by J. Thorn
The transport came to a stop and Gibson was the first to exit the vehicle.
“Let’s move! New guy always carries the explosives. Now go!”
Reno stood as the men jumped out of the truck. He threw a bag full of PE-4 onto his back as one of the soldiers pushed him, urging him to hurry out.
As his feet hit the concrete, though, Reno stopped cold. The fires had continued to rage throughout the city, fed by broken gas lines and an inability of the emergency responders to battle so many flames at one time. Dust and ash filled the air and each breath tasted like burnt plastic, searing Reno’s throat and stinging his eyes. Bodies lay everywhere, some in the middle of the street and others twisted inside hunks of the melted plastic of abandoned cars. The almost constant screams of the injured and dying began to wear Reno down almost immediately, pulling him into a self-reflective state of despair.
A hand grabbed hold of his arm and he turned to see Beckett.
“Come on! This way! Stay with me!”
Reno nodded as he ran with Beckett. John and Rodriguez stayed with them while the other soldiers fired at the aliens. Reno ducked, trying to block out the war raging around them as he followed Beckett.
They ran up a hill and entered Centennial Park from the east side. Flames engulfed the park, forcing them to dodge burning trees and smoldering cars. On top of everything else, Reno had his injured ankle to worry about, but he pushed through the pain. It would all be worth it if he could execute Jack’s plan.
“Why aren’t they firing on us?” John asked.
“I don’t know,” Rodriguez said. “But let’s keep moving.”
Reno figured that their proximity to the obelisk was forcing the aliens to hold their fire. The obelisk and generator keeping the dome up seemed to be holding, but they’d been damaged. It was possible that the aliens didn’t want to risk an errant beam that could further jeopardize the obelisk’s stability. And it wasn’t as if the soldiers’ bullets hurt the aliens—they just seemed to slow them down. If they could just keep from getting pulverized and not draw too much alien fire, Reno believed they might be able to get close enough to the obelisk to blow the generator. But then again, if the obelisk was so important to the aliens, why would they let any humans get that close? Reno sighed, realizing that if they survived this invasion, there would be more questions than answers for a long, long time.
The rubble at the base of the obelisk looked to have come from the news footage Reno had seen when an earthquake had devastated a third world city. The pile of concrete, twisted metal, and body parts made his stomach lurch. He instinctively began to navigate through it, climbing into dark crevasses and under nests of copper wire. As the soldiers followed him, he also realized that the aliens were too large to fit through the openings, and blowing the debris out of the way would risk an accidental shot at what remained of the obelisk.
He pushed on, using the light of the burning rubble to get down to the base of the obelisk. Reno stood over a massive, round chasm with the circumference of a small auditorium. Like the high ceiling of an ancient cathedral, the base of the obelisk covered the enormous hole burrowed into the ground beneath what had been the Parthenon in Nashville’s Centennial Park. A cold current of air carried an earthy stench up and into his face and he immediately understood what Jack had been talking about. The aliens—thousands or maybe millions of years ago—had drilled deep beneath the surface and dropped a generator that ran off the Earth’s geothermal heat. He noticed pulsing black lines running up from the unseen depths and along the sides of the chasm which had been carved from the limestone bed sitting beneath most of the Tennessee Valley.
Supply lines from the generator.
“What now?” Beckett asked, appearing on Reno’s right.
Several of the other soldiers had climbed through the debris and now stood on the edge with Reno. The air coming from far below seemed to moan, as if it could sense what was about to happen.
“How far down does it go?”
Reno thought the question had come from Rodriguez, but his brain had fogged over. He pictured Maya and Jack in his head, and they seemed to be urging him on—urging him to blow up the generator as quickly as possible. And at the same time, he thought he heard voices in the darkness, all of them pleading with him not to destroy the obelisk.
“Dude. What the fuck?” John grabbed Reno and spun him around. “You blowing this thing or what?”
“Yeah, yeah. Of course.”
Reno slid the bag of explosives from his back. Rodriguez wired the PE-4 and rigged it to a series frequency and timer, using a technique he’d learned on active duty in the Army. He crimped the safety fuse to the blasting cap before handing the detonator to Reno.
“Your plan. You get to detonate it.”
The other men had run the detonator cord and PE-4 to several other spots at the base of the obelisk.
Rodriguez signaled to the other men before screaming at Reno. “Do it!”
Reno pushed in the timed detonator and looked at Becket.
“Thirty seconds. Let’s go!”
The four men turned away from the chasm and ran, climbing through the debris as quickly as they could. Reno wasn’t confident that thirty seconds would be enough time for them to get back to the transport and he had no idea how much damage the generator would cause when the explosives hit it. But if Reno died while in the process of bringing down the dome, then so be it. It wasn’t like he had a choice.
It was as if the aliens knew what Reno had done because they’d all taken flight now, buzzing through the sky and surging into the aperture of the ship docked at the top of the obelisk.
That strange feeling came over him again—the same kind he’d experienced while standing on the edge of the chasm a few minutes before. The aliens knew what was about to happen and that Reno was the one who had caused it. Somehow, they knew.
Reno grimaced as he reached the transport, trying to keep the countdown timer in his head.
Ten seconds? Maybe less?
He threw himself into the vehicle, his ankle hot and swelling tightly against the wrap as John and Beckett pulled him fully up into the seat.
“Everyone’s here!” Gibson said. “Go! Go!”
Five seconds?
The transport sped off, heading back toward the National Guard checkpoint. All of the soldiers looked out the back of the vehicle, staring at the obelisk and waiting.
Zero?
Shit. The explosives didn’t—
The ground shook the transport and Reno saw the flash before he heard the thunderous concussion. At first, the top of the obelisk broke away from the ship, and then the bottom of it collapsed into the depths, burying the destroyed generator beneath tons of rock and debris.
The transport stopped as all of the soldiers inside it watched the obelisk collapse to the right.
The darkness above flickered, and then, as if God had hit the light switch, Reno saw the golden light of the rising sun on the eastern horizon. It had already begun to paint the sky in wide, luscious brush strokes of crimson orange. High, fluffy clouds floated overhead and the sight of them made Reno cry.
The aliens who had been in mid-flight when the dome dropped fell from the sky, plummeting back to Earth like hunks of a splintered comet. The mothership hovered, and for a split-second Reno felt as if it had marked him. It knew he was the one who’d brought down the dome over Nashville. And it wasn’t happy about it.
The soldiers cheered, a few jumping up out of their seats and others high-fiving and hugging each other.
Reno exhaled as the mothership ascended, presumably returning to deep space or whatever distant galaxy it’d come from.
Beckett put his arm around Reno. “You did it! You son of a bitch, you did it!”
Reno shook his hand, then turned to John. John winked at him.
Exhaling again, Reno sat back against the wall of the truck and closed his eyes.
5
The transport arrived back at the National Guard
checkpoint to a chorus of cheers and smiling soldiers—a different scene from the one they’d left only a few hours before.
When the transport stopped, other soldiers rushed up to it. Reno had had a few minutes on the drive to catch his breath and get himself together. His hands had been shaking and his face numb after watching the obelisk collapse to the ground. He could still see the belly of the mothership as it rose into the sky and out of sight, and that made him shiver. He felt a pat on his shoulder and looked over.
“That’s all you,” Rodriguez said. “Go get ‘em, rockstar.”
Reno looked around and noticed everyone else staring at him, grins spread across their faces. Rodriguez was the first to start clapping, and the others quickly joined in, standing and pumping their fists into the air.
Reno smiled and stood up. The soldiers patted him on the back and ushered him out of the back of the transport, where he was greeted by more National Guard troops. They smothered him with high-fives, slaps on the back, and even a couple of bro hugs.
Then a tall soldier came over and, without asking Reno, lifted him up. The soldiers crowd surfed him like he was a teenager at a rock concert. He couldn’t help but laugh, trying to relish the moment.
They’d done it.
They’d destroyed the obelisk. Destroyed the dome’s power source, freeing Nashville. They’d defeated the aliens.
In that moment, Reno thought about Jack as his hand wrapped around the token still in his pocket. He should have been here to bask in all the glory. All Reno had done was follow his instructions.
He would find a way to honor Jack. It was the right thing to do.
He also thought of Maya. He hoped she had found her kids. Hoped she was safe. Reno wanted to see her again, and with this victory, he hoped it would be possible.
When his feet hit the ground, Reno stood face to face with Rupp. The Master Sergeant glared at him, the same disgruntled look from before plastering his face. Reno wasn’t going to kid himself. This man intimidated him. And he didn’t seem to give a shit about what Reno had done.
Reno looked down at his feet and, when he looked up, he was greeted with a wide smile and an extended hand.
“Good job, soldier.”
Reno looked around, then smiled at Rupp. He accepted the man’s firm handshake.
Rupp then raised Reno’s hand in the air and pointed at him. The other soldiers erupted in applause, hooting and hollering as they continued to celebrate.
Car horns sounded, and Reno turned to see three transport vehicles pulling up to the checkpoint. They parked at the edge of the growing crowd, several of the soldiers carrying boxes of wine and champagne.
“Looks like Army,” Rodriguez said.
“I’m going to go talk to them.” Rupp turned to Reno once more. “Really, you did good. Your bravery is admirable.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Rupp walked over to meet with the newly-arriving infantrymen.
Reno scanned the crowd again, making eye contact with John. The cop extended his arms and laughed. Reno went to him, and the two men embraced.
“You weren’t lying, you son of a bitch. You’re a goddamn hero.”
“You trusted me and got me over here. You’re just as much of a hero as I am. Besides, Jack is the real hero. And I’m going to make sure people know that.”
“They will.” John stepped back and looked over Reno’s shoulder. “Just enjoy the moment. We don’t have to worry about those bastards anymore.”
Reno heard a pop then, and turned to see where it had come from. Beckett stood nearby with a bottle of champagne, the contents flowing down the side of the bottle. He raised both arms in the air and then, looking to the sky, pressed the bottle against his lips and guzzled.
As he watched everyone celebrate, Reno’s eyes drifted to where Rupp was talking with one of the Army soldiers. His hands sat on his hips and he was looking at the ground, shaking his head. Reno’s own smile disappeared.
Rupp kicked at the ground as he turned and made his way over to where Reno and all of the other soldiers were still celebrating.
This isn’t good.
Pressing his fingers into the corners of his mouth, Rupp whistled. Most of the soldiers turned to him. His somber expression caught everyone’s attention, and many of them quit smiling and stopped cheering.
Rupp cleared his throat. “Put down the fucking champagne, Beckett.”
Beckett turned more slowly than the others had, foam still sticking to his chin. He glanced at the soldiers on both sides of him, shrugging in confusion as to why he’d been singled out.
“What’s the matter, sir?” a female National Guard soldier asked.
“Corporal Robertson has just informed me of some very grave news.” Rupp turned to the man. “Corporal?”
The corporal stepped forward to address the crowd.
“I want to first applaud the efforts of everyone here for taking down the dome. You did one hell of a job.”
The soldiers erupted into another round of applause. Then Rupp stepped forward, his eyes narrowed. “Everyone, shut the hell up and listen to the rest of what the corporal has to say. Do not interrupt him again. That’s an order.”
The crowd went quiet other than for a couple of throat clearings.
Robertson continued.
“You’ve given us very valuable information on how to take these domes down.”
“Domes, sir?” Rodriguez asked.
“Nashville wasn’t the only city domed and attacked.”
Someone dropped an empty bottle, which rolled away and clanked to a stop. Nobody spoke.
“We have confirmation of attacks on Chicago, San Francisco, New Orleans—hell, most major American cities are under domes right now.”
Reno’s mouth fell open as if he’d been left in shock, but something in his mind had felt it all along.
“I know this news comes as a shock to you.” Robertson paused, and he seemed to be reassuring himself as he spoke to the troops. “But I don’t want us to forget how important the victory today, here in Nashville, was. Now we know how to take down the domes—and what happens when we do. Those alien bastards run with their tails between their legs.”
“Permission to speak, sir?” Rodriguez asked.
Corporal Robertson nodded.
“We’ve had no contact with anyone outside the dome until you all came rolling up in here just now, no way of communicating once the thing turned black. It’s great that we know how to drop a dome, but how are we supposed to get that information to the people trapped in those other cities?”
“That’s a fair question, and I’d be lying if I told you we had a solution for that right now. But we’re working on it.”
Several of the other soldiers tried asking more questions, all at the same time. Rupp came forward and silenced them all with a steely glare.
“Thank you, Master Sergeant Rupp,” Robertson said. “Now, I know you all have a lot of questions. But what’s important now is that we work on evacuating the city and getting all of you to a place where we can be ready with our next move. My men will have further instructions for you, so please get with them right over there.”
Everyone grumbled as they lined up to get their orders. Various men kicked at half-empty champagne bottles and stubbed out celebratory cigars.
“Harvey,” Rupp said. “Come over here.”
Reno looked to John, signaling for him to join him. The two men walked over to Rupp and Robertson.
“This is him,” Rupp said.
“We’ve got to get you somewhere safe where we can debrief.” Robertson turned and started to walk away before turning his head and waving Reno along. “Come with me.”
6
Maya lay on the bed in her childhood room, staring up at the ceiling. Despite using every breathing technique she’d learned from martial arts and meditation to try to calm herself, she couldn’t. Even keeping her eyes open didn’t keep her from seeing Gerald’s face.
She wanted
to kill him. It didn’t matter anymore that he was the father of her children. Maya didn’t give a damn who he was. He had come into her mother’s home and taken the kids. Maya had custody of them, and even though the world had gone to shit, that didn’t mean he could do whatever he wanted. The days of her equally splitting custody with him were over. Whenever this thing ended, she would do everything in her power to make sure Gerald’s children never saw him again, whether that was through the court system or by putting him into a grave.
Maya exhaled and sat up. She wiped the sweat from her brow and pulled a hair tie out of her pocket. Slipping her hair into a ponytail, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and made her way to the empty space on the floor at the foot of it. If breathing steadily wouldn’t calm her down, then maybe exercise would.
She put herself through a rigorous circuit training routine, alternating between twenty reps of different exercises with only a ten-second rest in between each round. Maya channeled her anger into the movements. Sweat dripped down her face, and her body hurt. But it was the good kind of pain.
Maya was on her third round of push-ups when the ground trembled. It wasn’t intense enough to throw her out of her push-up position, but it was enough to make the China dolls rattle on top of the dresser. She pushed herself up onto her knees and breathed heavily.
“What was that?”
It had felt like an earthquake, but Maya had never heard of any happening in the Nashville area. Fear suddenly hit her, that it could have been something much worse.
“Maya! Get out here, quick!”
Maya jumped to her feet at the sound of her mother’s voice and ran out of her room.
“Mom?”
“I’m downstairs. Get down here!”
Maya hurried down the stairs to see that the front door was open. Outside, her mother stood near the steps, looking out towards the city. Maya followed her gaze.