A few people snort but everyone does pick up the pace. Garlind and I lead with a slow jog. We don’t have the energy for a run at this stage but we can at least do better than walking.
My lungs burn and my backpack jumps against my back. I constantly monitor the sky and hope the rain will stave off for just that little bit longer.
Small droplets start to fall.
Every time they land on exposed skin, the unfortunate victim gasps from the instant pain. We’re going to do a lot more than gasp when the skies open up.
We need to hurry.
I break out into a run and the others follow suit. The droplets are like warning bells and we’ve all heard them ring loud and clear.
The town comes into view and the buildings look sturdy enough to accommodate us. I had feared we’d find the whole town flattened like we did in Washington DC but it looks like we got lucky this time.
We run as fast as our weary bodies will carry us. The first building we come to is a house. Garlind and I try the front door but it won’t budge. We can’t afford any time to attack it with brute force. We’re forced onto the next house.
One of our team members has already tried the door and found it locked. They throw a rock through the window and one of the men reaches through the pane to get to the other side of the door. We wait a few tense moments before he managed to click the lock open.
I wait until everyone in my team gets inside before I join them. There are sharp stings as a few droplets land on my arms. I shake off the rain and try to ignore the burning pain they leave behind.
The house seems small with twenty of us inside. Someone has already trashed the place. Furniture is upended everywhere and graffiti is scrawled on each of the walls—so much I can’t distinguish words from drawings.
As long as it has walls and a sturdy roof, that’s the main thing. It should keep away the rain so we can rest for at least a few hours. Hopefully we’ll be able to sleep all night and then set off early in the morning—refreshed and ready.
“This is a great opportunity to get some rest,” I loudly declare to the room. “Get settled in for the night and have something to eat. Early to bed and then early to rise. We’ll cover a lot of ground tomorrow.”
Garlind gives me a sympathetic smile but that’s about the only reaction I get. I don’t know how to get through to my team. I wish I could tell them that everything will be okay and the end result will make all this suffering worth it. But I can’t make them promises I don’t know to be true.
I lay out my sleeping bag next to Garlind’s and sit down. My back is against the wall as I listen to the rain now beating down on the roof. I really hope it’s made from some sturdy material. It’s withstood the weather for at least seventeen years so hopefully it will last another night.
Wind whips around the trees outside. I watch one of the soldiers barricading the broken window next to the front door so the rain can’t get inside. At least one person still cares about what we’re doing.
I feel like yelling that I’m tired and frustrated too. That I know exactly how they are all feeling because that’s how I feel too. But I can’t. I’m supposed to be leading them, I can’t crumble in front of the group.
“Do you want some dried noodles?” Garlind asks, holding out his packet.
“Thanks.” I take a small handful and eat slowly. It’s been too long since I’ve eaten anything.
“We’ll be there in a few days.”
“Yeah, I’m looking forward to it. We need to win already.”
Garlind bumps me with his shoulder. “So impatient. You leave your bunker and want to conquer the world in just a few months. I didn’t know what kind of power I was unleashing on the universe.”
His comment elicits a smile from my frown. I can always rely on this beautiful boy to cheer me up. I don’t deserve him. “Maybe you should have left when I told you to go.”
“Nah, never. The feisty ones are always the best kind of people.”
I swallow down the lump that’s formed in my throat. Everything feels so overwhelming right now. If I didn’t have Garlind, I don’t know what I would do.
All of a sudden our impending fight with the aliens is too close. And far too dangerous. “When we get to Charleston, we have to stick together, right? We can’t lose each other.”
He slides a hand over to cover mine. “We’ll fight side by side. I won’t let you out of my sight. Team Marlind. See what I did there, with our names?”
“Very clever. Team Marlind all the way.”
We eat the rest of our dinner in silence.
The rain only gets worse outside as the night progresses. Everyone quiets down very quickly after the sun disappears behind the horizon. We’re all too fatigued to make it a late-night slumber party.
I lie in Garlind’s arms and listen as his breathing becomes rhythmic. He seems to be able to fall asleep no matter what is going on around us. I’m jealous. I wish I could sleep right now.
My brain is wracked as I think of what I can do tomorrow to inspire my team. It’s true that we only have a few more days of walking before we reach our destination. But if I don’t get our morale up, how many will still be in a good headspace to fight in the war we’re about to unleash?
Colonel Hanson trusted me with his troops and I have to do better.
I just have to.
The constant sound of the rain pounding against the roof and windows shouldn’t be soothing, but it is to some extent. I close my eyes and try to focus on the sound and not all the horrible thoughts vying for attention in my mind.
I don’t fall asleep for a very long time.
Tomorrow.
I’ll fix everything tomorrow.
Chapter 17
In the morning, I awake with a stretch and unfurl all my limbs. My muscles are sore from yesterday’s run. The pain is good, it means we worked hard and got closer to Charleston. Just a few more days and then it will be all over.
It’s still dim in the house. It takes a moment to register what that means.
The rain is still falling.
I shake out of my sleeping bag and hurry to the nearest window. Water runs down the pane in a constant stream. It’s not just raining, it’s pouring. There is no way we can leave in this weather.
Some other people have already figured this out. They glare at me, like this is somehow my fault. If I could control the weather, we sure wouldn’t be in this position. I would just send some lightning at the aliens until they are all electrocuted.
I place my forehead against the cool window and think. Even just one day of delay will put us significantly behind all the other troops. It could mean we arrive at our destination too late to join the fight.
There is no way of letting Hanson or any of the others know we’ve been delayed. When we don’t show up as scheduled, they’ll think the worse. They won’t know to wait for us because we’re still alive, just late.
“Maybe it will clear up by lunchtime,” Garlind says, startling me from behind.
I stand up straight again and face him. The spot where my forehead was on the window is cold and probably embarrassingly red. “Yeah, maybe. We have no option except to sit tight for now and wait it out.”
“We’ll still get there.”
“I know.”
He wanders off to join the breakfast team as people start to gather in the kitchen. We usually try to pool our food for at least one meal and eat together. It’s something I insisted on at the beginning but now seems confrontational. They’re all going to be thinking that I don’t know what I’m doing.
I turn back to the window and rub the condensation off with my hand. I look beyond the rain running down the glass and try to see the clouds in the sky. Everything is grey and dismal. There isn’t even a hint of blue anywhere.
This rain isn’t going to clear up anytime soon. We’re going to be stuck here for who knows how long. I’m going to have to get everybody on my side or we’ll never make it confined in this house.
/> I take my place in the kitchen and pick up a plastic bowl of mush. I think it’s supposed to be oatmeal, grown and produced by the cooks at the army base. It doesn’t taste too bad, actually. Much better than nothing.
It could really use some sugar, though.
“Did everyone sleep well?” I ask the room at large. It’s a lame question but someone has to say something. We can’t eat in silence.
“At least it’s dry in here,” one of the women replies. A few others nod in agreement.
“It’s a really good opportunity to rest up,” I try again. “Then when the rain clears, we’ll have more energy to finish the journey. We should still make it on time.”
“Or miss the whole thing,” one man counters.
“It’s possible. But Colonel Hanson knows what he’s doing. There are probably quite a few groups that have been delayed because of the same weather system.”
This seems to satisfy most of them.
We eat in silence again.
At least it’s quiet.
The rain doesn’t clear up at lunchtime.
Or dinnertime.
Or the next morning.
On the second day of constant rain, I know for sure I’m losing people. We’re all antsy and ready to leave. We weren’t trained for being cooped up inside day after day. The boredom is going to drive us all insane.
“I need to get people talking,” I say to Garlind in the corner of the living room we’ve claimed as ours. “To get them doing something to take their minds off things.”
“We will all be fine once we’re back on the move,” he replies. He absentmindedly plays with a lock of my hair. I wish I could make the whole world go away so we could have some alone time together.
“But we don’t know how long we’re going to be stuck here.”
“True.”
I think about how my parents and I were cooped up in our little bunker for so long together. How did we keep up our spirits when it seemed like our world was so small and insignificant?
The only time I saw my parents sad was when they reminisced about people they knew. Friends and family they couldn’t take with them into their life after the meteorite. They lost everyone they knew and never could say what happened to them.
It’s not things that connect people, but emotions. When Mom and Dad got sad, so did I. I didn’t know the people they spoke of but I could imagine how their loss impacted them. When they passed, I knew for sure how they felt.
It’s clear to me that I need to connect with my team on an emotional level. I could talk at them for a million years and it would make no difference. I need to start a conversation and talk with them.
I wait until everyone has had something to eat and are in the stage of the day where we’re at a loss about what to do with our time next. There is nothing productive that can be done while we’re stuck in this house.
So I’m going to get them talking.
Speaking louder than I normally would, I turn to Garlind. “When we defeat the aliens, let’s find a house by the beach and make a home there. I’d love for the ocean breeze to fill our home every day.”
“We can do up the house and fix anything that’s broken,” Garlind replies, indulging me in my fantasy. “We can plant a vegetable garden and never have to leave again.”
“We’ll need fruit trees too. Oranges and apples and pears. We can eat fresh food every single day.”
“An herb garden would be nice too.”
Looking past Garlind, I can see some people are listening to our conversation. I’ve piqued their curiosity. Now it’s time to reel them in until they are a part of this. “If people move into the other houses in the street, we can have a whole neighborhood. We can make friends and get some community facilities going. Imagine going to a supermarket like they used to. Or going to the cinema to see a movie. We can get electricity organized by using solar generators.”
“We can bring back the old world but make it better.”
“We will. After Charleston, the world will belong to us again. Our future will be our own.”
One of the men in my team speak up next. “I’m going to find a stray dog and make friends with it. I used to have two dogs before and I really miss them.”
The man beside him perks up. “I want to watch the sunset on the beach and just listen to the ocean in the dark. I want to do that every day.”
People start speaking from all over the room, talking excitedly with those around them. I can only catch snippets of their conversations.
“I want to soak in a bath tub with candles all around me and water so hot I can stay there for hours.”
“I’d really like to have a baby. Maybe when it’s safe enough, I can.”
“We could train and share our skills. Maybe open a hospital for the sick.”
“I want to make chocolate.”
“I used to be a school teacher. I can teach the local children. The next generation can have a proper education.”
They go on and on. I stand there, listening and hoping that all these dreams come true. I’m bolstered by the way they all speak o contributing toward a community. Nobody wants to be isolated anymore. We don’t want to fear our neighbors, but welcome them into our lives.
We’re going to make it.
We just have to defeat the aliens first.
The next day, the rain clears.
Chapter 18
We set off in the early morning. Everything feels fresh outside. The rain might be toxic but it washed away most of the dirt and dust that was clinging to everything. It feels like we’re stepping out into a different world than the one we left behind three days ago.
Every one of my team members puts in an extra effort. Our feet no longer drag on the ground. We are ready, rested, and prepared to take on our greatest enemy.
We walk all day and even in the darkness too. We have a lot of time to make up and we just want to get there now. Everyone wants to fight for their future and is keen to get it over and done with.
As am I.
Even with our extra effort, it still takes us almost three days to cross the border into South Carolina. We keep going until we reach our meeting point.
We finally get to Charleston.
The town is exactly how I remembered it to be. We’re confronted by the large wall that the aliens have built around the town. It looks smaller than the one in my memory. Not nearly so insurmountable as it once was.
I remember Sarah and how she was with me the last time I scaled this wall. She was so brave and ready to do whatever it took. She didn’t even care why we were here, she believed in me and that was enough.
My heart will never be as light as it once was. With every person I’ve lost along the way, it adds weight. Their memory is a scar on my heart that will never fully heal. Sometimes it bleeds uncontrollably, other times it’s tougher and is only a dark shadow in the four chambers.
Right now, I have to push aside all those crippling thoughts. I have another job to do and there are people’s lives in my hands. They are the most important thing right now.
“Prepare to climb the wall. There is a forest of dead trees on the other side. Be careful as it might be slippery,” I announce. I check the sky one last time to make sure there are no ships overhead. Everything above us is blue, no silver dots are in sight.
That could change at any time.
Garlind gives me a boost after I fling my rope and grapple over the wall. I pull myself up until I’m standing horizontally on the concrete barrier and walk upwards.
I don’t look down. I don’t want to see how much it would hurt if I fell now.
Urging myself forward, I don’t think I breathe again until I’m sitting on top of the structure. The forest on the other side is exactly how I remembered it. It’s reassuring to know the aliens haven’t obliterated everything in the town yet.
I count my team members until everyone is present and accounted for. There are no more obstacles in our way now. We just have to join the
rest of the army and await our next instructions.
“We head to the right,” I say loudly. “Stay close to the wall. It should take us about an hour before we meet up with the others. Keep an eye on the sky and let us know if there is anything to see up there.”
Garlind and I start the walk. I’ve forgotten how sore my feet are and the strain in my tired muscles. All that is gone now, leaving behind a razor-sharp focus on achieving our goal. For the first time since we left the base, I’m excited. We’re actually implementing our plan.
This is our End Game.
It doesn’t even take us an hour to reach the others. We’re all so eager we practically run.
The temporary camp set up here is as discreet at possible. There are no tents or anything that can’t be whipped away at a moment’s notice. Colonel Hanson has managed to hide his army in this remaining part of the forest and kept them safe. Not an easy feat with so many aliens around.
Soldiers welcome us as we file in. Some reunions are made as friends find one another amongst the thousands. I ask as many people as I need to before managing to find Hanson.
He has a makeshift strategy room set up underneath a massive willow oak tree. He is talking with Sergeants Scott and Macon. They turn when they hear us approach.
“Sorry we’re late,” I say.
“We had a rain situation which delayed us,” Garlind adds.
Hanson’s gaze flicks between us. He seems surprised to see us. “I’d just about given up on you. Thought the enemy might have taken you early. You are the last to arrive.”
I don’t want to think about what could have been. “We’re here now. All twenty of my group made the journey safely. Where are we up to with the plan?”
“We go in tonight. From our observations, the enemy appear to be less active then. We think they might have to sleep, just like us. They won’t be expecting the attack,” Colonel Hanson explains. He’s obviously had his recon team working hard to determine the aliens’ schedule.
After The End Page 56
