Dangerous Days of Daniel X

Chapter 53

I DON’T KNOW how long it was before I came to-I wasn’t even sure if coming to was what I was doing. All I knew for sure was that there was a worried face floating maybe a foot above me. The innocent face of a seven or eight-year-old girl.

I would have believed she was an angel-except for the terrible waves of pain throbbing in my stomach.

I looked down and saw that the girl had balled up my shirt and stuffed it into my wound. A tear rolled out of my eye onto the stone floor. Abducted, terrified, and most likely in shock, this little girl had probably saved my life.

Gestures like that were why humans were worth saving, I thought. Or even worth dying for.

“Thank you,” I whispered. “These ugly horse-heads better watch their step. They’re starting to get on my nerves.”

“Mine too,” said the girl.

“Hey, you! What do you think you’re doing in there?” came a voice. One of the aliens was crouching by the cell door. “Didn’t I tell everyone not to touch him?”

The little girl stared at him like a deer frozen in headlights, at least the way I’ve always imagined that cliché looks.

“Hey, give me back my wallet,” I croaked at her, loud enough for the thug to hear.

“Oh, why didn’t you say you were just robbing him?” the guard said, turning away. “In that case, go for it. You humans are lower than dirt. Tear each other apart. Go for it.”