by Nate Castle
“What if I do a few loops around that tall tree? The cable will wind around the tree, and when the craft continues to tow us, the tree will come crashing down with it, hopefully falling on the other crafts,” Garrett said.
Being towed by the craft wasn’t as horrifying as they had initially imagined. The slow pace at which the craft was moving allowed Garrett to maintain enough control of the chopper to avoid crashing, at least for the time being.
“It can’t hurt to try. We are running out of options,” Noel said.
“Ok release the rest of the slack,” Garrett said.
They still had some reserve cable in the spool, but in order to be able to navigate the chopper around the tree they would need to use the rest of it. If this failed, the alien craft would be able to tow the chopper indefinitely once the cable was taut again.
~~~
“Oh God what is their plan now?” President Taylor said.
Garrett was circling the chopper around a tall tree. With every loop he made, the cable wrapped around the trunk of the tree.
“Is he crazy? When the alien craft regains its momentum, that tree is going to come crashing down.” Shelby said.
“Maybe that’s what his intention is,” Logan said.
“Well this changes things. Our idea for making a tree-line superchip barrier will be out of the question if that tree falls,” General Kaplan said.
From their angle, it didn’t look like there was any way possible that the tree would fall on the alien crafts or them, so they decided to stay put, and watch the next events unfold.
~~~
“Be prepared to cut the cable if things go south,” Garrett said to Noel.
He had made four loops around the tree and was navigating the chopper back towards their original destination: the cell phone barrier. The slack had almost run out. One of two things would happen next, either the chopper would gain control of the alien craft once again, towing it and the tree. Or, the alien craft would pull hard enough the other direction to resume towing the chopper. Both scenarios would cause the tree to fall, but if the latter occurred, the alien craft would run out of room to tow the chopper without the tree ramming into the other crafts.
“Should I strap on a parachute just in case?” Noel said.
“I’m not sure that will help, we aren’t very high in the air; if we jump out of the chopper, the parachute might not deploy until we’ve already hit the ground,” Garrett said. “Here goes nothing!”
Garrett pushed forward hard on the throttle, the cable was now taut. The alien craft below had come to a stop during Garrett’s tree antics. The chopper flew forward, Noel could see the tree about to tip. It caught them off guard, when the alien craft retaliated with a forward force of its own. The back end of the chopper dipped and they were now on the path to crashing if Garrett didn’t have any tricks up his sleeve.
Noel, still attached to the harness had trouble bracing herself because the chopper was now tilted up at a 45 degree angle, making it difficult to move around without falling over. The tree came crashing down.
“Cut the cable !!!” Garrett screamed.
Garrett out of panic, jerked the throttle the forward, faster this time. He realized it was a poor decision immediately, as the chopper overcompensated and was now pointed nose first toward the ground, rather than tail first. He looked back behind him and saw Noel laying on the floor with a bloody gash coming from her forehead. She had hit her head on a metal compartment when the chopper had abruptly changed its orientation from tail down to nose down. The impact knocked her out.
The group watching the events from the ground couldn’t see Noel’s accident.
Garrett, left with no other choice, slowly pulled back on the throttle to straighten out the chopper and enabled a few switches that were meant to keep the chopper idling at its current altitude. He took off his seatbelt and climbed back to where Noel was laying on the deck. With no time to put on a harness, he wrapped his right arm around a side railing and used his left arm to reach the DurangoX3 control cart. The design of the cart was very user friendly and he located a lever that read ‘Detach’. He pulled the lever and the end of the cable that was attached to the cart broke free. He ran back to the cockpit so he could resume flying the chopper; this time without resistance from the alien craft.
The force of the cable breaking free sent it flying toward the alien crafts at a ridiculous speed.
“DUCK!” President Taylor said to the group, as he saw the cable spiraling towards them. The cable rebounded off of one of the crafts before it lost its momentum.
~~~
Garrett knew he should have given up sooner and detached the cable, but he was stubborn and didn’t want to accept defeat. His main priority now was getting Noel some medical attention. He flew the chopper past the alien crafts to the spot where the group of volunteers was waiting and managed to land the chopper without causing any more injuries. He didn’t bother kicking off the engine; he figured someone might need to use the chopper again soon. He climbed down from the deck, then turned back around to pick up Noel. He picked her up into a fireman’s lift and carried her towards the group. She was conscious now and her eyes were fluttering as if she just saw stars. The wound on her forehead wasn’t terrible, but she would need to get it stitched up as soon as possible to avoid too much blood loss.
“Sumesh can you get her stitched up?” Garrett said.
“Yes but it’s not safe to go inside the White House right now,” Sumesh said.
“Take her to the buildings across the street. I don’t want to risk her bleeding out. Garrett you fly the chopper over there with Sumesh and Noel. Sumesh you will just have to make it work with the supplies that you find over there,” President Taylor said.
Sumesh had a leather satchel strapped over his shoulder; he likely had some basic medical supplies inside of it. The three of them returned to the chopper and took off towards the buildings on the other side of the sinkhole. During this distraction, it took a minute before President Taylor and the General realized that Logan had slipped away from the group.
“Where’s Logan?” General Kaplan said.
Shelby was fighting to hold back tears as she pointed in the direction of the alien craft.
“He told me he’s going to end this,” Shelby said.
The alien craft had stopped moving after Garrett had strategically knocked down the tree. The cable from the DurangoX3 was still attached to the craft and to the tree.The group ran to the opposite side of the crafts they were hiding behind so the could get a better view of the lone craft Logan was heading towards. Using the t-shirt with the alien substance on it, Logan approached the front of the craft, causing the chute to open. With no one this time to help boost him up, he jumped to grab ahold of the top of the chute.
“Is he planting a chip in that craft?” someone from the group said.
“I think it’s worse than that,” Shelby said.
They watched in shock as Logan disappeared into the hole at the end of the chute. He was now inside the alien craft. The group stood there in silence for what felt like forever, unsure of what to do next. Was Logan dead?After three minutes, they heard the sound of the chute opening again. The group had now moved to the front of the craft. Logan shot out of the shoot and landed hard on the grass in front of the craft.
“That craft is no longer in service,” Logan said when he was back on his feet.
The shirt he was wearing was soaked in that same alien substance that was on Sumesh’s shirt. The group, still in shock, stood there in awe, not sure how to react to the fact that Logan had just gone inside an alien craft with an alien inside and made it back out alive.
A screeching sound turned their attention to the five other crafts. Of the five crafts, three now had super chips inside of them. The other two didn’t. The first one they had tried to put a chip in but couldn’t get the shoot to open, The other one they hadn’t attempted to plant a chip but got distracted by other happenings. The screechin
g sound came from the craft which the chute wouldn’t open on. It was the same screeching noise the aliens made before entering the White House. The exterior lights on the craft began pulsating purple and green.
“This can’t be good,” General Kaplan said.
Logan began sprinting towards the craft. President Taylor tried to grab him and hold him back, but Logan’s strength and determination was overpowering. Before Logan made it there and could attempt to replicate his disabling skills, the craft lifted off the ground in a hurry. They watched as it flew straight up into the sky, gaining altitude at an outrageous pace and finally disappearing from sight.
“Quick we have to disable the other craft,” President Taylor said. He was referencing the craft that didn’t yet have a super chip in it.
“Give me that,” General Kaplan said.
Logan handed him Sumesh’s shirt with the alien substance and climbed atop the platform the group had already formed to give him a boost. He reached into his pocket, grabbed three super chips, wiped some alien substance on them and threw them into the hole at the end of the chute.
“Don’t forget there are still sixteen aliens inside the building that we have to deal with,” General Kaplan said. “They’ll likely be coming out soon after hearing the screeching sound.”
“I have to go check on the people in the tunnel,” President Taylor said, “General you come up with a plan. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
President Taylor headed to the small hut that was disguised as a garden shed, but was actually an entrance leading down to the tunnel underneath the White House.
~~~
The tunnel was lit by hanging lamps, the kind you might see in a coal mine. President Taylor made a right turn, heading to where he thought the group of 10,000 or so people might be hanging out. No luck. The tunnel was very sophisticated in design and led to various exit points throughout DC. Before turning back the way he came from, he inspected the door at the top of a ladder to see if there were any signs of it being breached. This was the door that the survivors had used to enter the tunnel in the first place. The door appeared normal; the aliens were either still in the White House or they had entered the tunnel through a different door.
He made his way down the tunnel this time heading in the direction he had taken with General Kaplan a few days prior when they went to the armory that was disguised as a Dry Cleaning store to check on the landmine supply. He stopped when he heard footsteps approaching. There was a ladder to his right. The tunnel widened to make room for the ladder. He stepped towards the ladder to hide. Someone coming down the tunnel toward him wouldn’t be able to see him until they reached the ladder and looked to their left. The footsteps continued past him. It was Hank, carrying a roll of what looked like electrical wiring.
“HEY!” President Taylor said, and Hank jumped back, startled by the President.
“What are you doing?” President Taylor said.
“I’ve a plan for destroying the aliens,” Hank said.
“How come you’re not with the others?” President Taylor said.
“They are all safe, they exited the tunnel a few hundred yards down,” Hank said, but avoided the President’s main question.
“Is the tunnel intact past the sinkhole?” President Taylor said.
“No, it’s ruptured but we’ve found ways to cross it,” Hank said.
“What are you doing with those cables?” President Taylor said.
“I’ve lined the White House with C4 and other explosives. I’m running the wires away from the White House so I can detonate the explosives without blowing myself up,” Hank said, acting like it wasn’t out of the ordinary that he planned to blow up the White House.
“Are you insane, you cannot blow up the White House!” President Taylor said.
“It might come down to that, if we can’t get rid of the aliens. Besides, the tunnel will be safe from the blast,”Hank said.
“What ever you do, don’t do anything until I get back,”President Taylor said.
He didn’t have time to debate with Hank, he wanted to check to make sure the others and Sierra were safe before he returned to face the aliens.
23 NEVER FORGET
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“THEY’RE COMING OUT OF THE White House!” Logan said. The first of the sixteen aliens that had gone inside had just exited a side door of the building.
“We have to move away from here quickly,” General Kaplan said. “We need the aliens to get in their crafts. If we stay here they won’t be able to get within 100 yards of us because of the remaining super chips we have in our pockets.”
With General Kaplan leading the way, they scurried away from the crafts to the front side of the building.
“I don’t think that thing spotted us, but who knows,” Shelby said
Using the landscaping to his advantage, the General peeked through a bush and could see the rest of the aliens also exiting. He counted sixteen total. Once again in a V formation, with the leader at the front, they ‘jump-walked’ to their crafts and stopped just before the entrance.
“The signal from the chips doesn’t come through the wall of the crafts; if it did they wouldn’t be able to stand that close to the crafts,” Logan said.
The aliens were now looking at the lone craft in the middle of the lawn which still had a cable attached to it, and the large redwood tree laying flat on the grass just in front of it. Three of the aliens ‘jump-walked’ over to it, curious about why it was out in the open rather than in the spot where it had originally been parked. They entered the craft through the chute that protruded out.
“Now is the moment of truth. If they come back out or start the craft and fly away, we will know that the super chips are ineffective,” Logan said.
The remaining thirteen aliens must have noticed that one of the six original crafts was missing. They began turning their heads in 360 degree motions, looking for clues as to what had happened. General Kaplan and the others weren’t hidden as well as they could have been and an alien spotted them.
A screeching sound followed and all of the aliens locked their eyes on the point where the humans were hiding.
“Nothing has happened with the lone craft. Let’s hope that means the three aliens that went inside it are now dead due to the super chips I planted,” Logan said.
“What’s our play here?” Shelby said. “To me it looks like the aliens have just realized that we caused damage to their craft and they aren’t going to play nice anymore.”
“Two options. We either run towards them and hope they retreat due to the power of our super chips. Or, we run away from them and hope they enter the other crafts and die,”General Kaplan said. “Neither option sounds good to me, but I’m tired of running away from problems. I say we charge them.”
“Oh Lord, what is that thing?” Shelby said.
The rest of the group had left the talking to Shelby, Logan, and General Kaplan; they were followers, not leaders. After Shelby spoke though, her words were echoed with gasping sounds from the others. One of the aliens came from the back of the formation up to the front and handed the leader a large item that resembled a crossbow. The leader now had the crossbow positioned on its shoulder and was pointing it at the group. A beam of orange light was coming from the weapon.
“Well this changes things now doesn’t it,” General Kaplan said.
~~~
The door to the garden shed behind them opened and out walked President Taylor, Sierra and Hank. They froze when they saw the sniper-like weapon aimed at the others.
“It’s not a weapon, it’s a tool used to disable the super chips,” Logan said. Throw your chips as far away from you as possible now before that laser beam hits them!”
“You’re crazy! I’m not letting go of my chips, it’s the only thing protecting me right now,” General Kaplan said.
Logan hucked his chips behind him with a baseball throwing motion and a few others did the same, including Shelby. General Kaplan did
n’t throw his. Logan’s hunch was right.
Psshew—psshew! The sound came from the crossbow. No physical object was ejected after the sound, but General Kaplan and four others who decided to keep their chips, hit the ground like a sack of potatoes. It was hard to know whether they were dead or had just been hit with some sort of electromagnetic shock that they would eventually recover from. General Kaplan had been holding a chip in his hand and it was no longer recognizable that it was a chip. It had melted and caused a major burn on the General’s hand.
“Inside now!” said President Taylor, who decided his leadership was needed.
Out of respect, Logan felt they needed to take the injured ones with them, regardless of whether or not they were dead, so he pulled General Kaplan up to his feet and with the help of Hank, they carried him. The others injured by the blast were carried as well. They did their best to hustle inside; they could sense the aliens were following them.
~~~
“I’ve got an extreme burning sensation in my leg,” Logan said, “It began bothering me right after they shot the shock wave at us.”
“It’s the chip in your knee brother. It wasn’t disabled from the shock wave, but it probably still experienced the shock on a much smaller scale,” Hank said.
Now inside the main hallway of the White House, President Taylor said, “We have to make it to the tunnel and seal the door, that’s our only chance of escape.”
The aliens began following them; they were now able to do so since the shock wave disabled the super chips. The group didn’t dare look behind them, they could tell the aliens were close behind by the sound of their steps getting louder.
Almost to the tunnel now, President Taylor said to Hank, “That idea you had earlier…do you still have the ability to do that?”
“Yeah I don’t think there’s any other choice. I’ll take care of it,” Hank said.
“I’ll send you some sort of signal when the group is about to enter the tunnel, wait a few seconds before you proceed,” President Taylor said.
