Alone

Chapter 5

My heart lurches inside my chest. The capsule closest to me holds a man a lot taller than I am. He has gray hair and bags under his eyes like I do when I don’t get enough sleep. His clothes are dirty and ripped.

         In the capsule next to his is a woman. She is older than me, but younger than the man. Her hair is blonde but has too many streaks of gray in it for her age.

         They both look at me with wide eyes, though they’re worn as well. Actually, every single eye in this whole gigantic room is on me. This is the oddest sensation: I’ve never felt human eyes on me before.

         The aliens behind me shove me forward to another elevator. I stare at nothing, not seeing the walls of the small box that takes me up to an even higher floor.

         The elevator blinks that we’re on the 76th floor. When the door opens, I see more rows of people in their narrow, glass, see-through capsules. A shiver runs through me as I realize that all the 75 floors below me have the same view.

         A new alien is here to greet me. I’m surprised when it says, in English, “Follow me, girl.” It forms its words funny – like English goes against its entire nature. The sounds seem pinched together, like it can’t open its mouth wide enough to make the words out right. I’m not sure if I should feel offended by this new name it’s given me – Girl – but since I don’t have a name, I guess it’ll have to do.

         As I walk, guided by this new alien, down the room, I see that this one isn’t as full. There are the same amount of capsules, but some are empty.

         My shoes make echoing noises around the metal room that goes as far as the eye can see. I wonder why all the people – if they’re like me – are staying so quiet.

         With a sharp pain in my chest, I see that not only are there big people that look a lot older than me, but there are kids too. Kids younger than I am. One boy stares at me, his eyes wide but red with tears. An even smaller girl takes up less than half of the height of her capsule next to him.

         I am taken to an empty capsule next to one with a person in it. I don’t want to go in. I resist when the capsule opens and the alien that speaks bad English tries to push me in. I even take a swing at it. My fist, angry and strong, hits it in the side of its gray, slimy face. Its eyes narrow, signifying anger and I think I’ve stepped out of line. With a sudden motion, my notebooks are snatched out of my hand and the alien now holds them. I’m then shoved into the glass capsule before I can do anything and it slides into place. I stand quickly, throwing myself at the glass while the English-speaking alien grins on the outside, showing me all its sharp, grotesque alien teeth. I can’t hear it, but I can see it laughing. “You want me to break your jaw?” I threaten, yelling as loud as I can before it occurs to me that these aliens might not have jaws.

         But it doesn’t seem to hear me. It simply just laughs more. I feel my face turning red and I punch the glass where its face it. The glass just absorbs my blast of anger as I continue to seethe.

         When the alien walks away, all I can do is stand there, glowing after it as it leaves. My fists clench so hard my fingernails leave marks in my palms that don’t fade away for a minute or so.

         I can’t believe it. If, just a day ago, I had been told that aliens would come and invade my planet to take me prisoner and lock me in a small glass tube, I would have never believed it. Even now that it’s happened, it’s hard to believe.

         How do I get out of here? Those freaks must be pumping air in here somehow – through a tube? If it’s big enough, could I crawl through it?