Gamma Stellaris

Chapter 24

        Leanne panted for breath. She had never felt panic crash down around her before and now that it was, it was suffocating. She didn't know why she had ever wanted this! It was awful!

        She slowly lied down.

         A migraine was pounding at her skull and her palms were extremely slick.

        It was her fault. It was all her fault! Maybe if she would've helped Jared, he wouldn't have gotten captured, and then the rest of them never would've been either.

         The pain in her chest worsened.

        "Hey, are you okay?" Brian asked softly.

        She didn't answer. Even though he wasn't trying to let on, Leanne could tell that Brian was still furious at her for leaving Jared behind like that. And quite honestly, she hated herself for doing it.

        The cell door was flung open, and an unconscious Stefanie was chucked in.

         Leanne let out a small cry as she rushed over to her. "What did you do to her?!"

         Xkmotg ignored her as she grabbed Brian by the shirt collar and ragged him out.

         "Let go of him! Do whatever you want to me but leave my friends alone, please!"

         Xkmotg chuckled. "Spoken like a true hero. But don't be so anxious, you'll get your turn."

         "Please leave him alone!"

         "They're already gone." Hruyyus said softly.

         Jared slowly sighed, staring down at the floor. "Boy, does this suck."

         "You can say that again."

          Hruyyus set her head on Jared's shoulder and Leanne raised her eyebrows in confusion but didn't make a move to question it. Instead, she turned her attention back to Stefanie. She was extremely pale and there was a large puncture wound in her arm.

        "Guys. I think they drew Stefanie's blood." Leanne said softly. "And from her complexion, I'd say they took a lot."

         Jared frowned. "Why would they want her blood."

        "I don't know... I mean, she got that virus thing earlier but it's not like they could just inject it into her, right?"

        Hruyyus sighed. "They don't want to give it back to her. They want to study her blood and how her cells reacted to the virus so they can tweak it and perfect it. So that next time, the human body won't be able to fight it off."

         Leanne paled, the statement making her feel nauseous.

         Brian let out a scream from the other room.

        Jared and Leanne both winced. Hruyyus had a blank look on her face as her eyes went glassy, and Jared quickly started whispering something to her.

        Leanne started pacing her cell.

        She hated this entire situation. She hated that her friends were getting hurt while she was stuck listening. She hated that part of this was her fault for being a wimp. She hated that she had wanted to feel afraid, even though that's what led to her friends being hurt.

        The door flung open and Leanne launched toward the bars in relief. "What are you doing here?!"
        Lonnie quickly shushed her, pulling out a lock pick.

        "I knew it'd only be a matter of time until you came crawling." Xkmotg said with a smirk, dragging a sweaty and bruised Brian behind her.

        "Let the children go and give me back Charity!" He hissed.

        "You can have what's left of her."

         "No, no you didn't!"

        "I can take you to the morgue if you'd like."

        "No, tell me you're lying!"

        "I would, but I don't like to lie to people if I can help it."

        He let out a furious scream as he charged her, but one of her tentacles attached to his forehead and he crumbled to the floor.

        For the first time in her life, Leanne felt truly hopeless. What was going to help them? They were all locked in cells like animals. Charity and Kassidy were dead.

        Leanne's hands slowly slid down the bars as she sank to the floor.

        Xkmotg smirked as she studied Leanne. "That's the look I always like to see."

        But she sounded miles away, as if her voice were being filtered through cotton balls.

        One of her tentacles slid through the bars and tilted Leanne's chin up. She didn't even attempt to pull away. All that would do was make the situation worse, and that would only lead to more people getting hurt because of her stupidity.

        Everything around her looked like it was being seen through camera film exposed to light too early.

        They were going to spend the rest of their lives on that ship until Xkmotg got bored of them and executed tehm.

       No college. No career. No life.

         They would all end up just like Kassidy and Charity, if not having a worse fate picked out.

        Everything she had ever wanted was just going to drift into an endless galaxy of nothing.