The Harvest (11 page)

Kelly sighed, sounding like she might be as
breathless as he was. Squeezing her legs together tighter, she
pressed the soft inner flesh of her thighs against his hand. His
heart raced even faster, and his stomach felt like it was filled
with helium. A surge of heat started him sweating, and then he
remembered the itty-bitty running shorts he was wearing. Suddenly
terrified of what she’d think of what was happening, he cleared his
throat and forced himself to think about the forest animals
attacking, hoping fear would be a sufficient distraction.

“What?” Kelly lifted her head and looked at
him, her cheeks flushed and her pupils dilated. Was she thinking
the same thing?

“Awe, nothing,” he replied, gazing into the
forest.

“We’re gonna be alright,” she whispered. “I
don’t know how I know, but it’s for certain. I can tell you
that.”

“For some reason,” he said, “I think you’re
right.”

She laid her head on his shoulder again, and
he leaned into her, forcing his mind to go blank and trying to just
enjoy being near her. They sat in silence for a long time, until
the shadows grew inky and began to spread through the forest,
taking over as the light of the sun diminished. Shane smacked a
stinging on his bare leg.

“We’d better head back,” he said. “The
no-see-ums are comin’ out.”

“That’s the only thing I used to not like
about the woods,” she replied, swatting at her face. “The darn
bugs.”

The darkness concerned him too. Even if most
animals wouldn’t attack them in the absence of the limbic
manipulator, there were coyotes in these mountains. Even worse,
there were cougars, though he’d only ever seen their paw prints.
They stood on the log and jumped onto the hillside above, then
blindly made their way between the trees back up to the base. About
halfway back, Kelly slipped, and he grabbed her hand to keep her
from falling. Once she regained her footing, he loosened his grip
so she could let go, but she didn’t. Instead, she clung to him
until they made it to the thick brush at the edge of the
forest.

Shane pushed ahead and held the briars aside
so Kelly could pass.

“Why, thank you, sir,” she said with an
exaggerated southern-belle drawl, then curtseyed once she was
beyond the thorns and on the gravel.

“My pleasure, ma’am,” he replied, tipping his
pretend hat.

They laughed and walked through the narrow
space between buildings, just as another helicopter came over the
trees on the western side of the base. Shane shielded his face from
the wind created by the chopper and watched it touch down. A
shadowy figure, presumably Lily, crossed the tarmac and met seven
more kids.

“I wonder how many are left,” Kelly said.

“I don’t know,” Shane replied. “I’m betting
we’ve got a few new roommates inside.”

He opened the door to the barracks and
followed her in, blinking at the stark fluorescent lighting. Tracy
and Jules were sitting shoulder to shoulder in front of the large
LCD screen, headphones on and eyes wide as they watched the
Anunnaki annihilate a primitive army on some forsaken planet.

It really hadn’t sunk in that humans weren’t
alone. There were other intelligent species on planets similar to
Earth scattered across the universe. Shane diverted his gaze toward
the back of the long room, unable to stomach any more information
today. He and Kelly walked to the first set of quads and saw Laura
lying in her rack, staring up at the bunk above.

“Any info on the new arrivals?” Shane
asked.

“What?” She blinked and looked at him and
Kelly. Her eyes were damp. He wondered if she’d been thinking about
her parents, and felt guilty that he’d never cried over losing his
dad.

“Oh, yeah.” She composed herself. “The
Koreans moved in next to us, and a Russian team showed up shortly
after.”

“Where’re Maurice and Steve?”

“I believe Maurice went to the chapel, and
Steve’s grabbing a shower.”

Just then, a loud, metallic bang came from
the bathroom, followed by a shout.

“What the heck?” Shane said, trotting toward
the other end of the barracks.

He burst through the bathroom door, almost
tripping on overturned metal shelves. Towels were scattered, and
the room was filled with steam and Steve’s curses. The damp floor
was tinged pink with blood.

“I’ll kill you if you ever do that again,”
Steve yelled, his eyes wide with murderous fury.

He stood beyond the shelves, butt-naked and
dripping water. The shower behind him still ran. Blood trickled out
of his nose and hung off his chin. He had a tall, wiry, blond kid,
who was wearing a towel around his waist, pressed against the
white, tile wall, his forearm crushing the boy’s neck. Two other
new boys were standing by, cheering them on and smiling wildly.

“Steve! Let him go,” Shane shouted.

“This piece of shit?” Steve returned, his
eyes filled with murderous rage. “This piece of shit turned the
cold water off while I was in the shower. I had soap on my face,
and I got scalded. Can I ask you? What kind of an asshole does
that? I’m gonna kill him.”

“No, you’re
not,” Shane said firmly. “Now let him go.”

The other two backed up, mischievous grins on
their faces. Steve looked at Shane, his expression wild and
dangerous. He tensed, about to launch onto his friend to keep him
from committing manslaughter. Steve took his weight off the boy’s
neck, and the blond kid dropped to the floor, gasping for air and
groping his windpipe.

“We meant no harm,” one of the shorter,
dark-haired boys said with a thick accent. “This just good Russian
greeting, that’s all.”

The other boys cackled like hyenas. Shane had
seen Steve murderously angry before—these boys had no idea how
close they’d come to getting killed.

Steve snatched a towel off the pile on the
floor and wrapped it around his waist.

“Well,” he snarled, glaring at them. “If you
do that again, I’ll give all three of you a good American broken
neck!”

“Okay, okay, big, strong guy. We are sorry.
Congratulations on your shower.”

The two smaller guys lifted their friend to
his feet and walked into the shower stalls, laughing and speaking
loudly in Russian to each other.

“Are you good?” Shane asked.

“Yeah, I’m good,” he replied. “But don’t look
at me like that. I didn’t start it.”

“I didn’t say you did,” Shane replied. “I
just want to make sure you’re alright, and you ain’t gonna kill
anyone when I walk out.”

“I said I’m good,” he snapped, wiping his
nose.

“What happened?” Shane asked, nodding toward
the blood.

“I slipped when those bastards shut off the
cold water and damn near cracked my skull open.”

“Well, looks like you gave them a good
scare,” Shane replied, confident Steve could’ve destroyed all three
of them if it turned into a brawl. He wondered if the aliens knew
what was happening and would’ve come to the foreign boy’s rescue if
he hadn’t. Would they have let Steve kill the Russian for training
purposes? “I’m guessing they won’t mess with you again.”

“They damn well better not,” Steve shouted
toward the other end of the bathroom, where the Russians were
showering. He stepped into his shower stall, jerking the curtain
closed.

Shane shook his head and walked out. Going
from the excited bliss of being alone with Kelly to this scene of
anger and violence was about the last thing he could take. He
headed to the quad, looking forward to lying down and closing his
eyes.

“Let the games begin,” he said exhaustedly
once he got back to the quad.

“What happened?” Kelly asked.

“Let’s just say the Russians wanted to give
Steve a warm welcome, and he wasn’t having it.”

“Was he hurt?”

“His nose got busted, but I’d say he won the
fight. I’d have stayed in there if I were worried about him.” He
decided to leave out the details.

“Shhh.” The sound came from the next set of
cubicles, the Koreans trying to sleep.

“They sure go to bed early,” Kelly said in a
quieter voice.

“I guess we should turn in as well,” Shane
whispered. “I get the feeling the morning is going to come too
soon.”

Kelly’s hand brushed his, and her eyes said
she wanted to kiss him again. Too bad there was no privacy in the
barracks. She gave a sweet smile that sent a passionate surge
through him and turned toward her bunk.

Warmed by her hints of affection, he headed
toward the boys’ side of the barracks, pausing in the middle of the
aisle when he saw Steve come out of the bathroom. Steve glared into
the Russians’ quad as he passed, challenging them to another
tussle. But then his expression softened in an instant, like he
didn’t want to offend one of the people he saw. When he faced
forward, there was a slight grin on his lips. There was only one
thing that could turn the ferocious linebacker from anger to
sheepishness so fast—a girl.

Shane continued across the aisle and stopped
in front of his rack. Steve entered and stepped next to him,
reaching up and pulling back the blankets on his bunk. Deciding his
friend had been picked on enough for one day, he didn’t ask about
his mood-shifting encounter at the Russian quad.

“What do you suppose these’ll do?” He picked
up the little paper cup.

“They’ll make you a badass,” Steve replied
cheerfully. “Like me.” He did a couple of quick boxer’s hops and
threw a punch at Shane.

“Yeah, right,” he replied.

“No really, man,” Steve continued. “They
smell and look just like the supplements I take all the time,
though they are probably a better version.”

Shane stared at him.

Steve laughed. “Not steroids, dumbass. It’s
just amino acids and stuff to help your muscles recover. I get ‘em
at the mall for crying out loud.”

Shane knew a lot of the guys on the football
team took nutritional supplements. He couldn’t afford them or he
might’ve too.

“The darn things are so big,” Shane said,
swirling the cup. “How the hell do you get them down?”

“Come on, dude,” Steve teased. “We all know
you’re a swallower.”

“Jackass.” Shane elbowed his friend.

“I already took mine, and I’m fine,” Steve
said, shrugging his shoulders and leaping up onto his rack.

“Yeah, I saw how fine you were just a few
minutes ago in the bathroom.”

“Night, man,” Steve said, laughing and
rolling toward the wall.

“Goodnight,” Shane replied, looking down at
the pills again.

What did he have to lose? And why would the
rebels go through so much trouble just to poison them with these
chokers? Everyone else was crawling into their racks, so he assumed
they’d all taken them. He walked over to the water fountain and
forced the pills down, one at a time, and then returned and rolled
into his bunk.

He lay awake, listening to the Russian boys
whisper and laugh two sets of cubicles down. They were a jovial
bunch; he had to give them that. But their merriment was of the
mean sort, and he worried they were the types that got their kicks
by hurting others. A stoic, female voice finally snapped something
in Russian, and they fell instantly silent.

Shane reckoned it was around nine or ten
o’clock when the lights were shut off. His eyes adjusted to the
soft moonlight filtering in through the high windows, and he saw
Tracy and Jules go into their quad and crawl into bed. They’d been
watching the Anunnaki reel the entire time. Admirable. He’d have to
pick their brains tomorrow. Maurice came in a short while later and
climbed into his rack.

It was getting late, but Shane’s brain
wouldn’t stop. Expectations of what lay ahead, horrible flashbacks
of the last few days, and more pleasant thoughts of Kelly took
turns whirling in his head. His team consisted of four girls and
three boys. Granted, Steve was a tank and Shane was six feet tall,
and both had been lifting weights for years for football, but he
worried the girls might put them at a disadvantage if some of the
other teams were all male. Then again, he knew better than to be
sexist. After all, Tracy had proven to be tougher than any boy he’d
ever met.

Maurice wasn’t as tall as Steve or Shane, but
he was stocky and strong as an ox. And, the cheerful preacher’s son
wasn’t easily intimidated. Shane saw Jules in action during the
fight in Atlanta, and that she was still alive was a testament to
her capabilities as well. The only person he was really worried
about was Laura. She was definitely smart and compassionate to a
fault, but could she fight?

Damn it, stop thinking and go to sleep!

He rolled onto his belly and tried to clear
his mind, but it didn’t slow down or make any progress toward
resolving his concerns. Time passed at a blistering rate, and the
door to the barracks squeaked open just as he was about to drift
off. The patter of footsteps made him look to the aisle. Seven
Asian kids, five boys and two girls, walked quietly by his quad.
Must be the Chinese. He listened to Jones whisper the same
introduction to the barracks he’d given the Americans. It sounded
like he spoke in English, but Shane knew it had to be Anunnaki. It
was unlikely they’d understand him otherwise. Jones left, and they
settled in their bunks. Soon, the sound of heavy breathing
dominated the barracks once again.