Part Six: The Wrong Way
MAX
I was pressed into a small closet, watching as Jimmy looked up and down the hallway. Conner was crouched beside me, looking just as annoyed as I felt. I rolled my eyes and tapped Jimmy's shoulder hard.
"What the hell is the plan, Moron?" I asked impatiently, clenching my jaw. I never like to wait, and with Jimmy there's always waiting and sitting involved. "Are we just going to sit here and wait for the aliens to kill us?"
"No." Jimmy glared at me, obviously pissed off by my mood. "I have a plan."
"Then tell us what it is," Conner sighed, sounding bored. I agreed with him. This was nowhere near the level of excitement I had been expecting. We were the group to go into the Mothership. There should be fighting, not skulking in the shadows waiting for someone to catch us.
"The plan is, we find out who's boss and kill him quietly," Jimmy said. "Then take control of the ship. Piece of cake, right?"
"Oh yeah," Conner said. "Super easy."
"Shut up," Jimmy snapped.
"Grow a brain," Conner retorted hotly.
"Guys," I hissed. "I hear someone coming." I pulled at Conner and Jimmy's shoulders, and Jimmy pulled the closet door shut. Conner pushed against the far wall, but Jimmy relaxed next to me, waggling his eyebrows. I shoved the idiot off, growling.
"Aw, why so mean?" Jimmy whispered. "Come on, gorgeous."
"Will you just shut the Hell up?" I said harshly, punching his leg. He flinched away and moped off in his own corner as I watched through a small crack in the door.
Three of the Gorgons were coming down the long narrow hallway we had phased into. I shivered, taking in their ugly and distorted features. Their foreheads were high and domed, almost like the Martian's, and their eyes were slanted and almond shaped, an ugly yellow in color. Their deep green skin was nearly translucent, and veins were visible beneath it. On the end of each finger was a long, sharpened nail that was almost claws. They wielded spears in their knobby hands, scanning the hallway for the intruders they were alerted of.
As I held my breath waiting for them to pass, Jimmy nudged Conner with his foot and they both gasped, kicking at each other in frustration and a need of space. I glared at them, shushing them, and as they looked up at me, their eyes locked on something above and behind me, and I slowly turned my head to see what had gotten their frightened attentions.
The biggest of the three gorgons held the door open as the other two pointed spears at us. Conner and Jimmy backed up against the wall, but I stood, facing the aliens boldly. One of them poked at me with the spear and a strong jolt of electricity coursed through me, causing me to cry out in pain. I felt Jimmy catch me as I fell backwards, and my sight dimmed. The last thing I remembered seeing was Jimmy's worried expression as the aliens pulled Conner to his feet.
...
"Max," Jimmy whispered. "Max. Are you okay?"
My eyes fluttered open, and Jimmy hovered over me, eyes wide with concern. I pushed at his chest and sat up, growling and rubbing my injured arm. "Where... where are we?"
"We're in a cell," Conner snapped from the other end of the room, folding his arms. "And it's your fault. There's a right way and a wrong way to do things. You usually do things the wrong way."
"Oh yeah?" I snarled, standing to face him. "So what's the wrong way and the right way?"
"The right way is to wait for an advantage," he said. "Wait patiently and hope an opening appears. Hell, that's how the whole Green Team is set up, and they have way more points than us."
"Points," Jimmy tried to defend me. "Points don't matter anymore, Conner."
"I know that," Conner said defiantly, determined to continue his lecture. "And you, Max, do things the wrong way, which is to jump in without any sort of thought or strategy, and it's likely to get you or someone else killed. You just don't think before you do things, and it's your one major flaw."
"I suggest you shut up," I warned sternly. "Or I'll punch a hole in your pretty white teeth."
"Suit yourself," Conner shrugged simply. "If you don't want to learn, that's fine with me."
I grumbled at him and turned away.
The screeching of metal on stone alerted us that the cell doors to our room were opening, and something flew in, howling in a low, sad voice. When it perched on the small windowsill, we saw our killer clearly.
It was a tiny child, a little girl barely four years old, only ghostly and cloudy like a faded picture. She sat on the windowsill for a few moments, staring at the three of us, taking us in. I balled my hands into fists and immediately tried to swing at her. Her jaws opened wide and her teeth were suddenly very apparent, huge and long and white, each sharpened to a bloody and deadly point. I stumbled back, startled, and felt someone grab my arm. "Behind me," I heard Jimmy shout, and it sounded far away as the girl locked eyes with me. Nothing seemed real outside of her eyes, horrible black pits into the deepest realms of nothing.
"What happened to you...?" I whispered between my teeth.
"Max!" Jimmy's voice echoed faintly in my ears.
"You..." I said softly. "You're me."
She tilted her head and a small smile played across her ivory lips. Baring her teeth again, she lunged at me. My four year old self would be my killer, my messenger of death.
My trance was broken as Conner, Conner who hated me, Conner who hated everyone, leaped between me and the child.
There was a sound like rushing water as the ghostly beast passed right through his chest and disappeared with an echoing cry. Conner turned slightly, then collapsed to the ground with a startled gasp.
"Conner!" Jimmy shouted frantically, running to his side and falling to his knees. "Conner, man, no, wake the Hell up, you asshole!"
I sat frozen, unable to move, watching in horror as Jimmy began C.P.R.
"Conner!" Jimmy whispered. "Fuck, you're not dead. Don't be dead."
NEXT: Conner's Dead! But there's a difference between Mostly Dead and All Dead!