Chapter 15: Prisoner

Gunner wasn't sure if it was nighttime.

Being tied up by large chains in a dark, cold room did that.

He remembered his father putting abducted humans in his ship, being devoid of light, given just enough nourishment to survive.

The storage door opened, the chains and gears which worked the steel garage door were noisy and sudden.

Earl smiled, wearing a light jacket and jeans with heavy boots. He looked Gunner over. Seeing the green alien helpless. Shirtless. Forced into a metal chair.

"Julie and Dave put in a good word for ya, Gunner." He slammed the door shut with a loud clang.

He pulled a small string hanging from the ceiling, and light beamed down upon the human and alien.

Earl sat on a metal chair across from Gunner, sitting so close, the alien could sometimes feel Earl's breath on his scales.

"You lizard bastard. You sure are ugly." Smiled the overweight man.

Gunner growled softly.

"You do speak, don't you? And not that gibberish your dead friend was speaking. I mean you speak true American." He lit a cigarette, puffing smoke in Gunner's face.

"Let me go. I'll tell you how my tech works. Please. Trust me." The alien spoke softly. Earl was taken aback by how 'normal' Gunner sounded. Almost like the voice of a teenager.

Earl inhaled smoke, he held the cancer stick between two fingers by his knee. "You talk good. For an alien. Look, Gunner, if I let you go, I think you'll call down your little buddies from your planet or wherever the hell you come from. Continue your invasion and kill all my men. You're probably good at lying. You got mind-altering powers or something. I'm sure."

"Then why are Julie and David okay? If I wanted to abduct and kill them, wouldn't I have done that already?!" Gunner yelled into Earl's face.

The human punched the alien in the mouth, Gunner's head flew to one side. Sending a mixture of blood and saliva to the floor from his mouth.

"Don't you talk to me like that. You're nothing. You ruined my country. You ruined good folks. Took their wives and kids away. You ruined my freedom. Now it's payback time." Sneered Earl.

Before Gunner could speak, Earl pressed his cigarette into the Bargs' knee.

Gunner yelled in pain.