Beauty and the Beaast

Amber: Friends

“Julie!” Amber squealed as soon as her friend walked through the door. Well, more like was roughly shoved through the door before it clicked shut behind her. But who cared? She was here!

Julie ran to the bed and threw her arms around her neck. She returned the hug tightly before her friend abruptly pulled away and ran her fingers through her choppy hair that was badly in need of a trim. Julie had never been one for public displays of affection. “You look horrible, hon,” she commented, her southern accent taking the sting out of the words.

“Gee, thanks! You’d look like a pop star, too, if you got knocked out cold for a few days.”

“You know it.” The smile Julie gave her was contagious.

“What are you doing here? No, wait, first: where have you been? What’s going on out there?”

Smile fading, her friend asked, “Etaan hasn’t told you?”

“’Etaan’?”

“You know, the alien.”

“So that’s his name. Etaan….” She savored the name on her tongue. It felt strange, but not unpleasant. “No, he hasn’t told me anything.”

A puzzled expression pinched Julie’s face. “Nothing? What have you two been talking about, then?”

“’Talk’?! To him? I couldn’t possibly. He’s my warden!”

“Believe me, Amber, he’s friendly compared to most of the others.” Her friend’s voice shrank to a whisper as she studied the chipped red polish on her nails.

Amber had difficulty speaking past the tightness in her throat. “What happened?”

Swallowing, Julie said, “It’s not just what they’ve done. It’s what they’re doing. Everyone’s scared out of their minds.”

She could understand that. “Please, just tell me. I can handle it.” Although, if she were being honest with herself, she probably couldn’t.

Julie’s dark eyes turned toward the barred windows. “At first it was absolute chaos. Women were picking up guns, baseball bats- anything they could get their hands on. Some of the military women scrambled fighters, drones, tanks…. But it was no use. The ship struck down anything larger than a car with some sort of laser thing and that armor they wear makes them nearly impervious to everything. One of the women on my block managed to get off a lucky shot when an alien had his helmet off. There was barely anything left of his face. But all the other soldiers did was laugh.”

“Death amuses them?” She couldn’t imagine the green-eyed alien- Etaan- laughing at something like that. It just didn’t… fit.

“I don’t know.”

“And now? What’s happening now? Are some still fighting?”

“Not that I know of. It seems rather pointless now. I mean, we’re all going to die. It’s just a matter of time now that all the men are….”

She swallowed down a lump in her throat before finishing Julie’s thought. “Dead. I know, Julie. I figured it out.”

Eyes turning misty and red, Julie nodded. For a long time she didn’t say anything more. A loud howl from the corridor made them both jump.

“Oh, I almost forgot!” Julie exclaimed, running to the door. “There’s someone else who would like to see you.”

As soon as the door cracked open, a streak of yellow barreled through it. “Darcy!” she exclaimed. He raced up and hurtled himself onto the bed, his excitement so great he covered her face in wet kisses and  tore off her heart monitor, which let out a loud beep. Julie wrestled past him and reattached it to her chest before one of the nurses thought she’d flat lined.