“They are mean bastards. Did you see how protective he was of you?” The first man chuckled. “If you hadn’t acted all girly on his ass we never would have caught him.”
“Yeah,” another man said as he walked over. “But that isn’t going to save his ass. Mitch is dead. That son-of-a-bitch ripped his stomach wide open when he thought he was trying to rape you. I want his balls hanging from the back of my truck.”
“Shit! That is the fourth man we’ve lost in the past month,” the first man said. “It’s getting harder to find anyone any more. Since those bastards started providing food, shelter and medication to the people in this area, more and more people are turning to them.”
“It won’t matter if I can find a way to kill them all,” the woman said. “Keep him inside the van for now. We can’t take a chance of any of his friends hearing or smelling him. We can move out tomorrow morning after curfew is lifted. I want to begin dissecting that bastard by tomorrow night at the lab we’ve set up.”
Jesse wrapped her arms around her knees and buried her face in them. Dread washed through her as she waited for the small group to walk away. Their laughter was filled with cold hatred. These were the types of people who gave humans a bad name. If she was an alien, she would have washed her hands of humanity within hours after meeting them.
She sat back and rested her head against the metal that made up the wall of the old warehouse. She would need to make sure they were gone before she could safely move. She closed her eyes and felt fatigue pull at her, encouraging her to give into the darkness. She brushed the cut on her arm, letting the salt from her fingers get into the wound so it would throb. She needed the pain to help keep her awake.
Her thoughts drifted to her two sisters. She was worried about Jordan. Three nights before she and Jordan had gone out together. Jordan had startled two men in one of the back alleys they were cutting through on their way back to the parking garage. She had gone ahead of Jesse in her excitement to share what they had found with Jordan. Jesse had stopped briefly to rearrange their stash for the night when she felt it shift. Seconds later, Jordan’s screams had chilled Jesse to the bone. She had to force herself not rush to her sister’s aid which had been her first instinct. She would not do either of them or Taylor any good if she was captured. Instead, she had pulled the large hunting knife that had belonged to her father out of her boot and quietly snuck up behind the men who were attacking Jordan.
Jesse fought back the nausea as she thought of what she’d had to do to save her sister from being raped and murdered. She had killed the man who was on top of Jordan. Her father had always told them that a wounded man was like a wounded bear or mountain lion, extremely dangerous and unpredictable.
The other man had run as soon as he saw his bigger friend was dead. Jesse had pushed the man off her younger sister and gathered her in her arms. She wish she could have spent more time comforting her but it was too dangerous. They had left without the food they had stolen. It had been three days since any of them had eaten and now Jordan was sick. She had to make it back with the food she had taken tonight or none of them would make it much longer.
She pulled the scarf up over her nose and mouth to help keep in the warmth as she waited. The coldness of the floor and the metal were sending shivers through her body. In some ways it was a blessing as she knew she wouldn’t fall asleep if she was cold and uncomfortable.
No, now it is just a waiting game until I can escape from the mad humans, she thought as she listened to the woman and three men talk about how they were going to slice up the alien they had captured.
Chapter 2
Hunter strained against the chains holding him to the metal bed. His head fell back against the hard surface in frustration. They had bound him with multiple chains from his shoulders down to his feet. He jerked his head sideways trying to dislodge the rag they had put in his mouth but it was useless with the tape covering it.
He clenched his fists in rage as he thought of the deceit of the humans. Even their females were not to be trusted. He had heard talk among the other warriors of how primitive and hostile this world was. He cursed at his own instincts to protect the female of any species.
He had been returning from bringing in several humans who had set off bombs close to where they were establishing a support center for the humans living in this area. This was to be his last tour before being deployed back home. Now, he would never see the beautiful valleys, mountains and oceans of his world again.