Invasion

24

The women followed Luke to a door on the far side of the room. Maya turned when she heard coughing behind her, just in time to see Cameron staring at the dead aliens. She doubled over and vomited. Luke went to her before Maya could react, putting an arm around her and pulling her along next to Maya.

“How did you know how to kill these things?” Maya asked.

Luke shrugged. “Luck, I guess. I’ve been watching them ever since this all this started, and I noticed how they only came out at night. So, I figured they must be allergic to light.”

“But how did you know how to get their masks off?”

“One of the things came after me, and I didn’t have my trusty light handy. I shot at its face out of desperation, and the twelve-gauge packed enough kick to blow the thing’s mask off. I shot it, making it look like these guys here. I thought for sure I’d killed it, and when I ran back to where my light was, I heard it hiss and stand up. Even though I almost pissed my pants, I was able to shine the light in its face. The thing freaked out. I knew then that they could regenerate their body after being shot, but light really put a thorn in their side, so to speak.”

“And after it freaked out, it died. Right?”

“Si, senora. And hey, you never did tell me why you could stare at that thing without letting go of your lunch like your friend here.”

“I’m an EMT. Was an EMT. And even if I hadn’t been able to handle it, I didn’t have much of a lunch earlier.”

“Well, follow me. I can fix that.”

Luke went to the door, picking up his light and shotgun on the way. Maya took his place next to Cameron and put her arm around the woman.

“You all right?”

Cameron wiped her mouth using her forearm. “I’m trying to be. I just want to get away from all this shit.”

Luke opened the door to a small storage closet. Steel rungs on the wall formed a ladder, heading up.

“Are we going to the roof?” Maya asked.

“Yeah, come on.”

“What about the aliens?” Cameron asked.

“Trust me. Come on.”

Already up the ladder, Luke opened a hatch on the ceiling and climbed through.

Cameron shook her head at Maya. “Are you sure we can trust him? We need to get back on the road.”

“He knows a lot about the aliens. More than anyone else I’ve encountered since leaving Nashville. We should stick with him for at least a little while and see what he knows.”

Luke poked his head through the hatch. “You guys coming or what?”

Maya nodded at Cameron, then climbed the ladder.

When she emerged from the hatch, Maya scanned the rooftop. An office chair sat near a generator which the boy had rigged to two large spotlights. The flat roof looked like any office building roof, complete with access doors, hulking air conditioners, and pigeon poop galore. The boy had a tent in one corner and a plastic cooler next to it. Luke leaned his shotgun against an HVAC unit and set his portable light down. Then he stuck his arms out.

“Whatcha think?”

Maya laughed, placing her hands on her hips and looking around. “How long have you been here?”

“Couple of days. I headed up this way from Memphis after everything went down. Lucky, too. Though it didn’t get domed like other cities, that place is totally gone. How about you two? What’s your story?”

“I was in Nashville,” Maya said.

“Ah, man. That city was domed early on. I passed by there before I ended up here. How did you get out?”

“That’s another story, but the dome is gone now.”

“Gone? How?”

Maya shook her head. “I don’t know. Either way, we’re headed to Fort Campbell. That’s where my kids are.”

“It’s not far from here if you want to come along,” Cameron said.

“You’re not thinking about leaving tonight, are you?”

Maya and Cameron shared a glance, and then Maya nodded.

“You don’t want to do that. The ships come out in full force at night. They do flyovers and then drop aliens where they detect humans. You’re much better off taking a chance with the highway gangs during the day.”

“Yeah, we saw a gang earlier,” Maya said.

“Why do you stay on the roof at night if the aliens are out?” Cameron asked.

“I’ve got my lights up here. I can scare them away if I need to. And a gang of raiders are less likely to find me up here if they break into the building.”

“You’re a pretty smart kid.”

Luke blushed at Maya’s comment. “Look, if you won’t mind having me along, I’d like to come to Fort Campbell with you.”

“I’d say we owe you for what you did for us.” Maya glanced at Cameron, who was already smiling. “So, yeah, of course you can.”

Luke grinned. “Well, I promised you food.” Luke walked to his cooler and opened it, pulling out two beers and some salami. He handed one of each to the women. “How about a meal before you ladies get some rest? I can take first watch.”

Maya took a deep breath, and had already cracked the can of beer. “Sounds good.”

They ate in silence as the boy stood at the roof’s edge cradling his shotgun. As she stared up at the moon, Maya couldn’t help but think that maybe she’d get her kids back. Just maybe.