by Chris Hechtl
“Way to cheer a group up,” Jayne muttered. She'd heard about some video a kid named Wes wanted her to see. She'd have to check it out. If she could find it.
A graphic was shown. It was an image of tubs and containers of water and food. “Get indoors. Preferably behind concrete or underground if possible. Stay inside at night. A strict dusk to dawn curfew is mandated folks, for obvious reasons. Board up your windows and doors. Remain calm. Work with your neighbors and friends. Collect resources. Stockpile fresh water in any clean container you can. Save your food and please ration it. If you have extra please help your friends and neighbors who have survived. FEMA is trying to get organized but it will take time. Crap,” the guy muttered. “We're out of time for this broadcast ladies and gentlemen. Good luck and God bless,” the voice said and then cut off to the emergency broadcast signal.
The crowd began to murmur as people started to discuss the invasion. Jen felt Nick catch her hand and she squeezed it. He looked up to her and she pulled him close. “We'll get through it,” she said. “We have to,” she said.
...*...*...*...*...
He had to admit, he did feel better, Bill thought as he walked the top main concourse later in the day. He'd gotten a good four hours of precious downtime. That and a fresh cup of coffee and a hearty lunch had put him in much better spirits.
Bill smiled as he recognized the oversized fluffy Mexican waddling down the main concourse with a couple of guys on either side. “Gabriel!” he yelled. Damn the guy was a sight for sore eyes. The big guy paused and looked around. The black kid on his left pointed to Bill. Bill waved and then headed for the stairs.
The escalators were out. Either someone stupid had pushed the damn emergency stop button again or there was something wrong in the system. Or someone was trying to conserve power. He wasn't sure. He trotted down the steps quickly and then fist bumped the big guy at the bottom.
“Good to see you,” he said smiling with obvious relief. Gabriel was a programmer and a communications guy, a damn good one. Really good. The guy had a weird, sometimes evil, sense of humor but he was one hell of an IT guy.
“What's up? Other than the obvious?” Gabe asked, indicating the mall. “Thanks for letting us in man,” he said as he shook Bill's hand.
“No sweat. Gabe, have I got a job for you,” Bill said smiling.
“Like that?” Gabe asked amused.
“Just like that,” Bill hammed. Gabe chuckled and shook his head. “So? What's the gig?”
“Simple. I feed your addiction. Taco's and computers.”
“Shit man, I'm in withdrawal already. Lead the way,” Gabriel said pushing him onward. He made a show of his hands shaking. The others around them snorted as they climbed the stairs. “You know Neo and Leon?” he asked indicating the black twenty something kid and a pimple faced kid with black rim glasses complete with tape over the bridge of the nose. The kid screamed classic nerd.
“I think you've pointed them out to me in the tournaments,” Bill said nodding to each.
“Yeah well, meet Bronsky,” Gabe said, pointing to a big white guy with a gut and double chin. The guy was short, but built like a fire plug with a broad chest and shoulders. He had massive biceps and triceps under his torn jacket.
“Bronsky,” he said nodding to the guy as they left the stairs.
“Bronsky's not just a pretty face,” Gabe said.
“He ain't even that,” Neo sputtered. Leon chuckled. Bronsky had a perpetual scowl but didn't respond.
“He's a weightlifter, don't let the scowl fool you,” Gabe said. “Guy's a hunter.”
“Hunter huh?” Bill said, re-evaluating the man. He nodded at the steady look the shorter man had.
“And an FPS gamer. Pretty high up if you can hang with Gabe and his crew here,” he said.
“I never met the others until now,” Bronsky rumbled. The man had a deep base, his voice sounding like a fog horn.
“He and Leon have been rivals for the past year yet never met if you can believe it,” Gabe said with a snort.
“I play from home,” Bronsky growled.
“I usually play from a LAN party or here,” Leon said with a shrug. “We probably would have met at the next tournament anyway,” he said. “Boss around?” he asked Bill. “I heard he's in charge,” he said.
“Shit,” Bill said smacking his forehead. He'd totally forgotten the kid was a guard at Towngate. “Yeah, he's around. Somewhere. You signing up I take it?”
“Yeah. This guy behind us playing straight man is Tony the tiger. Programmer like Gabe here,” Leon said, patting Gabe's shoulders.
“Good to know. We've got a lot of shit to do. Surveillance cameras, intel, net feeds, media, power, the works,” Bill said. “Databases, shit you guy's will be in heaven I bet.”
“Probably,” Gabe said grinning. He glanced at the others. They exchanged amused looks.
“Seriously, Bronsky, Leon, you want into the force or not?” Bill asked stopping. “We've got to set it up proper. I'm going to be handling night shift duty. But I think we're going to do a lot more than that. Militia at least.”
“Where we going anyway?” Gabe asked before the others could answer. “Thought we were heading to the game shop.”
“No, we're heading to security. You can set shit up from there, you and Tony,” Bill answered and turned to the others, hands on his hips.
Bronsky gave him the once over and then nodded slowly. “I'm in,” he rumbled. He looked at Leon.
“Shit,” Leon muttered, hand rubbing the back of his neck. “I didn't sign onto a real fucking alien invasion with all the trimming.”
“No do overs, no resets buddy,” Gabe said.
“I know that. That's the problem,” Leon growled. “My quarter. Shit.”
“You want to stay in a hole and wait for them to dig you out?” Tony asked.
“Hell no. I'm in,” Leon said shaking his head. “What do you want us to do?”
“Hold a shift for one. You two can shoot straight and can handle orders. I'm assuming you can also handle a bit of pressure,” Bill said. “I've got another Leon in charge of security too so we'll stick you on separate shifts. If you're game.”
“Yeah,” Bronsky rumbled nodding.
“Sure,” Leon said shrugging.
“What about me?” Neo asked.
“What about you?” Gabriel asked amused as the others turned to look at the nerd. “Shit man, you're going to be the hardware guy. With Tony and Gabe. Setting up server farms, running cable, the works. Geek squad.”
“Lucky me,” Neo muttered.
“Better than getting eaten,” Bronsky rumbled.
“True, too true. I just hate being pigeon holed. I worked for Geek squad. Hated dressing up in the damn outfit.”
“Ah,” Bill said with an amused glance to Gabe. “Then you'll do fine. We'll get you three set up then I'll take Bronsky and Leon for a trip to get them outfitted,” he said.
“Got mine already,” Bronsky said pulling a desert eagle from the back of his pants. He hefted the huge pistol like it was a toy.
“Damn man,” Gabriel said shaking his head.
“Now that's a gun!” Leon said admiringly. “I so gotta get me one of those man!”
“I want one!” Neo said. They looked at him and chuckled in unison. “What?” he demanded, looking at each of them. “What's so funny?” he demanded as they continued on. “Guys? Come... oh hell, never mind,” he muttered following.
...*...*...*...*...
Wayne waved to Shane as he came in the mall. “What's up?” Shane asked coming over. He was a little tired but still moving.
“Got a problem. Gas line burst.”
“Where?”
“Heacock and... um...” he looked at a map. “Manzanilla.”
“No idea,” Shane said shaking his head.
“Other side of the 60. By Gateway Park.” Wayne shook his head. “We're not sure if its related to the fires over there or not. Julio called it in.”
&nbs
p; “Okay...”
“We can't get there. Its blocked,” a firefighter said shaking his head. “We called for air support but well,” he shrugged.
“None is obviously available. Can you shut off the supply?” he asked.
“The supply?” Wayne asked. He looked at the firefighter. The guy grimaced.
“Get someone to put a call out on the intercom for anyone with Natural Gas to report in. Get them to shut down the line upstream of the break.”
“We can't get there,” Wayne said shaking his head. “We told you its...”
“Blocked I know,” Shane said. “Go upstream as close as you can and cut off the supply from there,” he explained patiently.
“What about the people downstream?” the firefighter asked.
“What about them?” Shane asked. “They'll lose gas. I'm surprised the system hasn't recognized the leak and shut it off automatically.”
“Computers might be out,” Wayne said.
“If so the valves might be off too. I wonder if they automatically shut off when gas is down or do they freeze open? We'll find out. Dispatch a team to handle it.”
“Good,” Wayne said nodding. He waved to a kid and whispered orders to him. The kid nodded and then rushed off. He turned and looked at Shane. “I should have thought of that.”
“Triage,” Shane said turning to the firefighter. “Which you should have thought of,” he said mildly. The firefighter nodded. “If you can't get into fight the fire try to get ahead of it. Firebreak. Evac anyone in the area. Whatever you can,” he said. Wayne and the firefighter nodded and left. After another minute the call went out over the intercom for anyone with gas utility experience to report to the security office.
“Barn door and horses... Trying to get ahead of this is a pain in the ass,” Shane muttered looking around. A few people looked at him and moved on. A girl waved to him. “What next,” he sighed nodding to her to come forward.
...*...*...*...*...
“Boss, I've got some people coming to me about um...” he turned to the red haired Art and nodded.
“You were saying?”
“Yeah um, a few people came to me, regulars at my store. They want to well, set up shop there since the machinist's have pretty much taken over Sears.”
“Um...”
“Carpenters,” Sheila said coming over holding a clipboard. “He means carpenters. Right?” she asked looking at Art. Art nodded.
“Okay,” Shane said nodding. “Seems like we can do something.”
“But ah, boss...”
“During the day I mean. Its obviously not safe at night. At least not yet.”
“What about the aliens? The ones inside the store?” Art asked.
“We'll have to chase them out. I'm guessing they aren't predators?” Shane asked. Art shrugged.
Sheila cleared her throat. They looked at her. “Jen went over and took a look. She thinks they are like vultures.”
“Oh,” he said.
“So when can we ah, clear them out and set up?” Art asked.
“Not yet. Give us a couple of days,” Shane said.
“Not yet?” Art asked.
“Sure. Not yet. It's going to take some time, but once we've got the mall sorted out we'll fort up the Lowes shopping center next.”
“Got it all figured out?” Hernandez said coming over. He turned to smile a little at the Latin soldier. Mateo nodded politely to Art and Jayne before turning to him. “The mark of a good officer. Planning ahead.”
“Which is what we've been doing,” Jayne said nodding, eyes narrowed. She noted the people around them subtly listening in. Her eyes shifted from one to another.
“Which is why we've been gathering resources and setting up defenses and such,” Art mused, rubbing his jaw. “Makes sense now.”
“I bet you're four or five steps ahead,” Hernandez said smiling a tight lipped smile at Shane. Shane shrugged, ignoring the looks they were getting from the people around them.
“Maybe six or seven,” he said. “I can't get too far ahead though. I've got to keep part way in the here and now. We've got to keep an eye on the ball.”
“Which is why you've been emphasizing setting up departments and systems and getting people to run them,” Jayne said nodding. “I get it now,” she said.
“We need to be organized. We can't be chaos central,” he said shaking his head. “People respond better to structure, to knowing their place and how things work around them. Forming teams and working at a task that they are familiar with. If we don't if we just go willy-nilly... well... If we do that we'll fall apart. We need to have a clear plan with people who know what they are doing and implementing it.”
“Care to clue us in on what the plan is?” a voice asked. He snorted as he looked over but someone shifted in the way. He shrugged.
“First off, fort up here the best we can, and steadily improve the defenses. Second form groups to gather resources and go out to collect them. Third form an offensive arm, namely a militia to go out and take the fight to the enemy and to cover our people as they work and sleep,” he said. People murmured then began to clap and cheer as that last bit filtered through the group. People not nearby paused to see what was going on.
He realized it was time for a little morale building. Time to get some of his message out and the right time for people to accept it. With full bellies and in relative safety they were receptive.
He turned in place and then climbed on a chair, then table so he could be seen more easily. “We've come a long ways in a short time, but its not nearly far enough. We're going to turn this place into a castle. A fortress. A place where our kids can sleep safe at night knowing the aliens can't get in. Then we're going to go out and set up more bases like Lowes and others and then we're going to arm our people and kick alien ass. Right?” he bellowed, fist clenched.
The group broke into wild cheering and applause. He waited for it to die down a bit before he nodded. “This is our planet. We're going to take it back. First here in our city, one block at a time if we have to, then elsewhere. Everyone who wants to make sure that happens is welcome here. We've got to work for it though. Its going to be tough. I can't promise you easy wins.” He looked around making sure they all saw him and recognized the determination in his face. “Easy was yesterday. Easy went out the door. We're not giving up. We're going to keep at it until we win,” he growled the last word, glaring at the group.
Art whistled, and the others cheered and clapped, looking around. He nodded. “That being said,” he held up his hands palm down as they calmed. “That being said, let’s get back into the fight. Get back to work folks. Anyone who wants to fight, see Hernandez, me, Ross, or one of the deputies here. If you've got training that's a plus.” He pointed to the Latin soldier and then jumped off the table into a spot next to him. He slapped Mateo on the shoulder.
“Damn man,” Mateo said, slapping him on the arm and then leaning closer to be heard over the babble of excited voices. “You know how to get them pumped.”
Shane turned his head. “Got to keep morale up,” Shane said softly into Mateo's ear. Mateo blinked and then his eyes narrowed. He slowly nodded. “Besides, every word of it is true. Which puts you at the sharp end of the stick. Now we've got to back it up. Think you can handle it?”
“Does a bear shit in the woods?” Mateo growled. “We'll get it done,” he said pounding a fist into his free hand. “Believe me, those aliens will wish they've never been born when we get done. Blue smear on the wall.”
Shane nodded as the crowd heard that last and clapped again. He slapped Mateo on the shoulder again. “Good get on it,” he said.
“What about...” Art said, eyes wide.
“We'll get Lowes back on track as soon as feasible Art,” Jayne said. “Why don't you go over a plan to fort the place up with Bob or someone else if he's not available. Start with a simple plan with a map and get back to the boss on it,” she said, gently easing him away.
“Yeah, um,
ah, okay,” the guy said looking at Shane as people pounded on his shoulder or shook his hand. “Since he's busy anyway...”
Chapter 13
Shane got an urgent call from a teen watching the news. Media reports were intermittent. He had caught a report on the news about a UCR team had done a necropsy on the aliens... the report was that they grow real fast and see with heat. Jen had an 'aha' moment with that, muttering about rattle snakes and other animals. He wasn't sure why it was so important, just that they proved the obvious didn't make sense.
“What?” He asked. “Jen? Honey?” he asked suddenly concerned.
“That's it!” she said bouncing. “That's it, that's it!” she said. People turned to look at her.
“What? what?” He asked looking around. She was hopping up and down, then started to pace. “It explains it, the cell towers the electric grid, the attacks on people even though they couldn't see them behind walls...” she paced, head down, hands clenching and then slapping the back of her left hand into her right palm. “I'm sure of it, now, it all fits,” she said looking at him.
He sighed, rolling his eyes. “What all fits?” he asked. “Hello... Earth to Jen come in Jen...” he grabbed her by the arms. “Come on back to Earth gal and fill us poor sods in...”
Her vacant expression cleared and she scowled. “Don't you see? Heat! That's how they see! Their vision is shifted to the infrared spectrum more than ours! That's why they are attacking the electronics and car engines and stuff! They generate heat!”
“Heat,” he said, musing.
“Heat,” she repeated smiling. “Cell towers generate heat. Motors do too! All electronics do remember? That's what Gabriel said. Bob pointed it out when stuff was breaking down during the heat of the day. They can't shed it. I'm betting the sails on their back are heat exchangers too. They use them to dump excess heat,” she said, smiling in delight at her discovery.