Invasive Species Part One by Daniel J. Kirk Page A

navigated over the broken shards of glass looking for something to cover his private parts. But the more he looked the more he knew there would be nothing in this room. There was nothing vaguely human except for the other bodies suspended behind him.
    He didn’t recognize any of the faces and decided not to be a pervert and stare at the naked women too long, afraid there was a camera hidden somewhere. And if he learned anything in his time working special operations for the government, it was that even when the power was out there was the chance that the cameras were working fine.
    He decided to look for the camera, hoping to wave some help his way.
    And then he heard it.
    It was alive whatever it was, it breathed and growled. It matched the hum of the room but felt wetter, like a drooling animal, rabid and anxious.
    Then it attacked.
    Derek caught a glimpse as the light revealed the strange beast. Its shoulders were like boulders squishing its slender face and forcing it’s massive jaw open like a snake with a thousand fangs. The rest of its form was humanoid except for what Derek thought was a tail. But Derek didn’t have time to stare. He fought for his life instead.
    Derek had been trained for hand-to-hand combat. Brazilian Jiu-jitsu was his forte, but his body was weak and he’d never used it in an actual fight. It had always been as a part of training and exercise. Still, the practice came in handy as he grappled the beast and dragged it to the ground where its thrashing couldn’t do much damage. He wedged himself beneath the beasts gnashing jaw and dug his elbow into its throat, hoping it was like most animals.
    The beast moaned and tried to force the fight back up to their feet, but Derek locked its legs and began to twist, feeling the bones close to snapping point. Then he jabbed with his elbow repeatedly until he heard the last breath knocked out of the beast.
    The beast jerked limp and then its dead weight was suddenly too much for Derek. He squirmed himself free and quickly remembered he was still naked making the fight and the memory of the beast’s hairy, scaly skin feel that much more revolting.
    A sharp searing pain struck his mind.
     
    Trees whipped passed the passenger side window. Derek couldn’t turn his head to see who was driving. But he could almost smell Melinda. He knew it was her and he knew whoever was in control of his body was with her. He tried with all his might to reclaim it. He raged inside his own mind trying to reach out, smash his head through the glass, anything.
     
    Derek coughed and he was in darkness again. Something about his body felt different. Warmth radiated between him and the body of the beast. It felt as if he was getting stronger. He couldn’t help but stand back up. He had more energy than he knew what to do with it. It was such a strange sensation after feeling trapped inside his mind, watching a scene play out that he couldn’t quite see or interact with. He just knew Melinda was in danger.
    “Put these on,” a voice surprised him from the darkness.
    In the flickering light the owner of that voice skirted back into the shadows of the pods.
    “Where did you go? Where am I?”
    “You’ll feel better once you put on the clothing, earthling.”
    “Earthling?”
    “Clothe yourself, Special Agent Derek Vogt. You don’t have time to question my word choice.”
    “I’m questioning a lot of things,” Derek said kneeling and picking up the jumpsuit. It was white with a single diagonal blue stripe from the left shoulder to his waist. It didn’t zip or button up instead it folded itself together as it formed to his body. As if things could get any stranger, even clothes didn’t seem the same. There was no doubt in Derek’s mind. He’d been a part of some strange government experiment and now he had lost his mind. But then again crazy people didn’t know they were crazy, right?
    “Better. This jumpsuit will protect you against the dangers that await and should