Chapter 2

Aleris drove her car through downtown Spokane like she had so many times before. But this time was different for so many reasons. The buildings were unusual quiet for a Monday morning, for one. The people that were usually busy getting to work and finding a parking space were now few and far between. That and she had the eight foot Jamaican in the seat next to her. That was strange in itself.

She looked over to her friend and saw that he was busy looking around outside the car. She decided to ask him a question, if he was still all with her.

"Should we find somewhere where we can barricade ourselves in or what?"

Aleris knew it was pointless to ask him, but hey. He might surprise her.

Hiram heard her, but chose not to acknowledge her. She may have a clue after all, but he needed to see if she could survive on her own. If he were to protect her and make sure she would survive, he would have to be sure she was strong. You just cannot have a planet full of weak species.

Aleris snorted to herself. She knew it was pointless to ask him. She stopped at a red light and relaxed in her seat. She had no idea what to do and the Jamaican was not helping in the slightest. Just as she relaxed fully, her stomach growled loudly.

Hiram shot his head over to the female. What was that sound? Was she hurt and he didn't know about it? She noticed how strangely Hiram acted and smiled.

"It's ok. I'm just hungry"

Hungry? She was hungry? How could such a sound be made from hunger? Hiram was never going to get Ooman anatomy.

The light was still red. Aleris looked in her rearview mirror and saw nothing. This set her on edge. This town was boring and all, but this! The town was dead. She concluded that the dragons had made it farther out that she first realized. But where were they now? She knew her friend wouldn't have left the school if there was a great deal of danger.

Aleris turned the corner and drove just out of the center of Spokane. She pulled into a WalMart parking lot, but stopped abruptly after entering. The lot was completely empty. This really got to Aleris. The WalMart was never like this. This could only mean that the apocalypse had come and she was going to be killed by aliens with an alien helping her survive. Oh yeah, life was good.

Hiram watched the female carefully. Something was wrong on a level he couldn't imagine.

He still watched her as she parked the ground ship. She turned the ship off and got out of it. He watched her impatiently as she got out of the ship and walked around the front of it. She couldn't have forgotten about him. He had no idea how to work the door. He was lucky, he believed. The female came around and opened the door for him. He stepped out of the ship and looked around.

He switched his vision to heat. He found nothing. Nothing with a heat signature showed up. He switched it again, but to the electrical vision this time. Out in the distance, he saw it. An alien was out there. It had not yet seen them, but they had to take refuge somewhere. He turned around to look for the female.

Ah. The female was smarter than he first realized. She had gone into a building that had large glass doors. Yeah, it was a good thing he had kept her around. He quickly trotted after her through the open doors.

Aleris looked about the huge Walmart. It was a Super Walmart so it was not only huge, but it had everything imaginable. She usually loved this place. It was usually full of people. Not today, it seemed. It was dead quiet and dead still.

The Jamaican gently set his lizard had on her shoulder. It startled her only because she was already freaked out beyond belief. She turned around to face him head on. He pointed out the closed glass doors towards something. Aleris looked askance and saw it. One of those dragon things was out there. It wasn't coming for them yet, but it would be soon.

Aleris looked over the glass doors. She had to shut them, but how did you shut them? Man, she hated doors sometimes.

She saw the chain that was connected to the metal sheet was hanging down next to the glass doors.

Duh…

Aleris walked over to the chain and pulled down on it, causing the metal sheet to come down and concealed the glass doors.

Hiram watched the female carefully. He thought back to when he was studying to be a scientist. His teachers would tell him that the Oomans were stupid and did not have the thinking capacity to protect themselves and thus survive. But this female had just proved them all wrong.

The female approached him again.

"We can stay here for at least a few days if we're careful. Do you have someone you can get here to help us?"

He already sent out a distress signal to his clan, but it would be seven suns before they would arrive. Hiram could only nod his head to the female. She was starting to prove herself to him. She was not any great warrior, but she was stronger than most of the Oomans on this planet. One question would not leave him though. Could she prove herself in battle?

Aleris took his nod as a good thing. Maybe they would be able to get out of here alive after all. That is, if he was planning on saving her. Well, why would he go to the trouble of protecting her at the school if he was not going to save her from the destruction of the world?

Oh well. She decided not to worry herself of such things. She needed to make sure all the exits were blocked so the dragons could not get in and kill them.

"Stay here" She said to Hiram. "I'll be right back. I'm going to make sure the other doors are locked"

She gave her Jamaican friend a small smile and ran off into the store.

Hiram stood there quietly. He did not fully understand why this Ooman was being so kind to him. Oomans were a violent specie that had no honor among them. They bred without making the subsequent generations stronger. If anything, they had made the next generations weaker. They kill each other over simple property. They were a specie that didn't deserve to exist.

But this female defied everything he had learned.

She was born strong. Her bones and organs were above average. She was cunning as well; wanting to learn about those things that she does not know about. She had the makings of being an ideal Ooman to save without any training to speak of. With the proper schooling, she could become a warrior.

She would have to be. This world would probably be infested with aliens and would need to be sanitized. They would have to repopulate this world. The best female for would need the best male for breeding and, so far, he only had the best female.

Hiram walked down one of the larger walkways. On either side of him were racks of the Ooman clothing. These objects were strange to Hiram. He had not seen any of this in his textbooks. He knew the Oomans wore clothing made from certain materials that was attractive to the eye. He also knew that these clothes didn't protect them at all. They were mere adornments, unlike his trophy skulls.

He switched his vision back to heat. He didn't see the female anywhere and did not know of where to look for her. He hit the back of the building. In front of him were smaller clothes than the ones on either side of him. He looked down another large walkway. He saw her heat signature down a ways from him. She was walking towards him.

Aleris saw her friend and jogged up to him. She stopped in front of hi, bowing her head slightly.

"I locked all the major doors. I think that'll keep us safe until help comes"

Hiram chirped in response to her. He was almost proud of her. Almost. The female made her sound of hunger again. She smiled and grabbed her stomach.

"I'm going to see if I can get an apple or something. Want something?"

Want Ooman food? Hiram didn't know if their food could nourish him properly. He wanted to study this Ooman environment a little more before he had to worried about nourishment. He turned his back to the female and walked away towards the other side of the store.

Aleris took that as a no. She walked off towards the food section of the store and disappeared into the many aisles.

xXx

Several hours later

xXx

Aleris sat alone in the produce section with her back to one of the tubs of fruit. She reached up above her head and pulled down a bright red apple. She was about to take a huge chunk out of the apple when her friend walked up. He stopped next to her and sat down. There was almost complete silence in the store. That was, of course, until the Jamaicans' stomach growled semi-loudly. Aleris smiled and help out her apple to her friend.

What is this? Was the female trying to feed him a blood covered fruit? He decided to take it, lest the female get angry at him. That's the LAST thing he needs. He poked at it with his clawed finger.

"You kind of have to take off your helmet to eat it"

Take off his helmet? How could he do that? He would not be able to understand the female if he took it off. That and what would she think if he did take it off? Her kind had never seen his kind without their helmets and lived to tell about it. Ah. What the hell? She had seen quite a few scenes that would have deeply disturbed any normal Ooman. He considered her strong enough to see his true self.

Hiram reached under his chin and hit a button. A gush of air blew out from the mask, but ceased quickly. He reached up with his clawed hands and gently removed his mask. He slowly pulled it over his face. He revealed his face to the Ooman female. She deserved to see it after all.

When her Jamaican friend removed his mask, Aleris was at a loss for words. His face was more of a squid than anything else. He had four pointy tusks that extended outward. Hidden within was another mouth, full of teeth. He also had a large forehead. This didn't bother Aleris though. She had seen dragons killing people and now this guy. Only one thing came to her mind when she saw him.

"Can you say 'Sushi'?"

She handed him the apple again. Hiram cocked his head slightly and took the fruit. This female was just full of surprises. He opened his tusks and took a bite out of the blood soaked fruit. Hiram was startled a bit. It was sweet, but also sour. He was intrigued by this. Who knew Ooman food could taste so good.

Aleris reached up and grabbed another apple. She bit into the red fruit and took out a huge chunk of it. Her friend watched her while eating his apple. This would have freaked her out just hours before, but right now, nothing could freak her out. But anymore strange surprises and she would burst an artery.

This really did get to Aleris, regardless of what she let on. She was tired and depressed like never before. All she wanted to do is lie down and die. She just might try that.

Aleris laid down next to the produce bin and shut her eyes.

Hiram studied the female. She was tired, he could tell. He was tired as well. It had been a long day for the both of them. Hiram then made a command decision. He couldn't let this female sleep on a cold, hard floor.

He picked her up off the floor and took her towards the inside of the store. He didn't understand WHY he liked this female so much. There was just something about her that sparked an uncontrollable interest in him. He wanted to take her back with him, to his ship and to his home planet, so he could study her more intensely. Oh yes, he would keep her around for a little while longer.