Invasion

15

Reno sat in the back of the military transport with his head against the cold steel and his eyes closed. It felt like years had gone by since he’d had his old life in Nashville, and it worried him that he’d accepted this new world so quickly. He still couldn’t believe it had all happened, and the adrenaline from the situation was only now beginning to fade.

He opened his eyes and looked out the back of the transport where he rode with seven or eight soldiers. Morning had come, bringing with it a clear sky and brilliant sunshine. He was thankful to see the golden light after days of being suffocated beneath the dome’s utter darkness. And he knew they’d be safe from the aliens during the day. They wouldn’t be flying around in the daylight. The ships, however, posed a new threat… but Reno pushed that thought from his head. It felt like worthless worry, to create anxiety over things you couldn’t control. As far as he could tell and from what the soldiers had told him, the ships seemed to stay close to the domes, maybe to protect them. Theories abounded, and it seemed almost impossible to confirm a hypothesis.

A hand grasped him by the shoulder and he looked over to see John smiling at him.

“How you doing, buddy?”

“Good. I guess. You know where we are?”

“We’re on our way to a military base,” one of the soldiers sitting across from them said. He extended his right hand. “I’m Sergeant Matthews, U.S. Army.”

Reno shook the man’s hand, feeling the iron-clad grip of a career military man. Matthews was at least ten years older than Reno, a buzz cut of salt-and-pepper hair, tan and with a long scar running down his face. “This is John, Nashville P.D. And I’m Reno.”

Matthews pointed to Reno’s leg. “How’s that ankle?”

“It’s feeling better.”

“I can have one of my medics take a look at it when we stop.”

“That’d be great. Thanks.”

“That was quite brave what you gentlemen did back there,” Matthews said. “You’re heroes, you know.”

Reno huffed and shook his head. He’d been called that so many times in his career that it made him uncomfortable every time he heard it—not the sentiment someone would expect when lavishing praise upon an EMT or law enforcement officer. He decided against his pat response, but the line had popped into his head anyway.

Just doing my job.

Thousands of people in Nashville had died, including Jack. On top of that, Reno had no idea if Maya had survived or not. He couldn’t stop thinking about her, wishing he knew for sure if she was all right. Reno swallowed his urge to respond to being called a hero and decided he’d earned the right to ask some questions of those that should have more information than he did.

“Do you know anything about the ships? The domes? The aliens? Like, how many?”

“Right now, we don’t know much. Cell towers are down, so we’re solely dependent on shortwave communication. We’ve gotten sketchy reports from some larger cities—New York, Chicago, Houston, L.A.”

“They’re still there?” John asked.

Sergeant Matthews nodded. “And we’ve gotten word that some of America’s smaller cities have been completely domed like what they did to Nashville. Cleveland, Vegas, Tampa, Memphis—gone or domed. And that’s just the U.S. As far as I know, we’ve been unable to communicate with any of our international allies. But then, that level of comm is above my paygrade.”

“Jesus.” Reno lowered his head, looking at the tops of his boots. He’d seen the destruction in Nashville. And at the time, he’d thought it had only been that city experiencing it. But then, why would this happen in only a single U.S. city? Of course, the devastation had been more widespread.

“The good thing is that we’ve got a pretty safe operation where we’re going. We’ve been able to keep our military somewhat organized through all the chaos.”

“And where might that be?” John asked.

“Fort Campbell.”

Reno had had a friend stationed at Fort Campbell around the time he’d moved to Nashville. The military base was only about an hour and a half’s drive from Nashville, and Reno had gone up to see him a couple of times.

“Have you received any other reports?” Reno asked.

“Washington is a fucking nightmare. Domed, but with heavy resistance and some getting out. Maybe the way your girl did.” Matthews shrugged. “But communication from there has been intermittent and the tech isn’t holding up. We’re getting a lot of static across all the FM and shortwave bands.”

“Estimates on casualties?” John asked.

The sergeant went silent. He and the other soldiers looked at each other, and then he cleared his throat.

“It’s bad. No one knows for sure, but we’ve heard numbers in the billions.”

A cold silence seeped through the back of the transport. Only hours ago, Reno had been celebrating their apparent victory alongside the National Guard. But the news had only gotten worse since he’d come out from under the dome. Other cities had been domed. Some destroyed. Millions of people dead. Reno slumped, and his mouth went dry. He’d just taken a breath to ask a question when an explosion ended the uncomfortable silence.

The transport shook like the highway had been rocked by the seismic temper of an earthquake. Reno slung forward, toppling to the floor of the vehicle. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see John trying to pull him up. He took John’s arm, who helped him back into his seat.

“Thanks.”

John nodded, then asked, “What was that?”

As the rumbling stopped, Matthews asked the driver, “Did you see what did that?”

“No, sir, Sergeant Matthews.”

Matthews stood and walked to the back of the transport. He looked out, glancing around and then pointing at the sky. Reno knew instantly that the sarge wasn’t admiring the morning’s white, fluffy clouds.

Another man gasped as he looked out. “My God.”

Reno scampered to the back and stood beside Matthews and the other soldier. He followed the Sergeant’s gaze upward.

A celestial rake of red laser beams were cutting through the clouds, and they were heading right for them.