AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Then, it’s everyone else’s turn.
Over the next hour, we’re taken, one by one, to a room next door that the aliens call the medic bay for our scans. For the most part, everything goes smoothly – I think we’re all a little too scared of the cattle prod to do anything other than comply with their orders. Even Crystal settled for just shooting the aliens a nasty glare as if she was imagining their deaths.
If only looks could kill, they’d be six feet under by now.
When it was Maddie’s turn, the sub-captain warned the other one, “Be careful of that female. The color of her hair is not within normal parameters for humans. She may be diseased.”
Maddie rolled her eyes at the alien who waved her out of the cell with the cattle prod thing extended towards her as he stared suspiciously at her dyed purple hair. They both made sure to keep a healthy distance from her the entire time like she was contagious.
The only hiccup was with Emily. As soon as it was her turn for a scan and her cell door opened, she immediately fainted. The gray aliens had to call another crew member to help carry her unconscious body to the medic bay.
When it’s my turn to be scanned, I go willingly. Well, maybe not willingly so much as without causing a fuss. My parents didn’t raise a fool, and I know to choose my moments to rebel wisely. I plan to wait and bide my time and keep my eyes and ears open for the right moment. I don’t know what I’m looking for exactly, but hopefully, I’ll recognize the perfect time.
There are three aliens escorting humans to the medic bay, now – the Sub-Captain Zariz, Zarenz, and another gray male. They lead me through the doorway to a room that is slightly smaller than the cargo bay and brightly lit with white metal walls and floors. Metal storage cabinets are lined up along one side and I assume they must contain medical supplies since they called this room the medic bay.
In the center of the room is a device that reminds me of a really big tanning bed. It’s massive and takes up a large amount of space. There’s a screen about the same size as a laptop that juts out from the side of it. Weird symbols, almost like Cyrillic letters but not quite, run across the screen like a tickertape – I wish I could read it, but I don’t have the faintest clue what any of the symbols mean. I guess the translator in my head doesn’t work on written languages.
Before I can utter a word in protest, they shove me towards the machine. The tube-like contraption opens and one of the aliens roughly pushes me inside it. I swallow down a curse and grit my teeth as the top of the contraption lowers and I’m enclosed in near total darkness. A robotic voice breaks the silence, but the words are so muffled that I can’t make them out. Moments later, a small dot of light appears.
An unbidden memory flashes through my mind of the summer my best friend – yes, the one who slept with my boyfriend – talked me into trying out a tanning bed. My usually pale skin was lobster red for days. Of course, she talked me into trying it again and again, insisting I just needed a base tan to prevent burning. That was the summer I learned that my skin does not tan at all, and I resigned myself to learning to love my pasty complexion. But now, I’d rather take another chance on getting burned in that tanning bed than this.
The light grows bigger and brighter to an almost blinding degree, and I squint to keep from closing my eyes. Then again, maybe I should close my eyes. Maybe the light could damage them. But if I close them, then I won’t be able to see what’s going on, and that somehow seems worse.
My thoughts race as the light begins to move up and down my body in a sweeping circular motion, leaving a trail of buzzing warmth behind. The sweeping motion speeds up faster and faster until the light moves at a dizzying pace. I try to follow it with my eyes, but eventually give up when it becomes too difficult to track. After what seems like an eternity, it stops and the tube goes completely dark.
I’ve never had a problem with claustrophobia, but the darkness is oppressive. My heartrate speeds up and I try to suck in as much air as I can, but it feels impossible. As my eyes adjust, I can just barely make out the walls of the contraption I’m enclosed in, but unfortunately, that seems to make my claustrophobia worse. It feels like the walls are moving in on me until I feel as if I’m going to suffocate. I suck in air, but it doesn’t seem to help.
In the back of my mind, I know I’m having an anxiety attack and that the dwindling supply of oxygen is just a fabrication of my stressed brain. But in the darkness of the narrow tube, it’s hard to concentrate on that.
A heavy weight sits on my chest, pressing me down, and my lungs heave in and out like bellows trying to draw in enough air. My head swims and I try to swallow, but it feels like there’s an obstruction there and I can’t.
I haven’t had an anxiety attack in years, but I remember the coping methods I used to turn to so frequently. I concentrate on my breathing and repeat the same phrase over and over in my head.
You’re okay. This is only a moment in time and it will pass. You’re okay.
It takes longer than I’d like, but I can feel myself slowly begin to calm and my breathing and pulse start to slow. Then, a puff of mist bursts from a nozzle in front of me that I hadn’t noticed before and I jump.
Ugh. I cough in irritation as bitterness floods my mouth, almost like biting into a lemon – if a lemon was mixed with antiseptic. The mist must be some sort of cleansing solution or medicine – did I mention the Zyfeliks consider us unclean vermin?
And then, it’s over.
The top of the tube slides open and one of the gray aliens pulls me free from it. My eyes blink rapidly at the glaring brightness of the room, and I realize the sub-captain is there carefully examining a bunch of symbols and numbers on the device’s screen. He doesn’t look pleased.
“This female is defective. She is unbreedable. Ah, what a shame we will lose the credits she would have brought. Prepare the merchandise to be jettisoned.”
Oh shit.
“Wait, you can’t!” I shriek. “And I’m not defective!” The other two gray aliens are now on either side of me holding my arms in a rough grasp. I try to shove away their hands, but they’re a lot stronger than they look.
“We can and we will, female. Our clients are only interested in purchasing females of superior stock. Take her to the jettison hatch.” The sub-captain orders, gesturing towards a door on the other side of the room.
One of the gray aliens holds out his cattle prod thing, aiming it towards me in an effort to herd me out of the medic bay and to my death. Horrific images flash through my mind in a landslide of terror and I feel like my heart will pound itself through my ribs. How long does it take to die in space? I hope it’s quick.
Well, I’m not going without a fight. If they’re going to push me out to my death, then I’ll grab on at the last second and drag one of these fuckers with me. Take them by surprise, they won’t know what hit them. They’ll regret the day they messed with this human.
And maybe, just maybe, this is what should happen.
The girls and I have whispered about it when Jayden and Zoe have been asleep. That if things start to look really dire and unbearable, it might be better to just end things. I want to howl in despair and cry because I’m not ready to die. There are so many other things that I wanted to do. Like, finally travel abroad or learn a new language or get a pet.
