Chapter 1

Yanna

In general, I didn't like a lot of things. And a lot of things didn't like me. Especially dairy. But mostly the disdain came from people, and I couldn't blame them. I wasn't necessarily what anyone would call likable. I wasn't charming. My humor was a little odd. My social skills sucked, but it wasn't like I tried. I had perpetual resting bitch face, and I loved it. My scowl kept people at bay. I worked the overnight cleaning shift at a large business warehouse in rural New York and freaking loved it. I could listen to my true crime podcasts with my noise cancelling headphones while vacuuming. Truly, it was the best job for me, even if my mother kept trying to push me into joining her multi-level-marketing company selling makeup. Talking to strangers? Shudder. No, thank you.

But this planet? This planet wasn't full of humans who avoided direct eye contact. This planet was full of scary fuckers who wished me nothing but harm. I'd already seen enough in my short time on this planet to last ten lifetimes of therapy.

My head was groggy, and my tongue felt dry and thick in my mouth. I knew I needed water, but no idea when I'd be given any. And I smelled, god I smelled. So did every other human female shoved into this moving square box. Our hands were tied to a bar on the wall behind us, and our ankles were hobbled. Every single one of us was silent, because we'd seen what happened to those who talked or made noise. We'd seen it more times than I could count. And one of the armored aliens with his evil laser gun sat at the front of the container, body rocking from side to side, his beady eyes watching our every move. He was covered in plated armor almost like an armadillo, and he had three fingers on each hand. While his legs were short and stubby, his torso was long, and his face was pointed into a cone-like snout.

Even if we could talk, I wasn't sure what we'd say. We were all shell-shocked, hungry, and heartsick. Light flickered through small ventilation holes in the top of the container. Through the slits, I could make out a pink sky and the occasional colored foliage. The light flashed on the face of the woman across from me. Tears shone on her face, but her lips were pursed and still. She cried silently, a skill those of us who were still alive had to learn fast. Anything that made us stand out was enough to render us disposable. I saw one of the armored guards kill a woman for having blue colored hair. Another for a neck tattoo. And yet another who had walked with a limp. I should have smiled at the woman, tried to reassure her, but I was all out of energy.

For not the first time, I closed my eyes and thought about Kini. When I'd first arrived on this planet, I'd been in a floating cage in a weird domed city. All around me had been similar cages all full of human women. In the cage next to mine had been a woman named Kini. She'd woken up in a panic, and I had calmed her, as I'd been awake first. Here on this strange planet, I'd wanted a friend. I'd thought we'd be okay if we were together. But then something had happened to her. When we'd left the city, I hadn't seen her or her cage. I didn't know where she was, or if she was even alive, but I'd seen what happened to some of the women. The chances Kini still breathed were slim, and I'd mourned her with silent tears.

So no more friends. No companions. I wouldn't learn anyone else's name. I wouldn't make eye contact. I couldn't handle mourning another. When the woman across from me met my gaze, I looked away. My heart panged, but I knew it was the right decision. We couldn't do a thing for each other.

After we'd left the domed city, they'd placed us each in small individual pods that encased us in a clear glass. Then I'd smelled something sickly sweet before my eyes closed. I'd woken up in this container, chained to the wall, with my hair another inch longer. How long had I been asleep? I wore a plain beige shirt and loose pants. No shoes. My feet were filthy, and my one toe was bleeding from who knew what.

I dozed off here and there as we traveled along. I couldn't be sure if our container was on wheels or floated with some space magic like our cages had. My stomach cramped, as it had since I had woken up on this container. I assumed I was hungry until I glanced down to find a stain at the crotch of my pants. In the darkness, I couldn't be sure what it was. Had I wet myself? But then a shaft of light passed over me, and the stain's color appeared—a deep, dark red.

I gasped out loud, and every woman flinched. The armored guard's head turned toward me, and I couldn't see the eyes through the shadow of his prominent forehead. I tried to control my breathing as I tucked my face into the crook of my elbow.

I squeezed my eyes shut. I had to stay calm. At first, my mind went to a dark place. Had something happened to me when I'd been drugged and unconscious? But none of the other women were bleeding, and I couldn't imagine I would have been singled out. And the cramping felt familiar with the pain starting in my stomach and wrapping around my lower back. The last time I had my period was right before my last time on Earth. So it was plausible my body was overdue.

But honestly, what the fuck? I thought menstruation was supposed to be affected by stress. And hello, I'd never been more stressed in my entire life. But my uterus apparently didn't care that we were prisoners on another planet. She was going to shed her lining right on time. What a bitch.

Footsteps echoed in the container. I opened my eyes to find the armored guard stepping toward me. He was bipedal with massive round boots that clunked like metal on the floor of the container. And of course, the sun shone bright into the vents of the container now. Wherever we were, there was no foliage cover. Nothing to hide the red stain on my pants. The blood. I could tell the moment the armored guard noticed, because his body tensed, and he shouted as he banged a fist on the side of the container over my head. I hunched over into myself as if to hide the evidence of my menstruation, but it was too late. He saw it. They'd killed a woman for missing a finger. What would they do to me if I was bleeding?

The container halted abruptly. He reached down and unclipped my hands from the railing. Panic flared inside me like fireworks. "Wait," I cried, even though I knew the alien couldn't understand me. "It's okay. It'll stop in five to seven days. I'm okay."

But my words were mostly gibberish to own ears. My voice was high-pitched and cracking. Oh fuck, this was it. I was going to go out thanks to fucking Aunt Flo. "We're all going to bleed!" I cried. "It's what humans do!"

But he wasn't listening to me, and the other women couldn't say a damn thing. They watched with silent pity as I was dragged to the back of the container. The back hatch opened, and the guard tossed me out of the container like I was nothing but a bag of trash. I had a moment to appreciate being airborne before I hit the ground hard on my hip. I cried out with a curse. My hands were still shackled together, as well as my ankles, but I still tried to get to my feet in an attempt to run.

A thud sounded behind, and I turned to find the armored alien had jumped from the container to land a foot from me. He reached out with a three-fingered hand and snatched the back of my shirt. He shouted something to the front of the container, and another two armored aliens leaned out of windows on either side like the front cab of a truck.

I took a moment to glance around. We were on some sort of dirt road, and the container did, in fact, float. Behind us was a dense crop of trees, which had been responsible for the flickering sunlight. Now, on either side of the road, were grasses as tall as my head. They swayed but not with a breeze. More like… undulating antennae. I shuddered as the guard hauled me toward the edge of the road. I inhaled deeply as I stumbled forward on hobbled ankles. The air was fresh. The sun was warm. And even though I knew I was being marched to my death I took a moment to turn my face toward the sun. Even though I wasn't religious, I sent up a small prayer for Kini. For the women in the truck. For my family back home.

The alien shoved me, and I didn't have time to get my bound hands underneath me. I hit the ground hard right on my face and spit out mouthful of dirt. "That wasn't nice," I muttered as I rolled onto my back.

The armored alien stood over me, a gun-like object in his hand pointed at my head. He hesitated, and I sneered at him. "Just do it."

The gun fired up in a soft whine, and one of his fingers tightened on the trigger. I felt a soft vibration under my butt. I didn't bother closing my eyes. He was going to watch the life drain from me.

Suddenly, something shot out of the ground from beside my ankle. It slammed into the alien's groin—right between two plates. He roared as his body jerked. The gun fired, and a laser beam sliced through the tall grass over my head. The alien reached down and tore the snake-like animal from his groin as he stumbled back into the road. He ripped out a blade from his belt and sliced the head off the snake. Yellow goo sprayed and the ground, and I gagged as the limp body of the snake fell to the ground.

The alien stumbled again, reached out a hand toward me as his mouth gaped, and then he collapsed in a cloud of dust.

For a moment, nothing happened. No more snakes. No sound from the idling container full of women.

The guard's body was still. Had I just been saved by an alien snake? I slid back, intending to hide in the grass when I remembered I was bound and hobbled. If I was going to get away, I wouldn't get far like this. I glanced at the container, but the driving aliens hadn't figured out yet that their partner was down.

I army-crawled toward the alien on my stomach and poked at his boot. He didn't move. Not even a flinch. His big plated chest remained frozen. Unmoving. I crept closer to the device on his belt that controlled our bonds. I unclipped it and tried to remember how he had used it before. After some fumbling, I pressed a button and a red light glowed from a small bulb. I shone it at a small hole in the shackles on my wrists, and the heavy metal snapped open before clanking to the ground. I let out a strangled cry of victory before shining the light at my ankle bonds. When they, too, dropped free, I froze for a second with indecision. What do I do now? I glanced at the truck and through a small crack in the container, I could see one human eye staring at me. Indecision froze my limbs. I could likely unlock the container, but then what? I wouldn't have time to free all the women before the other guards noticed.

A shout came from the front of the container in what sounded like an inquiry, and the eye immediately ducked out of view.

Shit, I couldn't waste any more time. I had to get away. If I tried to save all the women, I'd only doom us all. I dug in the guard's pockets for anything I could find that might be useful and shoved them in the shallow pockets of my pants. Just as a door opened at the front of the container, I turned on my heels and ran on a low crouch into the tall grasses.

The grasses towered over my head, and they made a small humming sound as I sped through them. The ground under my feet was a soft moss, but I was terrified any minute that one of those snake things was going to rear up out of its hidey-hole and strike me dead.

The shouts grew louder behind me. They had found their dead comrade. My empty shackles. Hopefully they would just chalk me up as dead weight. Why bother chasing me when they had a whole container of women? But the grasses began to hum louder, and I realized with horror that the aliens were chasing me. Footsteps pounded the dirt behind me as their heavy bodies fumbled through the grasses. I glanced back to see their heads peering over the tall grass searching for me.

With my head down, I ran harder. I thought about woman who had watched me from the back of the container. The rest of the women I'd left behind. But I wouldn't have been able to free them all. And how would all of us be able to get away undetected? There was no way. I wished I could help them, but I didn't suspect this planet, or this galaxy, would provide anything in the way of allies. At least if I died now, I died on the run. Like Billy the Kid. Not shackled and shot in the head for having my period.

Actually, there was a bright side—at least I hadn't been impregnated with some alien baby while they'd gassed me for the last month. As soon as I could, I would celebrate that small victory with my empty womb.

The grass seemed to go on forever. I felt like I'd run a mile. And the footsteps behind me had gradually faded. I could have sworn I heard the rumble of the container starting up again. Had they given up on me? I could only hope.

My legs began to ache, and I slowed to a stop, lungs burning, as I doubled over with my hands on my knees. I panted as I sought to catch my breath. Digging in my pockets, I drew out what I'd stolen from my captor. A food bar that I knew from experience tasted like nothing, and a small switchblade that would come in handy. I shoved the meal bar in my mouth and forced myself to swallow. I could have killed for water.

Glancing around, I couldn't see much but a pink sky and tall grass. A bit of claustrophobia began to set in. When would this grass end? How long would it be stuck here?

As if the grass knew what I was thinking, a few fronds bent over and gently pushed at my back. "Hey," I muttered as I turned to glare at the grass. "What was that?"

The grass did it again, steering me forward and slightly to the left. I went, mostly because when I tried to change direction, the grass firmed up like a brick wall and prevented me from going any other way but the path it wanted. I stumbled along warily. The grass could be leading me to some sort of grass master monster who would gobble me up, or the grass had some other idea. I just hoped it meant good things for me. Just in case, I petted a few fronds. "Good grass," I murmured. "You're very beautiful."

The grass shimmied under my touch like a preening dog.

Eventually, sounds began to filter through the air over the rustling of the grasses. Voices. Footsteps. Doors opening and closing. And just when I thought I was imagining things, the grass spit me out onto a back-alley street. I nearly smacked into the outside wall of a small hut. I put my hands out to catch myself and crept toward the corner of the building. I peered down the side alley to see I'd arrived at a bustling village. The residents were aliens of about my height, and they wore long skirts that dragged through the stone streets. Their skin was a light pink color, and their faces bore big round eyes. They walked in family unit clusters, with little miniature versions skipping about. I could blend in here, maybe, if I found some new clothes.

I crept down the back alley until I came to a house with an open window. On the sill were long strips of fabric. Clothes drying in the pink sun. I snatched them off the sill and tugged them over my soiled clothes. With my legs covered, and the fabric wrapped around my head so only my eyes could be seen, I considered myself as disguised as I was going to get. If I could just blend in here for a little bit to get some food and rest, I'd then move on to… well, I wasn't sure where.

With my head down, I headed toward the main village street and melted into the crowd. So much was going on that no one noticed a human in their midst. The pink aliens were buying goods from shop owners, eating skewers of fragrant meat and eating steaming sweets buns. My mouth watered. I managed to sneak a cup of drink from a neglected table and gulped it down. The water tasted a little off, and I hoped like hell it wasn't poisoned, but I was desperate. I felt moderately sated, but my stomach still rumbled with hunger. That meal bar had barely scratched the surface of what I needed to feel full.

And fuck, I was tired. I'd likely slept for a month, but I was exhausted. Like a hangover. My head pounded, my stomach was still cramping, and all I wanted was a safe bed.

Even on an alien planet, I had qualms about stealing. I might not be a likable person, but I wasn't a thief. But I'd already stolen clothes and something to drink. I was going to have to steal food before I perished in this alien city.

Because of my height, I blended in with the crowd. I got a few curious looks, but most of the residents were too busy to care about my presence. Which made it relatively easy to sidle up to a table of meat sticks, snatch one, and make a quick exit. I crept down an alley, peeking behind me to make sure no one followed, and pulled down the fabric covering my mouth just enough to bite off a hunk of meat.

The texture was odd, sort of like tofu, and the flavor was sweeter than I expected, but yet it was the tastiest thing I'd ever put in my mouth. I inhaled the meat and tossed the stick to the side. Add littering to my list of offenses on this planet. A door opened to a building in the alley, and I jerked to the side as a stream of aliens emerged. One bumped into me and sneered as if I personally offended them before continuing down the alley and onto the main street. My shoulder throbbed where the alien had slammed into me, and I rubbed it with a frown. I gave the finger to the alien's back, which made me semi-happy.

My steps were sluggish and slow as I retreated further into the shadowed alley. The door which the aliens had emerged was still slightly ajar. I crooked a finger inside and pulled it open further. I was met with silence. Maybe I could hide in here and get some sleep just for a little bit? I couldn't do much like this. My reaction times were slow. I needed rest or I'd only get myself killed faster.

I snuck inside the building to find a large dark room. No lights. No aliens. Nothing but dark shadows and plenty of nooks and crannies for me to hide. I staggered to the darkest corner, flopped down on the floor and curled up in the fetal position. I'd think about my future and survival once I had some rest. With a belly full of mystery meat, I closed my eyes and was asleep in seconds.