Girl Vs (Sinister Skies Book 1)

by Xela Culletto

  Ian handed a pair to me. I slid them on and the world became a vision of greens and grays. I turned to look ahead and was shocked to see huge skyscrapers only a few hundred yards away. I’d become so used to Springfield’s electric lights that I’d forgotten the aliens didn’t need them. But illuminated or not, Riverside was there. We’d arrived.

  Chapter 46

  “Only kill when you have to,” Tess warned. “If you leave a trail of corpses in your wake, you’re bound to be noticed. The second you start attracting attention, it’s game over.”

  I imagined them—the ones sitting safely miles away in their swivel chairs, directing us through a screen. Perhaps it did feel like a game to them. But as I looked ahead to the metropolis, swollen with unseen invaders, my pulse pounded strongly, reminding me of my own mortality.

  “Go,” Tess said.

  We prowled in.

  Staying close to the outlying structures, Derek peered covertly around every corner. He had taken the lead, and I followed close behind. Ian and Anthony were next while Logan and Kalisha watched our tail. We hadn’t bothered with black clothes because, according to Tess, the aliens could see perfectly in the dark. I’d always suspected as much, but the confirmation was not exactly comforting.

  We passed through the first few blocks without incident. The creatures were out—I counted at least a dozen shuffling around, not to mention the many silver balls rolling by—but were so far oblivious to the ambush. With so many neglected buildings, alleys, and abandoned cars, finding crevices to hide in was almost too simple.

  “Go left at the next intersection.”

  “How much farther?” Anthony whispered back to the voice, the first any of us had spoken since entering the city.

  “Nineteen blocks.”

  My heart sank. The deeper we went, the more Vela there were. Nineteen more blocks and we might be swimming through them.

  “How much time?” Derek asked.

  “Seven hours, twenty minutes.”

  A jerky movement caught the corner of my eye and I turned just in time to see Kalisha pulling her dagger from one of the creatures. A long string of blood dangled behind as she withdrew it.

  The first kill. How many would it take before they were alerted to our presence?

  Derek led us away from the carcass, crouching as he dashed up the street. We trailed behind him in the same hasty manner. Logan’s tennis shoes pounded the ground, but I was surprised by how quiet Ian and Anthony were.

  Glancing around, Derek ducked inside an old, decrepit shop. The place had been ransacked ages ago, and I cringed as the broken glass crunched underneath his feet. He waved for us to follow.

  Rather than sound the alarm with a symphony of grinding glass, I entered through a wooden side door that had been left ajar.

  “What is it?” I whispered when everyone had followed me inside.

  “We have to cross the street,” he replied. “We’ll need a strategy.”

  He was right. The only reason we’d made it this far in without notice was because we’d managed to lurk in the shadows. But crossing the street? There was nothing to hide behind.

  “What do you suggest?” I asked.

  “I’m not sure. We could wait for midnight—they said there aren’t as many out.”

  “We don’t have time for that.” He nodded in agreement.

  For a moment, everyone was quiet. Then Ian said, “Why don’t we hijack one of those silver balls? We’d make it in no time.”

  “Except that no one knows how to drive one,” Kalisha pointed out.

  “I don’t even know how they open,” I said.

  “I’ve been studying their technology for months,” Ian said. “I can get you in if you can take care of what’s inside.”

  “You mean the aliens? Or the driving?” I asked.

  “The aliens. I’ll drive.”

  “Won’t be a problem.”

  “Okay, then,” Ian said, taking charge. “Let’s backtrack to a less crowded street and see if we can get one by itself.”

  Everyone nodded in agreement except Derek, who looked doubtful.

  “There’s too many—we’re bound to be seen.”

  “It’ll only take a second for me to access the interior—then Rhyan and Kalisha can slip in while the rest of us keep watch.”

  “And if we’re spotted?”

  “We all jump in and drive away as fast as we can. With any luck, we’ll blend right in with the rest of the traffic.”

  “I hope you’re right,” Derek said. “One thing goes wrong, that’ll be it.”

  “That is the theme of the night.”

  With a doubtful expression, Derek consented. Tess hadn’t chimed in, and I assumed it was because she didn’t have any better ideas.

  Stealing back through the streets was a little simpler—we were getting better at crouching and dashing. Derek led us down a narrow alley that no Vela could have fit through. It emerged onto a trashed and seemingly deserted street.

  “This is perfect,” Ian said. “We just have to wait for one to turn down.”

  Kalisha turned from us and scurried away down the road. Ian yelled for her to stop, but I shushed him. She came to the closest interchange, and disappeared around the corner.

  “What’s she doing?” Ian asked, clearly irritated.

  “Just give her a minute,” I said.

  It didn’t take that long. Seconds later, Kalisha came sprinting back, silver ball nipping at her heels.

  “You’re up, Ian,” Derek said, drawing his gun at the same time I unsheathed a knife.

  Ian, ghostly white and trembling, nodded. Kalisha reached us and ducked into the alley, huffing for breath.

  The sphere slowed and Ian advanced on it with a shaky step, circling its wide circumference until he vanished from sight.

  “Come on Kalisha—we’ve got to help him,” I said.

  Still breathing hard, she followed me around the apparatus until we saw Ian. He was working his fingers swiftly over a rectangular panel. It was the same shiny silver as the rest of the apparatus—practically imperceptible—but after only a moment, a panel slid upward.

  Before I even had the chance to peer inside, claws slashed at me. Without the months of practice I’d had to hone my reflexes, that would have been it for me. But, faster than my brain could even process what was happening, my body reacted, ducking out of range and slicing my blade upward with a vigorous swing.

  The Vela fell forward onto me, showering me with slimy innards. I shoved it off with both arms.

  “That’s disgusting,” Derek said, passing by me and taking the large step into the sphere. Logan entered next, followed by Ian and Anthony.

  “So far so good,” Kalisha said.

  “I guess,” I said, wiping away some of the slime.

  She stepped in and after a quick glance at our surroundings, I followed. Turning back, I watched the machine’s entryway slide closed, swallowing us inside its alien belly.

  Chapter 47

  I noticed the smell first. The repugnant Vela odor was ten times stronger than out where a breeze could ease the potency. I raised my sleeve to my nose and pretended that breathing through it helped.

  The exterior of the sphere had no windows or any sort of transparency, but on the inside a large translucent half circle, extending from the top down, displayed our surroundings. Must’ve been a sort of one-way mirror type of thing.

  Ian took his place at the white control panel that spanned at least five feet across. With all the lights, toggles, gel panels, and swiveling orbs, it looked like a cluttered mess of chaos to me. But Ian apparently knew exactly what to do with it. Skimming his palm over one of the orbs, I felt the sphere glide forward. The circular floor remained perfectly stable, despite the fact that we were rolling like a giant bowling ball.

  “Well done,” the voice in my ear said. “When you come to the next street, go right. Don’t be the fastest or the slowest. Blend in.”

  The pale face Ian had worn on t
he street was replaced with a red one. His right hand was moving in a wobbly manner up and around some of the controls, while his left continued to glide the sphere smoothly. It looked a little like the old pat-your-head-rub-your-stomach coordination game.

  He turned much too widely while the others watched, looking forward intently. Logan’s face was set in a grim, tight-lipped expression. He hadn’t said a word since we’d left the motorcycles. Anthony hadn’t said much either. Derek, I decided, was kind of a jerk. But, considering he’d led us unnoticed through the city, at least he was a helpful jerk. I imagined he was pretty good with those guns too.

  “You need to speed up,” Logan said, breaking the silence.

  He was right—we were travelling at least half the speed of the traffic we’d merged into. There was no rhyme or reason to the movement of the balls. They flowed in an out of each other effortlessly without collision. Ian handled the disorder by following close behind the ball in front of us, which seemed to be heading in the same direction we were.

  I watched a bead of sweat drip from Ian’s forehead onto the control panel. He moved his hand forward with more speed and the machine sped up as well. Travelling at this rate, we’d cover the remaining distance in no time.

  Or at least, we would have, if we hadn’t drifted.

  “Ian, watch out!” Kalisha shrieked. Straying toward the left, we nearly careened into another sphere. Ian overcorrected and we sideswiped a ball on our right. All of us fell on impact.

  “They know!” Anthony yelled from the back. “They’re moving in around us!”

  Fumbling for my feet, I looked where Anthony was looking. No doubt about it, the closest spheres were coming together to form something of a barrier.

  I grabbed Ian’s wrist and pulled him up.

  “Get us out of here now,” I ordered, placing him in front of the controls.

  “What do I do?”

  “Go—fast!”

  He gunned it and we shot off so rapidly I nearly lost my footing again. I just managed to grab the corner of the control panel to stay upright—the others were thrown to the back wall. I’d had no idea how fast these things could go—we were practically flying.

  Glancing around, I saw the other spheres had sped up as well. Panic, verging on hysteria, seized me. I’d suspected all along that the covert nature of this mission would end—that we’d find ourselves battling against a city of millions. And now it was real. There was no more hiding—only fighting. Fighting until we fell against sheer numbers. It was a simple math problem that had only one outcome.

  “Slow down—you’ll miss it,” the headset yelped.

  For a brief moment I wanted to tell Ian to keep going—pass straight through the city and leave it far behind. But I smothered the impulse. There was a job to do and if it didn’t get done… The image of Claire fighting a force of monsters from her wheelchair filled my mind; I couldn’t let it happen.

  I was sure the same cowardly thought passed through Ian’s mind, but to his credit he slowed. The others—the balls around us—closed in tightly.

  “Turn left into that gray building—that’s the arrival point.”

  Bumping and ricocheting against the other spheres like a set of billiard balls, Ian swerved into the parking lot of our destination: a short cement building without any windows.

  As soon as we stopped Derek jumped up, gun in hand.

  “The quicker we get out of here, the better chance we have. Ian, stay behind me. Anthony and Logan, get behind Rhyan and Kalisha. Let’s go!”

  Ian pressed one of the toggle switches and the panel slid up, revealing half a dozen writhing and gurgling aliens. Derek went straight to work. Six shots, six dead monsters. He dropped down and, pivoting from left to right, let off another five shots while the rest of us jumped out. I was right—he was pretty good with that gun.

  We sprinted at top speed across the pavement toward the front doors. Top speed wasn’t fast enough, though—a barrage of Vela appeared before us while even more rushed to join them.

  “This is it,” I said to no one in particular.

  Derek fired shots in a steady rhythm. Kalisha and I stepped in front of Ian and Anthony with knives drawn. In tight formation, we continued advancing forward.

  “Give me a blade,” Logan said.

  With furious movement, I grabbed a few more daggers from the bag, handing the longest to Logan. I thrust two others at Ian and Anthony, but they ignored me, busy fumbling with something in their bag.

  Derek kept shooting, aiming for the closest targets, but the numbers—oh my goodness, the numbers—were overwhelming. Twenty feet away from the door, all progress stopped and the battle began.

  I stepped into the swarm, steel flying. My first slash was so wide it struck two beasts, causing them to fall into each other. I kicked one out of the way so I could reach one behind it.

  “Rhyan, watch out!” Logan yelled from behind.

  I spun around just as another set of claws were coming down behind me. Ducking out of the way I whirled to the side and brought the blade down onto my enemy’s back. As it fell I saw Kalisha fighting madly against three of the beasts that had come at her all at once.

  I rushed to help her, but two Vela appeared before me. Twisting around, I realized I’d become detached from the group, surrounded by enemies.

  “Rhyan!” I heard Derek yell. I caught a glimpse of him before disappearing behind a grotesque monster. Goopy blue blood dripped from its eye where a bullet had bedded. Twisting into its blind spot, I hacked at its claw. The extremity was cleaved with two swings.

  “Catch!” Derek’s voice rose above the angry gurgles.

  I looked up to see a gun falling directly over my head. I threw my hands up and amazingly my fingers closed around cold metal. Silently thanking Kalisha for the crash course, I released the safety and fired just as a beast toppled over me. It slumped to the ground and I fired another shot at the monster behind it.

  Pulling the trigger repeatedly, I fired shot after shot. Kalisha would’ve been appalled at my terrible technique, but it didn’t matter. There were enough targets I couldn’t have missed if I’d tried.

  For one relieving moment a small diameter around me was cleared. But the moment ended just as the bullets did. Half a dozen Vela moved in.

  This was it.

  My last moment.

  Roaring, I brought my faithful knife into a wide swing, slashing into alien anatomy anywhere and everywhere, not even bothering for the fatal strike—just hoping to do as much damage as possible. I whirled around, slicing through legs, abdomens, claws, eyes. Vela blood splattered onto every shred of me, specks of it flying off like a firework with my every jab, spin, and duck.

  No matter how many times I sliced an enemy, there was always another behind it, and another behind it, all around, everywhere. A vicelike grip on the handle, I attacked, relentless. The night vision glasses fell. Blue blood spattered into my eyes, and still I swung the blade. Surely I must have been hit—alien claws flew everywhere—but I didn’t feel any pain. Just raging fire.

  And then, without warning, a brilliant white light swelled in my vision. For a split second I thought I’d died. But the light spread outward in a ring—through the parking lot, through the surrounding skyscrapers, all the way as far as I could see. And everywhere it extended, the enemy fell. Fell lifeless, prostrate on the ground. One and all, thoroughly dead.

  The only ones that remained were human. Me, Kalisha, Derek, Ian, Logan. Anthony lay face down on the concrete, completely still and covered in red blood.

  “What was that?” Logan asked, huffing.

  Ian, blood flowing from his shoulder, answered, “My secret weapon. Been working on it for months. I wasn’t sure it was ready, but I brought it anyway.”

  “And you never bothered to let anyone know you had that?” Derek asked. “A weapon that could kill them all? Why didn’t we just start with that?”

  “It was a last resort. This was never supposed to happen. Going in s
tealth mode was the most time-efficient plan. It’s only going to take a few minutes before the nearest colony finds out what happened and starts coming.”

  Looking around at the sea of fallen blue aliens, I was in awe. So many dead, just like that. So many.

  “Let’s go then,” Derek said.

  “What about Anthony?”

  “We’ll have to leave him. The clock’s still ticking.”

  Lumbering over droves of alien bodies, we covered the remaining few feet to the building. Derek shot the handle of the door and held it open. Shocked, exhausted, cloaked in blood, we entered.

  Chapter 48

  “Now go straight down the hall on your right.”

  Tess, our unseen comrade, had directed us through the twists and turns of the building, which to me, looked completely black. Thankfully, the others still had their night vision glasses. Kalisha gripped my wrist and kept me from smacking into the walls. The Vela had emptied the building of equipment and furniture, so at least there weren’t any stray chairs to trip over.

  “That’s it. That door. That’s the room.”

  I heard Derek raise his gun, ready to fire at the handle, but Ian stopped him.

  “It’s not locked.”

  A draft of cool air hit my face as the door swung open. Ian went in first and a moment later, dim lights found my grateful eyes. The room was filled with gently glowing balls, dispersed at random. Each globe and was floating lightly every which way.

  “The command center,” Ian said, pointing.

  We watched as he crossed the room, blood dripping from his shoulder onto the floor. He ducked under and stepped over the balls as he went, resembling a hopelessly awkward dancer. The rest of us stayed at the edge of the room near the door.

  The command center was a plain white table, or so it seemed. Ian swiped his fingers over it and a moment later, a bluish hologram appeared. To me it just looked like a jumble of bizarre shapes, but Ian instantly began maneuvering them around with his hands.

  “How can we help?” Kalisha asked.

  “Nothing. Just.…” He interrupted himself, staring at one section of the hologram intently before waving it away and continuing. “Let me know how much time I have.”