Page 96 of Homebound
The shouting of the inmates abruptly ceased.
Before another thought could solidify in Gemma’s disconcerted brain, the Obu was shoved away from her and she was lying on the cold hard floor alone.
Taking deep, measured breaths, she allowed herself a few seconds of respite before rising to her knees and finally standing up.
The Obu roared behind her making her head whip around. The deafening sound ricocheted off the walls. It wasn’t a short snorting roar he’d given Gemma. This one shook the cellblock, and she knew a battle cry when she heard one.
Simon made no sound.
There was no way to discern which one was winning. The Obu was wrapped tight around Simon, and they were rolling up and down the corridor with terrifying speed leaving a two-toned blood trail in their wake: the brownish splotches from the Obu, the blue-tinted smears from Simon.
Simon’s white body appeared dainty next to the Obu’s hulk. Yet every time the beast flipped Simon underneath him, her alien managed to reverse their roles and come out on top.
Gradually, the Obu’s deafening roars subsided and their whirlwind spinning around the corridor slowed down. The Obu struggled to maintain focus.
Catching him at the right moment, Simon bared his dark teeth and latched onto the thick brown neck issuing a short echoing roar of his own, hoarse and vibrating. Gemma took an involuntary step back. Inmates shrunk back into their cells.
The Obu stopped struggling.
Simon sprung onto his feet and stepped away. Breathing heavily, he leaned against the wall, his eyes trained on the Obu as the beast dragged himself on the floor. He crawled toward Gemma, his big doe eyes fixed on her. Issuing a weak moan, he stretched his huge hand in her direction grasping air as if it was her physical form. Bloody foam bubbled out of his mouth and nose. And finally, the light went out of his eyes as he died.
Gemma clapped her hands over her mouth. The scene was all kinds of terrible.
But a movement caught her attention distracting her from the Obu’s motionless form - Arlo, slapping his hand flat against the panic button.
Simon let go of the wall.
“Now you decide to call for help,” he growled. “I’m going to rip your guts out.”
Palming his belly with one hand as if to protect his innards, Arlo unclipped his taser.
“Get back to your cell.”
Simon’s gently arched eyebrows rose. “Make me.”
He widened his stance. A nasty gash on his shoulder was bleeding, soaking his shirt with a bluish-red wet stain. Gemma could see how winded he was.
Slowly, Arlo took a step toward Simon, his eyes flickering to Gemma with uncertainty.
“You stay where you are, bitch, or I’ll fry you first.”
Gemma saw his thumb move the tiny lever on his weapon to the max as he came close enough to reach Simon with his taser.
“Get in,” Arlo snapped jutting his chin toward the open cell. A mean, ugly expression made his face a mask of twisted hatred. Armed, he felt like he had an upper hand.
Simon said and did nothing.
Arlo’s hand shot out and stabbed Simon in the midriff with the taser like it was a knife. He pressed the lever releasing the full bloom of the charge into the thin, pale body.
Gemma lunged at Arlo striking him in the shoulder. “No!”
Arlo’s hand moved in an arch and caught her with the zap. She dropped like a fly. The pain was excruciating. Her body cramped all over, unable to move for several seconds that seemed eternally long.
When the shock wore off, she saw Arlo’s stunned face and slack mouth as he zapped Simon over and over again, with the alien doing nothing except slowly raising his hands, grasping Arlo’s head between his six-fingered hands, and giving it one sharp yank. Arlo’s neck broke with a dry sound of a snapping twig.
Letting the human’s body drop, Simon stepped over it and approached Gemma. He gently lifted her from the floor and cradled her against his chest.
“I have to go,” he said softly against her temple.
