Chapter 7 #2
“Trent,” she whispered. “He wouldn’t stop fighting them.
They got all over him and inside him and he was ripping at them and screaming and .
. .” She gulped down a fresh wave of nausea.
“And then they lifted him up and ripped him apart from the inside. We were all covered in his blood, like a rainstorm.”
He handed her a damp towel and sat back on his heels, neither touching her nor commenting on what she’d just said. She dabbed at her clammy face.
She met his opaque gaze. “You said don’t fight them, let them do what they want, just like you trained me, but it was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life. But when Trent exploded . . . we all stopped fighting and I gave in.”
He nodded. “You did the right thing.”
“Did I?”
“You’re alive.”
“I’m not sure if I am. I’m not sure if I’ll ever be able to function properly again.”
“You will.”
She was too tired to glare at him. “How do you know?”
“Because I did.”
“You’re not like me.”
“I’m exactly like you. We’re survivors.”
A tear dripped down her face and ended up on her knee. “I should have helped him.”
“Trent panicked. It’s not your fault.”
“I tried to yell at him, but they filled up my throat and I couldn’t . . .” She swallowed hard. “No one could help him.”
“Exactly.” He rose to his feet. “Do you want to go back to bed or hang out with me and watch some screen?”
“Hang out with you?”
He raised an eyebrow. “I’m all you’ve got at the moment.” Without waiting to see what she decided, he walked out. Moments later she heard the sound of the telescreen murmuring.
Could she go and sit with him and pretend everything was okay? She fumbled her way out of the bathroom and was brought up short by the sight of Rehz stretched out on the couch, watching some kind of sporting event. The hint of normality made her chest hurt.
Avoiding his line of sight, she crept over to the other couch and curled up in the corner, as far away from him as she could get. A second later she jumped as he tossed a cushion and a soft throw cover at her.
“Make yourself comfortable. I’ll get dinner after this inning is over.”
It was surreal, it was frightening, and yet what else was she to do? Go back to bed and stare at the wall until she went mad wondering if it really was a wall or an alien being she still couldn’t comprehend? Better to listen to another person breathing and pretend to watch a Mitan ball game . . .
After a while, her eyes began to close and she allowed herself to sleep, the noise of the game and Rehz’s disgusted comments about his team’s performance fading into the nothingness.
A few days later, while she thought Rehz was still sleeping, she took a more comprehensive tour around the apartment.
Apart from the kitchen and open-plan living room, there wasn’t much to it.
Two bedrooms, two baths, and a laundry room, which didn’t look like it had ever been used.
The front door was locked and she couldn’t work out how to disarm it.
The wide windows in the living room looked down over a city she didn’t recognize.
“Good morning, Lee.”
Keeping her palms pressed to the glass, she looked over her shoulder to see Rehz watching her.
He’d just come out of the shower and his hair was wet, his only garment a white towel hanging off his hips.
The faint traces of his tentacle scars wound around his torso and finished at his throat, just like hers did.
She might hate his guts, but he had been through the same horrors she had.
“How long have I been here?”
“About forty days.”
She blinked at that but didn’t say anything. Time had run away from her along with everything else.
“It’s a long way down.”
He paused, his gaze watchful. “Yeah. The windows are locked shut for that reason.”
“I wasn’t thinking of jumping.”
“That’s a step in the right direction.” He rubbed a hand over his wet hair and reached for the towel around his hips, before seeming to think better of it and grabbing another one from the kitchen. “Twenty days ago I was worried you might prefer that route.”
She turned to face him. “Can I ask you something?”
“Go ahead.”
“The others. There were five of us, and now there are four.”
“You can sense them in your head?”
She nodded.
He dropped the now-wet dish towel to the floor. “Solly didn’t make it.”
“He came out. He was in the hospital.”
“He couldn’t get his head around it.”
“He’s dead, isn’t he?”
“Yeah I’m sorry.”
She wiped away her tears. “I’m so tired of crying. I hate it.”
“If it’s any help, I’m tired of watching you cry.”
“That’s because you are a complete bastard,” she hissed.
“Yeah, I am.” He held up his hands. “Are you going to throw stuff at me again?”
“No, I’m going to find a gun and shoot you.”
He nodded. “Good to know.”
“When I get out of here—because I will get out of here—I’ll hunt you down and make you beg for your life, and then I’ll still shoot you.” Her voice was shaking now.
“I get it.”
“I hate you, Rehz Akran.”
He swung around so fast she flinched.
“Why? Because I forced you to learn how to survive the Ungrich? Forced you to be at your peak of physical fitness, and used to being stuffed full of cock or tentacles or probes or whatever the Ungrich used on you?”
“You didn’t tell me the truth!” she yelled. “You let me go in there not knowing what they were, what—”
He held up his hand. “Yeah, like you would’ve gone in if you’d known.
How was I supposed to explain the unexplainable?
To make sense of an alien life-form that doesn’t understand a single thing about our society except using us as a research tool?
And fuck it, part of the treaty is that we can’t tell you.
They like us coming in there scared. They get off on that mindfuck!
You know that now! I gave you the skills you needed to survive. That’s all I could fucking do.”
“Oh, I suppose you expect me to be grateful, do you?” she sneered.
“I don’t know, Lee. I took you out of prison, gave you a chance, and now you’re fucking alive and free. You don’t think that deserves any thanks?”
She turned away and went back to bed, pulling the covers over her head. She wished she could stop his words revolving in her head. How fucking dare he be offended about anything? He’d lied and schemed and fucked her half to death.
He’d . . .
Saved her life.
But . . .
He’d saved her life . She might not like his methods, but he’d definitely helped her survive.
“Oh hell.” Anna punched the mattress and screamed into it long and hard. She had to get away from him. All she had to do was convince him she was ready to face her debriefing and she’d be free.
To do what?
Reaching outside her blankets, she found her sleeping pills, took one, and forced herself not to think until the medicine did its job and delivered her into unconsciousness.