Followed East

by Andre Gonzalez

  Andre Gonzalez

  Followed East

  First published by M4L Publishing 2020

  Copyright © 2020 by Andre Gonzalez

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.

  This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

  Andre Gonzalez asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

  First edition

  ISBN: 978-1-951762-06-3

  Editing by Stephanie Cohen-Perez

  Cover art by ebooklaunch.com

  This book was professionally typeset on Reedsy

  Find out more at reedsy.com

  For my Auntie Tanya, thank you for all the trips to the bookstore.

  Contents

  1. Chapter 1

  2. Chapter 2

  3. Chapter 3

  4. Chapter 4

  5. Chapter 5

  6. Chapter 6

  7. Chapter 7

  8. Chapter 8

  9. Chapter 9

  10. Chapter 10

  11. Chapter 11

  12. Chapter 12

  13. Chapter 13

  14. Chapter 14

  15. Chapter 15

  16. Chapter 16

  17. Chapter 17

  18. Chapter 18

  19. Chapter 19

  20. Chapter 20

  21. Chapter 21

  22. Chapter 22

  23. Chapter 23

  24. Chapter 24

  25. Chapter 25

  26. Chapter 26

  27. Chapter 27

  28. Chapter 28

  29. Chapter 29

  30. Chapter 30

  31. Chapter 31

  32. Chapter 32

  33. Chapter 33

  34. Chapter 34

  35. Chapter 35

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  Author’s Note

  Also by Andre Gonzalez

  About the Author

  1

  Chapter 1

  Kyle stared Colonel Griffins in the eyes, his bushy eyebrows splayed out in every direction. The colonel had just asked Kyle to move to Washington, D.C. to officially enter the training program to join The Crew.

  “You know I just turned seventeen years old two weeks ago, right?” Kyle asked, expecting the question. Why else would the busy colonel of a top-secret military organization fly to Denver for lunch? They had kept in touch via email since the tragedy at Kyle’s grandmother’s house where, at the age of twelve, he had witnessed her death at the Exalls’ hands, his friends and father by his side.

  “Son, we know everything. We’re not concerned with your age.”

  “But I’m not even old enough to serve in the military.”

  The colonel smirked, his eyes never breaking from Kyle. “You remind me so much of her. She’s still probably the only person who ever stormed into the Oval Office without giving a shit who sat behind the desk. You have that same kind of confidence—she was right about you.” Griffins sipped lemonade through the straw pinched between his grinning lips. They were having lunch at D’Corazon, a Mexican restaurant in downtown Denver, the scattered remnants of chicken fajitas and cheesy enchiladas the only food remaining on the table. “For the record, the minimum age to join The Crew is sixteen. Kennedy believed if you’re old enough to make life and death decisions behind the wheel of a car, then you’re old enough to make those same decisions with our team.”

  “Death?” Kyle asked, the word slipping through his lips beyond his control. “I thought they don’t come back for thirty years.”

  Colonel Griffins was gracious enough to leave all of Susan’s belongings in her house following her passing. Protocol was to remove any trace of The Crew, but he swore Kyle to secrecy, and left all of Susan’s textbooks, notes, and equipment behind. “Don’t ever leave the house with any of this stuff,” he warned. “You can have it all, but it stays within these walls until further notice.”

  Kyle thought back to this moment and wondered if Griffins had already known this current conversation would one day occur.

  “Correct. The mass invasion comes around every thirty years. It’s not precise—I’ve heard as early as twenty-five years and as late as forty years. It’s more a window of time that we prepare for.”

  “Then why do I need to come now? Why not after I finish high school?”

  Kyle had just entered his first serious relationship three months earlier and had no interest in leaving his new girlfriend, Jessica, behind to live on the other side of the country. He didn’t have any romantic experience, but understood that long-distance was not the way to go.

  “Your education continues at an even higher level. You’ll have plenty of classroom time and will learn about theories that are often taught in Master’s programs from Ivy League colleges.”

  That didn’t sound fun at all. Kyle wanted a regular, senior year of high school: lunch with his friends, pep rallies and football games, spring baseball, and prom with his high school sweetheart. How was he supposed to do any of this if he was studying Exall transportation theory on Friday nights?

  “I don’t know, Colonel. I’m not ready to give up my life to do this. I’d rather finish high school here, then go join you guys. It can be like my college.”

  Griffins nodded. “I can appreciate that. We know you have a much higher maturity level for your age than your peers—and that’s why I’m here. It’s rare for someone your age to know what they want in life. If you really do have an interest in joining us at any point in your future, it’s imperative you begin as soon as possible. The window of opportunity can close at any time. We’re not always on the search for recruits, but right now we are.”

  Kyle pursed his lips as he looked over the glob of cheese on his plate. “I just don’t think I can commit right this second. Can I have some time to think it over?”

  “Of course. I was never expecting a decision from you today, although I was hoping you’d be so overwhelmed with excitement that you’d ride back on the jet with me this afternoon.” Griffins let out a hoarse chuckle.

  Well, that was never happening, Kyle thought, returning a nervous laugh.

  “Take a week or two –let’s say, June 14th, to let me know. Talk things over with your parents—I’ve already filled them in on the situation. When you decide what you want, give me a call and let me know. We’ll be waiting.”

  “I can do that.”

  The two leaned back in their chairs, finishing the food and sucking down the rest of their soft drinks.

  “Tell me one thing,” Colonel Griffins said, his smirk leaving his face. “Have you checked out that gift I gave you at the funeral?”

  Kyle felt the blood leave his face. That was the one object he had never been told rules about using. It was given to him far outside of his grandmother’s house—at Arlington National Cemetery—therefore, he kept it among his personal belongings. And yes, he looked at that damn thing every single day. It fascinated him, and he knew one of those red dots on the screen of the Exall Tracking Device belonged to his old friend, Brian.

  Only it wasn’t Brian any more, and Griffins had made it plenty clear that even if they were to capture him one day, there was no guarantee that their special medicine would return him back to his human form.

  Kyle wanted to lie, and make it sound as if maybe
he looked at the device every couple months or so, but the technology was too advanced. It likely registered on a private server at the Pentagon every time it was in use, and Griffins already knew the answer to the question.

  “Yeah. I look at it a lot,” Kyle finally said, as if ashamed to admit to a guilty addiction.

  “Mind-blowing stuff, isn’t it?”

  “It is. Sometimes I open it at night and stare out my window, wondering what they’re all doing out there. It makes me feel so small.”

  “We are merely specks of dust in this universe. We have no idea how many of them are out there. Some of our scholars argue that there are millions, while others insist it’s only the ones who come around every thirty years.”

  “What do you believe?”

  “Me? I don’t know as many facts like our historians, but I believe they inhabit a planet lightyears away. Billions of them just like us, living their lives and working for the weekend. They clearly have technology beyond our understanding, and we just want to study them, learn from them. Anyway, I should get going. Did you have any last questions for me before I head back?”

  “I don’t, but… thanks for coming out. I’ll let you know what I decide after I think it over some more.”

  “Please do. Take your time, and if you do have any questions, you know how to get ahold of me.”

  Griffins stood, his joints popping. Kyle couldn’t recall ever seeing Griffins outside of his solid green uniform, but today he wore a flannel button-down tucked into jeans. “Have a good rest of your day, and say hello to your parents for me.”

  “I’ll walk out with you,” Kyle said, standing from the table. He followed the colonel as they weaved through the tables toward the exit.

  It was a scorching summer day, highs expected in the mid-90s, and the rush of heat greeted them as they stepped outside.

  “I’ll tell you this much, Kyle,” Griffins said. “Susan insisted you’d be ready and that we needed to do everything in order to get you to join the team.” He raised his hand in the air as if taking an oath. “I swear on her grave. She wanted this life for you. Told me off the record that she believed you would be even better than her.” Griffins stuck out his hand for Kyle to shake. “Call me.”

  Off he went, back to his private government jet to fly back to D.C., where life chasing Exalls continued every day.

  Kyle felt sick to his stomach. Would his grandmother really have said those things? He thought back to the many summer days he spent at her house. She had kept a BB gun in the garage and liked to shoot at the squirrels threatening the wellbeing of her garden. When Kyle was six, she had set up empty Coke bottles along the top of the backyard fence, and asked him to shoot them.

  Like any six-year-old, the gun was nearly as big as him, but she taught him the proper way to hold it, how to line up a shot, and how to ignore everything else in the world before pulling the trigger. By the time he was eight, Kyle could shoot at least nine out of ten bottles with ease, and in rapid succession.

  He never thought anything of it, just going with the flow of what his grandmother asked him to do. If shooting bottles was her idea of fun, then that’s what they did every day.

  Was that all preparation for this? How could she know so early that I’d even have an interest in joining The Crew?

  Kyle returned to his car and drove to his grandmother’s house.

  2

  Chapter 2

  Kyle walked into his grandmother’s old house, now the residence of his father, Travis. His parents had finalized their divorce a few months after the tragedy four years ago, throwing Kyle’s world into further chaos.

  Kyle alternated nights between here and his mother’s house two blocks down the street. His mother had dated a handful of men over the past couple of years, but nothing ever turned steady. Travis had dated no one—at least to Kyle’s knowledge—but often disappeared to bars on Friday and Saturday nights.

  The first few months of Travis living on his own had consisted of cheap microwaveable dinners and piles of pizza boxes. Kyle didn’t mind, but it hurt to see his father living such a sloppy life. The phase passed, and Travis settled into a healthier lifestyle, actually learning to cook for the first time in his life.

  Travis spoke to Kyle many nights about the secrets he had been sworn to since he was a child. Travis, his brother, and their father, had all played second fiddle to Susan’s life as a high-ranking Crew member. Travis understood the lifestyle and had answers to many of the questions Kyle brought to the table. It was impossible for them to not discuss the Crew, as everywhere they looked in the house was a sign of Susan’s past life. New hidden cameras were discovered in different corners, while secret compartments with hidden pistols were found in every room.

  After a year had passed, Travis decided it was time to renovate the house and rid it of the old secrets buried within. Everything from the walls and flooring were ripped out and redone, modernized with new paint, furniture, and appliances. Susan had left him millions of dollars on top of an already generous life insurance policy from The Crew. Travis put the money aside for Kyle’s future, and the rest into the renovations.

  As Kyle pulled into the driveway on this particular hot summer day, the house looked nothing like the one he had watched his grandmother get slaughtered in. That was probably for the best. He parked under the tall oak tree that shaded the entire front yard, and climbed the front steps to enter.

  Travis sat in the living room recliner, feet up with a cold beer in hand as he watched TV in front of a blasting fan.

  “Hey, Ky, how was it?” he asked, getting up from the chair.

  “It was fine. Colonel Griffins says hi.”

  “Come sit down and talk to me. I’m sure you have more to tell me.”

  Kyle dragged his feet into the living room and sat on the couch where Travis joined him.

  “He wants me to join The Crew. Says grandma wanted me to, and that I’m ready.”

  “You don’t sound excited about it.”

  “I am. But I don’t wanna move across the country, away from you and Mom. I’m not ready for that.”

  “You know he came and spoke with us yesterday—your mom and I.”

  “He mentioned it. What did he say?”

  “Well, as your parents, he needed our permission before even sitting down with you. He told us all about the program you’d be joining, and we couldn’t deny how special of an opportunity it would be for you.”

  “Are you kidding me? You want me to drop out of school to learn how to kill aliens?”

  “You wouldn’t be dropping out of school. You’d be doing the opposite, in fact. Their education program is nothing like regular school – it’s years more advanced. Even if one day you decide you don’t want to continue with The Crew, you’ll have such a strong background, you can do whatever you want in this world.”

  “That’s a lie!” Kyle barked, now fully on the defensive. He wasn’t expecting to come home to find his parents in agreement with the colonel. Surely they would have wanted him to stay home and finish what he had started at Larkwood High School. Instead, it was just him against the world. “It’s a lifetime commitment—there’s no getting out of it. You of all people know that.”

  Travis frowned. “That’s true, yes, but that’s not the point.”

  “It is the point. You’re all asking me to make a decision that will dictate the rest of my life. I just wanna hang out with my friends and play baseball. I don’t give a shit about any of this!”

  His eyes welled with tears, but he wiped them away before they rolled down his face.

  Travis cleared his throat before speaking in his most gentle voice. “Ky, no one is going to force you into this decision. It’s yours to make. We’re just making sure you understand the full perspective of both sides. You know your mother and I will support you in whatever you decide. One thing you need to realize, though, is that you already lost your innocent high school years when all of this drama happened.

  “Yo
u were only twelve and got thrust into the middle of this mess. We’ve tried to keep your life as normal as possible, but we know it’s unrealistic to think it doesn’t eat away at you every day. I’ve seen you look at that machine. You have the same look in your eyes as my mom. Like there’s something growing inside of you, and you need to let it out.”

  Kyle looked down to his twiddling thumbs. “I want to do it, I just don’t want to do it now.”

  “I’m afraid that part of the decision isn’t up to you.”

  “If they think so highly of me, why can’t they take me on when I feel ready?”

  “It doesn’t work that way, Ky. This is the military, and it’s directly overseen by the president. They have the strictest procedures in place for good reason. There were times your grandma had to go on trips to D.C. at the last second, and they kept her there for months. That’s just the way of life in this group. They have to adhere by their rules to keep the public in the dark.”

  “Do you think they really know when we talk about it? The colonel said they always know.”

  “They know. You’re always being watched. This is our government’s biggest secret. Even if you decide to not join them, you still know about the secret. They’re always listening. That’s why you and your friends should never discuss it, pretend it never happened.”

  “We already do that. I think they want it to have never happened. It never comes up, but sometimes if a kid at school makes a joke about aliens, we all look at each other. It’s a secret that lives between us and always will. We all miss Brian.”

  “I’m sure.”

  “I don’t know what to do, Dad.” Kyle slouched, his rage gone, giving way to anxiety.

  “Take your time and sleep on it. The answer will come when you least expect it. It’s a unique opportunity that people don’t even dream of—because they don’t even know it’s real. You can always talk with me or your mom. Trust yourself to make the right decision. Why don’t you go to your grandmother’s room and reflect?”