by Alex Bratton
Something didn’t add up. Halston had quarreled with Lincoln and then been sent into the mine? Was that some sort of punishment?
Nelson whistled. “You went down the stairs in the dark? Why would you do that?”
“I didn’t go down them on purpose,” he snapped. “They just sort of jumped out in front of me, you know? Let’s get out of here.”
“We’re on our way in, not out,” Lincoln said.
“I twisted my ankle on the stairs, and I’m really sick of this place.”
“We’ll leave a torch with you then. We’ll get you on the way back if you want to wait.” Lincoln wasn’t feeling too charitable at the moment.
Halston straightened. “I think we should head back,” he said. “There’s been a lot of rumbling in here. Don’t want to get trapped.”
“We haven’t felt anything since we came down,” Alvarez remarked.
“And you’ve been here all of what? Two minutes?”
Lincoln growing irritation erupted into anger. “You know what? I think you can wait here in the dark until we get back. Let’s go.” He turned back toward the sign, and the others reluctantly followed.
Lincoln was already regretting his words. If he’d been stuck here in the dark, he’d want to leave too. Even if Lincoln had had a few choice words ready for Halston, sending the lieutenant down in the dark was pretty low of Nash.
Lincoln half-turned to call off their expedition, but before he could speak, he was shoved violently into the wall, the air forced out of his lungs. Sharp, hot pain seared through his side like someone was driving a spike through it. Dazed, he saw Halston grab for his gun, and Lincoln could do nothing to prevent it as he fought to breathe. Debilitating pain washed over him, and he slid down the wall.
He watched Halston remove a long blade from his body. It was slick with Lincoln’s blood.
For a moment, the others didn’t seem to understand what had happened. Then, everyone shouted at once. The torchlight danced on the walls as Lincoln sank to his knees. The tunnel echoed with the group’s shouting and swearing. As he fell forward, the ground rumbled again.
One of the torches dropped into the puddle in front of Lincoln. The light flickered on the water and then sizzled out.
Mina drove as if Hell itself were after her. In fact, she almost believed she had died on that plane and had been whisked away to Hell. As she followed the chain-link fence, the nightmare grew quiet except for the squeaks and pops of the rusty truck as it bounced around. The headlight beams shook over the ground. Visibility was poor, and more than once, Mina was forced to swerve to avoid debris on the grass. Finally, the smoke thinned, and she hadn’t seen any more people for some time.
Mina tried not to think about the man she had abandoned to the creature. Although she could not have helped him after the alien found him, she wondered if she had killed the guy by getting into the truck in the first place.
As Mina neared the back gates, she turned toward the pavement. Just before the tires struck concrete, the truck slid through more mud, and this time, Mina couldn’t dislodge it.
“No!” She pounded the wheel, turned it every which way, gave it gas, or eased off of it, but the only thing she succeeded in doing was digging herself deeper into the mire.
With a sickening dread, Mina abandoned the vehicle to walk to the giant gates on foot. One of them had been ripped off its hinges and tossed aside. As Mina went through the gap, she glanced back. Black, oily smoke filled the air above the airport, mixing with the clouds, which glowed red from the fires below. As she watched, the obsidian outline of a spaceship flew away.
Turning her back on the carnage, Mina moved forward one step at a time, wondering where the invaders would go next.
~End Episode 1~
Author Note
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed Invasion. More of Mina, Lincoln, and Calla is on the way with a new episode releasing every two weeks until the series is complete.
Now that you’ve finished the book, would you take a moment to leave a review? Passing on the word to your friends via reviews, social media, and personal recommendations is the best compliment you can give me as an author. I deeply appreciate your help.
Before you go, you can get an Origins story, The Mine, free as a download at www.alexbrattonwrites.com if you sign up for my email updates.
Best,
Alex
Also by Alex Bratton
The Shadowmark Series:
Invasion, Episode 1 (August 2018)
(More coming soon.)
Shadowmark Origins
The Mine, A Shadowmark Origins Story
Hybrid, A Shadowmark Origins Novel
Acknowledgments
So many people were involved in helping to get this story out there. In its original form, I have to thank Dad, Nicole D., Carina, and Pam for their early feedback.
For this final manuscript, many thanks to the lovely Nicole Z. for editing and to Heather for beta reading.
And to my husband Eric for listening to me talk about books nonstop. Love you, babe.
About the Author
Alex Bratton grew up reading almost every genre of books, anything she could get her hands on. In a former life, she taught Middle and High School English. Now, Alex lives in Tennessee with her husband, son, and three dogs. She writes alien invasion/post apocalyptic stories and also publishes space adventure under another name.
You can find out more about her at www.alexbrattonwrites.com.
