Leaving Triad

by K. D. Jones

  “Because I love him,” Emily answered bluntly, appalled by the things the man just said about Zor. “I am with him by my own free will, can we go now?”

  “I think he’s brainwashed you,” Lee answered as he put his hand on the laser gun he had in the holster behind his back. He walked up to Zor, who was already pretty pissed, and looked up into his eyes, giving him nothing but a dead stare. “How can you expect me to believe that he hasn’t?”

  “I’m not brainwashed,” Emily stated, getting nervous, she knew something was off with the man standing not even two feet away from her. Her heart started pounding and her stomach twisted and turned. She feared for what was going to happen next, and she worried about Zor. This man obviously hated aliens, no matter how good they were to him and the human race.

  Zor saw the handle of the laser gun that Lee had started to pull out so he kicked him back and grabbed his own, pointing it directly at Captain Lee. “Emily, get back to the pod, you know how to drive it.”

  “We don’t have to fight, please just stop this,” she pleaded with the human captain, hoping he would listen to her but somehow knowing he wasn’t going to.

  “You’re right, we don’t have to but I would rather rid this world of all the alien scum than to let them live. So yes, we don’t have to but they’re not leaving here alive,” Lee answered. “So it’s either fight or die willingly.”

  A shot went off then, startling all of them. “Go, Emily!” Zor yelled as he shot his laser gun at the human captain who had just tried to shoot him but missed terribly.

  Emily started to run away from the gunfire, looking back to see that Jeremy was following behind her. She ran even faster trying to stay away from him. Her chest was heaving up and down as she tried to catch her breath as she continued to run. Her chest burned as her legs did, she hadn’t ran like this in a long time.

  She felt a hard shove on her back and she fell toward the ground, scraping her face slightly on some of the rocks. “Jeremy, just leave me alone!” she yelled as she rolled over quickly and kicked him back.

  “No, you fucking slut! That alien will not have what is mine!” Jeremy yelled giving her a mean snarl.

  “I am a person, I don’t belong to anyone,” she returned, kicking him again as he tried to get on top of her, he fell back.

  She scrambled to get to her feet but he grabbed her foot and pulled her back down to the ground. She hit the ground hard, scraping her elbows as she tried to break her fall. She knew no good would come of this so she fought him as much as she could. She kicked, hit, scratched, and even punched him a few times, until he hit her in the head with a decent sized rock, knocking her unconscious.

  There was a little bit of blood, but not much, so Jeremy just grabbed her by her arm and dragged her off, not caring at how bad her legs were being scratched up by the rocks. He needed to get her out of the aliens reach so they couldn’t find her. He knew if the alien found him, he would be killed by the vermin. Emily had been foolish when she didn’t leave the ship when she had the chance to.

  *****

  Zor had lost track of where Emily had gone during the fighting. He told her to make it back to the pod but she ran away from the gunfire. He had no clue where she was now and the pod was still there. The laser gun they had ran out of their power source and needed to be recharged. They began fighting hand-to-hand. Zor had been hit quite a few times by the laser gun but they were not deadly hits. His alien biology would allow him to take a few more hits before it got critical.

  The human captain threw his laser gun, furious and ran up to Zor. Zor pulled back his arm, making a fist, then lunged his fist forward into the man's face. He fell to the ground holding his now extremely bloody, obviously broken nose. Zor stepped over him, placed his foot at his throat, and grabbed a dagger from in his boot. He pushed his foot against Captain Lee’s throat hard, pissed this man caused him to lose Emily.

  “Just remember I was willing to let you leave here alive,” Zor stated, remaining as calm as possible, trying to make the point that on this occasion he was the better man.

  “My entire crew is on the way here, good luck taking them all out,” Lee said, barely able to breathe.

  Zor slit his throat quickly and turned to Henry. “Get the main ship down here now!” he yelled glancing around trying to see if he could see Emily anywhere. He couldn’t believe he lost track of her and hoped she was all right.

  Henry ran over to a pod quickly as Zor and Curly checked the other humans to see if they were alive or not. They were all dead or bleeding out.

  “They will be here shortly, Captain,” Henry stated as he climbed back out of the pod and walked up to him.

  “I should go find Emily,” Zor stated.

  “You don’t have time, Captain,” Curly started. “The further away from the fight she is, the safer she will be.”

  “That depends on where the human male is,” Zor returned glancing over the dead bodies.

  “She’s a smart lass, Captain, and you can’t take off now, the ship will be here any minute,” Henry stated.

  *****

  Emily came awake with a horrible headache to see Jeremy standing over her. He had her tied to a chair. She thought the planet was uninhabited, how did he get this stuff? “What are you doing, Jeremy?” she questioned, starting to worry about what was happening with Zor then.

  “I don’t know yet, slut,” he answered.

  “Zor will find me,” Emily answered, not sure if he was all right or not, but knowing if he would chase them down to get her back. “And kill you.”

  “What is it about the alien, Emily?” Jeremy asked, anger sounding in his voice. A sound Emily had become used to over the years with him. “Is it because his dick is bigger than mine, or does he allow you to screw every guy on that worthless spaceship of his?”

  “I’m with Zor only. You know I don’t sleep around,” she spat back angrily. “He treats me like I should be treated. Nothing like how you treated me. He loves me.” Her head stung a bit more as she raised her voice.

  “That’s the biggest lie I have ever heard. Tell me, have you done it with more than one man at a time?” Jeremy answered.

  She didn't answer, appalled by the thought. The only one she ever wanted to be with was Zor. “Nothing I do concerns you anymore.”

  Her face stung as his hand met her cheek. “Fuck you, bitch!” Jeremy yelled.

  “No, Jeremy! Fuck you, and all the things you have done to me. Why the hell can’t you just stay out of my fucking life and let me be happy?!” she yelled. She was done putting up with his shit. She was furious. “For once I was starting to be happy. I never should have stayed with you. I should have left you back home.”

  “You ungrateful little slut! After all the shit I did for you!”

  “You never did anything for me, I did everything for you, and you never even lifted a finger for me. You always took whatever you wanted even if I said no, you fucking bastard!” she screamed, tears running down her face as she tried to get her arms free but couldn’t.

  Why did tying knots have to be the one thing he was good at? She could feel the ropes cutting into her wrists as she tried to get them off her. She turned her hands every way possible but couldn’t get free. She started trying very awkwardly to untie them.

  “I stayed with you even though you were such a whore,” he returned.

  “I’m not a fucking whore, Jeremy!” she yelled back as he started moving closer to her.

  She kicked out as he moved in closer, bending his head to speak to her. Her foot caught him in the side of his head near his temple, knocking him unconscious. She frantically started trying to get away then.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Desperate, she pushed herself back hard, making her chair tip back. As the chair fell chair backwards onto the floor all she could hope was she didn't break her arms. The crash was enough to break the chair up into several little pieces and luckily the top of the chair hit first, softening the blow to her arms. She pulle
d on her arms until she was able to finally slip free of the ropes. Yes!

  She struggled to get to her feet and made her way out of the makeshift hut that Jeremy somehow had found. She stopped just outside and thought about all the shit Jeremy had put her through over the years. Was it fair to leave him free and unpunished? Hell no!

  She stormed back inside and picked up the rope. She turned Jeremy over on his stomach so she could tie his hands behind his back. She tied it tighter than she probably needed to but she really didn’t care. She reached for the laser gun Jeremy had grabbed right before he dragged her off, then she turned him back onto his back and slapped his face until he sputtered awake.

  “What the hell?” He tried to move his arms but couldn’t.

  “Get up, Jeremy,” she ordered, standing and moving away from him.

  “I can’t, you tied my hands, dammit!”

  She shrugged her shoulders, it felt good to be the one in control. “Get your lazy, good for nothing, ass up off the ground or I’ll shoot you and leave you to bleed to death.”

  Jeremy rolled over till he was able to get to his knees. He got sand in his mouth when his face was pressed down into the ground. He spit it out as he slowly rose to his feet. He glared at her and attempted to move toward her. She raised the laser gun up at him and turned it on.

  “Don’t even think about it. I would rather kill you just to be done with you, but I am better than that—I am better than you. I am taking you back for judgment by the Galactic Peace Patrol. I am pressing charges for abuse, attempted rape, selling me into slavery, and kidnapping.”

  “Come on, I never attempted to rape you. You were playing hard to get so even if I had fucked you, no one would have believed it to be a rape. You are a slut that puts out for any dick available. So why not me?” he walked past her through the door.

  “I said no, Jeremy. I begged you not to hurt me. You abused me and if I hadn't fought you off you would have done more,” her voice shook a little when flashes of what he'd done to her ran through her mind. She shook her head. She didn’t want to think about it or she would break down and cry. All the years she spent with him. Why?

  She stood outside under the hot sun looking for their footprints. Unfortunately, a wind had come up and erased their tracks while they had been in the hut. There were no landmarks to go by.

  “Which way did we come from?”

  “Don’t you know? Stupid bitch.”

  She kicked him and made him fall to his knees. “Next time I’ll shoot you. Get up.”

  He did, falling a couple of times before he managed it. Then he turned to her smugly. “Which way?”

  She pointed to the east. He started walking in the direction and she followed a few feet behind. It took about an hour before she realized they had been going in the wrong direction. The terrain shifted and changed. It looked more like the old pictures she had seen of the Grand Canyon back on the planet they once called Earth. There were large rocks and cliffs. They were heading toward a ledge now. They were lost. Fuck!

  “Hold up, Jeremy.”

  *****

  “Where the hell is she?!” Zor yelled over the communications. He, Henry, and Curly were in the pods. Each one took a different direction trying to track down Emily and Jeremy.

  “It’s a good sign that we haven’t found a body yet,” Curly commented.

  “That does not make me feel any better,” Zor growled over the communications.

  “She’s smart, Zor. That human ass always underestimated her. She’ll get the upper hand. You watch. We’ll find her safe and sound.”

  Zor prayed they would. He didn’t know what he would do without Emily. She had become his whole world. The moment she walked on board his ship, she had captured his heart.

  “Hey, Zor, I think I found something,” Henry’s voice broke into his thoughts.

  “Where are you?”

  “I’m sending you my coordinates. I found a small hut. No tracks that I can see, but the wind is strong here.”

  “On my way.”

  Five minutes later he landed his pod beside Henry’s and Curly’s. They were standing outside of the hut. “What did you find?”

  “Looks like a struggle took place. No one is here now though. It may not have been her,” Henry told him as Zor ducked down to enter the small hut.

  He saw a chair broken apart on the floor. There wasn’t much in the hut. It had been abandoned for quite a while. As he knelt at the chair, his eyes caught on something. There, caught on a piece of the back of the chair was a strand of dark hair. He lifted it up to his nose. The one small strand carried her scent. He could detect it.

  “It was her. She was here,” Zor confirmed.

  The three men went back outside. They looked up at the horizon. The sun would be setting soon. Once it was dark, it would be nearly impossible for them to find her. Not to mention what dangers in the dark would arise for a mere human.

  “We’ll split up again.”

  “Zor.” Henry was going to say maybe they should wait till morning.

  “No! I will find her.” Zor stormed over to his pod.

  *****

  “Well, what now, bitch?” Jeremy sat down on a nearby rock. It was going to be dark soon. He would be able to make his escape then. Right after he busted her upside her head while she slept. He hated her with a passion. Why couldn’t she do anything he asked of her without always putting up a fight? She should have listened to him and remained on their home world.

  “We’ll head back to the hut. I am sure Zor will be looking for me by now. We’ll stay there until he finds us.”

  Jeremy snorted. “Your alien lover boy is probably dead and rotting in the sun as we speak. Captain Lee is a very determined man. He hates all aliens. I even heard him talking to human anti-alien leaders about getting rid of the scum. He’ll start with your dear Captain Zor first.”

  “Shut up!” The thought that Zor might be dead was upsetting. It had her pacing away and turning her back on Jeremy. Zor was fine. He had to be. He was strong and a good fighter. There was no way he could be dead. Please God, don’t let him be dead.

  Jeremy used her distraction to move his tied hands over his butt, under his knees, legs, and finally over his feet. He sighed with some relief, he had his tied hands in front of him now. The rope was still too tight for him to break loose, but maybe he could find a sharp rock he could use. There!

  Emily glanced at him briefly then turned back to look in the direction they had come. “We might be able to get there before dark.” She glanced up at the sky.

  When she turned back around, Jeremy wasn’t on the rock where she had left him. When she glanced around trying to spot him, she was shoved from behind. She fell and the laser gun was knocked from her hand.

  “Did you think you could pull one over on me?!” Jeremy yelled as he kicked her in the side.

  Emily cringed in pain. She had to get to the laser gun. She crawled toward where it was laying, and reached her arm out. Just a little further.

  “I can’t believe you actually let that alien vermin touch you. He probably couldn’t satisfy you either. I have never met a woman as cold as you are in bed. I had to find my pleasure with other women after we fucked. You never really got me off. One thing you were incapable of. Even if your alien survived, he’s probably left you here, glad to finally be rid of you. Just like I will be!”

  That sounded ominous to her. Just as her hand was reaching for the laser gun, Jeremy kicked it out of her reach. She tried to stand but Jeremy pushed her back down using his foot and stepping hard on her back.

  She thought she heard the sound of a pod. She tried to turn over and look but Jeremy wasn’t letting her up. She tried to crawl out from under his foot. She would go a foot or two and try to lift up but he followed her and pushed her back down.

  “Emily!”

  Both Emily and Jeremy turned at the sound of Zor calling out for her. Was it really him? “Zor!”

  “Shut up, bitch!” Jeremy kick
ed her side. He turned to scan the area and turned pale when he saw the hulking figure of the alien captain approaching. He was no match physically. He reached for the gun he had kicked aside and raised it in that direction. Could he hit him from this distance?

  “No!” Emily turned over and saw that Jeremy was aiming the laser gun toward Zor. She would not let Jeremy kill Zor.

  She kicked the laser gun from Jeremy’s hand just as he fired it. Zor ducked and the shot missed its mark. She grabbed Jeremy’s legs and pulled until he fell to the ground next to her.

  “You idiot!” he yelled at her as he grabbed her by the throat. He was going to strangle the last breath from her traitorous body.

  Emily was growing lightheaded. She kneed him in the groin, which caused his grip to loosen. They rolled closer to the edge of the cliff.

  “Emily!” Zor was getting closer.

  Jeremy raised himself up as he landed on top of her. He looked up in fear at seeing how close Zor was.

  Emily used the distraction to push him away from her hard. The ledge started to crumble and Jeremy started to slide down the side of the cliff. Jeremy gripped her ankle and began pulling her with him. If he was going to die, he would take her too. Emily turned onto her stomach and reached for something to hold onto.

  Emily couldn’t shake Jeremy loose. She was slipping and sliding backwards down the side of the cliff. She raised her other leg and made one last-ditch effort. She kicked Jeremy hard in the face and his grip on her ankle was shaken. He fell down yelling. Emily kept trying to find something to hold on to as she was still sliding backwards.

  All of a sudden, strong hands grabbed her arms and began pulling her back up the side of the cliff. She looked up into the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen. Zor.

  Chapter Twenty