Page 4 of Haunted By the Alien
Pick a direction. Any direction!
Slosh. Slosh. Slosh.
Are those footsteps?
I pivot three-sixty.
Nothing.
Hisssss.
I break into a run, dodging downed wires and rusted I-beams.
Yes! I’m out of the maze. And there’s a bus in the distance!
Fuck, it’s turning!
Hisssssss.
That ominous sound spurs me to run so fast that I ignore the hazards on the ground. My foot catches in a crater and I go down, hard. I force myself to keep moving, but when I look up, the bus is gone.
When I place my hands on bent knees to catch my breath, an eerie silence surrounds me.
The hairs on the back of my neck rise.
Something’s watching me.
I fumble for the keys in my backpack. Why I didn’t chuck the bag earlier, I don’t know, but I’m grateful I didn’t.
As my hand curls around my keychain, the rumble of another bus approaching catches my attention. I can make it if I hurry.
Headlights bounce off the wet pavement as I jog my way toward the bus. I’m going to make it!
That’s when something huge and large tackles me to the ground.
CHAPTER THREE
KOBRIK
I’m about to leave the war-torn industrial area when I spot a lone figure running in the distance.
The being jogs under one of the few working street lights, long enough for me to see green skin and the unmistakable black uniform with silver shoulder spikes of a grud scout.
Despite his bulk, he’s moving at a fast clip, but not fast enough to outrun me. Grud are known for their immense strength, not agility.
And this one lacks grace, tripping over the uneven ground. He rises quickly and resumes his flight. He must sense I’m nearby.
I race ahead, intending not only to run him down, but also to break several of his bones in the process. An injured grud is much easier to capture than a healthy one.
When I slam into the grud, he crashes to the ground without any resistance. My horns pitch forward, ready to spear the male. No grud goes down that easily unless he has a weapon ready.
Before he can shoot me, I straddle his waist and thrust my knife against his throat. The male beneath me is uncharacteristicallysoft.
“Make one move and I will kill you,” I warn in Common.
“Please don’t,” a feminine voice squeaks.
A female grud scout? It’s not possible. The grud subjugate their females. Keep them hidden deep in their tunnels for breeding and serving.
