by Paul Moxham
Chapter 26
As the farmhouse smoldered, Kenneth, along with Toby, walked down the driveway and into the barn. As much as Kenneth had wanted to stay, he realized that if Logan was coming back, he would have arrived by now.
With smoke still spiraling up into the sky, if the Seods hadn’t set fire to the farmhouse, he was sure they would be along to see what was going on. All he could do now was to make his way back to Stinson Beach and hope that a familiar face was there.
While he hadn’t bothered to search the ashes of the farmhouse, Kenneth was fairly confident that the teenagers hadn’t died in the blaze. This meant that they had been captured by someone. Seods were the most obvious answer, but even so, why? So far he hadn’t heard anything about Seods taking prisoners, at least none who were not soldiers.
He regretted telling Molly to leave Toby behind. If he had been with them, maybe things would have been different. In any case, there was no point in thinking about it because there was no way of knowing the outcome if that had been the case.
Opening the side door of the van, he waited for Toby to leap in before he slammed it shut and walked over to the driver’s side. As the engine rumbled to life, he cast his eyes over to the instrument panel and studied the fuel gauge.
There wasn’t enough to get to the coast, but it would have to do. He may as well drive until it was empty and then find another method of transport. He glanced at his watch, saw it was just past noon, and then drove out of the barn.
No one was in sight as he drove down the road. Remembering the green smoke that they had encountered earlier, he peered around, but couldn’t see any sign of it. Glad that he didn’t have to worry about that, he concentrated on driving.
~*~*~
As a deathly silence reigned over the valley, Logan huddled behind the trunk of a pine tree.
Dahlia stood behind a nearby tree, only a few feet away. “What are we waiting for?”
“Where do you want to go?” Logan muttered.
“Anywhere but here,” Dahlia said, “away from this madman.”
“I’m just trying to make sense of the whole thing,” Logan replied.
“What’s there to make sense of?” Dahlia exclaimed. “The man shot at us!”
Logan frowned. “I know. I just don’t know why.”
“Please! Just get me out of here,” Dahlia pleaded.
Logan gazed up into the sky as though searching for answers. “Why would Hugo tell me to rescue you and then shoot at me?” He turned to the woman. “Are you sure you don’t know?”
Dahlia didn’t answer for a moment or two. She then brushed her hair out of her face and gazed into Logan’s eyes. “Promise me that you won’t tell anyone else about what I’m about to tell you.”
“Just tell me!” Logan ordered. “I don’t have time to play games.”
“You have to promise,” Dahlia stated.
“Okay, okay, I promise, Logan replied. “Now tell me.”
“Well, last week, I was out for a stroll in the woods when I came across Hugo,” Dahlia began. “I had just had an argument with Quinn and was feeling depressed and lost and—”
“You made love to Hugo,” Logan interrupted.
Dahlia sighed. “Yes, I did. It was a spur of the moment thing. Afterwards, I told him that I couldn’t do it again and he couldn’t speak about it to anyone else.”
“I imagine he didn’t like that,” Logan said.
“No, he didn’t,” Dahlia confessed. “But I told him that I was in love in Quinn and shortly afterwards, when I was picking berries by the lake, some men appeared and took me as their hostage.”
Logan nodded. “The picture is beginning to get clearer now.”
“But I can’t imagine why Hugo would shoot at me,” Dahlia said.
“Maybe he’s worried about what you would say to Quinn when you got back to the cave,” Logan said.
“But I’m not going back!” Dahlia shouted.
“But aren’t you in love with Quinn?” Logan questioned.
“No, not now.” Dahlia twirled a finger around a strand of her hair as she sought of the right words to say. “Before the alien invasion, Quinn was the man whom I wanted to marry and spend the rest of my life with. But since then he’s become a different person.”
Despite the situation that they were in, Logan let out a chuckle. “Even I changed after the invasion so that is hardly unexpected.”
“But not the way he changed,” Dahlia said. “That’s why I did what I did with Hugo. But I’ve had enough of this. I want to get to Seattle. My cousin lives here. At least, he did before—”
“Quiet!” Logan interrupted. “I think I heard something.”
Dahlia frowned and followed Logan’s gaze toward the cliff face. She was shocked to see Hugo rappelling down the cliff face. “Oh no!”
“Looks like we’re going to get company,” Logan muttered. “I don’t…” He paused as Dahlia suddenly left the tree and ran toward the house. “No!” He sped after her and tackled her to the ground. “Stay!”
“But he’s got a gun!” Dahlia screamed.
“So have I.” Logan held his Glock in both hands and stepped into the clearing. “What do you want, Hugo?”
Hugo continued to stride toward Logan as he talked. “I want to speak with Dahlia.”
“Stop or I’ll shoot!” Logan ordered.
Hugo hesitated, then continued walking. “I’m your friend, remember?”
“You shot me!” Logan shouted.
“I was aiming for Dahlia,” Hugo said.
“Stop I say!” Logan commanded.
Hugo suddenly raised his rifle and aimed it at Logan. “Two can play at that game.”
“I’m serious,” Logan stated. “I will shoot.”
“So will I.” Hugo let out a thin smile as he caught sight of Dahlia peering out from behind the tree. “Hi, Dahlia.”
“She doesn’t want to talk to you,” Logan said.
“Well I want to talk to her.” Hugo resumed walking in the direction of the tree.
Logan knew that as soon as Hugo had full view of the woman, it wouldn’t take long before he opened fire. So, he did the only thing he could do. He released his finger from the trigger.
There was a click, and that was all.
As Logan caught sight of Hugo’s grinning face, he realized he had been tricked. The Glock was empty. It had been from the very moment he had put it into his pocket.
Hugo grinned. “Now it’s my turn.”
~*~*~
Kenneth slammed on the brakes as the strangest looking vehicle crested the hill and glided toward him. It was square shaped and looked more like a tank than a car, but that isn’t what caught his attention.
The cannon that protruded from the top of the vehicle had done that. It was monstrous looking and he knew that something bad could only come from a vehicle such as that.
It seemed as whoever had been driving the Hover, which was the nickname he gave it, had also noticed him for the vehicle had glided to stop. Then, without a sound, the cannon slid from left to right.
Kenneth didn’t waste another second. Stamping on the pedal, the van burnt rubber as he tore the wheel around and did a u-turn. Toby barked out, as though sensing the danger they were in.
He was right as, a moment later, a blue bolt, twice the size of the red bolts that were fired from Striker’s, screamed toward the vehicle the two of them were in.
With another twist of the wheel, Kenneth narrowly avoided disaster, but only just. Peering into his rearview mirror, he saw the Hover start moving again and glide down the hill toward them.
He had no doubt in his mind that the Hover could go faster than the van and there was also no doubt that one solid hit from a blue bolt would end in disaster for him and Toby.
Spotting a driveway to the left of him, he turned down it just as the Hover sent another blue bolt speeding in their direction.
The van bounced all over the place as Kenneth drove down the dirt driveway, nar
rowly avoiding the numerous pot holes which dotted the road. He braked hard beside the barn and climbed out. As soon as he had opened the door for Toby, the animal leaped out.
The two ran toward the farmhouse. As they did so, a massive explosion rocked the area as the van blew up.
Kenneth stumbled, but got up and resumed running. However, he didn’t run very far as, a few moments later, the farmhouse exploded in a blast of wood and glass.
The force of the explosion sent him and the dog tumbling to the ground. As darkness closed in on Kenneth, he attempted to rise to his knees, but as a jolt of pain shot through his left leg, he collapsed once more. As his eyes shut for the final time, he glimpsed the Hover glide toward him.
The End
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AUTHOR NOTE:
Thanks for reading book 2 in The Alien Wars. I was just able to meet the deadline this time and, as such, won’t be releasing book 3 until I have completely finished writing it, so the release date will be sometime in 2017. I had originally intended this series to go for a number of novels, but due to the lack of sales and reviews thus far, book 3 is more than likely at this stage to be the final one. So, if you want this series to continue, please leave a review and spread the word about this series. Thanks! To be sure to know of the exact release date of book 3, please sign up to my newsletter - Click Here!
