Slowly, Jeb breathed out through his parted lips. “Like the chow mein noodles gave us the antibodies, the video game was a prep. If you think about it, I bet those damn instant noodles are a favorite among gamers. They targeted the male and young.”
Tate muttered. “The strong. The army.”
“Wait. Wait.” Robi held up her hand. “You guys are believing this?
“And you’re not?” Jeb asked. “Man, and they call me dense.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Robi snapped. “Whether I believe it or not, I think we have a safe place.” She turned to Tate and Nick. “Go prep the others, let’s bring them and the stuff down here. This whole area is big enough for everyone and our supplies. Nick, you can work the lifts, right?”
“Yep. I know the codes,” Nick said. “We should be able to settle in the residential area after …”
“Just ...” Robi cut him off. “Go get the others.”
No sooner had she spoken those words than a loud squeak rang out and the huge double metal doors slid open.
The doors were taller than twenty feet, made out of thick steel, they couldn’t have moved easily. One man in his late sixties, plump around the waist, stood in the doorway.
He carried a clipboard. “I … I know there are more of you. I saw from the camera. I’m Edward Jarvone.”
At the same time, Bishop and Nick looked at each other speaking almost in shock. “Jarvone.”
“Close enough,” Nick said.
“Jarsone, Jarvone. Dude,” Bishop shook his head.
“Excuse them,” Robi told him. “We’re not all like this.”
“We have many like those two. You took out those creatures, thank you.” Edward stepped to them. “We haven’t been able to circulate the air in over a week.”
Robi questioned. “Circulate the air?”
“Yes. While we have our own ventilation system, we also have a system that works to circulate fresh air when the lift is down. It makes it rather nice in here. It’s not too bothersome with the few people we have down here, but I suppose as we grow to maximum capacity, we’ll have to do it more regularly. Tell me …” He faced Robi. “I saw, or thought I saw, a craft landing. Tell me you brought a craft.”
“We did. We had to salvage the larger one, and we took it apart as best as we could.”
“Wonderful.” Edward shook hands with everyone. “We are excited to meet you. We were merely guessing on the crafts and are assuming they are nothing like we have here. After all, they are a different species, right?”
Bishop had to ask. “Is there a Colonel Green here?”
Robi groaned. “Bishop.”
Edward waved his hand. “No, no, quite all right. We’ve been asked that question a lot. You’re referring to Earth Abounds, right?”
Bishop nodded.
Edward continued. “Then as a game junkie, you know that that game takes place years after the first invasion when most of the big invasion is stuck in the time loop and are coming in spurts. We’re awaiting Colonel Green as well. But he doesn’t come for years. Which means we have years to prepare.”
Jeb interjected. “Not really. We already ran into them.”
“Science crews. Nothing to worry about yet, or so we’ve been told. More will come, and we will battle. But nothing like we will see.”
Tate shook his head. “This game, was it really a message?”
“Yes. It was designed by our outer world helpers. Some details are off, or will be. We aren’t sure which ones. This whole structure was built and then the game designed around it. It was to lure people here.”
Jeb asked. “Did it work?”
“Absolutely,” Edward nodded. “They come steadily on a whim and chance. Haven’t seen anyone since those things stayed on top. Then there are some who arrived just because.”
“Just because?” Robi asked.
“Well, yeah, alien invasion. We’re Area 51, so it doesn’t take a rocket scientist, no pun intended, to figure out this is where you head.
“I guess we missed the rocket scientist memo,” Robi said. “Apparently, my son and Bishop aren’t that big of game junkies if they didn’t think of it. If this alien race, not the hostile one, wants to live on Earth and help us save it, why don’t they fight the Loomis?”
“I asked the same question, and I learned there are enough to help, but not enough to fight. They are a sovereign race. It’s not like Star Wars where they can zap an incoming ship. They can help with weapons and usage. Besides, this is our world, our life, and we as mankind have something no one else in the universe has.”
“What is that?” Robi asked.
“The courage and conviction to make the last stand, fight the last fight, to never give up until the last moment. The will to survive,” Edward said. “That is unique. That is Earth.”
Chapter Seventeen
SC City
“And he died shortly after. Four months later I think,” Robi explained. “I really liked him, but his scientific team lived on. They’re still with us.”
Reese wanted to say ‘wow’ but thought that was immature. He went to take another sip of his drink, but his glass was empty. Robi refilled it and he thanked her.
Hours had gone by, and it moved from evening to dawn as the story of the humble SC beginnings unfolded. But as the hours moved on, it wasn’t just Robi talking, many other people moved out of their tube homes and joined in the conversation.
The steps grew crowded as people sat, and everyone added to the story, each of them giving Reese a piece of the puzzle.
Robi stayed close to Reese.
He looked at her gloved hand as she retracted the bottle. “That explains the glove. I was wondering about that.”
Robi made a fist. “It works awesome. It just looks funky.”
“You guys have been steadily building since you arrived?” Reese questioned. “How many people were here?”
“Close to a hundred,” Robi answered. “Our little town square is the original lift. That’s why this whole area was easily conformed. It had already been dug out for us.
“This is amazing,” Reese said. “What about his video game?”
Bishop decided to answer. “Like Edward said, it was designed by our ally aliens to a certain extent, and we use it as reference. They have the ability to move through time. Time is irrelevant to them. They just can’t stop the invasion. They have to fight it and will do so with us when the time comes.”
Jeb said, “Which is soon. We believe it. Those things that attacked you guys, those drones, we never saw them.”
Nick interjected. “Which is why we’re convinced you are Colonel Green.”
“Me? Reese laughed. “I’m not. How do you figure?”
Nick answered. “In the game, Colonel Green arrived late. He’s a pilot. So are you are. Green. Grey. Close enough. You’ll fly one of the crafts.”
Reese only smiled. “We’ll see. You have to understand, I am still taking all of this in. A couple of weeks ago, my life was normal. I had even started to like the cooking channel.”
“If there’s such a thing as a science fiction world,” Robi said, “we’re it.”
“Speaking of which,” Reese said. “I have to ask. The Atranda DNA. BJ got infused and he’s agile. Jeb hulks out, and Bishop is really tolerant of high temperatures.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Bishop nodded. “Make fun. But I came in handy in the desert, I tell you.”
“When did you get your memory back?” Reese asked Jeb.
“I didn’t.” Jeb gave a sad shrug. “It never came back. I am still missing those months.”
“But you two are married,” Reese said.
“As I said,” Robi stated. “If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be. It was meant to be.”
Reese looked around at all the people. “Who is Michael?”
Robi’s head lowered.
“I’m … I’m sorry. What happened?” Reese asked. “Unless you don’t want to tell me.”
Jeb explained, “We thought at first he was killed, but we never found him. Not trace. He wasn’t the first, and he won’t be the last. Just like with Hawk, he disappeared without a trace. Vanished.”
“But we don’t know for sure they vanished like Hawk,” Bishop explained. “He’s fourteen thousand miles away.”
“And who has them and why,” Robi said, “remains to be seen.”
<><><><>
He was almost finished with that humongous bowl of Ramen noodles. Hawk didn’t know why he was eating so much. Boredom perhaps, but it certainly wasn’t hunger. He had never been that hungry in all his life.
As if a silent bell had rung, everyone stood, happily chatting away, and after placing their bowls in a neat stack in the center of their tables, they began to file out.
Not Hawk. He still didn’t have a clue what was going on, who had him, and why, so he was staying put.
He watched almost everyone file out except for one odd guy. A huge man, muscular and hairy, with a rough face. He wore a gladiator style outfit with his hulking chest exposed. Just as he thought to himself, ‘get a load of this guy’, he headed Hawk’s way, and he did not look happy.
He towered over Hawk and grunted. After peering into Hawk’s bowl, he then growled. “You waste. People starve for specks of food, and you leave some remains.”
Hawk wanted to laugh and ask the guy if he were joking, but he could clearly see he wasn’t, so he refrained from displaying his sarcasm for a moment. “That was a lot of food.”
“It is needed.” His voice grew stronger. “You are a disgrace, sitting here and wasting while others are eager to train. A coward does not balk from …”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, down a step, Spartacus, I just got here, and I haven’t a clue what you’re talking about.”
Before the man could open his mouth, another voice entered the room.
“Hey Gus, I got this,” said a fit and trim, light skinned black man as he walked up to the table. “He’s new. I’ll bring him.”
“Twenty lashes for you if you do not.”
“Got it.” He gave a thumbs up, and Gladiator man walked away.
“Wow,” Hawk said. “That was weird.”
“He’s intense, but he knows his stuff.” He extended his hand. “I’m Michael.”
“David Hawk. But just call me Hawk.”
“Nice to meet you.”
Hawk stood. “Same here. Are you the welcoming committee?”
Michael laughed. “No, it’s a sort of learn as you go and learn from others. I just thought I’d help you out because we seem to be from the same time.”
“Same time?” Hawk asked.
“Well, up here time is irrelevant, as you will see.” Michael began walking and Hawk followed. “I feel like I have been here only a couple of weeks, but I know it’s longer. You just talk and look like we were part of the same... history.”
“Well, I don’t know,” Hawk said. “I’m not sure what mine is considering I was on a space flight, and when we returned the world had gone to shit. Everyone had died, and these things …” He shook his head. “We were on our way to a survivor camp when we got into the accident. I don’t know what happened after that.”
“In space?
“I’m a science officer for NASA, or was.”
“Wait.” Michael stopped walking. “Were you on the Galaxy?”
“Yeah, how did you know?”
“Wow.” He shook his head. “A woman I was with, our leader, someone very special to me, always talked about the Galaxy being lost and one day returning, because it was supposed to return the day of the drop. Her father … was on the Galaxy.”
“Who was her dad?”
“Gene.”
“Oh my God, he’s an amazing man,” Hawk said.
“Yeah, well, Robi is an amazing woman.” Michael led him to an elevator.
“Where are we going?”
“Training.”
“I’m lost.”
“Yeah, well, we all were. The aliens who have us really only communicate with us from what they learned on television. They monitor our TV’s.”
Hawk laughed. “That’s hysterical.”
“Oh, wait. You and I think it’s funny, but some don’t understand why I laugh.” The elevator opened. “This entire level is training. You’re about to be overwhelmed.” Michael walked to a large door. “And I thought that was really cool how you figured out right away who he was.”
“Who?”
“Spartacus.”
Hawk’s eyes widened. “Spartacus? That’s Spartacus? I was being facetious. How is that Spartacus? Oh... Oh, I know my history. He disappeared without a trace.”
Michael nodded and placed his hand on the reader. The door slid open. “Spartacus trains our fighters, and I believe he does very well.”
Overwhelmed was an understatement. The training bay was wide and huge. Hawk couldn’t even see the other side. There weren’t just humans, there were also aliens with the humans. And there were more people in the bay than in the dining room.
Hawk shifted his eyes. To the right, Spartacus worked on hand-to-hand combat with at least two hundred people. There were also men working on objects in classroom settings.
“What is this place?” Hawk asked.
“The training bay. You know how I said time is irrelevant here? Well, all of these people, at some time in their life, at some point in history, disappeared from the face of the Earth. No one knows why or where they went. They came here. Each of these people were chosen for their skills. They are the highest skilled people in all of mankind. Soldiers, scientists, pilots.”
Hawk tilted his head and pointed to the music. “Who is the guy leading the big band?”
“Glen Miller,” Michael replied. “I couldn’t figure out why he was here, and then I realized it’s for music. He’s brilliant. Our aliens watch our movies, and they think we do every action sequence to music. Hence, training to songs.”
“This is unbelievable. There are hundreds …”
“Thousands.”
“All handpicked.”
Michael nodded.
“Wow, I’m surprised they didn’t snatch up Jesus Christ.”
“Ever hear the saying, He ascended into heaven?”
Hawk heaved out a disbelieving, “No.”
Michael shrugged.
“Are the aliens gonna help us fight?”
“There aren’t that many, but they already helping. This is helping. This is preparing.”
“This is amazing. All these people brought together to create the world’s greatest army.”
“To defeat the world’s greatest threat.”
Hawk was breathless. Everyone trained with such seriousness and conviction. No matter what year they were from, they were all drawn together for a common cause. Hawk felt honored to be chosen. He didn’t know what he could contribute, but he would do his best to live up to the honor bestowed upon him.
Not long before this, he had been just sipping a beer and watching television. Now, he was suspended thousands of miles above Earth with the most elite individuals training to save the world.
It was a lot to take in and was, to say the least, overwhelming.
But with that much energy, conviction, and strength drawn together, Hawk was sure that even though they may lose a battle or two, without a doubt, they wouldn’t lose the war.
There was no way, no how, they would or could lose. What was in front of him was just a fraction of what remained on Earth.
Past or present, the spirit was the same.
Hawk was filled with faith and hope, two things he didn’t take lightly. The training bay was a demonstration of what lie ahead. Mankind was resilient.
Mankind would eventuall
y prevail.
<><><><>
The Last Mile – The Readers Reference Guide
The Last Mile Trilogy consist of the first three books of The Last Mile Series. It is a Post-Apocalyptic series that deals with humanity battling not only to survive, but to conquer an alien invasion and subsequent colonization of the Planet Earth.
The first two books are two completely different survivor accounts of the same event, taken at different times. The third book, Earth Abounds, ties the survivors together and brings them all into one book to officially launch the series and the battle against man’s extinction.
The reference guide is designed to refresh and reunite the reader with the main characters from both books, along with basic storylines that impact the series.
A Path to Utopia – Book One
In a single instance, eighty percent of the world just drops dead. The rest wither away or are picked off by the second wave of the alien attack by creatures known as Atranda. The story focuses on a group of survivors as they trek across a barren United States following a radio signal in hopes of finding other survivors. The radio signal comes from Southern California. This is forever referred to as ‘So Cal’. Along the way, they discover the frightening truth about what has happened to their world. The survivors keep the name So Cal as their community name even though they reside outside of California.
Main Characters
Roberta ‘Robi’ Pierce – Robi was a nurse before the drop occurred, and was on her way to work. She lost her husband and two daughters during the drop. Oftentimes emotionless, Robi is strong and is the undeniable leader of the group. She started a small group in Pennsylvania, and after meeting Bishop, she led them west.
Nick Pierce – Robi’s seventeen year old son. He is upbeat and spirited. He gets along well with others and has the most faith and optimism.
The Last Mile Trilogy Page 65