15 for 15 Contest --- Closed

"What the...?"

I opened my eyes and jumped back. Not only was my face wet, but the smell. Oh god...the smell. It took me a minute to take in the room. The first thing I noticed was the dog. Apparently that's what woke me, brought me back from the edge of dreams.

There were others just past him, though, figures hiding in the shadows. It was dark. Why was it so dark?

"Um... hello? Does anyone know where we are? Hello?" The cold concrete under me caused shivers up my spine. I could see the figures huddling together, but still not one of them spoke. I pushed up from my position, shoving the dog away from me.

"Hey, I can see you all there. What's going on? Where am I? Who are you?" I stumbled to my feet. It hurt. My whole body hurt actually. I looked down to see why, and noticed a gash five or six inches long running down my left thigh. Blood caked around the edges of it, drying.

I've been here a while. I reached down to touch my leg, and took a look back over at them. They still stood silent, hiding just out of reach, but one man had stepped forward. Not close enough to see mind you, just closer. Not a word, though, not an f-ing word of explanation.

"Look, Dude. I'm running out of patience with you and your friends over there. What the hell is going on?"

"You must forgive their silence. All of our silence really. It's just that you're the first we've seen in a while."

"First what?"

"First person from home. We've been on this ship so long. We'd thought they'd never return us to our home. And now... well you're here. Which means we're close. Is it different? Has home changed?"

"What do you mean this ship? What's home?"

"You really don't remember, do you? You're on a ship, an alien ship. We've all been on this ship for years. And none of us has seen Earth since we were taken. Since our service began."

"Aliens? What service? How...? I mean... what?" A pounding in my head started, practically knocked me off my feet. "I don't understand." I tried reaching out for the wall, steadying myself with the cold, hard rock.

"You're hurt. I'm sorry to tell you all this so fast, but we need to act before we travel too far away. The ship never stays near one planet for long. Please sit down and listen. We have to try and escape."

"You woke me up for this?" Damn dog.