Page 21 of Alien Rescue

She stopped at a small town with the quaint name of No Name Town. She asked for directions to Washington, from a man sitting on a miniscule porch in front of a general store, and got out of there. Something about the town was odd, but she didn’t want to hang around to figure out what bothered her. A woman alone was a target for all the wrong kind of people.

She got on the road again, and something she’d seen nagged at her but she couldn’t work out what. About two hours later, she carefully drove through the smallest of the potholes in the road when it hit her. That little town’s roads had been perfect. And there’d been trees. Lots of trees. She didn’t know of any town or city that still had that many trees and perfect roads. Did the aliens plant trees? She couldn’t see them planting trees and fixing roads.

A few miles from Washington, the late summer sun shone on the freshly painted metal of the old truck as it shuddered and came to a stop. Fueling stations were everywhere. But few of them could actually recharge, and she ran the risk of falling into the hands of raiders or other dangerous people every time she went into a populated area.

She opened the hood of the truck and peered inside. It looked like the kind of modern technology they had on science fiction shows. Rose stared at the glowing tubes crisscrossing where the old-fashioned engine should be. Stopping at fuelling stations wouldn’t have done her any good. The aliens had put in some kind of super-efficient fuel system into the truck, and she’d be eternally grateful for it, because it meant she’d almost reached DC before the truck stopped without a noise or a sputter. Unlike the aliens she’d stunned. She smirked, but then looked around her uneasily. It still bothered her that she’d managed to get away so easily. The way those aliens had spun and groaned had been too theatrical for her peace of mind. And if Zanr was a typical alien, when it came to fighting, they were scarily efficient. And she’d managed to shoot a whole bunch of them.

She’d made good time considering the condition of the roads. The eleven-hour trip had turned into a three-day journey due to potholes and some roads so bad, she’d driven beside the roads. When she’d stopped to sleep, she’d hidden the car behind old billboards once, and the second time inside a ditch that hid her from the road. But all things considered, it had been an easy trip. Even if it felt as if she’d gone through a million potholes.

She couldn’t hear city noises or see it yet, but she knew this road. It was the road they took to the farm where they practiced shooting and other skills. If only this old truck had run longer. As it was, she’d been lucky to steal a truck with a full tank of gas. Or some kind of alien juice. She frowned down at the broken-up road. Why did they call it gas? If at some time during the past, they’d put gas into vehicles, she was glad she lived in modern times. The crazy thing was that she missed Zanr—the way he brought her coffee and gave her hideous dresses, and she even missed waking up with her hair arranged in truly weird hairstyles.

She shook off those traitorous thoughts and focused on getting back to HQ. Obviously, someone had planned to take a trip, because she’d found a basket with food inside the truck, as well as bottles of water. It meant she didn’t have to stop. She could’ve gone without food, but she’d have been forced to stop for water. A very scarce commodity lately. She’d avoided the cities and the crimes prevalent there. Decades ago, they’d had offices in several states, but now only three remained, and none of them had been on her route.

No help for it—she’d have to walk. She could see the city in the distance, but it was going to be a hard walk. She looked down at her feet and sighed. She wore flat shoes that looked like ballet slippers, but had rubber soles. The alien had dressed her in this hideous dress and glitter-covered shoes, acting like she was his own personal doll. Of course, she’d managed to escape in one of the frilled monstrosities he was so proud of buying for her. She felt a strange ache, thinking how pleased he’d seemed to do things for her, to buy her whatever she wanted.

She’d looked for boots among the clothes in the closet, but had no luck. She reached over the front seat and took the sharp knife she’d found among the food in the picnic basket. She carefully inserted it into one of the many frills in her dress. She simply pushed the blade through one of the frills. At least they were good for hiding that she carried a weapon. Better take some food, as well. She wrapped the last of the bread and cheese in the cloth and set off down the road.

She’d only been walking half an hour when she heard the heavy truck. She’d seen it in her rear-view mirror on and off for the last two days. Her hand strayed to the knife. Did she dare chance asking for a lift? The smart thing to do would be to hide until the truck had passed, but time was running out. Her feet had already taken a beating in her flimsy shoes. She had to get to HQ in case anyone had escaped the aliens. She had to free Mr. Parnell and the others.

She waved at the truck when it neared, and to her relief, it stopped. That relief turned to panic when the driver got out. He was large—broad shoulders and a bald head that uncomfortably reminded her of the alien. Dark eyes looked her over before piercing her with a direct, hard stare. It took every bit of courage she had not to take off running, which would be useless because he’d only chase her down.

“Run out of fuel for your vehicle?” His voice was rough and low—more a rumble—his words oddly formal and stilted.

She tried a smile. “Yes, could you perhaps take me to the city?” She bit her lip. She had no credits to offer him. “When we get to my destination, I can give you credits.” Some of the others would have credits on them. If not, she could use their TCs to access hers. She’d have to find a TC for herself anyway. She doubted she’d find hers still in the building.

He stared at her for such a long time she had to resist the urge to fidget. Then he pointed to the passenger side and she walked to the truck. He got in behind the wheel and leaning over, he opened the door for her. Rose looked at the seat so high up she had no idea how to get to it.

“Do you require assistance?”

“Uhm no, I’ve got it.” The flat area, meant to be used to step on and hoist yourself into the truck, was the same height as her hip. It would normally not be a problem, but she was still weak from trying to prove herself. Although she was stronger than she’d normally be after a testing, but still not one hundred percent. She gathered her strength, determined not to let him see how weak she was. She grabbed hold of the door with one hand and the seat with the other, and swung herself up and mercifully managed to reach the platform without falling on her face.

The trucker drove on the moment she closed the door. “Do you want some coffee?” the trucker offered in that deep voice that somehow sounded familiar. Every time he spoke, goose bumps covered her skin. She wouldn’t think about the only other being to whom she reacted like this. She openly stared at him, but if he was an alien in disguise, she didn’t see how.

She wasn’t about to eat or drink anything he could’ve drugged. “No, thanks, I had a picnic basket in my truck.” She lifted the wrapped bread and cheese. “And I still have some left.” The truck had served her well. It felt wrong to just leave it at the side of the road. Regret settled over her, like the cover of the testing box. Maybe she could retrieve it later, if no one else got to it first. She should’ve parked it off the road at least—behind something.

Rose estimated they had about an hour to reach the city. Two hours later and what felt like thousands of potholes later, she adjusted her estimate. They proceeded at a snail’s pace. The trucker didn’t speak, just kept driving with all his focus on the road.

“Imagine there was a time when you could drive between cities at incredible speeds. The roads didn’t have any potholes then.” Super highways that took people everywhere they wanted to go at incredible speeds.

He grunted. The trucker sure wasn’t very talkative, but he kept sending her these piercing glances that had her hand inch toward her knife. They entered the city through another road she’d traveled before. She sat up straight. “That’s weird.”

“What is strange about it?”

“This road is new. And look, the buildings are painted and there’s no holes in the walls.”

“The Zyrgins are fixing everything.”

Her heart sank. “The Zyrgins?” If this trucker knew about them and they were fixing things, her hope that there were only a few on the mountain was dashed.

“The aliens that rule Earth now.” He sounded way too happy about it.

“So, they think they rule Earth now?” It was as if she’d gone into that hole in that horrible basement in one world and came out of it in another world.

He slanted her a glance. “They do rule Earth now. Did you miss the parade?”

“Parade?”

“Hundreds of thousands of their warriors marched through this city.”

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