Battle- Earth

by Mark Harrison

  The military truck and the van were parked on the grass promenade in front of the building. They were nestled among military tents, boxes of weapons and ammunition, and communication gear. Everything that hadn’t yet been loaded into the truck. The unpacked gear provided nice cover for Rick and Patricia who darted between each unpacked crate. The AOJs plasma bursts were quick and precise. If they were spotted, they’d be dead.

  They were getting close to the van. Manuel and Jose were still inside. They were consoling each other. They were trying to grasp the fact that they had just lost all of their loved ones. Rick screamed at them as they approached.

  “Start the van,” he said.

  Manuel and Jose looked up. They were both in the cab of the van.

  “Start the van!”

  They finally heard Rick. Manuel jumped up and ran to the driver’s seat and turned the van on. Jose held the doors open for Rick and Patricia.

  Out in the distance, more black silhouettes appeared on the horizon. More AOJs were approaching. The observatory was about to be levelled. Thirty feet away, Sam kept sending distress calls.

  As Rick jumped into the van, he called to Sam. “Are you coming?”

  Sam put down the radio. His first instinct was to run to the military truck, but it was too far away. He took two steps in the direction of the truck and then stopped, turning around toward the van. That moment of hesitation cost him his life.

  “Come on,” Rick said. “You can make it!”

  Sam noticed a plasma burst headed his way and jumped. The burst barely missed him, but it did manage to throw him into the air. His body shot up ten feet and then fell down toward the ground with a big thud. Rick jumped out of the van to help his old friend but Jose and Patricia held him back. They could see that there was no saving Sam. As Rick tried to break free from their grips, two plasma bursts exploded on the spot where Sam had landed, vaporizing his body.

  The foundation of the observatory began to shake. The soldiers on the roof of the building had been firing rocket after rocket at the AOJs. Only two rockets managed to hit their targets. Most rockets traced their futility in the smoke filled sky above the city. Both McCluskey and Davis were up there. They would die up there. As the foundation continued to shake, the roof began to crumble apart. It didn’t take long for the entire observatory to rise up into a wall of smoke and debris.

  Manuel didn’t think twice once the observatory building collapsed. If there was anytime to escape the attack, it was now. He slammed his foot on the gas. The van’s wheels rotated and ripped up the once pristine lawn in front of the building. AOJs continued to fly overhead, picking off SpaceForce soldiers as the smoke settled to the ground.

  The van drove toward the road that led down the hill. With any luck, no AOJs would spot them. This wasn’t their lucky day.

  Chapter 10

  As they drove away from the observatory, the SpaceForce military truck exploded. Rick looked through the rear view mirror, all he could see was fire and destruction.

  They barely made it out. Their chances of making it back to Mission Control weren’t good.

  Patricia was in the back of the van with Jose. She had a cold expression on her face. She didn’t look out the back window once. She’d moved on from Wayne. Rick didn’t blame her. The old man was a bastard. That said, at least he had the decency to tell her the truth. At the end of the day, he had to give the old piece of shit that.

  Manuel drove the van down the winding roads of the hill. Jose served as his navigator. They were screaming at each other in Spanish. Neither man could decide which direction to take. Their bickering had to stop.

  “Shut up,” Rick said. “If you want us to get out of here alive, you’ll listen to me.”

  Both men stopped yelling at each other.

  “Turn down Los Alamos Blvd.,” Rick said. “It’s the next turn.”

  Manuel nodded. Jose rolled his eyes and sat back in the cab of the van with Patricia. Rick knew that he should have been the one driving the van. He had, after all, managed to evade one of these alien ships before. But he wouldn’t be able to take control of the vehicle now. They wouldn’t be able to stop. Not until they were all sure that the aliens were behind them and out of sight. For now, Manuel would have to drive. The poor bastard would have to take orders from a very tired, grumpy Rick. He smiled. He’d been play acting as the ‘nice guy’ for most of the day. It was time he let his real self out.

  Manuel turned down Los Alamos and followed Rick’s directions step by step. The first thing they would have to do is get back to a main road, something, anything that took them out of the city. Los Angeles was lost. The longer they stayed around, the sooner they’d be dead. Rick thought about guiding Manuel back to the highway SpaceForce took to get into the city, but decided against it. It would be too populated and their were too many AOJs in the the neighborhood. They’d need to find a more indirect route, something a little more out of the way. Slow but steady. If they were going to survive, that would have to be their mantra.

  “Hey,” Rick yelled to Jose, who was consoling Patricia in the back. “What’s the least developed route out of the city?”

  “Least developed?”

  “Yes. Which route has the least amount of buildings? Y’know?”

  “Down by the river,” Jose said. “But we will have to drive through the suburbs to get there.”

  Rick knew what that meant. The suburbs would be full of AOJs, but so would the highway. If a little bit of short-term pain meant long-term gain, they’d have to take it. Worst case scenario, they’d find a house to hole themselves up in for a few days. Rick hoped that wouldn’t happen.

  He guided Manuel toward the suburbs.

  The van bumped up and down along the suburban streets. Every now and then, Rick would peak his head out of the passenger seat window and look toward the sky. He couldn’t see much in the black of the night, but he was certain there were no AOJs on their trail. Somehow, they’d gotten out of the observatory without an alien ship following them. It didn’t seem possible, but he was thankful for any kind of luck they could get.

  The van’s suspension croaked as it bounced over curbs and busted through the backyard fences of suburban homes. It was only a matter of time before some part of it broke down. Rick grimaced every time he heard the suspension creak. Every time the van hit something, he knew it might be the end of their escape. When they got the chance, he’d repair what he could. He’d learned a lot about vehicles, especially old, dilapidated vehicles like the van, when he was young. After his mother died and his dad threw himself into the military and work, all Rick had were the old generation, gas engine automobiles his dad collected and stored in the family barn. Rick would tinker away at them for hours, studying how they worked, taking them out for joy rides as the sun set on those long, lonesome South Dakota roads. It was the only time he felt free. Working on old cars, smelling the grease and oil on his hands brought him back to those more peaceful days. After his dad died, Rick returned home to the barn in South Dakota. He needed a quick way to make a buck and updating old vehicles to meet safety and environmental standards felt like a sure fit. He felt like shit tearing out the diesel or gas engines of the old vehicles, it felt like he was ripping out their soul, but it was honest work for honest pay. Plus it helped pay for his drinking habit. But he couldn’t think about that now. His life in South Dakota was behind him. It was time to move forward.

  They were almost out of the suburbs and at the river when they heard the sound of an AOJ flying overhead. It’s thwap-thwap-thwap sound shook the creaking metal body of the van. They’d been spotted. It’d been an hour since they left the observatory. They’d been so careful. Not careful enough.

  “Fuck,” Rick said, he looked out the window. “AOJ. Six o’clock.”

  Manuel looked up out of the windshield. He saw the triangular body of the AOJ flying above them. “Is there only the one?” he asked.

  Rick looked around. “Looks like it.”

 
; At that moment, a plasma burst exploded ahead of them. It blew up a large chunk of the road they were driving on. Chunks of tarmac and concrete shot up into the air.

  “Fuck!” Manuel screamed, violently steering the van out of the way of the explosion and the debris.

  Rick, Patricia and Jose tumbled within the van. They weren’t going to last long against this thing. They’d need to find a hiding spot quick. Their plans of leaving the city tonight would have to be put on hold. They’d have to find a hiding spot. Once Rick regained his composure, he looked out the windshield for a place to hide.

  “Over there,” he said.

  He pointed to a mall out in the distance. It’s parking lot was mostly empty and it looked like part of it was under construction. Manuel swerved the van toward the direction of the mall. He didn’t take his foot off the gas. He drove over sidewalks, speed bumps, anything that was in his way.

  “What do you want me to do now?” Manuel said. The AOJ was still on their tail, firing plasma bursts in their direction.

  “You see that entrance over there?” Rick said. “Drive through it.”

  “Through it?”

  “Yes,” said Rick.

  Both Patricia and Jose looked at each other. They were not buckled in. They grabbed a hold of both the front seats to brace for the impact. Manuel screamed out “Brace yourselves!” as he steered the van toward the mall’s entrance. The AOJs plasma bursts continued to explode around the van.

  In the nick of time, the van busted through the glass doors of the mall. Fragments of glass and metal shot everywhere. The van’s bumper crumpled as it hit the metal frames of the mall’s door. After bursting through, parts of the mall’s front wall collapsed and fell behind them, blocking them from any further bursts. During the impact, Jose and Patricia flew forward. Their faces slammed into each backseat they were holding on to.

  The van came to a slow stop. Its engine was smoking. Its tires crumpled. They were now surrounded by dust and debris from the collision.

  “Is everyone alright?” Rick asked, unbuckling his seat belt.

  “I’m okay,” Manuel said.

  Patricia chimed in from the back, “I’ll live.”

  “My nose,” Jose said.

  Rick turned around to see Jose. There was blood streaming from his face. He’d broken it. “You don’t brace for impact with your face,” he said, half-joking, half-serious.

  Jose didn’t say anything. He moaned.

  “Alright, let’s get out of here,” Rick said. “ See if we can find another mode of transportation or fix this thing up, find some medical supplies to help Jose, and anything else we may need for our trek.”

  “Where are we going?” Patricia asked.

  “Las Vegas.”

  Both Jose and Manuel looked puzzled.

  “Why Vegas?” Patricia asked. “Do you figure now’s a good time to gamble your life savings away?”

  “No,” said Rick. “I have no life savings. It’s SpaceForce headquarters. It’ll be the safest place on Earth, I reckon.”

  “It better be,” said Patricia.

  “Or what?” said Rick. “You’re happy to leave. I’d bet none of you would last long out there without me.”

  Jose, Manuel, and Patricia looked at each other and then down at the ground. They knew Rick was right. He was an asshole, but he was right.

  Rick sighed. He didn’t want to be mean, but he was tired and he needed a drink.

  They all got out of the van, stretched their legs. Rick looked at the damaged van. They’d have to find another vehicle. There was no way he could fix this thing up.

  Chapter 11

  The mall was empty. It was the perfect place to hide and reassess the situation. The only problem: there were no supplies either. It had been gutted, ransacked. Not even one full day into the invasion and it was virtually empty. Every store and kiosk they checked had already been gone through. It looked like the day after Black Friday. Windows were broken and empty boxes littered each and every store.

  Rubbing salt in the wound, the power in the mall was on an emergency backup. A generator must’ve been hit early in the invasion. Only half the lights inside were on. It was difficult to see anything and the sun wouldn’t be up for a couple hours. With little to no natural light and everyone fighting off some bumps and bruises, Jose a broken nose, they decided to sleep.

  Rick tried to close his eyes but his mind was racing. The events of the last couple days played over and over in his head. He couldn’t stop thinking about the Olympus Mons mission, about how his dad had encountered the aliens years earlier. He wondered what it was like on the ship. Had they tried to fight them off? The orbs must have attacked them, that’s why the ship malfunctioned, but how did it all go down. He wanted to know. But he knew he probably never would. He felt betrayed by SpaceForce. Betrayed only in the sense that he’d lost years of his life trying to live at the bottom of a bottle, trying to forget it all. He was just glad his mother didn’t have to live through any of this. She died when he was a teenager. Breast cancer acts quick, but it did spare her the pain of living through all the embarrassment that her husband and son would have made her endure. He couldn’t keep doing this. He couldn’t keep looking back. He sat up atop the furniture store bed he’d been resting on and looked around. Everyone else was atop a bed or couch in the same store. Patricia opened her eyes. She was still awake. Jose and Manuel were snoring.

  “You think we’ll make it out of Los Angeles?” she said.

  Rick shrugged.

  “Oh,” she replied. “You don’t know.”

  “What can I say? I’m not going to lie to you. We’ve been lucky so far. Too damn lucky for my liking.”

  “Your right,” she said. “You think we’re a burden.”

  “Try to get some sleep. If we are going to make it out of here. We will need to be in our best frame of mind.”

  Patricia turned around and closed her eyes. Rick sat up. He needed to go for a walk. He should have been following his own advice, he should have been sleeping, but his desire to wash down the anxiety of the day crept up on him. There had to be something to drink in this mall.

  He could hear Patricia crying as he left the furniture store. Why did he have to be such a dick? He didn’t want to be anyone’s hero. He was the washed up poster child of failure. As soon as one of these assholes recognized him or learned about his past, like everyone else in his life, they’d turn on him. As soon as he got to Mission Control he’d let these suckers go. He’d rescued them, so they were his responsibility, but only for now. Once he got to Mission Control he’d hand them over. His role as hero would be over. He’d get his dog Domino back and head to the farm. If the aliens wanted to take him on South Dakota, then that’s where he’d be.

  He walked through the mall and searched for a drink. Every now and then, the mall’s walls would rattle and the emergency backup lights would flicker on and off. Some AOJs were close. Rick could hear them. They were attacking something close by. Rick closed his eyes and listened. They must have found a group of soldiers. Between the sounds of explosions and the engines of the AOJs, he could hear intermittent machine gun fire. AR-99s, maybe the newer AR-101s. He studied the sounds of the gunfire, trying not to imagine the death that would soon follow. It sounded like a war zone out there. He opened his eyes and continued his search. It didn’t matter what kind of guns they were using. Whoever they were, they’d be dead soon. He only stopped his search for booze again when he thought he heard the sounds of a helicopter. He waited to hear if it was making its way to the mall. His thoughts of escape evaporated quickly when he heard a gigantic explosion. The sounds of the helicopter’s engine stopped. It had been shot down.

  At the opposite end of the mall, he found what he was looking for in a convenience store. A bottle of Jack Daniels. It was unopened. Whoever was hiding it behind the counter, was hiding it for a special occasion. Poor bastard. He picked up the bottle, opened it, and took a swig. He felt better. He wiped his mouth, put th
e bottle in his pocket and headed back to the furniture store.

  When he reached the edge of the furniture store, he turned away. The sleeping faces of Patricia, Manuel and Jose only reminded him of what he’d just been through, of what he’d accepted. These people were his burden now. He needed to protect them. If they died, it would be his failure.

  He turned to the van, which he, Manuel and Jose had pushed up to the entrance of the furniture store. It was still smoking. Its tires were all flat. Its bumper was fucked up. He took a swig of whiskey. This wasn’t going to be an easy job. He’d sleep tomorrow night.

  Jose, Manuel and Patricia awoke to the sounds of birds chirping and Rick hammering away at one of the vans tires. They walked out of the furniture store and were shocked to find the recently destroyed van in some kind of working order. An empty bottle of Jack Daniels was on the ground beside Rick. The three survivors from the rooftop looked at him.

  “Do I have something on my face?” he said.

  “You fixed the van?” Patricia said.

  “Good for you,” Rick said. “Your eyes work.”

  “You’re a real asshole,” she said.

  “I know,” said Rick. “But that doesn’t matter. If we want to make it to Vegas, we’ll need more supplies. We need to comb over the mall. We need to check everything. If you see anything that could be used as a weapon, any medical supplies, food, drinks, grab it!”

  The three rooftop survivors nodded. They didn’t like Rick, but he didn’t care. He’d protect them, at least until they got to Mission Control. That was his promise to himself and he was going to follow it. Before they left to scour the mall one more time for supplies, Rick shouted out, “One more thing.”