Afraid of the Dark

by Chris Hechtl

  “Crony?” Jayne asked dangerously. “Crony?” she growled. Nick gulped, backing up into a post. Nick's eyes were wide. Served him right, Shane thought.

  “You drove? In the derby?” Jen asked.

  “Yeah mom, nothing to it. I had safety gear on. It was a little big but it worked out. I was in it like a minute, two minutes tops,” he said.

  She rounded on Shane glaring. “And just where were you when he was doing this? Oh, let me guess,” voice dripping in sarcasm. “Cheering him on? Or were you in another car? Were Trina and Tori in cars too?” She asked scathingly. He shrugged.

  “He was with you mommy,” Trina answered helpfully as she came around the corner. Jen's wrath was cut off with a sucked in breath and she sighed. After a long awkward moment she breathed again and the fire fades in her eyes. “Okay, I...”

  “Hey, no harm. He's fine. No worse for the wear, and I heard he took Walt out,” Shane said looking over at Nick and nodding in approval. “Who won by the way?”

  “Dave,” Bob said sounding disgusted. They looked over to the big guy. He was lying on a bunk with Tamara half on top. Tamara looked at them and smiled a small smile. Bob ran a hand through her hair. “Walt had this plan to take him out, souped up his car and this little twerp took him out on his first try.”

  “A master isn't afraid of another master, just the dumb schmuck who doesn't know his ass from his elbow. You can't predict what he's going to do,” Shane misquoted. Bob snorted in reply.

  “Well, it was fun,” Nick said looking from adult to adult. “And a good learning experience,” he said, trying to put as much positive spin on it while he could. “While it lasted.” He was still grinning.

  “That it was. And seeing Walt's face when you did was worth it. Worth it,” Bob said smiling broadly. “I haven't laughed that much in quite a while,” he said still stroking Tamara's hair.

  “What's this about a circus?” Tamara asked.

  “God help me,” Bob muttered throwing his hands up in the air. “Seriously?”

  “Really?” the girls asked, bouncing.

  “No idea,” Shane said shaking his head. “No idea,” he said again. He looked at Jayne and Jen but both shook their heads firmly. “I'm guessing its a rumor that got spread around and amplified past reason,” he said raising his hands in surrender. Jayne shrugged.

  Tamara got up and rolled her shoulders. “By the way, thanks for feeding and taking care of the kids,” Tamara said. “I, well...”

  “Overslept. Its a rest day. The kids had fun. It got done and we all had fun doing it,” he patted Trina on the head. “Right sprite?” he asked. She rolled her eyes. “Its a good day,” Shane said with a smile and half hug to Jen.

  “I'm going to take a shower. Interested?” Tamara asked, looking at her husband in amusement. He opened his mouth, looked at her dancing eyes and then closed it. “Since most everyone is asleep we might have the place to ourselves,” she stage whispered. He shot an embarrassed look toward the others watching and then when she quirked an eyebrow he got up hastily.

  “You bet!” he said. She giggled a little as he headed out. She snagged some clothes, gave them a smile and kept going before he came back to drag her out by the hand.

  “I'll ah, keep an eye on Frankie and Kathy,” Trina said with a wave. She turned back to the adults. Jen and Shane were smiling at each other a little. She snorted at his quirky leer and shook her head in exasperation. “Men,” she said softly.

  Chapter 43

  Monday dawned and it was hard to get people back into work. Bob was a little annoyed at the delays, but he admitted that the time off had been worth it. He sipped coffee and watched his breath cloud the air as his people warmed up the machinery to get back to work.

  “Think we'll get more of the wall done?” Walt asked. Bob turned to him.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “Freezing my nuts off,” Walt said, hands to his side and rubbing at his arms. “Shit man, freeze a witches tit.”

  “Wuss, its what?” Bob said looking around. “Fifty? Sixty degrees?” He asked.

  “Try um...” Walt pulled his phone out and tapped at it and then grunted. “Try thirty eight. No, nine.”

  “Still a wuss.”

  “Not all of us are built with our own insulation Bob,” Walt said.

  “So why the hell are you out here?” Bob demanded ignoring the jibe about his paunch. It wasn't nearly as big as it was when the invasion had started. The wonders of an alien invasion, it got everyone into dieting and exercise. Usually by starving and running for their lives.

  “I keep asking myself the same damn thing,” Walt said shaking his head. He indicated the generator nearby. It was a proper generator, manufactured before the invasion. “Had to come out. Oil leak.”

  “Oh yeah,” Bob said nodding as he turned to see some of Walt's crew working on the generator. A guy on a back hoe waved irritably. Walt sighed and picked up a portable battery. “Okay, gotta go jump your toys. Later,” he said waving.

  “See ya,” Bob said watching him go. He snorted, watching the air cloud around him again. “Damn it is cold,” he muttered.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Jen was watching a vid on her laptop when she felt hands on her neck and shoulders. She closed her eyes, reveling in that touch, recognizing it for who it was. “I'll give you precisely a month to stop doing that,” she purred, head down.

  She felt more than heard his rumble of a chuckle. “Busy day?” he asked. She looked and sounded a whole lot better than Saturday.

  “The usual,” she sighed, feeling his firm but loving hands work over her shoulders and neck thoroughly. He knew just where to push her buttons. “Watching a vid on a train attack of all things,” she said.

  “Oh?”

  “Yeah,” she leaned back, smiling as his hands withdrew, and turned the laptop so he could see it. He sat down beside her and watched as the shaky camera followed a train.

  “Why the hell are they running it at night?” he asked watching it. The only way they could see it clearly was because of all the lights on the locomotives. The front one had something on the prow, it looked like a cow catcher.

  “Supplies,” Jen answered. “Beef and food from the storage centers and silos in the Midwest. They were headed to New York.”

  “Were headed?” he asked.

  “Yeah watch,” she said nodding her chin to the video. A Hellcat pack near the tracks came into view. After a moment they began to pace the train, picking up speed easily.

  “Damn, they can keep up?!” Shane asked blinking.

  “More than that,” Jen sighed. After a moment the bull Hellcat, nearly the size of a locomotive himself, slammed into the side of the lead locomotive. It roared as he rebounded and braked to a halt in the gravel. Whoever had thought this up should have been shot. All the lights were facing forward. There weren't any on the flanks of the train.

  “Now watch this,” she said, pointing as the camera panned a bit. “This was taken from a battered Global hawk by the way. The train had two volunteers running it.”

  He winced as a pair of Hellcat females bounded along either side of the train and then leapt. The first missed its intended landing zone, but its claws dug into the siding of the train. He could just imagine the sounds of metal tearing and denting as the multi-thousand pound creature got its bearings and dug in.

  The other female had landed with a slight stumble on a flatbed loaded with pallets. It clipped a safety line like it was a thread and then roared.

  “Okay...”

  “Hush just...” Jen warned, putting a finger to his lips. After a moment the hand withdrew as the bull rumbled back into the light and slammed one of the cars hard with its head. A tusk snapped and it roared as the train teetered.

  “Shit,” Shane breathed as it wobbled back and forth and then in slow motion fell. Cars behind and in front of it twisted and then fell or piled up. The monumental pile up was dragged for a few hundred meters before the lead locom
otives derailed themselves.

  “Holy shit!” he said eyes wide. He watched as the females who had been on the train leapt off with feline grace and then started pawing at the fallen cars.

  The male wasn't done with the locomotives however, he shook off his pain and then stalked over to the cab of the lead locomotive. He sniffed the air and then looked down. He could just imagine the people inside, what they must have gone through. He winced as the creature began to dig at the metal. Just like a cat that knew a mouse was on the other side of a hole. Or hell, a dog knowing something was burrowed below it.

  “Damn,” he breathed. After less than a minute the metal gave way to the soft screaming morsels inside. A few wet crunches and it was over. The bull lifted his head to bolt pieces down then turned to one of the females.

  The female limped a little, but turned to lick her paw and then shake. It limped a few more steps out of the dying light from the trains and then the camera lost her in the shadows. The view changed to infrared. There were dozens of aliens milling around the wreckage, with more coming every minute as the shot widened.

  “Damn,” he swore softly shaking his head. So much for getting supplies. At least that way was out. Roads too. The only way to get anything moved was by day, and most likely by air.

  “Yeah, that sucks,” Jen said shaking her head as she clicked pause. “What's up with you? Why are you in so early?” she asked.

  “Um... hate to break it to you dear...” He pointed to the clock on her laptop. She blinked and swore herself. He smiled a little, he always got a kick out of when Jen swore. She hated it. Said it wasn't lady like.

  “So you're actually on time and I'm the one behind,” she said sitting back, rubbing her brow. “I must have got tied up in this longer than I thought.”

  “Probably,” he said with a nod.

  “Anything good happen while I was in la la land?” she asked, wrinkling her nose and rubbing her forehead.

  “Oh, not much,” he said, drawling a bit as he sat back.

  “Oh? Give?” she said, eying him.

  “You know me so well,” he chuckled. “Remember that shoe distribution center? The one off the 60?” he asked.

  “Um...”

  “Big place? Half mile across? Down off Redlands beyond the super Wal-Mart and stuff. The one with all the scandals?”

  “Okay...” she said with a nod.

  “Well, apparently our freeway cleanup crew got that far the other day. This morning they were met by a couple of people who asked for help.”

  “Wait, they got that far already?” she asked surprised.

  “Apparently so,” he said with a shrug. “They've got farther, but they are doing a rather thorough job of clearing the freeways. I thought they were just going to do one lane on each side but they've been pulling everything.”

  “Oh,” she said. “That's...”

  “Thorough, I know. When I asked about it the foreman told me they didn't want to dump the cars in the drainage ditches. Something about a moat. Also Bob and Walt were taking their pick of the cars and trucks. They even found a potato chip truck last week.”

  “That makes a sort of sense,” Jen said slowly and then shrugged. “You were saying?” she asked, reaching out and picking up a sports bottle. She was vexed with herself to see her hand shake a little. Low blood sugar she told herself. That and fatigue.

  Shane saw the signs of fatigue and felt a note of concern but hid it. He knew that Jen had her pride and wouldn't like it if he tried to do something for her that she intended to do. She'd get angry, and when she was angry in this state she'd wipe out her energy reserves even faster.

  She took a drink and eyed him. When she was done she cleared her throat. “Ahem, you were saying?” she asked.

  “Oh sorry,” he blinked and then shrugged. “Apparently they want to borrow a few of our people and our equipment.”

  “Fat chance on that,” she said with a twist to her lips.

  “Pretty much what a lot of people are saying. Its not like we need a lot of shoes you know,” he said.

  “True,” she said. “Well, we could use more boots.”

  “Shoe place.”

  “Sneakers and trail shoes would help.”

  “They don't have fuel. Apparently the Rancho people snapped up the construction equipment in the area for their own purposes and aren't willing to share.”

  “Really?” she asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Wait, they aren't in with them?”

  “They say no. I'm wondering about it. I'm going to talk to Bob in the morning. See what he thinks.”

  “What do they want us to do?”

  “They say they want to trench the area around the building. Build a dirt berm and moat.”

  “Oh really,” she said sounding amused. “Sounds like a lot of work.”

  “Exactly. Apparently they've got food, I'm not sure where. Gus the foreman told me he thinks they have a couple of thousand people in there. Maybe more, maybe less. Most of them are either people who were working in the place or living in the area. Or whatever,” he said with a shrug.

  “Story of all the places people end up at,” Jen said with a nod. She tapped at the keyboard and looked at it, frowning as the map loaded.

  “Hmmm...”

  “What?” he asked.

  “Looking at the map,” she said. She turned it a little so he could see the screen again. There was a bit of a wicked glare from his angle, but he could easily make out the aerial shot of the distribution center.

  “Not bad, defensible,” she said. “Or at least I'm assuming it is, that's your area of expertise dear,” she said.

  He looked closer. He could just make out windows on the corners of the building. He assumed they were now covered. The picture was of course old, dating back before the invasion. There was a lot of space around the center. Parking and bay doors on two sides.

  “Lots of doors and windows. I wouldn't want to be there,” he said.

  “About what we had here don't you think?” she asked. He grunted.

  “Probably,” he said after a moment. “They'd need a dozer or two for sure. D-8s minimum. With ripper blades to dig through the ground. Dump trucks, hell, they'd need half our equipment to get the job done.”

  “Yeah,” she sighed shaking her head. “Think we'll do it?”

  “We need allies, but well...” He shrugged helplessly under her gaze. “I'll talk to the council. The least we can do is send a team in to talk with them and give them advice.”

  “Help them help themselves.”

  “And to set up trade relations for down the road. We'll have to be on guard in case its a trap and someone wants hostages though. Which means each team goes in hot with guards.”

  “Good point,” she said. His stomach grumbled. She smiled. “Supper?” she asked.

  “Thought you'd never ask,” he said getting up fast. The smile turned into a grin as he held out a hand for her to take as she got to her feet. He stroked her fingers with his as he held her hand on their way to the food court. She wouldn't have it any other way.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  “So, um, this leader of yours...”

  “He's in the field,” Jayne said with a sigh. They had finished the tours and she'd run through just about every corner of their operation. Jayne wasn't sure how much would be edited out, but she'd let them film it, warts and all.

  “Really?” Candace asked. The carnival gather or whatever they called it had made for great footage. She wasn't sure how the main office had spun it. Hopefully they kept it positive and didn't make the mall people out as decadent and wasteful. She'd made sure to get interviews with the staff emphasizing that it was all done with materials about to spoil or which were going to be used anyway.

  “He's a lead from the front kind of guy. Its scaring the shit out of some of us, we can't afford to lose him, but its his nature,” Jayne said shaking her head.

  “Can I get an interview with him?”

&n
bsp; TJ looked at Jayne who pursed her lips. “The only time he comes in is if there is a major emergency, weather, or at the end of the day. He's usually crabby and well, tired at night.”

  “Can you blame the guy? He's shooting aliens all day. I'd be sort of tired and punchy too,” TJ said. “I've run with his crew for one day. They are nuts.” Jayne nodded. She remembered her trip to the old neighborhood. That had been a mild experience Shane had said. Mild. She shivered a little.

  “This I've got to see,” Candace said, looking at Ben. Ben shrugged. “Can we?”

  TJ looked a little uncomfortable but then shrugged. “Its a free country. I'll get his twenty and you can catch a ride over with one of the empty trucks,” TJ said getting up. Jayne wanted to object but Candace smiled winningly at her as they left.

  “He's going to flip,” Jayne sighed. She thought about warning him and then shrugged. She didn't want to distract him in combat. He'd warned all of them not to call him direct. Texting was possible, but coverage was spotty out of the mall area. Hell, just trying to call him might not work. The radio was out; if she used that, everyone listening in would know.

  “Damn, damn, damn,” she said shaking her head and then shrugged. “He'll get over it,” she said getting back to work.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  “What the...” Tater looked up and swatted Shane on the arm as they both came out of a recently cleared two story house. “Dude isn't that the reporter lady?” Tater asked pointing to a blond woman and a guy with a camera.

  “Yes,” Shane sighed. He rolled his shoulder and grimaced. He'd hit the last door just wrong, he probably had another bruise. “Someone's going to get their ass kicked for this,” he growled.

  “Hey, I didn't do it,” Tater said, hands up. He smirked a little as he walked off.

  “Ah hell, what the frack?” Bobby said coming out with a dolly load of material. He brushed past Shane and then snarled at the absent minded camera guy who had wandered into the path. Ben hastily got out of the way before he was mowed down.

  Shane nodded to the reporter as she came over smiling. “Can we have a moment of your time?” she asked.