Page 10 of Protected By the Alien Commander

9

Olivia

I sat backagainst the side of our bizarre tent as the alien crawled in. His quills were straight up again. Did they rise up when there was danger? I tried to look outside, but the bushes that made the walls were too thick, and it had gotten dark out. I didn’t think there was anything dangerous outside, but what did I know?

The alien sat down across from me with his legs bent. He was so tall. I couldn’t believe there was an actual alien sitting with me and I wasn’t freaking out. I was probably too exhausted to get worked up about it. And hungry.

Then I realized I didn’t have my bag. How could I have lost it? It had my food and water, and now I had nothing. Ugh.

I bent my legs and rested my head on my knees. What were my friends doing? Was Emma awake and doing okay? I wished Miranda hadn’t gone back to the ship. Even though I wasn’t alone, it sure felt like it. A blue alien that I couldn’t understand wasn’t the same as a good friend. And I had no idea if he was hungry and would eat me.

My mind jumped to a different kind of eating, one I wouldn’t mind the hot alien doing. Get it together, Olivia! He’s an alien, and you need to worry about your friends. And finding help. And finding the ship.

The alien tapped my boot, and I raised my head so fast I think I got whiplash. He pointed to his mouth and made biting motions. I gulped and stared at his teeth, which were white and very pointed. Oh my god, he was going to eat me! Oh shit, maybe that was why he had saved me from the rats—he wanted to save me for dinner!

I couldn’t scoot back any farther in the little teepee. I held my hand up, which was ridiculous as that wouldn’t stop him. He was taller, stronger, and faster. I was doomed. “Please don’t eat me! I’m pretty sure I don’t taste good. I have to find my friends and get help for them. Couldn’t we just work together?”

I swear the alien smirked at me. Hey, being scared for my life was no laughing matter. Jerk. He pulled down his sunglasses, and I finally saw his eyes. I was relieved they were not bright red but instead a pretty purple. He pointed outside and made eating motions, like he was eating a chicken leg. Or corn on the cob. Then he pointed at me and the ground. Either he wanted my leg stretched out so he could eat it, or he was going to get something to eat and I was to stay here. I chose the second explanation.

He crawled out through the opening and fastened the small pieces of fabric from my dress behind him. I couldn’t help but notice how well he communicated his plans and took care of details. Hell, he was already a better guy than any man I’d dated. Especially my last boyfriend who never remembered anything I liked.

I hoped he wouldn’t be gone long. I didn’t like the idea of being alone here, wherever we were. And I flat out refused to believe we were on some alien planet. I couldn’t handle it right now. Even if all signs pointed to us not being in Utah or Mars but somewhere else. I couldn’t wrap my brain around how that could have happened, although if I had to take a guess, that weird green thing I saw before we got knocked out probably had something to do with it.

A rustling outside had me looking around for a weapon, but then I realized how stupid that would be. I was helpless without that alien.

A blue hand pulled down the opening cloth, and I surprised myself by smiling at him. It was from sheer relief; he was back!

He crawled in and waved at me, pointing outside. He wanted me to go out. Was it safe? I shook my head, but then he made a biting motion and pointed past him. I squinted and crossed my arms. He rolled his eyes—seriously, the blue alien rolled his eyes at me—and crawled back out. But he left the fabric covering down.

I got curious and crawled over the hard ground and looked out the doorway. There were several of those green rats that had attacked me, dead, on the ground. The alien was nowhere to be seen, but then he walked back holding several of the dead bushes we used for the teepee. His blue skin flexed from his muscles as he snapped them into sticks and made a pile of them. Then he shot the pile with his blaster, a blue bolt of energy striking the pile, and it burst into flames.

He shoved the rats onto a sharpened stick and held the shish kabobs over the fire. I crawled out of our shelter. I wasn’t going to turn down food. Even if it was rats that were related to the ones that had tried to kill me earlier.

The fire was comforting, and so was his presence across the fire. I can’t believe how quickly I’d come to trust and rely on him. Well, okay, I still wasn’t entirely trusting, but he had saved me and was feeding me. That went far to winning me over.

It was nice to know I wasn’t alone out here, especially since I was lost and had no idea where my friends and ship were. Had they heard from the crew? Had Emma woken up? Why had I chosen such a cheap cruise line?

My stomach growled. The food smelled so good, my mouth was watering. It would probably taste better than any energy bar I had snagged from the cruise ship.

He held out his water bottle, then took it back, opened the top, and held it out to me again. See, more considerate than any man I knew.

I drank deeply but not as much as I wanted. We needed to conserve it, and he was bigger and would drink more water than I did. I didn’t want my protector weak and ill from lack of water. He was the only thing keeping me alive. I was useless. Worse than useless, as I had never been camping before. I’d never seen the point of it. I’d rather sleep in a bed with a comfy mattress and near a working toilet and sink with running water. And soap.

The alien, I wish I knew his name, pulled a rat off the stick and cut pieces off it with a big black knife. He ate a piece of the cooked rat, nodded, then held a piece out to me. Chicken nuggets it was not, but I was starving. I tried not to look at the body in his hands, the tail and short legs still attached and sticking out. I nibbled at the edge of the slice of meat then shoved the whole piece in my mouth.

Everything really does taste like chicken. It was so much better than I had feared. Actually, it was delicious. I held my hand out for more and he promptly placed several pieces in my hand. I ate them and asked for another. I think I ate an entire rat or two. He ate the rest.

I looked up at the sky and tried to find the Big Dipper. Then the North Star, but I couldn’t find it. Nothing looked right. A heavy weight settled on me as I realized I had to face the facts that we were not on Earth. I had no idea of how that had happened. I lowered my head and tried to hide my tears. Would I ever get back home?