Antonio didn’t know how long they had been there. It felt like forever. There was no hope, no sense of control. They were captured, trapped until the end of their days.

The man’s head slowly nodded down before snapping back up. _Stay focused or they’ll kill you. _

Antonio blinked slowly as his thoughts drifted to when he was younger. He remembered Earth in all of her glory. **She was beautiful, full of life, joy, and oblivious humans. Well, oblivious until the aliens arrived. **

The man mechanically picked up a box, moving towards the doorway. Today, Antonio’s group had to move some supplies into a storeroom from a supply ship.

** The aliens had seemed friendly at first, trying to learn human languages. They even gave the humans a nickname: Kliopfars. Antonio now knew that the name meant ‘slave’ or ‘worker’, but at the time, he had been amazed by the presence of non-human life. **

Setting the box down, Antonio caught sight of the face of one of his coworkers. Pale, gaunt, full of pain. He briefly remembered that faces didn’t use to look like that.

** If nothing else, the Trasdians were clever. They had gained the trust of the human governments by gifting many useless but valuable-looking trinkets. **

Antonio moved back into the ship to pick up another box. He strained for a moment while lifting it, and a Trasdian hissed something at him. Though he couldn’t fully understand the phrase, it was obviously a threat.

** One night, Antonio had seen a light outside of his window. Peering out of the glass, the collage senior saw the embodiment of a nightmare. People running, screaming, scrambling away from the Trasdians. The lanky aliens had hunted down every last Kliopfar, enslaving or killing the entire human species. **

Antonio placed the box neatly on a shelf in the storage room. He stepped out, taking a moment to pop his back with a stretch. This had been easier when he was younger.

** Antonio had been selected as an able bodied Kliopfar and sent to work in the pits that Trasdians called mines. He had slaved away in the mines for decades until he was moved to an easier job. The Trasdians would work every single Kliopfar down until they died, but they made sure that the humans could work for longer by giving easier jobs as they got older. **

Antonio saw spots in his eyes, but blinked them away, dismissing the possibility of illness. His mind, spurred by the memory of Earth, ran through all of his old escape plans. He had never tried them since he had found weak points in every possible scenario.

_ Now or never. I’m getting old, and if they decide I’m too old, they’ll kill me. _

Antonio shot a glance at one of the Trasdians. The small, bright purple eyes stared back. Antonio took in a breath and lept away from the line of Kliopfars that were still carrying boxes. Running for the supply ship, he heard the worst noise possible.

A weapon.

It was powering up.

It was loaded.

It fired.

Antonio felt a searing pain in his back, and tears formed in his eyes as he fell to the floor. As he heard the footsteps of the Trasdian approaching, the man realized the final truth.

_ The only way to escape is to die. _