merely shifted his gaze, watching as the alien moved closer and closer. The snake ignored him, his eyes only for Taryn, and she shivered, disgusted under his gaze. From his impressive size, she could only assume that he could take a hit and keep on coming. Her escape would rely solely on being able to take him out as quickly as possible, preferably with one good punch.
She watched him, about to shift slightly into a fighting position, when the stranger across the way suddenly moved so she didn’t have to.
The snake never saw it coming. His focus was on Taryn, and as he took his first step next to the man’s cage, he was taken completely by surprise when one strong hand grabbed his shoulder. The man in the cage yanked, pulling him against the bars, and wound an arm around his neck. The snake gasped, dropping the new cup he had no doubt brought for Taryn and struggled against the attack, his legs kicking out as the man tightened his hold.
Getting desperate, the snake seemed to rethink his strategy and moved his hand from the man’s arm to his own hip, desperately grabbing about for his gun. The stranger watched, and silently applied more pressure to the alien’s neck. It wasn’t long before he stopped moving, his green body slumping against the cage.
Whether he was dead or simply passed out Taryn wasn’t sure, but from the way the stranger was grinning at the body in his arms, she had to guess that it was the first one. Releasing the choke hold to grab the creature up by the shoulder, the man reached out a hand through the bars to the alien’s belt, groping for something.
A black device, small and square, dropped from where the man was searching, skidding to a halt across the hallway floor to stop at Taryn’s cage. Taryn glanced at it, and then looked back at him.
They stared at each other.
Taryn weighed her options. She knew that the device could let her out, and she wasn’t sure if she wanted the guy across the way out with her. With a shrug, she bent and reached beyond the bars, just barely touching the device with the ends of her fingers. It was cold, something she hadn’t expected as they were in a desert, and she shivered when she curled her fingertips to slide it toward herself.
The man across from her gripped the cage bars when it moved closer to her, and she watched his reaction as she actually picked it up. His nostrils flared and his jaw clenched, but still, he didn’t say anything. Taryn raised an eyebrow, and took a look at what she’d gotten a hold of.
It appeared to be some kind of remote, though it was much bulkier than any on her planet. Ironic, as it also lacked all the bells and whistles Taryn was used to. No, the one in her hand was silent; a black brick in comparison. But there were quite a few buttons on the device, all soft to the touch and easily pressed. As she stared at them, wondering if any led to her cage or if it would take a combination of buttons instead, she had the sinking realization that she had absolutely no idea what to do with the remote. She looked at the man across from her again.
“You want this?” she said, holding it up to shake it in the light. His eyes followed it. “Then you must know how to use it, right?” Still, he said nothing. Taryn sighed. “Here goes nothing,” she muttered, bringing her arm back to toss it over to him with a scowl. It sailed across the room easily and he caught it, possibly with a smile, but then Taryn blinked and he was back in his shadows once more.
After a few seconds, she found herself thinking that maybe he didn’t know how to use it either. But then his cell door suddenly clicked open, a metal creak in the otherwise silent hallway. He emerged into the light with more speed than Taryn was expecting, stepping out of his cage to do a cautious sweep of the room.
“All right!” Taryn ran to her door, almost vibrating with the adrenaline surging through her. Once she was out of there, she could easily find her way back to the ship and awaken her crew. She stood behind the bars, pumped and ready to go, but the big guy wasn’t exactly making any moves