What followed were the two least-expected words Kyla had ever heard from the tough never-say-die Marine.
“I surrender!”
Fort Collins, CO
When Ted opened his eyes, he wasn’t sure of anything. It was nearly pitch dark, though a hint of light outlined his companion. A pretty woman was above him, possibly floating. Her locks fell to each side of her face, though she cocked her head a bit to see him out of one eye. She put her finger to her mouth.
“Shh.”
His eyes swirled in their sockets, then came back into focus. It was Emily. She was indeed over him because he was on the floor. He’d fallen…
“Em?”
She crinkled her nose. “Do you even know what shush means?” After chiding him, she leaned away, revealing dark rafters on the ceiling. He was no longer in the kitchen of the farmhouse. He didn’t know how he’d gotten there, but it had to be the basement.
Outside, the faint sound of a whining drone engine caught his attention. There was a good reason why she’d shushed him. The enemy was snooping around.
He shifted on the cement floor while expanding his thought process. Did he get enough cold items on the engine block to cool and shield it from heat-sniffing machines? Did Emily finish what he’d started? Were the bad guys closing in on them, ready to hang them for their part in the tanker truck explosion? Ted had a million questions, but he respected the shush.
She helped him sit up and lean against the wall. Emily crouched to speak in his ear. “You’ve been out for a couple of hours. Personally, I think you used this time to take a nap.” She giggled, obviously anxious to take the edge off the bad news.
“Hours…” he replied, rubbing the back of his head. Distantly, he thought about having a concussion, but there was no time for injuries. Ted swallowed hard, staying focused on the whirring blades in the skies outside. “Did you follow my instructions for the truck?”
“I did. It’s a wet mess out there after I poured milk, orange juice, and gallons of water into the motor. I hope the truck still works.” She listened for a moment, before adding, “Once I had it all done, I dragged you down the stairs so we would be shielded ourselves. I brought the guns, and our supplies, fearing we might be down here for a while.”
“Good work,” he said, realizing he could let go of a little of his body’s tension. “I have to see what’s out there. Can I stand up?”
She laughed, “I don’t know. Can you?”
It took him a minute to get to his feet, and it reminded him of waking up after a long, unplanned nap in an uncomfortable chair, but he eventually got himself vertical. Emily helped him a bit but let go when he was good.
She motioned him toward one of the small windows high on the wall. When he arrived, she sidled up next to him again. “I’ve been watching to see if they’re using grid patterns, like you taught us to look for, but I haven’t been able to tell. Since we got here, I’ve seen at least three different drones go by. One even had a little light it used to illuminate the yard.”
“It sounds like they’re serious about finding us.”
She wrapped an arm around his waist while he watched outside. He reciprocated by putting his arm over her shoulder. “Thank you for getting me down the steps.”
“Yeah, well, you probably have some new bruises.”
He squeezed her. “Ah, that explains why I woke up feeling like an eighty-year-old man. I do have some sore spots.” It was far easier to blame her in jest than admit he’d been the idiot who slipped in the kitchen.
They stood at the window for a long time, only ducking if a drone appeared directly in their field of view. In a perfect world, the glass would block most heat-seeking technology, but it wasn’t foolproof. He figured the thick foundation and dirt would shield them, as long as they stayed down.
By the time sunlight illuminated the horizon, it was time to make a move. “We’ve got to head out. We’re still too close to Fort Collins.”
“Can’t we stay here for a while? I mean, I don’t want to spend another second locked up with you,” she tittered with mock laughter, “but we could wait out their search. Stay off the roads. Stay hidden.”
“Yeah, it would be terrible to be with you,” he replied with equal sarcasm, “but we have a job to do. We have to get to NORAD and delay or sabotage this invasion force. David gave the world one week to kick out our fellow Americans. Unless my calendar is off, it gives us about three days from right now. We can’t squander a minute.”
Her shoulders slumped under his arm. She was upset.
“It’ll be all right,” he continued. “While I was sleeping, I had a good dream.”
“Oh yeah?” she said with rising interest.
“Yep. I dreamed there were Americans still alive out there in the night. They’re the same stock of people who rose against the British and won. They’re the same stock of people who hit a walk-off homerun to fight and win World War II. They’re the same type of folk like that guy last night who drove by us, on the way to his death, with a huge smile on his face and his finger in the air. It gave me hope we can make a difference, you and I.”
She looked at him expectantly, then gently pulled herself from his arm. “You’re right. We have a duty to keep going. I have an obligation as president. I’ll gather the guns.”
Capulin, NM
Brent had his people up and moving as soon as it was nautical twilight. When the sun came up, they’d all eaten their junk food breakfasts, cleaned themselves in the tiny visitor center bathroom, and did their business. Once back in their trucks, they went
