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Amanda
Hiding in an abandoned building on Earth, I hadn’t spotted any of the red-haired ugly creatures as often, but there were plenty of white-haired ones crawling around the area. Why couldn’t they just leave? Get off our fucking planet!
“I’m going,” Susan said as she looked out at the moonlit city. I widened my eyes at her, giving her a stern warning. “Let go!” She shot me her own warning.
“It’s not safe yet.” There weren’t as many aliens, but still enough to stay in hiding.
“Let go of my damn arm, Amanda!” I did as Susan demanded. “I’m tired of being cooped up in here. I’m losing my mind!”
“Aren’t we all? But it’s better than getting caught. You’ve heard the rumors. Plus, it’s still light outside.”
“That’s the magic word…r u m o r s.” She spoke slowly as if I didn’t believe it.
Susan took off and I had no choice but to follow her. “Shit!” I hissed under my breath.
I tore out after Susan, leaving the safety of a small abandoned building in the middle of downtown. It looked more like a war-zone thanks to the aliens.
I wanted to call after her, tell her to slow down, but I didn’t dare risk someone hearing. Of the two, I was the more cautious one.
Chasing after Susan, I came to an abrupt stop. “Oh, shit!” I ducked behind a trash dumpster to watch the scene.
Two red-haired monsters grabbed Susan. She screamed, “M-A-N-D-Y.” That’s what Susan always called me, but I was helpless to do anything but watch. Following close behind, but not too close, I watched as Susan fought them every step of the way until they reached a shuttlecraft.
We’d seen them land before, spill out at least thirty or so aliens, so I knew it was fairly large.
Hiding behind a tree, one of the few left in the park, I watched two of them drag Susan inside, and after a few minutes, they came back out. I didn’t know if it was the same two, but determination propelled me forward. I had to rescue Susan, no matter what.
I tiptoed, wanting to be as light as possible on my feet so I wouldn’t make a sound. The smell of smoke from burning buildings tickled my nose. Hastily, I scratched it and tried not to sneeze. A lone gunshot could be heard in the distance. Hopefully from Earth’s military.
Reaching the entrance of the shuttlecraft, I climbed the few steps and cautiously glanced inside. Nothing.
Looking toward the front and then the rear, I took my first step inside and headed toward the rear.
The shuttle was made of hard gray metal, and sparsely furnished. They obviously didn’t care about comfort. Even their chairs were made of gray metal.
As I neared the back of the shuttle, my eyes widened in horror. Cages, a little wider than a high school locker and as tall as a person, lined the back wall. Susan wasn’t the only one there. There was another girl, but she didn’t look so good.
“Get me out of here!” Susan hissed.
I threw my arms up in the air and angrily whispered, “How?”
“I don’t know how. Just do it!”
I shot Susan a ‘shut the hell up’ look while I tried to figure out how to unlock the cage. “Maybe you should’ve just stayed put like I asked you to.”
“Too late now.”
“I can’t find a way to open it.”
“Shit! Now what do we do?”
“I don’t know.” I looked around, trying to find something to pry the bars open. “What’s wrong with her?” I nodded to the brunette that was slumped over in the other cage.
“I don’t know, but I think she’s unconscious.”
My eyes glanced back to the brunette. “She looks like she hasn’t eaten in awhile. She’s skin and bones.”
An outside noise startled us. Heavy boots hit the steps. They were coming back. “Shit!” Susan screeched. “Hide!”
I scrambled, looking for a place to hide. A small storage closet was all I could find. It was so small the door wouldn’t fasten with me in it. I held it closed with my hand, while my nose touched the inside of the door.
I closed my eyes and prayed they didn’t find me. Another mess me and Susan had gotten into. It was Susan’s fault, but it didn’t matter. We talked to each other like crap, but it was just our way. We would die for each other and there was no way I would let Susan go through this alone.
Instead of loading another girl on the shuttlecraft, it hummed to life and took off. Without a seatbelt, I was tossed one way and then the other as I tried to balance myself in the tiny closet.
It didn’t take long until it landed hard. Damn, they need to go back to driving school. I heard the footsteps grow closer, the screech of the cage door opening, Susan calling them every name in the book. I didn’t have to look to know that Susan fought them every step of the way. And then there was nothing, only my heavy breathing.
I cracked open the door and peeked out, just to make sure it was empty. My hands trembled slightly, but I had been in tight situations before. Treading carefully through the shuttle, I made it back to the open door. Five steps down. Instead of descending them, I laid on my stomach, crawled over, and peeked outside.
The two that took Susan were dragging her out a door, followed by another one carrying the unconscious girl. The rest of the room was empty.
After the door slammed shut behind them, I descended the metal steps. It was a large room with various crates and other shuttle crafts.
Now what? With my hands on my hips, I surveyed the cargo bay lined with shuttlecrafts.
I’d seen enough sci-fi movies, but didn’t know if they were remotely accurate. Still… I glanced up at the air vents. That’s how they do it in the movies.
Glancing around looking for a ladder, I didn’t see anything. Of course, they didn’t have one. There were some crates and barrels sitting in a corner. That’ll work.
Carefully stacking them, I climbed up and shoved at the cover. “I don’t have the muscle for this.” I wasn’t in the best physical shape, but if determination was a strength, I’d be fucking Superman.
I grunted with execration as I tried to hoist my way up through the small opening. It took a little time, and a few scrapes on my hands and knees, but I finally made it. Lying on my back, I heaved, trying to catch my breath, before turning over and crawling on my hands and knees. I needed to find Susan.
Crawling through the vent was not as easy or clean as it was in the movies, not that I was clean to begin with. That was hard to do with no running water.
It took awhile, but I finally spotted her pacing a dark room. One lone ray of light illumined her cell just enough to see.
“Susan,” I whispered through the grate as I looked down at her.
“Amanda? What are you doing up there?”
“Duh…looking for you.”
I tested the grate and knew it would open. “Step back,” I said, “I don’t want it to hit you in the head.”
Susan stepped back. I shoved the grate until it fell to the ground with a loud clang. “I’m coming down.”
Without much grace, I dropped to my feet. Susan crossed her arms and grimaced. “Sorry I got you into this mess.”
We both eased down against the back wall. “We’ve been in worse situations.”
Susan looked at me and, for the first time, I worried. “I don’t think we have.”
As each day passed, Susan shared her food with me, which wasn’t much. And then one day, we felt the difference.
“Oh, shit! I think we’ve landed somewhere. Quick, get back in the vent!”
I was already shaking my head ‘no’ when I said, “I’ll stay with you, Susan.”
“No! You can’t help me if they find you here.” She knelt down. “Come on, stand on my shoulders.”
I stared at my best friend for a mere second before doing as she asked. From the safety of the air vent, I watched as they drug Susan from her cell.