Afraid of the Dark

by Chris Hechtl

  “Hon,” Jen said, wrapping her arms around him.

  “Yes dear?” he asked tiredly.

  “You need to rest.”

  “I know. So do you dear. Even more than me.” He was tired. He wrapped his arm around her. Very tired. He was also surprised that they hadn't had a single shooting, and no deaths. At least not by human hands. That was something he was going to have to capitalize on, reinforce. People needed to know that they, humans weren't the enemy. The aliens were the new focus of mankind's ire.

  “You can't be everywhere at once you know,” she said.

  “I know.”

  “But I've got something for you to do. A tradition to start.”

  “Oh?”

  “Call it a fireside chat,” she said, leading him by the hand through the offices to the security room. The crew there looked up. She pushed him down in the seat in front of the intercom. He looked up at her in confusion.

  “The presidents did it back during and before World War Two. What I want you to do is a quick speech. Tell them what we've accomplished today and any news and then what we're planning for tomorrow.”

  “Jen, I'm not a politician,” he said looking at her.

  “Today you are dear. People need hope.”

  He sighed and picked up the paper in front of the mike. He snorted as he scanned it.

  “Just like riding a bike. Just go through it point by point. I'll be right here with you,” she said.

  “All right,” he sighed reaching out and clicking the mike.

  Chapter 10

  When it got dark the street lights came on weakly. A few flickered, all too many were out. They saw aliens; all of them plant eaters clustering under them. One set looked like cows or bison. Calves maybe. Four legs, four eyes, but with spikes and stuff on their back. Whatever. He checked another group. They looked a little like horses. Or at least alien horses out of the girl's worst nightmares. Nightmares, good name for them. He snorted.

  There were two other groups, one looked like a cross between an elephant and a moose, the other looked like a wild thing, not quite rhino, not quite anything else either. It had the armor of a rhino sure, or at least flaps of skin over its vitals... but it also had some weird sacks on the back of the neck and long clawed feet. It had a beak though, and one was busy ripping at a tree so it had to be some sort of plant eater.

  Shane did a radio check, everyone was inside. He looked out and saw that the herd animals had begun to cluster around the street lights in pinwheel formation. He grimaced. That was a bad sign. Definitely a bad sign. He was glad now that they had managed to rig wiring to some of the lights out there. They needed to see what happened.

  “Bad right?” Art asked softly.

  “Yeah, that's a definite sign of trouble. They are setting up in a defensive formation, using the light to keep the predators at bay.”

  “Can we do the same boss? We've got plenty of light here you know,” Art said. “We've even got some light trucks,” he said pointing to a pair set up in the parking lot nearby.

  “Yeah, but I don't want to alert them to us being here. Which reminds me, get some people to go around covering windows with curtains,” he said not looking at the store manager.

  “Black out curtains?”

  “The very thing.”

  “Heard about it from my grandpappy. He said they did it during World War Two.” They winced at a screeching sound. The herbivores were nervously dancing about. One shook and bawled a call, then another and another. Yeah, it was going to be a long night. He could see movement, something was moving in the shade, avoiding the street lights.

  “To keep people flying overhead from getting a target. Right. Get some of your people on that. Use duct tape and clothes from the stores if you have to. Cardboard, whatever works. Make sure you get others to check the defenses and a few to bed down.”

  “Right, on it,” Art said moving off.

  “Remember to get some down time yourself Art, long hot day tomorrow,” Shane said.

  “Yeah,” Art waved over his head, not bothering to turn around. “Like anyone can sleep with that crap going on outside,” he said back.

  “True,” he said nodding. He started to climb the ladder to the roof. He had to get a better view.

  “Boss you gotta see this,” a kid said coming over and pulling on his arm.

  “What?” he asked tiredly. The air was finally cooling off. He was glad. Hopefully it would drop below eighty and that would keep him and the guards awake better.

  “Name's Wes, I saw this man, you gotta see it,” he said holding up his cell phone.

  “What am I looking at?” he asked, taking the phone. The kid's finger reached over and tapped the play icon. There was a shaky bit and then he could see the street outside. He hit pause and glared at the kid.

  “You went outside?”

  “No no, I shot that from my bedroom window last night during the invasion. I heard a noise and used the camera to see.”

  “Okay,” he said nodding. “When was this?” he asked looking at the date. It was last night. That figured. From the time stamp on the video it looked like it was ten or twenty minutes after the invasion had landed.

  He hit the play button and watched as the kid focused on a Gremlin. It crept up to the light from a streetlight and then looked up. Four red eyes looked up and it hissed at the thing. After a moment it began to circle the light. It kept looking up, hissing at the other lights.

  “Doesn't like the light at all,” he muttered.

  “Oh it really doesn't,” the kid said. “Watch,” he said. The thing, black with a yellow and red underbelly was walking on all fours like a chimp. It bumped a rock and stopped. It looked at it and then long fingers picked up the rock. No, please no, he breathed and then cursed, seeing it for what it was and not liking it one little bit. Jen definitely had to see this.

  “Crap,” he said as it turned away from the camera. The Gremlin made motions with the rock they couldn't make out. But after a minute it turned and began to crack the rock onto the pavement. “Damn, damn... Oh bloody hell...”

  “Oh it gets worse,” the kid said. He glanced at him but the kid pointed to the phone. He looked back to see the thing circle a street light to get to the pole. It shielded its eyes with one hand and then began to climb a nearby tree with the rock in its mouth. It jumped from branch to branch.

  “What the...” The tree shook and then the camera did as the kid changed position to get a better view. Suddenly the camera went out of focus as the Gremlin burst from the tree and jumped on top of the light pole. He could hear the kid’s ragged breathing over the phone.

  “Damn,” he said. “Is it doing what I think it’s doing?” he asked as it climbed like a monkey along the pole and perched on the end. It pulled something; it looked like the rock from its mouth and then rapped it against the pole. A couple raps and it stopped and grabbed the pole to stabilize itself.

  “Damn it... don't tell me,” he muttered as the thing's long three fingered hand reached down and touched the glass. “No, not good...” he watched as it seemed to hiss and then began to rap at the glass with the rock. Three hits was all it took to knock the light out.

  The camera adjusted as the light went out. After a moment he could just make out the thing capering on the pole in what could only be described as glee. The camera panned down to other creatures like it, some red, some black. They looked up and then moved off. After a moment light after street light went out. Red glowing eyes and the silhouetted Gremlins could be seen capering here and there on the poles. Some hung under the poles like monkeys. One by one they dropped down to the ground below.

  “Shit,” he said hitting the pause button. His hand shook. “Anyone else know about this?” he asked the kid. Wes looked at him wide eyed.

  “I told my parents. We had spotlights on the house. They come on automatically. But the...” he pointed to the phone. “They threw rocks and knocked them out.” he took the camera and scrolled fast forward for a
moment and then showed Shane.

  “Here, right here,” he said. The Gremlin was pinned by the light. It screeched and covered its eyes with a forearm. Its free hand picked up a rock and chucked it. It took a few rocks but the lights finally shattered.

  “Not good,” Shane said. “I want you to show this to my wife Jen. She's around. Find Jayne, the lady in charge of the food court if you can't find Jen. She'll find her for you,” he said. “Make sure they get copies and poll other people for more of that stuff. Make sure they each make copies.”

  “Okay,” Wes said. “Mom's totally freaked,” he said shaking his head.

  “Her and me both kid,” Shane muttered as the boy trotted off. If the aliens were this smart, using tools the first night, it was going to be an uphill battle with them. He needed more intel. Time to check the roof again.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  “What's up?” a guy said softly, coming up behind him. He turned. He was trying to see with the night vision goggles but they were primitive to the point of useless at range.

  “Damn man,” the guy said. He looked at him. The guy had a monocular night vision lens up, watching something in the dark. His hands tightened on the shot gun he was holding.

  “What? And where did you get those?” Shane asked softly.

  “Border patrol. Name's Carter. Carter Johnson. You are Shane O’Neill?”

  “Yeah,” he said, looking out again.

  “Wayne found me and my family a couple of hours ago. We loaded my gear and came over.”

  “Cool,” Shane said softly. “What do you see?” he asked. He wished he had Nick's glasses. They couldn't see beyond sixty meters, but something was better than nothing. Half the perimeter was dark, the lights were out. That really sucked... which was why he had two thirds of his volunteers covering the darkened sectors.

  “Strange shit man,” Carter said, watching the perimeter. He slowly scanned the area. He pointed to the East. “Some sort of pack animals at a kill there and there.” He scanned. “Something going on over the hill but I'm out of range and there are buildings in the way,” he said.

  “Great,” Shane said softly. “Talk about illegal aliens. I think they are your jurisdiction.”

  “Yeah think?” Carter snarled, tightening his grip some more. “I just wish I had a sniper rifle right now.” He fumbled with his free hand and pulled a spare set of night vision goggles out and handed them to Shane. Shane smiled happily, ignoring the fact that they were cheap civilian grade. Something was definitely better than nothing.

  “Tomorrow night. If we do it,” Shane said.

  “If?”

  “Kill them and they leave a body for the predators to smell and come to. You leave a trail of body’s right to us,” Shane said softly, scanning. The prey animals were nervously looking in the direction Carter had said there were predators feeding. “Is it just me or are they bigger?” he asked. He shook his head. “I must be tired. Or the distance,” he said. He still didn't want to admit they were growing. Even after seeing that carcass with his own eyes. No way could anything grow that fast in such a short period of time.

  “No, you're right, we checked,” Jen said quietly coming over. She poked him. “You should be in bed,” she said reprovingly.

  “So should you.” He shook his head at her pursed lips. “Later. What do you mean checked?” he asked rolling slightly to look at her better.

  “Remember that animal you killed?” she asked.

  He stared into her eyes and then nodded slowly. “You going to give me some guff about it?” he asked.

  “No, I checked it. You were right, it was an herbivore. Flat teeth, nothing for ripping and tearing flesh. It had plant material in its stomach too. We saw some others later in the day despite the heat. I got the kids to chase one over into the bay below us so we could net it. It was twice as big as the one you killed.”

  “So?” Carter asked.

  “So they're growing at a phenomenal rate. Which is important,” Jen said patiently.

  “Um...” Carter frowned.

  Shane took in his wife's expression and realized there was more. It didn't take him long to make the connection. When he did he wasn't sure if he was glad or not. “It also means if the herbivores are getting bigger, the predators are too. Maybe at the same rate. That's scary,” Shane said softly. He remembered now their arguments over being a vegetarian versus a carnivore. Sure a vegetarian had a lot of plant matter to choose from, but they had to eat quite a lot to keep moving. Whereas a predator had all that concentrated protein right there on the hoof waiting for it. No, not good. Not a good thought at all. His wife shuddered beside him. He patted her arm.

  “Let me see,” she said, taking his goggles. He felt them come off. His vision swam. “Damn,” he said. “Rip my ear off why don't you,” he said reprovingly.

  “Sorry,” she muttered focusing them. “Can't quite make out what's going on. Something North of us for sure, I can see a fire there in the distance,” she said. She scanned that area then turned slowly.

  “Saw that earlier in the day,” Shane said. “Julio and his cohort reported it. The housing area near the old Home Depot is on fire. Slow fire, looks like it may burn out. The winds didn't kick it up into a fire storm luckily.”

  “Count your blessings,” the INS guy said with a snort.

  “Ah, that must be it then,” she said softly. She refocused on the area near the back of Towngate plaza. “I see some animals milling about near the trees near the restaurant...”

  “Fresh kill there,” Carter said pointing. “If you can focus you can see them. Dog things.”

  “Great,” Shane muttered. “Pack hunters,” he said.

  “We don't know that. They are aliens honey; anything is up for grabs on behavior.”

  “If they hunt in a pack, kill with a pack...” Carter said.

  “They did? Oh,” she said softly. “My mistake. Just don't get caught up putting Terran labels and associating behaviors with them. They are aliens you know. You could get caught out if you do,” she said.

  “Good point,” Carter said softly. “Smart lady,”

  “Its why I married her,” Shane said smiling a little. She turned her vision on him. He could just make out her face and smiled. She snorted and went back to looking.

  “The herbivores are smart, using the artificial light to keep the predators at bay. They seem to have an instinctive behavior, both sides. But the predators are... well, learning.”

  “Gee, that's good news,” Carter said.

  “Its something to keep in mind,” she said.

  “How do you know?” Carter asked.

  Shane turned to look at him. “Jen is an animal behavior specialist. She does volunteer work with the vets and shelter plus she did some field work when she was in college.”

  “Oh,” Carter said amused. “Glad we've got an expert on hand,” he said.

  “Something like that,” Jen said dimpling. “Now hush, I'm going to take notes.”

  “I'll go check the perimeter,” Shane said getting up. He crouched, walking backward until he stumbled on a cable.

  “Careful,” Carter said hissing.

  “Sorry,” he said.

  “Big flat feet,” Jen muttered.

  “I heard that,” he said in the darkness. “Make sure those glasses stay up here so others can keep an eye out,” he said. “Use them sparingly or the batteries won’t last until day break.”

  ...*...*...*...*...

  “Where are the kids?” he asked his wife softly an hour later. He stretched in the barracks. He wasn't sure if he could sleep or not. He felt like he could sleep for a month. She pointed to a pile of clothes in the corner. He craned his neck to see and then snorted. All three were together in a tangle of arms and legs. Out cold. Good.

  “Time for bed,” she said firmly but softly.

  “I've got to check the perimeter again and...”

  “Bill is doing that. Leon or Wayne or someone else is getting up in two hours to r
elieve him. You my man...” she took him by the arms and turned him and then steered him to another pile of clothes. “Are for bed. You're dead on your feet you know that?”

  “I thought you were studying the animals?” he asked.

  “Nope, nothing happening. All's quiet. Carter rigged a night vision camera for me. I can fast forward the video when I've got time tomorrow.” He nodded. It was smart.

  She smiled as he swooned a little. “Come on.” She pushed him until he fell over. She bent and pulled his boots off then snuggled up to him before he could get back up. “I'm getting some quality time with my man, damn it,” she growled.

  “You win,” he said softly, stroking her bangs out of her eyes. She smiled a little and kissed him, arms going around him. “I always do. Remember that hero,” she murmured huskily.

  “Yes ma'am,” he said, stroking her hair and relaxing. Now that he was off his feet he realized she was right. He definitely didn't have the energy to get back on them anytime soon.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Jen woke to Trina's soft cries. She opened her eyes blearily. Shane was out of course. She pursed her lips in amusement. He would be, typical male. He'd slept through the kids and their nightly feedings as babies, and the teething cries... she shook her head.

  Then again, he had worked hard in the past forty eight hours. She eased herself out from under the makeshift blanket and went to the thrashing girl. A few people were looking her way. She put her fingers to her lips.

  Gently she stroked the girl's brow. “Its okay honey, you're safe. You're here with momma. You're safe baby. Momma and daddy are here,” she murmured. The girl's face was wet with tears. She stroked her brow and looked at her sister. Tori was out. The kid could do that, unlike her twin. She could just see her chest moving up and down ever so gently and evenly. Yes, out like a light. She turned to look at Nick. Nick's eyes glowing at her startled her.

  He smiled a little. She smiled back and nodded. He rolled

  over onto his side and tried to get back to sleep.

  Tori thrashed a bit more until finally she relaxed. She stroked her hair for a few more minutes and then went to bed. She'd have to talk to the kids and others in the morning. Hell, the kids weren't the only ones having nightmares, she realized, seeing a guy down the row thrashing about. She sighed and laid next to Shane. She pulled his arm over her side and snuggled close and let herself drift once more.