to get more comfortable on my shoulder. I patted his head before I grabbed the bags and filled them with some cereal, shoving them into my pockets for later, most of the bag bulged out of my pockets but I didn't think they would fall out. I turned to the entrance of the kitchen to leave. "Time to go Snake."
Snake made a quiet screeching sound and bit my shoulder, it was enough to make me yelp but not enough that is caused blood. "Ahh! What was that for!?"
He screeched again and bit harder. "Stop it!" I swatted at him. Then I heard footsteps coming from outside. I shut up and stood there staring at the entrance. Snake seemed to have wanted me to shut up, he stopped biting me just as I got quiet. I took a step back and held my breath.
Snake was looking at the door too.
The crunch and snaps of twigs and leaves got a bit louder and louder until I knew it was at the door. I heard the creak of the floor as it stepped into the house and what sounded like a low groan.
I felt frozen in place as I saw a long-fingered claw grip the side of the kitchen doorframe. The Xenomorph peaked its head around the corner, its black carapace head pointed in our direction. I was shaking now. The Xenomorph took a step forward and snarled, revealing its inner jaw.
I whimpered and took a step back. Snake screeched and hissed loudly but the Xenomorph kept walking forward, but the more Snake screeched the slower the thing got. I slowly stepped to the side and tried to go around the Xenomorph that was now in the middle of the kitchen. It stared at me the whole time, tracking me every time I took a step. I didn't take my eyes off of it either.
I slowly stepped around it until I was at the entrance of the kitchen. I didn't dare turn my back to it so I began to walk backwards towards the brown door that was still wide open.
The Xenomorph really started to get annoyed, it growled and screeched as it stepped forward, quickening its pace.
Snake hissed one last time as I turned and sprinted out of the door. I grabbed the knob of the door to slam it shut as I ran. The Xenomorph growled and lunged but I was long gone by the time it got to the door. I heard it slam its body into it once but then there was nothing.
I was deeper into the woods now, adrenaline fueling me as I ran faster than I had ever ran before. I was laughing too, I wasn't to sure why.
Snake screeched with delight as I ran, the cool air hitting his head. I smiled at him and dodged a tree then another tree. I stopped after a few more minutes of running. I plopped myself behind a tree and leaned against it. Snake now in my hands.
"We're even now," I nuzzled my face against him "I saved your life, and you saved mine." Snake seemed to grin at me, his diamond teeth glistening. 'Why didn't the Xenomorph attack me when Snake was hissing at it? He's definitely not as strong as them but the Xenomorph still stopped and didn't do anything.'
It was a weird encounter but I decided to ignore the thoughts about it. 'Maybe it just got confused by the hissing.' My legs began to throb from the running and I groaned, trying to massage my sore muscles. "Snake I need to take a break from walking."
I leaned my head against the tree and took in a few deep breaths to calm my adrenaline. I shut my eyes as I did so.
When I opened them, I felt as if time had passed. 'Did I fall asleep?' I couldn't tell, everything still seemed the same but I guessed I had just accidentally taken a nap. It was a much needed one if I did.
I grabbed my cereal from my pocket and ate a bit of it. "Y'know," I said, my voice a little muffled because of the food in my mouth, "I think I'm going to start liking the woods with you around." I said while petting his head. 'I can survive here, I know I can. Especially with him here to help'
He hissed his reply and nuzzled himself against me.
I ate for a few more minutes and put the rest of the cereal back into my pocket. Standing up, I looked in all directions. "So..." I let snake slither back up to my shoulder, "Where to now buddy?"