Here's the next chapter! Enjoy :)
Natalie and Yeyinde have been stuck together in a cell now for the last few days.
Or so, she believed. All the days seemed to blur together when you didn't have a full concept of what time it was. But within that time, she still tried her best to teach him new words.
He would still try to repeat the words she has said. Though the tricky part is trying to understand what they mean. It's hard to know the meaning behind a word unless it was a noun.
Adjectives and verbs were a hell of a lot more trickier to digest for the young hunter. But if he got his translator, then every word she says will be translated to the proper word in his language. And he'll be able to have a stronger grasp on the meanings and be able to try and repeat the words more clearly to her and hopefully be able to form them into sentences so they can communicate more properly.
The only thing that became awkward for them, or more specifically Natalie, is when either of them had to use the toilet or the shower.
Apparently, Yeyinde didn't have problems dropping his loincloth, and getting under the spray while she was there. It didn't help when he didn't give her any warnings and would just walk over and do it.
When this happened, she would whip around and stare at the opposite end of the room.
Yeyinde looked at her funny once when he did it the first time. She was trying to say something to him and he was already over on that side of the room where the shower was.
And without warning as she's standing there talking to him, he just drops his loincloth.
The young hunter watched as her face turned bright red, and she let out a small, startled squeak, then turned around. Then he had to listen to her go off in her own language for the next couple minutes.
While he stood there naked under the shower head.
Then there was a time, since she been there, she skipped showering for the next few days, refusing to strip nude while he was there, and shower.
But after a little while, her B.O. must've gotten to him. Because when he got close to her one night before bed, he quickly pulled back and bristled.
Natalie gave him a funny look. Then he pointed at her then the shower and said, 'Natalie, shower'.
That sent a clear enough signal that she must've smelt pretty ripe to him. At first, she refused and tried to get on the cot with him. But he held out his hand and refused to let her get on the cot with him.
He then repeated again, 'Natalie, shower'. And the way he said it that time was more direct and to the point. And he clearly wouldn't allow her on the cot until she was clean.
She sighed in frustration and gave in. But not before she tried to communicate for him to turn around or look away.
Of course, he had a bit of a hard time understanding what she was trying to convey to him, despite their extensive English Lessons. He just cocked his head at her with a few clicks. Then he said it again...
'Natalie, shower.'
Natalie groaned and just muttered fine.
So, what if he does look. She doubts he's going to try anything. Hell, she doubts she even appeals to him that way.
She ran over and quickly stripped and started up the showerhead. Natalie stepped under the warm spray and grabbed the soap bar off of the floor and started scrubbing herself down.
The young woman become a little embarrassed and shy when she caught him watching her from the cot. Luckily, he didn't get up or approach her.
Just sat there on the edge of the cot and watched her with curious eyes.
Every now and then she heard some clicks, chirps, and grunts come from him. But no words left him as he observed her. It helped a bit when she just turned her back to him and continued cleaning herself while looking at the wall near the back of the small cell.
After she was finished and dried herself off with a thin towel and dressed. Only then did he finally allow her to lay on the cot. Or him, more or less. Because the two of them couldn't lay side by side on the cot.
He did seem fascinated by her wet hair though. It was odd how the consistency of her hair changed when it got wet. It became a little heavier, denser, and slippery. Then as it dried over time, it went back to its usual softness.
Today they were working on some more words. Mainly pronouns. Though she could see they were coming off a little tricky for him.
"I." She said, pointing to herself.
"I." He said then pointed to her.
Surprisingly, she shook her head. Then she carefully reached for his hand and placed it on his chest. Then repeated the one letter word again.
He repeated while tapping his chest. This time, she nodded. Then she moved onto the next one.
"You." She said, pointing to him.
"You." Yeyinde repeated.
This time instead of pointing to himself, he pointed to her when he said it. And Natalie nodded.
It didn't take him long to realize that when she pointed to herself while using a word or phrase, he had to point to himself when saying it as well. It was the same when she pointed at him when addressing him and he pointed at her while addressing her.
'At least he seems to be a pretty fast learner.' Natalie thought.
She tried to continue with a few more main pronouns like, me, we, us, this, them, etc...
Some he got pretty quickly. Others confused him a little.
They were right in the middle of trying to say some more demonstrative pronouns like, this, these, that, those. When the familiar hiss of gas rang out around the cell.
Natalie shot to her feet and Yeyinde growled as the room started to rapidly fill with gas.
She so badly wanted to cover her mouth. But felt like it will be useless. It didn't really help the first time around when they gassed her in her cell.
Unbeknownst to her Yeyinde would try to time the gas from the moment it starts to the moment it reaches them. And each time, he would practice holding his breath.
He knew they let the gas run for quite a bit of time. Because each time he tried to struggle to stay awake, the gas would continue spewing in as the minute rolled by.
The young hunter heard what sounded like coughing and saw it was Natalie. She was trying to cover her mouth as the coughs left her. And then she started to sway on her feet.
It was clear the gas started to affect her before it began to affect him.
Natalie started to feel very lightheaded. And she stumbled back on her feet and fell.
Only she didn't hit the floor. Two large arms reached out and caught her. And Natalie looked up through her blurring vision to see Yeyinde. He scooped her up and placed her on the cot.
Then about another minute later, she was out, and he was starting to feel the full affects.
The young hunter tried to hold his breath and began to count. He's hoping by doing this each time, he can eventually outlast the gas, and remain awake by the time it clears out.
It was one of the only ways he can think to stay conscious and one day when they come in here, he will lie there in wait and attack when they least expect it when they come in to attack him.
Yeyinde stayed seated on the floor by the cot where Natalie was. Then his vision darkened, and he fell to the floor on his back by the cot.
The gas continued to pour into the cell for only another couple minutes, until it was turned off. Then the vents blasted in fresh air to flush out the remnants of gas, so that a couple of the men cane enter.
Lt. Pearson entered the cell with another man known as Commander Finley.
The Lieutenant then reached over the top of the cot and pulled Natalie off it. He then laid her over his shoulder and the two walked out and shut the door behind him.
Natalie awoke to a sharp pinching sensation in the crook of her arm.
She flinched and became fully awake not long after. The young woman looked around and found herself in what looked like a large lab. There were some people bustling about in there looking over some things.
Natalie looked down and found herself sitting up in a chair. And there were three men in uniform staring down at her. She also noticed on a table to her right was some strange equipment. Like none she has ever seen before.
"You like it? Those are his weapons we pulled off of him." Lt. Pearson stated.
Her gaze snapped from the table back to him. He then pulled up another chair and came to sit in front of her.
"What do you want?" She asks.
"I want to know what you and your new friend have been talking about. We've been watching you two for quite some time since we put you in there with him six days ago. Despite the language barrier, it seemed like you two had an awfully lot to say. So, what exactly have you been talking about?" He inquires.
"Nothing much, he really doesn't know the language at all. I've only been able to teach him a few basic words." Natalie replied.
Lt. Pearson observed her. He was trying to watch her facial ques and body language for any lies. So far, she seems truthful. But he feels she is hiding something as well.
"Really? Within all that time, you're telling me he only learned a few basic little words. Funny, I thought he'd be smarter than that. Given the weapons and tech he was carrying. He didn't mention anything at all about any of these weapons?" He asked her, while gesturing to the table a couple feet away from them.
Natalie shook her head, "No. How could he? When most of the words he knows are not really any longer than four to five letter single words? He can't even form sentences."
Lt. Pearson leaned back in his seat and rubbed his chin.
"That really is a shame. But hey, I'm sure if you keep working with him, in time, his language skills will improve." He stated.
"Why did you even put us in there together to begin with? That's what doesn't make any sense to me." Natalie said, getting to the point.
Lt. Pearson just smirks at her, "Because we figured you could prove useful to us. We can't talk to him. We can barely have him fully conscious while we have him out here because of how dangerous he is. We've seen the reports of what he did to some people in town. He slaughtered them. Because of this, we don't like to take chances. Though, I am surprised why he didn't kill you when we threw you in with him."
To be honest, Natalie herself didn't quite know either. If he is as dangerous as they claim he is, then why has he not attempted to kill her? Unless he planned to do so eventually.
She knows how intelligent he is. He could be using her for his own personal gain or as a ploy to help him get out of here. Then when he succeeds, only then maybe he will kill her.
Funny, how she never thought about that until now. And it made her uneasy to think about it.
Lt. Pearson could tell she seemed troubled, and a bit confused over what he just told her. Perhaps she had no idea either as to why this alien warrior decided to keep her alive.
But still, he wanted to see how far she can get with communicating with him. If she's successful, then they could finally start getting info out of him through her.
"Do you want your life back, Miss. Ricci?" He asks.
Natalie looks at him, trying to figure out where he's going with this.
"Why do you ask?" She asks, suspiciously.
"Because, if you can prove successful in teaching him more of our language and getting him to talk, then we can talk about letting you go. You can return back to your life, like none of this ever happened." Lt. Pearson told her.
Her heart leapt at the thought of getting out of here and getting her life back. But Natalie didn't really trust this bastard to keep his word. He can only be saying that to gain her trust and think she will be able to leave once she teaches Yeyinde more English.
She wasn't stupid, she knew these types of people. People like him and the rest here, don't just let people go. They keep them around long enough and then when they were done being useful, they got rid of them.
"You're lying. You won't let me go, regardless of if I were to be successful or not. And we both know it." Natalie pointed out.
"Not true, we have released others under our charge before. We gave them new identities and new lives before doing so. And we can easily do the same for you. You don't have to go back to Wildwood. You can go live anywhere else you want. Like Hawaii or Tahiti even. All we ask, is for you to cooperate. It's one simple task. Teach him our language and try to get him to talk to you about his tech." He stated.
He can spout out this bullshit from here until fucking doomsday. She still doesn't believe a word that comes out of his vile mouth.
Natalie glared and looked away from him. Her gaze went over to the table and her eyes roved over the many weapons and pieces of armor that cluttered it.
Her eyes landed on something long, round, and hollowed inside. It looked like...a metal wrist gauntlet? Then her mind went back to their little game of charades.
'That must be the thing he was talking about. The thing that goes around his wrist and forearm.' She thought.
Then her gaze landed on something small beside it. The object was small and quite thin. It kind of looked like a remote control. From where she was seated, she could see it was rectangular in shape.
'That has to be the translator!' Her mind screamed.
And just her luck, both the wrist gauntlet and translator were a couple of the items closest to her on the table. Now, she needs to find a way to get to it.
Lt. Pearson watched as she eyed the table full of the creature's tech.
"You seem quite interested in the tech. You sure he hasn't mentioned anything about it?" He asked.
Natalie was silent for a moment and shook her head. Then she casually got up and walked over to the table. She made sure to keep her back to them as she stepped up to it.
Now, she needed a way to distract them and snatch the small translator.
"A lot of these weapons look very basic. And you haven't even found out what they are or how to use them?" She asked, slightly looking over her shoulder.
Lt. Pearson just shook his head.
"Some we have an obvious idea. Others, not so much. That's why we would like for you to ask him when he learns our language a little better." He stated.
Natalie nodded and continued to let her gaze rove over the table. She spotted something round and somewhat compact in front of her a little further up the table.
She casually leaned over to get it, while at the same time, she crept up with her right hand, grabbed the translator, and shoved it beneath her waist band and into her underwear.
"Whoa, whoa, hey! What are you doing?" One of the three men said as he approached her.
Natalie somewhat froze, worried she was caught. Then the guy reached out and moved the small, round compact object away from her reach then placed a hand on her shoulder and lightly pulled her back.
She internally sighed with relief. Then the man led her back to her seat and had her sit back down.
Hopefully, she will be returning soon, and they won't notice the small translator is missing. Her gaze wen tback to Lt. Pearson.
"Sorry, was just curious. Was wondering what some of them were. One of them looked like an oversized compact mirror." She lightly joked.
He grinned at her, "I can assure you, it's not. And had you figured out how it opens, I guarantee you probably would've lost a hand. That was one weapon we were able to figure out.
Took us about a week, but when we finally got it to work, we were surprised when several blades shot open from it. The damn thing actually ended up taking one of the weapon's tech's fingers off in the process."
Natalie's eyes widened in shock, deeply regretting trying to touch it, and she sure as hell didn't need to know that last detail.
"Duly noted. Thanks for telling me." She blurted out, a bit uneasy.
A couple of the men chuckled at her reaction. Lt. Pearson just smirked at her unease to what he just told her.
"So, what do you say? Have you changed your mind? Because I assure you, we keep our word here. You help us out with the alien specimen, and we will let you go." He repeated his earlier statement.
Natalie still didn't want to believe him. Despite how badly she wanted it to be true if it meant she could get out of here. But a part of her also didn't feel right about betraying Yeyinde like that and possibly leaving him behind to what will eventually be a grim fate for him.
"I'll try, but there are no guarantees on how much of our language he can learn and retain." She smoothly lied, hoping he didn't catch her deception.
He smiled that fake smile at her again, "That's all we ask, Miss. Ricci."
She nodded, "Now what?"
"Well, if there is nothing more to add, then I guess we can take you back." Lt. Pearson stated as he stood up.
He then motioned for her to stand. Then one of the men grabbed her arm turned her around and began to lead her out of the lab.
As they walked her out, they led her down a few halls. She looked around trying to memorize certain aspects and area of each hall. Perhaps, if her and Yeyinde can find a way out, she can direct him to the lab where his things were.
It took them about five minutes before they stopped her in front of a familiar door.
One of the men, swiped his card over the keypad. The red light flickered green and he forced the handle down to open the thick door. Then they lightly pushed her through the opening and pulled the door closed behind her.
She saw Yeyinde on the floor. And not a moment later, his head nodded from side to side and he let out a grunt.
Natalie ran over to him to see if he was alright. His eyes opened and his gaze shifted to her as she crouched down beside his head. The young hunter acknowledged her for a moment before he sat up.
She moved back to give him space and he slowly made his way to his feet and stood before her.
She then circled around to stand in front of him. Natalie made sure that his tall frame was blocking the camera as she stood before him. Then she slowly reached down beneath her waistband and into the front of her undies and pulled out the small metallic object.
When it was in full view, his eyes lit up and he slowly reached out to take it.
He fumbled with a few small buttons on the side as he activated it.
"Is that it?" She asked.
Then she heard some words in his own language play over it to him. He looked at her and smiled.
"Sei-i." He said.
"Yes." A recorded mechanical voice sounded out of the small device.
Looks like she was able to get ahold of the translator. They could only hope that Lt. Pearson and the others don't find out. Should start getting interesting now without the issue of language barriers.
Until Next Time ;)