Alien Mine

by Marie Dry

  "Ooh, lookee! She's a right obedient one." Another raider appeared from among the trees. He swaggered toward her cringing figure and bile bubbled up into her throat.

  There are more?

  She'd counted at least seventeen drunks, seven surrounding her and the rest sprawled around the camp, watching her with rapacious hunger. How many more were lurking in the trees?

  High in the sky, the autumn sun burned down on the pale skin exposed by her sleeveless sundress. Her palms scraped over the ground as she tried to inch backward, but a raider casually stepped on the hem, trapping her in place. More monsters drunkenly lumbered closer, no doubt anticipating a show.

  Panicked, Natalie tried to scramble back, tearing her dress in the process. The sound of rending fabric cut like a laser through their jeering. All the men froze, their faces darkening with hunger as they focused on her now exposed thigh. "Let me go," she repeated. "How can you do this?" The moment the words left her mouth, she regretted them.

  Aroused from their carnal daze, they began to move in again, rampant lust etched on their faces. "Ooh, a goody-goody. Show the bitch how we can do this, Dan."

  Terror raced through her body. She couldn't breathe. Please, not an asthma attack on top of everything else.

  "Hey, she's smotherin' or somethin'," one of them slurred.

  Gasping, desperate to breathe, she sucked in the stench of old sweat and rotten breath, only to gag and cough as her body convulsed in dry-heaves.

  "So? We don't need her breathin'. Without air, she won't irritate us with her bitchin'." The man standing over her sneered down at her as he spoke.

  She opened her mouth but couldn't get any words out.

  Her captor licked his lips. "Speak fer yesself. I like me some fight in me women."

  She scanned the area around her, desperate to find a means of escape. She was trapped, surrounded by these animals, and choking on her own breath.

  I can't die like this. She balled her fists. I have to get away from them.

  Her captor bent, grasped a fistful of her long brown hair, and pulled. Hoarse sounds gurgled up from her throat and fresh tears welled in her eyes as they laughed and mimicked her.

  "That's right, pant fer me," her captor slurred, his foul breath hot on her face.

  "Ye can't keep her to yerself, Big Joe. We want some fun, too." The raider they'd called Dan fell down on his knees in front of her and wrenched her legs apart. Others grabbed her arms, holding her in place, their drunken laughter echoing shrilly around the clearing.

  She gasped, opened her mouth to scream, but the sound remained painfully trapped in her lungs. Humiliation and disgust burned through her. Frantic, she kicked savagely, trying to pull her arms from their grip.

  Hands groped, jerking her bright yellow dress up to her thighs. Mouths bit and tongues slobbered over her exposed flesh while fingernails clawed at her underwear.

  Dear God, no! Please! I don't want this! She squeezed her eyes shut and prayed that her asthma attack would kill her before these animals could rape her.

  When a raider grabbed her left leg and wrenched it to the side, a painful scream forced the trapped air out of her lungs.

  Suddenly, a bright light pierced through her eyelids. Natalie opened her eyes a fraction, afraid of what she'd see. Off to her right, the light flashed, fast and glaring, a good distance away. As though oblivious to it, the raiders continued to paw at her, their fingers digging into the soft flesh of her thighs and abdomen.

  Desperate to detach herself from her horrifying reality, she focused on the light, but it was like staring at the sun. Her eyes watered and she blinked repeatedly, the excess fluid streaming down her face. Even squinting did little to keep the light from burning her pupils.

  Perhaps it was a hallucination. Never before had she seen the sky sparkle as though it had turned to diamonds. But if it was an illusion, why did her eyes hurt?

  Am I dead? Had they killed her already? And was this the portal to the afterlife?

  No. She could still feel the raiders' groping hands and hot breath.

  Natalie focused on the strange light again and to her surprise, a strange sense of peace came over her. If dying meant being enveloped by this light, then she welcomed it gladly.

  The sparkling faded and the sky returned to normal, revealing a tall masculine figure, dressed in military-style combat clothes made from the strangest fabric she'd even seen. Standing where the source of the light had been, he appeared human, but something about him made her suspect otherwise.

  He towered over the drunken raiders like a giant, observing the scene in front of him, his face expressionless. Sharp cheekbones and a strong jaw jutted through bronzed skin, giving him a lethal look. A sharp ridge bisected his bald head, stopping above his nose. His eyes bored into hers, red eyes that terrified her.

  The bottom of her stomach dropped out, as though she was falling into an abyss. She tried to free her hand from the raiders' grip, tried to raise it in supplication to the strange being before her. He could be the devil himself, but right now, she'd take help from any source, even a red-eyed devil.

  Both her hands were pinned down, away from her body by her attackers. Still, she opened her balled fist, her palm held out in a silent plea.

  Time seemed to stop as he looked from her hand to her face.

  Please! Please help me!

  Chapter 2

  Natalie infused all the desperation she could into her mute appeal, her eyes pleading.

  Please! Her lips moved, but no sound came out.

  "Please." She tried again, this time in a desperate whisper that disappeared beneath the grunts of the men assaulting her.

  Panicked shouts rang out from the raiders as they belatedly noticed the intruder in their midst, and some of the weight lifted off her. Only her captor remained, too focused on groping her to notice or care about the commotion around him.

  Natalie winced against the pain. Even drunk as he was, his grip was too strong for her to break free.

  He looked up, startled, when the man next to him fell away screaming, his arm severed, almost to the shoulder.

  The stranger advanced, his copper skin glistening in the midday sun. Bloody claws she hadn't noticed before extended from the tips of his long fingers.

  As her captor stared, frozen with horror, the stranger ripped the guts out of another man with one swipe.

  The raiders scrambled for their weapons. When her captor released his grip on her wrists to reach for the shotgun he'd taken from her earlier, Natalie rammed her boot right into his family jewels.

  "You bitch," he grunted, curling into a fetal position.

  She hastily scooted away from him, but not fast enough. He grabbed her foot and pulled her back then raised his balled fist, ready to strike her again. Before she could even throw her arms over her head in defense, a strange, knife-like object pierced his fist, gleaming in the harsh sunlight. He screamed and fell forward, desperately trying to pull the thing out of his hand.

  Momentarily dazed, Natalie glanced around at the screaming, panicked raiders. One man fell to the ground with a high-pitched howl, his gaze glued on the stranger who was gutting another raider.

  When the gutted man no longer writhed in agony, the stranger disappeared, only to appear again in the same spot where he'd stood minutes before. Once again, his red gaze trapped her, as though he was looking straight into her. She pushed down her torn dress in a futile attempt to shield herself. She wanted to move, to run, but his heavy gaze weighed her down, pinning her in place.

  The screams of the raiders faded to silence and she watched, half-terrified, half-enthralled, as the creature's appearance slowly began to change. His skin rippled, green mixing with copper, giving it a tough armored look. Fangs lengthened from beneath his full upper lip. And that terrible ferocious gaze bled a deeper crimson.

  What would that skin feel like if I touched it?

  Every time he moved, muscles rippled under his clothes in a beautiful display of masculini
ty. She gasped, horrified at herself for finding something so deadly seductive. She broke her gaze away, but couldn't keep her eyes off him for long.

  His strong arms hung at his sides, blood dripping from his taloned claws, their quiet menace scarier than a war cry. The copper-green of his skin sparkled, catching rays of sunlight as he killed two more raiders, moving so fast the men didn't even have time to react. Their lifeless bodies fell to the ground in pools of blood, their innards spilling from their torn abdomens.

  Natalie scooted back then froze, hoping she hadn't drawn his attention to her, when once again he appeared in the same spot where she'd first seen him. The same stance--feet braced apart, claws held loose at his sides--the same stare.

  How does he disappear and reappear like that?

  He turned his head with slow deliberate movements.

  Oh, God. Please let him be searching for more raiders.

  She cringed when his gaze settled on her again, his stare pinning her still-sprawled figure to the ground with more fear than a horde of raiders.

  How did he hold her captive with just a look?

  Time seemed to slow. The groans of the raiders as they slowly bled to death faded into a dull hum, like static from the TC, until the only thing she was aware of was the stranger, still standing as though ready for battle.

  A few raiders had managed to escape his earlier attacks by hiding behind boulders and trees. Now, in desperation, they opened fire.

  He didn't even flinch. Bullets whizzed past him, a few seeming to ricochet off his clothes and copper-green skin.

  Still holding her gaze, the crimson-eyed devil flexed his clawed fingers and a large silver sword appeared in his hand as if by magic.

  Natalie blinked. He swung the sword in intricate, graceful arcs around his body, as though warming up, his muscles rippled and bulged in an impressive display of strength.

  He suddenly roared, the sound echoing off the mountain in a clear challenge to the raiders.

  Why is he taunting them, inviting them to attack him?

  Natalie wasn't sure who was more foolish. The stranger, brandishing a mere sword against an entire arsenal of weapons, or the raiders, still desperately trying to kill the creature that had easily taken down so many of them.

  The red beams of the raiders' illegal laser guns made a dull buzzing sound. She'd heard laser guns were so scarce even the military had trouble outfitting their soldiers with them, so how did the raiders get their hands on these?

  Natalie recoiled in disbelief as the beams bounced off the stranger's skin. Though only designed to stun, the beams could still penetrate nearly anything.

  What in the world is he made of?

  When the stranger took a heavy, silent step forward, two of the raiders tossed their weapons aside and ran for the trees, stumbling down the mountain side. Another poor fool crawled up a tree, his movements frantic and crablike. The others, after failing to get a bead on their attacker, scrambled for heavier artillery.

  The devil quickly killed another man with a savage lunge.

  Natalie scuttled away, never taking her eyes off the stranger, as she tried to take cover. She'd almost reached the safety of the tree line when he abruptly turned, pinning her with his stare once again.

  Keeping his gaze glued on hers, he swung his sword as though it weighed nothing, lopping off two heads with one savage sweep of his blade. One sightless head rolled to a stop between her legs.

  Natalie wanted to scream, tried to, but the lump in her throat prevented it. Breathing in short, painfully dry gasps, she scrambled backward. Her palms were scraped raw as she dragged herself away from the carnage in front of her. Her lungs refused to expel the air trapped inside them.

  The stranger lopped off another head. She edged farther back, terrified her head would be next.

  With clumsy, frantic movements, the raiders managed to get a few shots fired, but none of them appeared to have any affect, and one by one, each raider lost his head.

  Her gasping breaths stalled. With no air entering or leaving her lungs, she reached for the inhaler in her pocket, but her hands trembled so much she had trouble gripping it. After a few attempts, she finally managed to bring the pump to her mouth, and forced her locked lungs to inhale a swift puff of medicine.

  Inhalers were considered obsolete after asthma injections came on the market years ago. But the injections cost so much she'd never been able to afford it.

  Taking the first deep breath she'd had in what felt like hours, she wanted to laugh at the irony. What did an inhaler or an injection even matter when she could lose her head at any moment?

  With each new kill, the devil roared ferociously, the eerie sound echoing down the mountain side like a warning to those who'd tried to escape.

  I need to get help! She rolled onto her hands and knees. That blasted emergency function better work this time, or I'll haunt those government bastards for the rest of my days!

  She gripped the hem of her dress between her teeth to keep from tripping on it and crawled toward the tree line. The sparse vegetation didn't offer much in the way of protection but it was far better than the complete exposure of the clearing. Buzzing sounds, screams, groans, and roars continued behind her.

  Ducking behind a bush, she looked back at the clearing. Only six raiders were left.

  Amazingly, her captor was one of them. Aiming an antique machine gun at the stranger, he yelled, "I'll send you back to hell, demon!" He pulled the trigger.

  Natalie hunkered lower, covering her head with her hands as bullets flew about the clearing, some lodging in the trees just behind her.

  When the man's clip was empty, the alien advanced on him.

  Natalie got up and ran farther into the trees, only to stop abruptly when her spine tingled. Slowly, she looked behind her to find those glowing red eyes piercing her again. With difficulty, she broke the connection and willed her body to move. Behind her, her captor screamed then fell silent.

  Only five left. She prayed they would keep the devil busy long enough for her to get away.

  The way he always seemed to keep her in his sights terrified her. Was he just toying with her? Letting her think she could get away when in fact he was just saving her for last?

  She wasn't about to stick around and find out.

  She was glad she'd been smart enough to don appropriate footwear when she left her cave that morning. With her leather boots protecting her feet and ankles, she ran easily over the mountain's uneven terrain, dodging the struggling pine trees she'd managed to replant over the last five years. She loved each one, but right now they were a hindrance as she tried to avoid trampling them in her flight down the mountain.

  The cold mountain air hurt her lungs and she couldn't breathe. But she refused to stop until the sound of slaughter no longer reached her ears.

  Desperate for air, she stumbled, her legs collapsing beneath her. She forced herself to rest, leaning her back against a tree trunk. The bark scraped her bare shoulder blades as her chest heaved, her gasping breaths the only sound on the eerily still mountain.

  In her race down the mountain, the inhaler had gotten twisted inside the pocket of her dress, and she struggled for a few precious moments to get it out. She took two puffs, sucking in the medicine hard. Her breathing eased, but her fear and exhaustion remained.

  The sharp scent of pine teased her nostrils. Tears streamed down her cheeks and she swiped them away, angry at her weakness.

  Crying won't solve anything, she reminded herself.

  Ignoring the sting of pain from her raw palms, she clutched the rough bark of the pine tree and dragged herself upright. She looked around, knowing instantly where she was. Though she'd run down the mountain side, she'd still covered almost a third of the distance to her cave, which was hidden higher up the mountain behind a jutting outcrop of rock.

  No wonder I'm so tired.

  She leaned against the tree, taking slow steady breaths to calm her racing heart. She gazed up at its stubby branches
, remembering how worried she'd been when this crop of young trees had almost died the first winter after she'd planted them.

  As a teenager, she'd griped when her survivalist father had forced her to learn every inch of the mountain. Now she was grateful she could find her way around blindfolded.

  Shaking off her longing for her father, she gathered her strength and deliberately headed away from the cave. Only when she was too tired to continue did she start the climb back up the mountain. When the Forestry Department approached her five years ago to replant the pine trees decimated by beetles and blister rust, she'd started to use the cave as her workspace, nursing the trees from seedlings. Her father had, with typical survivalist paranoia, already begun to prepare the cave as a backup residence. After the raiders had burned her house to the ground, she'd moved into the cave, grateful it had been stocked with emergency provisions. After losing nearly everything, those provisions had kept her alive.

  But why had the raiders even bothered coming to this isolated spot in the Rockies anyway? She could see them getting lost and stumbling upon her house, plundering it then burning it in a crime of opportunity. But twice? No, it didn't make sense. With the house gone, there was nothing left for them to loot.

  She stopped and wrapped her arms around herself, trying to keep the cold from invading her body. Despite the harsh sun shining overhead, the high altitude made the days perpetually cool and she berated herself once again for her poor choice in clothing.

  Though she didn't know the reason, she had no doubt the raiders' presence on her mountain was intentional. Which meant that if Murdoch, their leader, hadn't ordered his men there, he at least knew where they were.

  What will he do when he learns his men have been murdered on my mountain?

  She gasped in horror and at the same time, a hysterical giggle scored her sore throat. After she'd lost her house, she'd stayed up here to escape the violence happening in town. Now in one miserable day, she'd had two invasions on her mountain. While that devil had dispatched one threat, he remained, and another, Murdoch, was sure to follow.