Page 53 of The Commander

Cara made it off the base and into the tree cover easily; she didn’t even see one face. No one cared about her. Good then. Deciding to avoid the road, cautious of the patrolling wankers, she hit her stride at a fast walk and made good time. It was daylight. She wasn’t breaking any laws by being out.

Sore when she woke up in the alien’s shower, she felt better now that she’d eaten and was moving. The ointment he used penetrated deep. Nothing really hurt except a few places, like her head. Leaving everything behind made her feel much better. There was a lot she didn’t want to think about right now.

She hoped Brenda and the others were okay. That made Cara’s head spin. She’d made a lot of mistakes, befriending Brenda and finding out too late how poor a decision it was.

But you don’t turn your back on your only friend just because a man turned her bitter.

Finding where she needed to go and staying off the road the muzzle heads might use involved guesswork. She had to climb over something or go around it until she found herself far enough between the town and the school that the wildlife felt comfortable making a lot of noise. Birds. Bugs. No squirrels that she could tell. None of it sounded easy to catch or tasty to eat. At some point, she should start to hear the chug and bang of the processing plant where most of Springfield’s people worked.

She enjoyed the noise. It folded her into another world and another place, taking her to a time without aliens and without Brenda. Had it been like this before? In ancient times? It had to have been before all the old, crumbling things she climbed over existed. She’d read books on that world and time, but Cara couldn’t picture it. She could hardly believe it wasn’t some fable.

A branch caught her as she moved, and she had to stop to pull her shirt free. The sounds built into a chittering crescendo. She looked up and saw ten crows flying in the same direction she was going, followed by a flock of sparrows.

What the hell?

Sometimes a storm made the animals go weird, but the day was shaping up to be the same gray as the ones before it. It might even rain—but there was no wind and no reason for this reaction.

The sound built, and Cara had to cover her ears. More birds. Something dashed through the bushes on her right, making her jump.

As suddenly as it began, all sound stopped. Totally stopped. She could hear herself breathing and her heart beating in her ears. It must be a storm.

Or something worse.

Something dangerous enough to make birds and insects go quiet was following her. Not a storm. She didn’t smell smoke, so it wasn’t a forest fire. It could only be one other thing. The ultimate predator.

The commander.

She didn’t know how she knew, but she did. It was him. He’d come for her. The hair raised on the back of her neck and her arms. She had a thought flash through: act smart.

Hide. Find some way to defend herself.

How could she defend herself against that? Her muscles jumping, body reacting, she tore herself free of the branch and ran in the opposite direction of the feeling at full speed.

She couldn’t let him catch her. Her core became wet at the very idea, and her braless nipples had the audacity to harden underneath the shirt she wore, becoming painful and sensitive.

What part was she missing? That he was a monster? That he was an alien? That she might never escape him? This was crazy. Why was she getting a flutter of excitement? Just like before in the school, when he let her loose, but worse.

She stumbled, her knee hitting the dirt. So much worse. This time she had intimate knowledge of the consequences of being caught.

She’d lose herself in him. His smell would go to her head, his growl would make her whine like an eager, helpless, needy bitch in heat. Her self-control would deteriorate into whimpers and kitten mews.

What else did Cara have to herself but the shreds of her self-respect? It was the dearest thing she owned. That bastard didn’t just get to ruin her and then leave her waiting behind him like some pet. She was no one’s pet.

Had he told her not to leave? No. He said jack shit. It didn’t matter that she was sure he was creep enough to think he should punish her for leaving.

Pumping arms and legs, she ran, her breath stealing the silence, becoming a pounding primal drumbeat.

He was coming.

She had to get away.

A vine snagged her foot, and she fell. That hurt.

Where was he? She paused for a second and heard nothing at all. Her heart was beating too loudly, and her breath was coming too fast. Nature hadn’t come back to tell her she was wrong, to laugh at her. To wrap her up in sound.

He was out there. Somewhere.

Picking herself up, she ran. All she had was speed and determination. She ran as fast as she could, wary of hidden holes in the uneven ground. This was no good. She couldn’t move here, and she wasn’t going to be stupid and try to hide from him.

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