Paige was instantly worried the force was too much and that she might have killed him. Luckily Dave’s chest was still moving up and down. She gave a relieved sigh as she saw him breathe.
She took hold of his boots and dragged him along the floor towards the others. Paige was getting Dave off this spaceship one way or another.
“Stand in those circles. Quick!” AJ commanded.
Paige looked at him curiously. “Why?”
“Listen,” her mother snapped.
Unwilling to waste any more time, Paige did as she was told. Soon, she could hear the pounding of boots on the floor. They were coming!
“Quickly! Just do as he says!” Angela snapped and glared at her daughter sternly while standing in a circle.
Paige got on one of the circles, pulling Dave motionless body onto it.
Everyone except Peter stood on a circle. Peter sat on one, but rose once he saw Paige.
She watched AJ, but he didn’t move to stand on any of them. Instead, he stood by a control panel.
“AJ, what’s going on? What are you doing?” Paige asked a bit impatiently.
“I’m activating the beam’s connector. The floor beneath you will open, and the beam will safely carry you back down. Just don’t move, ok?” he explained, not lifting his eyes from the screen. I can’t believe what he just said.
“Wait, AJ! What about you?” Paige demanded. “Aren’t you coming down with us?” Her voice sounded a bit shaky, but she hoped no one realized it.
“No, Paige. You go down first, and I will find you,” he replied, pausing for a moment to flash Paige her favorite smile. “I’ll meet you at the Maryland NASA base, where your Dad works.”
“But how will you get down?”
AJ shook his head. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll find an escape pod.” AJ’s voice was shaking, too, even though Paige could see he was trying to control and hide it as she did moments ago.
The beams surrounded her, and everything turned blue as Paige looked through the light. Surprisingly, it didn’t hurt her eyes at all. She watched in amazement as the floor opened beneath their feet.
Dave’s body was tugged away from her. The Hosts had arrived and were trying to keep Dave on the spaceship. AJ fought with the Hosts, and Paige used all her strength to keep Dave in the beam of light, but she wasn’t strong enough.
“I’ll protect him!” AJ yelled. The next thing Paige knew, she was swiftly moving down through the beam with her mom, Willow, Peter, and Tilley right by her side. Dave and AJ were still on the spaceship.
* * *
The beams faded, and AJ sighed in relief that they were gone. They were safe—at least, for now. As he stared at three Hosts, wondering how the hell he would get out of this mess, he realized he didn’t have much hope for himself. It was three against one, and by the time he beat them—if he beat them—more would certainly come.
Then again, he’d already won. His goal had been to save Paige and her family, and he succeeded.
“This doesn’t have to be your last day,” Francis said.
AJ was about to silence him, but something in his gut told him not to. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means, if you’ll listen to me for five seconds, I’ll help you get out of here.”
AJ took several steps back as the Hosts descended upon him. “Why would you want to help me?”
One of the Hosts rushed forward, and AJ ducked, narrowly missing a punch to the face. He retaliated and hit the man hard in the stomach before jumping back.
“If you die, I won’t have a host. Good ones are hard to find, and I’ve become rather interested in you. I was just starting to get used to all the little annoying things you do—like ignoring me. That’s my favorite. Now, are you going to listen to me or not?”
The Host he’d punched had recovered and was stalking toward him with the other two closes behind.
“Do it. Help me. But just so you know, I’m not giving myself up to them, and I am getting out of here with Dave alive. Got it?” AJ said.
He could hear Francis laughing in the background of his mind. “See? Why would I want to miss this…? Just follow my lead. If you can find your way around this ship while using my knowledge, you can fight, too.”
The Host AJ had punched ran forward, and this time, AJ felt incredibly confident. He dove to the floor, tumbling over once before throwing a leg out. The man tripped, and AJ pounced on him quickly, smashing his head against the floor.
Just as he was about to stand, another Host grabbed him from behind. He wrapped his arm around AJ’s neck and pulled. AJ elbowed him twice in the ribs, forcing the Host to loosen his grip.
The last Host charged at him while he was still held by the other. He lifted his leg and kicked the charging opponent hard in the chest, throwing him back several feet. He used the momentary distraction to release himself from his captor’s hold.
AJ spun around and kicked the man in the side of the knee, dropping him to the floor. He hit the man hard in the back of the neck, and AJ could hear the sound of bone breaking. He doubted it would kill him, given their fast regeneration time, but it would paralyze him long enough to get free.
After taking two hits to the face from his final opponent, AJ ducked down and rammed his shoulder into the final Host’s stomach before taking him down to the ground. He chose to end things quickly, as he had with the last, and severed the spinal column.
Breathless, AJ stood and looked over at Dave. “Francis, thanks for the help, buddy.”
“You did all the hard work. Are you ready for some fun now?”
AJ narrowed his eyes. He wasn’t exactly sure he wanted to get involved with Francis and anything he considered to be “fun,” but his instincts told him to go with it.
“Why the hell not?”
* * *
There wasn’t enough time for Paige to start worrying about what was happening as the ground rushed towards them. They stopped just inches above the ground and gently hovered there. Paige looked around in confusion.
Now what? she wondered. She decided to take a tentative step forward, and that did the trick.
Stepping out from the beam, Paige watched as her mother and the rest of the gang did the same. Peter even grinned as he jumped, and Paige was reminded of Dave once again. They had that same smile, and her stomach tightened.
They stood in the same place the beam had taken them from in the first place. In the middle of the deserted main street. Paige looked up at the sky as if needing to be reassured the spaceship was still there, and it was. She hoped and prayed to see AJ and Dave coming down after them, but they didn’t appear. Anxiety built inside her.
Please, AJ, she silently begged as she looked at the spaceship above.
“Paige, I don’t think he’s coming,” Willow said sadly, accurately guessing what was on her mind.
“Come on.” Angela placed her arm around Paige’s waist and took Willow’s hand with the other, slowly leading them down the road. The city was so quiet that the buildings around them took on an eerie presence. Paige felt exposed. She wanted to hide just like her mother had always suggested.
“I’ll keep you safe, just like when you were little girls,” her mom said, trying to reassure them. “Remember the wardrobe I used to hide you in? Those were the good old days, heh.”
When she said something like that, Paige could never be one hundred percent sure if she was joking or not.
“But what about AJ and Dave?” Paige asked, not bothering to hide her whiny tone. She wasn’t yet ready to let the spaceship out of her sight.
What if he changed his mind? Paige hoped, glancing at the spot they’d landed, but nothing was there except an empty street each time she looked.
“Let’s hide in this building. Don’t worry about him. AJ said he’ll look after Dave, and that boy had better!” her mother replied.
“Will we be safe there?” Tilley asked.
“Yes,” Angela replied with confidence.
With
that, their little chat about AJ was over. Her mother’s behavior regarding AJ was all over the place, but she couldn’t expect anything different from her. After trying a few doors, their mom found a door that was open, and she ushered them inside. Reluctantly, Paige followed her sister into the abandoned condo while holding hands with Peter. Not many people remained in the city, and Paige was painfully aware of that. This apartment was small and full of boxes. It looked as though the tenants had only recently moved in and didn’t even get the change to fully unpack. Her mother immediately went to check for a wardrobe and found one that was nearly empty. There was also a small window that looked out toward the spaceship, and Paige parked herself next to it.
She stared out the window, waiting for an escape pod. The hope that AJ and Dave would join them any minute now still hadn’t fully abandoned her.
“Paige. He told you he’d meet us at the NASA base, don’t you remember?” Her mom tried to reason with her, but it was useless. She sighed. “You’ll meet him there. We only need to get there in time. We can’t be late.”
Paige simply nodded in return.
At that precise moment, the spaceship suddenly exploded in an earth-shattering BOOM. The detonation was so strong that the whole building shook at its foundation, and the glass windows shattered.
Paige instinctively turned away, protecting her head, but she could feel a few shards finding their mark. Ignoring the pain, Paige jumped back up to the window only to see a massive spaceship in flames.
He blew up the ship, Paige couldn’t believe it even though the proof was right in front of her. He blew it up! Where are they?
The spaceship began to plummet to Earth, and a trail of thick black smoke followed it. Fiery parts of the wreckage found their way to the ground faster and caused even more damage in the already ruined city.
The whole thing crashed in the opposite direction of their apartment building, causing an additional earthquake. Paige couldn’t take looking at the wreckage anymore. She crumbled to the floor, hugging her legs tightly.
“Paige… Paige! Get up and look!” Angela announced.
She laid there for a few moments, terrified to move, but her mother dragged her up. She got to her feet and looked out the window. To her surprise, Paige saw a smaller spaceship flying away. It was an escape pod!
Paige jumped for joy. “He did it!”
Chapter Twenty-One
Bodies were scattered across the ground from the spaceship, and by the looks of it, they were all dead. Several others who were on their feet didn’t last long and quickly collapsed before dying in the street.
“Help,” Paige heard someone choke out before succumbing.
What is happening here? Paige wondered.
People started coming out of the buildings and falling in the street.
“You think it’s because of the explosion?” Paige asked in shock.
“I guess so,” Willow replied with a shrug, looking up at her. There were bags under her eyes from everything she’d been through. She spoke so softly, it was almost a whisper.
It appeared that those who had been infected with the black mass were dying if they weren’t already dead. Paige suddenly remembered AJ saying that if the black mass was inside them, they were already dead.
Did that mean when the ship was destroyed, they became officially dead? Paige wondered, though the evidence was right in front of her eyes.
The black mass was inside of me, Paige reminded herself. For some reason she felt compelled to look down at her hands. She expected to see the black mass coursing through her veins before it killed her as well, but nothing like that happened.
Why am I still alive? Why am I not dead? Not that she would complain about that.
Once again, Paige thought she was still a functioning human being, despite the black mass inside of her.
They weren’t out of the woods yet. They still had to reach the NASA compound. They were all so young, but it felt like they’d done all the heavy lifting while the adults did nothing or hid the truth from them for so long. If only her father had come when all this mess started and picked them up like the rest, then maybe they could have avoided this mess. “Paige,” Angela said suddenly. Despite sounding calm, Paige knew she was anything but. “When we get to Maryland, I’m going to ask your father why he didn’t come get us.”
Despite her previous matching thoughts, Paige frowned, feeling the need to defend him.
“Dad told me he couldn’t. He was being held prisoner there,” Paige explained.
Paige looked at Willow to see if she agreed with her, but she stayed silent and once again turned her attention to the scene outside.
Poor Willow, Paige suddenly thought. Her sweet little sister had seen things no little kid should see.
They were still here, and they needed to continue fighting. So, all their sacrifices wouldn’t be in vain.
“We mustn’t lose a second. We should go. Who knows how important or fatal one second can be,” Angela said.
“Come,” Paige said and took Willow and Peter by the hand. Together, they silently followed Angela out of the apartment and to the streets.
“Wait,” Angela said, forcing them all to stop. “I need my stuff. Hopefully it’s still just a few blocks away.”
The gang headed back to where Angela had been hiding, and luckily, her bags were still there.
Angela rummaged through one of the pockets and pulled out her amber bracelet. She slid it on, and she was no longer glowing.
Once they collected the bags, they started making their way through the city again, and Paige noticed that it was almost empty. The spaceship that was to blame still burned in the background, and there was a terrible smell that lingered in the air because of it.
Walking in those moments, Paige felt like this wasn’t a real town that was once full of life, drama, and all kinds of commotion. It was instead some set of some post-apocalyptic sci-fi movie. She’d never seen such a thing before in her life, and it felt odd being there. All the destruction and dead bodies that littered the streets gave new meaning to the phrase “all alone in the world.” Even though they’d seen a few people walking here and there, it was obvious they were in shock. They aimlessly walked about, unsure of what to do or where to go next.
“Go to the NASA compound,” Paige tried to tell them, but no one listened.
“Paige, stop doing that,” her mother snapped at her while frowning.
“Why?” she asked in return. They were the last survivors, and they deserved a chance to get out of this hell, too.
“Just do as I say,” was her mother’s only response.
Paige let it go, too tired to argue anyway.
“This is so sad,” Paige said, mostly to herself as she looked around.
Nobody answered her because there were no words to describe the total devastation that surrounded them. Each one of them was too lost in their own thoughts.
“Mom, will we be able to reach Maryland? What’s your plan?” Paige asked once they retrieved their stuff. Of course, her Mom had the most, so even Peter had something to carry. Paige only asked because she needed something to distract herself.
Her mother smiled while picking up her pace. “We’ll walk during the day, and we’ll hide during the night. What else can we do?”
Paige nodded. “I guess you’re right. Hiding is the best.”
Despite her reply, Paige couldn’t help but shudder, remembering the past twenty-four hours of her life.
The aliens had destroyed the world, the entire freaking world. How can one recover from that? Can the world?
As they walked, Paige took note of more spaceships on the horizon. They were far from them, but they existed, and they were here in the Earth’s atmosphere. There had to be more of them, too. She imagined they were in the outer-atmosphere, far enough away they just couldn’t see them all.
AJ blew up one ship, but there were still many more. Somehow, his efforts and sacrifice appeared to be in vain. That small act o
f rebellion didn’t accomplish anything.
And then it occurred to her that her mother always talked about the good aliens fighting on their side, but where were they now when they needed them the most?
They aren’t here. They’d abandoned them all to die!
At that moment, Paige hated all the aliens, no matter the side they claimed to be fighting for.
Still looking at the spaceships, Paige wished she could blow them all to smithereens with her thoughts alone.
Suddenly, Tilley started to sing. Paige frowned, recognizing the song. It was “Shut Up and Dance” by Walk the Moon. She had a lovely voice, and a catchy song was infectious. Pretty soon, Willow smiled and joined in, and even Paige decided to sing a verse or two.
The song really brightened the mood. It was Peter who started to dance right in the middle of the street, doing the moonwalk, then the running man. It wasn’t long before the girls joined in. Paige was amazed by their ability to bounce back so easily, and she was grateful for that.
While Willow, Peter, and Tilley continued to sing along, Paige decided to have a chat with her mom.
“Mom, do you think those spaceships are far enough away from us?” Paige asked.
“Yes, they are,” her mother replied instantly. “But it doesn’t mean they can’t come closer.”
“Is our last name really Moon?” Paige asked.
She laughed. “What do you think?”
“Nope.”
“That’s my girl.”
The kids moved on from singing to doing impressions. At the moment, Tilley was imitating a famous actress, and Paige couldn’t help but laugh.
“Let’s walk this way. It’ll take us out of the city,” Angela said, taking the lead.
They followed her and headed for Maryland. On their slow travels toward the NASA compound, they would pass by people, but her mom made their group avoid them as much as was possible.
“Don’t look at them,” Angela warned. “Who knows who they are? They may be Shadows interested in you. Try to be invisible, ok?”
The children nodded, petrified of the idea of being taken again.
Inhabitable (Invasion Survivor Book 2) Page 22