Page 5 of Dusk & Desire

“Do you think the military sent that?” I ask hopefully. “I mean,it could be some bad people wanting to ambush survivors on the roads, right?”

Noa nods thoughtfully and Axel actually smiles at me. “You’re starting to sound less like a clueless brat every day, Winnie.”

“Gee,” I say, giving him my best droll look. “Thanks so much.”

“Eglin is the closest,” Noa hums. She exchanges a look with her brother. “We could siphon the gas from the other cars in the garage, pack as much as we can.”

“It’ll be dangerous as fuck,” he says with a shake of his head. A dollop of shaving cream plops onto the floor, dripping down from his chin. It’s then that I register that he’s not wearing a shirt. His chest is covered with tattoos and both of his nipples are pierced. Why is he so invisible to me?

“But it’ll be just as dangerous staying here soon,” Noa counters. “It’s a miracle no one broke in here to rob us yet. Or worse.”

I shudder at her implications. I was under this illusion of safety between the walls of this building. We heard looters and fleeing people outside over the last three days, but no one was interested in coming in here. That’s going to change fast now that there are next to no supplies left on the shelves.

“We should try,” I voice my opinion. “I can’t imagine anywhere being as safe as an Air Force base.”

Noa scans my face with a calculating expression. What is she thinking about? Finally, she nods, then spins around to find our backpacks.

“Axel, why don’t you go get the car ready. Linda and I will pack up our shit.”

I guess it’s bye-bye sink baths and a roof over our heads. We’re leaving.

***

Tallahassee is fading into the distance behind us, and with it, most traces that the invasion even happened; there’s no rubble, no dead bodies, and we’ve hardly even passed any live ones either. Some houses and storefronts have smashed windows, but if youcan overlook that and the eerie lack of traffic, you could almost convince yourself it’s just another day. Well, it might be easier to pretend if I weren’t surrounded by canned food, clinking together every time Axel takes a turn too fast.

“Slow down, dummy, poor Linda’s like the candy in a piñata back there.”

Of course, Axel just snorts at Noa’s words and doesn’t apologize. But he maybe takes the next turn a smidge gentler. I look out of the window, wishing I could enjoy the views of the Apalachicola and Lake Talquin forests, wishing this was just a road trip with friends, as unlikely as the friendship may be for me. We decided to take the state highway rather than the interstate, shaving off a few miles of travel and avoiding what’s likely to be every still-functioning car in the area. We just don’t know if we can trust other desperate people around our supplies.

When I hear rumbling in the skies, I immediately forget about Axel’s driving skills or lack thereof. I stop breathing, my chest locking up, ribs squeezing tight. I’m completely paralyzed by the fear that more alien spaceships are about to appear, using us for target practice. I clutch at my chest when fighter jets fly over our car, heading toward the city we just left. Axel slams on the brakes and we all turn to look out the rear window.

“Where do you think they're going?” I ask after a moment of us gaping soundlessly.

Before either answers me, shockwaves from explosions rock the car. We share a wide-eyed look.

“What about the people?” I whisper breathlessly, thinking of the tens of thousands of inhabitants likely still sheltering in the city.

Axel grimaces. “If any are left there, they’re fucked.”

“Why would they be destroying our own infrastructure?” I chew on my lower lip, my mind racing.

Noa clears her throat. “Maybe the aliens overran the city?”

I shake my head and tug on the elastic at my wrist. “I still can’t believe they’d just kill people like that. They barely gave us a chance to evacuate.” If we were just a little bit slower… Just thinking about it is enough to make me want to snap the elastic right off. I feel equally glad we left and terrible for the people who stayed.

“If we can rely on anything, beautiful, it’s that the military has a questionable definition of the greater good,” Noa says.

As we talk, plumes of smoke darken the sky above Tallahassee. Axel turns around first, and the car starts moving again, taking us further away from the warzone.

“Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

Chapter 4

Linda

We don’t make it very far before we’re forced to stop again.

“What’s going on?” I ask Axel when he decelerates.

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