by KJ Nelson
As much as people feared Cameron, they loved Stafford even more. He was the backbone of the co-op and everyone knew it.
“Come inside,” Cameron said knowing it was going to be bad news.
3
The Command container looked nothing like what its name suggested. It was painted all black on the inside and filled with all of the most comfortable chairs Cameron could find. She wanted the people she met with to be at ease.
It was an old sales trick that worked better than anything else to get her allies or enemies talking. Cameron went over to the stack of water bottles and grabbed one for herself and Stafford. She grimaced at the dwindling supply.
Cameron tossed Stafford the bottle and he caught it in his huge hands. The bottle looked like a toy as he held it up to look at the water. He always visually inspected the water before he drank it, making sure there was nothing off about the color.
It was a smart thing to do, multiple people had died from poisoning when the Freeriders snuck a batch of contaminated water into the co-op’s supply. Cameron always meant to check the water, but usually forgot in her thirst.
As the water touched her dry throat she sighed in relief. It had been at least six hours since her last drink, and she was starting to feel the lethargy that came from dehydration.
“I heard gunshots that sounded like they came from the river,” Stafford said flatly in his deep gravelly voice. “Was there a problem?”
“Thomas,” Cameron said, nodding her head. “He gave me the look, so I ended him.”
“I see,” Stafford said, with disgust showing on his normally kind features. He hated the taking of life and would much rather try talking things out before resorting to violence. “So is that your plan? Kill everyone who is angry about dying of starvation?”
“If I have to,” Cameron said, without looking away. She knew what he was saying made sense, but she wasn’t going to admit that to him. She hated being reprimanded, even when she deserved it.
“We’ll run out of people a lot faster that way,” Stafford frowned. She could tell he wanted to continue talking about it, but she cut him off driving him toward his news.
“Report.” She said simply, telling him it was time to move on. He sighed and sat back in the overstuffed chair. It still caught Cameron off guard sometimes that they could have every amenity when it came to furniture and clothes, while at the same time starving to death.
“We rode all the way out to Savannah and back and didn’t see a single Squatch the entire trip. Every outpost that would normally house 15-20 of them was abandoned. We saw none of their smaller ships, nor any of the hoverbikes. As far as I can tell, they are completely leaving the area.” Stafford’s word confirmed what Brody told her earlier. Reminded of Brody, Cameron looked over to the entrance and saw him sticking his head through the front door.
“Brody,” Cameron said loudly, causing him to flinch and step back. She watched as he closed the door. She liked Brody spying on other people’s conversations, she detested it when he did it to her.
She made sure the door was closed before she continued speaking.
“Did you find any supplies while you were out?” Cameron asked with little hope. They’d been on 10 raids in the last two weeks and only found a handful of tree nuts and two bottles of whisky.
“Nothing edible,” Stafford said, shaking his head in defeat. “Everything between here and there that would sustain life is completely gone.”
Cameron sat there in silence taking in what Stafford said. She couldn’t believe it was going to end this way. After everything she’d done to carve a life for herself in the new reality she lived in, she was going to lose everything because the stupid aliens weren’t happy killing almost everyone, they had to finish the job.
“Any suggestions?” Cameron asked, knowing what he would say before he opened his mouth.
“We need to move, now. We can’t stay here, not when there’s no chance of survival.” Stafford resorted to the same speech he’d been using for months. He knew there was no way they would be able to make it without food, long before Cameron was willing to admit defeat.
“How much time do we have?” She asked knowing he knew down to the day, how long their food would last.
“With 1,400 mouths to feed, we’ll make it maybe a month. Probably less,” he said, in a quiet voice. Cameron could see tears welling up in his dark eyes. He hated admitting defeat almost as much as she did.
“How can we move 1,400 people with only 12 horses?” Cameron asked in frustration. She knew it wasn’t possible. They would move so slowly it would be impossible to make enough progress to survive. Plus, how did they know they weren’t just searching in vain?
“I don’t know. There’s no easy answer, but we can’t live here. That much is becoming evident.” Stafford said, his voice gaining more conviction.
“Where would you want us to go?’ Cameron wanted to hear his plan in full for the first time. She’d been hoping they would find resources further out from their camp, but the news that there was nothing, had moved her more than words ever could.
“North, into the mountains. Maybe there are more resources that haven’t been cleaned out in the more remote areas.” He was grabbing at straws and Cameron knew it.
“You mean Tennessee? Or West Virginia?” Cameron asked with a chuckle. They were over 300 miles from the nearest mountains. It would take months to move everyone that far away.
“I know it’s a long shot. But here, we have no hope whatsoever.” Cameron watched Stafford as he spoke wondering if she should show him her cards. It was dangerous to tell him what she knew, but she didn’t see any other way around it.
“What if there was one last, desperate shot that we could take?” Cameron said, laying the bait out for the man. She had to be careful how she laid out her plan, or there was no way he would agree.
“I’m open to anything at this point. But, if you have one last option, why didn’t we try it weeks ago?” Stafford said, frustration showing in his voice. He hated when she kept secrets from him. Even after years of working with Cameron, he still expected her to be straight with him. Everyone else had given that idea up almost immediately after meeting her.
“Because it will likely get us killed,” Cameron said, her lips turning up in a smile. She didn’t want to die, but she would rather go down in a blaze than slowly to starvation.
“I’m willing to risk it,” Stafford finished his water and leaned forward ready to hear her plan.
“So, I may know of a secret Squatch bunker that may have supplies. It’s a long shot, but if they’ve abandoned the state and possibly the entire planet it might be safe for us to go check it out.” Cameron spoke slowly thinking about every word before she said it.
She didn’t want to let slip that she definitely knew about the bunker because she’d been there nine times in the last year. She also didn’t want Stafford to know just yet, that the only reason they were alive was because she made a deal with the Squatches.
Stafford just looked at her for a while. He raised one eyebrow at her as he inspected her. She knew he could tell she was holding information back. She hoped he knew better than to try to force the truth from her.
“How would you know about such a thing?” Stafford asked starting with the easiest question.
“Because I’ve been there before,” Cameron said knowing it was the only answer that would convince him to follow her plan.
“Is that where you went all those times you went missing in the middle of the night?” Stafford asked, showing his own hand. Cameron was taken aback that he knew of her absences. She hadn’t ever told anyone she was going out.
“You’re well informed,” Cameron didn't want to admit he was right. “If you knew about my errands, why haven’t you mentioned it before?”
“I trust you,” Stafford said simply, making Cameron shrink slightly at his words. Stafford always had a way of making her regret her ruthless decisions. Not enough to stop her from making
them again and again, but just enough to make her feel bad about it.
“Then yes, that’s where I’ve been going in the middle of the night. I’ve been doing everything in my power to keep us from starving to death.” Cameron said, throwing caution to the wind and telling the truth for once.
“The Squatches helped you with that?” Stafford asked, showing confusion on his usually placid face.
“Yeah, it was one of the strangest experiences of my life,” Cameron remembered her first meeting with the terrible creatures.
“Tell me what happened,” Stafford leaned forward with interest.
Cameron knew it had to be done, as she thought back to that night over a year ago, she couldn’t believe how little she actually knew about the invaders, and what they wanted from Earth.
4
The night Cameron met Agbo, she was running a raid for supplies in one of the small towns outside of Charleston. She was with Neal and Patrick who were brothers and some of the best finders in the co-op. She’d also brought Tia with her, who she trusted almost as much as Stafford.
They were scouting a school cafeteria hoping there would be some sort of food, when three of the huge hair-covered Squatches rocketed out of the forest and surrounded her party. It was the first time she’d been less than half a mile from one of them. The musky smell that came from their bodies wasn’t unpleasant, but extremely strong.
They just stood there looking at her and the three people she was with. They stared without speaking for almost a minute while Cameron looked back and forth between them. She waited for death.
“Are you the Warlord of the human tribe called the co-op?” One of them finally spoke in deep monotone English. She was completely shocked that the Squatches knew the term Warlord or the name of their clan.
She stood there frozen, realizing how little she actually knew about the race that destroyed earth. She’d convinced herself that the Squatches were just lowly workers for the other, more advanced, aliens, that were in charge. But at that moment, surrounded by them, she knew how wrong she was.
“Answer us.” One of them said, again in the flat monotone voice. Cameron nodded once. The Squatches all made a low grunting sound to each other.
Before Cameron knew what was happening all three of her companions were dead and on the ground, their necks all broken. Cameron couldn’t believe how quickly they’d killed her friends. She thought she was going to be next, but instead, one of them threw her over his shoulder and started running.
She watched as the ground moved in a blur as the huge creature ran. She couldn’t figure out why they didn’t just kill her like her friends. It was the most fear she’d ever felt. Her heart pounded as if it were trying to make up for the time it wouldn’t have to keep beating.
Half an hour later the Squatches slowed and she found herself before one of their outposts. The Aliens had set up hundreds of the staging locations in the weeks after the Crumbling. They were dome-shaped buildings that seemed to be made out of flesh-like skin.
They looked like boils on the land since they were beige with a hint of red. Cameron had never quite understood how the Squatches were able to enter and exit them seeing as they didn’t have any visible doors. She watched as one of them pulled up on the edge of one of the domes and the skin stretched as it pulled away looking similar to melted cheese.
It was so strange to see something that clearly wasn’t alive, behave like a living thing. The beast carrying her strode through the wide gap. While she watched it sealed the flap closed as if there was never an opening there.
As soon as the dome was sealed Cameron started feeling lightheaded. Her vision started to go in and out and she thought she might pass out. The Squatch holding her dropped her to the ground and the air went completely out of her lungs.
She lost consciousness for a couple of seconds. When Cameron opened her eyes she saw the Squatches standing over a hole in the ground looking at her as if she’d missed something.
“Down, now.” The largest Squatch said using his foot to point into the black depths of the hole. Cameron still felt light-headed, she wasn’t sure, but it seemed like there was almost no oxygen in the dome. She felt the same as when she’d been to Denver for a sales conference a couple of years into her sales career. She had the same feeling of her lungs not being able to take in enough air.
She panted with her hands on her hips, even though she hadn’t exerted herself at all. It seemed like the aliens didn’t need as much oxygen to live as she did. She climbed to her feet, her head starting to pound from the thin air.
Cameron’s fear had burned up while being carried to the outpost. The only thing that kept her going was her anger, and also her curious nature. She’d wanted to know what went on under the flesh-colored boils since she first saw them after the Crumbling. If she had to give up her life, at least she would die knowing more than most other humans.
She walked over to the hole still breathing heavily. She stared down into something that was impossible. The rim of the hole in the ground seemed to be paper-thin. There was no evidence that the ground under the cavity had been touched at all. In fact, as Cameron bent to inspect the opening further she saw that the dark circle floated above the grass.
Just as she was realizing that it wasn’t a hole at all, the large Squatch kicked her in the back and she fell through the opening. As Cameron dropped she could see the four Squatches looking at her, one grinned showing huge white pointed teeth.
Cameron fell for a longer time than it should have taken to reach the floor. The air she moved through held her longer than it should have. It was almost like swimming, but without any liquid. She landed on her back, but the fall that would have broken her back her in normal gravity simply bruised her shoulders.
She still wasn’t able to breathe easily, though her body was adjusting to the limited oxygen. She knew if she needed to run she wasn’t going to get very far. As her eyes adjusted to the darkened room she was in, she looked around taking in her surroundings for the first time.
The floor she was on looked like it was metal, but it was warm to the touch. Not hot enough to burn her hand, but warm enough to catch her attention. It was like taking a pan out of the dishwasher when it was still drying.
She saw that she was in a perfectly spherical room. The floor curved up toward the ceiling no matter which way she turned. It was strange because the hole she’d fallen through was technically both the floor and the ceiling.
Cameron could see in the distance there were multiple dark shapes though nothing moved in the dark chamber. She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do. She decided to look around to see what she could learn.
Cameron went over to one of the dark shapes and saw what looked like a large pile of containers. They were each perfectly square, with a small gap on the top that looked like it would open with force. She grabbed one of the containers and picked it up. It was incredibly light, even though it looked to also be made of metal.
“I wouldn’t do that.” A deep monotone voice said behind her. It sounded exactly like the Squatch that had spoken to her before her friends were killed. She continued to hold the box while she turned to look at the creature who had spoken to her.
She couldn’t tell in the dim light if it was the same Squatch from earlier. She looked at it with derision and pulled on the lid once more, not caring what happened next. The container opened with a whoosh of air, and Cameron’s face lit up with a purple light.
She tried to look into the container to see where the light emanated from, but it was too bright for her eyes to take in. The light was the exact same color as the engines on the ships she’d seen the aliens flying after the Crumbling. The light was painfully bright in the dark room.
Cameron shoved the lid back on the box and heard it as it clicked into place then with a grinding sound closed itself, blocking out the purple light. Cameron stood in the dark, not able to see anything. She stood there blinking for a few seconds waiting to see if her vision woul
d return. Slowly she was able to see shapes in the darkness again.
“You don’t listen.” The voice said again, it was closer than before, and Cameron moved back, not comfortable with its presence.
“Where am I?” Cameron asked, saying the question she’d been asking herself since she landed in the weird room.
“That’s none of your concern,” the Squatch said, showing no emotion at all. The huge creature was standing to her left, in front of the pile of containers. She could see its huge form towering over her. She waited for it to move, to let her know what its intentions were.
She stood there looking at it for over two minutes. Apparently, it was in no hurry to enlighten her on what it wanted. She started to get impatient at its silence, waiting was never one of her strong suits.
“Are you going to tell me what you want?” She finally asked when it seemed like nothing was going to happen without her instigating things first.
“We killed your companions, we know who you are, can you not think of any reason to bring you here?” The Squatch said in an almost mocking tone. It was the first time she’d felt any semblance of individuality among the aliens. It was challenging her intelligence, trying to see if she could figure out what they might want.
She stood there in thought for a while trying to piece the actions of the Squatches into something that made sense to her. She thought about what she would do to humans if she was an advanced alien race that had won a fight without humanity even putting up a fight.
Why would they approach her, they obviously knew who she was? They had confirmed that she was the Warlord of the co-op. So it was something to do with her position or her clan. What could they want from her that they hadn’t already taken?