Aftermath (19 page)

She and her friends had witnessed the extremes of cruelty to which one species would subject another species they felt was inferior.

But now, as she and her friends crept back into the alien city, something felt wrong. The place felt too still. Like it was holding its breath, waiting for them. She shuddered at the thought. But the reality was that they hadn’t been followed, and that concerned her. Following the shootout in the crater, the Invaders and hybrids had broken off their pursuit. And she was pretty sure it was because they planned to spring something on them.

Paige could kick herself for instructing Trish and Randy to meet them back at the apartment. She should have had them leave. Because right now that’s all Paige wanted to do - make a beeline for the tunnel, and escape those Invaders and hybrids. But there was no way she could leave the kids behind, so that meant she needed to make one final trip back to her apartment.

She held up her hand to halt everybody as they approached the mall fronting her apartment. She crept over to a bush, and looked across the mall to the apartment entrance. Six guards stood there. Drew and Chad crept over to her.

She turned to Chad. “That’s where we need to go,” she said, pointing to the apartment.

Chad was still dumbfounded by the new city. The last time he had seen this area, it had been smoldering ruins. And just days before that, it had been glass paneled skyscrapers. And now it was… this.

“They built all of this in one day?” he whispered.

“Actually, it was more like one night,” she whispered back.

“I count six guards,” Drew whispered.

Paige nodded. “Yeah, they’re the same ones out there every night.”

“So how do we get past them?” Drew asked. Again, in a whisper.

Paige thought for a second, before responding. “I have an idea,” she whispered. “Follow me.”

The boys followed Paige, as she led them along the buildings on the far side of the mall. Again, they kept to the shadows. They had gone maybe a hundred yards, when Paige signaled them to stop.

“This should be far enough,” she whispered. She turned to Chad. “How many bullets do you have?”

He released the magazine from his rifle, and counted the rounds. “Six,” he replied.

Drew shrugged. “I’m out.”

Paige counted hers’. She had five. “Okay, grab some twigs from those bushes,” she whispered to Chad. Then she turned to Drew. “Do you still have that chisel?”

He slid it from his belt, and handed it to her. Paige poked it through her tunic, making a hole several inches above her hem, then tore off a strip of cloth from around her hem.

She used the chisel to pry the bullets from two of the shells, and sprinkled the gunpowder on the cloth.

Chad returned with several twigs, and handed them to her. She arranged them in a small pile, then slid one end of the cloth beneath it. She placed all but two rounds of ammo beneath the twigs, loading the remaining two rounds back in the magazine.

“Okay, let’s get back to that other bush,” she said, leading them back the way they had just come.

When they were back behind the bush, she turned to Chad. “I need to borrow your jacket.”

Chad slid out of his letter jacket, and handed it to her. She wrapped it completely around the rifle’s muzzle. Then she lay down on the grass, sited the pavement just next to the strip of cloth with the gunpowder, and fired off a shot.

The shot barely made a pop through the muzzled barrel, but the bullet sparked off the pavement, igniting the cloth.

“What now?” Drew asked.

“We wait for it to get hot enough to set off those rounds,” she replied, watching as the glow from the small fire slowly built.

It took several minutes, but then suddenly there was the sharp crackle of gunshots from the fire.

Paige watched the guards outside of her apartment as they sprang into action. All six of them raced off down the mall in search of the shooter.

“Go!” Paige whispered to her friends, as she jumped to her feet. They dashed across the mall, and around the corner of her apartment. They reached the back exit, and found the rock was still in the doorway. Much to Paige’s relief.

Paige and her friends crept through the doorway, and into the pyramid’s power plant. It housed the building’s main generator, which seemed to run off some sort of thermal source from underground, an assortment of odd looking tools, maintenance uniforms, and carts.

Paige looked around the room, thinking. “I have an idea.”

***

Drew wheeled a large cart down the dark stone hallway. The cart was piled high with several large boxes, equipment, and tools. Basically everything they could find in the basement that would fit on the cart.

Up ahead, a guard stood watch several doors past Paige’s room. The guard spun around as Drew approached. “What are you doing out?” he barked. “Work hours are over.”

“I was just…” Drew stammered for an answer, “the people in room 403 reported a problem with their plumbing.” Drew actually cringed at how unconvincing he sounded.

“I wasn’t informed of any maintenance requests,” the guard replied, glaring at Drew with suspicion.

“No, it um, it just happened,” Drew replied.

The guard approached him, then eyed the cart. “I don’t see any plumbing equipment,” he remarked, using his rifle barrel to poke around through the clutter.

“Oh, that. It’s just… it’s inside the boxes,” stammered Drew.

The guard was eyeing one box suspiciously. “Open that box,” he ordered, nudging the large box partially hidden beneath some clutter.

“It’s nothing really. Just, you know… plumbing equipment,” Drew protested.

“I said, open it,” the guard demanded, raising his rifle.

“Okay, fine. I’m doing it,” Drew replied, raising his hands. “Just don’t shoot, okay.”

“Now!” the guard ordered.

Drew stepped around the box, watching the guard from the corner of his eye. The guard had turned his attention back to the box.

That’s when Drew grabbed a pipe, and swung it at the guard, nailing him in the head! The guard tumbled over.

Paige popped out of that large box upon hearing the hit. Chad popped out of another. Paige hopped down from the cart, looking over at the guard, and then at Drew. “Thanks,” she nodded. “But we do need to work on your acting.”

No argument there, Drew nodded in agreement.

“We need to hide this guy,” Chad said.

“My room’s just down the hallway,” replied Drew. “We can put him there.”

The three of them loaded the guard’s body into the box Chad had hidden in, then wheeled him down the hallway to Drew’s room. They shoved the cart in the room, pushing it back towards the far wall. It was blatantly obvious something was wrong, but it’s not like they had a choice. Besides, they planned to be out of the city by the time it was discovered.

Now it was time to get Trish and Randy, and get the hell out of this place.

Setup

The door to Paige’s apartment clicked open, and Paige, Chad, and Drew rushed in, pulling the door closed behind them. Trish, who’d been standing near the window watching the soldiers racing around outside, ran over and wrapped Paige in a hug.

“What happened?” Trish asked. “We heard shooting.”

“That was us,” Paige responded, before noticing,” Where are the outlaws?”

“They’re staying here,” Randy replied.

Trish filled in the rest. “He said the soldiers asked them to stay here, so they could let them know what was happening.”

God bless them, Paige thought. Those two pimple faced boys had more courage than any of Brad’s football player friends. Excepting, of course, Chad.

“Is this your friend who got stabbed?” Trish asked, staring at Chad.

“This is him,” Paige smiled, turning to introduce them. “Trish, meet Chad. Chad, meet my roommate, Trish. And that’s Randy over there by the window.”

“Hey,” Chad nodded, shooting Trish a smile.

“You should know, Paige has been looking all over for you,” Trish said to Chad. “She wasn’t going to leave until she found you.”

“Tell your roommate I owe her,” Chad replied to Trish, then shot Paige a smile.

“So you’d better be nice to her,” Trish added.

“Got it,” Chad nodded.

“She’s my bodyguard,” Paige explained, before adding, “Oh, and I do intend to collect on that.”

“So can we leave now,” Randy grumbled.

“Yup,” nodded Drew. “Let’s get out of here.”

Suddenly a loud siren blared outside. Everyone’s eyes went wide. They all hurried over to the window, looking outside. The sky was crackling with those Tesla-like sparks, streaking across it like lightning.

Then that holographic image projected in the sky - the same ghoulish oval-shaped face they had witnessed that first day of the new city.

And then the image was also in their room, projected right there in the middle of it from that lens in the wall. In three dimensions, each of them was seeing it from a slightly different angle.

“Inhabitants of Earth,” the image began, “criminal elements living among you have taken the lives of several of your fellow citizens.”

The projected image then switched to shots of real faces - they were workers Paige recognized from the cornfield. Paige gasped. They’d been killed helping her and Valerie escape.

“These criminals have destroyed much of your food supply,” the oval-faced image continued, “forcing your hosts to impose rationing on the rest of you.”

Paige and her friends exchanged looks. They were being set up to have the entire city hate them. She was boiling.

“Anyone providing information on the identities or whereabouts of these criminals will be rewarded,” the oval-faced image continued, “and anyone harboring them will be punished. You will now remain under lock down until security forces have scanned your Registration Identification Marks.”

And at that, the image flickered off.

“We need to go,” Paige said, heading for the door. Suddenly a bolt slammed shut inside it. Paige tugged at it, but it wasn’t budging. The door was sealed shut.

“Shit!” she exclaimed, turning to the others. “We’re locked in.”

“What’s a Registration Identification Mark?” Chad asked.

“It’s this thing,” replied Paige, flashing her hand as she headed back over. “It tells them where you’ve been, who you’ve talked to, and what you’ve done.”

“So basically we’re screwed,” added Drew.

“I don’t have one,” said Chad, glancing at his hand.

“No,” said Paige. “They gave them to us when we registered for this place. Freaking assholes,” she added.

Drew shot her a smile, nodding in agreement. He’d seen what this girl was capable of when she got angry, so he was glad to see it back.

“What about the window,” Randy asked. “Maybe we can climb out it.”

“Let’s see,” Drew said, heading over to the window. He had his doubts, but it was worth a shot. He took his chisel, and jabbed it against the window as hard as he could. It didn’t even leave a scratch. He tried again, with the same result. “Sorry, buddy,” he said to Randy, rubbing the kid’s head. “But it was good thinking.”

“Wait, you guys, shhh,” Chad whispered, pressing his ear against the door. “Someone’s in the hallway.”

“The guards,” Paige nodded. “We need to find some weapons.”

“We’ve got this,” said Drew holding out the guard’s rifle, “which you should actually take,” he continued, handing the rifle to Paige.

“You don’t want it?” she asked.

“There’s a better chance of you hitting what you’re shooting at,” he grinned.

Chad was scanning the room. “We’ve got these chairs,” he offered. “We can bust them up, and make clubs out of it.”

The boys each grabbed a chair, and whacked them down hard on the floor. The first time, they just bounced off, sending a jolt down Chad’s arm. “Damn!” he exclaimed. They slammed them down again, and the wood cracked. Another time, and the legs broke away from the seats. They twisted the legs the rest of the way off, and had their clubs.

“Do I get one?” asked Randy.

“I have a better idea for you and Trish,” Paige replied, pacing the room as she thought her plan through.

“So the guards are gonna be coming in the door over there,” continued Paige, motioning to the door, “so I need both of you over here by the window so you’re the first thing they see.”

Trish and Randy were nodding along, as Paige continued. “I’ll be in the bathroom with Chad,” she said, nodding to the bathroom door. It was set in the wall just to the right of the entrance, and about five feet in from the entrance.

“Where will I be?” asked Drew.

“You’ll be over there,” she said, pointing to the side of the bathroom wall facing the living area.

“What do you want us doing?” asked Randy. Paige exchanged looks with Drew and Chad.

“I think they should be crying,” Chad suggested.