Earth: Population 2 (Paradise Lost Book 1) (9 page)

I pulled my laptop out of my bag and booted it up. Of course, the Internet didn’t work. But, I wasn’t expecting it to. Instead, I opened a file, and the opening credits of
Pirate Crusader
flashed on the screen along with some Irish fiddle music. The view panned from the mast of a ship to a sparkling blue ocean.

It was silly, childish behavior. I only had a few hours of battery left, but I needed something familiar to ground me. I needed a way of escape, at least for a little while.

“What have we got here, my friends?” I spoke the words along with the captain. He stood at the end of the dock wearing his sexy, tight leather pants and billowy cotton shirt. From his neck hung a skull with rubies for eyes, like the one on his feathered hat.

“Oh, it’s just a shipment of rum for the queen.” Spoteye, the grubby pirate working for the Black Blade, pushed by him.

But, you couldn’t pull one past Jay Dovetail. He whipped out his scabbard and stuck the tip in front of the cartload. I spoke with him, “Is it, now? Seems to me the queen doesn’t drink rum.”

I glanced up from the laptop. Lights illuminated the drapes. The Aurora Borealis. Now I’d know if I’d gotten any closer to the invisible ship. I closed the laptop then snuck to the window and pulled back the corner of the fabric. A vibrant green burned in the sky. Brighter than the previous night, the lights filled the entire window.

Through the fluorescence, the lines of a torpedo-shaped ship emerged. Spanning at least three football fields across, it stretched from the edge of town to the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. Before, I’d thought I’d seen the bottom, but, this time, the ship continued right into the land on the horizon. Had it lowered toward Earth?

A shiver crept across my shoulders, and I shrugged it off. Underneath the fear, hard determination emerged. That ship was my single destination. They might have Mom.

I pictured her tied up or behind bars, without her wheelchair, and my stomach turned to SpaghettiOs mush. She’d be so scared and worried about me.

I turned off
Pirate Crusader
as Captain Dovetail jumped onto the railing mid-fight. I had no time for foolish dreams. I had to get sleep. The world, and everyone in it, waited to be saved.

Ruddy light filtered through dark-red floral curtains. They hadn’t looked that hideous last night. I’d tried to stay awake, keeping an eye on the lights from the ship, but exhaustion must have overtaken me. Rubbing my eyes, I pulled them back, and sunlight streamed in. The torpedo ship had disappeared, but I’d seen it, and I had traveled closer to my target. Hope stirred inside me, making my arms and legs anxious.

I jumped from the sheets, ready to find some answers. Not knowing the next chance I’d get to wash up, I decided to try the shower. Cold water spurted all over me, and I shrieked, covering my mouth with my hand. The sound echoed off the linoleum, so loud I thought anyone in the building could have heard it. After my previous experience with the gunshot, I’d learned my lesson with making noise. Chided, I waited under the cold water for several minutes. Hands shaking, I peered around the floral shower curtain.

Ivory tiles, an empty sink, and a countertop so clean, I wondered if anyone had ever brushed their teeth with it. No Sparkies. I had to be more careful.

Goose bumps pricked all over my body as I used the Hilton’s fluffy white towels and changed into new clothes. I wolfed down two granola bars and a can of Mountain Dew. When the world was at an end, healthy breakfasts seemed frivolous. Checking my guns, I left the room and took the stairs down to the lobby.

Sunlight streamed in from the glass doors, illuminating the circular driveway. I froze in my tracks.

Two Sparkies stood on the hood of my car, and a third stared through the windshield. Their tails rode the air currents like jellyfish in the ocean waves, swerving back and forth as if listening.

Dammit.
I ducked behind the reception desk, knocking over a box of pens and keycards. I should have been more careful. I should have hidden the car in the parking garage or left it one street away.

Should I give the car up and go out the back? I had my backpack with the rock. But, the car had all of my supplies. Sure, I could find another one—with the keys in it—fill it with gas, and raid another grocery store, but how much danger would that put me in compared to getting this one back?

Anger coated my fear. You don’t know the person inside of you until fate pulls all the stops, and then, bam, someone you never knew comes out. The Sparkies had taken so much from me. Time to take something back. I straightened, cocked the shotgun, and walked toward the glass doors.

“Looking for something?” I aimed the shotgun at the closest Sparkie’s head.

They hissed in unison, their wispy white hair blowing in the wind. My target was almost bald, with teeth longer and blacker than the others. Its unblinking oval eyes stared at me as though I was an ant waiting to be squashed.

I held my ground. “Tell me where my people are, and I’ll let you live.”

The one on the hood crept toward me, and I pointed the gun in its direction. They’d called my bluff. I used to capture spiders in cups and release them outside so I didn’t have to watch them die. Did I have the guts to fire on a living creature?

Spiders hadn’t taken my mom away. They didn’t plan world annihilation. These creatures did.

One of them lunged at me from the hood of the car. The moment slowed, and I watched the alien soar through the air, pointy fingers spread. A gut reaction tightened my finger on the trigger. The gun fired, and I stumbled back with the recoil. The alien fell at my feet, oozing clear, gelatinous fluid.

My hands shook. I’d just killed something. The reality of my actions hollowed my stomach and dizzied my mind.

Despite the ravaging guilt, I managed to keep my balance and lift the gun toward the other two. I gritted my teeth. “Now, tell me where the others are.”

They hunched in silence. No horror, sadness, or anger filled their abysmal gaze. The Sparkies in the gun shop had run, but these two held their ground. Would I have to shoot them as well, to get to the car?

Suddenly, movement to my right caught my eye then their plan came together like the end of a detective show. They’d held their ground as another one crept toward me.

Smart. Too smart.

As I whirled around to face the Sparkie, its tail whipped out, stinging me in the leg. A painful current of electricity zapped my calf, and I cried out. Before I could recover, the tail hit me again in the back. I fell to the ground, jerking uncontrollably, and the gun slipped from my fingers.

This is it. Some hero I was.

They circled me, holding their tails in the air like cattle prods. I reached for the handgun at my waist, and Baldie zapped my arm. I cried out again, holding it close to my chest. I didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of knowing they hurt me, but every zap stung so hard it felt like my tendons tore apart from the inside out.

The shotgun had fallen out of reach below their elongated feet. I eyed the handgun at my waist, wondering if they’d see me reaching for it. The other one was in my backpack, still strapped to my back. Panic seized my chest, squeezing out my courage.

Baldie reached down to his stomach and pulled something from the folds of his skin. I cringed, thinking it was another torture device. When I opened my eyes again, he held a rock similar to the one in my backpack.

He hissed then clicked his teeth together. Behind him, his tail emitted static pulses as if threatening me.

They wanted the rock.

What the hell was I going to do? I’d just shot one of them. If I gave it to them, they’d kill me. But, if I didn’t, they’d keep stinging me. In some silly part of my brain, I heard a voice.
What would Captain Jay Dovetail do
?

He’d endure the pain until he could find a way out of it. But there was no way out of this for me. Another Sparkie held its tail over my face, and I flinched, wondering how much the electric current would hurt if the tail stabbed my eye. One of the suction cups dripped, and a pearl of ooze fell on my cheek, traveling down the contour to my neck.

A popping noise came from behind them, and I wondered if one of them had somehow stolen one of my guns. Baldie and his friend went down. The third one—the one who’d zapped me in the first place—stared at me for a second before scampering into the building.

“What the?”

A hooded figure darted from the bushes. A human! He ran by me in a blur, chasing the last Sparkie away. His hand closed on my arm, and he pulled me up with surprising strength. “Come on!”

“No.” I yanked him back, but he didn’t turn around. “I’m not leaving without my car.”

“Cars make too much noise.” With his back to me, he pointed a gun toward the door to the Hilton. Despite all of the commotion, I noticed the logo of Twisted Minds Think Alike on his sweatshirt.

No time for discussing musical taste.
“It has all of my supplies. And I’m not a good runner.”

He fired three shots into the building. Sparkies filled the lobby like angry hotel guests. “Fine. Get in.”

I dug my key out of my pocket and unlocked the door. As I plopped into the driver’s seat, I contemplated leaving his door locked and pulling away without him. I hadn’t had a good look at his face. He could be a crazy, for all I knew.

He saved my life.

And he was the only other person left on planet Earth. As far as I knew.

I took my chances and unlocked the passenger door. He jumped in with his hood still covering most of his face. All I could see was the tip of his nose and his chin. Not an old man. In fact, was he my age?

He slammed his door and turned to the passenger window. “Drive!”

I pulled around the circular driveway and onto the road. As I drove, he fired out the passenger window. I checked the rearview mirror. Five Sparkies ran after us, gaining on my thirty-mile-an-hour speed.

“Faster!”

“I know.” Two seconds with him and he already got on my nerves. I remembered the way back to the highway and gunned it. We lost them as I picked up speed. Slowly, he pulled his gun from the window, but he had his back to me again.

I veered around a white Toyota, trying not to lose too much speed. “How did you find me?”

“I heard your car last night, and I tracked the sound to the hotel.”

Even though he sounded kinda stalkerish, he had saved my life. Besides, the more I heard him talk, the more I thought I knew his voice. But from where? A boy at school?

No. I’d heard it recently. But, that was crazy. I hadn’t talked to a soul for days. Unless…the movie last night….

He settled back in his seat and pulled the hood from his gorgeous face. Jet-black hair fell in waves over his ears. Cool blue eyes burrowed into me, stealing my breath away. “Sorry to scare you. I just wanted to make sure we got away.” He held his hand out. “I’m Gale.”

CHAPTER NINE

DARK SECRETS

June 27, 2013, 9:13 a.m.

Day 4

I almost drove off the road. The car swerved, and we hit the little ridges on the side of the highway.

“Whoa.” Gale braced himself against the dashboard. “On second thought, we’ll shake later.”

My mouth froze in disbelief. The one person left on Earth with me was Gale freakin’ Williams.

It couldn’t be. He had to be some sort of look-alike with the same name, or maybe I’d just gone crazy, or, even worse, I’d died and gone to heaven.

“And you are?” Gale’s smooth tenor voice was unmistakable. Hadn’t Captain Jay Dovetail said the same words with the same sexy cadence to the king’s daughter on
The Lady’s Honor
when they first met?

I blinked, trying to remember my name. “Juliette. But, my friends call me Julie.”

“Okay, Julie. Take the next exit. I have a hideout where we can talk.”

Talk? Was this even happening? I shot glances at him from the driver’s seat, making sure I wasn’t hallucinating. Had the Sparkies buzzed reality out of me?

“Why are you looking at me like that? I’m not going to hurt you.”

“I know, I know. It’s just…you are real, aren’t you?” Face palm.
OMG. Did I just say that out loud?

He laughed easily. “I know how you feel. You’re the first person I’ve seen in days. I felt the same way about you when I saw you confronting those little…demons.”

“Sparkies. They’re Sparkies. Or, at least that’s what I call them.”
Doh!
My hands tightened on the wheel. He was going to think I was a total loony toon.

“Sparkies? I like that.”

He liked my lame excuse for a species name. I still didn’t believe what was going on. Could the Sparkies have conjured him from my imagination, and he was taking me to their headquarters right now? “So why didn’t you just knock on my hotel room door?”

“I didn’t know which one it was, so I waited for you to leave in the morning.”

“How did you stay outside without being found?”

He shrugged. “I’m pretty quiet.”

“Oh.” Not like me. He must have thought I was a total whack job marching out like that and asking them questions. I shook my head. “Confronting them was stupid of me. I don’t know what I was doing.”

“I thought it was brave. I hadn’t tried that tactic.”

“Tactic? It was more like blind frustration.”

“Well, that’s about the state I’ve reached these past few days.” He pointed up ahead. “This exit.”

I turned onto the ramp. “What have you learned?”

He crossed his arms and leaned back in the seat. I couldn’t help but notice the hint of dark stubble on the hard edge of his chin and how the fabric of his sweatshirt stretched across the lean muscles in his chest. In real life, he was even more captivating.

He sighed. “Not much. I’m not even sure why you and I are still here and everyone else is gone. Until now, I thought I was the only one. Take a right up ahead.”