The Game of Undesirables

Chapter 8

I'm tossed carelessly to the ground, and the door is locked behind me. Raina runs to me, and grabs me in a tight hug. Jay and Olive follow her, sitting next to me.

"I was so scared, I thought you were going to die," Raina cries.

I hold her tightly. "It's okay. I'm fine." 

I look around the room, seeing distraught and haunted faces. For the first time, they've just witnessed death. It's a terrible, gut-wrenching feeling. They know that this is only the beginning. They know that there is more to come.

"What happened out there?" Olive asks. "What possibly made you think it was a good idea to drop the spear?"

"Raina was right. It's a prisoner, just like us. It's not some monster, it's a sad, abused . . . alien animal."

"It killed Benjamin!" Michael shouts. He's shaking with anger.

"It's fighting for it's life, just like we are."

He glares at me. "How can you side with the beast that is trying to kill us?"

"Don't you get it?" I yell. "We're all on the same side! It's us against an alien race!"

He's quiet for a few moments, then nods. "You're right. I'm sorry."

The room returns to utter silence. I try to decide how to tell them there was a human in the crowd, or whether to say anything at all. Then, I figure it's too important to just let it go. I blurt, "There's another human."

"What?" This gets everybody's attention.

"When I bowed to the crowd, I saw a human standing in the back, wearing a burlap cloth. I couldn't see their face."

"Are you sure that's what you saw?" Jay asks me. I nod.

"That doesn't make any sense, though," Olive says. "Why would a human be on this planet?"

None of us have an answer.

"We'll figure it out," Jay says. "Whatever the  reason is, it could be important. If there's one out there, who's to say there isn't more?"

Raina tenses, hugging me tighter. "Does that mean we're going to be stuck here?"

Her fear makes me feel guilty because, once again, I don't have a definite answer for her. I can't tell her everything is going to be okay. 

Suddenly the door creaks open, and my heart leaps so strongly I can feel it in my throat. I pull Reina tighter to me, and watch them walk in our direction.

Straight for me.

An alien reaches out and pries Reina off of me, tossing her to the ground forcefully. She screams and lets out a sob.

"Don't touch her!" I yell, getting to my feet.

They turn away from her, and come for me again. I watch them closely, but I don't react. Something tells me they aren't going to hurt me. They reach out to restrain my arms. 

"No!" Jay stands in front of me protectively, his arms out. "I won't let you take her."

I place my hand on his shoulder. "It's okay."

He just shakes his head. He won't even look at me. The aliens step forward.

"Jay," I put my hand under his chin and turn his head toward me. "They aren't going to hurt me, but they will hurt you to get to me."

"How do you know?" His voice quivers.

I shrug. "I don't. You'll just have to trust me."

"I do trust you. I just don't trust them."