When They Come

It was Addir! He looked different! He no longer seemed like a full Saimien. His head and torso were like Alex’s—human! The rest of his body was his Saimien appendages. His hair was dark brown, but his dark eyes remained the same. He seemed to have a green plaid shirt on with a grey undershirt and blue jeans.

Alex looked at him from top to bottom. “What the—”

“Did I forgot to mention that we Saimiens also shift to match that of their other’s form?” Addir said, his voice smoother and more teenage. “That’s why we’re called Saimiens after all. We become the same as the one who we are paired with.”

Alex sat back on her knees and ran a clawed hand through her hair. “Oh,” she managed to say. “It’s cool—don’t get me wrong, but it’s still a lot to take in,” She breathed.

Addir smiled a toothy smile. “Take your time. We still have six hours to go,”

Through the rest of the day, Alex and John took turns driving but that’s not to say that John wasn’t skeptical.

“There is no way I’m letting you drive especially like…this,” He had said, gesturing to Alex. They had stopped at another gas station to refill.

“Oh, come on,” Alex replied. “They’re just…like…dog legs, they can still press pedals,”

“Sure, ‘dog legs’ with sharp talons for nails. They could tear them up, ruining our chances of getting to Kansas,” John said folding his arms.

“Give me one chance,” Alex answered, staring her friend dead in the eye. “Speaking of our chances, you need rest. I don’t want you sleepy for our suicide mission,”

John sighed and handed over his keys. “Who said it was a suicide mission?”

“It just feels like it,” Alex shrugged and slipped into the driver's seat.

During their ride, she noticed several other drivers staring at her incredulously. Their eyes were wide as they saw the half-alien girl causally driving down the road. It was humorous to see their mouths agape and eyes nearly popping out of their heads.

And when the kids in the back seat looked at Addir, their faces mimicked their parents’. Addir was lazily resting in the bed of the truck as if it was a chair or something.

Addir had explained that his human form always provided clothing. That was a plus. That meant they didn’t need to stop and snag some clothes for him. Alex couldn’t deny that it was strange for Addir to just ‘magically’ have clothes, but it wasn’t important.

Now, Alex had been driving for four hours now, but her eyes didn’t not burn with tiredness. Her sickness and nausea had cleared in which she was thankful. John was in the passenger seat, asleep. He looked tired and stressed now that he finally dropped that mask of seriousness.

Alex bit her lip. She had asked a lot of him today. Ordering him to ‘do this’ and ‘get it the car!’. And he had obeyed her. He was a really good friend. Alex asked herself how she managed to get such a good friend.

She thought that she should start to listen to him more often. For like orders. Not prank ideas. She knew where that led her. But he meant well. He had said he never knew that Cassandra would lash out and Alex believed him.

John rolled over, facing Alex now. His eyes opened and looked at her. Alex felt his gaze as she focused on the road.

“Are you doing alright?” He asked sleepily.

“I’m fine,” Alex replied. “And you?”

“What about me?”

“Are you ok? I’ve asked a lot of you today. I want to know if you’re still ok,” Alex answered.

“I suppose,” John responded, sitting up.

“I never thanked you,” Alex said quietly.

“For what?” John inquired curiously.

“For coming with me,” Alex breathed. “For being there when I was sick and everything before and after that. And…for being my friend. I know I can be a wimp sometimes and maybe a little bossy, but—”

“Alex, it’s alright,” John said laughing. “You’re my best friend. I love you for who you are,”

Alex’s cheeks warmed and she smiled. “You’re my best friend too,” She said softly.

John grinned. “So, how’s being part alien?”

Alex glanced at her glossy black claws and arms. “Pretty good,” She answered. “It feels weird having longer limbs all of a sudden. But I feel more agile and strong,”

“I wish I could say the same thing,” John sighed.

“But you are strong!” Alex said. “You’ve driven the car for hours on end and you may have carried me when I was sick. I’d say that was being strong. As for agile, you were very quick on your feet when we sprinted to the car. Besides, I’ve seen you run in track,”

John laughed. “You got me there,”

The car rolled up on the border of Long Island. The trio gasped as they craned their necks to look at the huge ship floating over them. It was bulbous just like the one that chased them hours ago and the color was exactly the same. The silver chains that dropped down from the spacecraft were thick, like four huge anchors, holding down a massive ship in the ocean.

“This is it,” Addir breathed as everyone unloaded.

“We need to get some rest first,” John recommended. “We can’t falter for even a moment when we’re up there,”

“Yeah,” Alex sighed. Now she was tired.

“How long do we have?” Addir asked.

Alex checked her phone. “Less than nineteen hours,” She replied. “Is that enough time?”

“Should be more than enough,” Addir nodded.

“Let’s not get too cocky,” John warned. “I’d give us five hours. Then, its time to move,” He said.

“Agreed,” Addir nodded.

Alex lay on the truck bed, trying to get to sleep. Addir had already fallen asleep and was next to her. John had taken the inside of the truck and cracked the windows.

She couldn’t sleep. The pressure was now weighing her down. Alex wondered if she could actually get onto the ship and destroy whatever machine would await her and her friends. Well, friend and bother.

It was a strange thought. Having an alien as a brother. But Addir had said whatever was in those teeth had attached themselves to her DNA. To her knowledge, that was hard to get rid of. She supposed it was cool. If she was someone else. But she wasn’t.

She shifted and Addir opened his eyes. His dark orbs observed her.

“Can’t sleep?” He whispered.

Alex shook her head. “I’m scared,” She breathed. “I never imagined that I’d be doing this. All of this. And it’s terrifying,”

Addir ran a clawed finger down her face caringly. “I know you’ll push through it. You did when you were sick. And when you got into that fight,”

Alex smiled weakly. “I hope you’re right,”