After Humanity

Chapter Three

Rachel

"Well, well, what have we here?"

Rachel screamed as a large hand reached out for her, pulling her body in tighter towards her mother and the center of the bed. The hand retracted, but a moment later another pair of eyes peered beneath the bed, this time just behind Mama.

"What'd ya know, Gorn was right. Looks like there are at least two hiding under there."

Rachel closed her eyes tight as the heavy wooden bed frame scraped against the floor, shifting slightly before it was overturned, crashing heavily against the wall and leaving her and Mama entirely exposed.

"On your feet humans," a voice commanded.

Rachel felt hands grabbing her arm and she turned to see a horrifying figure just behind her. She'd heard stories of the sibla before. Of their rough gray skin, of their ice blue eyes and sharp teeth that tore through human flesh. In the flickering orange-yellow light of the lanterns they seemed every bit as monstrous as her worst nightmares.

"Mama!" Rachel cried out, desperately reaching for her mother as they were ripped from each other's arms. The sibla man only tightened his grip on her, taking hold of her outstretched arm as well and pulling it behind her back.

"'Mama is it?" he said, looking down at Rachel before directing his attention towards her mother. "Well Mama, this your only young one?"

Mama nodded, tears streaming down her face. "Rachel is all I have," she said. "Please have mercy on us. We have nothing to offer you. Just let us go."

Rachel turned from her mother to look at the sibla men occupying their small home. There were five of them. They were not of the same height, but all were taller and more threatening than any man she'd ever met before, all with the same cold, hardened, stare, armed with rifles on their backs and knives and clubs on their belts. 

Each was dressed in dark pants and shirts, likely to make themselves more invisible while hunting. She'd seen the men in her village do the same. But though they looked almost human themselves, there was something distinctly terrifying about the creatures surrounding them. Every ounce of her could  feel the danger, her skin crawling, her mind screaming silently to run, to fight of the tight grip that held her back though she knew it was impossible.

"Let you go?" the man holding Rachel scoffed. "How uppity these wild humans have become. Think they can tell us what to do?"

"What do you think of em Gorn?" another asked. Rachel watched as the largest of them stepped forward, a frown on his face.

"Well these two are sad examples of human flesh," the sibla man said. Barely worth the effort in breaking in here."

Human Flesh

Rachel had heard the stories. She knew what the others said sibla did with their human captives. Was it true? Could the monsters of her dreams have come to life? It didn't seem possible.

"Can't say I disagree," the man holding Rachel commented. "Look how skinny the female is. Probably been putting all her food towards keepin' this youngster alive." Rachel shrieked as he prodded her stomach.

"Thanks for that mama," he laughed as Rachel struggled against him. "Wild human young are getting harder and harder to find in these parts."

"Not that the girl's such a prize," the other commented. "Not too many little ones in this village we've found so far, and most of them are pretty scrawny. Suppose we have to take what we can get."

"Leave her alone!" her mother shouted futilely. The sibla ignored her.

"Got any more young hidden around here mama?" he taunted. "Might make up for how puny this one is."

"Mama, make them stop," Rachel cried, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Make them stop!"

"Please," her mother pleaded pitifully. "I beg of you. I swear she's all I have. Illness wiped out so many of our children this winter. Let us go. Our village is no threat to you."

"Nor is it very useful," Gorn snapped back. "Tried to hide, did you? Thought you all could get away without paying your dues? Well any undocumented settlements aren't paying their fair share. We're here to take what's ours and burn the rest to the ground."

"But we are free!" Rachel's mother protested desperately.

The sibla men only laughed at her.

"No such thing as a free human," Gorn answered. "All the animals of Earth belong to us. You should have known better. Perhaps if your men had not run like scared rabbits and hidden your village away, you might not have had to pay your debt with your child's life."

Rachel cringed as he kicked her father's unmoving body, tears still blurring her vision.

"No," Mama said, shaking her head. "We've already paid that debt. You already took my son. You can't have her too!"

The laughter only rang out again in response, all of the men seeming to be greatly amused by Mama's pain.

"You have no say in this human," one of the men replied, "and it was not I who took your other child. Look how entitled these wild ones are," he commented to his fellows. "Thinking that just because they failed to protect their young from another of our kind that they should be able to deny the next needy sibla who comes in search of sustenance. The world doesn't work that way," he sneered.

"Come on," Gorn said. "We're wasting too much time here. The mother would never be this desperate to hold on to that one if she had another hidden away. Take the girl and dispose of the female. Got no room for an old bag of bones. She's not even worth the work it would take to dress her. Probably only a few mouthfuls of useable meat on the whole carcass. But this one," he said, stepping forward and squeezing Rachel's check. "She'll fatten right up and make for quite a prize. The buyers love the young ones, especially the females."

"Mama?" Rachel felt the panic rise in her as the slaver holding her arm spun her roughly around and tied her hands together with a length of rope, unable to fully take in their words. She knew they were taking her away but Mama wouldn't let it happen. She'd promised. "Mama help me!"

"Please," Mama begged the sibla again, trying desperately to answer Rachel's cries of distress. "Please. Please."

"On your knees human," the sibla's harsh words were the only response to her mother's pleas. Though her captor pushed her towards the door Rachel managed to turn around enough to see her mother forced to the ground.

"Mama no!" she cried out, struggling to run back to her mother, tears streaming down her cheeks. This couldn't be happening. It couldn't! Mama's eyes met hers for a moment and the woman forced a weak smile, an odd ornamentation to the reddened eyes and tears staining her face.

"Just be brave Rachel," she said, her voice shaking. "You're my brave girl."

Rachel's eye went wide as she saw the sibla man beside her mother raise his gun and place the barrel against her temple. Mama closed her eyes.

"No!" Rachel screamed. "Mama no!" She looked desperately at her captors, eyes scanning for any who might hear her plea. "You can't do this. You can't. No!!!"

Bang!

The sound of the rifle interrupted Rachel's final protests and her mother's body fell to the ground, a pool of red spreading out beneath her head.

 "Let's go, girl," the man holding her said, giving Rachel a big shove, forcing her stumbling out the door.

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Well Rachel seems to be in quite a bit of trouble...What will happen now that she is in her captors' possession and her parents are no more? You'll have to keep reading to find out;-) Thanks so much for following my new story! Hope you are enjoying so far. If you have any comments/questions/critique let me know! I LOVE to hear from readers. And if you are enjoying the story, don't forget to click the star:-)