Anika
867 Words
Anika POV
The man looked at me with watery eyes, his body pressed against mine.
Too close. Too intimate for strangers meeting in the middle of the Namib desert.
“B-b-Beth,” he muttered.
I raised an eyebrow.
That was my first instinct—confusion before fear.
Beth?
My name is Anika.
I cleared my throat gently, keeping my hands raised where he could see them. He was enormous. Taller than any man I’d ever seen, broader too—but it wasn’t just his size that made my skin prickle.Its the fact that he’s naked in the middle of desert, I have enough trauma with the male species , I don’t need anymore.
“I’m… not Beth,” I said carefully. “You’re mistaken.”
His face froze.
The relief there shattered instantly.
“What?” His voice cracked. He pulled back just enough to look at me properly. Really look. His eyes darted over my face like he was searching for something that wasn’t there. “No—no, you were just—”
He staggered back.
Hard.
As if I’d struck him.
“No,” he whispered. “No, no, no…”
His knees hit the sand.
I didn’t move. Fear crawled up my spine, cold and sharp. This man had come out of the desert like a ghost—naked, starved, eyes haunted—and now he was breaking apart right in front of me.
I’d seen men break before.
But never like this.
He was missing his left arm—now that I finally got a good look at him.
This man… he had to be a slave. I just knew it. An escaped one.
He looked at me again. His eyes squeezed shut.
Then his body gave out.
He collapsed hard, hitting the ground on his back.
“Holy f**k!” I shouted.
I rushed forward before I could stop myself—and that’s when I saw it.
A huge black mark spread across his back.
Not dirt.
Not a bruise.
A shadow.
A Zero.
The sound of chatter filled Zero’s ears, pulling him out of his slumber.
The burning heat was gone, replaced by the cool, unforgiving sensation of the floor beneath his body.
“Oh my gosh—you guys brought in a man? How could you?” a feminine voice snapped. “Are you trying to get all of us killed?”
Zero groaned softly.
“Oh, don’t be ridiculous,” another voice replied. “He’s clearly a slave. He needed help. What would you do if it was you, huh? What would you do if it was you?” shouts Anika.
The words overlapped, echoing inside his skull.
“He’s waking up,” someone said sharply.
“He’s waking up!”
Zero’s eyes snapped open.
And he froze.
His maker stood before him.
Urth.
Crimson flooded his vision. Pain roared through his nerves as memory slammed into him all at once. The nanotech reacted instantly—metal rippling beneath his skin.
A sharp, sword-like blade erupted from where his left arm should have been, forming in a single, fluid motion.
He struck.
The blade pierced flesh.
Aya screamed as it tore through her shoulder, the force knocking her backward. She stumbled away from him, clutching the wound, blood soaking into her clothes.
The sound of her scream shattered the illusion.
The lab vanished.
The white lights.
The metal restraints.
Urth.
Gone.
Zero froze.
He wasn’t in the mad alien scientist’s laboratory.
He was surrounded by women.
Human women.
They had rushed to Aya’s side, hands pressing against her bleeding shoulder, their eyes locked on him—wide, terrified, blazing with hatred.
“What the f**k are you?!” Elara shouted.
“I—I…” Zero stammered.
He didn’t know what to call himself.
Khaled?
Zero?
“Get out. Right now!” Anika shouted.
She was the only one who stepped forward despite the fear. After all, she was the one who had brought him here.
She was the one he had kissed.
Slowly, Zero rose to his feet.
He looked around the room for the first time.
White marble floors.
Soft lighting.
Furniture so clean and comfortable it felt unreal—like something torn straight from a luxury magazine.
What the hell is this place?
He had thought he was home.
The space was vast. Intact. Impossible.
Outside, the world was ash and ruin.
Inside, this place was untouched.
Where am I?
He wanted to ask them. Wanted to explain. But fear had sealed their mouths shut. Even standing near him took effort—especially for the woman closest to him, silently pointing toward the exit with shaking hands.
Zero looked at them one last time.
He bowed his head slightly.
There was no way to say goodbye.
“But then—”
“I need you.”
The voice was strained. Broken by pain.
Zero turned.
Aya stood there, pale, teeth clenched, her uninjured hand gripping her wounded shoulder.
“No,” she said. “You can’t leave.”
The others stared at her in shock.
“We need you,” Aya continued, her voice shaking but resolute. “We need you to kill Grohanva.”
- Writer
