First to Rise

ALITA

Calm down...

It can't do anything to me...

The thing is chained down and trapped within a concrete cell... I shouldn't be afraid of it, but...

Silver eyes bore into me as the beast continued to growl, baring its fangs. Its tail thumped against the floor beside it as I tried to calm my racing heart.

It doesn't know I'm a female, so even if it does escape, it's more likely to kill me than anything else. I internally groaned. Yeah, no, that's not much better. Thanks, brain, for coming up with that wonderful conclusion. I cursed at myself before redirecting my focus to the alien.

"Please just cooperate..." I stepped inside the cell and kneeled down closer to the beast's injured leg. It shifted slightly from its position and snarled down at me. I know I'm smaller than most humans, but God damn, these guys are tall...

Its arms were held up by the chains, and it was held back by the collar around its throat. I had no doubt, though, that even with all these restraints, the creature was still very dangerous... In fact, it showed just how dangerous it could be, even while restrained. When they first dragged it out in the open, it clawed a man's face off with its hand alone and toppled three different men holding him back.

Gulping, I looked down at its injured leg, and sure enough, the blue-colored liquid that came from him was blood. I set down the supplies I brought with me, and the beast before me stilled. I looked away from the injury only to yelp as its tail lashed out and wrapped tightly around my throat.

I clawed at it with my hands, ready to scream for help, only to feel it tighten and lift me up slightly, cutting off my airway. After a moment, it loosened its tail but did not remove it from my throat. Was that a warning?! Not wanting to be choked to death or get my neck snapped, I stilled, waiting for its next move. If I tried to draw my gun now, it would snap my neck.

The beast merely stared me down as I grabbed at its tail. Its eyes then trailed to the items I brought with me, as if it was assessing the situation.

After a moment, its tail released me and pulled away, letting me fall back to my hands and knees. The creature's snarling ceased, and there was a low growl accompanied by its glare, telling me the beast still didn't fully trust me.

I touched my throat where its tail had just recently grabbed me and swallowed hard. It definitely could kill me if it wanted to. That was the whole purpose of attacking me, to show me I'm not the one in charge here. Was it asserting dominance? Despite how brutish and wild it acted, this definitely was an intelligent life form.

After a few moments of trying to compose myself, I sat up and met its eyes once more. It continued to watch me, unmoving. It growled again, clearly not happy with the eye contact. I flinched as the end of its tail thumped against the floor beside it and broke eye contact. Deciding I didn't want to overstay my welcome, I moved a bit closer to its injured leg to assess the damage.

Thankfully, the bullet went all the way through, so I wouldn't need to try and dig it out. And I'm almost positive the alien brute would not appreciate my efforts to help if I tried something like that.

Looking more closely at its body, I could see various cuts and purplish bruises underneath all the dried blood and grime. With the dim lighting, I could hardly make out any of the injuries, and it was clear that they tortured the poor guy.

Glancing back up at the beast, I could see it was still tense and actively watching my every move. I just need to get this over with.

Training my attention on the injury on its leg, it was clear I would need to try and clean the wound, and that was going to be a painful process. My biggest worry was the fact it might attack me if I do so. Should I even risk it? If I don't, then it could die from infection. If I do, then I have to put my trust in the idea that the beast knows or understands what I'm doing is meant to help.

Sighing, I grabbed the cleaning alcohol and put my weight on its leg to hold it in place. I could feel its muscles tense as I did so, and I meekly looked it in the eyes before pouring the liquid into the wound. I flinched as the creature’s tail lashed out violently, hitting the wall. And its arms strained against the chains holding it, as a snarl was ripped from its throat.

It glared down at me, and all I could do was stare back with a sorry expression until it calmed down. Something seemed to click in its mind, and instead of lashing out at me like I expected, the beast said something in its alien tongue. It turned its face away and braced for another round.

Curious, I watched as it refused to look now and tried to focus its attention on something else. Does it understand why I’m doing this?

Deciding to get it over with quickly, I poured more onto the wound, earning a pained snarl and another thump of the tail on the stone. Once I was sure it had soaked through, I used the gauze and bandages to wrap up the wound tightly.

It didn’t look at me once during the entire process, and I sighed in relief once it was done.

I wouldn’t be able to really assess the other injuries in this condition. The dim lighting and grime covering its body made it hard to see, and I wasn’t going to take any chances of searching the beast for a few minor scratches.

Standing up, I gathered the extra supplies into my arms. It turned its gaze back to me, and I froze for a minute, worried it might attack, but it just watched… Hesitantly, I walked out and closed the cell door, leaving the beast to continue its isolation in the dark.

After putting the supplies away, I used a bowl of water to clean the blue blood off my hands. Looking at myself in the mirror, I somehow seemed even worse than before and felt equally the same. I was thoroughly exhausted after walking home from the city, dealing with the purifiers, and now dealing with an alien.

I can’t believe I just did that… I can’t believe I got that close to an alien… Leaning against the wall, I couldn’t help but think about its actions and reactions. They were such strange creatures. If you really thought about it, you’d start to wonder how their minds work.

Most of the time, it seemed like they were just monstrous brutes who attack first and ask questions later, but the way it reacted to me in there just proved that that’s not the case. The beast’s actions earlier when we were outside almost made me forget the fact that it quite literally is a being from outer space. It acted like a wild animal around Seth’s men.

But they aren’t mindless animals, they are intelligent… I kinda feel ashamed for having such a mindset before. I don’t particularly care about their kind because of all the rumors and things I’ve heard, but my own experience with them has been very menial. Father never blamed them like everyone else; he always stayed silent. I never understood before, but I think I’m starting to see why.

That doesn’t mean I’ll trust them, however…

Sighing, I dimmed the lights some and crawled into my sleeping bag, enjoying the small bit of warmth the heater gave me. It wasn’t much, but it was better than my tent outside.

I yawned as the exhaustion set in and my mind wandered, thinking about the invaders and the one caged in the room beside me. So many questions coursed through my head as I closed my eyes and drifted off into a dream-filled sleep…

I wonder if he dreams too…