Invasion

13

As she started down the stairs to the basement, Maya flipped the light switch. Cameron sat where Maya had left her, on the concrete floor with her hands bound to a support beam with laundry-line rope.

“You fucking whore. Let me go right now!”

Cameron hurled a long string of profanity at Maya, who walked over to the woman and tossed the water in her face.

“Shut up for a minute. I mean, my God, I can’t even hear myself think.”

“Untie me right now and get the hell out of my house.”

Maya thought the deed was probably in Gerald’s name, but she wasn’t in any mood to debate the semantics of home ownership with Cameron. If she was going to have any chance of finding her kids, she was going to have to figure out some way to work with this woman.

“Look, I need to have a serious conversation with you. If I untie you, will you chill out and talk to me like an adult?”

Cameron looked away with a huff and a quick sniffle. She then stared at the cold, concrete floor and nodded.

Maya walked to a folding table and grabbed a pair of scissors. She reached behind Cameron and slid the blades underneath the rope binding her hands to the beam.

“Don’t move.”

Maya cut the rope and then walked back around in front of Cameron. Still sitting on the floor, the woman massaged her wrists.

“All right,” Maya said. “Now, let’s—”

The pain shot through Maya’s leg as Cameron kicked her in the shin. Maya cried out and doubled over to grab her leg as Cameron jumped to her feet and took her first step toward the stairs leading up to the kitchen. But Maya reached up and grabbed a handful of Cameron’s hair. The girl screamed as her head snapped backward. Maya dragged her over to a chair and threw her into it. Then she pointed the scissors at Cameron’s throat.

“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t jam these into your neck right now!”

“I know where your kids are.” Cameron’s mouth twisted in a lipstick-blurred sneer, her face nearly as red as her dyed hair.

“But you won’t tell me. I might as well tie you back up and leave you down here to rot.”

As Maya turned around and began to climb the stairs, the young woman started to cry. Cameron’s makeup already ran down her cheeks in dark trails of tears. She didn’t come at Maya again, and didn’t light up with another string of curse words. Instead, Cameron put her face into her hands and sobbed quietly.

“Wait,” she said.

Maya stopped and looked over her shoulder.

“I wasn’t totally honest with you. There was no note. The bastard just left me here. The whole part about me waking up and him being gone is true, but he didn’t leave me no note. Gerald ditched me, like I was nothing to him.”

“So, you don’t know where my kids are?” Maya threw her hands up, placing them behind her head as she exhaled.

“I didn’t say that.”

Maya stared at her, raising her eyebrows.

“I don’t want to die here. Alone. Please don’t leave me here with those aliens and their damn laser beams. I’m scared. Don’t leave me.”

“Why didn’t you take his truck earlier?”

“Gerald’s been having problems with it. Says it sometimes don’t start and what would happen if I’m deserted on the highway? By myself.”

She rolled her eyes, wondering if Cameron was really that weak or simply playing the role. Maya was a mother, a paramedic, and a healer. And as much as she wanted to leave this piece of white trash with the other dirty laundry in the basement, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Although, bringing along such a weak person could cost her. Unless…

“You know where he is? Where he’s taken my kids? No bullshit?”

“No bullshit.”

Maya looked into Cameron’s eyes. The woman appeared scared, and maybe it was just an act, but Maya would never find her kids on her own, not without any knowledge of where in this crazy world Gerald had taken them.

“Okay, then. Let’s pack some stuff we’ll need and get out of here.”

She turned and climbed the rest of the stairs, and Cameron came up behind her. Maya went to the kitchen for some dry goods and canned food while Cameron packed a few sets of clothes, things either of them could wear. Maya had also told her what she needed to assemble a makeshift first aid kit and the woman did what she was told, not saying a word or even looking Maya in the eye. That badass stripper act had run off with Cameron’s makeup and now Maya saw her for the frightened little girl she really was.

Once they had Gerald’s pickup truck loaded, Maya walked to the driver’s side and held her hand out.

“Give me the keys.”

Cameron crossed her arms. “You can’t be serious.”

“What?”

“You’re not driving.”

“Yes, I am.” Maya put her hand on her hip and shifted her weight to one leg.

“Once you know where your kids are, how do I know you’re not going to throw me out of the truck in the middle of nowhere or leave me on the side of the road for those disgusting aliens to probe me or whatever?”

Maya rolled her eyes. “I drive an EMT rig. It’s what I do for a living. I know how to drive under chaotic conditions and extreme pressure. If we get into any kind of trouble, I need to be the one behind the wheel.”

“Fine.” Cameron slammed the door shut and stepped back from the truck. “Good luck finding your kids on your own.”

Maya sighed, and looked away. The girl had street smarts, she’d give her that. Cameron knew how to use what little leverage she had to protect her own ass.

Maya shrugged. “Okay, you win. Let’s go.”

She walked around the back of the truck to the passenger side while Cameron got in on the driver’s side. They shut the doors at the same time.

Maya looked down the street as Cameron pulled out of the driveway. Faces appeared at the windows of several houses as they crept along at about ten miles per hour. Cameron turned off Midnight Lane and headed toward the highway. Heading out, Maya had a feeling that the eerily empty neighborhood would be her last respite from the inevitable violence awaiting them. And she was right.