"Observed in their natural environment, Homo Sapien; Engaged in feeding habits." The loudspeaker boomed above our heads.

I had heard it so many times before that the words had almost lost their meaning to me. At first, infuriating but now just white noise as we scrambled to wrap our grime covered hands around the meager supplies of food that had been dumped into the confines of our living space.

Once again, I was too slow and the others had gotten there first leaving me with only my hunger to gnaw away at my insides like so many times before. Throat burning like a fire’s blaze, I retreated back into the “shelter” to make sure it was still there. My bare feet make slapping noises against the cold concrete floors as I used my last shreds of energy to go towards the corner and dig away at the dirt wall revealing a single rusty nail that I had spent the last few months working out of one walls outside.

“So you’re really going to go through with it?” Nova came up beside me and whispered so quietly it was barely audible to even my ears.

If we were caught communicating the penalty would be death so I gave her a tiny nod. My heart wept for the children being born unto this era for they would never know what it was like to speak, to read, or even know words. It was forbidden, to discourage uprisings I suppose. But Nova and I were different, we were brought here when we were thirteen so we already knew the wonders of knowledge or what little bit of it we had picked up when we dipped our toes into the river of life.

I still remember the day they first came. The government freaked out and threatened nuclear war of course, I mean wouldn’t you if some random giant lizards showed up on your planet? But no, the Lacertilians offered us their peace and assistance and were welcomed graciously into our homes. They helped us and made our lives easier, it seemed so wonderful at the time, but then things changed.

People became lazier, and relied on the Lacertilians more and more, until finally even our government was in their scaly clutches. I can recall watching in horror as my dear sweet mother, whom I loved with all my heart, was skinned alive. That’s what they do. If you’re unlucky enough to be within 18-35 years old you might as well be dead, because otherwise you’re going to be displayed like a trophy upon Lacertilian skin. Their bodies alone are not fit to inhabit our planet, so they step into ours with as much disregard as I had for my homework back when things were normal.

But as I was only 13 when my mother was snatched from my arms, I was transported here with Nova, who was my neighbor at the time. This dilapidated old cage was a part of the Honger City Zoo, where the Lacertilian civilians would come and poke their slimy faces in at us along with the other critters that resided here.

But tomorrow was the day it would all change. Tomorrow was my eighteenth birthday, and the day I was set to be skinned. That’s why Nova and I had hatched a plan, a mediocre plan, yes. But it was our only hope at survival in the crude world that had become our own.

“I’m not sure if I can do it.” I whispered.

“Yes you can. You have to…” Her voice trailed off.

That night I barely slept. I’m not sure if it was the uncertainty of the following day, or the hunger that was my stomach consuming itself in brutal agony. But the sun gave rise to a new day, full of opportunities, and perhaps freedom.

I rolled over and looked at Nova, she was still sleeping. Dirt streaked her otherwise pale face, and the years of uncleanliness had taken its toll on what used to be golden tendrils of wavy hair. She looked different this way, without the intensity of her eyes now covered by pale flaps of skin.

“Nova,” My voice barely a whisper as I shook her awake, “it’s time.”

My response was a pair of emerald green eyes opening to smile at me, the golden flecks in them reflecting the sunshine that so effortlessly flowed from her despite our grim conditions.

“It’ll be okay, we’ve got nothing to lose.”

How she could be so positive when we were lying on the bottom of a cave that reeked of mildew of decaying flesh I could never be sure.

My fingers found their way to the dirt mound which concealed my minuscule treasure, and wrapped themselves around it so tightly I felt like I did in second grade when I gripped the monkey bars with such intensity that I feared my fingers might fall off and shrivel up before my eyes.

Then Nova kicked the plan into action. Squealing and screaming to the top of her lungs while I did the same and mimicked that I was fighting her. We weren’t stupid enough to use words in our performance, for that would send a whole pack of guards to deal with us wondering why the heck two peasants knew how to speak in the first place. But for something like this, they would send just one.

It didn’t take him long to get there either. Before he had even taken a step into our enclosure I could smell him. The stench of him was so powerful I imagined it crawling into my nostrils and hibernating there for the rest of my life never to be forgotten. Slimy and snakelike, venom intertwined, it made it painful just to breathe.

We went on; scratching and clawing at each other like the wild animals they thought we were, until finally he stepped in between us. Sun kissed skin entered my vision with a silky tuft of shimmering light blonde hair; he must’ve paid a pretty penny for that skin. Beautiful human skins don’t come cheap, that’s for sure.

But I wasn’t here to look at him, I was here for vengeance. Within a matter of seconds I was on top of him, stabbing and dragging the rusty, crooked nail through his smooth skin. It didn’t take long after that, once I cut away a bit of his protective human pelt his shiny scales were exposed to the oxygen that was so deadly toxic to their otherwise impenetrable skin.

It was honestly the most grotesque thing I had seen up until that point; his skin seemed to bubble like snail that was buried in a mound of salt. Grafts of it peeled off of him, and a fat scaled tail became nothing more than a hunk of flesh sizzling and consuming itself with a subtle hiss.

“Hope you got an insurance policy.” I spat before reaching down and plucking the ring of keys from what used to be his belt.

Looking around, I realized the others were watching us desperately and I became aware of the question that must’ve been reverberating though their minds.

“We can’t just leave them here.” I whispered to Nova

“But if we let them come, we risk our own skins…”

She was right, so I did the only thing I could think of to satisfy us both.

Speaking loudly and looking each of my cellmates in the eyes I broadcasted, “I don’t know if you can understand me or not, but when I open that door it’s every man for himself. I don’t care what your deal is; if you’re following us I will kill you. Everyone understand?”

Several of them just stared at me like I was crazy; their ribs visible even through our baggy red shirts. Others, however, nodded ferociously and I feared their heads might fly right off their bones which protruded so obviously from their grey and lifeless skin.

With that, I jammed the key in the heavy iron lock and gave it a quick turn. Then we were off, adrenaline pumping through my veins viciously as I gripped Nova’s hand in my own, running, literally, for our lives. We ran and we ran, barely aware of the heavy footfalls behind us as the remaining guards tried to chase after us, but we had the advantage.

We were used to these bodies, aware of the limits to which we could push them. They on the other hand, were not. They were clumsy, and that made them weak, vulnerable even, as we stormed to the towering gates that read ‘Honger City Zoo’.

The black iron bars of the gates were no obstacle for us, our bodies slender from involuntary starvation easily slipped through their icy grasp and we continued to flee.

Large buildings constructed of chrome and glass loomed above our heads as our feet carried us swiftly through the heart of the city. When we were absolutely certain that we were being followed no longer, only then did we stop to giving our aching bones a rest from the harsh contact of the concrete.

"In here." Nova said.

She had motioned to a storage warehouse, clearly abandoned from the ongoing war, and we slipped inside.

"That...was amazing." I said in between breaths.

A laugh bubbled from Nova's lips, a sound quite like the euphony of tinkling bells.

"I can't believe we did that!" She said with a grin.

"Yeah well don't get to comfortable, we're still vulnerable. We need to change."

I was back on track, the small victory forgotten as fear once again took up residence in the pit of my empty stomach.

We searched the building for anything that that might help us, but came up with little. Several pairs of worn in jeans, some flannel shirts, a couple of packages of saltines, and men's work boots. Sorting through it we managed to change into outfits that were less suspicious than our raggedy red garments that were the mark of enslaved humans. We still looked pretty run down, but at least this way we could pass for penniless Lacertilians.

"Your hair, let it down." I said

"Why?" Nova replied.

"The mark remember?" I said as if it should have been obvious, which it was.

"Oh, yeah."

A tone of sadness filled her usually perky voice as I could only imagine she was remembering how the mark had gotten there. I had one too of course, it was just another mark of the humans in slavery. It was a medium-sized circle, made up of five smaller ones symbolizing the five rules to which me must obey, tattooed as a permanent reminder on the back of our necks.

The Five Rules:
You will obey the government.
Speech, and communication will not be tolerated.
Violence is prohibited.
Personal possessions are forbidden and will be confiscated if discovered.
Attempting to interact with higher powers will result in death.

The pain that I can recall from them etching the circles into my skin made the nape of my neck burn with remembrance.


After having let down our hair that was still matted with debris, we set upon gorging ourselves on the crackers until they were gone and our stomachs felt like giant balloons ready to burst.

"What now?" Nova said as an eerie silence began to consume the room.

"I want to take another look around, see if there's anything else that we can take with us."

It wasn't really a lie...I did want to take a look around. Just not exactly for the reasons I had told Nova. I smelled something. It was a smell like nothing else in this world, a smell not easily forgotten. A rank smell just tinged with sweetness, almost as if someone had taken a piece of rotting meat and sprinkled a few drops of some cheap perfume on top.

My feet thumped up the decaying wood of the stairs upon which I had found myself until I finally was high enough to see if my suspicions were true or not. They were. Directly inside my line of vision stood a scraggly human body with no tattoo visible on the nape of his neck, oblivious to my presence here.

In his concealed claws he held a shiny metallic tube that snaked its way out of an aluminum box that read "Stofzuiger" across it it shimmering gold font. Next to the box, in a hole deeper than I could fathom, were the inside fillings of the human body. He was using the Stofzuiger to suck out their bones and organs, which were spat into the deep crater. Then when he was finished he placed the empty skins into a cardboard box to be shipped off to the nearest shopping center.

I felt like I was going to vomit, or pass out, but more than likely both. He slithered towards me and the scent of decaying flesh grew stronger as the odor invaded my senses. It was too overwhelming to bear and I only managed to scream for help that would not come before I collapsed into a puddle of my own vomit, and everything went black.