Against The Darkness (Cimmerian Moon)

by A. M. Griffin

  We’ve confirmed something that Captain Powel had told us. The lizards aren’t as mobile when it’s cool out. And the cool night air is our advantage. We’re tired, but as long as we can put enough distance between them and us, we’ll have a chance. We also learned something else. The lizards are not invincible; they can be killed. Yes, horse bullets can take them down, but grenades can do the job just as well.

  It sure isn’t pretty though. I have alien guts all over my clothes, but I refuse to freak out about it. There’s no time for that. There’s nothing on me that a change of clothes won’t take care of.

  As the night gives way to day, Ken begins to slow our pace to search for a hiding place. By the time we reach Union, Tennessee and find a secure spot in the woods just north of the islands, I basically fall and my eyes snap shut in sleep.

  * * * * *

  April 24, 2012: Day 32 – April 27th, 2012: Day 36

  Ken keeps us going at a grueling pace, even though we know they're less active at night we travel both day and night. Ken says we can't afford to lose time and we can't afford hurting ourselves in the darkness. He has us covering about fifty miles a day, which might not be that bad over regular terrain, but we’re traveling across hills and mountains. I understand his urgency. We lost Shayla and I was captured, so no one, including me, complains.

  Jasmine and Jim have quickly assimilated into our close-knit group. Jim is more than helpful, he expresses gratitude all the time. He and Ken seem to get along fine and I get the feeling that Ken is more than happy to have another grown man with us. We learn that Jim had gone into hiding with his elderly mother and, during an episode of confusion, his mother had wandered off. By the time he found her, so had the aliens, and the shock of seeing one had caused her to have a heart attack and die on the spot. In his grief he hadn’t had time to try to get away, which led to him being caught.

  Unfortunately, we also learn Jasmine’s full story. I think it’s unfortunate she tells it to us because it just confirms in my head that she’s an idiot. I already knew she had been dumped by her boyfriend and was left to fend for herself. But now I know why.

  She hooked up with him only about two weeks before the invasion happened, meeting him at a bar where he was performing. He was supposed to be some kind of up-and-coming country singer, or so Jasmine had thought. The night she met him was the night she’d gone home with him, and never left. In her mind, which she explained in great detail, she was going to become his wife and become somebody real important one day. To him, I believe, Jasmine had been nothing but a plaything; he was never going to make her his wife. Which is why, when the aliens came, he decided to cut the deadweight and save himself.

  And I don’t blame him.

  It doesn’t take me long to regret Jasmine’s presence within our group. Her entire demeanor seems to change the minute she found out Ken was a Senator and Jason was his son. Her snarky comments and callousness are replaced with compliments and praise.

  It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see what she’s doing. She’s listened to Ken’s conversations about going to D.C., where he plans to rebuild the country. And all the while her eyes are glazed over, leaving me to think she’s trying to figure out a scheme to become someone real important once again. And, to her, that means hooking up with the Senator’s son.

  By our second day of traveling, she has become a permanent fixture at Jason’s side. In his defense, he hasn’t done anything to encourage her, but Jasmine seems not to need encouragement. But he’s not the only one who has a shadow. If Mia isn’t by my side, Wade is. I haven’t been by myself since being rescued. Mia has taken over the job of helping me with my wounds. She uses our bottled water to clean it and one of our new shirts to bind it. But we both take care of MJ, making sure that he’s never alone. Yeah, he needs time to grieve, but I want him to know that he doesn’t have to go through this alone. Shayla was a friend to all of us and we all loved her. While it takes him a while to open up to us, eventually he gives in, knowing that we have his back.

  By the third day, I think Jason’s had enough of Jasmine because he seems to be going out of his way to stay away from her. When she tries to talk to him, he limits his answers to one- or two-word responses. But every time I think she’s going to give up her pursuit, she just seems to become more determined.

  Later that day, while Jason and MJ are talking, true to her nature, Jasmine squeezes herself alongside him, even when it’s apparent the path they’re on was clearly meant for two. He and MJ try to continue their conversation but, not wanting to be ignored, Jasmine doesn’t leave. The closer she walks to Jason, the more he moves away until, finally, MJ begins to get pushed off the path.

  Giving in, MJ shakes his head. “I can’t risk breaking an ankle. I’ll talk to you later, man,” MJ says. “There’s obviously not enough room for all of us.”

  MJ trots forward to where Ian is. I can see Ian shaking his head at whatever MJ has said. Jasmine starts to talk to Jason. I can’t hear what she’s saying, since Ms. Burgess and Mia are between me and them. I’m a little glad that I can’t hear her, because the sound of her voice is starting to get on my nerves.

  It must be getting on his nerves as well because, after only about three minutes, he says something to her and, while she’s wearing a shocked look on her face, drops back, letting Ms. Burgess and then Mia pass him, ending up by me.

  “Oh, my God.”

  I raise a questioning brow. “Is there a problem in paradise?”

  “Whatever. That girl is clueless.”

  I can’t help but to let out a chuckle. “No, she’s pretty clear on what she wants.”

  He rolls his eyes. “She’s very clear—on everything.”

  “Really?” I ask, suddenly wondering what “everything” means.

  Jasmine turns around to peer at us over her shoulder. He ignores her and so do I. After a few seconds she frowns and looks away.

  “She’s like a lost duckling and, for some reason, she’s imprinted on me.”

  “That’s what you think it is? I think she likes you.”

  “Maybe a little crush. But I’m not taking her too seriously. A girl like her…” he lets his voice trail off.

  “What do you mean, ‘a girl like her’?”

  He leans to me so that he can whisper. “She attaches herself to anyone that she thinks can help her out.”

  I open my eyes wide and put my hand on my chest in mock shock. “No! You don’t say.”

  He chuckles, low and throaty. “I know her type. I can spot it a mile away.”

  “I was getting a little worried that you might get caught in her web of desire.” I say the last three words in a pretend-sexy voice.

  “I didn’t mind her at first, but now she’s just wearing me down. The only time she stops talking is when my dad gives her ‘the look’.”

  “Wait, other people get ‘the look’ besides me? Huh.”

  “You haven’t gotten that look in a long time. Well, since you’ve been back.”

  I tilt my head. He’s right. Since my rescue Ken hasn’t been on me like he was before.

  “He feels horrible that you got caught. He blames himself.”

  “Why would he do that? The building was clean, it was checked out. It wasn’t his fault.”

  “That’s true, but it’s still eating him up. We heard you guys screaming but we couldn’t do anything. We all felt helpless, not just him.”

  I nod. No one besides Mia had really wanted to talk about what happened that day. She told me what had been going on in the basement while Shayla and I were battling with the aliens upstairs.

  “There was nothing that could have been done. If you would have come up, you would have all been caught, and who would have rescued us?” I shake my head. “I don’t blame anyone for what happened. I’m just happy you all decided to save me.”

  “Did you think that we wouldn’t?”

  I fight against the emotions and feelings that are rising as I remember that day, and I no
d.

  He puts his arm around my shoulder and brings me closer to him. “Leaving you behind was never an option.”

  “Thanks.”

  Jason and I only get a few more minutes to talk before Jasmine steps to the side and lets Ms. Burgess and Mia pass her, just as Jason had done, until she’s on the narrow path with us.

  “What are you guys talking about?” she asks.

  “Stuff,” Jason responds.

  I feel her trying to push her way more onto the path but, unlike MJ, I don’t let her push me out of the way. I’m determined not to let her squeeze me out.

  “Hey, Sin, we’ll pick our conversation up later, okay? I have to ask my dad something.” Before Jasmine can object, Jason trots forward, catching up with Ken.

  Jasmine and I watch him leave. Pissed is the word that describes how I feel toward Jasmine right now. This is the first time I’ve been able to say more than two words to Jason since I’ve been back and here she is to ruin it.

  An uncomfortable silence hangs in the air as I will her to go somewhere else.

  “We’re friends, you and I,” Jasmine says.

  “We just met,” I reply bluntly. Adding Jasmine to my friend list is something I don’t want to do right now.

  “I know. But I still think of us as friends.”

  “Sure, whatever you say.”

  As if she hadn’t really heard me, she continued on, “Friends don’t steal each other’s boyfriends.”

  I give her a hard stare. Where is she going with this? “I’m not the boyfriend stealing type.”

  “I didn’t think so.” She turns away from me. “And neither am I,” she adds, as if it was an afterthought. “So, if I’m interested in Jason, you wouldn’t see any issue with it.”

  I pull my brows together. “Help me understand what you find interesting about him. You just met him.”

  She shrugs, as if that doesn’t matter. “He’s cute. He obviously knows how to survive. I’m a newly single woman and I don’t know how to survive.” She lets out a half-chuckle. “Otherwise I wouldn’t have let Robbie leave me in that rat trap.”

  I turn away from her and speed up my steps. “I think we have more important things to worry about right now then trying to hook up.”

  “Quite the opposite,” she says, matching my pace. “This is the time where all smart women should find their mate and stake their claim.”

  I raise an eyebrow.

  “So this is where I’m staking mine,” she adds.

  * * * * *

  Georgetown, Ohio

  April 28, Day 37

  “This is it,” Ken announces.

  I just finished rolling up my sleeping bag and am stuffing it back into my backpack. Although we woke up about forty-five minutes ago, Ken hadn’t seemed in a rush to break camp. Mia and I popped a couple of our food pellets and she even had a chance to put my hair in a French braid. Usually Ken wants us up and gone within minutes of waking, forcing us to eat and, for me, twist my hair into some kind of bun while walking.

  Ms. Burgess gets up and stretches. “What’s it?”

  “This is where Jason and I part ways with you all.” Jason pauses the conversation he is having with Jim and Ian to listen to what Ken is saying. “We’ll have to go through West Virginia to get to D.C. and you all will need to keep traveling through Ohio to reach Michigan.”

  We’re splitting up.

  “I’m going with you and Jason,” Jasmine declares. Grabbing her bag she trots to where Jason is. Normally, that move right there would have been enough to send me over the edge, but I’m still in too much shock to force any other emotion into my psyche.

  “So am I,” Jim adds.

  Ms. Burgess’ jaw has dropped and color seems to have left her face.

  “We’ll be fine, Ms. B,” Wade says, in a reassuring tone. “We were fine before we hooked up with them. We’ll be fine now.”

  She was about to get raped, is what I want to scream.

  I knew Ken and Jason were going to leave, but this… has me completely speechless. But while I can't find the words, I seem to be the only one, everyone begins talking at once.

  Ken puts up his hands. “Calm down. Keep your smarts and wits about you and you’ll all be fine.”

  He goes rambling on about how he’s not going to worry about us and how our parents will be so happy to see us and how, when he helps to bring back the government, he’s going to mention us and make sure everyone knows how brave we are.

  I don’t even know if he actually believes what he’s saying. Because I don’t.

  “I’m not going,” Jason says, interrupting Ken.

  “What did you say?” Ken asks, obviously dumbfounded.

  “I’m not leaving them. I can’t.”

  As everyone stops talking to listen to what Jason has to say, a thick silence falls over us.

  “I have to make sure they make it home,” he continues, with all eyes on him. “You can’t expect Ms. Burgess to do this on her own. My conscience won’t let me leave them to fend for themselves. I’ll always be wondering if they made it or if…”

  “Ms. Burgess isn’t alone. She has Ian, Wade and MJ. They’re all men; they aren’t kids anymore.” Ken scoffs. “Besides, what about your mother? Your brother?”

  “I’ll see them again. I won’t stay in Michigan forever. You tell them that I love them and I’ll see them soon.”

  A shock of crimson spreads across Ken’s face. “You are not staying with them!” he says, stabbing his finger at Jason. “You have responsibilities.”

  Jason flicks his hand though the air. “What responsibilities? What are you talking about?”

  Ken takes a deep breath and squares his shoulders. “As the son of a Senator it’s expected that you’ll follow in my footsteps. People are expecting you to help rebuild America.”

  Jason’s head goes back and he erupts with mocking laughter. “Are you serious?” He puts up his arms. “This—all of this—is in ruins. Look around. How many people do you see? There’s no one! Do you even know how many people are left on the planet?” He closes the distance between himself and Ken. “Dad, you always talked about making a difference and serving your people and about how you want me to continue your legacy. Well, that’s what I’m doing. It starts here.” He turns around to give us a quick glance before he faces his dad again. “It starts with getting these people home safely, so that one day we can rebuild. But in order to start the rebuild, we have to have people left to do it. And I’m not just talking about people in the government. I’m talking about real people, like them.”

  Ms. Burgess interrupts by clearing her throat. “I for one will be eternally grateful if you would come with us.” She looks over at Ken. “I’m sorry, but I’d feel better if he came. We’ll take care of him. I’ll take care of him as if he were my son.”

  “No,” Ken states, glaring at Jason. “I knew this would happen, the way you were watching her that first night. I knew it.” He turns his glare my way and then back to Jason. “This is just like Lisa. You’re letting another girl deter you from the path you’re supposed to be on. You could have gone to Brown. You could have had a future in the government, but you chose to throw it away. And for what? To follow some hussy to Texas? And what good did that get you? She slept around on you and, instead of cutting your losses and transferring to where you belonged, you stayed to prove a point and got kicked out of school. No. Now the past is literally wiped clean. You can still make something of yourself. Don’t let yourself get distracted.”

  There it is. The reason Ken wanted Jason to stay away from me. He didn’t want me to distract him for his duties. I should feel ashamed. Maybe? Not so much. Jason is taking us home and I just found out he has the same feelings for me that I have for him.

  Jason doesn’t cower under the look his dad is giving him. “I’m grown Dad. You can’t tell me no.” Jason reaches out to hold Ken’s arms. “This is not about one person. Can't you see? This is something that I need to do. My conscience
isn’t going to let this go down any other of way. Dad. Come with me to see them home and then we can both go to D.C. together.”

  This is not about one person.

  The words sting, I can't deny. The elation of having his dad point something out and then for him to crush it a second later has me on an emotionally rollercoaster. But this is where I’ll have to swallow my pride. Jason is going to help us get home, he doesn’t need to like me to do that.

  “I can't go any farther. It’s time for me to get to my wife and son.”

  “I understand.”

  “You're my son,” Ken whispers. His facial features go from hard and stern to hurt and fearful, just as he says the words.

  Jason goes in and hugs his dad, wrapping him tight. “I’ll be safe.”

  Ken pats his back. “I know you will.”

  Jason pulls away. “This isn’t goodbye. This is ‘see you later’.”

  Ken wipes the tears from his eyes. ”You remember my favorite diner?”

  Jason nods and it seems to take everything I have in me to keep my feet rooted in place. I want to hug him, hold him and let him know that everything will be fine.

  “When you get to D.C., check there first. I’ll find a way to leave word about where we are.”

  Ken picks up his backpack and swings it over his shoulder. “Let’s get going,” he said to Jim and Jasmine.

  “I…I changed my mind. I’m going to Michigan too,” Jasmine says.

  Ken rolls his eyes at her. “Figures.”

  Before Ken leaves, he glances back at Jason. “Find your way back to me safely.”

  “I will, dad.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  I have no idea what to say to Jason. I should say something. But what?

  I want to let him know that his actions were more valiant than any fictional hero, and that I am eternally grateful to him for helping us get home. Of course a thank you is in order. Is that all? He said he wasn’t staying because of me, so, despite what feelings Ken thinks Jason is harboring for me, that’s clearly not an issue.