by Chris Hechtl
There were dozens of animals, hundreds really. Stacked six feet high in cages of course. Some were paired up, or in small groups, but most were in singles for now. There were dozens of cats and dogs of all the various breeds. Well, all that were common to SoCal at least.
She wrinkled her nose. All too many were pits or boxers. She didn't like the breeds, it wasn't their fault that they were designed as attack animals, she just didn't like the image they generated, and the thought of one of them loose with her daughter sent chills. Too many people trained their animals as vicious attack animals, thinking the image of being bad ass was worth the constant threat of an animal on the edge. She shook her head and sped up her pace a little.
She rounded a corner to see Catorina stroking a kitten who of all things was hanging upside down from the inside of a cage. He or she looked like a monkey, with smoke gray fur and a black face and muzzle. He didn't sound like one though, he was meowing his little head off. She assumed it was a he as she hunkered next to her daughter. Trina was oblivious, trying to pet the little monster and talking quietly to him.
Jen cleared her throat. “Oh!” Trina looked startled and then blushed, turning back to try to coax the little tyke down. “He's such a ham,” she said softly.
“I see that,” Jen said with a soft smile, going to one knee and then settling on the floor next to her daughter. Carefully Trina pulled the cage open. The little monster was on her immediately, climbing into her small hands and purring.
“He's the only one they found. Lucky he lived,” Trina whispered, holding the kitten to her chest as she stroked him. She giggled when he rubbed his cheek to hers and rumbled louder.
“Quite a survivor,” Jen said, reaching out to stroke the kitten with one finger. Trina smiled again.
“How are you holding up Trina?” Jen asked after a moment of stroking. She was worried about the kids, they were having problems adjusting. Well, some kids, some were doing fine. Nick for instance was in his element, bouncing between projects.
Tori had her hands full entertaining and helping out in the day care. She was always the helper, the mature twin, she loved kids. She'd make a great mother someday. Trina on the other hand was the shy quiet type. Well, quiet when she was stressed. Which she was. She couldn't blame the kids. Trina was the animal crazy twin, focusing her love and attention on the animals, doting on them even more than her mother did.
“I'm fine mom, honest,” Trina said looking up. “No more nightmares. At least not for a little while,” she said with a shrug. Jen nodded sagely. Last night had been a little hairy she'd heard. Something about the generators. She didn't have the full story and was glad it wasn't getting about. People had enough to worry about. Still, she'd have to get someone to go around and service and top them off every night before dark from now on. Or poke one of the guys into doing that chore.
“True,” she said, stroking her daughter and then getting closer to her side and hugging her. “and you've been good about doing things.”
“Everyone's got to help mom. We've got to set the example,” Trina said looking up.
“True,” Jen said smiling again. She watched as her daughter set the kitten down in front of a small saucer of kitten food.
“They said that he was being kept alive. By a Creepling. Do they have pet’s mom?” Trina asked, turning to her mom as she stroked the kitten's spine.
“A pet?” Jen asked, brow wrinkling. “I'm not sure,” she said thoughtfully. She mentally cataloged that tidbit. She'd heard baboons and other animals would take in puppies but...
“You think he was kept as food?” Trina asked, looking down at the kitten and then back to her mom. “I mean, farming?”
“No, I mean, I don't think so,” Jen said slowly. She didn't like the implications. Of course it could be something totally different. A Creepling that was amused by the antics of the little monster. She'd seen that often enough when one of the cats would bring in a mouse or baby bird to play with. She felt an amused pang at that thought, watching the kitten as it played with Trina's hair. The girl giggled, teasing the kitten and then wincing when she inevitably got caught.
“Here,” Jen chuckled softly, helping her daughter out. “Let's find something else for you to amuse this little monster.”
“Can I take him to school?” Trina asked as they untangled him.
Jen's mouth immediately went into a disproving scowl that she barely controlled. “Absolutely not,” she said after a moment.
Trina snuck her a glance and then sighed. “Well, it was worth a shot,” she said.
Jen looked at her in surprise and then chuckled again. “You're impossible you know that?” she asked. Trina grinned at her, warming her heart. She hugged the girl to her side.
Chapter 28
Hernandez frowned, scanning the Southern horizon with his binoculars. Shane paused and looked over his way and then came over. “Something on your mind Mateo?” he asked turning to see what the private was looking at.
“I realized that March hasn't flown anything at all.”
“Took you two weeks to notice that?” Shane asked. He was curious if Mateo had gotten to the base to report as the president had ordered. Not many people had bothered. He certainly hadn't. The president should have known better than to have issued that order. Yes the men and women who served or who had served were willing to stand and fight. But not at the expense of their surviving families. No way was anyone going to abandon all they loved to that. To be eaten. No.
“Yeah. I'm wondering why?” Mateo asked.
“Either of two or no, three... no four things. One the planes were damaged in the initial invasion.”
“Okay.”
“Or the strip was damaged. Or its occupied.”
“I'm not sure about that,” Mateo said. He was frustrated; he couldn't get a clear view of the base at all. What he wanted to do was go down the 215 and see what he could see. But the damn freeway was one big parking lot now. There were aliens all over it too, under cars; in cars... it was dangerous to go in there on foot.
“Third they may have had damage to the fuel farm.”
“Oh. Yeah, no, I can see that from Alessandro. It looks good. No sign of fire or anything. We haven't seen any smoke.”
“It could have been breached by a landing pod and leaked,” Shane said quietly.
Mateo pursed his lips. He hadn't thought of that. “I'll buy one, but all of the tanks?”
“True,” Shane said with a nod.
“You said there were four reasons?” Mateo asked, relaxing his grip on the binoculars and sticking them in the carrying case before turning to Shane.
“Yes. They could be out of pilots,” Shane said softly. Mateo's eyes met his and his jaw worked grimly for a moment.
“Yeah. True,” he said with a long sigh. “Entirely too fucking possible. Can anything else come along to fuck this situation up any more?”
“Fubar,” Shane said with a grin. “We really never ever got it until now. The previous times I have ever encountered it were nothing compared to this.”
Mateo snorted softly. “Me too. Shit. I'm betting that's what it is.”
“Or a combination of the things I said. No idea. Unfortunately we don't have any intel to know for sure. I don't know how many pilots March had and how many were off base during the invasion. Or how many of the survivors are fighter versus transport pilots.”
Mateo cocked his head and then nodded reluctantly. Pilots could fly a lot of aircraft, but they were specifically trained for one or more type of aircraft. If they didn't have regular time in an airframe they were decertified to fly it. He wouldn't be surprised if someone, some bureaucrat in BDUs was keeping them out of the cockpit.
“Are you going to head over there again?” Shane asked.
“I'm supposed to report in. The problem is they won’t let me,” Mateo said in disgust. He'd tried again after the president's broadcast but a herd of alien animals had turned the gate into a mess. The MP's had locked it down and
started firing into the animals, stampeding them. The crowd had freaked. He'd been lucky to get out alive. Hell, anyone there had been lucky. After that no one was at all eager to report in.
“Their loss is our gain. Until they get their head out of their asses I'm going to use you as much as possible,” Shane said with a grin.
“Fine.”
“You can start today by checking in with Ross and the class he's currently got in training then hit the Edgemont area again. We've been getting reports of some big damn animals in that area. Also Gabe's got a new list for you in your e-mail. You can cover Dave. He's picking up fire trucks from there and some big equipment. I think they want to strip everything in the area not nailed down.”
“Sure,” Mateo said with a nod. Shane patted him on the shoulder.
“We'll get it sorted out. Eventually. Until then hang in there,” he said. He rested his hands over the rifle on his chest and walked off.
...*...*...*...*...
Bob nodded to Pete and Gabe. “Any more problems?” he asked.
“The usual. Power grid is still unstable.”
“We're working on it.” He grimaced. That was true. He still had a problem getting reliable people to check the damn generators over and to keep them fueled. You'd think it would be a simple thing. Apparently not for some. He was starting to get into the three screw ups and you're gone mentality. He didn't have the time to put up with the crap. Unfortunately it meant they sometimes had to train someone new to do the damn job again.
There was a constant struggle over balancing the supply and demand at the mall for power and resources. Sometimes projects had to curtailed because equipment was overheating or there wasn't enough power to go around. Now that Walt and Jesse were getting their shops set up and Kyle had his RPG assembly lines online the demand was getting even harder to meet. Fortunately some of it was off site so they could distribute it from there.
“Walt said they've got the first fourteen generators up and running. Big mothers, V-8's I think I heard. He's saving the really big diesels for spares, for your construction vehicles. I think he's prioritized it so the warehouse stores get first dibs.”
“Well, that sucks,” Gabe growled.
He spread his hands apart. “How it is. You could move your operation to Canyon Springs Plaza.” That place had its own integrated generator complex. Defenses were still being worked on though, and many of the buildings were still in dire need of repair. Some were still occupied by the aliens.
“I'd hoped we'd have this problem licked by now.”
“Yeah well, we're working on it. I've got a couple of generators we're now using to power the electric fence on the 60 side. I'm hoping we can eventually get the electric supply up to the point where it is enough to support electric fences around the entire perimeter as well, but they are only used at night. I don't need some kid getting electrocuted during the day.”
“True.”
“It's a bit of an irony. The heat isn't helping even though it's only in the nineties. Its overheated two of our best generators and Jesse's had to tear down one of them. I'm hoping that we can get it up by tonight.”
“I'd like to get the latest changes to the communications system up and running. We've also got everyone and his brother wanting to charge their phones, tablets and laptops. Usually at night. It's a pain in the ass.” They'd had a small brown out when that had happened last night.
“Which you can't do at night,” Bob sighed. “I...” he took his hat off and ran a hand over his stubble. He'd recently shaved his head so it would be easier to take care of. “Unfortunately everyone needs power by day. We have to shut down an hour or two before dark to cool off and we've got limited power by night.”
“I know,” Gabe sighed. “Running the AC like this is nuts though. Great for my equipment, but damn cold.” He shivered. Even with his fluff he was cold.
“I've heard Tamara complain about it. Lots of colds going around.”
“Yes,” Gabe grunted. “Any word on this town hall meeting they're calling?”
“Yeah, it's tonight. I plan on missing it if I can,” Bob said with a grimace. “Going to be a zoo.”
“Yeah, me too,” Gabe said. “Well, if you can dig up some more solar panels or some wind turbines please let me know. They won’t go begging for long.”
“I know,” Bob said with a snort. “Any more progress on my CAD design?”
“Architects are going over it one more time now. I've had to limit their comp time because of the power.”
Bob winced. “Okay, I'll check.”
...*...*...*...*...
At the mall people were complaining about the cold air conditioning. Jayne organized a town meeting and the council attended. Those that couldn't attend due to the limited space could watch over the video system.
It was a noisy meeting, with every seat and almost every inch covered in people. They didn't even get a chance for the formality of opening talks; they were mobbed the moment they walked into the vast chamber.
Shane informed them why and then explained to them that they should be glad about the weather. Here their major concern was water. But in other areas the cold would kill many. Not just because of hypothermia, but because when they tried to heat their bases and homes it would attract the creatures.
“We've determined that the aliens see heat. That's their primary sensory type that we know of. If you want to know more look it up on the web or...” he was about to say contact Jen and caught himself. She scowled at him. Okay, so she didn't want to be mobbed with stupid questions all day.
“We'll get a FAQ site up for you to check out. Until then, the reason we've got it so cold is to drop our thermal profile. We've got a lot of bodies in a small confined space. That's a huge footprint we've got to combat. The last thing we need is for the aliens to come calling.”
This got to some people. They muttered and talked amongst themselves as the council made its way to the dais and took their seats. “It's simple folks. I'll tell you the same thing I told my grandmother, my mother, my wife and my daughters over the years. If you've got a problem with the cold, put a sweater or a jacket on. Or go outside and help there during the day. We need all the hands we can get. I guarantee you won’t be cold for long outside.”
“Man you're cold! I'm freezing!” Courtney said from the front row. She was thin. And of course like an idiot she was dressed in a short mini skirt and thin silk blouse. Really bright. She wrapped her arms around herself and glared up at him.
“Take it as it is. I'd rather be cold than meat,” he said, glaring. People backed down and walked away. Eventually the complaints dwindled to muttering as the crowd broke up. “Look folks, we have to be prepared for anything,” he sighed to the hold outs. “Which is why we're working on a sump system.”
“That's why the animals? Courtney asked. “Food?”
“Yes. Jen is behind that, but she's right. It’s for both food and it denies the enemy a food source,” he replied.
“And the planning...” Courtney asked. She looked at Jayne who nodded.
“Right, we don't tell you everything right off. Sometimes its because I don't want an argument, sometimes its because I don't have the plan fully formed for presentation. When we do have a plan we present it to you on the web or here,” he indicated the food court. There was a drop to in voices as people broke into groups, muttering with the occasional loud annoyed griping.
“How long do you think this will last?” a man nearby asked, raising his voice. “Isn't the military on this? Shouldn't we know something? I mean... Do you think it will last that long or longer?”
He shook his head and sighed. “Look,” he said gently. “That isn't an easy question and you and I both know you won’t like the answer. We don't know much. You all can get the news feeds we get. We're also working on getting the news up and rebroadcast for everyone. You know about the blogs like um... what's her name... um... Irma!” he snapped his fingers as Jayne mouthed the name. “Yes her.
You know about her blog. We're trying to get the information out as quickly as we can.” He turned as Jen pointed. He followed her finger to see Irma standing near a pylon making notes on her tablet. She waved a hi and then went back to clutching her tablet.
“What we do know isn't good. For those of you who missed it, this is a worldwide invasion by what looks like an alien ecosystem. That's plants and animals. We've been seeded and they intend to stay.”
“Shit,” the guy muttered sitting down heavily.
“And like every invaded species we're fighting for our life and our territory without the proper weapons. But we're learning and adapting. Hopefully faster than they can.”
“Sometimes we don't have time to explain things. Like the first day after the attack. We had to swing into action as quickly as possible. There wasn't time to kick back like this and point out what needed to be done and ask who would like to do it. It needed to be done flat out,” he said.
...*...*...*...*...
The town hall meeting was the main topic of everyone's discussion for most of the next day. Some were glad they were keeping an eye to the future, but others were hit by the idea of this being dragged out and possibly being permanent. The mutterings of 'someone should be doing something' came and went.
When it got on Shane's nerves he angrily told them to put their words to action. He rounded on a group at dinner.
“What? What's that supposed to mean?”
“Go out there and fight! Kill the bastards!” he snarled. “I do it every damn day!”
“I'm not going out there!” the guy said with wide eyed panic. He frantically shook his head. Shane snorted in disgust and turned to the crowd.
“See?” he demanded, throwing his hands up in the air. “Its like this everywhere. Everyone else has the same problem. Why doesn't someone do something? Not why can't I do something, someone else,” he snarled glaring at the man. “Someone else take the risks. Someone else drop what they are doing and put their lives on the line. Someone else save me. Where is a hero when we need one?” He shook his head trying to get control of his temper as Jen rubbed his arm.
