Page 26 of Holiday with the Aliens

I pulled my communicator out of my pocket and pressed the screen to wake it up. Nothing happened. I pressed again and still nothing. And then I pressed the power button, hoping that maybe it had just accidentally turned off.

Still nothing.

Completely blank screen.

What the hell? I knew it had been completely charged when I’d walked into the store. It was important to me that I never ran out of battery. I hated the idea of being stranded somewhere with a useless communicator.

So why was it dead? It wasn’t exactly the most high end device on the market, but it had served me well for the past couple of years. It had never died on me before.

Could it be something that Evil Santa was doing? He possibly had the power to knock people unconscious without being near them. Could the same go for communicators?

Bad thought. I didnotlike the sound of that. And I didn’t want to stick around for much longer.

It felt risky to go for the entrance of the store. But I was pretty sure Evil Santa couldn’t see the doorway from where he was standing. Besides, he was faced away from the door and yelling at the other humans. Even better, the doors remained all the way open. He wouldn’t even hear the whispering slide as it opened and closed. It was just a doorway. If I could get there I could get out and get help.

It was risky. Really, really risky. He didn’t know I was back here. I could just stay curled up in a corner, maybe find a display to hide myself behind, and hope that he went away before things got even worse.

That would save me. Maybe. Only if Evil Santa didn’t start looking around for other people. He would have to eventually. The store was too big to assume that only human Santa and his elf were there.

What about that other alien?

I didn’t know where he had gone. And I hadn’t seen him when I’d spotted Evil Santa. Were they working together?

I had no reason to think that. Just because they were aliens didn’t mean they were friends.

So could I find that alien? Could he help me? Could he hide with me?

I was a coward. There were at least two people being held hostage. I thought they were being held hostage. And here I was thinking of staying hidden and letting whatever happened to them happen.

Not good. I couldn’t do that to them. I had to get help. I was in the position to do it.

That meant I had to get out the front door. Surely there were other exits in the building. There had to be a back way in for deliveries and maybe an employee entrance. But I was backed into a corner. There were only a few aisles where I was crawling, and if I wanted to get to the rest of the store I would need to go into that central area where Evil Santa was standing.

My only option of escape was the front door.

I had to try it.

I crawled even slower than I had earlier. If this was my one chance of escape I couldn’t screw it up. I didn’t want Evil Santa to see me. But I also didn’t want human Santa or the elf to seeme either. I didn’t think they would sell me out. They looked terrified. But they might accidentally give me away.

I made it to the edge of the aisle and had to stop. This was where it got dangerous. There were a few displays between me and the entrance. I could use them for cover. Could put them between myself and Evil Alien Santa. I had to hope it was enough.

I wanted to move fast. Wanted to get up and sprint for the door. But speed like that would draw attention to me. Attention I could not afford.

So I moved slowly. Achingly slowly. So slow that I could practically feel the blood pounding in my veins. Every beat of my pulse sounded like a banging drum. But I made it to the door. I could almost feel the cold wind from outside blow on me.

Why couldn’t I feel it? I should be able to feel it.

I crawled towards the opening, but before I could cross the threshold, my body met some sort of resistance. It wasn’t a door. There was no door there.

It was a force field of some kind. I tried again, throwing myself at the opening. But nothing happened. It didn’t hurt, but I couldn’t go through.

This was bad. Very, very bad. I was exposed, and if Evil Alien Santa looked my way he would see me. I scrambled back towards the aisle. Something was keeping the door shut. Or rather, keeping a force field in front of the door. That was very,verybad.

And I had a feeling it had something to do with the device in Evil Alien Santa’s hand. Or maybe he had another device. Maybe the device in his hand served an even more nefarious purpose. One that clearly wasn’t working.

Apparently the frustration a person felt at a malfunctioning remote-shaped device was the same no matter the species.

“Puny human, are you crying? Are you scared?” The sound of his voice was enough to make my stomach turn. He sounded like he was a minute away from torturing puppies.

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