by Rick Kueber
When she collected her composure, bravery and desire to not only survive, but to overcome, she crept out from behind the dumpster and made her way silently to the door. The door had not latched and she crouched down and pushed it open an inch to peek inside. Elle’s eyes popped open when she saw the bus driver standing just a few feet in front of her. He was facing away from her, watching the activity that buzzed inside. It was a typical factory setting with people working on conveyor lines and fork-trucks zipping around to deliver raw materials. The driver took a step backwards and Elle rolled to the side, pulled her knees to her chest and pressed her back against the building, letting the door close on its own. Her heart raced and she breathed heavily, afraid of being caught by whoever all of these people were. Suddenly the door flew open and the driver rushed out.
Chapter 5
Bun in the Oven
“What the heck are you doin’ out here? If you’re thinking about...” He stopped mid-sentence with his mouth wide open. “Wait a minute. Who... are you?”
“Who are you?” She shot back at him, hesitant to tell any of her story to a complete stranger and prepared herself for a quick escape.
“I’m Robert, but everyone calls me Bob.” He took a step back from her, noticing her intimidation. “And you are?”
“Bob... That was my brother’s name.” Her memory flashed back to the traumatic night when she lost her brother and the fact that even after being ‘taken’ he retained his humanity. For the first time since it all began, she started to emotionally break. “I’m Elle.” Her voice quivered and her body began to tremble.
“Hey, Elle... Let’s get you outta sight. It’s not always safe out here, especially alone.” The kind man reached his hand out to her. “Where did you come from? I mean, you’re not one of our crew.”
“Your crew?” Elle was a little puzzled by the statement. “Where did I come from? Well, I’ve been a lot of places.” She felt like Bob was a goodhearted man, but was still leery of letting anyone know about the CCC, or Barnhill.
“Yeah... Our crew. There aren’t many people left here and we have been split up into ‘crews’. We’re the bakers. We run this factory, making breads and some other baked goods.” He had a sour look on his face when he said the phrase ‘other baked goods’. “I think there are a few crews in the city. We had a choice, work in a crew, or leave town in one of the giant things... but we can talk about that later.”
“Okay.” Elle had few words for the kind stranger, but stretched out her hand and allowed him to help her up.
“Holy macaroni!” He said as she stood up. “Sorry, but are you gonna have a baby? When are you due?”
“Yeah, I suppose I am. I’m about five months along.” Elle shocked herself with the words. It hadn’t occurred to her that in just a few months she would be a mom... not what she had planned for her future, but then again, she hadn’t expected the world to be turned upside down either.
“They’re going to know you don’t belong with us.” He was genuinely concerned and looked around to see if there was anyone, or anything, watching them. “You only have two real choices, if you want to stay out of harm’s way... Leave now and don’t let anyone see you, or come get into the back of the bus and hide under a blanket until we get to the compound.”
“You live in a compound?” Elle had visions of radicals being holed up in a military style compound like some religious fanatical group.
“Well, no, we live in a high rise apartment building. If we can sneak you inside with us this afternoon, you’ll be fine. There are alien people who keep guard outside until we come back to the factory in the morning.”
“How many of you are there?” Elle was becoming more and more curious.
“Well, around 250. I make five trips to get everyone from here to there. I heard a rumor that there is a ‘compound’ set up at the big football stadium that has almost 10,000 people. But that’s just a rumor. Supposedly there is another one at Luke Air Force Base south of the city and there could be a lot more. We used to have a million and a half people here. I heard there was only about 50,000 left, but people tend to make things up when they don’t have the answers, so I don’t know what the truth really is.” He looked around nervously and then opened the back door to the bus. It made a low, stuttered squeaking sound and did not open easily, needing a good shot of grease. “Are you coming or going?”
“I’m coming.” Her quick reply surprised her and she climbed up into the back of the bus where she found a thick blanket to cover herself with. “Thank you, Bob.” The gentleman tipped his hat to her, exposing his salt and pepper hair again just before he closed the heavy door.
Elle snuck a peek out of the window and watched Bob return to the factory, then she dropped back down to the floor of the bus and unfolded the blanket and wrapped herself in it. Her mind wandered as she listened intently for any sound that might clue her in that an Ahsusha or Taker might be approaching. Elle struggled with staying put. As the hours slowly passed, she reached for the door handle a dozen times or more, each time deciding her chances might be better with a group of people, even if they were under the watchful eye of the alien invaders. Her backpack was still back in the empty house she had squatted in for the previous night, like a homeless vagrant taking shelter in an abandoned building. She had nothing with her, no gun, no vitamins, no change of clothes... Nothing. Maybe it would have been better to have at least grabbed her gun and backpack. It was too late now, she had walked a long way to get to the factory and that meant that she was hunkered down and hidden in the back of a repurposed bus and two miles away was her handgun and backpack. How would Tanner and Daniel ever find her if she was intentionally hiding? Elle thought that if she could go back and leave a sign in the window, or a note on the door, maybe they would stumble upon it and at least be pointed in the right direction, but that was all hindsight. The day slipped by slowly and eventually boredom and exhaustion overtook her. Elle bundled herself under the blanket completely and dozed off for a nap.
The rumbling noise and tremors of the bus’ motor starting up woke Elle from her long, mid-day nap. Momentarily, she was confused and terrified, hearing the mumblings of a busload of strangers, but she remained hidden beneath the blanket, even as she felt the bus beginning to roll past the gate and down the street. Very little information was given to her and Elle wondered if there were Takers or Ahsushas on board or if they would be waiting when the ‘crew’ left the bus. This was one of the few times since the invasion that she felt completely out of control, and it was not only uncomfortable, it was frightening. Every turn and every stop was noted and after a short, ten minute drive, the bus came to a complete halt and Elle listened as the side door of the bus opened and the passengers shuffled off. She toyed with the thought of pulling back the covers to reveal herself and try to slip out with the other riders, but that time had come and gone before she acted. She listened as the crowd quieted and the door closed again. When the bus was again rolling down the city streets, she heard the familiar voice of ‘Bus-driver Bob’.
“You stay down, now.” He instructed her. “After I get the next load and we are headed back, I’ll introduce you and then you will come up and have a seat with everyone else. That way when we get back to the compound, you’ll blend in. I thought it’d be best to wait for the second bus load. They might not pay as much attention to everyone in the middle of the return.”
Elle stayed down, covered up and silent while the bus pulled in, turned around and then loaded up. The second bus load of passengers was louder than the first and she felt a little more at ease. The loud chatter seemed more like a typical bus commute with everyday people, not workers enslaved by some invading alien race.
“Can everybody quiet down and listen up.” Elle could hear the smile in Bob’s raised voice.
“You hush up Bob!” A boisterous woman belted out from just in front of Elle’s hiding place. “We tryin’ to have a conversation back here!” The crowd burst out in laughter and it be
came even louder than before.
“I’m serious now. We have a situation!” He shouted as the bus came to a quick stop and everyone rocked forward.
“What the hell Bob!” A man called out from somewhere in the middle of the bus. “You tryin’ to kill us or something?”
The bus began to slowly roll forward again as Bob spoke up again. “Well, now that I have your attention, I have something important to tell you all.” Aside from his voice, and the whining sound of the motor, the bus was silent. “We have a guest.. Or a stow-away on board with us. “Murmurs bounced around in hushed tones as Bob continued. “A young woman named Elle wandered into our bakery today. She needs our help.”
“Why should we take a risk to help a total stranger?” A man asked firmly.
“Because we are human beings, and so is she.. That’s what people do.” The boisterous woman answered him before Bob could.
“Well, that and I can think of two other reasons... First, she’s been traveling and can probably tell us some of what’s going on and Second, well, she’s gonna have a baby.” The bus went quiet except for a couple of obvious gasps. “Elle, come on out and come sit up here with us.” Bob coaxed her out from under the blanket. “Make her a spot in the middle somewhere so she can blend in when we get to the drop off point. Who can take her in for the night?”
Elle stood up and stepped out into the aisle. “She can stay with me.” A stout woman with dirty blonde hair spoke up, scooting over to make a spot for Elle to sit down. “I have an empty bed room.”
She sat down mousily and did not make eye contact at first, but she could feel all eyes on the bus, except for the driver, were on her. Her head was down, and her arms wrapped around her bulging belly. She felt out of place, like an outsider, much like her first day at the cancer center. The warrior within wanted to stand up and speak up, but she held her tongue.
“If you want to talk, maybe a few of us can get together at my apartment tonight and we can trade stories. Something tells me you and your baby have quite a tale to tell.” The woman next to her said quietly.
“That would be nice,” Elle replied in a hushed whisper. “Maybe just a few friends that you trust 100%.”
“Of course hun.” She patted Elle’ leg as they bumped down the road.
Most eyes turned forward again, but they whispered back and forth but she could not make out their conversations or the demeanor of what they were saying. Elle remained quiet, knowing it was not the time to speak of revolution or anything that might not be taken extremely well. She was gravely outnumbered and with her advanced pregnancy, she was in no condition to fight a busload of angry strangers. Elle watched the buildings passing by through the window and a few moments later the bus came to a grinding halt in front of a large twenty story high rise apartment building. Six Ahsushas and dozens of Takers emerged from the shadows and lined either side of the walkway between the bus and the front entrance of the building. A woman of some ethnic origin across the aisle from Elle slipped off her bulky sweater and handed it to her.
“Here... Put this on. Maybe it’ll hide your belly.” The dark eyed woman smiled. “Okay... Let’s do this. Everybody, just keep moving, don’t look at Elle, and let’s get inside as quick as we can without drawing any attention.”
Everyone stood up and began filtering into the aisle and then stepped off of the bus, one by one. When Elle realized that the exit was only wide enough for everyone to single file out of the bus, her nerves twisted her stomach and though her baby had been quite still so far in her pregnancy, she could have sworn that she felt a movement or kick. She flinched, but held her composure and continued down the aisle. Taking the three steps down, her feet hit the concrete sidewalk and she drew in a deep breath and held it as she tried to move into the slower walking crowd ahead of her. Those that followed crowded in behind her and kept her surrounded and hidden as best as they could. When they made it into the lobby, everyone huddled around the elevators.
“By the way, my name is Jenny.” The woman Elle would be staying with introduced herself. “We’ll probably have about two hours or so of electricity when we get up to the apartment, so we will have to fix up something to eat and take our showers pretty quick.” The elevator opened up and a dozen people, including Elle and Jenny, crammed into it and began pushing buttons. “We’re on the 5th floor.”
“How do you have electricity?” Elle couldn’t resist asking the question that had puzzled her since early that morning.
“The alien ships, or whatever they are, are surrounding Phoenix. They have figured out how to cut us off and on.” She didn’t really understand, but knew it had something to do with the Titans that were strategically placed on the outskirts of the city.
“But... How?” Elle wanted more. “I mean, who keeps the power plants running?”
“Nobody.” Jenny answered quickly. “We run on solar here. We pride ourselves on how much power we have generated with renewable energy. Still not sure how they cut us off and on, but it may not be that complicated. I’m no electrical engineer.” She chuckled as the elevator doors opened again to let off more of the factory crew. When they reached the 5th floor, Elle and Jenny stepped off alone.
“Is it just us?” Elle asked. “Do we have the whole floor to ourselves? I could stay in another apartment if you want.”
“No, others will come up when they get here. I think there are about 15 on our floor. The top floor is full up and the bottom few floors are packed full too. Some people want the view, to see if anything is going on, but most just want to be close to the ground in case there is ever a day when we end up with no power or need to get out quick. Can you imagine having to take twenty flights of stairs to get out if there was ever an emergency, like a fire.” Jenny made a good point; something Elle had not thought of.
“Here we are, 506.” Jenny twisted the key and opened the door, reaching inside to quickly turn on the overhead light. “It’s not much compared to my house, but this is home now.”
“It’s nice.” Elle spoke softly, understanding how it felt to lose a home. “Thank you again for taking me in.”
“Go ahead and jump in the shower while there is some hot water. Try not to make it too hot. We all share the hot water and if everyone takes a hot shower, it runs out really quick, so we try to use it sparingly. I’ll dig you out some sweatpants and a shirt. Towels and washcloth are in the hall closet.”
Elle grabbed a towel and washcloth and turned on the bathroom light, which still amazed her. After stripping her clothes off, she stood in front of the mirror and looked at how much she had changed in just six months. Not only her swollen midriff, but her face had changed. Bags under her eyes, exposure to the elements and frazzled hair had aged her beyond her years. She didn’t think she looked as old as she felt, but older than she did just a few months ago. She longed for a facial and a day at the spa.
“Hurry up now.” Jenny knocked on the door and spurred her on. “Sweats are out here on the floor.”
“Okay, sorry and thanks.” Elle snapped back to reality and cranked up the shower. She stepped in, lathered up and washed off quickly. It felt amazing to have lukewarm water raining down on her. As soon as she finished, she turned the water off. It was over far too quickly, but all the same, it was miraculous and transforming. She stood in front of the vanity, toweling off, and began opening drawers, looking for a brush. The first thing she found was a tube of facial cream and in the same drawer was a tube of tooth paste. She desperately needed and wanted both. Taking only a dab of the facial cream, she massaged it into her face and it was as if she could feel her skin transform from leathery to soft and supple. Opening the door, she grabbed up the sweats and slipped into them. This was probably the most comfortable she had been since her night of passion in the mountain cabin, before being run off by the Titan and the horde of Takers that followed. The brush pulled at the tangles in her hair, but eventually it ran through effortlessly. She casually walked from the bathroom to the small, apartment sized
kitchen where the smell of cooking food drifted through the air and the sound of sizzling filled her ears.
“Smells wonderful!” Elle was truly thankful for her generosity. “I hope you don’t mind, I used a bit of your moisturizer.”
“No, I don’t mind at all. Mi casa, su casa.” Jenny grinned. “And don’t kid me, it’s just grilled cheese and chips for dinner.”
“It sounds and smells delicious.” Elle soaked in the scent of buttery toast frying on hot cast iron.
The two took their plates to the small dinette and sat nibbling away, quietly at first, but soon Elle opened up and began to tell some of her story and a few of the details about how the Ahsusha seemed to be unable to take someone with certain types of cancer and the way that Maddie was healed with the blood of a half-breed. Jenny was fascinated by everything she had heard, but she was a little excited, slightly disturbed and downright terrified by what Elle said next.
“Why haven’t you all tried to overthrow the alien beings?” There was no response to her question, only shock. “Has anyone talked about getting together and fighting them. You know... Like a rebellion?”
“Are you insane? I mean, like seriously insane?” Jenny’s face was blank, as if she was in shock. “When this all started, they weren’t violent, almost seemed friendly but nobody went against their orders. They’re... Um... Like aliens, so how are we supposed to think we can stop them. Like... The Luke Air Force Base is just south of town and they couldn’t stop them. Hell, I even heard they have taken over the base and are ready to nuke the whole city if we start any trouble.”
“Then everyone here are sheep, and they are the wolves.” Elle sounded defeated, which was something she was not comfortable with. Elle was a fighter, and that’s what got her this far. She was not about to drop her head and ‘keep the peace’ just to continue to exist. Elle wanted to be free. She wanted to live. “I don’t know how long I can stay here then. I don’t want to cause trouble for everyone, but I can’t sit by and do nothing.”
