Reya shivered out of fear. She knew how this was going to play out. It had all happened before. She didn’t know if she could take it any longer.
“A’vaare,” came the mechanical voice of the translator. “Why won’t you listen? Why don’t you tell us anything? All of this could stop. There is no need for these games.”
Reya no longer had the energy to reply. She was drained, unable to muster up any words. The answers that would make all of her suffering end were on the tip of her tongue, waiting to be uttered.
She considered it. Whether or not her captors would live up to their promises was a different story. If it was a trap, she’d rather deny them the information. She had no way of knowing which it was.
After over a month at the facility, Reya had hit her limit and finally gave in to the temptation to speak, but before she could, the gru’ul shrieked into the translator.
“Useless! Why won’t you give in after all of this time? We will have to switch to something more drastic.”
It directed its counterpart to maim Reya. It took its claw and slowly raked it across her body, just below mid back. Reya screamed weakly as she felt her flesh part and her blood spill. Everybody present missed the hiss of a door opening and the arrival of a third gru’ul that had one antenna shorter than the other.
It spoke up, surprising everyone. “I have a solution,” it said, holding up a small black case in one of its hands. The others watched it advance forward and place the case on the table. Opening it revealed two colourful vials. One filled with a purple liquid and the other with orange. Withdrawing the orange vial, it began preparing a syringe full of the liquid.
“We shall inject her with this,” it said, flourishing the needle. “It is derived from the results of another experiment. I have great hopes for the success of this one.”
“What will it do?” the gru’ul holding the translator asked.
“It will break her and make her talk.”
“What about what we have been using?” the same one asked, motioning to its counterpart, who held a dropper filled with the neurotoxin at the ready to pour onto Reya’s open wound.
“Leave it. It has not worked and is clearly a failure. This one will work.”
“Very well, if you are certain.”
The gru’ul holding the syringe approached Reya, who made no effort to move, and injected her with its contents. A pain like never before spread through her. She burned, ripped, and tore apart all at once. Every nerve in her body lit up like fireworks as she shrieked in desperation for it to stop. Her howls were unlike any she’d produced in reaction to their questioning sessions thus far.
A fourth gru’ul entered the room. Upon witnessing the scene in front of it, it angrily clicked “What have you done? Go and make it stop.”
“I apologize,” the alien that had administered the dose said. “There is no way to make it stop. It must work its way out of her system.”
“How long will this last?”
“I do not know, Highest.”
“Fool,” the Highest rebuked.
A rumble tore through the building and the lights above them turned red. An ultrasonic whine sounded, an alarm heard only by the aliens. The four of them began clicking in a distressed manner until they were silenced by the Highest. “Come,” it said, turning to the gru’ul with the smaller antenna. “We shall discuss this failure where it is safe.”
Rather than follow immediately, the gru’ul that had been addressed took a moment to hurriedly pack everything securely back into the black case. It would not stand for anything happening to its precious experiments.
“You two stay behind and watch her. Make sure she does not expire,” the Highest said to the two gru’ul in charge of Reya’s questioning session. They bowed their heads in acknowledgement. “Now, come,” it repeated to its colleague.
This time, the gru’ul holding the black case followed. The pair retreated deeper into the facility where they knew it was safe, leaving Reya where she sat, still screaming.
----------------------------------------
The lights turned red without warning. That was new. What was also new were the panicked cries of his captors and the incessant, high-pitched shrill that grated his ears. Something was happening. Adrian stood frozen in the middle of the room as he assessed the situation. He’d thought he’d heard something, but the sound had been too muffled to properly make out any details.
The aliens that tormented him so were in disarray, not paying him any mind. Adrian eyed the door. This was his chance to escape. After so long without any hope, fate had finally gifted him the opportunity to flee.
Adrian took it.
Decision made, he spun around and dashed straight towards the door on the other side of the room. One of the aliens was paying enough attention to notice his attempted escape and moved to intercept him. He didn’t slow down and barreled into the creature, sending both of them flying to the ground in a heap of twisted limbs.
Adrian quickly untangled himself and stood back up. The alien was just as fast and lunged towards him. He jumped back, narrowly avoiding its grasp. The creature stumbled forward and unleashed an upset cry at its failure to grab a hold of its prey. He knew he needed to avoid those razor-sharp claws that could gut him like a fish at all costs. His mind flashed to the scars on his body from where they’d grabbed him in the past. He knew first-hand just how deadly its claws could be.
Stolen story; please report.
His critical gaze desperately looked for a way around the alien that blocked his path. Time was a precious commodity, and he didn’t know how much he had before things settled. In a flash of inspiration, Adrian had an idea. It was a foolhardy, half-baked plan, but he was out of options.
He rushed the alien once more. Just before he came within range of its claws, he pivoted to the right and ran around to its side. The alien pitched forward expecting to catch him, leaving it in no position to remove him as he vaulted onto its back. Straddling it with his knees, Adrian grabbed a hold of its insectoid head from behind, twisted as hard as he could and pulled.
A sickening, resounding crunch punctured the air as the creature limply fell to the ground. Muscles flexing, Adrian didn’t let up and pulled harder, feeling something loosen. With a wet pop, he ripped its head off. Green blood showered out like a fountain, pooling on the ground beneath him. He wiped his face, his arm coming back with a green smear over the yellowed fabric of his once white clothes.
He turned his attention to the other alien still in the room with him. They looked at each other for a long moment, prey and predator locking gazes, their roles reversed. Adrian smiled a bloodthirsty grin. The alien shrieked and retreated in the opposite direction, trying to get as far away from him as it could.
He bounded after the fleeing alien, not giving it a chance to escape. Now that he knew their weakness it was time for some long-awaited revenge. Oh, how he’d dreamed of this moment. He ran straight towards it, not caring about any damage he might take. He planted his feet on the ground and reached up. The alien tried to pry Adrian off with its smaller arms. The larger ones raked across his back, leaving deep gashes. Adrian continued, undeterred. He felt a familiar loosening sensation and yanked. He let go, jumping back in an attempt to avoid the blood. It splashed at his bare feet, staining them green.
He spotted the familiar badge on the fresh corpse and pried it off the body. If they all wore one, then it must be important, he reasoned. After a bit of work, it came free, leaving a sticky trail behind. Not wasting any more time, Adrian made for the door, which opened seamlessly as he approached it.
He barreled into the hall and looked around. Spotting no sign of movement, he paused for a moment to get his bearings and sprinted towards the closest place he thought to retreat to. The command room was in the next hall over and would provide ample opportunity for him to further plan out his escape. He refused to be caught out in the open where he could be shot at from a distance.
Adrian rounded the corner, coming face to face with another alien. Immediately, he reached to behead the thing before it could properly react. Leaving yet another body on the ground, he continued towards his destination.
Spotting the door location that he remembered, he ran up to it, hoping that he’d have access. Relief flooded him when the door opened without issue. He hurried inside as silently as he could, in case the room wasn’t empty, and froze as the door shut behind him. The room was full of aliens. Seven of them stood around various terminals spread throughout the room, making him regret his choice of location. He hoped he could back out without being seen.
That hope was shattered when one of the aliens looked his way and shrieked, getting the others’ attention. Adrian knew he wouldn’t be able to outrun their guns in the halls, making retreat not an option. He roared and charged into the fray.
He ran towards the nearest one, taking it by surprise. The others paused when they saw him promptly behead it in a macabre fashion, uncaring about any damage he took. Adrian turned towards the next one and it met a similar fate. The remaining aliens backed up further into the room, huddling in far a corner. He rushed them, repeating his tactic. They scattered, shrieking and clicking as Adrian continued his grisly work.
He didn’t give them a chance to flee and bounded after them, sticking to the same strategy. His silvery pink blood spilled to the ground, mixing the green blood of the aliens as he paid a heavy price for his vengeance. He ignored his wounds and carried on.
There would be no mercy.
The remaining ones escaped into the halls but were soon caught by Adrian. Leaving the bodies where they were, he returned to the command room, panting from the exertion. There must be something in there that’s important, he thought. He trod carefully as he entered, not wanting to slip on the blood-slickened floor.
Working through pain and exhaustion, he made his way to one of the terminals with a floating screen above it. He waved his arm in front of it and it lit up. Four keyboards made of light appeared, full of symbols he recognized but didn’t understand. Unsure how to proceed, he tried pushing several of the faintly glowing keys to see what would happen. No change occurred on the screen. Cursing, he debated whether or not he should try again.
Adrian spotted a translator on a nearby shelf. He went over and picked it up. It was heavier than he’d imagined. The silver orb reminded him of a rock. A very futuristic rock. He eyed the terminal he’d just come from. A desire for petty revenge welled within him, driving him to methodically break each terminal he could find. Perhaps this way they’ll lose some important research notes, he lamely told himself as he went about his wanton destruction.
The terminals were surprisingly fragile, cracking and breaking very easily under his careful ministrations. A hiss followed by a familiar melting, bubbling sound came from behind him when there were only three left. He turned around and saw two new aliens standing in the entrance of the room, not far from him. One of them looked very familiar, but Adrian couldn’t place where he’d seen it before.
The smaller of the two carried a black case in one of its hands and looked between Adrian and the larger alien by its side. It then pushed the larger one from behind towards Adrian, who capitalized on the distraction to kill the unlucky alien that was now within reach. If he’d been paying attention, he would’ve noticed the alien behind open the case and withdraw a vial and syringe. Instead, he focused on bashing the creature before him to death with the translator in his hand.
Adrian tossed aside the body once he was done with it and spotted the purple liquid in the syringe. Eyes widening in recognition, he sprinted towards the remaining alien. He threw a hard punch, connecting with the creature’s torso and cracking the protective chitin. Ignoring his throbbing hand, he lunged for the syringe. The gru’ul jerked its arms back and he missed, swiping the vial filled with purple liquid from one of its hands instead.
The alien quickly plunged the needle down into his arm without hesitation and injected him with the substance. Adrian gaped as he seized up in pain and fell to the ground in a boneless heap, screaming. The gru’ul swiftly bent down and picked up the vial that had fallen, preventing it from further spilling onto the floor. It capped it and stored it back in the black case next to a clear vial partially filled with an orange substance. Closing the case, it set it down on the shelf where the translator had been.
Turning around, it bent back down and grabbed Adrian by the ankles. Green smudges and scuffs littered the floor as he was dragged back to his cell. He hardly noticed, too absorbed in his own pain to have any awareness of his surroundings. His bleeding, thrashing body was dumped unceremoniously in the middle of the cell. After ensuring Adrian was fully sealed inside, the creature made its way back to the control room and swapped its badge for the one on the corpse of the larger alien it had sacrificed.