Eve of Terra

Part 1

A heavy pounding was the first thing I registered before I gasped for air. It was like 2299 all over again, coming back to life after water forced into my lungs, drowning from my training at the centre.

Confusion filled me in the darkness. The hard surface under my weight and the cramped air made it hard to breathe. A second longer, yes, I asked for a second longer of rest. But the shiver didn't permit me. It was cold—so cold.

Where am I? With the question, I tried to distinct my surrounding. Lack of light and energy made my answer came uneasy. When I rolled to my side, something sharp grazed my shoulder, jolting me back. That was when I realised not a strand was covering me. I was bare, naked as a jaybird.

When I caught a glimpse of flicker in the distance, I pulled myself up. It was an aircraft. The lights gave away its spiral design. Wobbling, I waved as it got near. "Hey! Over here!" I shouted, thinking I'd strayed to the place by mistake and they'd come to rescue me.

My expectation was far than marooned when the flying contraption started firing, barely missing a few inches by luck. My feet began sprinting on its own accord from newfound energy fueled by adrenaline. I didn't see where I was going, nor did I care. I had one thing in mind; to live.

At a slope, I dived—my will to survive signed ignorance to the stinging cuts while squeezing between waste. The aircraft continued to hover above. Its spotlight searched the ocean of what I'd identify as a dumping site. Scrap metal was piling as far as the eye could see. How'd I ended up here?

Time went by —minutes or hours was not anything I was able to determine correctly— before the sky finally turned still. I got out, walking aimlessly for a way out of the labyrinth of scraps. Fear and the overwhelming question never left my side but waiting to die was not an option.

The sole of my feet was numb by the time I reached a post. I had only my mind to fight the perishing cold. A group was sitting by a firepit, rising my alarm. Tentacles, tails, snorts, and more inhuman features submitted into my sight. An argument between dream or reality could have distracted me if pain didn't validate the later.

On my attempt to reverse, a metal clanked under my footing. Like a beacon, all four creatures spun to me-the horror of what I had once watched as a preditor movie was happening. Worse than hopelessly unarmored was being at my state; oblivious.

"Senthtrilloskpeth! " One of them shouted.

Whatever that alien meant wasn't anything good because it was shooting at me. I managed to hide behind a metal piece and waited for the right moment to attack. The darkness was impairing my odds of escaping, and the only source of light was its glowing suit. There was no other choice than to fight. As its back slightly facing me, I pounced. We were locked on a struggle, me strangling its slender neck and it pushing to get up. When my body toppled, it reached down to me. By luck, my hand found a chunk of metal and slashed it over its neck. A gurgle penetrated the eerie peace as blue liquid began gushing out between the cut. I didn't waste the chance and snatched its weapon, only managing to steady the strange-looking gun before my feet commenced running again for cover. Fire was raining everywhere, and I was silently cursing danger and thanking my agility in speed.

Reaching a near roadside, the dimmed streetlight was calling to me. I snuck at the side of a bridge before the open. Fingers ready on the trigger, I aimed at the coming enemy. They were not intelligent by the looks of it, knocking each other on their search. I was about to shoot when they suddenly dropped dead to the ground in perfect alignment.

What just happened? As quick as the question arose, my answer showed. A silhouette came into my line of sight. He was kneeling over my pursuers when I made myself known.

"Put your hands where I can see em, " I commanded.

He tilted his head up, face shadowed by his hood. A chill ran down my spine when he stood at an almost 7' height. His limbs and shape was likely human, but I couldn't be sure after witnessing the existence of extraterrestrial.

"Hey! I said, put your hands where I can see em!" I reiterated.

Nothing. He just stood there looking at me. I took it to compromise, or communication was not on the menu.

"I'll shoot you then."

"Wait." A hoarse voice resonated, proceeding was a step forward of the person it came from.

His sudden approach forced my cautious to override logical thinking. "Stop, that's enough!"

"Strip. Now!" I aimed my weapon at him with a glare.

Upon a passing light, I was granted a clearer view. Intense green eyes were on me, clenched jaw on a keen guard, and a visible scar at the curve of his left cheek. His idle look aired fearless against my warning, amping my wary to hyperdrive.

The sound of rustling ceased my staring. I watched him moving in largo. "Hurry up!"

With a lopsided grin, he started unbuttoning his coat, eyes boring holes on me. "What are you? An android rapist?" He let out with indifference.

"Shut it!" I yelled, trailing my eyes lower. "The pants too."

When his hand moved to the button of his pants, his eyes crinkled. Heat rose to my cheeks, yet I maintained a peeved expression. Whatever he had in his head was none of my caring, I'd just woken up from only God knew how long, naked and I needed clothing.

The plan was siding with me until he started loosening his belt. Alas, before I managed the second breath, a whip struck me. My weapon fell onto the mess of junk, me and my naked ass tumbling to the ground after the next whip coiled around my feet.

"That was close, wasn't it?" He chuckled while making his way towards me. The shimmer from street lights revealed the glistening metal coating his arm.

I struggled to free my legs, but the belt was getting tighter. When I tried to pull it off, it winded both my hands. I was locked. "Don't come any closer!" I screamed, body slumped on the ruined flooring.

At a few inches from my face, he stopped, crouched down and put a finger under my chin. After bringing my face up, his smirk widened, " What are you? You don't feel like an android."

"I'm human! Are you blind?" I glared at him.

Narrowed eyes blended the creased on his forehead. "A human female?"

My answer would have surfaced if not for the sudden prick at the side of my neck. Slowly I was swallowed by darkness, angry and hungry all the same diminished after losing my fight for consciousness.