Текст книги " Taken Over "

Автор книги: Erika Stevens

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   “We can’t move as fast at night.”

   “We can’t move as fast in the heat either,” Lloyd informed me.

   I frowned but nodded my agreement. He was right, it was September but the day was unseasonably warm. The heat would drain our energy, and our water, far faster than any of us wanted. I settled down against a tree and closed my eyes. I hadn’t slept much last night, but I knew I wouldn’t sleep now. Sleep was a lost commodity to me, one that I had given up on a long time ago. I had actually gotten quite good at dealing with the depravation, though I would have welcomed at least a couple of minutes of rest. Anymore time than that and the dreams would start. Dreams that, while comforting at the time, left me lost and broken and aching for something I couldn’t ever have again when I awoke.

   I listened to the sounds of the birds and squirrels moving through the trees, reassured and lulled by their presence. I had learned in the beginning that when the aliens were near, the animals became eerily quiet. Apparently they were even terrified, and scared off by the monsters lurking about. I listened to them jump and play, smiling softly as one squirrel yelled angrily at another before skittering down a tree.

   It was all so peaceful at the moment, it was nearly perfect. If only…

   And then Cade was sitting beside me, his midnight hair falling over his hard, handsome features. His stunning onyx eyes gleamed in the filtering light of the day. There was sadness in his gaze, but also a love so deep that I felt it to the very bottom of my soul. “Bethany,” he breathed. His strong, calloused hands ran gently over mine. His fingers played deliciously over my skin as he shifted closer. I could feel the heat of his lean, hard muscled body against mine. Shivers of delight and desire raced over me, I could hardly breathe past the need thumping through me. “ MyBethany.”

   Tears choked me. “Yes,” I agreed, unable to do anything else because it was so unbelievably true. I washis, I would alwaysbe his. “I’m dreaming again aren’t I?”

   It had been awhile since he had haunted my dreams, awhile since I had dreamed even. I must have fallen asleep for far longer than I’d intended to. It was odd how very aware I was of these facts at this moment. This was a dream, he wasn’t real, it would all go away, but it was all so wonderfully perfect right now that I didn’t care.

   “You are,” he confirmed.

   “I miss you. So much.” My voice cracked on the words, his thumb gently wiped away the tear that slid free. “I’m broken without you.”

   “You’re not broken Bethany, you’re just wounded. You’ve been here before, you will survive this too.”

   “I know. I know I will. I just wish you were here. All the timeI wish you were here.”

   He leaned forward; his lips were soft against my cheeks as he kissed my tears away. Those lips, those wondrously marvelous and warm lips were everything that I remembered as my heart hammered in eager anticipation. I felt the brush of them in every fiber of my being as warmth spread out from the point of contact. The heat seeped through my body, warming all of my frozen cells. “I wish I was here too.”

   A small sob escaped me, and then his lips were upon mine, desperate and fervent in his fierce need. My heart leapt and soared in my chest, everything within me screamed for so much more. I melted against him, clinging to him, never wanting to let go of his solid arms as my mind spun with happiness and desire. Even though I knew this wasn’t real, that it couldn’t last, I allowed myself to be swept up in the joy and wonder that filled me.

   It may not be just an illusion, but it was so unbelievably right that the agony within me eased. I found I could actually breathe again as his tongue swept into my mouth. His hands found my cheeks, my hair, and my collarbone before stroking over my arms once more. He moved suddenly, lifting me and settling me into his lap. His hand entangled in my hair as he pulled my head back, his lips traveled over my throat for a brief moment.

   “ MyBethany,” he whispered again.

   I was crying freely now, I couldn’t stop it as pleasure and sorrow encompassed me. “Yes,” I agreed over and over. “Forever,” I vowed.

   He pulled slowly back; his midnight eyes were brilliant, sparkling in the bright light of day. I hated the grief in them, the loss. “You must hold onto your hope Bethany.”

   “I can’t hope for you to return anymore, it’s too hard, it’s too much.” I could barely speak through the agony wrenching at my soul. “I’ll love you forever and always, but I have to let myself grieve for you now. I must.”

   His fingers stroked lightly over my cheeks, his head tilted slightly to the side. He was magnificent in the light, heartbreakingly handsome, and he was mine. Even if he was gone forever, he would always be mine. “I did not say hope for me Bethany. You must grieve me, you must let me go one day, but you have to hold onto your hope.”

   “I have no hope anymore,” I breathed.

   “Of course you do. You wouldn’t be here, and you wouldn’t be doing this, if you didn’t. You must cling to your hope, hold onto it, and use it to get you through these hard times.”

   I frowned at him, not understanding what he meant, and then I got it. “I do have hope for mankind. I dohave hope that we will survive.”

   His grin was breathtaking, his eyes alight with delight. “I know you do, and as long as you hold onto that hope you will survive.”

   I frowned; his words had broken my small bubble of bliss I’d discovered in this dream world. “Of course you know,” I whispered through the growing lump in my throat. “This is only a dream, you are only my subconscious. Of course you know that there is hope still within me, even if I hadn’t realized it until now.”

   Sadness crept over him, his hands stroked through my honey colored hair as he spread it out before us. In the real world my hair wasn’t loose; it was tied back in a long braid and twisted into a bun in order to keep it from tangling to badly. It also wasn’t this clean as regular showers and bathes were a luxury that we didn’t always have anymore. I was glad that it was gleaming and shiny in this world though. I didn’t care if he was real or not, I still wanted to be clean and look as good as I possibly could for him, no matter what.

   “Beautiful,” he whispered. “My beautiful Bethany.”

   I closed my eyes. Even if I didn’t agree with his words, especially next to his masculine perfection, they were wonderful to hear. My nose was a little too pointy, my face still round, full, and babyish even though I’d lost weight. I was too skinny, awkward, and clumsy. There was no grace, no perfection about me, but in Cade’s eyes there was. Or at least there hadbeen. I knew that with absolute certainty. Even with all of my imperfections he had found me beautiful, and he had loved me.

   I opened my eyes, blinking away my tears as I tried to focus on his beloved face. “Magnificent Cade.”

   That striking grin was back. It was even more beautiful for the rarity with which it had existed in real life. “If you say so.”

   “I know so.”

   His hand stilled in my hair, he bent to kiss me again. “It’s almost time for me to go, but you must remember what I said. You can do this Bethany; you can succeed where others wouldn’t. You’re so much stronger than even you realize. I know your soul, your heart, and though you’re wounded now, you will one day bring the pieces back together.”

   “The biggest piece will always be missing.” He studied me for a long moment. Though this was my dream, his anguish and longing seemed almost real. Almost palpable. Once again I was struck by the strange reality of this dream. His need for me, his hurt for me and everything we’d had and everything we’d lost, was there. I could feel it. His torment beat against me so fiercely that I felt I had to say something to try and ease it. “But I can put the rest of the puzzle together,” I tried to assure him.

   He smiled wanly at me as he began to stroke my face again. “I love you Bethany.”

   I buried myself against him, clinging to him as I pressed my face into his neck and cried freely. I had never said those words to him in life, it was something that I would always regret, but I said them now, and I said them repeatedly, and fervently. I hoped that somehow he would be able to hear them, that somewhere a piece of him still existed and could feel the genuine outpouring of my love for him.

   He held me tight to him, rocking me gently as he kissed my neck and cheeks. “I must go.”

   “Not yet,” I breathed. “Please just one minute more.”

   But it was too late; I could already feel him slipping away from me. Already feel him drifting toward a place where I would never see him again. I was acutely aware of the fact that he would not be returning. Another sob wrenched from me, I struggled to retain my hold on him, but he was already gone beyond my reach. Forever.

***

   “Bethany, come on Bethany, wake up.”

   I struggled to break free from the realm of sleep clinging tightly to me. I didn’t want to wake up, I knew what awaited me there, but it was impossible to fight the inevitable. I opened my eyes to find Jenna kneeling before me; her bright green eyes shimmered with worry. I turned away from the sorrowful look in her eyes, unable to stand the pity there as I angrily wiped the tears from my face. I was ashamed that she had seen me cry, ashamed that she had seen me so vulnerable and weak.

   “Are you ok?” she asked softly.

   I glanced quickly around but I didn’t see Bret or Lloyd. “Where are they?”

   Jenna glanced over her shoulder. “They went to scout ahead.” That was a relief; at least they hadn’t seen me crying like a baby over a dream. “Bret wanted to give you a chance to sleep a little more. Bethany…”

   “I’m fine.” I realized that was the first time I had said it and felt as if it might actually be true, or at least not a complete bold faced lie. Cade had been killed, I still lived, and there still was, and always would be, hope. I sat up straighter against the tree.

   Jenna rested her hand on my shoulder, stopping me before I could rise. I frowned at her, unable to understand the sympathy in her eyes. Jenna had always disliked me, we had never run in the same circles, and her disdain of everything that I was had always been obvious. As had her desire for Bret. We’d started to get along a little better over the past few weeks, I would grieve for her if something were to happen, but I wouldn’t exactly consider us friends.

   “Why are you being so nice to me?” I inquired wearily.

   Jenna sighed as she sat slowly beside me. She dropped her chin to her knees for a brief moment before turning to me. “I was mean to you in high school,” she admitted. “I know that, but it was all so petty, and silly. And high school.” She snorted softly as she shook her head and dropped her arm over her knees. “It seems so long ago, so pointless, and stupid.”

   “It does,” I agreed.

   “God I was so foolish.” She sat silently for a long moment, her strawberry colored hair blowing lightly in the breeze. She tucked it loosely behind her ear. She was far more delicate than I, with pretty features, and a petite frame. She’d been perfect in high school, the golden girl with her manicured nails, styled hair, and high priced clothes. It was not the same girl sitting beside me now, though I noticed her nails were a pretty pink color. I smiled over the simple, small gesture to retain something from her old life. I knew how she felt; I was clinging to as much as I could too, but everyday it seemed as if there was less and less to hold onto. “It was so easy back then though,” she breathed.

   I thought back to those days, the ones where my mom was still alive, and I was dating Bret. The aliens had loomed over us my entire junior year, but after the first few months a false sense of security had settled over us. Even while the aliens had been stripping us of our rights, and our freedoms. We had all been so foolish, so silly to even remotely think they meant well, but hindsight was twenty twenty after all. And there was no changing the past, but we could still change the future.

   “I’m sorry for the way I was back then.”

   My gaze slid slowly toward her, I struggled to keep my disbelief hidden. “It’s ok.”

   “No, I was mean to you and I am sorry for that. It was just that…”

   “You like Bret.”

   Her lips quirked as she smiled softly. “Yeah, I do.”

   “And you were used to getting what you wanted.”

   She chuckled softly. “I certainly wasn’t used to losing a guy to someone like you. No offense.”

    I grinned at her as I brushed back a lose strand of hair. “None taking, I never understood it either. We’re not together anymore, why haven’t you gone after him?”

   She shrugged indifferently, but sadness crept over her. “Cause he still loves you.”

   “But…”

   “It’s ok. I think he’ll come around one day, or I’ll move on. If we can ever find some cute survivors somewhere,” she added nonchalantly.

   “Jenna…”

   “Right now we all need each other. I understand that. When all of this first happened, I didn’t get that. I kept waiting to wake up, kept waiting for the punch line, kept waiting for it all not to be real. But there is no punch line, and all we have is each other. Trying to get Bret to notice me is no longer a priority.”

   I stared at her for a long moment, startled by how much she had grown up in these past few weeks. How much she had changed. But then, she had lost both of her parents in the attack. She didn’t say it, but I knew that she retained some hope they were still alive. Not that I blamed her. She hadn’t seen either of them die, didn’t even know if they had been frozen, and if Bishop’s blood type theory was correct then at least one of her parents, perhaps both, had escaped The Freezing. There was still a chance they might be alive.

   “If there is one thing I’ve learned, it’s that we don’t know how much time we have left. It could end today for all we know. Getting Bret to notice you may not be a priority, but I would at least tell him how you feel. I love Bret, he’s a great friend, but he can be a bit obtuse about some things.”

   “You mean like his firm belief that you will eventually get over Cade.”

   I tried to cover up my involuntary flinch over Cade’s name, but I knew she had seen it. “Yes, like that.”

   Jenna heaved a long sigh, forced a small smile, and climbed slowly to her feet. “You’re right about not knowing how much time is left, but Bret needs time to come to terms with losing you. I also need time. We’ve lost a lot, this isn’t our world anymore.”

   “No, it’s not.” I took hold of the hand she offered me, squeezing it tightly. I’d lost all my friends, I didn’t know what had become of one. But I’d just found a friend where I never thought I would and I was not surprised to realize that Jenna would be a good friend. “I’m glad we had this talk.”

   She grinned at me. “Me too.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

C HAPTER 4

 

 

   It was harder moving through the dark, especially without a flashlight, but I felt strangely safer with only the moon and stars to guide us. It was stupid to feel that way, we had been attacked more than once at night, but I couldn’t help it. Though it was harder to see, we made surprisingly good time and reached the edge of Plymouth before daybreak.

   Lloyd consulted the GPS. “We can cut through Myles Standish; use the state forest as cover. It’s only seven miles but the terrain will slow us down.”

   “And we’d…” Jenna pondered softly, her eyes distant.

   I frowned at her, but it was Bret that asked the question. “And we’d what?”

   Jenna bit on her bottom lip, her shoulders were set tight, and then they slumped. “I might as well tell you,” she mumbled. I bristled, disliking the fact she had kept anything from us, especially after our talk earlier. “I wrote a note for my parents before I left. I told them that I would try to meet them in Plymouth at my Aunt Lucy’s house. If they’re still alive…”

   Her voice trailed off, the underlying hope beneath it nearly palpable. “Then they would go to your Aunt Lucy’s,” I finished for her.

   “Yes,” she breathed, tears shimmering in her bright eyes.

   “Where does she live?”

   “State road, it’s only four miles from the hospital, but…”

   “It’s on the opposite side of where we are,” Lloyd finished for her, his eyes narrowed on the display screen.

   “How opposite?” Bret inquired.

   “It will be five miles from the tip of the state park, apparently another four to the hospital after that,” Lloyd answered, his eyes narrowed on Jenna. His annoyance and impatience were evident as he stared hard at her, hoping that his military cold look would cause her to cave. Jenna shifted nervously, looking guilty and frightened, but she showed no signs of backing down. And I didn’t blame her. If I thought there was a chance my mother was still alive, I would do anything I could to get to her.

   “How far is it to the hospital from the tip of the state park?”

   “Three point nine.”

   Bret’s breath hissed out of him, I grimaced. Jenna tilted her chin up, her eyes narrowed slightly. “So it’s either another seven miles…”

   “Or another thirteen,” Lloyd finished.

   We grew silent; I could feel the tension in the air. “Well thirteen isn’t so bad,” I said softly.

   “That is not the mission!” Lloyd said sharply.

   “Lloyd…”

   “We were given explicit instructions on our goal, and our approach.”

   I was surprised by Lloyd’s insistence, but then again I had never been through boot camp, or military training. As far as he was concerned he had his orders and he was going to obey them. Jenna looked stricken; her eyes were wild with fear. “We were never told which route to take,” I said softly trying to make him see reason.

   “We were told to take the safest and most direct route possible. This isn’t even on course.”

   My patience was quickly unraveling. Jenna had a chance to see if her family was still alive, and we were going to take it. “Her parent’s lives…”

   “Our lives, the lives of many!” Lloyd interrupted angrily. “The needs of many greatly outweigh the needs of a few.”

   “Lloyd!” I said sharply, shocked by his words.

   His air of youthfulness vanished as he leveled me with a withering glare. My eyes widened slightly as I took an involuntary step back. “I am not the bad guy here. Youare the one that wanted to do this mission, and we willdo it.”

   “It’s only a slight detour.”

   “It’s a six mile detour along more populated roads.”

   I looked helplessly at Bret and Jenna. Bret was thoughtful, his hands clasped behind his back as he rocked on his heels. Jenna looked about ready to cry, but there was a growing air of fury around her. “I’ll go by myself.”

   “No one is going anywhere by themselves!” I told her. “Lloyd…”

   “This is not a democracy.”

   “We are notin the military!” I snapped at him.

   Lloyd’s jaw locked. “I am, and I have my orders.”

   “Enough!” Bret finally inserted. “We are not separating; we are not deviating from the mission. Part of our goal was to try and find survivors. Jenna has a lead on where we could find some. It i spart of the mission Lloyd, it may take us a little longer, but it is still part of the mission.”

   I couldn’t stop the admiration and relief that filled me as I turned to Bret. I would have sat here and butted heads with Lloyd for hours until one of us just gave up or I completely lost my temper. Leave it to Bret to find reason and logic to use against the stubborn soldier, instead of anger and hostility.

   “We cannot leave here knowing that we chance leaving survivors behind,” Bret continued, his tone level and encouraging.

   Lloyd was silent for a few moments, thinking over Bret’s reasoning. “You’re right,” he finally relented. “We cannot leave the area without first seeking out the possible survivors.”

   I breathed a sigh of relief, Jenna let out a small cry of delight as she threw her arms impulsively around Bret. I bit back a smile at Bret’s look of shock and disbelief as he awkwardly managed to hug her back. “Address?” Lloyd barked out.

   Jenna was beet red and grinning brightly as she pulled away from Bret and rattled off the address.

***

   I was regretting our decision, regretting the fact that we were now standing on the edge of the main street in Plymouth staring down the tree lined roads. There were trees but they weren’t much coverage, and the two and three story buildings offered no protection from anything above. A few of the buildings had been destroyed. I didn’t have to ponder what had been capable of doing that, I’d been unfortunate enough to watch one of the larger octopus/tick/jellyfish things level the antique store our mother had been in the basement of.

   Apparently some of these buildings had stood in the way of one of the monsters, and some poor victim. I had no idea how we were going to make it down that street without being spotted. Lloyd was consulting the GPS looking for an alternate route, but everything seemed to be miles out of the way and we had already lost a day just getting this far.

   “Maybe if we wait till night,” Jenna said softly.

   “There is no cover,” Lloyd retorted.

   I studied the street, taking in the awnings, debris, and open doorways. I had made it down a street even more open than this once, and nearly been caught. Cade had saved me…

   I shut the thought forcefully down. My hands fisted as I continued to take everything in. There was no Cade anymore; I would have to save myself this time, and every time after this. We would have to save each other. No matter what, I wasn’t going to give up the hope of possibly finding Jenna’s parents. “We can do it,” I insisted. “Under cover of darkness, and using the buildings, we can do this.”

   “Bethany…”

   “Look,” I pointed to the street, to the piles of rubble, to the vast amount of stores and restaurants with their doors thrust open. “In daylight there doesn’t appear to be a lot of hiding places, but at night, under darkness, and hiding behind the debris, we can move swiftly through the town.”

   “Bethany,” Bret said again.

   Even Jenna was hesitant, fear shone in her eyes. “We can go back, go to the hospital first, and then try my aunts,” she suggested.

   “That will easily take another day or more,” Lloyd muttered, frowning at the GPS. “Damn thing is acting up.”

   “What’s it doing?” I demanded, the sharp edge of fear stabbing me in the chest.

   He shook it, slapping it lightly against the palm of his hand. I glanced nervously toward the sky, but the large ship that had settled over Boston over as year ago was not visible right now, and the smaller ones didn’t seem to be about. It was hard to tell though; they were silent, and as fast as any racecar. I searched the woods, but birds still chirruped within the trees and thee was a chipmunk searching for an acorn as he dug at the base of a tree. There didn’t appear to be any imminent danger, but my skin crawled as Lloyd slapped the GPS again, shook his head and clipped it to his belt.

   “It won’t register any other route. We either double back or go through.”

   “Why?” Jenna inquired nervously.

   “Could just be a bad spot.”

   “Or it could be something blocking the signal or satellite.”

   “Yes,” Lloyd admitted.

   “Why do I feel as if we’re being herded?” Bret muttered.

   “The animals are still out, I think we’re relatively safe until nightfall,” I pointed out.

   “And then all bets are off,” Lloyd said softly.

   The day passed slowly, the movement of the sun seemed excruciatingly slow as it shifted position in the sky. I tried to rest, tried to sleep, but my mind would not shut off. I kept opening my eyes to stare down the street. I had sounded confident when I’d said we could make it down there. I wasn’t so sure anymore. The more I studied it now, the less hiding places there seemed to be.

   I stood up, suddenly unable to take sitting still anymore. Bret’s eyes followed me as I paced anxiously toward a scraggly looking pine tree and leaned against it. I didn’t want to look at the street anymore, but my eyes were inexorably drawn back to it. I felt as if I were missing something, as if there was something I wasn’t seeing.

   I frowned, trying hard to take everything in. I may have grown up nearby, but I didn’t know Plymouth all that well. For one thing it was huge, and for another I had hated to ride in cars after surviving the accident that had killed my father. I had not done the school fieldtrips to Plimoth Plantation, or the Mayflower II, so I probably knew even less about the town than most of the kids I had gone to school with.

   “Has the town always looked like this?” I asked Bret. “Minus the damage of course.”

   Bret studied the street for a long moment before shrugging absently. “More or less, I mean there were always more people and tourists moving about, but I’m sure it hasn’t been busy like that for awhile.”

   I continued to study the street; slowly it began to dawn on me what exactly was wrong with this picture. “There’s nothing left,” I breathed.

   Bret rose slowly to his feet, his forehead furrowed in confusion. I had thought that Jenna was sleeping, but one of her eyes popped open to stare at the two of us. Lloyd had been standing guard fifty feet away, but he came closer as he heard our words. “What do you mean?” Bret inquired.

   Horror flowed through me as I stared at the empty street. “There’s nothing there. Every other street we’ve come across, in everyother town, has had something left behind. Bicycles, shoes, hell we’ve even come across shirts and pants, socks and underwear. There have been wallets, money, and change. There have been toupees and wigs; there’s even been a set of dentures.” That had been exceptionally gross and unnerving. “But there is nothing out there. There isn’t one damn thing on those streets except for debris from the buildings.”

   They were silent beside me, and then Lloyd let out a hissing breath. “You’re right.”

   “But what does that mean?” Jenna asked tremulously.

   I shook my head; I had no answer for that question. “They’re cleaning it up.”

   We all turned slowly toward Lloyd, nearly identical incredulous looks on our faces. Lloyd’s mouth was slack, his eyes wide as he gazed at the empty street in dismay. “Excuse me?” I asked quietly.

   “They’ve cleaned the town up; rid it of the debris left behind by us. Cleaning it so that they can…”

   “So they can what?” Bret’s question hung heavy in the air as Lloyd’s voice trailed off.

   “So they can move in,” I suggested. I had only meant it to be a lame joke, but I felt trapped beneath their horrified gazes as they swung slowly toward me. “Oh crap, you don’t think that’s it, do you?”

   “What else could it be?” Jenna wondered. “Why the hell else would they bother to come back and sweep the streets clean of all possessions. They don’t need the money, I doubt they want the wigs, and I’m certain they aren’t looking for dentures. We had all kind of assumed that they would just leave after they collected and killed as many of us as possible. What if they actually plan on staying after?”

   I recoiled from the thought, trying hard not to give way to the panic beginning to thrum through my veins. I hadn’t even considered the possibility that they might stay behind after they were done destroying us. They had rarely come to earth, even when they had been pretending peace; I hadn’t thought that they would consider staying now. They had seemed to openly disdain our planet, and it was more than obvious they only wanted us for our blood. They had spent little time here before all of this, but maybe that was only because of the fact that earth had possessed us repellent human beings as residents. Maybe they would like our planet a lot more now that it had been mostly expunged of our disgusting presences.

   Bret cursed loudly as he paced away. He ran a hand anxiously through his disordered hair as he cursed violently again. “I always thought they hated it here,” Jenna said.

   “There is another possibility,” Lloyd said softly. Our attention focused sharply on him as we waited breathlessly for any other explanation than the one I had offered. “It is possible that they cleaned the streets because they are using Plymouth as some sort of base for the area. It’s a large town, and it’s on one of the main routes to Boston from the Cape and surrounding areas. If people are looking to flee the Cape, and surrounding areas, many of them will come through here.”

   It took everything I had to keep on standing; I did need a pine tree to lean against though as I felt my legs begin to shake. “They wouldn’t want any human things littering the street, reminding them of our pathetic existence.” I was really beginning to wish that Lloyd would stop speaking. If he was right then we had just walked right out of the frying pan and into the fire. If he was right, then not only was our mission going to fail, but there was a good chance we might not escape from here. “This could be the lion’s den.”

   Yep, I wanted him to stop speaking. But I sensed he might be right. Sensed that they didintend to use Plymouth as a base, or perhaps some kind of storage area. It seemed far more feasible than the idea that the aliens might actually wantto take up residence on our planet when all of this was over.

   “I’m sorry,” Jenna whispered.

   I swallowed heavily. “It’s not your fault,” I told her. “There was no way any of us could have known.”

   I waited for Lloyd to say I told you so, but to his credit, he didn’t. He strode away from us to consult the GPS again. “Still nothing,” he muttered, holding it up as he walked through the woods.

   I studied the street, the woods, and the surrounding area. “I don’t think they’re around. They might intend to move in, but I don’t think they’re here now.”

   Lloyd turned in another direction, stalking deeper into the woods. “Why?” Jenna asked quietly.

   I pointed to the seagulls and heron sitting upon the railings of a boat dock. A few gulls were circling high up in the sky, and a stray dog had appeared at the end of the road. It sniffed at one of the piles of rubble in search of some much needed food for its emaciated frame. Within the trees the squirrels, chipmunks, sparrows, blue jays, and robins continued to move about. “The animals always go silent when they’re near. They’re just as afraid of the aliens, and their creatures, as we are.”