by S. E. Smith
The group exchanged an uneasy look. They were far from ready to trust me, but I’d manage to plant enough of a doubt to give me a chance. I pressed my advantage.
“He didn’t want me to come in alone. He was afraid I’d get hurt. With his strength and technology, he wouldn’t need me as a diversion to get to you.”
“Bring him in, then,” Simon said, holding his weapon firmly with both hands. “I hope you wouldn’t betray your own people.”
“I wouldn’t. I promise.” I turned around to look at the door. “Doom, you can come in.”
“Doom?” the balding older man asked.
I cringed. Yeah, that name didn’t help our case. “They all have strange names like that,” I said in an apologetic voice.
Doom walked in with slow steps, his hands out in front of him in the same non-threatening manner I had displayed. He looked utterly badass and breathtakingly gorgeous. In hindsight, it had been a good call for him to put some clothes on. It made him look a little less alien. His golden scales glowed under the bright rays of sunlight flooding through the large windows of the church, adding a mythical edge to his already alien features.
“Greetings, humans,” Doom said with his deep, rumbling voice. Without waiting for a response, he turned his concerned gaze on me. “Are you well?”
“I’m fine. They haven’t threatened me. They’re just a little nervous.”
“Understandable,” Doom said before turning back to the group. “Please, do not be frightened by my alien appearance. My name is Doom. I am a Xian Warrior. You could say that my brothers and I are intergalactic peacekeepers. Your planet is but one of the many to have been attacked by the Kryptids. We are here to stop them as we have on other worlds.”
“And then what?” Simon asked, a sliver of aggression still present in his voice.
“And then we will leave for another world in need of assistance,” Doom said, impassively.
“What do you want with us?” the woman asked. “Why did you come to this church?”
“I came here because my scanning device picked up a large number of humans gathered in a single location,” Doom patiently explained. “This will draw the Kryptids like a magnet. I want to offer you the possibility of being evacuated to a safer location while we are sweeping through the city. Once we are gone, chances of receiving aid from us will be slim to none.”
“And if we refuse?” Simon challenged.
“It is your prerogative. In which case, we’ll just continue on our way,” Doom responded calmly.
The elders exchanged a few uncertain looks before the woman and two of the men decided to go down to discuss the matter with the others. Simon and the balding man who turned out to be named Phillip, gave Doom the third degree about who he and his brothers were, where they came from, and what the Kryptids wanted. While he’d already answered most of those questions for me, I still listened with fascination, having been a bit frazzled the first time around.
After what felt like an eternity, the woman—Molly—came back with the priest of the parish, Father Robert. The relief on his face upon seeing Doom threw me. He eagerly invited us downstairs. I ran back outside to fetch my medical bag before following them down to the basement. One glance clarified the priest’s reaction. There were far too many people in the space, all of them elderly, many suffering from various illnesses expected with age, and far too few resources to keep them properly fed and hydrated.
They were in bad shape and hadn’t been able to scavenge. We decided to give them most of the supplies Andy and I had gathered, including a lot of the medicine. Both locations would be evacuated within the next twenty-four hours, and my own patients had enough to see them through until then.
At first, I’d been angry, thinking all those people had been abandoned by their children and relatives wanting to make a quick getaway. But most of them had chosen to stay behind to give their children a better chance of making it out. Some of them were also clearly in no condition to travel.
While I tended to the people, Father Robert pulled Doom aside to discuss a potential evacuation of his flock. We ended up staying far longer than expected. As we prepared to depart, a lady called out to us. In her early nineties, she had diabetes, high blood pressure, and severe arthritis in pretty much every joint. At first, I thought she wanted me to give her more painkillers, but she had no interest in me. Doom held her complete attention.
She extended a shaky hand towards him. He took it with infinite care and crouched next to the small cot she was lying upon.
“Are you an angel?” she asked.
“I do not believe so,” Doom said with a soft voice.
“But you came from the sky to protect us from the demons attacking us, didn’t you?” she insisted.
“Yes. My brothers and I came from the stars to defend you,” Doom conceded.
“Then you are angels,” the old lady said, an air of peace settling on her wizened face. “I can rest now. I’m not afraid anymore. Thank you.”
My throat tightened as she leaned back against the cushion which served as a makeshift pillow and closed her eyes. Doom gently caressed the thinning silver hair on her head then leaned forward to softly kiss her forehead. A contented smiled played on the old woman’s lips as Doom straightened and placed her hand on her stomach.
He rose, everyone staring at him with the same hope shining in their eyes.
“Thank you,” Father Robert said as he escorted us upstairs. “You’ve saved us all.”
We certainly had. Even assuming the Kryptids hadn’t found them, they wouldn’t have survived more than a couple more days, starving and dehydrated as they were.
“It was our pleasure and our duty,” Doom replied. “It will be at least an hour before the shuttles arrive. Do not be afraid. Some of our allies will look more alien to you than my brothers and I do.”
“We won’t. Thank you again,” Father Robert said. “Be safe.”
I passed Stran, patiently waiting just outside the front doors, and headed for the van. Doom followed me.
“There aren’t enough supplies left here to keep traveling with this vehicle,” Doom said. “We can put the essentials in the hoverbike’s storage.”
Dubious at first, when Doom lifted the seat of the bike, I was stunned by the amount of storage available despite some items already stored within. When I expressed concerns about heat potentially ruining the medicine, he reassured me the container was temperature controlled.
Doom sat on the bike and looked at me over his shoulder, waiting for me to get on behind him. My throat dried up while my hands turned clammy. I licked my lips nervously and climbed on. I thought I’d died and gone to heaven when my palms settled on his insanely muscular abs. Pressing my chest against his strong back, I struggled not to rub my face against the soft, dark curls of his shoulder-length black hair.
“Hang tight, Little Red. I don’t want to lose you,” Doom said in an odd tone.
Call it wishful thinking, but I got the distinct impression that his words had a deeper meaning than mere concern I’d fall off the bike. I didn’t press the issue, not wanting to embarrass myself.
Doom took off at an impressive—but not alarming—speed. Holding on tight, nothing mattered but the feel of him against me. I’d never considered myself a superficial woman, but this magnificent alien had turned me into a puddle of goo. Even his battle form had ceased to scare me. He was as graceful as he was lethal in combat. Doom made me feel safe, just as he had that old lady in the church. The kind way he had handled her and the sweet and respectful way he interacted with me were ticking a lot of my boxes.
Why was I even thinking about him in romantic terms? It’s not like anything would ever happen between us.
The eerie silence in the city eventually cut through my haze of enjoyment from the feel of Doom’s body. Andy and I hadn’t gone outside too often, but we always ran into a few people when we did, even if it was just a car in the distance, or scavengers sneaking in and out of houses. The
unusually high number of house doors left wide open further increased my unease.
As if he’d sensed my discomfort, Doom placed a hand over mine resting on his stomach and gave it a gentle, reassuring squeeze. Too soon, he let go. Moments later, less than a quarter mile from our destination, a shimmering dome closed around us with a barely perceptible crinkling sound. I gasped, my arms instinctively tightening around Doom.
“It’s okay, Red,” Doom said in a reassuring voice. “I activated a cloaking shield so that no one can see us. I’m not picking up any Kryptids on my scanner, but something seems off.”
“Right,” I said, relieved to learn it wasn’t something that the Kryptids had been firing at us. “Can they hear us, though?”
“If we’re loud, yes. But the cloak dampens sounds as well. As long as we speak in hushed tones, they’ll be none the wiser.”
I had counted on the approaching nightfall to give us additional cover, but this technology was far better. As we closed the distance to the makeshift hospital, Doom cursed under his breath, setting my teeth on edge.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“My scanner isn’t picking up any humans in the building you indicated or anywhere in that vicinity,” Doom said, his voice tense.
My stomach dropped, refusing to believe the worst.
“Could your brothers have already picked them up?” I asked, hoping against hope. “We spent quite a bit of time in that church.”
“No,” Doom said, shaking his head. “They would have told me.”
We pulled up in front of the retirement home serving as our hospital. My stomach dropped at the sight of the front door gaping wide open. At first, I hadn’t noticed Stran, rolled up by the stairs, his dark scales having taken on the color of the concrete ramp for wheelchairs. But as soon as Doom stopped the hoverbike, Stran uncurled his body. Now, standing on all fours, his scales took back their natural dark shade, and he sniffed the air with his dragon snout. His lizard eyes locked with Doom’s, and some sort of communication passed between them. Stran shook his head as if to say no, then silently dashed into the building.
Doom looked at me and seemed to hesitate.
“You are not leaving me out here alone,” I said, guessing his dilemma.
I didn’t want to be in the thick of any battle, but no way in freaking hell would I hang out here to be snagged by some humanoid creepy crawler.
Doom pondered for a second then took back the shield bracelet he’d given me and reattached it to his armband. He detached another segment from it, which he placed around my wrist.
“This is my personal cloak. The hoverbike has one of its own,” he explained and showed me how to turn it on. “When we go in, stay hidden and at a safe distance from me. If things get ugly, you get on the hoverbike and go back to the church to be picked up with the others.”
“But …”
“No buts, Victoria,” Doom said in a stern voice. “I have allowed you to put yourself in too much danger as it is. Promise me, if things get bad, you’ll activate the cloak, get on the bike, and go north.”
I swallowed hard, refusing to imagine a situation where I’d have to abandon him. But I wouldn’t stand a chance against the Kryptids.
“Okay,” I said in a breathy voice. “I promise.”
“Good,” Doom said, his features softening. “I cannot lose you.”
This time, I no longer doubted his underlying meaning. His gaze bore into mine, and he gently caressed my cheek. My throat felt dry, and my heart skipped a beat. But before my brain could remember how to form speech, Doom tilted his head to the side, as if listening to something. I realized then that Stran was likely communicating what he’d found below.
Doom’s face hardened. “There are no Kryptids anymore, but they have turned your hospital into a Swamp. The larvae haven’t hatched yet. Do not worry,” he added quickly in response to my panicked expression. “We have twelve to twenty-four hours before they hatch. That’s plenty of time for us to destroy them. Stran is already on it. But before we go in, I want to show you how to operate the hoverbike.”
I didn’t really want to learn that right now, but I understood his motivation. Considering the number of patients in our makeshift hospital, it would take more than an hour to remove all the implants. Many bad things could happen in that time, including Kryptids showing up again. Silencing my impatience, I listened carefully to his instructions. I had some experience riding a motorcycle, but this one pretty much piloted itself.
“Press here to activate or deactivate the cloak. And this will send a distress signal. It acts as a beacon. So, if you find yourself stranded somewhere, turn it on and wait. It might take a while before they can send a shuttle to retrieve you, but they always will.”
“Okay,” I said, trying to silence my rising sense of dread.
At long last, we went inside. On our way in, Doom retrieved what looked like a watch battery from the pouch on his weapons belt. He placed it on the doorframe of the entrance. I presumed it to be an alarm system or motion detector in case someone snuck in while we were inside.
The empty ground floor showed no signs of battle. Skipping the elevator, we hit the stairs. Halfway down, a sickly-sweet scent greeted us, growing stronger as we neared the basement. A handful of metallic, cone-shaped devices produced steam, making the room damp and warm. My stomach churned at the sight of my patients, haphazardly laid out on the floor in the common room. A few patients had been dumped in the adjacent rooms once they ran out of space here. Scattered in their midst were nearly a hundred slimy, white balls, twice the size of an ostrich’s eggs. Some of them wiggled slightly, making me think of the movie Alien.
“Do not fear, Victoria,” Doom said in an appeasing tone. “They are still many hours from hatching. We need to move them to another room before I can destroy them. The amniotic fluids in the eggs can cause severe allergic reactions and rashes in certain species. My scales protect me from it, but it would wreck human skin. The bacteria that causes it dies within a couple of minutes of being exposed to oxygen.”
I nodded, swallowing past the lump in my throat. Stunned, I saw Stran come out of an examination room and carefully navigate his way around the bodies. With impressive dexterity, he scooped up three eggs with his long, flat tail, curving its edges to keep the eggs trapped, and then headed back to the examination room where he dumped them.
While Doom deactivated the alien humidifiers, I quickly checked on my patients. They were all conscious but completely paralyzed just as Andy had been. Terror and hope clashed in their eyes when our gazes met. I spoke reassuring words to all of them, trying not to give in to panic. If not for that first Kryptid forcing us off the road, Andy and I would have been here hours ago. I could be one of them right now, without Doom and Stran to save us. I was feeling overwhelmed, the events of the day finally catching up to me. I just wanted to curl up in a corner, hug my knees to my chest, and weep while rocking back and forth.
But now wasn’t the time to freak out.
Sucking it up, I pushed past my fears, and turned on a few reusable glowsticks we’d left to recharge by the windows in the morning. We’d been limiting our use of electricity to medical devices, ventilation, and cooking. Our generator had been running low on fuel, and the medevac team that had initially supported us with supplies had gone silent a couple of days ago.
Slipping on a pair of surgical gloves, I went to work helping Doom and Stran move the heavy eggs to the other room. By the time we were done, night had fully fallen. My companions closed the door to the examination room before destroying the eggs. Despite that, the squishing sound could still be heard. Combined with the stench of rotten eggs, my gag reflex kicked into overdrive. Considering I’d last eaten that morning, I had nothing to regurgitate. That didn’t stop my stomach from painfully convulsing, making it difficult for me to focus on removing the Mexlar implants from my patients.
Helpful as always, Doom moved those in the worst states back to their rooms. The others we mad
e as comfortable as possible right where they were. It would help expedite the process and would make it easier for me to look after all of them, now that I was alone. Our nurse, Laeticia, and our surgeon, Johann, both very much of childbearing age, weren’t among the paralyzed. I wanted to believe they had somehow managed to escape, but my gut told me they were currently in a pretty horrible place.
Exhausted and starving, I went into the kitchen and whipped myself up a less than fabulous meal from canned food. Doom declined any, as did Stran. Thankfully, my patients didn’t need sustenance, as the Mexlar implants would have provided them with all the nutrients they’d require for the next twenty-four hours.
To my utter dismay, Doom decided to go scout the neighborhood. It made sense, but the last thing I wanted was to be alone in this mausoleum. Even though the larvae had all been eradicated, my mind kept picturing some missed eggs hatching and the nightmarish creatures chasing me down and devouring me.
“Do not be afraid. Stran will stay with you,” Doom said.
A huge wave of relief washed over me, quickly followed by guilt that I would deprive him of his companion.
“Promise me you’ll be careful,” I said, hating how clingy it made me sound.
But instead of annoying him, that seemed to please Doom. He cupped my face in his hands with infinite care, as if he feared to break me or that I might rebel.
“I will come back to you, my Red. I will always come back to you. Rest now. You’ve had a difficult day. Better days await. I promise.”
For a second, I thought—hoped—he was going to kiss me, but he merely caressed both of my cheeks with his calloused thumbs then released me.
“I will wait up for you,” I said as he turned to walk away.
Doom stopped and looked at me over his shoulder with that smile that made me weak in the knees. “I’ll try not to be too long.”
I returned his smile, though mine was shaky. It was absurd how bereft I felt, watching him walk away. Yet, beyond my own need for protection, something about Doom had connected with me on a level I couldn’t explain. If anything happened to him, I’d be devastated. Throat tight, I couldn’t even enjoy the eye candy as he stripped out of his clothes and put his weapon attachments back on.
