The Monster They Call Human

The Aliens

It had been three days. Three days since his old, quiet, peaceful life had been wrenched away from him. Three days. Jek stumbled through the thick undergrowth of the forest, thorns, branches, and stones tearing at his flesh. The bullet was still lodged in the back of his leg, which had now succumbed to infection. It burned with a hot sort of pain and slowed him down, causing him to limp. Three days. Three days since They had come. The Aliens.

They had come in their great starships and attempted to colonize the land, only to find it already inhabited by sentient life. But it wasn't enough for them to share this world. No, driven by greed and selfishness, they began to hunt down and kill the former inhabitants. All of them. Men, women, and children. They were a cold, heartless, unfeeling race that felt no remorse even at the slaughtering of mere infants. They were the scum of the galaxy, despicable vile creatures who culled any that were different. Any that weren't like them. Feared throughout the outer rim of galaxies, they were like a black plague. A force of nature that left nothing but destruction in its wake. Nothing but pain.

Just three days ago, They had slaughtered Jek's family. Without warning, they had broken down the solid wood door of his house, shattering it into a million toothpick-sized splinters. Then they opened fire. Hundreds of shots ripped through the air, hitting wood, glass, and flesh. The screams of his wife and children cut through the air as they were mown down by the guns of the hideous creatures and Jek felt as if he had descended into hell. They killed mercilessly (that is their way) and he barely escaped, fleeing into the forest, the pain in his leg, from where they had managed to land a single shot, blinding him, leaving dark spots in his vision. But it was nothing compared to the pain of his broken heart. His soul cried out in anguish.

Out of breath, Jek stopped to sit against a large grey boulder. He looked down-- his shirt was stained red and soaked with blood. But it wasn't his own. It was his youngest child's, his son's. He had died in Jek's arms. Jek had watched as the life drained from his large blue eyes, as the crimson blood seeped from his wounds. He was too young to die, barely five years old. Jek wished that They had killed him along with his family, that the bullet that now rested in his leg had pierced his heart, at least then they would be together. But They were too cruel for that.

A bush rustled not five feet to his right, a twig snapped to his left and Jek knew that They had caught him. His time was up. Jumping to his feet, his heel throbbing in pain, Jek broke into a run. He barely took a step before a single gunshot shattered the early morning silence of the forest. The bullet struck him in the shoulder, shattering the collarbone. The overwhelming pain and the impact of the bullet threw Jek to the forest floor. Unable to move, he watched as three Aliens emerged from behind the trees. They repulsed him. They were as bald as a newly hatched chyluqe: not a single hair to be found on their bodies, aside from their head. They had strange lumps of skin that hung off their faces, just above the mouth, and they had no tail. But the most freakish thing about these creatures was that they had more than one leg. How could one keep track of two individual legs? Jek had a hard enough time keeping track of one! The larger Alien raised a metal tube and green gas billowed out from the end, engulfing Jek. He was finding it hard to breath now and as his heart rate slowed to a dull thump, Jek felt himself slipping away. He caught the gaze of the second Alien and they stared into each other's eyes. His purple eyes and the Alien's steel grey ones. It's been said that the eyes are the gateway to the soul but Jek stared deep into the Alien's eyes only to find his soul as hard and cold as a rock. So this is the monster, Jek thought, the monster they call human.