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Joele moved toward the door with an angry flick of her tail.

She glanced over her shoulder; determination filled her eyes as she surveyed the group.

“It’s time to go.” She flashed a wide grin, showing off shiny white teeth with sharp fangs.

“About fucking time,” bitched Avery, wasting no time moving to Joele’s side.

“Stay low and let’s see if we can make it out alive. We’ll sneak around the building so the aliens don’t spot us.”

I grabbed Olivia’s hand and tugged her toward the exit with me.

“Once we’re out, we need to find a shuttle or ship. I’m pretty damn sure I could fly it,” said Avery.

My head snapped in her direction. “You can fly an alien ship?” My voice rose an octave.

Avery lifted her eyebrows and shrugged. “I fly shuttles between the Moon and Earth...I’m sure I can figure it out. It’s better than being someone’s plaything here.”

“Let’s go!” said Joele, waving for us to hurry and follow her outside.

We obeyed, and I released a tight breath, praying that we would make it off the planet alive.

Olivia hesitated.

I summoned all the confidence I had. In a low voice, I told her to stay close and prepared myself for what awaited us outside.

The commotion gave us the ideal cover to escape out the door and around the building.

The air was thick with the sounds of punches landing and people yelling in languages I couldn’t understand, drawing my attention to the bizarre scene we were fleeing from.

I was stunned to see the Zinids fighting a bunch of much larger, muscular aliens. Some had blue-green skin, while one of them looked less turquoise and more tawny colored. They were impressive and formidable looking, and I couldn’t tear my eyes away.

“C’mon!” Riley growled in my direction.

With Olivia now next to me, we hurried to follow the others toward a thick forest of blue, orange, and green trees of various sizes and shapes.

Next to the forest was an open field with a decent sized spaceship sitting in the middle of it.

It wasn’t huge and was likely more of a shuttle, not that I knew anything about space ships. It was sleek, and metallic looking, but I wasn’t sure it was made of metal as I got a better look at it.

Avery gestured and sprinted, with Riley and Joele right behind.

I was amazed watching them. They were in great shape.

Me , not so much.

When I saw how breathless Olivia was, I stayed close to her to make sure she didn’t get left behind. I held onto her arm to steady her when she stumbled. Olivia expressed gratitude with a smile and we quickened our speed.

We sprinted up the ramp and entered the ship through the open door, only to discover its enormous interior.

The rich scent of masculinity, mixed with an intriguing, exotic woodsy spiciness, caught me off guard as I took a breath.

My stomach flipped, wondering who the ship belonged to. If it was the muscular aliens, would they punish us if they found us?

I walked toward a wide corridor to see there were a couple of closed doors further down, and an open space at the end of the hall.

On my left appeared to be a cockpit, or whatever spaceship pilots called it.

Directly behind me, across from the open cockpit, were a row of seats bolted to the floor, with belts to strap over our shoulders.

Though based on the sheer height and size of the seats, I wasn’t sure how well the strap would fit my five-foot-six curvy frame.

“I’ll get this thing lit up,” said Avery, moving to one of the seats in the cockpit.

I took a seat, attempting to use the seat belt and failing miserably since the straps were made for someone much bigger than me.

The seat was well padded, and the orange fabric looked durable but felt soft to touch.

Joele pushed something on the wall and the door shut with a quiet click, then took a seat next to me.

Olivia followed my lead and took the seat on the opposite side of Joele.

“Hold on tight, this is bound to get bumpy,” snarked Joele.

Avery clicked two straps in place and retorted, “Yeah, I heard that.”

Joele grinned at me and I returned a tentative smile.

I hoped Avery could get us out of here before the Zinids realized we were missing.

Riley took a seat next to Avery in the cockpit and pulled the seatbelts over her shoulders to click them into place.

She glanced back at us with a curt nod then faced forward again.

Avery pushed buttons and ran her hands over strange symbols, like she was trying to figure them out.

The engine made a noise as the shuttle shook.

“Yes!” voiced Riley.

Avery didn’t say a word, her eyes remained glued to the control panel.

A screen appeared in front of her, displaying the nearby area, which I could just about make out because of the height of the cockpit seats.

The shuttle started to take off, wobbling from side to side.

I clutched the arms of my chair.

“You need to get us higher,” said Riley.

“You reckon?” Avery huffed at her.

The shuttle swayed right and then left, while I continued to cling to the solid armrests until my knuckles were white.

I side glanced at Joele to see she was staring at the wall in front of her, appearing the epitome of calm.

The shaking stopped, and the ship seemed to go up.

“We did it!” Avery and Riley both shouted at the same time.

The ship moved forward in a start-stop motion, like a manual car driven by someone learning how to shift gears.

We were jostled in our seats as the shuttle rocked from side to side. I glanced at Joele to see she had a pinched expression and her mouth was down-turned.

The room was filled with an uncomfortable silence and thick tension.

“Shit. Fuck. Shit,” Avery moaned.

“What?” Riley asked, her voice low and steady.

“We’re losing power.”

The shuttle started to plummet through the air.

Joele rolled her eyes and shook her head from side to side.

“Brace for impact,” yelled Avery.

I leaned my head against the back of my large seat still gripping the armrest until my knuckles turned white.

The craft suddenly stabilized before hitting the ground and skidding along the surface.

With a smile, I prayed we would be okay and reach safety.

The ship halted as the sound of metal grating against stone could be heard.

Avery removed her seat belt and stood, spinning around while scratching her head and scrunching up her face. “You three okay?”

“We’re far enough away to make a break for it,” said Riley as she unbuckled her seatbelt and quickly rose from her seat.

I stood and waited as Joele opened the door again.

The ramp stretched out and propped itself back onto the ground. The group of us dashed down the ramp to sprint toward the nearby forest.

My pulse raced, and I saw the look of panic on Olivia’s face that I was sure matched mine.

“Hax!” A commanding male voice called out.

Shit. It looks like we’re going to be slaves, after all.