25

"Well, looks like we're no better off here," Jim said.

"We're worse off" Rhys replied.

"How d'you figure that?"

Ianto pointed at the traffic signals. "No lights equals no juice. Electricity was still on in Redding, but the signals aren't running here. Add that to the fact that it's pretty obvious there's no people around, and I'm not too sure we got much reason to stay."

A low wall skirted a one-story house. Jim walked across the dusty verge and sat down on the wall. His usually pristine uniform was about as dirty as it had been when they pulled little Arnie from the Cooper well, but he was damned if he really cared. This was beyond bad. Torchwood Isles and Lawton, gone. Redding, everybody taken into one of the ships, and now Anderson was deserted, and maybe the only other people still alive were Eugene James in Redding, and Earl Buckley in God knew where. And without people, a society, to rely on, he wasn't sure Eugene would last too long out there on his own. He felt guilty for letting his would-be assassin stay in Redding alone, but what else could he do? Then there was the radio. At first they'd heard reports over the static, but that had ended too, and what did that mean? Did that mean that everyone had been zapped by the beams? And if so, why were they still alive?

"You're probably right, Ianto. But where do we go from here? We haven't seen the ships today, and we can't walk forever." He sighed deeply, inwardly afraid of the answer he knew Ianto was about to give. Fine time to decide to talk. He hated being powerless and under threat. He liked to be in control of situations, whether he had a gun pointed at his head or whether a cat was stuck up a tree. True, it was usually the latter that troubled him most often in Torchwood Isles, but the worst thing about this was the unknown, and he had no idea how to even start protecting the group of people (and dog) that had gone on ahead to check out a Walmart that Gwen had spotted from their vantage point on Cascade Wonderland Highway earlier.

"But they were in Redding this morning, Jim, and like you said back there, we're gonna have to keep on walking until we find people. These, ships, only arrived yesterday. I find it hard to believe that we're the only people left right now. The very existence of Eugene back in Redding proved that to me. When we find people, we find society, and maybe then we can find some kind of order."

"Do you think the ships are here to stay?" It was a question he knew Ianto couldn't answer, but there was no harm in putting it out there. What if these things were here to take over earth, and what if more and more of the huge ships started to appear and send down those beams? What then? Would they be safer hiding out in the mountains that surrounded them? Would they be enslaved to this technologically advanced race? Or would they be wiped out? And if so, for what reason? Was it earth's atmosphere the ships had come to take? Or would they move their people here once they'd banished, killed or enslaved the human race?

"Who can say? Perhaps they're running experiments. One thing kinda baffles me though."

"What's that?" Jim studied his face as he spoke. He looked clammy and hot; flushed in the cheeks and perspiring from his brow.

"If they have the people, why are they still looking?" Ianto frowned "Who or what are they looking for? Can't be us, not a few bodies when they have so many."

Maybe they were better off dead.

The daylight was fading. Soon night would replace day. The sky above was pretty clear, but off in the distance, over the mountains, brooding clouds sat waiting for their chance to play a part in what Jim feared was going to be a long game of cat and mouse with these creatures from outer space.

"Yeah, but you heard what Eugene said."

Rhys' eyebrows knitted together and a bead of sweat rolled down the bridge of his nose. He wiped at it with his wrapped hand and winced. He then added to the conversation "He said that after the people walked into the ship in Redding, an alien walked out, and he said that alien looked just like us. Just like a human. If we're dealing with aliens that look like humans, or can make themselves look like humans, then we really gotta be on our guard, because Eugene could've been one of them, and anyone we meet in the future could be. If they're moving their people here, and they all look like us, and we walk into a town where there's twenty thousand of these things, all dressed up to look like humans, we'll be in chains or dead faster than a zipper goes south after eight beers."

Jack grinned at the analogy. He couldn't help himself. "Say Jim, I'm pretty scared, but a beer sounds good right about now."

"I hear you, buddy," Jim replied. He clapped Jack on the shoulder. It was a small gesture, but it reaffirmed their bond. Through all of this they had been hood men, trying to protect their little band of survivors from the threat above. But above it all they were family, and they were buddies.

"Let's get down there to Walmart and see if there are any others. This would be the place to hide out, right? I think we'll have to layover here tonight and figure out what we're gonna do in the morning, and I also figure we could have ourselves a couple of beers while we wait for our part of the earth to turn back to the sun."

They walked into the fading light together, heading down the grass verge at the side of the road toward a wire fence that stood about two foot high.

On the other side of that fence was their future. It didn't look like much from where they were, but it was all they had, for now. Their past stretched out behind them. I-5, or the Cascade Wonderland Highway, straight, silent and empty of moving vehicles for the first time since it was built in the 2060s.

Jack came to a stop as Jim walked slowly to the front of the building, everyone waiting for his decision on whether to go in or not. Jack found the sun warm and Ianto's hand slipped into his calming. He did not know when that had happend bt it waw welcome. He could feoget for a while, just exist. But he couldn't forget for long. Stephen sat on the grass in front of him. They were about twenty feet away from the entrance to the Walmart. Janet loped lazily to a line of shopping carts and lifted his leg to lay claim to them.

That oughta show those aliens, Jack thought soberly and without any amusement. He went to where Stephen sat, his knees drawn up to his chest. He was shivering ever so slightly in the fading light.

"Soldier, can you hear me?" he asked gently.

Stephen didn't react to Jack's voice. He was motionless, apart from the shivering that was almost gonna break Jack's heart. He went around Stephen and sat on the ground in front of him, crossing his legs and feeling his knees pop as he did so. Janet came over then, wanting his share of the attention and butting Jack's hand with his muzzle.

"Go away dog," Jack said, and Stephen turned and met his grandfather's gaze.

"No."

"Stephen?" Jack asked quickly, his voice full of anxiety. "Stephen, can you hear me? Talk to me, soldier."

Only more silence. Still, he supposed one word was better than nothing at all.

He cupped his hands under the boy's small face and looked into his eyes. This time, Stephen looked back. The vacancy was gone; there was recognition there. But there was also pain and horror in the boy's young eyes that made Jack almost want to die for seeing it.

He had not witnessed the scene where his daughter, Stephen's mother, had been murdered, but he remembered the look on Jim's face when he'd come out of the house, and if a grown man couldn't mask his horror from someone whose daughter had been killed, then it must have been a horrific scene to witness.

A pained expression adorned his small features, like he wanted to speak but couldn't find the words. Maybe it was going to take more time for him to come back to his senses. Maybe he would need to dispel the image of his mother's corpse from his mind first.

He hadn't just seen his mother's dead body – and as far as Jack knew he might well have witnessed her murder – he had seen a couple of giant UFOs too, and Jack could be patient. That wasn't a problem. He'd done it in the sticky, godforsaken desert outside of Boeshane, and he could sure as hell wait for Stephen to be ready to talk. That was just as long as their enemy gave them enough time to react when they showed up. Jack shifted his butt around until he sat next to Stephen and placed his arm around the boy's shoulder, drawing him to him in an effort to keep him warm while he pondered the situation.

Eugene James had told them about the people of Redding walking into one of those ships, and he hadn't been lying, because all the people were gone, and there was no way it could have happened other than the way Eugene said it had. Jack pictured a similar scene inside his mind as he felt wind stirring around him. If they came back and turned them all into zombies, then what? Would they just walk into one of the ships in a daze like the people of Redding had?

He hugged Stephen more tightly. Betsy was gone, Alice was gone, but he wasn't going to give up this little guy. Not without a fight. Janet, the Labrador, lay next to Jack, his tongue lolling and a great big smile across his doggy face. Up above, the moon said hello.

.

.

.

"So, how come the muzak is still playing and all the lights are on?"

The question was Ianto's, in response to Rhys' assertion that the electricity had been knocked out by the UFOs electromagnetic pulsing as they had passed overhead at some point.

"I think a genie kicked in and kept the lights on and the muzak playing," Rhys answered. He was ticked off with Ianto. Who was this guy to start questioning his intelligence? Rhys thought he ought to have a bit of respect for someone who'd been around longer than him. Bloody import, only on planet for a few years. Rhys had been here most of his bloody life!

They'd had no trouble entering the Walmart. It was open for business as usual, inter-galactic visitors or not. The only trouble was there was no-one there to take their money or tell them to have a nice day.

Rhys ate peanut butter right from the jar, using a baby feeding spoon, as they trailed through the store, looking for items that might come in useful. So far, they had grabbed three heavy-duty flashlights and the nine AA batteries required to power them, a jar of peanut butter, a baby feeding spoon, and nothing else.

Gwen walked in front of Rhys and Ianto, eyeing things up before deciding each time that they were not right for their needs.

"Let's take some of these outside and rest awhile," Rhys said.

There was a twinkle in his eye that said joint, and Rhys and Gwen helped themselves to faux leather recliner chairs.

"I gotta go find a restroom," Ianto said, and headed for the back of the store.

He was seriously considering if staying in the group was a good idea.