Unexplained Invasion (part 4)

“Have you not looked outside? There’s a metallic wheel hovering over the city. Smaller disc-like ships are coming and going from it. I-I don’t know if they have taken captives or if they are killing every human, they come into contact with as they tried with me.”

“What do we do?” Panic cracked her voice, her eyes wide as half-dollars.

“I have to find my family,” said Mel. “I don’t know where to look, but I have to locate them.”

“The Jr. High School!”

“What?”

Beth grabbed Mel’s shoulders firmly, her breath ragged. “Jr. High School. It’s the teachers’ conference day… or was, anyhow… my parents took my brother Jeremy earlier and they’ve never returned.”

As if a lightbulb turned on, Mel’s face lit up. “That’s right! What if our families got held up at the school? Maybe they’re alright? We’ve got to go!”

Beth looked skeptical. “The school is three miles from here. If there are aliens out there, how will we get past them?”

“I made it here, didn’t I? We need to take back roads and stay close to houses and buildings for protection.”

“But…”

“You can stay here, Beth. I’m going to go find my family with or without you. I have to know if they’re all right.”

She bobbed her head, fear animating on her chalk-white face. “Okay. First, let’s look to make sure the alien following you isn’t lying in wait for us. If they have weaponry advanced to the degree they destroy cities, we don’t have a chance out there.”

“We have to be smart. Dodge between objects; keep low,” Mel said. “We can do this, Beth.” Much as Mel tried to convince her friend, she entertained the same misgivings. No matter, she thought, she had to try. She raised her bow and quiver, her face taking on a staunch warrior expression. “Find anything you can use as a weapon.”

Beth ran into the kitchen and Mel heard a lot of clanging noises. When she returned, Beth carried a butcher knife in a white-knuckled grip. “Let’s do it!”

Mel nodded and moved to the door. She cracked it slightly, peering out to see if there were aliens anywhere nearby. If so, she didn’t see it. Cautiously, she stepped out onto the porch, Beth on her heels. Both trembled uncontrollably, silently praying they would make it to the school without being seen—without losing their lives.

There was an eerie silence surrounding them. The usual honking of horns, sirens in the distance, dogs yapping, and kids’ voices as they played, all gone; not even a bird was visible or heard. The silence made an icy trail along their spines. The city’s heart lay crushed. A malignant fear gripped it. It was difficult to know if the creatures left anyone else alive. If there were, they had found a haven to occupy for the time because Mel and Beth saw no one—alive, that is.

Mel heard the sharp intake of breath from behind and passed a look over her shoulder. She could see Beth had finally spotted the giant wheel poised overhead for the first time.

Her face crumpled, fear overpowering her. It was a chilling display. Beth turned in a panicked gesture, looking as though she intended to retreat and go back inside the house. No doubt she would have, had Mel not clenched her sleeve and kept her rooted.

“C’mon, Beth, we committed to doing this. I know it’s scary. I’m afraid too, but we need to find our families,” said Mel. “We must hurry!”

“I’m sorry. Okay, you’re right. Let’s get out of here before we’re seen.”

They hunkered down, running as fast as they could down the sidewalk, their eyes sweeping from side to side to make sure the aliens hadn’t spotted them. They tried to avoid looking at the burned corpses inside their vehicles; a terrifying reminder of what could be their demise if they weren’t careful.

“Three o’clock,” said Mel as she slouched behind a car and reached back to grab Beth’s hand. She pulled her to the ground beside her. With trembling fingers, she withdrew an arrow from the leather quiver and nocked an arrow. Drawing the bowstring back to her chin, she slowly rose to her feet. To her horror, an alien stood twenty feet from where they were, spanning the area. In search of them. When it had Mel in its sight, it quickly started running toward her, its second set of arms flopping bizarrely on either side.

Taking a deep breath to steady her shaking, Mel aimed and released the arrow. Bullseye! She pumped her arm in victory.

“Yes!” she shouted. The arrow had pierced the opaque-looking creature through the neck. Its oblong eyes rounded first with surprise and within a matter of seconds, the life drained out of it, and its body slithered to the ground. The laser it carried fell from its grip and clattered to the pavement.

Mel and Beth stood mesmerized, unable to move. After a short time, Mel finally brushed past Beth, slowly approaching the alien, its form shriveling up as if all the liquid in its body was being sucked out. She could see through its pasty-white flesh to see blue veins running through its limbs. An odd slimy substance oozed from the wound, puddling around its lifeless figure. Mel stepped closer, and reaching down, planted her foot on its chest to pull the arrow free.

“You did good, Mel,” Beth said, patting her shoulder. Braver now, her blue eyes widened with sheer fascination. All she could do was stare at the dreadful-looking corpse, her nose wrinkling in disgust. She had viewed nothing so hideous before. Even though it was dead, her nerves crackled. There would be more of them, and she couldn’t help but wonder if they could fend them off the rest of the distance.

“We better get a move on before another one turns up and we’re not so lucky,” Mel said, as if reading Beth’s mind. Bending down, she grabbed the laser gun. “Who knows, we might find a use for this later?”

The two kept moving swiftly, darting between cars and bushes alongside the deserted houses. Occasionally, they would stop and rap soundly at one door to see if anyone might be inside. So far, they were the only two.

***

Two hours had passed and so far, they were fortunate enough not to see another alien. Overcome with exhaustion, they felt as if they were running through quicksand. Every muscle in their bodies rebelled. Yet, they were so close—they couldn’t stop now.

Rounding the corner of a cross street, Mel threw her arm to the side, smashing into Beth’s chest to stop her. She heard a grunt and turned her head with a serious look cut on her face. “Sorry,” she whispered, then pointed.

Beth followed the direction of Mel’s finger and gasped. She saw a foot high, what she assumed must be another alien form, scurrying across the road to slide underneath one of the abandoned vehicles. “What on earth is that? It’s green!”

Mel shrugged. Bad enough they were dealing with six-foot-tall aliens. Now they had to deal with a runt. “Maybe a scout for the aliens? I think we had better find a safe place to duck into, though. If it is a scout, there will be aliens after us before much longer.”

They rushed to another burned-out vehicle and climbed inside. Mel in the front seat, Beth in the rear. They peered out the window, trying to determine what the strange creature was up to, though all they could see from their position were two antennas twitching wildly on the top of its head.

“I wonder if those things work as radar and they’re able to locate us?” Beth said in a hushed voice.

“If so, we’re in trouble.”

In a matter of minutes, they saw three of the gangly, opaque-looking aliens scurrying around the corner, their laser guns positioned in Mel’s and Beth’s direction. “I guess that answers my question,” Beth said.

“Here,” said Mel, handing her the laser gun they’d taken from the dead alien. “Get ready!”

“I don’t know how to use this thing!” Beth’s voice was shrill and panic overtook her.

“Just fiddle with it. I don’t know how to use it either. Let’s just hope you find the right button so we don’t go up in flames!” Heart pounding, Mel pulled her bow off her shoulder and grabbed another arrow. “I won’t have room to shoot from here. I’m going to go back outside.”

Mel could see Beth was beside herself as she stared helplessly at the large steel gun in her hands, trying to decide how to use it. She positioned the barrel on the broken window, stooped to peer through the sight, and pulled back on what looked to be a trigger. There was a hissing sound that followed, a bluish-white light that nearly blinded her the two of them, and a loud explosion. They leaned forward in anticipation, aggravated only briefly that she had missed her target, but relieved when they realized the force of the blast threw the alien five feet into the air. When its body dropped to the asphalt, they heard a strange gurgling noise come from the alien, which, thankfully, stayed down.

Mel shrieked when she saw Jimmy Langford running out into the street, his eyes bulging with fright and his arms flagging wildly in the air. “What the hell!” she wheezed. She had not officially met the freshman, though she had seen him walking the school halls, arms loaded down with books, and sat near him in the lunchroom once. Being a senior, she never really had any reason to associate with him. But what a welcome sight.

Out of her peripheral vision, she caught the other alien raising his laser gun and aiming at Jimmy. Mel’s heart leaped. “Get down!” she screamed, watching in horror as he stopped in the middle of the street, immobile. Frantic, she raised her bow, grabbed an arrow from the quiver draped over her shoulder, and nocked it. With a keen eye, she focused the razor-sharp tip on the alien, drew back the bowstring to her chin, and released. She watched in dreaded silence, holding her breath, hoping the arrow would hit its mark before the alien took out Jimmy. With a withdrawn sigh, she realized she had hit the intended target. The alien slithered to the ground, an arrow through its skull.

Jimmy stood immobile; his face drained of color. To his left, he suddenly realized the last alien was charging straight for him. Mel tried to get her arrow prepared, but her hand shook so badly, she fumbled it and the arrow clattered to the ground. She reached back a second time to grab yet another when she caught the profile of Beth running full-out toward the alien, butcher knife clasped in her hand.

It was in that fateful moment Jimmy seemed to shake off his stupor. When he saw the alien raise his weapon and aim it at Beth, Jimmy lurched forward, striking the alien’s shoulder and sending it reeling. As it tumbled to the ground, Beth jumped on top of it. She swung the blade, roaring like a fearless lion, the blade slicing into its neck. Sticky fluid poured out over her fingers and spattered the front of her T-shirt. Nauseous, she crawled off. Her mouth sagged, and right there, she vomited on the ground.

“Wow, that was extraordinary!” Jimmy gushed. “You just saved my life.”

Beth sat stunned. Her expression reflected that she couldn’t believe she did anything so heroic, putting her life in jeopardy like that. The two girls realized had Jimmy not acted when he did, it would be her body laying there soaking in a pool of blood.

Mel ran up beside her and squatted. “Are you alright?”

“I think so.”

Mel took her arm and helped her to her feet, her eyes scanning the area for the little green alien who appeared to have left. Assured they were safe for the moment, Mel looked over at Jimmy, who looked to be recovering. Mel smiled. Jimmy was nearly a head taller than her. His face, covered with bronze freckles, dripped with sweat. His wire-rimmed glasses sat cockeyed on his nose, and with his forefinger, he pushed them back into their proper place. Releasing a long sigh, he ran his fingers through his thoroughly mussed copper hair and shook his head.

“I-I c-can’t b-believe this,” he stammered. “I thought I was the only one left in the city.”

“That was our thought, too. Thankfully, there are more of us. We are heading over to the school. That’s where our parents went this morning and we haven’t heard a word from any of them,” Mel told him. “You’d probably better stick with us. We’ll be safer in numbers.”

“I intend to.” He didn’t hesitate to answer. His entire body was rattling with fear.

Mel leaned over and grabbed the alien’s laser gun and handed it off to Jimmy, glancing over at Beth with a puzzled expression. “Why didn’t you use the gun instead of charging the alien with a knife?”

“Jimmy was too close, and I was afraid I might kill him instead of the alien,” she explained. “I thought he was going to die, and I just reacted—jumped out of the car and ran as fast as I could.”

“I’m impressed,” Mel smiled. “You’ve turned into a regular warrior, it seems.”

“Well, I don’t know about that!” she replied, the compliment making her blush.

“Guess we had better trudge on before that green fellow turns back up. We’re almost there.”