My Xenomorph

CH 9: Like Camping

It was really dark now, around 10:25 PM. The moon was out and Prone and I were sitting by a fire he had made, I was leaning against a tree and looking through my backpack for another can of corn.

Prone was holding his combat knife and was slowly sliding it across his fingers, I was tempted to do the same but I knew I'd end up cutting myself by accident. I shifted around the cereal and found a can of the cold corn, I smiled as I picked it out of the pack and set it down in front of me.

Prone lifted his head and peered at me. I zipped up my pack and took out my knife. "Wait," Prone said, "put it by the fire, you can warm it up."

I did as he suggested and shoved it close to the fire, I leaned back against the tree again.

Prone put his knife beside him and went digging through his own bag, he took out a package that said MRE on the side of it. He opened it and pulled out another one of those weird heating things, he put his food into it and waited.

The fire crackled and popped and I could feel the heat against my face, it didn't help with how tired I was but it helped my mood a lot, it looked nice. It was like I was camping with my dad again, but without Roman. I almost wanted to cry but instead I just stared at the fire.

I grabbed a stick and reached out to poke the can of corn back to me. Prone stood up and walked over to me with his food in his hands. He sat himself down next to me and put his food on my lap. I stared down at it for a few moments. 'He wants me to have it?' I looked up at him expectantly.

"Go on," He smiled at me, "you get my food today, I'll get the 'cold' corn." He pulled what looked like a chocolate bar out of a bag and gave it to me," Hooah!" He cheered.

The bar read Hooah and near the bottom Ooh-Rah, "What does that mean?" I smiled up at him.

Prone shrugged, "No one really knows, I've been told it means anything but 'No' and others say it's when you agree with someone."

I chuckled a bit and grabbed the food, Prone waited for the canned corn to cool off a bit before opening and eating. The military food tasted much better than the cold corn, it was like I was eating chicken for the first time in my whole life, it was awesome. I was surprised that it had only been three days since the Xenomorphs attacked, it felt more like two weeks or a month.

I scooped up the last bit of the food and unwrapped the HOOAH! bar. Prone was smiling at me. I smiled back at him before taking a bite out of the bar. 'It really is like I'm camping with my dad.'. I leaned up against the tree and continued to munch on the bar.

'Prone should know how far the base is now, hopefully we can make it that far.' I chewed and looked up at all the other trees, I wished Xaez was here with me, I liked cuddling next to him. I took another bite of the bar then turned to Prone. "You said the Xenomorph's mainly come at night right?"

Prone didn't look at me, he continued to eat his food, "Yeah, I was just thinking about that. Maybe we should move out before we draw any attention."

I finished off the bar. "Why don't we just rest for a bit, then go?" I stood up and looked through my backpack.

"I guess we could do that." He replied. I grabbed my flashlight and walked toward a different area. Prone stared at me and put down the can of corn, "Hey, where are you going?" He said standing up.

I paused and looked at him, "Don't worry, I just have to go to the washroom." I glanced down at my holsters. "I'll be fine."

Prone sighed and sat back down. "Don't go to far."

I nodded and walked off into the bushes. I flicked the flashlight on and went far enough from the site that I could barely see the fire. I relieved myself then wandered around for a little while. I looked up at the trees, " Xaez." I called in a quite tone, "Xaez, where are you?"