Invasion

26

Maya couldn’t help but look in the rearview mirror every few seconds. She assumed those men would stay for at least a few nights, using Luke’s set-up and eating the beer and food he’d stashed in the cooler. But then again, they’d left one of the men unconscious and on the ground. Once the beer ran out, the gang might come for revenge.

Cameron sobbed in the backseat, her hands over her face and her hair sparkling like diamonds from all the glass she’d yet to shake out. Luke looked from her to Maya.

“We could all use a few minutes to get out, walk around.”

“I’ll stop when I can, but for now we’ve gotta keep moving.”

“There’s no way they’ll follow us. Not with everything I left behind.”

“Not at first,” Maya said. “But you might have killed that guy.”

Luke hesitated, and Maya saw his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed.

“You think he’s dead?”

“I don’t know. My ex-husband was in the military, and he talked about blows to the head that can kill a person. If you hit someone hard enough...”

“Holy shit. I’m not a killer.”

Maya glanced at him once more, deciding to drop it. Luke was just a kid and she had the feeling that he hadn’t been in many fights, if any at all. But he’d have to get used to it. Violent death was becoming the norm in this new life.

The sun broke the horizon and Maya sighed, happy to have evaded the aliens again. She’d take armed stoners on motorcycles over practically indestructible aliens any day of the week.

A bell chimed, forcing Maya to look down at the dashboard and notice they were almost on Empty. They’d driven for at least half an hour and had seen no sign of the gang members following them, and now the car’s lack of gas was forcing their hand. Maya pulled into the parking lot of a gas station, realizing that, without power, they’d have to come up with a clever way of getting fuel into the Civic.

“Shouldn’t we keep going?” Cameron asked.

“We need gas, and I think all of us could use a stretch.” Maya unbuckled her seatbelt and stepped out of the vehicle as Luke headed into the open door of the mechanics garage next to the station’s office. Papers fluttered across the asphalt, showing the office had been ransacked. The kid disappeared into the garage and beneath the lift.

Maya popped the gas tank door and removed the cap. She grabbed the nozzle from the pump and squeezed the handle, but nothing came out.

“Shit.”

Luke came running out of the shop, holding a big red gas can in one hand with a grin splitting his face.

“Five-gallon jug, and this is pretty full. Found it in the back by the used oil drum. I hope it’s still good.”

“Probably.” Maya winked at Luke. “Tow truck drivers keep ’em in the garage in case they answer a call from someone who ran out of gas.”

“Sounds like you know a thing or two about garages.”

Maya took the can from Luke and shoved the nozzle into the tank. “They got a 65 Mustang in there by any chance?”

Luke shook his head, his eyebrows furrowed.

“Never mind..” Maya used her head to point at Cameron. “I should check on her.”

She had climbed out of the backseat and sat on the curb, her back to Luke and Maya.

“Is she all right?” Luke asked.

Maya nodded. “You mind finishing up here?”

“Not a problem.”

Luke took hold of the can from Maya. She walked toward Cameron, putting her hair into a ponytail on the way. She sat down next to the woman.

“How are you feeling?” Maya finally asked.

“Fine.”

After several moments of silence, Maya wasn’t sure what to say. She sighed and stood up, deciding that maybe Cameron did just need some time alone. As she started to move over to check on the car and Luke, Cameron spoke.

“I don’t know how he could do it.”

Maya eyed the other woman, looking for a clue as to what she was talking about. “How who could do what?”

“Gerald left me there, all alone. It’s like he didn’t care about me. He could’ve gotten me to safety with the kids. But instead, he just abandoned me.”

Maya put her hand on Cameron’s shoulder. “You’re going to get to ask him why. I promise.”

Cameron looked up at Maya, smiling. Then she scoffed and shook her head. “You know, the dumbest shit of all is that I still love that bastard, and I don’t know why.”

“Yeah, well, you’ll get over that eventually. You’re a pretty girl, and you can do better than him. You’ll be fine.”

Cameron nodded before asking another question. “Do you still love him?”

Maya only glanced at Cameron before looking out at the highway.

“I’m sorry. That’s none of my business.”

“No, it’s fine. For a long time, I did. You have to understand that he is the father of my children, and he was the first man I ever loved. It took me a long time to get over him.”

“So, you don’t love him then?”

Maya looked back at Cameron and shook her head. “No, I don’t. But I can see in your eyes that you do. You should think long and hard about what you’re going to say to him when you see him again, and try to put yourself in his shoes.”

“Well, he went to your mom’s house and took your children. How much mercy are you going to show him?”

She turned from the highway and looked down into Cameron’s eyes, searching her brain for the right words to say, but nothing seemed to fit.

“I guess I have some thinking to do. Like you.”

Cameron smiled again, standing up next to Maya.

Maya noticed Luke pointing at the highway in the direction from where they had come.

About a half-mile down the highway, a van had appeared—the same white panel van they’d seen outside of the office building.

Luke waved at both women to hurry, shaking the red gas can to get as much into the tank as he could in the next several seconds.

“We’ve got to go,” Maya said.

“What’s the matter?” Cameron asked. She followed Maya’s gaze. “Is that…”

“The gang from the office.”

The women hurried to the car. As Maya ran, she watched the van approach, hearing the engine running fast and hot. One of the men lowered the passenger side window and aimed a rifle out of it.

“Get down!” Maya said, diving behind the Civic.

She hit the dirt first, and then Cameron landed beside her. When the blast came, though, it wasn’t from a rifle. It was an explosion, shaking the ground.

“What the hell was that?” Cameron asked.

Maya raised her head and got to her knees, looking over the back of the vehicle. The van had disappeared, replaced by a rising flame in the middle of the highway. Maya felt her stomach drop and a cold chill run up her spine. Then she saw the ship emerge from the clouds.

She opened the car’s door and grabbed Cameron by the hand. “Come on.”

The two women climbed into the backseat. Luke was already in the front and had apparently seen the ship, as well. He was lying across the two front seats.

“Lay across the floor,” Maya said to Cameron.

Without asking any questions, the woman did as she was told.

Maya bit her lip as she sprawled across the backseat that was still covered in glass, keeping low and trying not to move. “Everyone be still.”

Were the alien ships tracking people or simply making visual identifications? Clearly, they’d seen the van on the highway—not something difficult to notice. Maya thought about the hours they’d spent on the road. They could have been vaporized by the alien lasers at any moment. And once they got back into the car, they could still be vaporized at any moment. But what choice did they have?

The ship roared overhead, and the little Honda shimmied as if caught in the gales of a hurricane. But after a few moments, the motion subsided, and the ship disappeared.

Luke sat up first, his face red and sweat plastering his greasy hair to his forehead. “That was a close call.”

No shit. We need to get to Fort Campbell. Now.