Blue Through the Grey
Chocolate
PART 3: THE LAMB
I don't question anything here. Mostly because I'm getting food and It's damn good food. I lay in my bed, looking up at the ceiling, wondering where I'd be if I was still out in the wilderness. I roll over and look at Reilly's empty bed. Wait, empty? That little shit. I ease my way out of bed and look over at Jessica, making sure she's asleep. I put on my shoes and open the door. SQUEEEEEEAAAAK. I close my eyes tight and pray no one heard the door. I tiptoe, well try to; down the hall and into the kitchen. Oh look, there he is, snooping through the food.
"Guess you didn't get enough today?" He jumps about 15 feet into the air.
"Shit, Jennifer. Don't sneak up on me," He continues to look for the food.
"If you're caught, the whole squad gets their ass ripped."
He signals me to keep my voice down. "I'm looking for some damn chocolate. Aha, found it."
He swings a bag of Hershey chocolate in my face. Bastard. "You gotta share."
He smiles, the most gorgeous smile I've ever seen. He's a lady killer. "Gotcha," He rips open the bag and hands me a piece. Of course, I'm hesitant at first. YOU KNOW, IF THEY FIND AN OPEN BAG OF CHOCOLATE, YOU'RE DEAD. There won't be a bag. JENN, THINK OF THE RISK. I am thinking of the risk but I also really want chocolate, fuck off brain. I devour that chocolate, probably not looking so hot doing it either. But damn, it's so good. We sit in front of the fridge, eating and laughing at old stories.
"My grandma had this dog that she'd carry in her purse," He says, shoving the sliver into his mouth. "She tried to get it out one time and it bit off the top of her middle finger. Damn funny."
"Yeah. We had a dog named Scooby that bit my little brother's toe. Had to be surgically put back on. He had the ugliest scar ever...and the ugliest toe."
"Jennifer," He says, looking at the floor.
"Reilly."
"Do you think...naw, never mind. It's stupid."
"What is it?" I ask, impatiently.
He puts his mouth to my ear, like someone could be listening and I'm almost positive they are. "Do you think they're the aliens. The people that run this place."
"I'm not sure. I don't know what to believe anymore. But why would aliens exterminate us and put a roof over our heads?"
"Huh, I dunno." He pulls away and shoves more chocolate in his mouth.
"Jennifer!" A woman yells. My mom. "Dinner is on the stove, your dad and I are going out!"
"Okay, have fun!" I run downstairs to grab the food and plop down on the couch. I clicked on the TV and turned the channel to Fox News. Dad stopped watching it when the mothership appeared. He didn't want to hear that they were here to kill us, he wanted to stick with his story. "They're here to share resources" He'd say, but he knew in the back of his head. He knew what they were here for. On today's news, Blond girl arguing with an old man that almost looks like Donald Trump but clearly isn't. They want to colonize with us, she says, flailing her arms around. NO, THEY WANT TO MURDER US, Donald Trump lookalike says. His eyes squinty, what's he looking at? Her boobs? They are kinda hanging out. Guess that's why Fox girls are so popular. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't afraid. The idea of certain death is terrifying. Screen changes to live feed of the mothership and in the background, the two are still arguing. IF THEY WANTED PEACE, THEY'D CONTACT US, he screams. No, that's not always the case, she tries to justify it with background on aliens. How the hell does she know anything about aliens? I change the channel, brown haired girl fighting with a blond in a purple dress. Aliens this, aliens that. Channel changed. President giving a speech about aliens. Channel changed. Close encounters of the third kind. Channel changed. Ancient Aliens. Where's adult swim? they'd be saying something very punny about the little green men hovering in our atmosphere. I jump off the couch and head to the kitchen, turn on the sink, watch the water until it steams and then wash the dishes. I look up, seeing what's going on outside. I see a man with a torch, dressed in all black and then a crowd of people with torches in all black. Some kind of religious group? Or maybe some bandits? I almost forget that my hand is being scalded by hot ass water. I pull it out quickly and let out a tiny whimper. I wasn't too worried about the people dressed in black, there hasn't really been a time of rest since the alien showed up. It started out as OMG ALIENS and then OMG RIOTS then OMG LETS GET THE HELL OUTTA HERE. Humanity is fragile when it comes to something overwhelming.
His lips press against mine, the taste of chocolate leaves his mouth and enters mine. Sounds kinda gross, but it's delightful. It lasts about 3.5 seconds and when he pulls away, there's a smile on his face, on my face too. Why is this gorgeous man kissing a girl with bruises and scars across her face? Why do we do anything anymore? To feel less lonely. We finish off the bag of chocolate and head back to our room. His bed is about 4 feet from mine. We lay on our sides, staring at each other, the smiles never leave our faces. I'm pretty sure I'm even smiling when I'm asleep. After working all week and pushing my body to its limits, it's finally free day. White tank-top that's kinda small and blue silky shorts that are kinda big. I slip on my shoes and head out the front door of the facility. I have to show my pass to two armed guards at the treeline before I can enter. When I do, I take off. Full sprint, wind flowing through my hair that's been out of a ponytail since I got here. I smell the faint aroma of grapes and I realize, that's my hair and my body. I finally got the smell of forest and death off of me. I run until I reach the water's edge. A crystal clear lake, the light shimmers off of it. The sun beaming its rays upon my bare skin gives such a feeling of bliss that cannot be paralleled. I bend over, hands on knees and take in a deep breath of cool crisp air that I've been dying for. I look to my right and see someone sitting at a picnic table. He's fiddling with something in his hands. I don't hesitate, he can't be someone trying to kill me. He has no weapon. I inch closer to him and his face turns towards mine. Oh shit, I know that guy. I shot him, I killed him. His eyes widen. He leaps from the table and wraps his hands around my throat. I can see the hatred in his eyes, the pure terror, the softness of a boy lost in a vast ocean. Then his hands unlatch and he looks away.
"I'm so sorry," I whisper, barely loud enough for him to hear me.
"Me too. You had no right to trust me," He finally looks at me, but it seems too painful to him. "Can I have that?" He's pointing at the locket around my neck.
"Yeah. It is YOURS. I just wore it to remind myself of-"
"Of what you done."
"Yeah. Of what I done. I'm so sorry," I say. Why did I shoot him? Why didn't I stay to make sure he was alive. No, I checked, He was dead. That's why I left.
"Water under the bridge," He puts the locket deep into his pants pocket.
"I'm Jennifer."
"I'm Noah," He raises his hand.
"The new guy," I smile and shake it. "Can I...see?"
He lifts his shirt, his chiseled body is almost too perfect. There's nothing but a scar. I touch it and he winces, like it's hurting him so I pull my hand back. "There's nothing there," I say, amazed. "When they found me, I had a bullet wound in my arm and after two days of being here, it was gone"
"It's like some sort of magic or advanced technology."
And that's when it hits me. The aliens are beings thousands of years more advanced than us. "What if they're them?" Yes, Reilly, I understand now. What if the humans protecting us are in fact the aliens destroying us.
I don't question anything here. Mostly because I'm getting food and It's damn good food. I lay in my bed, looking up at the ceiling, wondering where I'd be if I was still out in the wilderness. I roll over and look at Reilly's empty bed. Wait, empty? That little shit. I ease my way out of bed and look over at Jessica, making sure she's asleep. I put on my shoes and open the door. SQUEEEEEEAAAAK. I close my eyes tight and pray no one heard the door. I tiptoe, well try to; down the hall and into the kitchen. Oh look, there he is, snooping through the food.
"Guess you didn't get enough today?" He jumps about 15 feet into the air.
"Shit, Jennifer. Don't sneak up on me," He continues to look for the food.
"If you're caught, the whole squad gets their ass ripped."
He signals me to keep my voice down. "I'm looking for some damn chocolate. Aha, found it."
He swings a bag of Hershey chocolate in my face. Bastard. "You gotta share."
He smiles, the most gorgeous smile I've ever seen. He's a lady killer. "Gotcha," He rips open the bag and hands me a piece. Of course, I'm hesitant at first. YOU KNOW, IF THEY FIND AN OPEN BAG OF CHOCOLATE, YOU'RE DEAD. There won't be a bag. JENN, THINK OF THE RISK. I am thinking of the risk but I also really want chocolate, fuck off brain. I devour that chocolate, probably not looking so hot doing it either. But damn, it's so good. We sit in front of the fridge, eating and laughing at old stories.
"My grandma had this dog that she'd carry in her purse," He says, shoving the sliver into his mouth. "She tried to get it out one time and it bit off the top of her middle finger. Damn funny."
"Yeah. We had a dog named Scooby that bit my little brother's toe. Had to be surgically put back on. He had the ugliest scar ever...and the ugliest toe."
"Jennifer," He says, looking at the floor.
"Reilly."
"Do you think...naw, never mind. It's stupid."
"What is it?" I ask, impatiently.
He puts his mouth to my ear, like someone could be listening and I'm almost positive they are. "Do you think they're the aliens. The people that run this place."
"I'm not sure. I don't know what to believe anymore. But why would aliens exterminate us and put a roof over our heads?"
"Huh, I dunno." He pulls away and shoves more chocolate in his mouth.
"Jennifer!" A woman yells. My mom. "Dinner is on the stove, your dad and I are going out!"
"Okay, have fun!" I run downstairs to grab the food and plop down on the couch. I clicked on the TV and turned the channel to Fox News. Dad stopped watching it when the mothership appeared. He didn't want to hear that they were here to kill us, he wanted to stick with his story. "They're here to share resources" He'd say, but he knew in the back of his head. He knew what they were here for. On today's news, Blond girl arguing with an old man that almost looks like Donald Trump but clearly isn't. They want to colonize with us, she says, flailing her arms around. NO, THEY WANT TO MURDER US, Donald Trump lookalike says. His eyes squinty, what's he looking at? Her boobs? They are kinda hanging out. Guess that's why Fox girls are so popular. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't afraid. The idea of certain death is terrifying. Screen changes to live feed of the mothership and in the background, the two are still arguing. IF THEY WANTED PEACE, THEY'D CONTACT US, he screams. No, that's not always the case, she tries to justify it with background on aliens. How the hell does she know anything about aliens? I change the channel, brown haired girl fighting with a blond in a purple dress. Aliens this, aliens that. Channel changed. President giving a speech about aliens. Channel changed. Close encounters of the third kind. Channel changed. Ancient Aliens. Where's adult swim? they'd be saying something very punny about the little green men hovering in our atmosphere. I jump off the couch and head to the kitchen, turn on the sink, watch the water until it steams and then wash the dishes. I look up, seeing what's going on outside. I see a man with a torch, dressed in all black and then a crowd of people with torches in all black. Some kind of religious group? Or maybe some bandits? I almost forget that my hand is being scalded by hot ass water. I pull it out quickly and let out a tiny whimper. I wasn't too worried about the people dressed in black, there hasn't really been a time of rest since the alien showed up. It started out as OMG ALIENS and then OMG RIOTS then OMG LETS GET THE HELL OUTTA HERE. Humanity is fragile when it comes to something overwhelming.
His lips press against mine, the taste of chocolate leaves his mouth and enters mine. Sounds kinda gross, but it's delightful. It lasts about 3.5 seconds and when he pulls away, there's a smile on his face, on my face too. Why is this gorgeous man kissing a girl with bruises and scars across her face? Why do we do anything anymore? To feel less lonely. We finish off the bag of chocolate and head back to our room. His bed is about 4 feet from mine. We lay on our sides, staring at each other, the smiles never leave our faces. I'm pretty sure I'm even smiling when I'm asleep. After working all week and pushing my body to its limits, it's finally free day. White tank-top that's kinda small and blue silky shorts that are kinda big. I slip on my shoes and head out the front door of the facility. I have to show my pass to two armed guards at the treeline before I can enter. When I do, I take off. Full sprint, wind flowing through my hair that's been out of a ponytail since I got here. I smell the faint aroma of grapes and I realize, that's my hair and my body. I finally got the smell of forest and death off of me. I run until I reach the water's edge. A crystal clear lake, the light shimmers off of it. The sun beaming its rays upon my bare skin gives such a feeling of bliss that cannot be paralleled. I bend over, hands on knees and take in a deep breath of cool crisp air that I've been dying for. I look to my right and see someone sitting at a picnic table. He's fiddling with something in his hands. I don't hesitate, he can't be someone trying to kill me. He has no weapon. I inch closer to him and his face turns towards mine. Oh shit, I know that guy. I shot him, I killed him. His eyes widen. He leaps from the table and wraps his hands around my throat. I can see the hatred in his eyes, the pure terror, the softness of a boy lost in a vast ocean. Then his hands unlatch and he looks away.
"I'm so sorry," I whisper, barely loud enough for him to hear me.
"Me too. You had no right to trust me," He finally looks at me, but it seems too painful to him. "Can I have that?" He's pointing at the locket around my neck.
"Yeah. It is YOURS. I just wore it to remind myself of-"
"Of what you done."
"Yeah. Of what I done. I'm so sorry," I say. Why did I shoot him? Why didn't I stay to make sure he was alive. No, I checked, He was dead. That's why I left.
"Water under the bridge," He puts the locket deep into his pants pocket.
"I'm Jennifer."
"I'm Noah," He raises his hand.
"The new guy," I smile and shake it. "Can I...see?"
He lifts his shirt, his chiseled body is almost too perfect. There's nothing but a scar. I touch it and he winces, like it's hurting him so I pull my hand back. "There's nothing there," I say, amazed. "When they found me, I had a bullet wound in my arm and after two days of being here, it was gone"
"It's like some sort of magic or advanced technology."
And that's when it hits me. The aliens are beings thousands of years more advanced than us. "What if they're them?" Yes, Reilly, I understand now. What if the humans protecting us are in fact the aliens destroying us.