Times Square.
The crunching of someone else’s boots amongst the decaying leaves caught my attention and I jerked my head up. Nervously, I licked my lips. I could delay no longer.
It was time to get moving.
I took a deep breath as I began walking toward the sound, knowing I was either walking to my glory or my doom. With every step, I tried to will some semblance of bravery from deep inside me, but I couldn’t. My mind raced through the various weapons I’d hidden inside my leather jacket, wondering which one would be the best choice.
I didn’t know which of them would kill the alien commander.
He could be weak to fire. Maybe a shot right between the eyes would kill him. Maybe he was weak to something else, like a knife wound or a laser gun.
I didn’t have a laser gun.
A terrified whine billowed in the depths of my throat. I swallowed hard and kept walking, keeping as quiet as I could. Cautiously, I reached into my pocket and pulled out my knife, tucking it into my sleeve so that I would have easy access should I need it. My gun was in my jacket pocket. It was fully loaded.
I lifted my chin and strode into the center of the square. I didn’t look around me, but I knew that my fellow humans were probably somewhere nearby. They wouldn’t be close enough so that the alien heat sensors would pick them up. I had a flaregun stuffed in the back of my jeans that would signal to them wherever they were and then they would arrive.
I was to fire it when I killed the alien conqueror. The humans would come running and finish the job if need be. Hopefully.
The real battle would begin after that.
Someone approached me from behind and I did everything I could to calm the frantic beating of my heart. I slipped one hand into my jacket and fingered the holster of my gun.
I’d cleaned and oiled it this morning, ensuring that it was fully loaded. I flicked the safety off.
“When they told me that they were going to send a human to negotiate with me, I expected them to send their general, not a woman. Especially one as tiny as yourself,” a rumbling voice spoke behind me. I swallowed a frightened squeak.
It was no use going into this afraid. If I wanted to survive today, I was going to have to depend on my courage. I closed my eyes for the briefest of seconds and took a deep breath, before opening them and turning around to face the beast that had come for me.
Holy fuckingshitballs.
He was so much bigger than I imagined. I was a measly five feet tall, and he towered over me by a good two feet, enough so that I had to lift my head to look him in the eyes. His pupils were a bit dilated compared to a normal human and his irises were an unnatural dark purple. It would have been a pretty color if he wasn’t so terrifying. He could probably reach out and snap me like a twig.
Also, he wasn’t wearing a shirt. Why wasn’t he wearing a shirt?
His chest was rock hard, every inch of him perfectly chiseled and firm. His body was mostly human, but there were distinctive scaled stripes across his skin that reminded me of a tiger and a boa constrictor all in one. He was smooth, his skin like marble without even the slightest hint of hair. Every muscle was enormous. He was probably strong enough to lift me right off the ground and toss me all the way across the square. He cracked his knuckles, revealing long dark gray nails that seemed more animal than human. They were more like talons than anything else.
My gaze dipped lower, taking in the black pants that hung low on his hips. His boots were black too, military grade, probably steel-toed.
He cleared his throat, and my gaze tore back up to his face.
Despite all his alien features, he was still partially human, enough to give me pause. Honestly, I hadn’t expected that. He was the first one I’d been this close to. His basic structure was like mine. He had one head, two eyes, one nose, one mouth, two ears. He even had ten fingers, and I assumed ten toes, but I couldn’t be sure.
It was an unsettling combination.
He appraised me with those cool violet eyes, cocking his head as he watched me study him like I was the curious creature between us and not him. His gaze was inquisitive. I’d expected him to want to reach out and break my neck at the first opportunity, but he did none of those things. Instead, he just patiently waited for me.
Why?
His skin was a dark blood-red color. I could see the slightest hint of shadowy veins pumping beneath his skin. What color was his blood? Would he be warm or cool to the touch?
Honestly, I didn’t know. He was probably some kind of super soldier hybrid the likes of which we’d never seen before. Maybe the aliens had made him themselves and I didn’t stand a chance whatsoever.
Evolution was a funny thing, especially when you could jump it into overdrive under the guise of scientific research.
It resulted in aliens like him.
Back in the 2200s, aliens had first contacted Earth. There was no invasion, just political talks aimed at keeping the people of Earth safe. Many of the discussions had been academic and some had been medically related. The visiting aliens had shared some of their advanced medical techniques and it had been good for a very long time. They had the cure to cancer. They could stop AIDS in its tracks. They shared technologies to quicken healing. We made leaps and bounds in advancements for years. The United States had been at the forefront of it all because they’d been the loudest and the pushiest.
