by Paul Moxham
“I’m not sure,” Logan admitted. “It sounds as though they don’t want to harm us, but why destroy San Francisco if that were the case?”
“Maybe they wanted to prove how strong they are,” the pilot said. He slowly got to his feet. He shook hands with the brothers. “Thanks for pulling me out of the helicopter. I’ll be seeing you.”
As the man hurried down the side of the street, Logan looked at Kenneth. “Let’s get going as well. I don’t know whether or not I believe these Seods, but I’ll feel a lot better once we’re out of the city.”
“Where are you thinking of going?” Kenneth asked.
“Somewhere remote,” Logan replied.
Chapter 2
The snow fell steadily as Logan, who looked as though he had aged five years in three weeks, slowly trudged through the wet undergrowth. He paused and looked through the binoculars.
He gazed down at the highway far below and scanned the road for any vehicles. He didn’t expect to see any, he hadn’t for the past two weeks, but he still kept watch.
The sun stood low in the sky, and with no cloud cover, he knew it would be another freezing cold night. He drew his jacket tighter and rubbed his gloved hands together. His thoughts turned to when his world had been turned upside down. After hearing the message from the Seods, he and his brother had made their way to the penthouse suite to collect their stuff. They had then hightailed it out of the city as fast as they could.
However, when the fuel tank on their car bled dry, they had to hitchhike until they came across an abandoned vehicle. After examining it and seeing that it was in drivable condition, they continued driving away from civilization. In years gone by, both he and his brother, along with their father, had hiked in Stanislaus National Forest, and so when they reached a sign that announced the turn off, they took it. And as they hiked up to a nearby cabin, they were confident that they’d be safe in this desolate spot for the near future. That was three weeks ago.
Letting the binoculars hang around his neck, he picked up his rifle and slung it over his shoulder. He turned and trudged uphill through the heavy snow, his boots making little impacts in the fresh snow that had fallen earlier that day. After reaching the top of the incline a few minutes later, he reached for the skis he had hidden underneath a clump of thick bushes.
After putting on his skis, he grabbed the poles and started skiing. It was hard work, as the ground was mostly flat, but there were occasional downhill stretches. After fifteen minutes, he unlatched the skis, slung them over his shoulder, and trudged uphill.
Reaching the halfway point, he paused and sat down for a quick rest. He puffed as he gazed out at the beautiful scenery. With the sun going down, it provided the perfect backdrop for a winter holiday postcard. There was even ice on the lake below.
He was sure that Lucy would have liked it. She’d had a passion for ice skating and had taken lessons during the past year. Tears welled in his eyes. A million emotions went through his head as they did every time he thought of her, but he knew that he would have to move on sooner or later. But how? The world that he knew no longer existed.
As a shadow flittered across the ice, he gazed up. His breath caught in his throat as he saw four alien crafts. Grabbing the binoculars, he gazed through them, trying to get a better view.
Ever since the invasion, he had tried to make a note of the different types of aircrafts, and as he saw the four machines fly overhead, he realized three of them, the circular ones, were Strikers.
He and Kenneth had come up with the name Striker to describe the craft that had fired the rocket at Lucy’s helicopter three weeks ago, as it was agile, fast, and very deadly.
As for the other one, it was a Destructor, the same craft that had delivered the computer-sounding message. He had only seen it in operation once, a few days later, and that was when it destroyed a town east of San Francisco. The explosion had been so massive and mind-numbing that the name Destructor came immediately to his mind. He stared at the glider-type shape of the aircraft. The wings were not as fragile as a normal glider’s, but the way the aircraft flitted about without making a sound resembled a glider in that respect.
As the aircraft disappeared into a cloud bank, Logan stood up and continued the trek up the mountain. They had chosen their residence high up in the mountains of the national forest since it provided a good view of the surrounding area, but it did have its disadvantages, such as trudging forty minutes in the morning and evening to see if there were any other survivors.
At the top, he made his way through the snow-covered pine trees until he came to a log cabin that was hidden from view as much as possible. He and his brother had cut branches from nearby trees and leaned them against the walls to camouflage it.
He made his way to the door of the cabin, and after dusting the snow off his boots, he knocked three times in quick succession.
Kenneth opened the door a few moments later. He looked almost as disheveled as Logan. “Did you see those Strikers?”
Logan nodded. “I thought we had seen the last of them, especially after that rumor we heard—”
“It was obviously just a rumor,” Kenneth interrupted, waiting as Logan entered the cabin before he closed the door.
“Maybe. Let’s just hope we don’t see any more Strikers. Oh, and I saw the tracks of that animal again on my way down the mountain.”
“What do you think it is? A bear?” Kenneth asked.
Logan sat down next to the glowing fireplace, took off his gloves, and warmed his hands. “Hard to tell. But whatever it is, I certainly wouldn’t want to be in its sights. Looking at the state we’re in, you can only imagine how he’s feeling. And the worse he is, the worse it’ll be for us if we come face to face with him.”
Kenneth glanced at the corner of the cabin where a rifle and a shotgun were leaning against the wall. “We still have some weapons.”
“If anyone’s going to do any shooting, it’s going to be me,” Logan said. “I’m the one that served in Iraq and Syria, remember?”
“How could I forget?” Kenneth chuckled as he sat down next to the fireplace.
“What’s so funny?” Logan asked.
“Everyone was so concerned about the war on terror that the president spent all the money on the wars in Iraq and Syria, neglecting NASA. Their budget was slashed so much that when the alien invasion came, they didn’t have the resources to see the attack coming until it was upon us.”
Logan nodded. “Well, everything always looks different in hindsight, but we can’t worry about that now. I’m sure the president, knowing what he knows now, wouldn’t have cut NASA’s budget, but something had to go. Besides, who really believed in aliens before the attack?”
“Only crazy people. At least, that’s what we thought they were. Turns out we were the crazy ones and they were the smart ones.”
There was silence as the two of them thought things over. Finally, Kenneth stood up and got dinner ready. There wasn’t much to do, just pour beans from a tin into a pot. As he did so, he announced that it was the last tin.
Logan didn’t say anything. The meal was heated in silence as he retrieved a large map of the surrounding area from his coat pocket. As he did so, something else fell to the ground. He picked it up. It was a key pass, the one that Donald had given him.
“Still carrying it around, eh?” Kenneth said as he saw Logan put the item back into the pocket.
Logan nodded. “It’s just about the only thing left to remind me that I could have been living a very different life right now.”
“Wouldn’t we all. But there’s no use looking back now.”
“You’re right,” Logan replied, turning his attention to the map.
Darkness had enveloped the area by the time Logan finished the small meal and put the bowl down. He looked at Kenneth. “We can either head to Modesto or Sacramento.”
“What about Carson City?” Kenneth questioned. “I know it’s across the border, but it might be untouched more so tha
n those two.”
Logan shook his head. “I know how to get to Modesto, and there are a lot more towns on the way than if we went to Carson City. There’s a chance we’ll be able to get some gas and food before we get to either town, but if something happens on the way, we might be stranded on an empty highway.”
Kenneth leaned back in his chair as he gazed at the roaring fire. “Nothing can be certain in this new world. For all we know, Seods might be in both those towns.”
Logan sighed. “I don’t think so. I believe those people we encountered were telling the truth. If so, it looks like the southern part of California is free of Seods.”
“But we don’t know about the northern part. Hell, we don’t even know about New York, Washington, Miami—”
“No, but at least they mentioned Dallas.” Logan stared at the large city on the map. “I don’t know why they would attack San Francisco and Los Angeles before moving inland, but they can stay in Texas for all I care. At least until we find out how to defeat them.” Logan folded the map. “But you’re right. It’s a new world out there, and there’s a whole lot of stuff we don’t know, so we have to assume the worst. For all we know, they may have gone back to the coast. The only thing that’s certain is that they’ll do whatever is best for them. Let’s just hope to God that it isn’t anywhere near us.”
~*~*~
As the sun’s rays shone through the trees and onto the snowy ground, a black Land Rover tore down the nearby highway. Logan drove while Kenneth sat beside him, a shotgun clutched in his left hand, keeping watch for anyone or anything that moved.
The road was largely car free, though numerous vehicles lay here and there, mostly wrecked, and some were just burnt-out shells. Others looked to be in good condition but didn’t work due to missing engines.
They had driven across this landscape when they fled San Francisco three weeks ago, though it looked twice as bad now. They passed several small towns but didn’t stop since they could see that the buildings had been torched.
Logan, who’d been keeping an eye on the fuel gauge, noticed it was dropping faster than normal. He mentioned it to Kenneth.
Kenneth frowned. “We’d better stop and have a look. We might not get to Modesto if it continues falling at this rate.”
Logan slowed down and stopped beside a white SUV. He climbed out and paused as a teen, no more than sixteen years old, appeared from behind the other vehicle and pointed a pistol at him.
“Hands up!” the teen shouted.
Logan stared at him. He was disheveled and wearing blood-stained clothes. Logan put his hands up. “You don’t want to do this, kid.”
The teen tightened his fingers on the trigger. “Don’t call me kid. I’m a man.”
“Hey! Calm down,” Logan said. “If you want—”
“I want your car!” the teen bellowed. “And whatever money you’ve got!”
“I don’t think so,” Kenneth called out as he stepped out from the other side of the vehicle, holding a shotgun.
As the boy swung his pistol to cover the new target, Logan took two steps forward and grabbed the pistol from his trembling hands.
Logan tossed the weapon onto the ground. “Why are you trying to rob us?”
“Please don’t shoot! I just wanted to save my sister.”
“Your sister?” Logan said.
The teen nodded. “Yes, Molly.”
Logan motioned for Kenneth to put away the shotgun. He turned to the teen. “Why don’t you start from the beginning?”
The teen leaned against the SUV. “I’m Derek. My sister and I were staying at my grandmother’s in San Francisco when the Seods appeared. We were in school when all hell broke loose. I had no idea what was happening, but I knew it was bad. Really bad. I tried to find my sister and raced down the hallway, but then the building got struck.”
“By what?” Logan asked.
“I don’t know, a bomb of some sort. Anyway, it was chaotic with everyone running around.”
“Did you find Molly?” Kenneth asked.
Derek nodded. “Yeah, eventually. We tried to get out through the main entrance, but then we saw the Seods. When they started killing everyone, I told my sister it’d be better to be inside. We found a good hiding place behind the bleachers and stayed there.”
“How long did you hide?” Logan asked, respecting Derek more now that he knew what he had been through.
“I don’t know. We lost track of the days. We looked for food during the night after the aliens left the area. Once I was sure they were gone, I led the group to my grandmother’s place, hoping we could hide in the basement. I thought that if we hid there, we’d be safe until things returned to normal.”
“What about your grandmother?” Kenneth questioned.
“I had to bury her myself.” Derek looked at the ground, silent.
“What about your parents?” Logan asked.
Derek looked up. “I don’t know. They were vacationing in Montana for their twentieth wedding anniversary. My sister and I—along with her classmates—stayed in the basement for what seemed like an eternity. By then, gangs of men were shooting anyone in sight as they tried to get control of the city. I don’t know how long we stayed there, but after a while, things got worse. The violence got closer, and I knew that we had to get out of the city. We left just after dawn and attempted to make our way toward the airport, but we were separated. Chased by some men, I stole a motorcycle and fled the city.” He paused as he thought for a moment. “It’s been six days since I last saw my sister. I’ve been trying to get someone who’ll help me, but I haven’t had any luck.” He looked at the brothers. “I just need to get to Carson City.”
Kenneth frowned. “Why Carson City?”
“A guy in Modesto I talked to heard a rumor that the army established a base there and—”
“And you thought that if you told them what was happening in San Francisco they’d help,” Logan interrupted.
Derek nodded. “It was all I could think of.”
Logan looked at his brother. “If the army is there, it would be a good place to go.”
“But that’s over a hundred miles,” Kenneth spluttered. “We don’t have enough gas to get there. And even if we did, it’s a long way to go for a rumor. Besides, if the army is in Carson City, they will get to San Francisco as soon as they can.”
“I suppose so.” Logan looked at Derek. “That guy, the one you talked to in Modesto, do you think you could find him for us?”
Derek nodded. “If he’s at the same place as before. It’s this side of town, up against the side of a small hill. The cabin was hidden by a number of trees. I wouldn’t have spotted it if it hadn’t been for the light shining from underneath the door. I’d been walking for days and was nearly dehydrated. The man let me stay the night. That’s when he told me about Carson City.”
“Did he say anything else?” Kenneth asked.
“Maybe,” Derek replied. “I don’t know. I was so tired that I drifted off to sleep after that. By the time I woke up, he was gone. I didn’t want to waste time, and seeing that he didn’t have a vehicle, I left.”
Logan turned to Kenneth. “A good place to go, wouldn’t you say?”
Kenneth nodded. “Let’s see if we can fix the gas problem with our vehicle first.”
Chapter 3
Logan peered through the bushes as he stared at the cabin. “What do you think?”
Kenneth glanced back down the hill where they had parked the Land Rover in between a couple of pine trees. No one could be seen. “I hope we haven’t come all this way for nothing.”
“He’ll be there,” Derek stated, confident.
“I hope you’re right. Hopefully, he’ll know where to get some gas. At this rate, we have just enough to get back to our own cabin.” Logan brushed past several bushes as he walked to the structure.
The others joined him at the door as he knocked. There was silence for a moment or two and then part of a curtain was swept aside and a f
ace stared at them.
Before Logan could see who it was, the face disappeared and the door slowly opened. The barrel of a shotgun poked out. “What do you want?”
Derek walked closer so that the person inside the cabin could see him. “Remember me? You helped me the other night.”
The barrel withdrew and, a moment later, the door swung open. “Come in,” the man said.
The group hurried inside and sat down at the table. Logan stared at the man as he poked the fire with a stick in an effort to get some more heat out of it.
The dark-skinned man, who was wearing a cowboy hat, wasn’t someone that Logan would want to meet in a dark alleyway. That is, until he saw his face. It was kind looking, with a scar running down it that disappeared underneath his black beard. Bulging muscles and tattoos could be seen through his half-torn shirt.
The man held out his hand. “I’m Xavier.”
Logan shook the hand. “I’m Logan. Derek said you helped him when he was in need.”
Xavier turned to the teen. “Where did you go? I went into Modesto, and when I returned, you were gone.”
“I had to go,” Derek apologized. “Remember how I told you about Molly?”
Xavier turned to the brothers. “So you agreed to help.”
“Well, not really.” Kenneth glanced around the room, his eyes stopping next to the fireplace as he caught sight of a loose floorboard. He glanced up at the middle-aged man. “Where did you get the news about Carson City?”
Xavier stared back at Kenneth, his blue eyes unflinching. “I have my sources.”
“How reliable are they?” Logan asked.
“Seventy percent.” Xavier turned to Logan and pointed to a tattoo on Logan’s wrist. “Did you serve in the 31st Airborne?”
Logan nodded. “Did a tour in Iraq and then two in Syria. It was hell, but nothing like this.”
Xavier cracked a smile. “I had just joined up with the 31st when we entered Iraq during Operation Desert Storm.” He sighed. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen someone from the same division. Those that didn’t die in the conflict got stationed overseas.”