Page 9 of Zalis
Shouts of favorite foods echoed in the warehouse. It was hunger and anticipation all rolled together. It was the sound of hope.
Rescue came.Two red guys with scorpion tails and a big purple guy with horns. A few of the women cried when they saw their rescuers. Whether from fear or relief, Gemma honestly didn’t know. She was a strange, fizzy mixture of both and felt ready to bubble over.
“Emmarae sent us,” the little red one said. Well,littlein comparison to the massive brute who stood a head taller than him. Gemma was positive the little guy was bigger and taller than the average human dude, but it was like Elmo standing next to Hellboy.
“Thank fuck for that.” She bubbled over, and a dry, rasping laugh tore from her throat. “You’re Mahdfel, right?”
“Correct.”
Gemma didn’t really care who they were as long as they got her out of there. “You don’t happen to have any water, do you?”
“Yes. If I toss you a pack, will it cause trouble?” Elmo asked.
“The explosive triggers make a ring around us, so we can’t leave. There’s nothing to worry about inside the circle.”
“That is important information you could have shared.” This came from the purple guy with the horns. She struggled to think of a pithy name for him that wasn’t a purple dinosaur.
She was stressed, okay?
“I did saydon’t come closer. That person shouting? Me.” She coughed, and it felt like razor blades in her throat. “Fuck. Sorry. I’m parched.”
The guy with horns held an emergency pack. “This has water and nutrition. If I add a blade to the pack, will you be able to free yourself and the others?”
“Yeah.” She wiggled her arms, and the chair wobbled. “It’s a loose knot. The ’sploding was what really kept us here.”
He laughed, which was a little dark, but Gemma had grown to appreciate dark humor over the last few weeks, what with being kidnapped and sold to aliens.
She liked it. His laugh, not the being kidnapped thing.
He tossed her the bag and promised to get more. Gemma worked on getting her hands free while the two red guys bickered about disarming the bombs. They were a real comedy duo, Hellboy and Elmo. It was soothing in a strange way. If the dynamic red pair had time to spend on their patter, then things couldn’t be so dire. They were going to be okay.
At no point did she wonder why they spoke in English. Or why the “bottled” water came in gelatin cubes. Some things just were beyond understanding.
Once free, she downed a water cube. The water was room temperature, and the greatest thing she ever tasted. Thirst dealt with, she crawled across the filthy floor to the nearest person, Rafaela, pushing the pack forward.
“You are injured,” Elmo said.
“Just my ankle. Doesn’t even hurt anymore.” Oh, that was a lie, but if she cut one person free, then they could do the others. Delegation, baby.
Panting and sweating and surely looking ridiculous, she made the journey of three entire feet.They can judge me any time after they’ve done this on a broken ankle.
Gemma pressed a water cube to Rafaela’s mouth. “Bite the corner and drink.” Most of the water went down her chin. Close enough.
She worked on cutting the bindings. Once Rafaela was free, she gave her the bag of water cubes to distribute. Gemma scooted over to the next person, Ha-na.
“What are they saying?” Ha-na asked. “Are they getting us out of here?”
The first question opened the floodgates. Blake, Sarah, and Hollie all asked questions at once. Those were Mahdfel, right? And would they take them back to Earth? What was taking so long? What were they saying?
“Wait,” Gemma said. “You can hear them, right? They’re defusing the bombs.”
“I don’t have a translator implanted,” Sarah said.
“Neither do I.”
Sarah raised her eyebrows and said nothing, instead biting into another cube.
Well, fuck. That explained the blinding headache when she woke up in the cage. She didn’t want to think about what else they might have done to her while she was unconscious.
