Never Alone

The creature caught April’s arm easily in his and grabbed her opposite wrist, pinning her to the wall. He was so tall that she found herself looking into his chest.

“Please don’t hurt me,” she whispered as she looked at her own reflection in the mask. The creature clicked urgently, but he wasn’t looking at her face - he was looking at the hand that held the pickaxe. April followed his gaze and gasped - the tool was covered in green goo and was hissing as it melted. Most of it was already gone and there was only a half-inch of wood left between the acid and her hand. She opened her fingers immediately and the handle stub fell to the floor where it started eating through the tiles.

The creature nodded and stepped away to look at the dead monster which was also eating it’s way through the floor. He kicked it with his foot and nodded to her again.

“Who are you?” April asked, nervously. The creature clicked away and started to walk out of the room. “What’s happening?” April begged. “What are you?” She froze as she heard footsteps in the hall. Two other creatures walked into the room and they all started clicking to each other. April looked at the guns mounted on their shoulders - they looked like something from another world. The first creature was gesturing to the monster she’d killed and the others leaned around him to look at it. They looked at her and clicked excitedly.

April shook her head and touched her cross, thanking God that she was still alive. She went to Jake’s tool box and pulled out his biggest wrench. Whatever or whoever these creatures were didn’t matter. She needed to see if everyone else was okay. As she tried to leave, one of the creatures reached out and grabbed her elbow.

“I have to see if everyone else is okay!” she said, trying to pull free. He wouldn’t let go and she pulled against his grip. He pointed to the dead creature in the hall and shook his head. “You mean there are more of them?” she cried, despairing. She jerked her elbow free and headed for the door. “I don’t care! The shepherd must guard the flock.”

April stepped out into the hall and stopped for a moment to look at the other dead monster. It’s throat was slit and there were cracks in the hard, black skull with green acid oozing from them. She took a deep breath and jumped over it, wrench in hand. The hallway walls were heavily smashed and scratched from the fight. She could see the dead body at the end of the hall and prayed that it wasn’t Jake.

It was Herman, Jake’s project manager. April turned her eyes away from the half-eaten man and took some deep breaths to keep from barfing. She’d seen some awful things when she’d been stationed in Africa, but this... she said a quick prayed for the man and stepped around the growing puddle of blood. What would she do if she met another monster in the dark?

She heard clicking behind her and turned. The first man-like creature who’d saved her from the acid was standing in the kitchen door. He had his head to one side again as he looked her over. He took a step and jumped over the monster’s body and pressed some buttons on his computer. He held his hand out to April, palm-up, and she hesitated for a moment before approaching. A 3-D hologram was projected from his computer showing every room in the building. There were three green dots and one red one. Two green dots were in the kitchen together and one was in the hall with the red dot.

“Where is everyone else?” she asked. The hologram disappeared and the creature pointed to Herman. Her fingers touched her cross and she closed her eyes for a moment and prayed for them. She thanked God that Jake wasn’t here. When she opened her eyes, the creature was looking at her again.

“Can you understand me?” she asked.

He nodded his head.

“Can you speak?”

The creature clicked a few times and then made a strange sound... a laugh?

“Can you speak a language I can understand?” April asked.

The creature shook his head and gestured for her to follow him back to the kitchen. The dead monster in the hall had eaten away at a lot of floor and it was a bigger jump to get over him. The other creatures were going through the cupboards like they had never seen a kitchen before. One picked up a box of crackers but his grip was so strong that it crunched in his fist.

“So you guys are um... from out of town?” April said. They stopped and looked at each other. That time she was sure that the choked bark was laughter. She didn’t see how they could laugh, not after so many people had just died. She thought about Jake and about how sad he was going to be that all of his friends were dead. What would he think of the monsters? It was a fantastic discovery - and it was his! He’d be famous!

One of the aliens pointed at her and clicked. She didn’t know what he meant. He pointed again and clicked.

“Me?” she asked, suddenly getting his meaning. “My name is April. Who are you?”

The creature clicked and grunted. April sighed - whatever it was was unpronounceable. The aliens started clicking and chittering together and then the third one punched some buttons on his computer before detaching it and tossing it on the floor. They hurried passed her and left. April looked at the device. It was beeping and some red symbols were moving. Her eyes widened - it was a bomb.

There was clicking behind her and the first alien was standing in the door with his hand out, palm up. April didn’t think twice - she grabbed his hand and let him pull her outside. They ran across the grass to the jungle and April struggled to keep up with his long strides. The alien pulled her along like she was a child. They crashed through the underbrush after the other two aliens, farther and farther away from the building that April had called home for the last few weeks.

“How big is this explosion going to be?” April wheezed. The ground shook as the explosion went off far behind them. A second later, a shockwave sent them sprawling.