She had never been a particularly brave person, and listening to the godawful fight taking place cemented that belief. A bully had once pushed her to the ground when she had been in grade school. Raine remembered squealing as if she had been mortally wounded. No, enduring pain wasn’t her strong suit.
Holding the pitifully small canvas bag close to her chest, she refused to return until she had more than two cans of chili beans and a jar of salsa. Karina had gone out yesterday and had come back with even less. Raine had wanted to find enough supplies so Brinn wouldn’t have to go out for a couple of days.
She had high hopes for today after Karina had returned yesterday, saying the different types of aliens seemed to be withdrawing from the city in large droves. Karina had been right. She hadn’t needed to hide from any of the aliens since leaving the bank… until now.
Those who she saw beating the grotesque alien were unfamiliar to her. What was surprising was the ones providing the beating were different types of aliens, who had been fighting each other over their spoils ever since they had arrived. They had banded together to beat the grotesque one.
All the aliens were fierce and terrifying-looking, but the one being beaten was a different caliber. He gave ugly a bad name. From their forages outside, they had seen some who were an ugly shade of green with a mismatched features that looked as if their mouths and noses had been squished together. They were the smallest but the most vicious ones. Emma had joked that it had been their looks that made them so hostile. They didn’t take human captives, killing humans on sight.
Then there were the black and grey ones who looked as if they had been burnt and charred. Lucas, unfortunately, had gotten close enough to one, saying they appeared to have scales. They were above normal in height compared to human size, varying in height and stature.
Then there were the aliens she feared the most—light red with features that were the most human, yet they weren’t. They had protruding foreheads of various colors with hair that looked like spikes. When they were chasing humans, they didn’t use weapons; they would drop onto their hands and run like a high-powered K-9. The red ones were also the ones who were taking the most humans captives.
If those three groups of aliens that were battling each over superiority weren’t bad enough, the dark purple ones drove a stake in any hope no more would be coming. Large and menacing, they reached seven feet tall and had the size and shape of bears. With claws for nails, they could kill humans with one swipe. The bear-like creatures could climb, too, scaling the side of a building to be able to see for miles around them. If that weren’t worrying enough, they could leap to buildings nearby.
Unable to keep her curiosity at bay any longer, Raine uncurled herself to chance another glance at the same moment when the green alien raised a wicked-looking dagger, plunging it into the chest of the one lying on the ground.
Raine couldn’t understand the garbled-sounding conversation coming from the aliens, but when they scattered, leaving their victim behind, Raine reasoned they weren’t happy that the green one had stabbed him.
Ducking back down out of sight, she was afraid to move, afraid one of them would come back. Minutes clicked past before she was brave enough to look again.
She gingerly scooted to the side of the wall to get a better viewpoint. When she saw no one around, she slowly got to her feet, about to take off and run, when she heard a low moan come from the wounded alien.
Ignoring the sound, Raine took off, yet only managing to take a couple of steps before her conscience struck.
Don’t do it, she silently yelled at herself as she abruptly stopped. Do not do it.
Ugh. She was going to do it. She had never been able to leave anyone in pain.
She cautiously edged toward the large alien lying on the ground. Her stomach reeled when she saw the repulsive alien up close.
“Are you alive?” she whispered, afraid other aliens could hear if they were near. Then Raine rolled her eyes at her own words. She probably wouldn’t be able to understand him if he could answer.
Dammit, she was going to have to touch the repulsive being.
Bending down, she warily touched it on the shoulder.
Another low moan came out.
Looking around to make sure no one else was close, Raine hunkered down next to it.
What are you doing? she blasted herself. What did she know about alien anatomy? Zip, zilch, nada. What if it ate her? It was her worst fear; because of her ample size, she would become food for a family of four aliens.