The Mamluks (The Mamluks Saga: Episode 1) (2 page)

Chapter 4

Madison checked the time on her cell phone. It was almost
two am, and we were still in the spaceship. She had been trying to pull up some
information—or get through to someone. But the service was out.

We had a few drop-ins, too. There were nine of us now,
crammed in a dark, cold hole. After introducing ourselves, everyone got quiet.
But in the background, I could hear a lot of crying and praying.

“Hey, Madison—you there?”

“Yeah, I’m here.”

“Tell me about yourself,” I went on, moving closer,
following her voice.

“There isn’t much to tell. Before this, I was just a
struggling LACC student. I had a place in Hollywood, right off Santa Monica
Boulevard—just me and a roommate.”

I bumped into her shoulder and stopped. “What were you going
to school for?”

Madison chuckled. “Performing arts. I wanted to be an
actress. LACC has a really good program. So, yeah—that was my dream.”

I nodded and smiled, thinking Madison was a great name for
an actress. “I’m sure you would have made it.”

“Thanks,” she said. “But that doesn’t matter now. I just
wish I could call my parents and see if they’re all right. I was actually on my
way to San Diego to visit them. That’s where I grew up.”

Suddenly, the ship stopped moving and the floor opened up.
We all fell on a pile of rubble. I grunted as I stood up. Madison got up and
faced me. I paused and studied her. She had long, light brown hair, light brown
eyes, and a mole on her cheek.
Very pretty. Yes, you definitely would have
made it as an actress.

The ship flew away, revealing a never ending row of people
lying face down on a demolished terrain.

“To the ground, Humans,” a soldier said, marching toward us.

As we moved forward to the line and dropped down, I looked
into the distance and checked the area. There were hundreds, if not thousands
of soldiers, spread out as far as my eyes could see. They were destroying the
city with their laser weapons, holding their arms out and blasting away.

That dreadful horn from before sounded, and another soldier
came marching by.

“Undress, Humans,” she called out.

Without hesitation, everyone rose to their knees and
stripped down to their birthday suits. I was trembling, having trouble taking
my clothes off. Finally, I got it together and stripped down. I lowered again
and braced myself, feeling the pain of the jagged rubble against my naked body.

“I can’t do this. I just
can’t
,” someone said,
weeping.

I looked up and saw a man walking out of the line, still
dressed.

“Don’t be a fool! Just do what they want,” someone said to
him.

The soldier lifted her arm and shot the man. His body split
in half like butter. Everyone nearby winced and looked away. But I couldn’t. I
looked on in complete shock, and my trembling got worse. The soldier pressed a
button on her device and shot again, this time widening the range and turning
the man’s remains into dust. A cold wind
whooshed
over us, and I finally
looked away.

Then a spaceship came out of the sky and landed in front of
the line. The soldiers in the area dropped to a knee and bowed their heads.

The ship opened, and an alien came marching down the ramp.
He was bald like the other males, wearing a red cloak, beige shirt, navy-blue
pants and black boots. He had the weapon on his arm, too.

The majestic figure slowly walked down the line, glancing
from left to right. “Humans of Earth. We are
Mamluks
, descendants of the
planet Marsden. I am Adomas, Champion of all Mamluks. Today, the conquest of
your planet begins. You will do as we say—or die.”

Adomas turned around and marched back to his ship. The
soldiers waited until he was in the air before rising. Then they got up and
dropped white bodysuits on us. And to complete the odd wardrobe, they gave us
white shoes that looked like slippers.

“To your feet, Humans. Dress yourselves,” a soldier called
out.

We got up, grabbed bodysuits and shoes and quickly put them
on. The material was soft and laced with tiny holes, like a sports jersey. They
were a little baggy on us, too. But the shoes fit fine.

Seconds later, a group of narrow spaceships came out of the
sky and landed beside us. A ramp opened at the center of each ship, and the
soldiers told us to go inside. Madison and I stayed close as we hurried to a
ship. But before going in, I scanned the crowd, trying to find Emily.

Wherever you are—stay strong.

Chapter 5

I woke up in a dimly lit room. My clothes had been taken
off, and I was now wearing a white bodysuit and matching shoes that looked like
house slippers. I looked around and realized I was in some kind of holding cell
with hundreds of people.

“Andrew?
Andrew
?” I said with a raspy voice.

The last thing I remembered was him helping me and that
dying woman off the floor. I checked the area in a daze, trying to figure out
what was happening.

“Can someone tell me how I got here?”

A bearded man looked at me and scooted over. “It was awful.
They lined us up like sheep, made everyone strip down and threw us these white
get-ups. After that, a bunch of ships dropped down and they sent us inside.”

 “But what about me? How did I get like this? I’ve been
unconscious.”

“They had someone close by undress you and put the bodysuit
on you. And a few others helped carry you to the ship.”

I sighed and moved closer to him. “What do you think they
are?”

“Aliens of some kind. Because they sure as hell ain’t
human—even though they look like us.”

“What do they look like?”

“They’re huge—each stands about ten feet tall, with muscular
bodies and faces that look like they were chiseled out of stone. The females have
hair—the males are bald.”

I pictured them in my head, and the first things that came
to mind were the Titans from Greek Mythology.

“Do you think they’re going to kill us?”

“I don’t know. Probably, at some point. But they’re keeping
us alive for some reason.” He flashed a kind smile and extended his hand. “I’m
Robert, by the way.”

I reached out and shook his hand. “I’m Emily.”

As I let go and pulled my hand back, I heard a dreadful
squeaking sound, like nails on a chalk board. I looked up and realized the top
of the ship was sliding open. We were right under the opening, too. Large
clumps of something came down on us. Robert and I, along with everyone nearby,
moved out of the way.

The clumps continued and piled up fast. Then, after a few
seconds they stopped falling. The ship closed up, and we moved toward the pile.
Robert dropped down, took a handful of the goop and sniffed it. Lastly, he
tasted it and grew a thin smile.

“It’s food.”

Right away, like a pack of wolves, everyone started pushing
and shoving, trying to get to the pile. Someone knocked me to the floor from
behind and dove on the pile.

“Stop, stop! That’s enough!” Robert yelled. “We need to
portion this out so everyone can eat.”

After hearing his wise words, more joined in. “He’s
right—he’s right,” a few called out as one.

They helped each other hold back the ones who were attacking
the pile. A small scuffle broke out. But after some shouting, and more words of
wisdom from Robert and the others, everyone calmed down.

Robert took a deep breath. “Don’t worry. Everyone will eat.”
He turned and spread everyone out. “Now, let’s get in a line. Women and
children first. And I’ll need a few volunteers.”

Without thinking twice, I got off the floor and stepped up.
A few others came over as well. Robert got the volunteers situated in a row,
facing the line. There were six of us including Robert, giving out one handful
to one person at a time. It took a while, but we got a portion to everyone.

Afterward, we checked the remains. There wasn’t much left.
Maybe four or five handfuls.

Robert put his head down and tried to walk away. “You guys
eat up. I’m sure they’ll send more down at some point.”

I shook my head and grabbed his arm. “No. There is more than
enough for all of us.”

We sat down together. The others took a seat beside us and
grabbed a handful. I took the last piece, split it in two and put the other
half in Robert’s hand.

He smiled and gave me a warm look. “Thank you.”

Chapter 6

The food they sent us tasted like beans. There was a little
pushing and shoving at first, but in the end, everyone got a small portion.
Madison and I were sitting together by the wall, finishing off our portions.
Now that we had a little information, I was obsessively pondering the
situation.

The bodysuits let me know the Mamluks came prepared. Maybe
they had been watching us somehow? Or maybe they had already been here?

Moments later, the ship started moving. “God, what now?” I
groaned, looking up.

We took off in a hurry and landed just as fast. The ramp
opened, and I could hear the Mamluks shouting orders from outside.

“Come forward, Humans!”

We got up and headed toward the exit. And as we waited in
the slow moving line, I heard people crying and screaming like they were
walking into a pit of dead bodies.

“It’s all gone!” a woman cried out in horror.

Finally, we reached the exit and went down the ramp. My
mouth dropped open and my eyes got wide. Madison was breathing out of control,
like she was having an asthma attack. I went numb as we moved forward, looking
around in disbelief.

“
God, no
,” I cried.

The entire city was leveled. All that remained was miles and
miles of blistering rubble. We walked into a sea of humanity and stopped when
there was no room to move.

There were hundreds of soldiers patrolling the area and
dozens of ships flying overhead.

A soldier walked by, carrying a stack of shovels.
“Humans—take these tools and dig deep.” Then he threw the shovels to the
ground. He went on, throwing more and more shovels at us.

Still shaken, we each staggered to the growing pile of
shovels and picked one up. Wasting no time, Madison and I got to work.

“Well, at least we know why they’re keeping us alive,” she
said.

I let out a miserable sigh. “
Yeah
.”

Chapter 7

I picked up a shovel and let out a quiet, aggravated
screech. “I can’t believe this is happening.”

Robert reached out and gently rubbed my shoulder. “It’ll be
all right, Kid. We’ll find a way out of this.”

One of the aliens came over and crouched next to me. I
trembled a bit and got busy. Robert picked up his pace, too. As I bent down and
shoveled away, her hand went over me like a dark cloud. I cried, thinking she
was going to hit me. Yearning for protection, I glanced at Robert. He was
staring at me, ready to jump in at any moment.

I felt her hand touch my head and slowly go down my back.
“This victory has been unpleasant. I expected more from your kind.”

I inhaled and froze. My heart was beating so fast.
Please
don’t—please don’t.

“You are fortunate to be female,” she went on, sliding her
finger around to my stomach and up to my chin.

I looked up and saw her face. She was smiling, and had an
eerie look in her eyes.

Then, surprisingly, she brushed some dirt off my face. “You
are beautiful as well. That gives you an advantage.”

I tried to say something but stammered over my words.
Desperate to relax, I
slowly
exhaled. “My name’s…Emily.”

She chuckled. “Are you afraid,
Emily
?”

I nodded quickly. “Yes—I’m terrified.”

She laughed, turning toward another alien. “They are very
fragile. Perhaps we have chosen the wrong species.”

He walked over and looked me up and down. “Leave her alone.”
Then he waved the other alien away.

She got up and gently shoved me. Still, that light tap sent
me stumbling to the ground. She glanced at me before walking off, smirking.
Robert helped me up and brushed some dirt off my back.

I heatedly slammed my shovel into the soil. “Great, now
they’re humiliating us. Toying with us for fun.”

Robert gave me a one arm hug. “Well, they look like us. So I
guess they act like us, too. I’m just glad she didn’t hurt you.”

I was so mad I wanted to shove my shovel up her ass. But
having Robert there calmed me. I leaned into him as the sun came over the
horizon. It was pleasing to see the light after enduring the darkest night of
my life. The warmth covered me like a blanket as I looked on.

And lastly, I closed my eyes and imagined I was back in my
old bed. “You’re right. We’ll find a way.”

Chapter 8

It had been a while since the first night. Most of the guys,
including me, had full beards now. Our white bodysuits were filthy, and I had
lost count of how many holes we had dug. About seven people that I knew of had
broken down and tried to run. They were all killed.

So far, the only things the Mamluks put in the holes were
giant trees and huge plants that had strange leaves—indubitably ones from their
planet. Eventually, they realized we couldn’t work nonstop for long periods of
time. So they gave us breaks throughout the day. And at night, they let us
sleep. For food, they were still feeding us that goop that tasted like beans.
Along with that, they gave each area a barrel of water.

We'd been working for what seemed like half the day.
Finally, a soldier stepped forward and sounded the horn for break. Everyone
plugged their ears as the annoying blare echoed across the land.

Madison hunched over and let out a deep
huff
. “It’s
about time.”

The Mamluks spread us out and dropped a barrel of water.
Then they made us line up. There were four soldiers watching us. One at the
front of the line, one on each side of the line, and one in the back.

“Remember—get what you can and move on,” a soldier called
out.

The barrel was about eight feet tall. The soldier at the
front of the line yanked a cork out the top of it, leaned the barrel forward
and allowed the first person to come up. When it was my turn, I jogged to the
running water and took a few gulps. I hurried back to the hole we were working
on and took a seat on the edge.

After Madison got her drink, she walked back to the hole and
took a seat beside me. She grunted sorely and reached down to her right calf.

“You all right?”

“Yeah, I’ll be OK.”

I jumped into the hole and took her right leg. “Let me help
with that.” I massaged the calf tenderly whenever she would wince.

Madison smiled and put her hands back. “Thanks, Andrew.”

Afterward, we got back to work. The Mamluks marched past us
like hall monitors, crossing their arms and pausing to check certain areas. It
was so degrading, and I realized that I’d had enough. But if I was going to
make a run for it, I didn’t want to do it alone.

“Have you thought about trying to escape?” I asked Madison.

She sternly shook her head. “No. This is it for us.”

“Come on. With a good plan we could make it.”

Madison gave me a heated look. “Andrew—just stop.” She
slammed her shovel into the dirt and dug out a big chunk.

I put my head down and got back to work.

But luckily, a man to my left leaned in and offered some
helpful advice. “You know, I’ve heard whispers about openings in the ground,
scattered all over this terrain. Looks like they missed a few spots when they
tore up the roads.”

Gradually, I nodded. “The sewers.”

“Exactly,” he went on. “I wouldn’t be surprised if someone
else has tried it.”

I glanced at him, wondering. “Would you?”

He quickly shook his head. “Hell no. Too risky.”

“I agree,” Madison cut in.

I shook my head. “No, it’s worth the risk. I mean, what have
we got to lose?”

Madison laughed. “Our lives.”

“Not much of a life anymore, is it?”

Madison stopped and glared at me again. Then she looked away
and went back to digging. “I’ll think about it.”