The thick, brick that made up three of the walls to the alien’s cell was painted white, as was the floor. The front wall of the cell consisted of a clear, thick, unbreakable material that resembled plexiglass, but was called something that Olga had never heard of. There was a cot, a chair, and a commode in the otherwise barren twelve by twelve foot confine.
Sitting on the chair was the alien. Other than the thick collar around its neck, it was completely naked. Its flesh looked like golden honey with a hint of a green hue when the light reflected off it.
Since the alien was as large as the amazon women, it filled the cell a lot more than Olga or a member of her party would have. An immediate sense of claustrophobia hit her as she studied the foreign humanoid.
Dr. Mac watched Olga with amusement. “Have you never seen one of these creatures before?”
“Why is it naked?” Olga asked with concern.
<“We should be able to move on in another day or so,” Olga said as she settled herself onto the arm of the chair that Arthur was resting in. “I’ve injected an alien with the altered virus.”“They have an alien on premises?” Kendra gasped with nervous trepidation.Seeing her reaction, Olga gave her a gentle smile. “He’s been locked in a cell below ground for two years. We’re safe from him.”“I’ve never seen an alien,” Alice mused as she leaned against the back of Felix’s chair.Realizing that she was standing behind him, Felix stood up and offered the chair to her. Impressed by his act of chivalry, she smiled and accepted while suggesting that he sit on the arm like Olga was. His brief hesitation made her instantly aware of her skin affliction. Because of this, his consequent warm smile, and the casual way that he eventually settled
It was day number two before Olga received word that the alien was showing signs of the virus taking over his body from the orderlies who had been monitoring him around the clock.Like with humans, the first thing to shift on him was his motor skills. Depending upon their genetics, humans reacted to the virus at various levels. Although it was the least common, some still retained a semblance of humanity along with the ability to reason while other’s minds checked out to the point that they were walking vegetables with only one focus… to chew on all living things. Olga hoped that the aliens became walking vegetables. It would be easier to deal with them if they did.It was difficult, at first glance, to tell an intelligent zombie from a vegetable-like zombie, since they all lost a good deal of control over their motor skills. It was through interaction that the intelligent ones stood out, since they were able to maneuver and m
When Arthur, Pete, and Alice finally returned a few hours later, they wore looks of frustration on their faces. Arthur explained that they were each pulled into a room, one after the other, where a grueling interrogation took place by the queen’s right hand while she silently sat and listened. Questions from how long they’d lived in inner earth to how well they knew Olga were put to them in so many different forms that it became both confusing and frustrating.“It was as if they were trying to trip me up with my answers,” Arthur complained.“Right?” Alice snipped as she flopped into a nearby chair. “My brain feels like mush. They just kept asking the same thing over and over again in a different format.”“I need a nap,” Pete grumbled as he eased himself into a chair. “What was that all about, anyway?”“It would be one thing if they simply aske
Thinking that she was the first to arise, Olga gave her sleeping lover a light kiss on the cheek and, with lightness of foot, headed off to observe the alien subject. The house felt eerily vacant as she made her way outside, but she brushed the feeling aside as her mind pondered on what she might find in the alien’s cell.She’d almost reached her destination when a well- muscled guard stepped in front of her. She towered over Olga as she blocked her path. “The queen wishes to see you.”Olga scowled with annoyance. “Can it wait? I want to inspect my subject.”The guard chuckled at the ridiculousness of the tiny human’s brazen request. “You’re asking the queen to wait?”Olga raised a brow. “Is that not done here?”“She’s the queen,” the guard said, incredulously.“I’m aware of who she is,” Olga replied, impatientl
By the time Arthur and Alice were thrust into the cell, the group had come up with a solution for their lack of privacy that gave them some semblance of comfort while taking care of personal needs. The women had seriously considered pointing out their dilemma and asking to be moved to a separate cell, but, then, thought better of it. Staying together would allow them the chance to put their wits to work as a unified group and come up with a means of escape. So, when nature called, they swallowed their pride and braced themselves to endure the humiliation as they made the announcement of their body’s need so that the others could stand with their backs turned toward the individual until the person announced that all was clear.The lack of consideration for their comfort and modesty made Kendra equate the amazons to aliens on the surface who treated humans like they were no better than animals.Several hours passed before Olga was yanked from the
Kendra sucked in air as a vision of Queen Isabo appeared before her. The amazon queen was standing amongst a small group of aliens. It was Kendra’s first view of the aliens occupying inner earth. They looked exactly like the ones on the surface. She shuddered with repulsion as the memories of her time as their prisoner fluttered through her mind.Pushing the unsettling thoughts away as best as she could, she focused on the conversation that was taking place between the amazon queen and the alien who was clearly of status. They were speaking a language that was foreign to Kendra, but their tones and facial expressions led her to believe that their interaction was friendly.Her heart raced wildly with remembrance and trepidation as the rogue amazon leader, Minerva, walked up to them. Kendra recognized most of the rogues following her from her time in their camp. They stood a short distance away from their leader as they wai
As agreed between Olga and Rex, they informed Kendra of their plans, but nothing was said to the others about them. The main reason was that it was unclear if they’d be successful and, since Alice and Pete weren’t behaving as cooperatively as they’d hoped, they didn’t want anyone doing or saying something to make things go awry.As she’d predicted, Olga replaced the batch of virus that was taken from her with a fresh supply while the guards overseeing her assumed that she was working on the antidote. She cautiously slipped several vials into her lab coat pocket before announcing that it was nearing lunch time and she was excessively hungry to the point that it was interfering with her work. She wanted to be returned to her cell so that she didn’t miss the lunch meal.Since she was required to change clothes before leaving the lab, she slipped behind the screen they’d provided to appease her modesty under the g
Arthur insisted that Olga, Kendra, Rex, Felix, and Pete make haste on their very important mission. Promising to tend to Ari as best he could, he waited until they were well out of sight before turning to Alice.With a frown on his face, he asked with concern, “What do you think, Alice? Do you think she’ll even make it to Hope?”The severe wrinkles on her face made it almost difficult to tell that the young woman’s brows were knit together as she looked down at Ari. “She’s in pretty bad shape. I thought that they were saving her life. It looks more like they were keeping her alive for some reason that didn’t require good health.”Arthur shuddered. “They were a deceiving bunch, wouldn’t you say? All that talk about peace and caring for mankind. I wonder why they really kicked out those rogues. From what I could see, they weren’t any worse than t
It took two days of traveling over what they considered treacherous ground to reach Hope. Between keeping their eyes open for newly made alien and amazon zombies and the wild beasts- many of which were prehistoric- their nerves were completely spent by the time they stumbled into Arthur’s house.Alice was sitting on the porch when she spotted them coming down the hill toward the village. Racing into the house, she frantically prepared him for their arrival.Although Arthur was relieved that his love had returned to him and eager to hold her in his arms again, he dreaded having to give the group the news of Ari’s demise. He’d struggled for days to think of the right way to tell them and had yet to come up with it.Pete’s absence was immediately noticed. Although Arthur was saddened, he wasn’t surprised by the news that his friend had succumbed to the virus. Pete wasn’t immune to it and, therefore, was taking a
Luck was with them as they slipped through the door and scurried across the wide, well-lit corridor and into the shadows. There was no sign of life, but they dared not speak. Drawing from her experience as a prisoner in the past, Kendra behaved as she had while escaping from the alien camp on the surface and slipped from shadow to shadow as silently as possible.Once again, Olga telepathically spoke to Kendra. “These bastards speak a crazy language, but I managed to decipher the location of Eugene. Look for a door with two ‘X’s’, an upside down ‘V’ and an ‘O’ on it in the west wing. That’s where he is. Hurry, they’re preparing to send a search party out for our bodies.”Feeling the pressure of the urgency, Kendra motioned for Pete and Felix to follow her as she turned a corner and began surveying the writing on the doors. They were already in the west wing, but she saw nothi
The trio cautiously made their way to the south wall of the settlement in hopes of encountering fewer zombies. They had no choice but to cross a small clearing, but managed to escape notice from the guards patrolling the walls. Fortunately, the zombies that they were forced to battle were ones that had regressed to a manageable state of brain dead and were fairly easy to eliminate.Once they’d reached the wall, Pete looked for signs of a possible entry, but could find none. Although she wasn’t as certain about what to look for, Kendra also searched the exterior of the settlement with her eyes, but saw nothing as well.“We might be too close,” Pete mused. “After all, it would be an escape tunnel.”“Where would it come out, then?” Kendra asked with angst. This was a new situation for both of them. She couldn’t be upset with Pete or Felix for not thinking about that before they’d ri
Kendra was concerned.Rex was in trance for what she deemed an excessive length of time. What could he possibly be seeing that would take him so long? She was seriously considering joining him in trance to find out, but, then, thought better of it.Moving close to her aunt she whispered, “Do you think that one of us should go into trance to see what’s happening? He might need to be pulled back.”Olga knit her brows together. She’d been thinking the very same thing. It had never happened to her, but she’d heard about visionaries getting stuck in a vision and needing assistance coming back. It was a rare occurrence, but it did happen.She grabbed her niece’s hand and held it to her heart. “It must be me who goes in to see what’s up. If he’s stuck, you aren’t adept enough to bring him back.”She knew that her aunt spoke the truth, but the realit
Kendra was surprised at how close they were to Center Land. The temptation to enter the city and demand the return of her son was almost all consuming. It took extreme willpower to continue on past it toward the alien’s settlement.“Do you think that alien in the amazon’s cell was from this place?” she asked as they carefully slipped behind a large boulder and looked down upon the modest sized alien settlement.Even though it was modest, it was still impressive. The walls were lined with barbed wire that made the community look more like a prison than a place of residence. Looking off in the distance, they soon learned the reason for the set up. With eyes wide with surprise, they watched as several zombies cooperated with each other to create a mound high enough for one of them to climb over the wall. When it reached the top and grabbed onto the wire, a visible jolt of electricity practically fried it to a crisp.
Arthur insisted that Olga, Kendra, Rex, Felix, and Pete make haste on their very important mission. Promising to tend to Ari as best he could, he waited until they were well out of sight before turning to Alice.With a frown on his face, he asked with concern, “What do you think, Alice? Do you think she’ll even make it to Hope?”The severe wrinkles on her face made it almost difficult to tell that the young woman’s brows were knit together as she looked down at Ari. “She’s in pretty bad shape. I thought that they were saving her life. It looks more like they were keeping her alive for some reason that didn’t require good health.”Arthur shuddered. “They were a deceiving bunch, wouldn’t you say? All that talk about peace and caring for mankind. I wonder why they really kicked out those rogues. From what I could see, they weren’t any worse than t
As agreed between Olga and Rex, they informed Kendra of their plans, but nothing was said to the others about them. The main reason was that it was unclear if they’d be successful and, since Alice and Pete weren’t behaving as cooperatively as they’d hoped, they didn’t want anyone doing or saying something to make things go awry.As she’d predicted, Olga replaced the batch of virus that was taken from her with a fresh supply while the guards overseeing her assumed that she was working on the antidote. She cautiously slipped several vials into her lab coat pocket before announcing that it was nearing lunch time and she was excessively hungry to the point that it was interfering with her work. She wanted to be returned to her cell so that she didn’t miss the lunch meal.Since she was required to change clothes before leaving the lab, she slipped behind the screen they’d provided to appease her modesty under the g
Kendra sucked in air as a vision of Queen Isabo appeared before her. The amazon queen was standing amongst a small group of aliens. It was Kendra’s first view of the aliens occupying inner earth. They looked exactly like the ones on the surface. She shuddered with repulsion as the memories of her time as their prisoner fluttered through her mind.Pushing the unsettling thoughts away as best as she could, she focused on the conversation that was taking place between the amazon queen and the alien who was clearly of status. They were speaking a language that was foreign to Kendra, but their tones and facial expressions led her to believe that their interaction was friendly.Her heart raced wildly with remembrance and trepidation as the rogue amazon leader, Minerva, walked up to them. Kendra recognized most of the rogues following her from her time in their camp. They stood a short distance away from their leader as they wai
By the time Arthur and Alice were thrust into the cell, the group had come up with a solution for their lack of privacy that gave them some semblance of comfort while taking care of personal needs. The women had seriously considered pointing out their dilemma and asking to be moved to a separate cell, but, then, thought better of it. Staying together would allow them the chance to put their wits to work as a unified group and come up with a means of escape. So, when nature called, they swallowed their pride and braced themselves to endure the humiliation as they made the announcement of their body’s need so that the others could stand with their backs turned toward the individual until the person announced that all was clear.The lack of consideration for their comfort and modesty made Kendra equate the amazons to aliens on the surface who treated humans like they were no better than animals.Several hours passed before Olga was yanked from the