by Nate Castle
“What I’m more worried about is where did those three stray aliens go?” Logan said.
Of the four that had exited the first craft, one appeared to be dead from Logan’s bullet, but the other three had disappeared from their sights.
“I don’t know but I think those are the bots that Garrett was telling us about,” Thomas said.
On the ground below, three bots appeared from the hatch of the new craft. They moved towards the building until they were no longer visible to Logan and Thomas because they were directly below. A sound erupted that could be compared to a high pitched chainsaw.
“Whatever that sound is, it’s not good,” Thomas said.
A sound voice came through the radio.
“Boys this Hank, we’re safe for the time being inside a parking structure. We have eyes on the bots, it appears that they are destroying the foundation of the building you are on, trying to collapse it. Over.”
“Thanks Hank, stay safe, we’ll see you shortly, once we figure out how to get off this rooftop, Over,” Thomas said.
Logan did a quick walk of the perimeter to see what their escape route options were.
“There’s no easy way out of here. We can risk taking the stairs or we can jump,” Logan said.
“I’m with ya brother. The stairs won’t work, the possibility of the building collapsing before we make it to ground level is too high and also we’ll have to fend off four bots when we do make it down there,” Thomas said.
“If we get a running start, we should be able to shoot the gap and land on that other rooftop,” Logan said.
“President Kaplan, you should probably get out here ASAP, over” Garrett said.
“On my way, I’ll go around the back of the building to avoid the bots, yeah?” President Kaplan said.
“Yep, you have a clear route as of now,” Garrett said. He saw a door swing open and President Kaplan hustle outside towards the tree stand where Garrett was positioned.
Kaplan climbed the makeshift ladder on the tree and found a spot next to Garrett to sit. Garrett didn't need to say anything for Kaplan to realize why he had been summoned outside. The four bots had spread out around the perimeter of the machine shop. Each one had an LED screen with an image showing that looked like a heat signal map. Except, it wasn’t heat that the bots were detecting, it was the locations of the super chips and also the landmine grid. Every time a red circle would appear on the LED screen, the bot would shoot some sort of projectile at the target which destroyed it. Once the superchips were destroyed, the bots did the same with the landmines. This time though, it sounded like a 4th of July fireworks show with each landmine that exploded.
“Un-believ-able,” Garrett said.
“I guess it’s time for Plan B?” President Kaplan said.
“It’s now or never, I can feel the building starting to tilt,” Logan said.
He walked back to the far retaining wall of the roof and began his approach, like a pole vaulter in a track meet would. When he got within 1 yard of the opposite retaining wall he lept over it and began to free-fall. Thomas looked over the ledge and witnessed Logan land on the roof of a smaller building. The only problem was he landed hard, hitting his head on a metal ventilation box that was location near the edge of the roof. He didn’t get up as he was probably concussed and knocked out from the impact. Now Thomas knew he had to make the jump and clear the ten foot gap between buildings. With Logan down, he had to get there to check on him, make sure he was still alive. Thomas walked back to the far ledge, just like Logan had did, but decided to approach from 20 feet to the right to hopefully avoid that damn ventilation box. Before he went, he gave the hammies and calf muscles a quick stretch. His approach was slower than Logan’s but he figured he could make up for it with his leg strength on the jump. He cleared the ledge and began his descent before landing unharmed on the other roof.
“What is Plan B?” Garrett said.
“Let me get back to you on that. C’mon let’s get inside, we’ll be able to better form ideas in there,” President Kaplan said.
Kaplan reversed down the tree ladder. Garrett had other ideas. He grabbed ahold of a jury-rigged rope that had been attached to the tree and used it as a swing.
From the ground Garrett waited for Kaplan to get down the ladder.
“C’mon, move your ass!” Garrett said.
“That’s not a way to talk to the President,” Kaplan said.
“Here we go now, getting all full of yourself,” Garrett said as he chuckled, “But seriously though, there is no excuse not to maintain an elite fitness level for life in general. You’re gonna have to start training after all of these distractions have ended.”
“Granted we make it through all of these alien distractions,” Kaplan said.
“Give me a little sample of what young Kaplan was capable of, I’ll race you to the door. On your mark, set, Bro! Woah, woah, woah Kap get back here!” Garrett said.
President Kaplan didn’t listen and continued sprinting until he reached the back entrance to the machine shop. The bots were a few hundred yards away, but weren’t as intimidating of a threat as the real aliens were. Garrett, with no one to race now, hustled to the back door.
“Kap, you cheated, I never said ‘Go’. I said ‘Bro’, we’re gonna have to call that one a DQ for Kap, so it will go down in the record books as Garrett winning the race,” Garrett said.
“I can’t believe how you can be joking around at a time like this. You’re nuts!” Kap said.
“Wait, I don’t think I should go inside just yet,“ Garrett said, “I have some superchips in my pocket. If I stay within 100 yards of the alien craft, assuming there are aliens inside, they won’t be able to exit the craft. This will buy you guys on the inside some time to come up with Plan B. Once aliens do exit the craft, we won’t have much time to act.”
“Okay. Answer me this, how do you plan on avoiding the bots? Surely they will come after you, you won’t simply be able to stand in front of the craft at attention,” Kap said.
“For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. I’ll play it by ear,” Garrett said.
“What are you frickin’ Isaac Newton now? You must be on drugs or something. Well I wish you luck out there buddy, make me proud,” Kap said.
“Alright that’s enough of this. I’m going out there who’s coming with?” Hank said to the others in the parking garage.
The majority of the team said ‘yes’ in unison. Hank led the way out of the parking garage on foot. He was strapped down with as many weapons and explosives as he could carry.
“I shouldn’t have to tell any of you this, because I hope you’re not this dumb, but don’t go anywhere near that building when it falls. A fire and many explosions will likely be the result of it crashing down,” Hank said.
The skyscraper that Logan and Thomas had jumped from, was now leaning at a 75 degree angle, it was a matter of minutes before it would fall. The parking garage was a safe distance away from the impact zone. From outside the garage, they could formulate a better strategy because none of their view was blocked. Hank saw one of the three remaining aliens enter buildings at the far end of the block. The other two were back at their craft, not appearing to be doing anything.
“You all approach their craft from different angles, start firing the alien bullets when you get about 100 yards away, and then use your judgment from their. Make sure if you have to deal with the bots, that you switch to your regular assault rifles. I need four of you to come with me,” Hank said.
“Logan, can you hear me?” Thomas was kneeling over Logan, who still hadn't moved since the fall, but finally fluttered his eyes open.
“Yeah, what the hell happened,” he said.
“You hit your head when you landed on this roof. I thought we lost you there for a minute buddy, you gave me a real scare,” Thomas said.
“It’s gonna take more than a head injury to take me down. C’mon Thomas have a little faith!” Logan said.
“I actually like riding solo, just you and I,” Logan said, “There are less distractions and also everything that goes wrong is on me which I have grown to appreciate. It’s kind of like team sports versus individual ones. I had a buddy who was big into tennis and he told me one of the reasons he liked it so much is that there is no one else out there with you to lay the blame on; if you lost a match it was your fault and you needed to get better. Have you made contact with the rest of the team though?”
“Yes, while you were knocked out, I spoke to Hank. They left the parking garage and are going after the aliens and bots,” Thomas said.
“Okay well let’s do the same, but from higher ground. Or another play is we hijack the alien craft down below. That would really diffuse the situation,” Logan said.
President Kaplan and a group of others were huddled around a TV monitor inside the machine shop, viewing a live feed of what was going on outside, courtesy of the security cameras mounted on the building. They watched as Garrett moved closer to the bots. They were stagnant, doing nothing at the moment, as if they were recharging. When Garrett was arms length away he carefully reached underneath a bot, what could be considered its belly, and pulled a black wire with all his might. This wire was the guts of the bot. Garrett was expecting the bot to come at him, but it didn’t and the wire pull was successful.
“No way what a bad ass,” Noel said, “Did he just disable that bot with his hands?”
“Yes but don’t celebrate too much, he’s not safe yet,” Christina said.
Garrett moved on to the next bot and attempted to repeat the process. This bot and the other two sprung to life though before Garrett had the chance. He began running to put some distance between him and the bots, so that he could stall for a moment and think about his next move. He headed for the tree stand, which was the only place he could think of that could buy him a minute or two of time. He made it up the tree stand ladder with the bots trailing not far behind.
“Do you think he’s safe in the tree?” Noel said.
“Nope, but maybe it will buy him some time to think about his next move,” President Kaplan said.
“Speaking of next moves, what is ours going to be?” Christina said.
“That is to be determined, hang tight. It’s also based on how successful Garrett is at disabling the bots,” President Kaplan said.
Garrett, remembering he had stashed an assortment of weapons in the tree stand grabbed what looked like .45 caliber pistol and pointed it at the approaching bots. He began to fire, but put the gun down shortly after. The bullets that he fired all ricocheted from the bots’ armor, not causing any noticeable damage.
“They have bulletproof armor, I couldn’t have guessed!” Noel said.
They watched Garrett’s expression shift in disbelief. The bots modified their hydraulic orientation, so that their tracks were tilted forward instead of down, and started driving up the tree. Garrett with no other option now, jumped from the stand. It was too high of a jump to safely land on the ground, but that wasn't his goal; he grabbed ahold of the rope from the swing on his way down. The rope swing hadn’t been reset in the tree stand after the last time he used it; he had to make up for that mistake now. It was a pretty incredible jump, and he stabilized himself on the rope, then slid down it until he reached the ground. The bots reversed down the tree to follow Garrett. Garrett saw a golf cart parked on the side of the machine shop building and darted towards it. He hopped in the driver’s seat and turned the key to on. Before he could drive away, a flash of light struck him in the left leg and knocked him out of the seat onto the grass below.
“Mother of God, the bots just shot something at the super chips in his pocket. Let’s hope he’s not hurt too bad. Time for Plan B. Christina, how comfortable on a scale of 1-10 are you with flying the alien craft. 1 meaning you’re going to have an accident in your pants and 10 being an expert,” President Kaplan said.
“I’d say about a 3,” Christina said.
“Ok so you’re saying you’re probably going to pee your pants a little bit, but nothing to the point where you’ll be requesting a cleanup on Aisle 2?”
“I’d say you categorized it perfectly,” Christina said.
14
Worth The Gamble
Garrett lay on that spot of grass not moving. Noel couldn’t take it anymore, she ran outside to check on him. President Kaplan was close behind, knowing they needed to get Garrett inside right away, regardless of whether he was alive or dead. Out of respect, they couldn’t leave him there for the aliens or bots to play with.
“Quick you hold his legs,” President Kaplan said to Noel.
Together they picked him up and carried him back to the machine shop. As they were reaching the door, they witnessed some activity coming from the Zyrgian craft. Four Zyrgians exited and were looking directly at them. President Kaplan and Noel made it inside the machine shop and got everyone’s attention.
“Listen up, now it’s time for the real deal. There are four aliens and four bots outside. Christina is going to fly the craft as a distraction so that the aliens focus on the craft which gives us a window of opportunity to fire our weapons at them. I need volunteers to join Christina on the craft. The rest of you will be on the front lines with me.
“I’m going on the craft, and bringing Garrett with me,” Noel said.
“Ok good luck out there,” President Kaplan said.
Still holding Garrett, they carried him onto the craft.
Christina was ready to rock ’n’ roll with piloting the craft; when all of the volunteers had boarded she began to lift it drive it forward towards the large garage doors at the south end of the building. Someone from the group pulled the chain to open the doors and now Christina had wide open space to fly the craft. With no need to gain speed before gaining altitude, she lifted off the ground. It was only about a second before the craft was at a comfortable height of 75 feet above the ground. The four aliens that were walking towards the machine shop stopped in their tracks when they heard the whirring sound of the craft and saw it flying overhead. They immediately turned around to head back to their own craft.
“On my count, 3-2-1!” President Kaplan said to his team, who opened the door and began firing their anti-alien guns at the four aliens who were facing the opposite direction. One appeared to make it inside the craft unwounded, but the other three were riding the struggle bus, as they kept getting hit by Hank’s custom bullets.
BOOM!
The front wall of the machine shop was blasted open and the team took cover. One of the bots had driven through the wall and was heading directly towards the team.
“It’s licensed to kill, we have to get out of here,” President Kaplan said.
President Kaplan and the nine others followed him up a staircase.
“The roof is our best option right now. If we go on the ground, those things will mow us down. At least on the roof, it will take the bots a few minutes before they can collapse the structure of the building.” President Kaplan said.
From the roof, they had VIP seats to the alien show on the ground. The alien that escaped started up its craft, you could tell from the pulsating green and purple lights.
And then something incredible happened. What looked like 1 million gallons of water started falling from above. They looked up to see where it was coming from. Christina’s craft was responsible. When the water-like substance hit the ground it formed a solid material, perhaps crystal or glass. This glass was formed into a rectangular box with walls on all four sides and a ceiling. From the looks of it, everything inside the box, including the aliens and their craft, was trapped for the time being. It was a thing of beauty, as the bots repeatedly failed to damage the box.
“Oh no, you see in the corner there? That’s two of our men,” President Kaplan said, “They must have decided to bullrush the aliens, they weren’t too fond of my
roof idea.”
“How are we gonna get them out of the box?” a team member said.
“We aren’t. As you can see, the bots aren't having any luck opening the box, so I doubt we will either. It’s unfortunate, but we have to forget about those two guys and keep fighting the good fight,” President Kaplan said.
“So you’re going to leave them to die?” the team member said.
President Kaplan didn’t respond, instead choosing to rest his case.
“Garrett! Hello!” Noel said with tears of joy, after Garrett opened his eyes.
“What the…., why are we…” Garrett said.
“Relax, we’re okay, I’ll explain,” Noel said.
He looked up at the video monitor which depicted everything that was going down on the ground below. He turned his attention to Christina who was in the pilots chair of the craft and said, “What is that glass box?”
Christina said, “I don’t know its anatomical structure, but what I do know is that I pressed a series of buttons, a liquid was released from the craft and when it landed, it formed the solid box, trapping everything inside.
“That sounds like something I would have done, pressing a bunch of buttons to see what happens,” Garrett said.
“I know, I was thinking of you while I was doing it,” Christina said.
Noel interrupted the conversation, “Garrett follow me I have to show you something.”
Garrett did as he was told, and Christina, who still had to fly the craft couldn’t do anything to stop this. She did wonder if Noel actually had to show Garrett something or if she was full of shit and just wanted to get Garrett to herself, away from Christina. Noel led Garrett down a long hallway in the craft and then up what some would consider an elevator, except there were no doors; it was simply a platform that began to rise once they stepped on it. The elevator stopped when they reached the 2nd level.