Page 22 of Alien Rescue

“No, I didn’t see that,” she said, feeling sick to her stomach.

Rose stared at the road they drove on and then the apartment buildings and businesses they passed. Everything looked new and people walked around with confidence. This area used to be run by gangs; now none of their graffiti decorated any of the walls. “How long has this been going on?” She couldn’t have been in the hole more than two weeks. Another two with the aliens. How could everything change in such a short time?

“They will get to the other cities.” She didn’t like the admiration in his voice. No matter how good the city looked, aliens couldn’t be allowed to rule over humans.

“What’s today’s date?” she asked him.

He told her and she would’ve staggered if she wasn’t sitting down.

“They started fixing things about a month ago. Everything was falling apart,” he said, still sounding as if he admired their invaders.

She glared at him. “That might be so, but surely you can see we cannot allow aliens to take over our country. We can fix things ourselves.”

A strange disbelieving snort came from her companion. “I do not believe that is possible. Without the...aliens, Earth will become primitive.”

“Don’t you want to kick the aliens off our world?” She’d rather live free on a primitive planet than in chains in a country with restored cities.

“No. Where did you want to go?”

She gave him the address, crossing her fingers. “I have friends there,” she said, looking around. With the new roads, they’d be at the building in no time. Her mouth dropped open when they stopped at a working traffic light. Now she knew why her companion didn’t want to kick the aliens off Earth. He and probably millions of other people had been seduced by promises of working cities and who knows what else. In all her years in the capital city, she could count on one hand the times the traffic lights actually worked.

A thought struck her and she frowned. “I didn’t see any improvement on the highway here.”

“This city seems to be their priority.”

Rose watched several women walking down the sidewalk, unafraid. At the rate the aliens were going, they’d be fixing the highways soon. They had to be stopped, before they enslaved the human race with new cities and safe sidewalks. “How on earth did this happen in the short time I’ve been?” She bit her lip.

“Where have you been?” he asked. “Everyone is talking about the aliens and what they are doing.”

She shrugged. “I’ve been away to see my family,” she lied. She rubbed the spot where her chest ached.

The last thing she expected to see when they reached the building was rubble. Rose gasped and then whimpered, staring at the sight in front of her with disbelieving eyes. It couldn’t be. Her home, her colleagues, all gone. If Zanr stood before her, she’d kill him. “How did this happen?” Did the aliens destroy the building to ensure no one could stop the invasion?

“Aliens,” the trucker said succinctly. Proudly?

She turned on him. “What’s wrong with you? They destroyed a symbol of our government. How can you admire our enemy?”

“They get things done.”

Rose opened the door and got out, and walked around the rubble, feeling dazed.

She registered movement from the corner of her eye. At the edge of the rubble, where the side entrance used to be, she saw a familiar figure. They locked gazes for half a second, and he did that up and down thing some men did when they looked at a woman. His lip curled at the frilly monstrosity she wore.

She opened her mouth to call out, glad to see a familiar face, even if it was Morgan’s, but he melted into traffic and disappeared. Morgan Sinclair. For the first time since she’d met him, she was glad to see him. But she was also careful not to let the trucker, who’d followed her out of the truck, know she saw someone she recognised. He was a little too impressed with the aliens. For that matter, why didn’t Morgan come and talk to her? Maybe he’d been followed, or saw someone following her? She tried to look around without being obvious, but didn’t see anyone suspicious.

Rose turned to face the man that had brought her here. He might be an alien lover, but he’d helped her. “I’m sorry, I can’t pay you. I thought my friends would be here.”

“I do not require credits from you,” he said. Again, something tugged at her memory. She stared at him, but apart from his size, he was definitely human.

Rose turned back to look at the rubble. If Morgan got away, there had to be others. She wandered over to the corner where she’d seen Morgan. Trying to appear casual, she glanced around. There—a symbol scratched into a piece of jagged rubble. New York? Did this mean everyone who’d escaped had gone to New York? Or did Morgan want to meet her in New York?

She’d have to go there. She’d never been to New York, but there was a safehouse a few blocks away where she should at least be able to find weapons and more appropriate clothes. She turned to the trucker. “I don’t suppose the aliens have instated a form of travel between cities.”

“No, where do you wish to go?”

She smiled at him and took a step back. “Thank you for helping me, but I will be all right from here on.” She tried to look casual and competent, but truthfully, she needed him. His truck would get her to New York much faster than she could manage on her own. So far, he hadn’t tried anything. Traveling with him would be much safer than going on her own.

It still bothered her that she got away from the lot at the mountain this easily. Zanr, who’d called her breeder, hadn’t looked like the type to give up. She bit her lip, then blurted out, “I don’t suppose you’re going to New York.”

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