Guardian Angel Trilogy

by John Davis

  “No other way to do it brother. Go all in or get out, that's always been my motto.” Perk replied.

  “We talking women or explosives here Perk?” Jackson asked with a grin.

  “Oh...GOD. Really?” Alicia asked, pretending to be disgusted by their willingness to talk about such private things.

  “I'll tell you this much about Gretchen...” Perk began to reply.

  “I swear Perk, if your statement continues as planned I'll shoot you myself.” Alicia warned.

  “Gretchen?” Jackson asked, pretending to think long and hard on the subject. “You mean the girl with the...?”

  “Jackson, can it. I'll shoot you as well. You're not above the law on this.” the brunette girl said with a grin.

  “Well honey you can't shoot us both.” Perk replied.

  “The hell I can't.”

  “I mean one of us would get the drop...”

  Perk's statement was stopped cold as Alicia drew two sidearms, blazing them from their holsters and taking aim. Simply to let them know.

  “Maybe not.” Perk added a bit more somberly.

  “Settle down dear, before you shoot someone by accident. Namely me.” Jackson pleaded, holding a hand out.

  “Please,” she replied, dropping her pistols back into their holsters with ease. “I've never shot someone by accident in my life.”

  “Dear?” Perk questioned. “So are you guys still a thing? I thought Jackson's wife was back? I'm a little confused on all of this.” he admitted.

  Welcome to the club, you unshaven fuck. Alicia thought, simply staring at him for a moment before turning away.

  “We're, uh,” Jackson replied. “We're complicated at the moment.”

  “Yea, no shit,” Perk replied. “If you two need some advice on that, let me know.”

  “Um, no thanks.” Alicia quickly replied.

  “No, hold on now. Wait,” Jackson said. “I'd at least like to hear what he has to say.”

  “Damn right you would, because I can fix this big old mess in about sixty-minutes flat.” Perk boasted.

  “Yea?” Alicia asked. “How's that?”

  “You get drunk.”

  “Get drunk?” Jackson asked. “It takes you sixty-minutes to get drunk?”

  “It's because I'm no lightweight...and I do it right.” Perk fired back.

  “So,” Alicia replied. “Get to the part where getting drunk helps us out – at all.”

  “It's pretty simple girl. If Jackson's stuck between two pieces of a...” he began to say, holding his wording back a bit. “...women, he needs to get shitfaced. The truth always comes out when the liquor goes in. Always.”

  “That's it?” Alicia asked.

  “Well usually the panties come off, but I'll leave you all to that.” Perk replied.

  “No, God,” Alicia replied. “I mean that's the plan? That's all you have?”

  “You don't need anything else,” Perk replied. “Ya' see, the problem seems to me like you guys are thinking too damn hard about it. Love is love, period. It either is or it isn't. Get some liquor up in you and all that thinking goes out of the window. You start choosing based on what you want, without worrying about consequences.”

  “Let me ask you this,” Jackson said. Understanding that beneath Perk's bullshit seemed to be decent advice. “What's your opinion on loving two people? Is it possible?”

  “Nope, it's bullshit,” Perk replied. “Listen. You get drunk off of your ass and I guarantee you that your heart will take over. You'll want the arms of the woman you love and won't have a single regret about announcing it to the world.”

  “I see.” Jackson said.

  Alicia found herself intrigued by Jackson as he studied the idea over in his mind. Feeling it may come to Perk's advice.

  “And if I start talking about a love for Gretchen?” Jackson asked, causing Alicia to burst with laughter.

  “The fuck?” Perk replied, becoming irritated.

  “Well, I mean she has an ass. You said so yourself. What if I, subliminally of course, wanted to become one in the flesh with such a fine woman?”

  Alicia now found herself laughing uncontrollably. Loving Jackson's ability to poke fun at Perk's advice.

  “You laugh, but it's your loss,” Perk replied. “I'm full of smiles. I get to bed that fine piece of ass down on a regular basis and watch your lives crumbling at your feet.”

  “Yea. She's fine alright.” Jackson admitted, rubbing his fingers across his chin as he pretended to think of Gretchen's curves.

  “I mean, who's to say I haven't bedded your woman down in the past?” Perk asked.

  “Um, me?” Alicia replied.

  “I'm just saying,” Perk replied. “Another soldier could have sexed her up before you started hanging around. Or your first wife even.”

  Jackson's facial expression turned to one of anger with the thought of Perk's statements.

  “Now if that pisses you off, it's definitely love. The question is, which pisses you off more, another man with your first wife or second?” Perk asked.

  “Alright, enough,” Alicia said, warning her longtime friend to back off. “Jackson has enough on his plate as it is.”

  “That's why I recommended that two-hundred proof truth serum known as alcohol.”

  “Have any on you?” Jackson asked.

  “Shit,” Perk replied. “If I did, do you think I'd be wasting my time trying to help you pick your love life out of the gutter?”

  -

  The calm of a crisp morning sunrise quickly fell apart as mortar shells began tearing into the concrete of Washington City's walls. Each blast shaking the soil below humanity's survivors.

  “What's going on?” Gretchen cried out as the buildings around them shook with fury.

  She'd been Perk's true love, at least since his last weekly session on binge drinking. Easy on the eyes – with a reputation for being easy. His kind of woman.

  Always up for a fight, Gretchen couldn't shoot worth a damn. Pretty much a recipe for disaster when it came to fighting a technologically advanced race like the Ancients.

  Perk had asked her to stay behind. Partially to keep her safe within the walls of Washington, and partially so his bed would be nice and warm upon his return. He never expected such a barrage of firepower to be thrown at the city. Nor did she.

  “Coming at us head on,” a soldier yelled back, wording himself between mortar shells as several just like him rushed into the streets. “With everything they've got.”

  “What am I supposed to do?” she questioned.

  It was perhaps her most desirable trait in the eyes of Perk. Her inability to comprehend anything outside the realm of fetching a drink. Evidenced as people throughout the city ran for cover as she stood idly by, waiting for instructions.

  “Ma'am. You should remain indoors until the combat halts.” the soldier replied loudly. Secretly wondering how anyone as beautiful could be so oblivious to common sense. Wondering where he could get one of his very own.

  Gretchen did just that. Ushered in by Jackson's wife, Katie, who quickly slammed the door behind them.

  It was an overwhelming sight. Rise of Allies soldiers rushing toward the blast of explosions as they prepared to meet the challenge head on. Only to discover too quickly that the Ancients had spared no expense this time around.

  Soldiers marching toward humanity's last prized city in almost an endless line of discipline. The explosive shells which rocked the city's core were being vaulted from armored vehicles near the rear of the attacking force. Each burst whistling over the demons' head as they marched on.

  “Just stay down. If I've learned anything today, it's to let the soldiers do their jobs.” Katie commented, smiling a bit to help ease Gretchen.

  Soon after, however, she began to pick up on the fact that Gretchen never really grasped what was going on around them. The attack, perhaps, but the severity of it – not so much.

  “You must be worried sick about Jackson?” Gretchen asked as
explosions continued to blast, though it seemed to distance from them a bit.

  “Um, yea,” Katie replied. A bit confused by the sudden topic of her marriage. Especially given the circumstances. “I'm sure he's worried about me as well.”

  “Maybe.” Gretchen replied.

  “Maybe?”

  “I mean with Alicia and all.” Gretchen quickly responded.

  “Yea, it's a bit awkward, but Jackson explained everything to me. I'm alright with the fact that he had developed feelings for her at one time.”

  “At one time?” Gretchen asked, puzzled by the thought of it. “Honey, he woke up naked beside her not five minutes before you strolled back into town.”

  “What?” Katie asked. “I don't...I don't understand?”

  “They've been a hot commodity for well over a year now. Full-blown. Until you found your way back, nobody could pry them apart.”

  “I see.” Katie replied, this time with hurt and embarrassment in her voice.

  “I'm just saying that you're a better woman than I am. No way in hell I'd let my man wander off out there with Alicia.” Gretchen added.

  “Well, technically you did.” Katie stated. Becoming annoyed by her love life on display.

  “Yea, but what's there to worry about?”

  “Well, technically, since Jackson and I are together – Alicia is back on the market. A soldier can get awful lonely out there 'ya know. Not that you'd have anything to worry about. I'm sure Perk would be true to you until the end without question.”

  Like hell he would, the lying sack of shit! I bet he's piled up with that dark-haired slut this minute! She'd lay with anything on two legs and he fits the description!

  Katie found a few moments of gratification as she stood there, watching Gretchen torment herself. She'd so easily taken herself from the spotlight and thrown Perk into it, upsetting the meddling woman of little manners in the process. Win-win.

  Still, Katie wondered how much of Gretchen's statement was true. Wondered if her husband during another time still loved Alicia. By his own admission, he'd been over her for a while.

  Only time would tell.

  At present, it was the least of their worries.

  The Ancients had collapsed one side of Washington's perimeter defense, fighting until they'd entered the city.

  Not the first time that the gray-tinted race had gotten inside of the city. This time was different, however, and everyone knew it. This was a sizable force meant to crush humanity swiftly.

  “Oh God.” Katie gasped, watching from her window as skirmishes between Rise of Allies soldiers and Ancient warriors began to take form in the streets just blocks away.

  “Sugar we need to go,” Gretchen said. “Now.”

  The fact that a dimwitted woman with no common sense understood how problematic their lives were about to be, solidified the fact that yea, it was time to go.

  Katie followed Gretchen out of the door of the small house quickly, though her eyes remained locked on the close range fighting around them.

  “This way!” Gretchen yelled, grabbing the distraught woman by the inside of her arm and pulling her into the direction of a soldier waving them to safety.

  It was a scene of total chaos, nearly forty Rise of Allies soldiers kneeling and prone, each of them snapping man-made lead into a crowd of sprinting Ancients.

  “We can't hold them long ma'am,” one of the soldiers in charge admitted. “You follow this street two blocks down and take a right. Follow Florida Avenue straight until you hit our soldiers. They're forming a vehicular convoy. You get yourselves inside and stay put, they're taking civilians to the safe zone across town.”

  “How safe?” Katie asked.

  His look in return gave Katie all she needed to know. They were scrambling around in response to heavy numbers, and nothing was truly safe. The definition of the word had simply become as far away from the enemy as possible.

  “Let's go.” Gretchen said, tugging at Katie a bit as the two women began to flee with reckless abandon.

  -

  “It will be a slow process, but our firepower is leveling the city.” a highly-decorated Ancient stated. War medals hanging from his chest as the sky demon looked onto his queen.

  “Good,” Queen Karie replied. “Continue until nothing but rubble remains. Or until our troops inform us they have taken the city.”

  “Yes my queen,” he said, turning for a moment and staring at the onslaught of mortar clashing with Washington's taller buildings. “Though I must warn you that in doing so, we'll save little of their race for our trip to come.”

  “Warn me of nothing,” the queen snapped in reply. “I'm well aware of the consequences. Now do as you're told!”

  “At once my queen!” the Ancient warrior said respectfully. Turning to ensure her orders were carried out to the letter.

  Deep down, beyond her stone-grinned face and attitude of dominance, Queen Karie knew her soldier was right. Earth had been a simple stop in the road for the Ancient race. A chance to regroup and resupply before their next stage of travel was to resume.

  Resupplying meant harvesting humans for the sake of food. They were gun-wielding cattle in the eyes of the Ancients, nothing more. A source of protein which tasted damn fine after a proper cooking with just the right spices.

  Each mothership had its own cooler which stretched several hundred yards. Airtight bags hanging from hooks, providing a rotation system for their coveted supply of meat. Some of the bags were filled on Queen Karie's ship, with preserved human bodies of course – while far too many remained empty.

  For the Ancients, it was a long trip to come. They were a race without a home. Essentially living among the stars, as if they were a band of technologically advanced gypsies.

  Earth was a feeding ground, nothing more. It had been so for tens of thousands of years. During the rise of the mighty Egyptian armies, the planet had fallen swiftly under Ancient control. The kings during the time period seemed willing to stock the Ancient ships with human flesh, as would a trout stream. Even paying respects to the aliens with definitive paintings upon their own walls.

  In return the kings of the time period were given the gift of pyramids. Very primitive among the Ancients, though Egypt saw its leaders vaulted to God status once their tombs of excellence were completed.

  A star-born race of murders having come and gone. Stocking their ships with very little resistance.

  The Ancients expected the same hospitality this time around. Having shown up in hopes of our race lining itself up for the slaughter once more.

  Instead they found themselves involved in a slugfest from day one. Our largest armies hitting them hard before they realized how advanced we'd become.

  One hell of an error. Sending in defenseless meat packaging plants first, only to have them ripped to shreds by missiles fired from technology they'd no idea we'd developed.

  Though it appeared to humanity that the Ancients had won in crushing fashion – by their standards they had encountered a stonewall. Very few races before ours putting up the type of fight humanity had.

  Queen Karie could even remember their day of invasion. Fourteen motherships, a fuel refinery barge, two resource processing plants and a colonization skiff.

  Within a year, only her mothership remained.

  Sure, the Ancients had taken our mightiest of cities. Tokyo. Berlin. Moscow. New York. But in doing so, they'd lost a hell of a lot in return. Our battleships firing into the sky from strategic locations as humanity's most advanced fighter planes went head to head with the small combat ships of their own fleet. Ships and Ancient souls that the queen would be held responsible for, and she knew it.

  Her only chance of redemption within the eyes of the elders would be to win now. Take Washington City with an iron fist and have the cattle lined up when the fleet arrived.

  For the last year or longer, Queen Karie had remained aboard her ship. Surrounded by those who had been sworn to protect her in hopes of her army eventua
lly winning this bastard of a war. But her time had run out. It was now or never, and she planned to personally oversee the destruction of humanity's last city.

  -

  “There it is.” Alicia said.

  Handing the binoculars to Jackson, the group of three continued to look ahead. Studying the transport and its surroundings closely. An Ancient rover. Non-weaponized transport vehicle similar to a SUPERAV used by several military branches before the invasion.

  As Jackson looked through the lenses of the small binoculars, he could barely make it out. The Ancients used a silver aluminum type material for everything mechanical. None of our people understood the reasoning, nor did they understand the language usually printed to the equipment. Still, it was commonly known that the silver material was used in all but a few cases, in which they used solid black.

  Silver was the case in their situation, though it remain hidden beneath a dense offering of tree branches, brush and a soft camouflage tonneau.

  It would be their way in. Humanity's Trojan Horse. A small, well-hidden vehicle that had recently been captured by the Rise of Allies which would prove to be their best hope for victory. Though they had no idea how to operate it.

  “Fuck!” Perk yelled as he yanked roughly on any lever he could. Pressing buttons in punches.

  “Calm down you idiot, it's not a video game.” Alicia pleaded.

  “I dunno, it's pretty entertaining from where I'm sitting.” Jackson commented.

  And though it took the group nearly thirty-minutes, Jackson finally walked his way through the controls of the extraterrestrial transport enough to mobilize it.

  “You'd think for such an advanced race, these bloody bastards would develop something a bit faster.” Perk said.

  “Slow is good right now. Don't want to pull attention our way.” Alicia replied.

  “And once we get in?” Jackson asked.