Invasion (The Alien Wars #1) (5 page)

~*~*~

As the sun’s rays shone through the trees and onto the snowy ground, a black Land Rover tore down the nearby highway.
Logan
drove while Kenneth sat beside him, a shotgun clutched in his left hand, keeping watch for anyone or anything that moved.

The road was largely car free, though numerous vehicles lay here and there, mostly wrecked, and some were just burnt-out shells. Others looked to be in good condition but didn’t work due to missing engines.

They had driven across this landscape when they fled
San Francisco
three weeks ago, though it looked twice as bad now. They passed several small towns but didn’t stop since they could see that the buildings had been torched.

Logan, who’d been keeping an eye on the fuel gauge, noticed it was dropping faster than normal. He mentioned it to Kenneth.

Kenneth frowned. “We’d better stop and have a look. We might not get to
Modesto
if it continues falling at this rate.”

Logan
slowed down and stopped beside a white SUV. He climbed out and paused as a teen, no more than sixteen years old, appeared from behind the other vehicle and pointed a pistol at him.

“Hands up!” the teen shouted.

Logan
stared at him. He was
disheveled
and wearing blood-stained clothes.
Logan
put his hands up. “You don’t want to do this, kid.”

The teen tightened his fingers on the trigger. “Don’t call me kid. I’m a man.”

“Hey! Calm down,”
Logan
said. “If you want—”

“I want your car!” the teen bellowed.
“And whatever money you’ve got!”

“I don’t think so,” Kenneth called out as he stepped out from the other side of the vehicle, holding a shotgun.

As the boy swung his pistol to cover the new target,
Logan
took two steps forward and grabbed the pistol from his trembling hands.

Logan
tossed the weapon onto the ground. “Why are you trying to rob us?”

“Please don’t shoot! I just wanted to save my sister.”

“Your sister?”
Logan
said.

The teen nodded. “Yes, Molly.”

Logan
motioned for Kenneth to put away the shotgun. He turned to the teen. “Why don’t you start from the beginning?”

The teen leaned against the SUV. “I’m Derek. My sister and I were staying at my grandmother’s in
San Francisco
when the Seods appeared. We were in school when all hell broke loose. I had no idea what was happening, but I knew it was bad.
Really bad.
I tried to find my sister and raced down the hallway, but then the building got struck.”

“By what?”
Logan
asked.

“I don’t
know,
a bomb of some sort. Anyway, it was chaotic with everyone running around.”

“Did you find Molly?” Kenneth asked.

Derek nodded.
“Yeah, eventually.
We tried to get out through the main entrance, but then we saw the Seods. When they started killing everyone, I told my sister it’d be better to be inside. We found a good hiding place behind the bleachers and stayed there.”

“How long did you hide?”
Logan
asked, respecting Derek more now that he knew what he had been through.

“I don’t know. We lost track of the days. We looked for food during the night after the aliens left the area. Once I was sure they were gone, I led the group to my grandmother’s place, hoping we could hide in the basement. I thought that if we hid there, we’d be safe until things returned to normal.”

“What about your grandmother?” Kenneth questioned.

“I had to bury her myself.” Derek looked at the ground, silent.

“What about your parents?” Logan asked.

Derek looked up. “I don’t know. They were vacationing in
Montana
for their twentieth wedding anniversary. My sister and I—along with her classmates—stayed in the basement for what seemed like an eternity. By then, gangs of men were shooting anyone in sight as they tried to get control of the city. I don’t know how long we stayed there, but after a while, things got worse. The violence got closer, and I knew that we had to get out of the city. We left just after dawn and attempted to make our way toward the airport, but we were separated. Chased by some men, I stole a motorcycle and fled the city.” He paused as he thought for a moment. “It’s been six days since I last saw my sister. I’ve been trying to get someone who’ll help me, but I haven’t had any luck.” He looked at the brothers. “I just need to get to
Carson City
.”

Kenneth frowned.
“Why
Carson City
?”

“A guy in
Modesto
I talked to heard a
rumor
that the army established a base there and—”

“And you thought that if you told them what was happening in
San Francisco
they’d help,”
Logan
interrupted.

Derek nodded. “It was all I could think of.”

Logan
looked at his brother. “If the army is there, it would be a good place to go.”

“But that’s over a hundred miles,” Kenneth spluttered. “We don’t have enough gas to get there. And even if we did, it’s a long way to go for a
rumor
. Besides, if the army is in
Carson City
, they will get to
San Francisco
as soon as they can.”

“I suppose so.”
Logan
looked at Derek. “That guy, the one you talked to in
Modesto
, do you think you could find him for us?”

Derek nodded.
“If he’s at the same place as before.
It’s this side of town, up against the side of a small hill. The cabin was hidden by a number of trees. I wouldn’t have spotted it if it hadn’t been for the light shining from underneath the door. I’d been walking for days and was nearly dehydrated. The man let me stay the night. That’s when he told me about
Carson City
.”

“Did he say anything else?” Kenneth asked.

“Maybe,” Derek replied. “I don’t know. I was so tired that I drifted off to sleep after that. By the time I woke up, he was gone. I didn’t want to waste time, and seeing that he didn’t have a vehicle, I left.”

Logan
turned to Kenneth. “A good place to go, wouldn’t you say?”

Kenneth nodded. “Let’s see if we can fix the gas problem with our vehicle first.”

Logan
peered through the bushes as he stared at the cabin. “What do you think?”

Kenneth glanced back down the hill where they had parked the Land Rover in between a couple of pine trees. No one could be seen. “I hope we haven’t come all this way for nothing.”

“He’ll be there,” Derek stated, confident.

“I hope you’re right. Hopefully, he’ll know where to get some gas. At this rate, we have just enough to get back to our own cabin.”
Logan
brushed past several bushes as he walked to the structure.

The others joined him at the door as he knocked. There was silence for a moment or two and then part of a curtain was swept aside and a face stared at them.

Before
Logan
could see who it was, the face disappeared and the door slowly opened. The barrel of a shotgun poked out. “What do you want?”

Derek walked closer so that the person inside the cabin could see him. “Remember me? You helped me the other night.”

The barrel withdrew and, a moment later, the door swung open. “Come in,” the man said.

The group hurried inside and sat down at the table.
Logan
stared at the man as he poked the fire with a stick in an effort to get some more heat out of it.

The dark-skinned man, who was wearing a cowboy hat, wasn’t someone that
Logan
would want to meet in a dark alleyway. That is, until he saw his face. It was kind looking, with a scar running down it that disappeared underneath his black beard. Bulging muscles and tattoos could be seen through his half-torn shirt.

The man held out his hand. “I’m Xavier.”

Logan
shook the hand. “I’m
Logan
. Derek said you helped him when he was in need.”

Xavier turned to the teen. “Where did you go? I went into
Modesto
, and when I returned, you were gone.”

“I had to go,” Derek apologized. “Remember how I told you about Molly?”

Xavier turned to the brothers. “So you agreed to help.”

“Well, not really.” Kenneth glanced around the room, his eyes stopping next to the fireplace as he caught sight of a loose floorboard. He glanced up at the middle-aged man. “Where did you get the news about
Carson City
?”

Xavier stared back at Kenneth, his blue eyes unflinching. “I have my sources.”

“How reliable are they?”
Logan
asked.

“Seventy percent.”
Xavier turned to
Logan
and pointed to a tattoo on
Logan
’s wrist. “Did you serve in the 31
^st
Airborne?”

Logan
nodded.
“Did a tour in
Iraq
and then two in
Syria
.
It was hell, but nothing like this.”

Xavier cracked a smile. “I had just joined up with the 31
^st
when we entered
Iraq
during Operation Desert Storm.” He sighed. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen someone from the same division. Those that didn’t die in the conflict got stationed overseas.”

“So, what about
Carson City
?”
Logan
asked.

“I’ve got a contact up there.” Xavier reached down and pulled up the loose plank that had caught Kenneth’s eyes earlier. There was a deep hole. He reached in and pulled out a radio. “I’ve been tracking the military on this and …” He paused. After placing the radio on the table, he walked over to the solitary window in the room and inched back the curtain.

When he turned around a moment later, his expression had changed. His eagle gaze darted to
Logan
. “Do you have any weapons on you?”

Logan
frowned. “I’ve got a shotgun and a rifle in the car, but only a pistol on me. Why?”

Xavier spoke rapidly. “We’ve got company. And if I’m not mistaken, there’s going to be some shooting.” He grabbed the radio and placed it on the floor. “Help me move the table.”

The others carried the table a number of feet before Xavier announced it was far enough. As he bent down and dislodged another loose plank, he continued talking. “Certain people in
Modesto
harbor
ill feelings toward me, and while I’ve been able to ward them off in the past, I think it’s time to leave this place for good.”