by N. W. Harris
“I’ll be right back,” he whispered, then sat his tray down on a table and headed for the doors of the cafeteria at a brisk walk.
“Shane?” Kelly called after him.
He pretended not to hear her and stayed on course. Breaking into a run when he was fifteen feet from the exit, he burst through the doors and darted around the side of the building. The woods were too far. Partway through the egress between buildings, he doubled over and barfed up bile, his stomach empty.
When the heaving stopped, he punched the metal wall of the hangar, refreshing pain enveloping his fist. Blinking and studying his hand to see if any bones protruded from it, he leaned against the building and wiped his eyes.
“Shane?” Kelly’s concerned voice came from behind him.
Her feet crunched on the gravel as she approached, and then her hand was on his shoulder. His head drooped, his unfocused eyes directed toward his feet. He wasn’t proud of himself at the moment and didn’t want her to see him like this.
“You aren’t alone, you know?” Her touch and voice soothed him like powerful medicine. “We’re with you in this.”
“Yeah,” he mumbled. “I’m trying to be strong, to inspire confidence in the others, but sometimes, it’s just too damn much.”
“It is too much,” she said. “But Steve, Jules, Maurice, and the rest are all here to help you. I’m here.”
He let out a long, shaky sigh and raised his head.
“I know,” he said, looking at her. “Guess I just got overwhelmed in there.”
She pulled him into an embrace, pressing her cheek against his.
“I’d kiss you,” she whispered, “but your breath smells like puke.”
He chuckled and squeezed her tightly against him. They held each other in silence, and he could feel her heart beating against his chest. Her touch diffused the pressure that had built in him.
“We’d better get back to lunch,” he said, wanting her to forget the whole ordeal. Holding hands until they got to the tarmac, they returned to the cafeteria and made their way over to the tables where the seven teams were sitting.
“Lunch is over,” Jones yelled from the door. “Up and out!”
“Ready to play capture the flag?” Steve asked, standing.
“Not really,” Liam replied. “Every bleeding muscle in my body hurts.”
“Well, it’ll make you that much easier to beat,” Jules teased, picking up her tray and taking it to the scullery.
Shane’s stomach growled. His hunger flared at the thought of not getting to eat until dinnertime. He already felt dizzy because he’d burned off his breakfast. Snatching the remainder of Laura’s sandwich from her plate before she could trash it, he stuffed most of it in his mouth.
“I said out!” Jones glared at him.
He couldn’t swallow the mouthful fast enough to be able to take another bite, so he slipped the remainder of the sandwich behind his back and headed for the door, acting like he didn’t notice the captain staring at him threateningly the entire way.
Walking out alongside Shane, Liam grumbled about Jones’ yelling. Fortunately, other than Laura, who had looked stunned by his sudden voraciousness, no one seemed to have noticed Shane’s moment of weakness. He glanced at the little kids’ tables, hoping he hadn’t frightened them. Their usual roar of laughter and conversation carried across the room.
The teenagers crowded out of the cafeteria, back into the blazing sun. He stuffed the rest of the sandwich into his mouth, chewing and swallowing as fast as he could. Whether or not he’d end up injured like the day before, it was a relief to think he’d soon be racing up the side of the mountain. For at least a little while, his mind wouldn’t be able to focus on anything besides not getting shot and capturing the flag. He just hoped he wouldn’t pass out from not eating enough.
“Gather around,” Jones shouted. “Today, the game is going to be a bit different. First off, there will be no guns. In the event that you lose your weapon during the mission, this will be good practice. Secondly, there are no teams. It’s each person for themselves, and the one to retrieve the flag and bring it to me doesn’t have to run at all tomorrow.”
A wave of conversation washed through the group.
“Quiet,” Jones ordered. “The purpose of this task is to prepare you in case the rest of your team is eliminated and you have to complete the mission on your own. So take this seriously.”
Shane looked at Kelly, Steve, and the rest of his team, not wanting to compete against them.
“I’ll warn you now, don’t hold back on this competition, or I’ll make you run double,” Jones growled. “Now go!” He pointed up the mountain.
Everyone looked stunned for an instant. Shane’s game brain took over, and he darted into the undergrowth, tearing through it into the forest. In a wild stampede, everyone else followed.
The serenity of the woods was disrupted by the shouts of kids and the crunch of leaves under their feet. He didn’t dare look over his shoulder, knowing the herd was on his heels and they’d trample him if he lost his footing. Judging by how long it took him to get to the top yesterday, he reckoned it was about a mile climb.
Within minutes, the noise behind him diminished. He could hear kids huffing for air, but it sounded like some of them were dropping off, exhaustion taking its toll. Shane’s legs were on fire. His lungs felt like they were bleeding, and he was dizzy from not eating enough lunch, but he refused to be beaten. Using every ounce of his strength, he pumped his legs up and down, all the while trying to watch where his feet landed.
No one passed him before the light showed through the tree trunks ahead, and he knew he was near the top. Then he could see the little red flag. Digging deep for an extra jolt of energy, Shane gave a burst of speed. His foot found a slick root hiding under the leaf litter, and his leg shot out to the side. He went down hard, and several competitors barreled past him.
Cursing and bruised, he scrambled to his feet in time to see Steve knock three others out of the way and grab the flag. The big linebacker gave a victorious shout, pivoted, and lunged back down the mountain. There was only one way to get the flag out of his friend’s clenched fist. When Steve passed, Shane dove at him, slamming him into a tree.
“Not today, brother,” Steve growled, twisting his body and tossing Shane stumbling headlong down the hill.
Steve charged onward, only a handful of kids on his heels. He knew a bunch of them must be waiting to ambush whoever came down the mountain with the flag. But once the linebacker was on the move, he was like a force of nature—no one could stop him. Refusing to give up, Shane popped to his feet and chased him. Petrov dove out from between two trees and wrapped his arms around Steve. Using a tactic they learned in football, he spun completely around, throwing the Russian off. Then two of the Finns dove at his legs, and the surprisingly nimble boy leapt over them. Shane was almost close enough to try a tackle when they made it to the bottom. Steve burst through the briars and slid to a stop.
“That’s right, people,” he shouted, prancing around the gravelly area between the buildings and the forest like it was the end zone and the flag was a ball. “This is my flag,” he sang triumphantly. “Mine!”
Gasping for air, Shane couldn’t help but laugh at his friend’s victory dance. He would’ve loved to capture the flag two days in a row, but he was happy to see a member of his team had gotten it anyway. The rest of the kids trickled out of the forest, mixed looks of defeat and relief that the run was over on their tired faces.
Jones didn’t give them long to rest, ordering them out onto the tarmac to run laps. Shane’s stomach growled again, and hunger pangs tormented him. Fighting bouts of dizziness, he ran at a slower pace and was tortured by fantasies of dinner the rest of the afternoon.
The routine was constantly being rearranged and the training seemed to get harder as the week progressed. Jones didn’t allow them to sleep more than a few hours a day. On the fourth day of training, he told them to nap in the afternoon and
kept them up all night, pushing their bodies to the brink while constantly stuffing their minds with new information.
Kelly didn’t join Shane in his rack again the rest of the week, and he wouldn’t have noticed if she did. Sleep deprivation and physical exhaustion cured the insomnia of those first nights, and when he was lucky enough to put his head to the pillow, he zonked out within seconds and saw her and the others do the same.
“Friday is fish and chips day,” Rebecca said, smiling at him as she piled fries onto his tray. She acted more cheerful than she had earlier in the week. Dr. Blain’s counseling sessions and her responsibilities with the children and in the cafeteria seemed to be helping to get her over the trauma she’d so recently endured.
“It’s Friday?” In his delirium, he’d lost track of time.
“Yes, silly,” Rebecca replied, laughing.
She must’ve thought he was joking. He smiled at her, looking forward to sitting down for a minute while he ate. His legs felt like jelly. They must’ve run over fifty miles during the week, on top of climbing the mountain to capture the stupid flag every day.
“Let’s eat with the little ones,” Shane said wearily, stepping off the end of the line. Kelly had hinted she wanted him to sit with them again, and after learning how much time Dr. Blain was spending with the kids, counseling them like she was Rebecca and the others, he decided it was critical he stay involved and make sure she wasn’t brainwashing anybody.
“Are you sure?” Kelly asked, appearing pleased.
“Yeah,” he replied, trying to sound as confident as he could.
He had an ulterior motive. She sat with her sister at every meal, and he was sick of wasting that time eating with the others, looking across the cafeteria at her. If he wanted more of Kelly, he was going to have to man up and be the big brother the little ones needed.
It made him ill that he felt he was ultimately responsible for them, and he was still trying to come to terms with the task. Kelly seemed to embrace her role as a guardian of the children, Nat being her primary motivation.
Following her across the cafeteria, balancing his tray in one hand and holding a bottle of water in the other, he thought about the bigger reasons he should eat with the kids. They needed adults, people who’d take a parental role. It wasn’t right for them to get used to looking to the aliens to fill that void, and Dr. Blain seemed all too eager to step in. For now, these rebels were allies. But when this war ended, they couldn’t allow them to take over.
It wasn’t that he wanted to be in charge, but he figured there were enough smart and resourceful teenagers left to piece things back together once the threat was dealt with. Earth belonged to humans, and it’d be wrong to give it up without a fight.
He did feel a little guilty for not completely trusting the rebels. They’d done so much for him and his people, and they seemed intent upon preventing the Anunnaki from enslaving the humans. However, wanting to be a good leader, he was determined to never forget that it was his duty to be vigilant and make sure no one was taking advantage of them.
Nat beamed when she saw him coming, and he felt bad for not eating with her earlier in the week.
“How are you, my lady?” he asked, bowing to her.
“They’re making us do homework,” Nat answered, sounding very disgruntled.
Shane and Kelly sat down, squeezing in on either side of her. Her complaint was refreshingly petty compared to the things troubling him.
“Well, that’s a good thing, right?”
“No way,” she replied, crinkling her little nose. Her big, blue eyes looked up at him like he was nuts. “How come you guys don’t have to go to school?”
“Oh, we’re going to school,” Kelly replied, sighing. “I assure you of that.”
“Why can’t we go home?” Nat crossed her little arms over her chest and stared at him.
“Nat, we talked about that,” Kelly gently scolded.
Some of the other kids grew quiet and looked at her with respect and affection in their eyes. Kelly smiled at them in a maternal way that made him ache, bringing to mind a memory of his mother.
He guessed Nat wasn’t satisfied with what her big sister had told her. Now she was querying him to see if she’d get a different response, attributing to him some authority or power greater than that of her sister.
“I don’t want to stay here anymore.”
“Yeah, but this is like summer camp,” Shane said clumsily, nervous under her scrutiny.
“No, it’s not,” she objected, glaring at him. “They wouldn’t make me do homework in summer camp.”
Shane looked over her head at Kelly, unsure of what to say.
“We can’t go home just yet,” Kelly said to her sister, her voice cracking. “But we’ll be able to soon enough. For now, just try to have fun.”
Nat stuck her lower lip out, looking like she might throw a tantrum. Worried that maybe his presence was upsetting her, Shane stood to go put his tray away.
“No,” Nat pleaded. “Take me home.” She slid off her stool and wrapped herself around his arm.
She wasn’t crying, just sincerely asking him to return her life to normal. He didn’t know what to say. Several of the other children seated nearby stopped eating, looking at him with the same pleading expression Nat had. Clearly, they thought he had the power to fix everything.
“Look, kids…” He paused, searching for something an adult would say. He cleared his throat and glanced at Kelly. She seemed at a loss for words too. They couldn’t lie to these kids forever. Their eyes seemed to beg for directness. Most of them already knew their parents were dead, though he’d heard some speak like they were still alive and they’d soon be reunited with them. “Y’all know there are bad guys out there that want to hurt us, right?”
“Sammy says aliens killed our parents,” Nat answered abruptly, pointing at a chubby kid with glasses. The boy looked at Shane with an expression that said, Yep, that was me. There was a strong glimmer of intelligence in his brown eyes.
“Sammy is right,” Shane said softly.
Kelly glared at him, obviously not happy about him being so forward with the children.
“It’s a lot to handle for little guys,” he continued, knowing he was out on a limb with them. “But we need you all to be tough now and do what you’re told. You need to go to the school they’ve set up for you.”
He glanced around the table. More of the children were quiet now, all looking at him like they’d been waiting for this talk. Like the teenagers, these kids had been forced to act more mature than they were. It was hard to look at them, knowing they’d been robbed of a chance at a normal childhood. It made the memories of his time as a kid seem precious. He used to feel sorry for himself for losing his mother, but he’d gotten to have her for far longer than these children did theirs.
“And you need to play and have fun,” Kelly said, sounding upbeat. “You’re kids after all, right? So try to be kids.”
“Are you going to put the aliens in jail?” Sara asked, looking at Shane with wide eyes.
“Yes.” He suppressed a chuckle. “Something like that.”
“I wanna help.” James, the bold little boy he’d rescued behind the grocery store in Leeville, said. “I’m strong.” He pulled the sleeve of his T-shirt up and flexed the muscle in his arm while giving Shane a very serious look.
“You know what?” Shane replied, trying to keep as solemn an expression as the little boy wore. “You are strong.” He looked at the rest of the kids. “You’re all strong. But we need you to go to school so you can learn everything you need to know. Then you can help.”
He hoped he and the others would be able to eliminate the Anunnaki threat before James was old enough to fight. Surveying their young faces, he succumbed to the fear that the fighting might go on for much longer than he expected.
James studied him, seeming to contemplate what he’d said. Shane kept his look firm, not breaking his eyes from the boy’s. After a moment, James nodded
as if they’d made a deal. The other kids seemed happy with this answer too, returning their attention to their food and each other. Shane sighed and looked down at Nat. She gazed back up at him, still holding onto his arm.
“Will you come and eat with me tomorrow?” she asked with her sweetest voice, no sign of the outburst she’d just had. It amazed him how the kids could switch emotional gears so fast.
“Of course, and every day after that if you want me to,” Shane replied, smiling.
Apparently satisfied, she released him and climbed back onto her stool. Kelly smiled and winked, a sign that she thought he’d done well. Shane raised his eyebrows and tilted his head, asking for permission to slip away. She nodded, and he made his escape, relieved.
A week later, Shane came out of the shower and heard girls shouting in the barracks. He recognized Tracy’s voice and rushed to see what was up.
“Your mom moved to Leeville just so she could stalk my dad,” Tracy yelled, glaring at Laura. “What kind of a psycho slut does that?”
“What did you call my mom?” Laura screamed. She charged Tracy, murderous intent glowing in her eyes.
Shane got there just in time. He leapt out and caught Laura in his arms, holding her back.
“Your dad led her on!” Laura screamed. She twisted in his grip, trying to break free so she could attack. When she couldn’t get out of his grasp, she continued to spit venom. “My mom had no idea that lying, cheating, sack of shit was married. Maybe your mom was batting for the other team like you, and he wasn’t getting any at home.”
Tracy pulled her fist back and moved in to hammer Laura’s face. Maurice was there in an instant, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her in the opposite direction. Shane glanced over at Jules, worried she might try to step in. Jules was wide-eyed, standing back with a worried look on her face. But she seemed to know this wasn’t her fight, and she was smart enough to stay out of it.
