Free Charged - Book One by L.M. Moore

off.
    Then, the cornstalk plants started moving faster,
touching the tops of our heads, sliding across our faces. Now I was
kind of hoping someone would show up and arrest us. It was
startling, but they weren’t violent. I swatted at several that
touched my face and neck. It was like a cat purring against your
leg when you walked in the door — a very tall, annoying cat. After
a few more feet, we cleared the small section of plants and entered
a different section with much smaller plants.
    As we moved further into the clearing, I saw the most
beautiful waterfall I’d ever seen in my life. It ran from the
bottom of the dome to the top, an easy thirty feet. It came from a
large pool in the floor that seemed to be lined in crystals and it
sounded like a waterfall in slow motion. From what I could tell,
there were two layers. There was a gold fluorescent waterfall
running slowly like lava from the floor to the ceiling. And my
basic understanding of physics said this shouldn’t be possible. On
top of that layer was an orange sparkling layer moving slightly
faster in the opposite direction. They were flowing against each
other, simultaneously moving in and out of a large crevice located
at the top of the dome.
    Every drop that hit the glowing pond at the bottom
changed into a crystalline snowflake that floated out into the air
and dissipated as it touched the strange plants.
    We kept moving, but Aaron slowed so I could keep up
with him, now that my limp was severe.
    Everything was spectacular. One flower that we were
approaching caught my attention. It was about three feet tall and
had bright neon pink and white petals with a thick, black stem.
Every few seconds, a petal would fall to the red dirt, sprout tiny
white legs and then crawl back to the base of the plant. Then it
would dig itself into the ground where the flower was planted and
then a new petal would reappear.
     

CHAPTER 18
     
    “GENTLMEN, WELCOME TO STATION THIRTEEN,” a man said,
startling us as he walked slowly toward us from what appeared to be
the end of the brick-like path. Every step he took made the path
come to life with the dim blue light beneath his feet.
    “We always design our gates to open directly into two
sections of gardens. We find it to be an appealing entrance,” he
said.
    Aaron and I immediately noticed that all the plant
life became still, even the cornstalks in the previous dome.
    The man’s deep voice echoed against the walls of the
large dome. But something was wrong with this dome and everything
in it. I knew it and felt it in my bones. The revolver was still
hanging in my hand on my right side.
    As the man got closer, it was evident that he was not
a man at all. We stood there speechless and frozen.
    I suddenly thought that this must be what Zero felt
like. My heart started pounding against my ribs as this thing was
got closer to us. The creature looked like a bad mutation of a
human on steroids. It stopped about ten feet in front of us and we
looked up at him. It was an easy nine feet tall, with no hair and
you could see right through its skin into all the veins and glowing
arteries — circular, moving arteries. Its enormous glowing eyes
looked like gold slits, running four inches diagonally. Its head
was misshapen and too large for its body. It had two legs and two
arms with hands that could’ve probably crushed my skull with little
effort. Yes, it was in a suit, the male version of a suit, but at
over nine feet tall, it was like putting a suit on a dinosaur.
    After I picked my jaw up off the floor, it spoke
again in perfect English.
    “I don’t mean to be startling. All of our coverts are
topside and we don’t have your species to greet you at the moment,”
it said.
    Oh, God… did it just say “species?” Without thinking,
I pointed the gun at it. I was really hoping it was just an
experiment gone wrong. I could feel the sweat between my hand and
the metal as I squeezed the handle.
    “My name is Danel,” it continued.