by Phil Maxey
Abbey shook her head, less in doubt at his words and more in trying to dislodge his ideas from her mind.
He stepped in even closer.
A mile off, perched on top of a water tower, Zach and Michael watched through binoculars. With each step Erin got closer to Abbey, Zach’s grip tightened.
“If you come with us, we will leave this town and leave those who hide underground alone. You have my word.”
His eyes fixed on hers and she knew he was telling the truth. His request filled her mind. But what about the plan? The one that she convinced the others at the farmhouse to go along with, rather than an all out assault? She was to convince Erin to stop attacking the bunkers and to come back with them to the outpost and then the camp. They could live out their days under the camps protection, and be free to be who they are. If he refused then a battle it would be. And even with their E.L.F’s the numbers were now against them. The Cascaders would die.
No more death…
She could hear Miles words in her mind. ‘He was not a man you said no too…’ But was her life really more important than all those that would die, if he refused to go with them back to the camp?
She shook her head and stepped back. “You and your people are welcome to come back with us to the Camp near Austin. You can be who you are. Cascaders are welcome there, hell they even saved that camp…” Her words fell away as she looked again into his eyes. He would not come to the camp with his people.
She felt the back of her neck. She knew Zach was watching and in unison she could feel her heart breaking. She looked back at Erin. “What’s so special about me?”
He smiled. “Let’s just say I’m good at spotting talent.”
“What about Clovis?”
“He will not harm you.”
Her emotions tore at the choice she was about to make. “Okay, I’ll go with you.”
CHAPTER 28
Zach stood on a small mound of rubble and watched as more people climbed out of the manhole in the center of the junction. They joined the hundred or so others that were already enjoying the morning sun.
The embraces and smiles that ran through the crowd, did little to disturb his own sense of loss. As soon as Abbey started walking away with the leader of the Cascaders he knew he had lost her again. Although at least this time, despite his heart disagreeing he knew she would have only left him for the right reasons.
Fiona walked up to him from the mass of people lining the street. “Wyatt and Diaz say they can sense no E.L.F’s around us, controlled or otherwise.” Fiona knew what that meant and put her hand on Zach’s shoulder. “What you see out here, all these people seeing the light of day for the first time in month’s, that’s Abbey’s doing.”
Zach looked back at her and smiled. “I know.”
A middle-aged woman of diminutive statue climbed out of the manhole. Some of those around her saluted. Zach walked down from the rubble and into the street. “General Mitchell?”
“That I am. And you are?”
“I’m Zach Felton—”
“Ah, the other General!”
Zach smiled. “Yeah I’m still getting used to that.” He held out his hand which the general shook warmly.
“I guess we owe you a thank you for saving our asses.”
“I’m just glad we learned of your existence so we could help. We should probably make some plans about what happens next.”
Mitchell walked forward a few feet past Zach and took in a deep lungful of air. “We will. But right now my people and I need to feel the sun on our faces.”
“Of course. My people have secured a mile perimeter around us…I was hoping to see these bunkers below us.”
Mitchell turned back around. “Captain Kelnor here will be happy to give you the tour.”
A bearded athletic looking man in fatigues stepped forward then pointed with an open palm to the opening in the ground. “After you, sir.”
After an hour of being guided around mostly dark empty corridors and low ceilinged rooms of various sizes, they ended up in the central operations room.
“And this is the main CIC for all the connected bunkers.”
A flurry of bright screens with important looking statistics looked back at Zach and Fiona. The twelve soldiers continued talking into their headsets not being disturbed by their guests.
“From here we monitor the environmental systems, food, power, anything that we need to survive. It’s also where we communicate to the outside world.”
Fiona walked closer to one of the screens. It was showing the crowds outside. “You had outside feeds?”
“Not many. We had more but they were destroyed.”
Zach was impressed by the setup. It looked like a place where the human race could survive no matter what went on, on the surface. He went to click on his radio.
“Your radio won’t work down here. But we can get a message out. What frequency?”
After a short while, Zach had relayed everything that had transpired to Brad at the outpost, and he then passed the information on to the camp. A few hours later everyone up top had returned to the bunkers.
Zach sat in the small but impressive room which served as Mitchell’s personal office. He looked at the almost empty glass in Mitchell’s hand. He had just finished telling her everything he knew of the Cascade, Abbey’s roll in it and the Aliens that made it all possible. A full two minutes had passed without the general across from him responding.
“So that’s everything. I think—”
She got up and walked to a shelf with an array of half empty bottles, unscrewed one and emptied its contents into her glass, then sat back down again.
_Zach leaned forward in his chair. “I know it’s a lot to take in—”
“That’s one way of putting it.”
“—But we can’t just give up and let the whole planet spiral into some alien world, that we can’t exist on.”
“‘We’, meaning the non-Cascaders?”
“I mean for everyone. Even the Cascaders will have a hard time existing without any of the old civilization still existing.”
“That Erin fellow seemed to think differently. Is that why your woman went with him? To persuade him otherwise?”
“Well—”
“She was meant to persuade him to give himself up and go back to your camp, instead, she just ups and leaves him with him. But then…she’s like him isn’t she?”
Zach started to feel hot. “Maybe you’ve had a bit too much general.”
Mitchell raised her glass. “What this? This is just what I have for breakfast.”
“The bunkers you have here. You have created something that maybe can survive even against the aliens, if they decide to be more proactive. The camp in Austin fought off an army, including many Cascaders and their E.L.F’s, but I don’t know how to defend against something that had the power to create the Cascade in the first place…” He looked around at the walls hewn from rock. “Down here, and if we can create something similar in Texas, maybe we have a fighting chance. But we need to work together.”
She put the glass down, letting her finger linger on the rim. “Where do we start?”
“We start with a scientist that goes by the name of doctor Raj Joshi, he knows more than most about the Cascade and has an idea that might work…”
* * * * *
A hush descended over the occupants of the CIC, as all eyes were on the young man in the chair in the center of the room. Medical equipment had been wheeled in to monitor his vitals and his chest and temples had wires taped to them.
“This is not going to hurt him, right doc?” Said Michael standing next to Raj.
“Umm no I don’t think so. It should be just like hypnosis.” Raj looked away from Michael’s gaze. He then stepped forward closer to Wyatt. “Okay, Wyatt, I just want you to look at the screen over my shoulder and watch the little ball bounce back and forth…”
Raj nodded to a soldier nearby who tapped a key and a plain white circle st
arted sliding left and right on a computer monitor.
Wyatt nodded and watched the computer graphic monotonously repeat the same movement, over and over. At the back of his mind he could hear Raj talking to him, but soon his eyes were closed and all was black, until it wasn’t.
The town and all its destruction sat beneath him, as he floated on the wind hundreds of feet above it. The air buffeted his ears and an immense feeling of peace wafted over him.
Next he was in a tree. The smell of pine needles filled the air and he could see that he had not four, but six limbs of some sort, each holding securely to the branches.
Then he felt light, and reeds and pieces of rubbish flew past him quicker than he could recognize them. He was underwater. As he looked around hundreds of E.L.F’s which looked like octopuses but had two human like arms with hands as well as their tentacles flowed past him.
Elcher…I need to concentrate…Elcher!
Suddenly the world around him disappeared as if being switched off, and all around was almost complete darkness apart from a small far off light, which was growing in size. He looked down at his own arms and feet. He was human again. The light was coming fast.
“Elcher? Are you—”
A beast from biblical texts sprung forth from the light and stood in front of him. Its huge bat light wings spreading out and then receding. The creature bathed in the light which seemed to hang above both of them, stepped forward and then leaned closer to him. “Whhhyy you heer?”
Wyatt leaned back slightly. “Are you Elcher? I’m a Cascader, can you help us stop umm you?”
Back in the CIC the heart machine monitoring Wyatt’s heart started beeping.
“Raj?” Said Zach trying to understand what was going on.
The doctor turned the machine off. “Cascaders hearts beat faster than ours do, he should be fine…”
“Cascccaders can…stttop…Hulathen…coming….for…” The large humanoid creature stepped back, and seemed to be distracted by something that Wyatt couldn’t see. “Prrrootect…Cascccaders….”
“What? Why? What’s—”
As if being sucked away into oblivion the towering Hulathen shrunk into the distance and then was gone. Wyatt looked around into the intense black with only the small area around him being lit still. “Hello?…”
Bright lights, sounds and smells flooded back into his senses. His arms flailed pulling the electrical cables from his body.
“Wyatt? Can you hear me? You’re back with us,” said Raj standing over him and trying to look at his pupils.
“Yeah, yeah I’m with you, get the light out of my eyes.”
Fiona handed Wyatt a bottle of water which he took some gulps from.
Mitchell walked closer to him. “Well kid, did you talk to the big bad in the sky?”
Wyatt nodded. “I think so…” He then looked at those intently looking at him. “He said we need to protect the Cascaders.”
Zach knelt near Wyatt’s chair. “Why?”
The young man looked at him with red eyes. “He said the Hulathen are coming for them.”
CHAPTER 29
Abbey pushed open the door to the second floor motel room and kicked it closed behind her without turning. The single bed was a tangle of stained sheets, but she didn’t care for the thirty miles they just covered had drained her of all but the ability to stagger. She sat down heavily on the mattress and stretched out. Her eyes just caught the pink orange hues of the setting sun on the walls in front of her before they closed.
A searing noise pierced her mind. She sat bolt upright. Flashes of blue appeared on the wall in front of her, in neat rows. Then it was darkness again. A woman started screaming quickly followed by the roars and screeches of E.L.F’s. For a moment she was sure she was having flashbacks of the battles of a few months back and shook her head, expecting the noises outside to subside, but instead booming knocks pounded at her door.
“Miss Reisner! Are you awake?” Came a young male voice she recognized. “It’s me Brett, Miss Reisner, we have too—”
The wall at the end of her bed lit up again with the same intense blue-white streaks. This time she knew she wasn’t dreaming as she quickly looked at the light streaming through the blinds, until it reverted back to black again. She stood up, put her pants on then pulled the door open. Brett went to speak but stopped when he could see Abbey wasn’t paying any attention to him. Instead she stepped out onto the balcony mouth agape at the scene in front of her. Streams of light were intermittently turning off and on across the landscape, while those that she had travelled west with, were running left and right in the parking lot below. She squinted trying to understand where the beams were traveling up too, but the cloud was low and hid anything beyond a certain height.
“They’re taking us!” Shouted Brett trying to wake her from her waking dream.
She looked at him. “What?”
He went to answer but stopped when he noticed once again she wasn’t listening. Instead her gaze was over his shoulder.
A dark humanoid shape was walking over a nearby field towards the motel.
“What…” Was all she could say as the figure came closer to the parking lot.
Brett looked in the same direction. “What the hell is that? It’s huge! Is it an E.L.F?”
“I…” Her mouth resisted saying what she knew to be true. “They’re here…”
“Who? What’s here?”
“The Hulathen…”
The twelve-foot high demonic looking creature, covered in a form of blue-purple armor bounded over a car and landed in the center of the parking lot. The feline E.L.F that Abbey encountered a few nights before leapt from the roof of the motel, six inch claws primed, towards the figure. Before the E.L.F was even close to striking the figure swiftly turned its arm towards it, and from it a burst of energy streamed forth leaving a perfect hole through the center of the creature, which fell lifeless to the ground.
Other E.L.F’s scampered forward and jumped at the armored figure, including the large insect beast. The Hulathen struck down some with its weapon, while slicing others with a tail which was covered in spikes. Each E.L.F which fell was accompanied with a wail of a Cascader watching on in anguish. Finally the large prehistoric looking creature that Abbey knew belonged to Erin stormed into the parking lot, knocking aside cars like they were toys and slammed into the armored alien figure knocking it through the air some twenty yards and through the wall of one of the motel rooms. Some cheers echoed around the lot.
Brett walked along the balcony to have a better view.
Abbey tentatively walked with him as the large reptilian E.L.F stomped forward towards the dust and rubble where the Hulathen had crashed. Out of the corner of her eye she could still see vertical columns of light switching on and off across the landscape.
“I think it’s dea—”
Abbey felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up and without thinking dragged Brett and herself to the floor. The space around them lit with a light so bright they had to shield their eyes even though they were facing down. When it was gone, Brett scrambled back as he was teetering on the edge of a smoldering hole.
More shouts and screams came from outside.
Abbey got back to her feet helping Brett do the same. The Hulathen was climbing out of the wreckage of the building, while the semi-truck sized carcass of Erin’s E.L.F lay divided into two half's on the ground.
Even without the sounds of anger and rage, Abbey could sense the grief of the Cascaders around her.
The towering alien walked forward and kicked the E.L.F it had just killed, and made a sound which to Abbey sounded like laughing. It then did something far worse, it looked up at her.
Both her and Brett ducked down and started crawling back to the room.
Gunfire started up all around them, but after each burst there was an intense bright light and the gunfire stopped.
They both fell into the motel room and pushed the door closed behind.
“We
have too—”
This time she just had enough time to push Brett away, while she fell backwards. The beam was so close it burnt her face. When it was gone the clouds could be seen through a perfectly circular hole, which ran from the ceiling above to the floor between them.
She blinked trying to get the light echo from her vision and make out if Brett had been clear or not. “You there?”
The sound of broken furniture was replaced with Brett’s voice. “I’m here…”
As she lay on the carpet feeling the cool night wind on her face, she closed her eyes and tried to reach out into the universe around her. Elcher, or whatever your name is, we could do with some help…
The sound of people running and shouting mixed in with some gunfire outside, but she still laid on her back looking up at the clouds moving silently across the night sky. Then she saw it, a dark rectangular shape holding its place as the clouds moved over it. She knew what was coming as the hairs on her arms spiked once more. She closed her eyes and waited.
After ten seconds she opened them. The dark shape was gone and there was only silence from outside.
* * * * *
About a hundred people laid and sat across molded seats and the hard wood floor of bowling lanes. Most were Cascaders.
In an employee’s common room at the back, Abbey, Erin, Dale and Clovis sat and stood. A few candles lit their faces, some of which were bloodied and burnt.
“I reckon this is her doing!” Said Dale at Abbey.
Erin looked at the floor, it was the most deflated Abbey had seen him. “We do not know why this is happening.”
“She comes with us and the same night! Weird alien stuff starts happening. That ain’t no coincidence in my book! That thing killed all our creatures!”
Abbey tried ignoring Clovis’s cold eyes that never left her.
Erin looked at her. “You told me some things before which I had a hard time believing, now maybe I’m thinking you were right.”
