An Alien Love

Strange

The room they stood in was light. It was cool and Tosh shivered, the outfit doing very little to keep her body's heat. Off to the right were bunks stacked four high with a ladder, allowing the top two bunks to be reachable. The back wall contained a small conveyer belt with what appeared to be metal sliding doors that would open to allow things smaller than a person to pass through.

Above the belt was a large monitor built into the wall. Currently, it displayed a landscape like nothing she had ever seen before. It was a vibrant orange sky and a sun setting into the dark ocean. Jagged cliffs covered in green vines and a soft white beach spanned along the water. If Tosh hadn’t been so frightened, the picture would have been breathtaking.

On the left side of the room was a long mirror above sinks and in the corner was another dark sliding glass door. A woman passed through the door, allowing it to slide open, reviling what appeared to be toilets and cubicles that Tosh assumed to be showers. Scattered among the middle of the room stood chairs and tables that had been built into the floor so they could not be moved, like concrete park benches.

Other women were scattered about the room huddling together. None of them appeared to be younger than 18 or older than 30.

Tosh pulled out of Amanda’s arms and sighed heavily. “We are going to be okay. I know it.”

“How do you know?” It was the first words Jenna had spoken.

“Because no one would have taken the time to set up this space so nice if they were just going to kill us.” Tosh said, as if it were a matter of fact. She hoped her confidence would keep her friends calm until they knew what was going on.

“That was terrifying. Do you have any idea what’s going on?” Amanda still had tears in her eyes but she was calming down.

“I have no idea.”

For the next hour or so, more women were pushed into the room. A hundred in total. They were all afraid and no one had any idea what was happening to them. They spoke quietly amongst themselves, afraid to make too much noise. A few brave ones walked around making small introductions. Most of them cried quietly on their own. A few got up the courage to use the toilets. Some walked around the room feeling the walls, thinking of ways to escape. Tosh sat in one of the lower bunks with her friends. She held Amanda as she cried and watched Jenna look around the room with hollow eyes.

After what felt like a long while, Amanda had stopped crying and laid down. Her eyes had dropped closed and she had fallen into a restless sleep, exhausted. Jenna curled next to her and drifted off to sleep herself leaving Tosh a lone woman in a sea of strangers.

Quietly she stood and stretched to try and chase away some of the kinks in her muscles that had formed. Slowly she began to walk around the room in between the women, listening to their quiet conversations.

“It’s the government. I’m telling you.” The woman looked up at Tosh as she passed by. “Don’t you think so?”

“What makes you so sure it’s the government?” Tosh moved closer to this group. The woman who had spoken first rolled her piercing blue eyes and sighed.

“Well, what else could it be? They are testing some major weapon or something and they grabbed us somehow and are using us as lab rats or something.” The way she spoke reminded Tosh of the paranoia that accompanied someone who had smoked too much m*******a or who spent too much time looking into conspiracy theories.

“Shut up Victoria.” One of the other girls said, shoving the smoker gently. “I don’t think it’s the government. Can’t be. We don’t have the technology to just grab people out of their homes like we were. No, it has to be extraterrestrial.” This woman had bright firetruck red hair that couldn’t be natural. She nodded to herself, looking around the group waiting for their thoughts.

“Yeah. It's aliens and they took us and our doing tests on us or something. Maybe trying to figure out what’s the best way to kill us.” This girl had jet black hair and pale white skin that looked like it had never seen the sun.

“Or they just want to eat us. Or we could be being sold as slaves in the galaxy!” The ideas kept flowing between them and Tosh couldn’t help but wonder if any of them were right. Obviously, what had happened wasn’t something that could be found on Earth. Not with the technologies they had. But were they really going to be eaten, or sold as slaves?

The creatures, though rough, hadn’t hurt any of the girls no matter how hard they had fought. They were careful, in fact. Tosh had felt the strength in the creature’s hands. It just didn’t add up.

Standing and nodding politely to the group, Tosh moved on to the next few groups. The conversations were all falling along the same lines. Was it the government? Was it aliens? Were they going to die? No one knew. Just then, her stomach growled loudly.

A strange buzz rang through the room. All the women froze. The sliding doors on the conveyor belt slid open and the belt began to move. A few of the women jumped and let out startled yaps. Everyone’s eyes rested apprehensively on the belt.

Out of the door on the right came trays loaded with plates of food. The girls snuck forward unsure of what was happening. Tosh walked over to her friends on the bunk. Amanda and Jenna had woken up with the buzz. Their eyes were filled once more with panic.

“What’s happening?” Jenna’s voice was a hoarse whisper.

“Are you hungry?”

The girls hesitated, then nodded and stood together to walk forward and collect a tray. Some girls had already gotten theirs while others were more scared. Natasha picked one up for herself then guided the girls to a table. Sitting down, she inspected what was on her tray. The bread smelled amazing. The soup had an orange tint to it and seemed to be full of beans and vegetables and even a few nuts. There was a small plate of leafy greens and celery with a few fruits that she didn’t recognize mixed in. A large cup of water sat to one side.

Taking a bite of the strange soup, Tosh got the distinct taste of carrots and black beans. It blended unexpectedly well and Natasha found herself devouring it, realizing she was hungrier than she thought. Taking a sip of the water to cool off her mouth, she looked around the room. All of the women had grabbed a tray for themselves but not all of them were eating. Most were playing with the food and nervously and watching for someone to have something bad happen.

The terrible event that they expected to happen never did occur and the girls finished their meals with no problems. After having finished, they were at a loss about what to do with their trays. One of the strangers suggested they return the trays to the conveyor. They tried that and the belt then whisked the trays out the sliding door on the left. The women went back to their conversations, which became a little livelier after the food. Amanda returned to the bunk she had been in earlier but rather than sleep she looked around the room with new eyes.

“This could be a real adventure.” She said, looking over at Natasha and Jenna.

“An adventure? That’s an understatement.” Jenna chuckled a little, then sighed. “We were so worried about what was going to happen when we woke up. Now we’re here.” She looked at Tosh, who stood smiling slightly.

Amanda’s face screwed up in confusion. “What do you mean?”

Tosh rubbed her finger across Amanda’s eyebrows to unfurrow them. “It isn’t important anymore.” She smiled at Amanda then allowed a bark of sudden laughter to escape from her lips. “I just wish I knew what was happening. Some girls say government. Others still, aliens. I am more in line to believe aliens just based on what we’ve seen. All I can say for sure is that our life isn’t ever going to be the same.” She sighed and closed her eyes, overcome with exhaustion.

Just then, the lights began to dim and, getting the hint, the women claimed their beds. The lights turned down the rest of the way and the room was filled with the sounds of breathing, and soft sobbing. Natasha found herself slowly drifting to sleep with the worry of what the next day would bring weighing heavy on her mind.