Invasion (The Alien Wars #1)

by Paul Moxham

  “Help!” Molly’s shout echoed over them.

  Kenneth and Doug rushed through the trees and arrived at the snowmobile in seconds.

  Kenneth glanced down the hill. His heart caught in his throat as he saw the Seod hurrying up the steep slope toward them. The explosion should have liquefied the creature, but it hadn’t even slowed him down. However, he could see some blue liquid dripping onto the snow as it came toward them, and he realized the Seod was injured.

  After climbing back on the snowmobile, Doug gunned the machine as fast as it could go. “I’ll head for the ski slopes.”

  Kenneth nodded as he glanced back at the creature. As a green bolt shot from the silencer, he hollered at Doug to head to the left.

  He repeated this process several times. Then, luckily, they reached the other side of the mountain. As they roared down one of the ski slopes, Kenneth relaxed a bit. They had a clear run of flat snow for the next few miles or so.

  Even though the Seod appeared injured, he seemed to have no trouble running down the hill that was thick with snow—at least, that’s what Kenneth thought as he glanced back every minute. He leaned forward. “How far do these ski runs extend?”

  “Quite a few miles in either direction. We’re approaching Monument Peak so they end there, but they continue west of the peak.”

  Kenneth scratched his neck. “I assume you’re heading for that cave you told us about earlier?”

  “Where else?”

  “Well, why don’t we just go up and down the different ski runs first?” Kenneth suggested. “Once we’ve lost the Seod, we can head for the caves.”

  Doug nodded. “Good idea. There’s plenty of gas in this machine, so we might as well use the slopes to our advantage.”

  Kenneth glanced back as the snowmobile slowed and made a left turn. As they did so, green bolts hit the snow around them. Knowing that it probably wouldn’t make a difference, Kenneth took his pistol and aimed it at the Seod.

  He missed. Holstering his weapon, he patted Doug’s shoulder. “Speed it up!” Without comment, Doug roared up the hill, spurting snow on either sides.

  Chapter 12

  With everyone helping, it didn’t take long to push the old sedan across the intersection. Once it was in place, Logan turned to Baldy. “Are you sure they’ll think that you’re with them?”

  Baldy glanced down at the army-type uniform he was wearing. “Like I said, this is what they have started to wear. But if they ask me for the password, then we’ll be in trouble.”

  “Couldn’t you have gotten the password from the same place that you got that uniform?” Xavier asked.

  “They change the password every two days, so no.” Baldy glanced at his watch. “Five minutes to go.”

  The group got into position. While Baldy stayed near the motorcycle, which was near the sedan, the others retreated up the road. Logan and Peter hid behind a car on the left side of the street, while Xavier hid behind some trash cans on the right side.

  Five minutes passed in no time, and suddenly they heard two vehicles coming toward them.

  Logan frowned. “Baldy didn’t mention anything about a Humvee.”

  “Maybe it’s a new addition,” Peter said.

  “Either way, we’ll have to continue as planned.” Logan released the safety catch on his pistol and waited as the two vehicles approached the intersection.

  As soon as they stopped, the person in the Humvee climbed out and started talking to Baldy. As soon as this happened, Logan, followed by Peter, raced across to the Humvee and, bending down, tiptoed along the edge of the vehicle, their weapons clutched tightly in their hands.

  With the intersection blocked by the sedan, the people in the truck wouldn’t be able to drive away, but Logan wasn’t concerned about that. They had to catch the men by surprise because the people in the Humvee had cover.

  Logan could hear raised voices between Baldy and the other man. The driver and passenger door opened, and the men climbed out at the request of Baldy. They needed all the men to move the sedan.

  For some reason though, the man who had climbed out of the passenger side door was carrying a shotgun. As his feet touched the ground, he saw them. Swiftly aiming his weapon, the man opened fire.

  ~*~*~

  Derek had enjoyed the sled ride for the first few miles, but now his bottom was starting to get a bit sore. He was glad when the snowmobile came to a stop at the top of a ski run a few moments later. He gingerly climbed off, eager to stretch his legs. He glanced around. “So, did we lose the Seod?”

  Kenneth nodded. “I haven’t seen any sign of him for the last five minutes.”

  “We’ll head to Monument Peak in a minute or two and hide out there for a bit,” Doug said. “There’s some canned food there. It’s not much, but it’s something. We can head down to South Lake Tahoe later and get us a ride to Sparks.”

  “It’ll be good to get out of all this snow,” Molly said.

  Derek frowned as he looked at his sister. “I thought you liked snow.”

  “I like having snowball fights, but I don’t like sitting on a sled for half an hour,” Molly explained.

  “I see,” Derek said. “Good thing we got these clothes earlier. It’s very cold.”

  Doug glanced up at the overcast sky. “Looks like a storm is building. Best if we get to the cave as soon as possible. Wouldn’t want to be stranded out here if a blizzard came our way.”

  Kenneth looked at his watch and was surprised at how early it was. “I think you’re right. It does seem pretty dark this early in the day.”

  He glanced around once more as the others climbed back on the snowmobile and froze. He had just seen some movement in the trees below. He waited for a moment or two. He wanted to be certain. This time he saw the Seod for a lot longer as he went from one tree to the next. He sighed in annoyance and anger. “We’ve got company.”

  “Where?” Doug asked, standing up.

  Kenneth pointed. “Just behind that tree.”

  “You’re certain?” Derek said, also looking back.

  Kenneth nodded. “Looks like we didn’t lose him after all.”

  “Let’s get away from here before he sees us.” Doug climbed back on the snowmobile and gunned the engine.

  The machine zoomed up the hill. Glancing back, Kenneth saw that the Seod had heard them. It didn’t hesitate as it charged their way.

  “Go as fast as you can!”

  Doug nodded and cranked up the speed even further. The needle on the speedometer went higher and higher. As Kenneth glanced back and saw the sled bumping around quite a bit, he thought that they’d better slow down. He signaled Doug to slow down a bit, and as they rounded a bend, he reduced his speed.

  No sooner had they rounded the bend than a green bolt smacked a nearby tree.

  “What the …” Doug glanced around and spotted a Seod heading toward them. “How the hell did he get there?”

  “No idea, but hit the gas!” Kenneth fired his pistol at the Seod as the snowmobile roared across the snow.

  The snowmobile steadily climbed up the mountain as it shot up the longest ski run in the area. Kenneth stared back down the hill, looking for any movement. He saw no one.

  He began to relax, and then as they reached the top, he spotted a Seod walking up from the other side of the ski run. Before he could tell the others, Molly hollered, “Oh no!”

  Everyone looked where she was pointing and spotted three creatures climbing up the hill that they had just come up.

  “Shoot!” Kenneth cursed. “I thought it was just one persistent Seod, but now it makes sense.”

  “God knows how many there are,” Doug said as he gunned the engine. “Hold on tight everyone. I’ll have to put the pedal to the metal if we’re going to survive.”

  The snowmobile roared off across the snow. Derek and Molly ducked their heads as green bolts hit the snow. A few ineffectively ripped through the body of the snowmobile, not causing any apparent damage.

  Kenneth f
ired his pistol, but the bullet didn’t seem to hurt the Seod. He pocketed the weapon and hung on tight to Doug. The snowmobile swerved to and fro as Doug maneuvered the machine through the trees.

  After emerging on the other side of the trees, the snowmobile headed back toward Tahoe Summit Village, when another Seod emerged from the thicket of trees.

  Molly gripped her brother’s waist and held on tight as the snowmobile veered right and left, winding its way up the mountainside. Luckily, none of the bolts had hit them, but it was only a matter of time.

  Just as Doug swerved to the left, a green bolt hit one of the ropes that connected the sled to the snowmobile.

  “Agh!” Molly cried out.

  As Kenneth looked back at her, he saw the sled sliding to the left and right. He grimaced. “Hang on tight.” He leaned forward and shouted in Doug’s ear, “We have to slow down. One of the ropes split.”

  “No!” Derek cried from below.

  Kenneth glanced back and saw that the other rope had broken. Now all that connected them to the teenagers was the rope Derek was gripping in his hand.

  “Hang on!” Kenneth turned back to Doug. “Slow down. I’m going to see if the rifle has an impact on him now that he’s wounded.”

  Kenneth grabbed Doug’s rifle and fired. The bullet hit the Seod’s leg and bounced off. Trying again, he aimed for the helmet in an effort to distract the alien. He missed.

  Before he could fire again, a green bolt hit the back of the snowmobile. The impact caused the vehicle to swerve to one side. The sled followed, and Derek lost his grip on the rope.

  The teenagers cried out as the sled continued heading to the right while the snowmobile turned left.

  “We’ve lost the sled!” Kenneth took an impotent punch at the air. “Turn around!”

  ~*~*~

  At precisely the same moment the shotgun went off, Logan fired his pistol. Both men raced the falling brass to the ground. Peter, unhurt, hurried over to Logan and helped him up.

  As Logan got to his feet, he heard punching and shouting coming from the other side of the vehicle. As blood dripped from his arm, he tore off part of his shirt and wrapped it around the spot where the blood was coming out. The two of them then hurried around to find that both soldiers were lying on the ground.

  “Looks like you did better than me,” Logan said.

  Xavier frowned as he examined Logan’s arm. “Looks like it’s just a flesh wound. We’ll patch it up when we get back to the warehouse.”

  Logan nodded and turned to Baldy. “Why didn’t you tell us about the Humvee?”

  “Don’t blame me. I didn’t know. They must have added it as a security measure.” Baldy looked at his watch. “The boat will be arriving in ten minutes. We don’t have time to waste. Let’s move the sedan and get going.”

  “But there’s four of us and only three of them,” Peter pointed out.

  Baldy nodded. “One of us will have to head back to the warehouse.”

  Logan thought. “Well, Muscles wanted to see if Xavier and I could do this job, so we should stay.”

  “And I know the layout of the pier,” Baldy stated.

  “So that leaves me,” Peter said.

  “You could always be our backup,” Xavier said.

  “That’s fine. I’ll just head back to the warehouse,” Peter replied.

  ~*~*~

  As soon as the sled headed away from the snowmobile, Derek knew they were in trouble. And when the Seod decided to chase after them, he knew that they were in deep trouble.

  As the sled bounced over the snow and headed toward some trees, he realized that the only way they’d have a chance at outrunning the creature was if they went downhill.

  Seeing that the downhill slope was toward the right, he waved his arm at his sister, “Lean to the right! We have to go down the hill.”

  Molly, with her hands firmly wrapped around her brother’s waist, leaned to the right as much as possible.

  “Not that much!” Derek yelled as the sled started to tip over.

  “Sorry!” Molly replied.

  Green bolts hit the snow all around them, getting closer every second. Then, just when Molly thought that one was going to hit them, the sled dipped down and their speed increased.

  It had reached the downhill slope. Both Molly and Derek breathed a sigh of relief. They’d spent the last four winter holidays in Aspen, Colorado and were well versed in skiing and sledding.

  “Do what I do,” Derek said. “If I lean left, you lean left. If I lean right, you lean right, okay?”

  Molly nodded as she glanced back at the Seod. The creature had narrowed the gap ten seconds earlier, but now, on the downhill slope, the teenagers had opened up a slim advantage.

  As well as this, since the Seod was running down the snowy slope, his aim was not as good as before. None of the green bolts even came close. Before long, the Seod stopped shooting and concentrated on running.

  Molly quizzed Derek, “Do you think he’s after the briefcase?”

  “Probably,” Derek said.

  “But why is he chasing us then? Can’t he see that we don’t have it with us?”

  “I don’t know,” Derek shouted back. “Just concentrate on getting down the mountain and hope that Kenneth comes after us soon.”

  Molly looked back up the mountain but couldn’t see any sign of the snowmobile. But since they were traveling along a small trail and swerving back and forth amongst the trees in an effort to lose the Seod, she didn’t think that she would see them.

  “Maybe we should head for one of the ski runs!” Molly jerked her thumb at the closest one. “There’s no way the snowmobile can follow us there.”

  Peering behind him, Derek saw that the Seod wasn’t having the best of time running down the slope, sliding here and there, but he was still keeping up. If they were going to make a move, now was the time.

  “Okay!” Derek shouted back. “Let’s head left.”

  ~*~*~

  Kenneth looked over his shoulder as the snowmobile thundered down the slope. They still hadn’t seen any sign of the sled and, making things worse, there was a Seod right on their tail.

  “Go faster!” Kenneth ducked down as far as he could.

  Doug shook his head. “I can’t! I’m going—” He paused as the snowmobile was hit by two green bolts in quick succession. The sudden impact made the machine swerve to the right and over a rock.

  The snowmobile leaped into the air before it came crashing down. Kenneth lost his grip on Doug’s waist and flew off the snowmobile, hitting the ground with a thud. He watched helplessly as the machine plowed into a tree.

  “No!” Kenneth rushed up to the snowmobile as fumes poured out of the engine. He quickly checked Doug. He was dead.

  Anger shot through Kenneth. He glanced back at the Seod as more green bolts hit the motionless machine. After grabbing the skis that had been tied to the side of the snowmobile, he turned and raced deeper into the woods.

  He had just taken a couple of steps when a thunderous fireball erupted. The exploding snowmobile showered fragments down from the sky.

  Luckily, none hit Kenneth. He stumbled to his feet and hurriedly put the skis on. Grabbing the poles, he started skiing down the hill, desperate to put distance between him and any aliens.

  Chapter 13

  As the guard let the Humvee and truck go through into the harbor, Logan, who was driving the truck, breathed a sigh of relief. They were not on the home stretch yet, just a little bit closer.

  A man indicated where Logan had to park. He stopped the vehicle, climbed out, and went around to the back of the truck.

  Once the back of the vehicle was open, the men from the boat started carrying the goods from their vessel to the truck. Logan wasn’t sure what to do, so he and Xavier leaned against the vehicle. He looked on with interest at the boxes being piled into it. There was fruit, canned food, ammunition, weapons, and even gas cans.

  Baldy leisurely walked over. “Sit tight. We have someone
coming.”

  Logan casually glanced around and he caught sight of a smartly dressed man striding toward them.

  “Hey!” called out the man. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  ~*~*~

  Kenneth stared in shock. Two hundred feet up the hill were the two teenagers. They were sitting by their wrecked sled. A Seod was striding toward them, a silencer in his hand.

  There was no way he could cover the two hundred feet in time to save the teenagers, so he did the only thing he could think of. He raised his pistol into the air and fired, not stopping until he was out of ammunition. As he did so, he cried out, trying to attract the creature’s attention.

  “Hey! Over here! Hey!” Kenneth stopped as the Seod turned. He grabbed the briefcase out of the backpack and shook it about in his hands, making sure that the creature saw it.

  Within seconds, the Seod had turned and was sprinting down the hill toward him. Kenneth hurriedly packed the briefcase into the backpack and started skiing away.

  Green bolts slammed into the snow around him and he realized that if he were to survive, he had to concentrate. He took hold of the poles just a little bit tighter and pushed them just a little bit deeper in the snow as he zigzagged through the trees, hoping he’d be able to lose the Seod.

  ~*~*~

  When Logan didn’t answer, the man pointed to the boxes that were still on the vessel. “Go and move those or I’ll report you to Sanchez!”

  “Yes, sir. Right away, sir,” Logan said. “Come on, men.”

  As the man watched, the three of them went to the boat and each grabbed a box. As they walked back and placed the goods in the back of the truck, the man walked away.

  Logan threw a glance at Xavier. “Phew, that was close.”

  “Let’s just hope that no one else comes and disturbs us,” Xavier said.

  “They won’t, as long as we do the job. Come on, let’s get the rest of the goods.” Logan hurried to the boat, and talking between the three ceased.

  As the last of the boxes were carried into the truck five minutes later, and the men who had helped them walked away, Logan turned to Baldy. “Are we done here?”