by NB Blackbell
Jasper walked into the kitchen. Faith, Isabel and Christie were all sitting at the table. "There you guys are." She pulled a chair out and sat down next to them. She laid the book on the table and pushed it next to Christie. "Can you show me where this rod is in the pictures?" Christie nodded and opened the book. After flipping through a few pages, she pointed to a page in the book. "There it is, Aunt Jasper. See right under the left ear, like I told you." Jasper pulled the book closer to her. It's tiny, isn't it? So that's what keeps them alive?" Christie nodded, "Yup. It heals them." Jasper wrinkled up her forehead. "Do you know what happens to an alien when they hear the sound of the device?" The little girl shook her head. "I've never seen it happen before, I just heard about it. It all has to do with the rod. I don't know how it works. I heard they can't function because of the amount of pain it causes. I don't know." Jasper bit her lip." Hmm, perhaps that alien died because of the crash. I better get someone to check and make sure he's dead. He's too close to the hotel to leave him alive." Jasper got up to go look for Nick, after mentioning that information to him he told her, "I'll see you in a minute. I think we need to check and make sure it's dead. Who knows what will happen if it's still alive? We should also burn the ship. Grab an axe and some lighter fluid if we have any."
As they walked towards the ship, they found smoke pouring out of the engine. Nick held an axe tightly. "It seemed dead when I looked earlier. I sure hope it's dead when I look again." Jasper placed her hand on his back. "Maybe we should hit it to make sure it's dead." Nick gazed over at it. "You mean me, right?" When he reached over and hit the glass window with the axe, the alien's eyes opened. Jasper screeched in shock as Nick swung the axe at it, hitting it right between the shoulder blades. The head rolled from the ship out onto the gravel. Both their eyes widened as the alien let out a shriek from hell. "Oh, good God! What do we do now?" yelled Jasper. Nick looked at her. "We need to burn it." Jasper reached into her pocket and pulled out a lighter, "One good thing about being a casual smoker."
After pouring the liquid all over the alien's head, she lit the head on fire. The two stood back as it screamed in horror. Nick pulled Jasper close to him. "We now know they don't die right away. We have to burn them. Go back to the hotel, will you, and send Jake and Billy out. We have three more to do."Jasper looked down at the flaming head, then turned and ran to the hotel. It took a few minutes to round them up, but eventually, they all ran out of the hotel towards Nick. Jake yelled as he approached. "I told Jasper to stay in; she doesn't need to be part of this, at the moment." The three of them spent the next hour searching for the rest of the ships so that the aliens flying them could be killed. Each one of them was still alive. They were just unable to move because of the sound of the device. Billy looked over at Jake. "How many of these bastards do you think are on this planet? And do you think we have to do this to all of them?" Billy shook his head in disbelief. "I'm tired just thinking about it." Jake agreed. "This is going to be a long process; that's for sure. I wish I could get inside these guys' heads and know what they're thinking. We hear about hatred all the time, but I could never quite imagine its intensity to any degree. It shows, though, with these guys. I don't think ever I imagined it being so harsh."
After igniting the last one, Jake looked over at Nick. "There has to be an easier way to light them all up. What if there are millions of them?" The three started walking back to the hotel. Nick agreed. "If there's a way, we'll think of it. Meanwhile, let's just concentrate on keeping the rest safe." Jasper waited by the door. Isabel stood next to her, warning her to be careful, especially because she had gotten shot. Jasper phased her out as she watched for the guys to return. She was worried that something might have happened to them in their attempt to keep everyone safe. "Isabel, stop it, will you? I'm all right, let's just be happy I'm alive. Just like you were when I had to worry all that time." Isabel paused and looked out the window. "There they are." Jasper opened the door as they came running in. Nick smiled as he passed her.,"All done, no more in the area, either." Jasper walked off with Nick. Isabel watched, then looked at Jake. "Those two seem cozy." Jake smiled. "Yeah, they're good for each other. He wouldn't let anything hurt her ever. He has proven that time and time again." Isabel looked at Jake, "Good. Perhaps I don't have to worry so much then." Isabel smiled at both Jake and Billy, "I'm heading upstairs. I'll see you in a bit," she said, smiling at Jake. The two of them headed down towards the kitchen. Larzo and Mark met them on the way. "I heard you were back," said Larzo. "Nice job; So, did you get to see the ship?" Jake nodded. "It was huge, like nothing I ever imagined. I wish the cameras worked so that we could've shown everyone. The inside was very much alien-like; nothing human about it, not to mention everything was large and extremely heavy." Mark reached up and ran his hand through his hair, "That must've been scary. I hear Chris and Loretta are heading to Mexico to help them. Maybe they'll get a chance to see it." Jake thought to himself for a second before answering. "Yeah, maybe they will." Billy asked Jake what that was all about as they walked away. "I want to try to keep these power things under wraps for a bit. Larzo knows we are immune, but if John wants him to know more, he'll tell him."
They entered the kitchen. Faith was standing at the counter. "I'm making soup, boys. You getting hungry?" Billy rubbed his stomach. "When am I not hungry?" Faith and Jake laughed. "That would never be." Faith reached over and grabbed the oven mitts. "I made cookies too. Want one; just one, though? I made them for the little one. We're running low on supplies, so I couldn't make them for everyone." Jake grabbed a cookie and nearly dropped it because it was hot. "Perhaps Jasper can help you there. She's good at using her mind to make stuff appear. Maybe she can help with supplies, although we have it so much better than the Mexican people we saw. They were eating fruit. Not that fruit is bad, but they really needed a Jasper. When Loretta goes down there, she can help them get organized. Mike said it was the first large place they could find to gather so many people. It has to be hard living in a warehouse." Faith smiled. "I'm sure Loretta and Chris can help them figure all of this out. Can you stir the soup for me if it needs it? I'm going to bring up the cookies." Billy peered into the pot. "Mm, smells good. Jake, we did really good today, but how are we supposed to get all the aliens and burn them like that?" Jake reached over and stirred the soup. "I don't know, but as long as it works, who cares how long it takes. We'll stop them, and the human race will get to live, maybe even thrive again." The two guys stood there feeling good about the situation for the first time since the whole mess began.
Chapter Sixteen
Larzo loaded the last box of masks onto the bus. "I think that's it. Are we missing anything?" Loretta walked to the back of the bus. After looking around, she turned and gazed at Larzo. "Nope, I just need to speak to Jasper before we go. She asked me to drop by before we left." Jasper sat at the table in her room. Leaning back in the chair, she shut her eyes and reflected about the device and how it was keeping them safe. I wish I could help others with that If I could only have more tools like that. She opened her eyes, and on the table was another device identical to the one in the blue box. She jumped up in disbelief. It wasn't something she was convinced she could do since it was an alien machine. But she was half-alien, and the voice did say she was bred to fight for them, which could mean she had access to their material too. Her stomach began to turn, and her knees felt weak. Nick, she whispered in her head. Are you there? Moments later, Nick came through the door. "Are you okay?" Jasper stared at him.
"I'm experiencing a major weak spell." He walked over to her and squatted down next to her. "What brought it on?" He glanced over at the device lying on the table. "The light isn't on. What happened?" Jasper shook her head. "That's not the device; it's a duplicate. I discovered that I can duplicate them with my abilities, but it takes a lot out of me. I don't have the strength to obtain more yet." Nick reached up and ran his fingers through her hair. "Perhaps you need food or something while you're doing it. You know, like gas for a car; your bo
dy is just feeling empty." Nick stood up. "I'm going to go to the kitchen and get you something to eat. Between the two of us, we'll do this. I'll take care of you, and together we can try to make more devices." Jasper nodded as she laid her head down onto the table. "All right." Loretta entered the room as Nick headed down to the kitchen. "We're heading out, you said you wanted to see me before I left?" Jasper turned her head.
"Take this device with you, turn it on while you're driving. It'll keep you safe while travelling. The only issues are that when the ships crash, the aliens don't die. To kill them, you literally cut off their heads and burn them, but I advise that you just keep going. We don't want to give them any indication we hold the secret to killing them. Explain the process to Mike when you get there. Tell him this device needs to remain on at all times. John will have to contact them on the handheld radio to fill them in on the initial attack, but this will keep them safe." Loretta raised her eyebrows. "Wow! All right, I'll pass this on. Thanks, Jasper Hopefully, we'll get to speak soon." Loretta headed out the door, straight to the bus.
John stood at the door, waving as the bus drove away. He exhaled loudly, then ran up the stairs and knocked as he entered Jasper's room. "That's amazing that you did that. Tell me, what do you need to be able to keep making more?" Nick wandered into the room. "She needs sustenance. It takes a lot out of her. Perhaps you can get someone cooking in the kitchen and keep bringing her food. Her whole body shuts down without fuel in it." Nick rested the tray on the table. "I brought sandwiches and cookies. Oh, and orange juice." He smiled as he grabbed a chair. "Maybe Faith can make some soup?" John slammed his hand down on the table. "I'm on it! I'll make the soup myself if she isn't up to it. We need to try to get as many of these things as we can. Then we can distribute them out to the others, so we can all get rid of these creatures. They may have a serious hatred for humans, but I'll tell you it's nothing compared to what I'm feeling right now." John turned and darted down the hall. Nick smiled at Jasper. "Like I said, teamwork." Jasper pulled the tray closer and began to eat. I can do this, she told herself. It took nearly forty minutes for her to gain her strength back. If I'm able to duplicate two every two hours, then over three days, I would be able to create around thirty of these devices; that's a good plan, she thought to herself. Now feeling refreshed, she gazed over at Nick and said, "I guess we best get started."
John stood in the kitchen with Faith and Billy. "You guys need to keep her fed. If her strength is kept up, she can keep duplicating the devices. While she's doing this, I can get on the handheld radio and make arrangements for people to come get them. This way, everyone will be prepared to take down the aliens." Billy stood, stirring the soup as Faith started cutting up veggies to put in it. "Seems valid."
John went to the board room to get on the handheld radio, waving at Larzo as he sauntered by. He plopped down in front of the receiver, then turned it on. It took quite a while to get ahold of anyone, but eventually, he succeeded in contacting the Colonel.
"Sorry, John. We've been so occupied trying to figure out everything. It's hard to have anyone monitoring this full time." John emitted. "It's all right, I completely understand. I didn't object to sitting here all this time. After all, what else do I have to do other than try to save the world?"
The Colonel laughed. "How long have you been trying to reach me?"
John paused, "For about three hours now. Hopefully, I can reach others, too; only time will tell. Anyway, the whole purpose of me contacting you is to inform you that we have a device that stuns the aliens, providing you time to kill them. After stunning them, you need to remove their heads and burn them for them to die. The device, when on, will stun any of these intruders within a mile, leaving them functionless. I advise leaving it on at all the time; that way, your base has a safe zone. That's what we're doing."
The Colonel was quiet. "That's amazing! And this works for sure?"
John pulled his chair up close. "Yup, it sure does. We have a way of duplicating them, so I'm having them made, and they'll be ready for you to pick up in three days. Do you have a way of having them delivered to other places so we can get the others prepared too?"
The Colonel took a deep breath and thought for a second. "I'm sure we can figure this out. As long as that device is on, whoever is near it is safe?"
John consented. "Yes, they will be."
The Colonel got excited, "I'll get back to you in a bit."
John said goodbye and proceeded, trying to contact the others. This would be a full-day project, hopefully having people from different places coming to pick up a device so that they get this war in order.
Faith glanced at Billy. "It's going to be busy for the next few days. With John in there attempting to organize and Jasper working on getting the devices needed to defeat the aliens, none of this happens overnight. We're going to have to cook up a storm to keep them going." Billy shrugged. "Well, I guess that's what we have to do to get us all home; that's if we get home. Have you thought about the fact that even if we win, we may never get home?" Faith stopped cutting and stared at him. "No, I truly never gave it much thought. What do we do if we don't go home? This world is obviously, not our world!"
Billy shook his head. "I honestly don't know. I tried to imagine what it would be like, but I couldn't even think of what life would be like after this is all over. One thing I can see is that no matter what it's like, we're all here together, and all of us are in the same boat." Faith reached over and took a green pepper. "That we are. I've been having weird dreams since our worlds switched. In my dream, I was stabbed. I'm lying on the ground, and when I look up, there's a tornado coming. I try to get up and run, but I can barely move. In the distance, I can see a woman holding a baby wrapped up in a pink blanket. She laughs and runs into the tornado. Then I wake up in a cold sweat. I've had this dream almost every night since." Billy reached over and popped a piece of pepper into his mouth.
"Sounds crazy, I hate nightmares, even though I know they're not real. We don't have a choice on whether to have them or not, and they really do interfere with our sleep." She nodded. "You're right, but this feels like so much more. I don't know why, but my heart feels broken when I wake up. It's challenging to go back to sleep and having this anytime I close my eyes makes it even difficult to want to sleep." Billy stirred the soup. "You're not the only one having nightmares. Loretta and Isabel had them too. I noticed that when we were on the road, Jasper was sobbing in her sleep as if she was upset. I don't know if she even knows she has them. I didn't mention it to her; she doesn't need anything else to worry about."
Mark walked into the kitchen, holding a box of candles. "Hey, guys. I'm just doing rounds, I want to make sure no one is sitting in the dark. How are your flashlights?" Billy reached down into his pocket and grasped his flashlight. He clicked the button. "Mine's working great… might leave a spare in the kitchen, in case someone's flashlight stops working. How have you been doing, Mark?" Mark placed the candles on the table. "I haven't been too bad. Trying to keep busy so I don't have to think about all of this. Before you even ask how that's going, just don't. I just can't find enough to do. I have a constant migraine just thinking about it." Billy placed down the spoon. "Well, if you want something to do, check with me. I'll find you something to do. We have some defective hovercrafts out there. I need to go through them and see what's in them. I just have to finish up in the kitchen first, then we can go." Faith glanced over at him, "Go, I have this covered. There's always so much to do, and this is one I can manage alone."
Faith moved the cutting board closer to the pot of soup. "See, I can reach both." Billy looked over at Mark. "You up for checking them out?" Mark clutched the box. "Okay, just let me finish my rounds first, and I'll meet you out front." Faith pulled her chair closer and proceeded chopping veggies. "While you're waiting, can you do me a favour? Can you find Isabel for me?" Billy set down his apron. "I can do that. I think she's up in her room with Christie." Billy headed out to find her.
Isab
el sat on the edge of the bed. "Are you sure you want me to read the same story to you again?" Christie snickered, "Yes, Mommy. I love that story so much." Isabel looked up when she heard a knock at the door. "Come in." Billy popped his head in, "Faith's looking for you. I think she wants you to come to the kitchen, possibly to help cook. I don't know." Isabel looked over at Christie. "Can the story wait?" The little girl squealed, "Yes! I get to cook with Aunt Faith." The two got up and headed down towards the kitchen. Billy took off to search the ships. Faith sat humming to herself as Isabel entered the kitchen.
