Invasion

by J. Thorn

  “What is this?” Maya asked.

  “I have to use the restroom.” John moved past Gerald and stepped out of the room.

  Maya glared at Gerald. “You’re pushing him out the door, giving him a car, and basically telling him to get out?”

  Gerald sighed, running his hand over his face and not replying. Maya turned a scowl on Reno.

  “This was my decision. I asked him if he could get me and John a vehicle so we could leave.”

  “What about all the stuff we talked about during dinner earlier?” Maya asked. “I thought we were all in this together.”

  “That was a decision you all made.” Reno made sure his bag was zippered for the third time.

  “Maya, if he wants to go, you can’t stop him.”

  Maya turned her attention to Gerald. He rolled his eyes once her eyes met his. She walked over and stood in front of her ex-husband.

  “I want you to tell me something. What makes you think this place is so safe?”

  “What do you mean?” Gerald folded his arms across his chest.

  “What are the people here doing to keep us safe? What is keeping those things in the sky from blowing us to hell?”

  Gerald rubbed his forehead with his right hand before letting out a steady, slow sigh. “If you think it’s safer out there than it is in here, then you’re wrong. I tried to explain that exact thing to Reno, but he’s making his own choice. This is the goddamn United States Army we’re talking about. If anyone is going to keep you and the kids safe, it’s them. You understand?”

  Maya stared at him, then glanced back at Reno, the guy who had been there for her from the beginning. He’d fought next to her inside the dome, helping her find her children while putting his own life in danger to do so.

  But Gerald was the father of her children. And no matter how much they had disagreed, Maya knew his kids meant the world to him. He would never do anything to endanger them and would always keep their best interests in mind. It was why he had gotten them from her mother’s house and brought them to the base to begin with.

  With silence seeping into the room, Reno readjusted the shoulder strap on his bag and stepped toward the door. In that moment, without even thinking about it, Maya grabbed onto his arm as he walked by.

  “Me and the kids. We’re coming with you.”

  Gerald shook his head. “Huh? You are?”

  “I am. Now get out of my way.”

  “Don’t do this. It’s a huge mistake.”

  “I’m sorry.” Maya said the words and she truly meant them. “But this is the best thing for me and our kids.”

  Gerald stood in front of the door, blocking it. “I won’t let you take them.”

  “You don’t have a choice. I have custody.”

  “Bullshit. None of that matters now and you know it. I’m not going to let you leave here with them.”

  Maya slapped Gerald across the face, grabbed him by his shirt, and pushed him to her left. His back hit the wall and Maya glared at him, daring him to get in her way again.

  “I’m warning you, Maya. Don’t make me stop you.”

  Maya looked to Reno. “Come on.”

  Maya and Reno left the room and headed down the hallway to find John, get the kids, and leave.

  35

  “What about Dad?”

  Maya ignored Aiden and Laura’s questions as she threw garments into bags. She didn’t care what belonged to who, tossing a mix of their clothes into each. When she filled a bag, she zipped it up and turned around to hand it to Aiden.

  “Are you at least going to tell us what’s going on?”

  “Take the bag. We’re leaving. That’s all you need to know.” Maya turned back to the bed and continued filling the other bag. She moved past her kids, pulling stuff out of the chest of drawers on the other side of the small room.

  “We deserve to know.” Laura stepped in front of Maya. “We aren’t six years old anymore. This is bullshit.”

  “It is.” Aiden chimed in. “Total horseshit.”

  Maya closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She exhaled as she opened her eyes and turned to face her kids.

  “Look. I promise that I will explain it to you guys, but not now. The fact is, we aren’t safe staying here.”

  “How can it be safer out there?” Laura asked.

  It was a good question, and Maya had been wondering the same thing, but she believed Reno. The aliens would eventually seek out and destroy any fortified settlements, and they knew about Fort Campbell.

  “I know you guys are scared, and I know that you want to stay here with your father. But you have to trust me. I’m making the best decision for all of us.” Maya glanced back and forth between them. “Do you trust me?”

  Laura looked at the ground and Aiden glanced at the wall, both of them hesitating. Maya’s son was the first one to look back up and nod. Maya smiled, and squeezed his hand, then focused on her daughter.

  “Laura?”

  The girl looked up, then nodded as she moved her hair from in front of her eyes. “Fine. But what about Luke? He thinks it’s best to stay here.”

  “Then we let him stay here. You can say goodbye if we pass him on the way out.”

  Laura pouted, but Maya had weathered many teenage pout storms before. “Now, finish grabbing your things so we can leave.”

  The kids packed the rest of their belongings into the bags, and then each threw one over a shoulder. As they were about to leave the room, Reno showed up at the door with the police officer, John, standing behind him.

  “You all ready?” Reno asked.

  “Yeah, I think so.” Maya glanced back at her kids. Neither would look at her, but both had bags slung across their backs, ready to go.

  Reno put his hand on Maya’s shoulder. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

  “Let’s leave before I change my mind.”

  Reno smiled and nodded.

  “We need to get going,” John said.

  They headed down the corridor, passing others who stood silent and wide-eyed. Maya thought she heard whispers of “crazy” and “suicide.” When they came to the door at the end of the hall, Cameron stood there wearing a backpack.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I’m coming with you.”

  “Don’t you want to stay here with Gerald?”

  “You had every chance to ditch me and abandon me, but you didn’t. You didn’t leave me at that house. You got me out of there, and you probably saved my life.” Cameron shook her head. “I’m not going to abandon you now.”

  Maya felt a flutter in her stomach.

  “So, where are we headed?” Cameron asked.

  “The country?” Maya and Reno hadn’t really talked about it, but anywhere they could hide without drawing attention would be best. The fort was like a big, bright, neon sign saying, “Humans in here.”

  “There’s a garage a couple of buildings over.” John held up the keys to a vehicle. “Our ride should be in there.”

  “Let’s not waste anymore time.” Maya opened the door.

  They walked outside and headed across the lot. After meandering through the halls, she estimated there to be about 150 people staying at the base, including soldiers and civilians. Dozens of them stood around now and, to Maya, it felt like all eyes were on their group. Some of the soldiers shook their heads while others ignored them completely. It had only been dark for a few hours and people were heading back into the base while Maya and her crew were leaving it.

  “There it is.” John pointed to the third building on the right. “Garage number fourteen.”

  Maya went to the metal garage door and kneeled to grip the handle. Then she stood, raising the door with her, and saw the barrels of several guns pointed at her head. “Gerald?”

  “What’s the deal?” Reno asked.

  Gerald stood in the middle of four soldiers, three of them men and one woman. He wasn’t holding a gun, but each of the soldiers with him had a rifle trained on Maya, Reno
, and John.

  “I can’t let you take my kids. I brought them here for a reason, to keep them safe.”

  Maya took a step forward. “I already told you that you don’t have a say.”

  Laura grabbed Aiden and they both stepped behind their mother.

  “Yeah, well, I’m afraid I disagree.”

  “Bullshit.” Reno stepped forward.

  The soldiers raised their weapons higher, but Gerald put up his hand. “Take him and his cop buddy to lock-up. They’re too dangerous to be free in the base.”

  Two of the soldiers went to Reno and John, grabbing their arms. John tried to pull away, but Reno looked at him and shook his head.

  “I don’t know why you don’t understand me, man,” Reno said. “I know how to take down the domes.”

  “Yeah, and we appreciate the intel. But I can’t have you brainwashing people, especially my family. Get him out of here.”

  Maya watched Reno fight as the soldiers approached him, and she felt her cheeks flushing. Gerald then looked at Cameron.

  “And you. How could you leave me like this?”

  “Are you kidding me?” Cameron approached him. “You left me for dead back in our house. Maya was the one who saved me.”

  “I was going to come back for you.” Gerald had lowered his eyes, his words coming soft.

  Cameron crossed her arms and shook her head. “You’re unbelievable.”

  Time slowed for Maya. She turned to see Reno staring at her, even while screaming at the soldiers. Standing behind her, both of her kids had begun to cry, asking why their mom and dad couldn’t agree. Maya suddenly questioned whether she had made the right choice, her resolve weakening now that she saw the confusion etched onto Laura and Aiden’s faces.

  She glanced back at Gerald, unsure of what to say or do, and then an alarm sounded. Along with the others, she looked around.

  “Shit,” Gerald said as the two soldiers next to him sprinted back toward the base.

  “What is that?”

  Gerald took her hand and then Cameron’s. “Grab the kids and let’s go.”

  “What’s that alarm, Dad?” Aiden asked.

  Gerald narrowed his eyes and said, “Just keep quiet and follow me. We’ve got to get to—”

  An explosion shook the ground and Maya pulled away from Gerald to throw herself over her children as the people walking around the base screamed. Maya looked up to see smoke billowing from a building on the other side of the compound.

  Soldiers hurried past, carrying weapons and positioning themselves for the attack. Maya stood, grabbing her children’s hands and pulling them to their feet. Together, they looked at the horizon and saw a swarm of aliens headed for the base, followed by a single ship. A hand grabbed her arm and she turned to see Gerald on his radio.

  “They just took out the beams. Repeat. Lights are not operational.”

  “Shit.” Gerald shoved the radio back onto his belt. “We’ve got to get to safety. The aliens took out our best weapon.”

  He started to pull her, but she resisted. He turned back and clenched his jaw as she yanked her arm away.

  “C’mon, Maya.”

  She shook her head. “We can’t stay here. The aliens are launching an attack. Reno was right. We need to leave.”

  Gerald looked to the sky and then to the dozens of soldiers gathering in the lot.

  “We’re not staying here. Not me or the kids.”

  “Don’t be stupid. They’re coming this way. We can bunker down in the fort’s sub-floors. They won’t be able to reach us down there.”

  Maya shook her head. “It’ll only be temporary. They’ll destroy the base, find us, bury us alive.”

  Cameron spoke up. “Stay if you want. We’re going.”

  Another fireball lit up the sky, crawling up the side of a building and exploding at the top. People screamed below it and even some of the soldiers with guns turned to run back into the base.

  A secondary blast tossed JLTVs and other military vehicles into the air. Soldiers ran in every direction now as the alien swarm filled the night sky above like the floating ash of a raging bonfire.

  Gerald looked at Maya, his face white. “We’re not going to outrun them.”

  The explosion had torn the side off a maintenance garage where two battered pickup trucks sat side by side. The beds had been modified to hold tankers of some sort, which filled the space, leaving only the single bench seat for the driver and passengers.

  “What about those?”

  He laughed at Maya. “We can’t all fit in one.”

  “Then we’ll take them both.”

  Maya ran along the side of the building, toward the truck. Gerald and the others followed her. A door on the side of the building burst open, slamming into her left leg and knocking her over.

  “Maya!” Reno bent down and lifted her to her feet, John right behind him. “It’s happening right now!”

  “They’re hitting the front side of the base first.” Gerald waved at the sky and then the trucks in the maintenance shed about fifty yards away. “Those pieces of shit are our best option right now.”

  As they started running again, aliens descended, taking aim and vaporizing several soldiers running alongside Maya and her crew. Cameron came up on her right.

  “Duck!” She pushed Maya out of the way of a laser beam that raised the hair on her arms.

  Maya hadn’t seen the alien coming up from behind, but Cameron had. It happened so fast—Maya blinked, and Cameron was gone. In a split second, there was nothing left of her but pieces of burning clothing. Maya heard Gerald and the kids screaming as she stood up.

  Maya cried out, but Gerald and Reno grabbed her as the alien changed the trajectory of its thrusters, coming around to get a better angle at all of them. “Fuck you all!”

  The fiery trail of an RPG blew past them, the grenade hitting an alien and raining fiery metal down upon them. The soldiers had begun a counter-offensive, but Maya knew they would be overwhelmed soon.

  “Hurry!” Gerald took the lead while Maya, Aiden, and Laura followed him.

  Reno and John ran behind them, heading for the second truck.

  Gerald opened the truck’s door as he mumbled to Maya. “They killed her. She’s gone.”

  She nodded at Gerald, but forced the sadness away. There wasn’t time to grieve. They would all most likely die here, but to have any chance at all, they had to get into those pickups and away from the base.

  The workers had left the keys in the ignitions and both trucks started. Maya pulled out first with Gerald, Aiden, and Laura on the bench seat inside the cab. A toolbox had been mounted on the floor on the passenger side, making it almost impossible for the four of them to fit in the truck. It appeared to have had been modified to handle a one-man crew. Reno and John followed in the other truck.

  They sped out of the garage and down an access road along the fence bordering the base. When Maya saw an area of it blown apart by the aliens, she cut across the lawn and through the breach, where she picked up the highway near the base. Driving away, she looked in the rearview mirror as the continued attack on Fort Campbell lit up like the Fourth of July.

  36

  As Maya sped away from the base, she constantly looked into the rearview mirror to see if any of the aliens had been following them. From what she could tell, the aliens weren’t in pursuit—the orange glow of fire over Fort Campbell made her think that they’d been bent on destroying the base rather than chasing down a few survivors. What she did know was that Reno and John had made it out, as well, because their truck tailed Maya by only a few car lengths.

  She looked down at her hands, her knuckles white and her arms shaking. Her mind raced, wondering what the consequences would have been had she not listened to Reno. He’d been right. He’d been concerned that the aliens would inevitably attack the base, so much so that he had been insistent on leaving that night, not even waiting until the morning when it would have been safer. What if she had listened to Gerald
instead? She shook off the thought, thankful that they had made it out alive.

  Only, they hadn’t all made it out alive.

  Glancing to her right, Maya looked at Gerald on the end of the bench seat. He stared blankly out his window and into the dark void of rural Kentucky’s night. His girlfriend had died saving the life of his ex-wife. And Maya couldn’t help but feel like she was to blame. Cameron wouldn’t have stepped outside the base if Maya hadn’t been leaving with her kids.

  “Mom, I’m scared.”

  Aiden’s voice pulled Maya out of her thoughts of Cameron. She turned to her son sitting right next to her, Laura positioned between Aiden and Gerald. His eyes seemed glazed over, and like Maya, he was shaking. She reached over and grabbed his hand.

  “I know, hon. But everything’s going to be fine. We got out of there. We’re alive.”

  “But where are we going?” Laura asked.

  Maya recognized the tone—her usually calm teenager was scared. Laura had lost the sarcastic edge she usually carried, and beneath her words lay the fears of a child in a woman’s body.

  “I’m not sure.”

  Maya looked at Gerald again. He was still gazing out the window with a blank stare she could see reflected in the passenger side mirror. She wanted to ask him if he was okay, but he had zoned out. And with his temper, she worried that anything she said to him could cause a meltdown. Add that to the fact that he’d just watched his girlfriend get vaporized by aliens.

  But there’s no way we can stay on the road. We’re too vulnerable.

  It was why Maya had wanted to wait until the next morning to leave. They could have planned a thoughtful escape and taken their time getting to a safe place without the aliens filling the skies. She now knew that plan would have likely ended up with them dead, of course, so she was thankful she’d followed Reno’s instincts instead of her own.

  Everyone in the truck remained silent as Maya continued driving for miles, the only sound the clattering of the loose bolts and rusted metal on the body of the old maintenance truck. Maya’s mind continued to churn as she thought of where they could go. Her eyes darted between the road ahead, her family inside of the truck, Reno and John behind them, and the skies—which she constantly checked to make sure there were no aliens on the way.