Invasion (The Alien Wars #1) (19 page)

“Shut up!” Jet pointed his pistol at Xavier. “Make one more move and I’ll drop you dead where you’re standing.” He turned to
Logan
. “So, what’s it going to be, pal?”

~*~*~

The sun was setting as Molly saw a cave. She didn’t know if it was the cave that Doug had meant, but it didn’t matter. With darkness not far away, any hideout would do. She cried out, “Look!”

Derek glanced up and smiled. “Good spotting.”

The two of them hurried to the cave. After glancing around to make sure that no Seods were around, they walked inside.

They didn’t go far as they didn’t have a flashlight on them, just far enough to get out of the blinding snow. As Molly sat down on a rock and rested, Derek glanced into the depths of the cave. “I wonder where the canned food is.”

“If this is the cave that Doug meant, then the food is probably stored at the back of the cave,” Molly said. “But, as
it’s
dark, we’ll have to wait till Kenneth shows up. And if he doesn’t show up, then maybe this isn’t the right cave.”

“Do you think he’ll have a flashlight?” Derek asked.

“I don’t know, but what else can we do?” Molly stood up and moved over to lay down on the cold, hard rock. “I’m so exhausted from all that walking that even lying here feels good. I can’t be bothered searching in the darkness right now.”

Derek, who was feeling hungry, decided he’d see if he could find anything. Putting his hands out in front of him, he stepped deeper into the cave. Going slowly, he didn’t feel anything for the first couple of feet.

Then his foot hit something. Bending down, he picked up the object. It felt like a can. “I found something!” He walked back to Molly.

As he got to the front of the cave, she saw he was holding a can of beans. He showed it to Molly. She took it from him. “Good. We don’t even need a can opener.”

“Well, that shows that Doug knew what he was doing when he put this stuff here. I’ll see if I can find anything else.” Leaving the beans with Molly, Derek walked back into the cave.

He did exactly what he had done the previous time, and just like before, his foot knocked over another can. After picking it up, he hurried back to Molly.

“I found a second one!” Derek whooped, waiting until he’d reached his sister before he looked to see if it was the same sort as the first can. He frowned. Turning it around in his hands, he stared at it, almost as though he couldn’t believe what he was holding in his hands.

Molly, who was still lying on the cave floor, gazed up at him. “What’s wrong?”

Without a word, Derek handed her the can. He watched as she studied the can of beans. It looked exactly like the first one he had found, except for one thing—there was a big claw mark along one side of it.

Molly stared at the mark. It had evidently been made by something with sharp claws. “Do Seods have sharp hands?”

Derek shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

“So, what does?”

“Ah, well, I’m not that good with biology and that sort of thing, but most of the big mammals
that
 
hibernate
during winter.”

“Whatever made those marks wasn’t asleep.”

“No. You’re right. But I think it’s pretty safe to say that if there was anything in this cave with us, we’d have heard it by now.”

Molly relaxed. “I guess you’re right.” Kneeling down, she proceeded to lie down when she paused. “Hey, did you hear that?”

Derek shook his head.
“No, what?”

Molly stood up and pointed to the back of the cave. “I thought I heard something come from in there.”

“What exactly did you hear?” Derek asked, now a bit scared.

“I don’t know. Just a—” Molly paused as she heard another noise.

This time, Derek also heard it. He slowly started to back away from the dark part of the cave. “I think I heard something as well.”

As Molly saw her brother retreating, she started following him. They’d crept out backward a number of feet before they both stopped in amazement and fright as a creature emerged from the dark mouth of the cave.

Molly was so scared that she screamed as soon as she saw what it was.

~*~*~

Time seemed to slow for Kenneth as he ran down the hill. A million thoughts raced through his head, but none of them involved escape.

Suddenly, the snow started to shift, perhaps due to the green bolts that the Seod was firing. With each passing second, more and more snow tumbled down the slope. Kenneth lost his footing and hit the ground hard.

He couldn’t see what had happened to the creature, but as the avalanche increased speed and thundered down the mountain, he realized that the snow was his biggest problem. With his arms protecting his face, he closed his eyes and waited for the roar of the avalanche to stop.

Logan
locked eyes with Jet. “I can help you kill Sanchez.”

“I don’t need your help,” Jet replied.

“Don’t be stupid, son.” Muscles strode forward and put his beefy hand on the pistol Jet held. “Shooting innocent people isn’t how I live my life, and you shouldn’t either.”

“But if he’s responsible for the killing of those men—” Jet said.

“You don’t know that!” Muscles grabbed the weapon from his son. “I know your best friend just died, but this isn’t how he’d have wanted you to act.”

Jet glared at his father. “John wasn’t just my best friend. He was my only friend.”

“What about Alpha?” Xavier asked.
 

“That’s complicated,” Jet responded.

“Isn’t there a chance that Sanchez found out who Alpha is?” Xavier said.

“I suppose so, but—” Jet replied.

“Xavier’s right,” Baldy interrupted. “We need to get to him pronto and sort this mess out. If we’re in trouble, chances are he’s in trouble.”

Jet nodded slowly. “I hadn’t thought of that.” He glanced at Peter, Xavier, and then Logan. “One of you is a spy. I’m certain of that. And if at the end of this mission I still believe that is so, I’ll kill you all.” He glared at them and then, before any of the three had a chance to respond, he walked away.

As Baldy, Muscles, and Jet had a talk,
Logan
and Xavier also had one, leaving Peter to keep watch.

“After we free Lucy, we’ll need to get the hell out of the building,” Xavier stated. “I’m not staying any longer than I have to.”

“You can leave now if you want,”
Logan
said.

Xavier shook his head. “No. I don’t go back on my word. I agreed to help you rescue Lucy and that’s what I’m going to do. I just hope Jet isn’t right about one of us being a spy. That would only complicate matters.”

Logan
nodded and glanced at the others. They were still talking quietly. “I wonder if they’re talking about us or how to get into The View.”

“We’ll find out soon enough,” Xavier said as the others stopped talking and walked toward them.

Once everyone was in a circle, Muscles made a speech. “It’s clear to all of us that things have not gone according to plan.”

“You can say that again,” Peter muttered.

“Carlos Sanchez is not only a ruthless drug lord, but a calculating and thoughtful man,” Muscles said. “His attack on my men was well planned. If we’re going to have a chance at catching him, we’ll have to do the unexpected.”

“Like what?” Peter asked.

“He’ll expect us to run from here as fast as we can.”
Muscles’s
blue eyes glinted. “But we’re not going to do that. Instead, we’ll do the unexpected and attack The View tonight.”

“Tonight!”
Peter muttered, stunned. “But I thought we’d go and meet with the others. You
know,
the ones that are set up on the other side of the city.”

Xavier frowned. “Yeah, didn’t you say your group was a few hundred?”

Muscles nodded. “Yes. But for all we know, they could have also been attacked by Sanchez. Besides, that’s what Sanchez would expect us to do: retreat, regroup, and then attack.”

“Because that’s the sensible option,” Baldy said.

“Maybe so, but Muscles is right,”
Logan
said. “The last thing Sanchez would expect us to do is attack.”

“Do you have a plan?” Xavier asked.

Muscles nodded again. “We’ll wait for
midnight
.”

“Why not attack earlier?” Peter asked.

“This plan will only work if Alpha helps us out,” Muscles replied.

“What? Why?”
Logan
asked.

“We’ll need him to distract the guard at the side entrance for five minutes,” Muscles said.

“How do we get in contact with him?” Xavier asked.

“Only Jet and I know, and I’m leaving it that way,” Muscles said, his eyes shifting back and forth between the others. “I don’t believe one of you is a traitor, but you never know.”

Logan
looked at his watch. “How long will it take?”

“We’ll be back within the hour,” Muscles said. “Stay here and keep your heads down.”

Muscles and Jet made their way back to the Humvee and climbed in.

Logan
watched them go. “We’d better find a place to hide.” He turned to Baldy.
“Any suggestions?”

Baldy nodded. “I know just the spot.”

“Lead the way then.” Peter glanced around. “We’ve stayed out in the open far too long already.”

~*~*~

As Molly screamed, Derek opened his mouth, but he was too stunned to speak as the creature lumbered toward them.

While camping in
Montana
, he’d seen many black bears, but none were as big as the one confronting him now. As the animal stood up on his hind legs, Derek realized that it was easily six feet tall and probably weighed several hundred pounds.

“We should slowly walk backwards,” Derek said, finally getting his voice to work. Trying to contain his nerves, he stepped back.

“I thought you said bears hibernated during winter,” Molly muttered, also retreating.

Derek nodded slightly. “They do, but winter is almost over, so …” He fell silent as the bear growled loudly and dropped back down on all fours.

Glancing behind her, Molly saw that they still had a few feet to go to reach the trees. “Hadn’t we better run for it? He looks pretty angry.”

As they stepped onto the snow and the black bear lumbered toward them, Derek realized his sister was right. “Let’s hope he doesn’t follow us.”

The teens spun around and raced into a clump of pine trees as fast as they could. It didn’t take long for them to realize the animal was following their every move.

As they left the trees, Derek halted. A Seod stood no more than ten feet away. Molly bumped into her brother, and looking forward, she saw the Seod at the same time as it saw her and Derek.
“Oh no!”

Derek’s brain went into overdrive as the creature pulled out his silencer. Derek raised his hands. “Don’t shoot! Please don’t shoot!”

The Seod stared at the two teens for a few seconds. Then, just as the creature stepped forward, Derek grabbed Molly, and they rushed into the clump of trees.

The Seod fired. As the green bolt headed toward them, Derek pushed Molly into a bush. They hit the leaves, and the bolt continued past, blasting the black bear.

With an angry growl, the animal, now bleeding, lurched toward the Seod.

Derek pulled himself out of the bushes. “Come on, let’s get out of here.” The two teens hurried away, leaving the two creatures to fight it out.