Invasion (The Alien Wars #1) (10 page)

A moment later, the stranger lost his patience. “Come down from there!”

Logan
looked at Xavier. “Should I answer?”

“Delay him. Mutter something in a foreign language.
Anything to keep him from being suspicious.”

Logan
hollered down in Spanish, using a few words that he remembered from school. A moment later, the man shouted back.

“What did he say?” Xavier asked.

“I don’t know. Should I say something else?”

“Let’s wait. Every second gives the others more time to escape.”

The two of them peered through another window, careful not to be seen. The seconds passed by. They watched as the man shouted again,
then
called to the others.

As two of them advanced on the front door, Xavier took his
Glock
and aimed out of the window. “Open fire when I do. And don’t let anyone get away in the Humvee.”

As the two men reached the door, Xavier fired.
Logan
joined in. The two men collapsed on the road. The others ran for cover. Not knowing where they were,
Logan
concentrated his fire on the two Humvees, aiming for the tires.

After disabling one, he went for the other, but then shells poured through the window. He pulled back and saw that Xavier had done the same.

They waited in silence as bullets pounded the woodwork. Once the bullets had stopped,
Logan
went back into position. But before he could aim at the remaining Humvee, bullets from another direction started nicking the wood. He pulled back and turned to Xavier. “Let’s move. The others should have escaped by now.”

Xavier followed
Logan
down the stairs, stopping as Joseph hurried up. The man handed
Logan
three sticks of dynamite. “Here’re the explosives. The others are waiting in the shed.”

Logan
took the dynamite and handed one to Xavier. “Light one and throw it out the front door. While that distracts them, I’ll throw mine toward the Humvees. Just give me a minute to get into position.” He turned to Joseph. “Do you have a lighter?”

“No, but you can take a candle,” Joseph replied.

Logan
took a lit candle and hurried outside. He got into position and waited. Half a minute later, he heard an explosion. He quickly lit his sticks and hurried forward. Once he was in view of the Humvees, he chucked the sticks toward them with all his might.

As soon as they left his hands, he turned around and sprinted back to take cover in the back garden. Bullets chewed up the dirt near him. He somehow melted deeper into the ground. Suddenly, two large explosions rocked the area. He smiled grimly. That was the end of those Humvees.

Xavier and Joseph were waiting for him at the back door. “Good job,” Xavier said. “I hate to leave the Land Rover, but there’s no telling if those men radioed for help beforehand. The sooner we get out of here, the better.”

The three hurried to the shed. Satisfied everyone was
safe,
the group crept farther down the block.

“What’s the game plan?” Kenneth asked.

“We need transportation.” Xavier looked around. “If we go to the road, we might come across a vehicle we can use.”

The group made their way onto the road and was soon walking down it. Before long, they saw an abandoned bus.

Xavier went to the driver’s side and climbed in. The keys were in the ignition. He started it up. It spluttered and then came to life. He saw that it had some gas left. He guessed that the driver had pulled over as soon as the invasion happened, and no one had touched it since.

He switched it off and hurried back to the others. He had just told them about the status of the bus when he heard a noise.

Xavier pulled down his night-vision goggles and turned to the others. “Logan, Kenneth, follow me. Everyone else, lie down.”

“What? Why?” the group called out.

“Just do it. There’re two vehicles coming this way, and I want them to think you’re dead.” Xavier hurried into the bushes as everyone lay down.

Logan
stared through the leaves as a Humvee and motorcycle came closer. “I hope your plan works.”

“A bus is good, but a Humvee will provide a good place to shoot from if we’re attacked. And it’s much faster than the bus.” Xavier went silent as the vehicles came to a stop.

They watched as the men climbed out. Before they could ascertain if the people were alive, Xavier and the brothers emerged from the bushes.

“Hold it right there!” Xavier flicked his safety off.

The men went to fire their weapons, but the three reacted faster. Within seconds, all four attackers were dead.

As the brothers collected the men’s weapons, Xavier went to the bus and started the engine again. He opened the doors and everyone piled in.

The brothers loaded the weapons and ammo in the Humvee. Kenneth started the vehicle while
Logan
climbed aboard the motorcycle.

Logan
roared up beside the bus and spoke to Xavier. “Let’s head west until we hit the coast. That way we should evade anyone that tries to find us.”

Xavier nodded and waited for
Logan
to take the lead. Once he had, he slammed the bus door shut and followed
Logan
while Kenneth took the rear.

~*~*~

A new day dawned as the vehicles left the outskirts of
San Francisco
. After a while, the convoy pulled over and everyone climbed out.

Kenneth turned to
Logan
. “We did it!”

Logan
nodded as he looked at Derek and Molly, who were holding hands. “I didn’t think we’d be successful.”

Derek looked up from talking to Molly and, after a glance around at the other people who had been rescued, turned to the three men. “I think I say this for everyone when I say thanks. We couldn’t have got out without you. I also wouldn’t have been reunited with Molly.” He hugged his little sister. “She means the world to me and, well, with our parents probably dead, she’s all I have left.” He smiled as he tried to hold back tears.

Logan
’s voice choked as he thought about Lucy. “I’m just glad I could help.” He cocked his head at Xavier. “Where should we go?”

“
Carson City
.” Xavier explained for the benefit of the others. “I have a contact up in the
mountains who believes
a large group of men—a thousand or more—are camped near
Carson City
. They’ll have a place set up where you can get some food and rest.”

“What if they’re foreign soldiers?” someone moaned.

“Does it matter?” Kenneth replied. “As long as they’re not Seods, anything is better than staying here.”

“Will we have enough gas to get there?” someone else called out.

“I don’t know,” Xavier answered. “We’ll see. If that’s all, let’s get going.”

As everyone climbed back into the bus, a middle-aged woman with frizzy black hair paused and stared at
Logan
. “Are you Logan Pollack?”

Logan
frowned. “Yes, how did you know?”

“I read all the gossip magazines. You were due to be married to Lucy Thorn just before the attack, right?”

Logan
nodded. “Yes.”

The woman grinned. “I never thought you’d be alive.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m a reporter. I was doing an article on your wedding and saw your helicopter getting Swiss-cheesed by aliens.”

Logan
sighed as he thought back to that fateful day.
“Yeah.
That was something else. I survived, but I can’t say the same for Lucy.”

The woman gasped. “Oh, you don’t know?” She paused.
“Of course not.
Forget it.” She dashed away.

“What?”
Logan
hurried after her. “Do you know something about Lucy?”

The woman hesitated and then nodded. “But it might be best if I don’t tell you.”

“Is she dead?”
Logan
had been dreading asking that question to someone who might know the answer to whether or not Lucy had survived ever since the
attack,
and today wasn’t any different. But he needed to know. As much as it would hurt him to know that she was indeed truly dead, he had to know for certain. For as long as there was a chance, even if it was slim to none that she was still alive, he would keep on hoping.

“No, but she’s as good as dead,” the woman replied.

“What do you mean?” Kenneth asked as he joined his brother, who was so stunned that he couldn’t speak.

The woman fidgeted with her hair before answering. “Carlos Sanchez.”

“What does he have to do with Lucy?”
Logan
asked.

“He’s taken her under his wing. She goes with him almost everywhere he goes.”

“What? But Lucy wouldn’t do that,”
Logan
spluttered. “Not the Lucy I knew.”

“She doesn’t have a choice. It’s that or …” The woman paused. “Well, you get it.”

“What’s holding us up?” Xavier asked as he strolled over.

Logan
turned to Xavier. “Lucy’s alive.”

Xavier smiled as he shook his head in disbelief. “Well, what do you know? Where is she?”

Logan
quickly explained. As he did, the smile left Xavier’s face.

The war veteran turned to the woman. “Where does Sanchez have his headquarters?”

“The tallest building in the city,” the woman said.

“The View,”
Logan
said.

The woman nodded. “I’m sorry I couldn’t bring better news.”

Logan
hugged the woman. “Thanks. You’ve helped tremendously.”

The woman hurried back to her friends as a man called out, “What’s taking so long?”

“Just give us a minute!”
Logan
turned to Xavier. “I’m going to rescue Lucy, but in case I fail, tell the soldiers about Sanchez when you reach
Carson City
.”

Xavier shook his head. “It’s too risky.”

Kenneth stared at his brother. “We were lucky to get to
Daly City
and back again without encountering too many men. God knows how hard it will be to get to the outskirts of
San Francisco
itself, let alone Sanchez’s headquarters.”

Logan
glanced at the motorcycle that was parked nearby. “If I take that, it’ll be easier to slip through.”

“And then what? Do you think you can just stroll up to Sanchez and demand to have Lucy back?” Kenneth said.

Logan
felt in his coat pocket and pulled out the key pass that Donald had given him. “This should give me access to any room in The View. I’ll wait till he’s asleep and try something then.”

“Is the pass going to work now?” Kenneth asked.