Dangerous Days of Daniel X

Chapter 54

I SPENT the better part of the next hour lying there on the cold stone floor, writhing in pain, probably close to death. I’d lost what seemed like quarts of blood, and my intestines and vital organs must have been ripped apart by the gun blast.

Gut-shot down in the salt mine, I thought, starting to shake a little with the agony. Gee, my life had become the title of a country-and-western song.

A short time later, a door banged open and a couple of guards charged in. They were carrying electric stun guns.

“For me? You shouldn’t have.”

“Get moving, you filthy mammals,” one of the aliens yelled as he herded together the Earth kids I was sharing the chamber with. The little girl who’d helped me started to sob.

“Hey, guys, look! This one’s sprung a leak.” The alien laughed as he waved the cattle prod next to her tear-filled face. “I can’t believe we actually get paid to have this much fun.”

“You too, worm,” Seth said, tapping a couple of thousand volts near my face. “Get up! Get moving. Hold your intestines in.”

I probably should have been in an ICU, but I shot to my feet and stumbled out of the cage. No way I’d let them know how badly I was hurt.

“Nice acting job!” Seth said, and roared with laughter. “You could have been in one of my films. As an extra.”

It was pitch-black outside in the desert. And freezing cold. At two, maybe three o’clock in the morning.

Why did I have the feeling that we weren’t going on a nature walk?