Chapter 8: Search and Rescue

The whole gang and I left in a hurry from the hotel on an SUV that seemed abandoned when we came across it. I had to admit that Nebraska had some skills with hijacking cars as it only took a few minutes for him to get the engines going without keys. Either way, we all got in and took off, even though it was a tight fit.

After some time, we drove through a neighborhood that was filled with kids dressed in costumes, which I completely forgot that it was Halloween night. They were running around with no regard for their safety but then again, they had a bigger problem coming in the form of an alien bent on getting his gear back.

McKenna drove the SUV through every corner of the neighborhood, making me start to think that he was lost or an idiot. I rather point to the latter of the two.

"McKenna, are you sure you know where your house is?"

He twisted his head behind to look at me. "Yes, I know so could you please let me drive?"

The nerve in my head twitches in irritation at his command so I decided to teach him a lesson. When he turned his head back to look forward, I leaned over him and smacked his hard on the head. Not enough to severely damage his brain but enough so that he gets my message.

"You don't tell me what to do! You're taking us in circles and we're racing the clock so either take us to your house or let some other idiot drive!"

He growled silently but he knew that I made a good point and sighed, turning the SUV around another corner. Meanwhile, the other guys laughed hard and Nebraska patted my shoulder. "Guess you're the boss now!"

I smirked with pride filling me but when I felt that his hand wasn't removed from my shoulder fast enough, I slapped it hard and Nebraska seethed in pain, shaking it off and trying to soothe the pain. Everyone else fell silent after that, fearing that they would be next on my list if they tried anything else on me.

After some antagonizing minutes, McKenna stopped the SUV in front of a house with some simplicity to it. It wasn't too fancy but did had some charm that made it feel like home. When McKenna got out of the SUV, I was about to exit the side door until he put himself in front of me, blocking my path.

"Look . . . I need you all to stay in here until I say so."

Again with the commands?

"I'm going in McKenna and you're—"

He puts his hand out in front of my face, irritating me even more but just as I was about to speak, he beats me to it. "Okay but . . . I haven't seen my family in years and it's personal to me. I know you don't like it when I tell you things but for once, please listen to me. It's important."

At first, I wanted to protest but when I looked into his eyes, they were full of sadness that caught me off guard. My heart stuttered at the sight and for once, I took his words seriously and sat back down in my seat. "Okay. I understand."

McKenna sighed in relief and nodded at Brackett to go with him. "We'll be back with the gear. All of you just stay put."

As both Brackett and McKenna disappeared behind the front door, my inner thoughts were spiraling in chaos. One part of me didn't want to listen and do what I believed was right but the other part wanted to follow McKenna's wishes. For years, I told myself not to listen to anyone after experiencing the torture in my younger years at the labs but there's a small part inside me that wanted to believe in the good of mankind. That there's was something good in everyone. What do I do?

I lowered my head between my legs and my hands covered my face and I stayed that way for some time. Little did I know how much time did pass by until Coyle spoke out in annoyance, making me lift my head up to investigate.

"When is he going to come out? I can't stand it in here!"

Nettles scrambled for an answer. "We're supposed . . . to stay . . . here until . . . he comes back."

"Yeah and besides, we got all the company we need."

Nebraska hunched forward from the back seat and looks over my shoulder with a gleam in his eyes. At that moment, I vomited in my mouth and quickly swallowed it. This man . . . Urg!

I was glad that Coyle decided to interrupt the situation with a declaration.

"But it's been like a half an hour and nothing! I had enough!"

Coyle moves over the seats and reaches for the side door, clicking it open for Coyle to jump out and run to the door. To my surprise, all the guys moved to exit the SUV, leaving me alone in confusion. I watched as each one passed through the door and slams it shut. I really didn't want to go in with all the guys, needing some time to myself but I knew that if I wasn't there, they would take forever.

I sighed and was about to leave the SUV until a huge explosion echoed in my ear. It startled me a bit but instinct took over and I rushed out of the SUV and looked out to where the sound came from. It wasn't hard to find when I heard children screaming and running in the opposite direction of the street. I decided to go the other way, leaving the group in the house as I believed they would slow me down.

When I saw the flames, I knew that it wasn't good and I pushed my legs to run faster. When I got there, a house stood completely destroyed with flames all around it. I heard some people across the street, suggesting that it was an accident but upon closer inspection, I figured that it was destroyed by some kind of blast and not a normal one.

I walked around the area, looking for any piece to the puzzle until I saw a familiar object on the front yard of the house. Looking closer, I gasped as I realized that it was the mask of my companion but had huge dents and scratches on one side. Must be the one my companion was looking for.

I picked it up and inspected it. Other than the damage on one side of it, it looked like it was recently used, having tape on its sides. I suspected it might have been used and it was confirmed when the cannon on its side still felt hot to the touch.

Someone used this but left it behind?

Not letting anyone else see it, I took off my jacket and covered the mask with it. After that was done, I noticed tracks on the ground, resembling the feet of a small child. Putting the pieces together, I realized that it might be McKenna's son since he did mention that the gear was sent to his wife and son.

On no . . . I need to find him as soon as possible.

I hustled forward, looking down once in a while to make sure I was following the tracks. It was a long way and I was almost about to give up until I saw a boy standing in the middle of a football field. He was small, with short, brown hair and only reached to about my waist in height and I was only about 5'6". The one thing I noticed was how the boy just stood there, itching his ear or at least I thought he was.

I slowly walked towards him but he didn't notice me yet. When I came closer and can see more of him, a metal piece shined on his left arm and that is when I realized that he was wearing the wrist gauntlet of my companion. He has it!

I was distracted and stepped on a branch, creating a snapping sound that got the boy's full attention onto me. The look of fear and sadness mixed into his eyes shook me to the core. They were like a reflection of myself as a child, showing the same emotions as before and I couldn't help but have that same emotion engulf my chest, threatening me to shed tears at that moment.

Right now is not the time. I need to help him.

I walked slowly to him and he took a step back, which made me stop in my tracks. "It's alright. I'm not going to hurt you."

The boy just stood there, looking at me the same way as earlier and it began to tore into my chest. I kept moving forward. "Don't worry. I'm your friend and here to help."

Once I was only a few steps in front of him, I placed the jacket with the mask onto the ground and raised my hands so that he can see I meant no harm. "It's okay . . ."

I reached out my hand to him and after some time, his smaller one reached out and grabbed mine in a gesture only a child would do. I smiled at him and assured him that everything was alright by patting him on the head.

"Hello. My name is Anya. Nice to meet you."

The boy looked at me and spoke. "Hi. My name is Rory McKenna."

So this is McKenna's son . . .

Once we both felt safe with each other, Rory smiled and got closer to me as if I was his protection from danger. "What are you doing here by yourself?"

Rory just tilted his head to one side. "I wanted to go somewhere safe."

"From what?"

I noticed he began to shake a little, scared to answer that question. "It's okay. You can tell me."

I knelt down and placed one hand on each shoulder, rubbing them together in a gesture that expressed comfort to Rory. I was hoping that it could calm him down long enough that I could figure out what happened.

Finally, Rory gave his answer. "I did something bad. I blew a house up with a mask."

Those words confirmed my suspicion about the explosion of the house but I didn't think that Rory could do something like this intentionally. He's only a boy . . .

I decided to take out the mask from the jacket and show it to him. "With this right?"

All he gave me was a nod of his head as an answer, not wanting to be near it as he stepped back a bit. Knowing this, I wrapped it back in my jacket and placed it down on the ground again. I glanced back at the wrist gauntlet he had on his arm, wondering why my companion would want this back so desperately. Enough to kill people for it.

"Alright, Rory. We need to find a safe place for both of us. I'm a friend of your father's and I can take you to him. Once we are there, you can rest."

Rory's eye lit up when I mentioned his father and he smiled. "Dad is here? Really?"

"Really but we need to get back to him okay?"

Without hesitation, he grabbed my hand in his and I smiled back at him. We were just taking a few steps forward until a sound was heard, reminding me of a menacing growl.

My hairs stood up and caution-filled my chest. I knew this feeling, which means that something was stalking us. I motioned Rory to get behind me as I peered into the darkness where the growl kept continuing on. I didn't know what would come out but I got my answer as soon as a shadow begun to emerge and then its form.

It was a huge creature; its dark, scaly skin shined from the street lights nearby but its general structure reminded me of a dog but bigger and more terrifying. What scared me the most is that its other features reminded me of my companion. It had dreadlocks coming from its ridges on its head and its eyes shined a golden color, similar to my companion. Its paws were sharpened and I could see its teeth gleaming and ready to rip apart anything in its path. Now, it was stalking both of us.

I took out my knife from his covering and held it out towards the dog creature while it slowly moved towards us. I extended my hand out to shield Rory from it so that it focused only on me. I could feel Rory press himself on my back, clenching his fists on my shirt while shaking in fear. I had to make sure he was safe, no matter what.

I tried to calculate my next move and I was confident that I could take it down myself if I had to but then another growl echoed and I turned to see another dog creature emerging from the shadows.

Shit! We're in trouble!

I knew I could take one but with two against one, I was at a disadvantage. I twisted my head around to see Rory's face and I whispered, "Rory, I need you to run. Once they attack, run as fast as you can and find help. Do you understand?"

Rory was shaking more but he nodded his head so that he knew what I wanted him to do. Although I told Rory to find help, I had a feeling that I might be dead before it arrives but I will fight as much as possible.

Slowly, the dogs made their way to us and I backed up to keep up the distance between us. I saw that they were getting restless but in one second, one of the dogs pounced and jumped in the air to land on me. "Run!"

Rory lets go of me and takes off but I stood my ground, ready for the impact as I saw the dog open its mouth so that it could crush my skull.

Come and get me, motherfucker!

And just as quick as it started, the attack was halted abruptly. I heard guns firing and then the crash of the dog as it fell a couple feet away from us. I didn't know where the shots came from until Rory called out from behind me.

"Dad!"

Right on cue, McKenna comes out into view, carrying a gun while Brackett, Coyle, and Baxley followed behind. Rory runs in front of me to embrace McKenna and I stood back, not wanting to interrupt their union. "You're actually here Dad. I can't believe it!"

"I'm here Rory. I got you."

Once he lets go of his son, McKenna stands up and looks at me. "Where the hell did you go?"

I puffed at him. "I went to investigate an explosion and found your son here by himself. You're not my babysitter."

McKenna was about to snap back at me but then the growling noise came back and we all turned to see the dogs closing in on us. Without a thought, bullets rained on them but did little effect on them. Their hides were thick and hard to penetrate but the shotgun McKenna had done stun them, if only for a bit. One of the dogs jumps between McKenna and the rest of us, seeing McKenna as the main threat and ran forward.

McKenna fires the shotgun and stops the dog for a bit but when he cocks it again, it was empty. Now that we were out of the one thing that could stop them, the dog shakes of its injuries and continues to stalk McKenna. But the fight began to change in our favor.

Out of the blue, a police car comes barreling through and stops between McKenna and the dog, hitting the latter with the body of the car. At first, I thought it was some random, idiot cop coming in to be a hero but when I looked to see who was coming out, it wasn't a cop but it was an idiot.

Nebraska comes out with a huge grenade launcher in his arms. How the hell did he come across it?

Soon, he released a grenade or two onto the dogs and one makes contact. One of the dogs goes flying over us but the other one that was recently stalking McKenna dodged the shots and resumed its earlier task. It runs towards McKenna and he races towards the bleachers for cover. In an instant, Nebraska calls out to McKenna and throws the grenade launcher to him.

McKenna catches it in time to dive under the bleachers as the dog chomps down, breaking some of them along the way. It kept biting down in an attempt to get to McKenna but he reacts by placing the head of the grenade launcher into its mouth and firing. At first, it didn't affect the dog and continued to go after McKenna as he ran from the cover of the bleachers. However, as the dog leaped into the air, its entire abdomen exploded and its contents fell on the ground. Green, neon ooze spread out over the grass its body falls like a ragdoll.

McKenna had little time to react and slipped on its blood, stopping at its body with a skid. I was used to seeing such a sight. Maybe even worse but I looked at Rory and he just averted his eyes for a moment, trying to erase that event from his mind. In a way, I wished that he didn't have to see it ever again but it wasn't ideal.

With one alien dog down, the other was still being fired upon by the rest of the gang. McKenna, Brackett and I, along with Rory at our backs, raced to join into the fight. Although I only had a knife, I was ready to find the slightest weakness so that I could deliver the final blow. However, I never got the chance.

I saw Nebraska just waltz over to the dog and while it was being distracted, he took the pistol from his hand, pointed at its skull and fired. The dog didn't have time to turn and cried out in pain, whimpering as it strolled off a bit.

I was shocked that it was still alive and moving but what really caught everyone off guard is that the dog was behaving more differently. It didn't growl at us but only walked around, whimpering in a way that it wanted attention and not from the pain that it felt earlier. I couldn't understand what Nebraska did but it changed the dog's behavior and all of us just stood there.

"What the hell did you do to it, Nebraska?"

"I don't know. Trying to kill it by shooting it in the head but it's still kicking."

Sensing that the dog would mean us no harm anymore, I placed my knife back into the pouch and proceeded to shoo the dog away. If it wasn't going to hurt us, I figured it was better to send it off, meaning less trouble and more bullets to spare.

"Shoo! Get out of here!"

The dog, hearing the assertiveness of my voice, scampered off into the distance without any problems. I sighed in relief and walked towards Rory so that I could check on him.

"You alright?"

He heard the concern in my voice and grabbed my hand as if to assure me that he was alright. I couldn't help but smile at him. I began to notice that when I'm around him, I could relax and be myself around him. But right now, we needed to find somewhere safe as I went to retrieve my jacket containing the mask.

"McKenna! Now that we found the missing gear, we need to get the hell out of here. Do you bring the SUV?"

All he did was tilt his head in annoyance but answered my question. "Nettles is bringing something bigger so we are not all crammed together like last time. He found a trailer for us to use."

I raised an eyebrow. "He found one or stole one?"

McKenna struggled to find a suitable answer. "Well, it doesn't matter as long as we got something to drive. Here he comes now."

I turned around to see a massive trailer coming around the corner. I could tell that it could fit a dozen people in it without trouble so I questioned whether they really found one. He's right though. We got something to drive.

As soon as the trailer stopped in front of us, I noticed that Brackett was over near the dog's body, trying to retrieve something but in my experience with scientists, its probably to get a sample of it. My blood boiling just thinking about it.

We are being chased by aliens and all she cares about is some sample!

I couldn't stand it anymore. I rushed over to Brackett and grabbed her by the arm, yanking her from the carcass while she tried fighting back. "Hey! I need to get a sample of its blood!"

"Well, too bad. All of us are heading to the trailer and I don't give a rat's ass if you don't get a sample from your dead dog. We are getting out of here."

Brackett still refused to listen to me. "I just want one sample! I need it for—"

I turned on her like a dime with fury all over my face. "Look! Read my lips. I. Don't. Care! We are in a life and death situation and we have a child who shouldn't have been involved in the first place. You're just some stupid scientist who doesn't consider anyone else but yourself."

Brackett looked like she was ready to fall down on her knees in fear of me but I didn't stop.

"You will never change. You would take anyone that isn't like you and take them apart until there's nothing left! You're lucky that someone is willing to risk their lives to save your ass! So shut up and get in the trailer!"

Brackett's eyes widened as I pushed her in the trailer's direction. Anger was still fuming inside me and didn't dissipate as the whole group watched me in surprise at what they witnessed. I didn't care.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Get in the trailer!"

Everyone scrambled around but I noticed Brackett whispering to Nebraska but I couldn't hear what she was saying. After a second passed, Nebraska grabbed McKenna's shirt that was dripping with green ooze from the alien dog and pushed some of it into Brackett's hands.

Good. You got your sample anyway Brackett. Now, suck on it!

Afterward, all of were about to enter the trailer until a slam on top of it got all of our attention. Everyone tilted their heads up to see what was on the trailer and to my shock, I saw the one person that I wanted to see again.

It was my companion in all of his glory with his armor shining from the street lights. His massive form loomed over us and I couldn't help but be attracted to him. Why do I feel this way?

I didn't have time to answer my own question when Nettles pops his head from the window. Next thing I knew, my companion lifted him up like a ragdoll and holding him high into the air like some kind of trophy. I feared that he would kill Nettles on the spot since he was wailing in my companion's grip, screaming to be let go.

After that, my companion shot a fire from his shoulder cannon and onto the police car, exploding on impact. All of us dropped down a little due to instinct but raised ourselves back on our feet. However, my companion's target laser came on and three dots shined on Rory and I froze.

Rory has his gear! He's going to kill him.

I saw Brackett trying to shield him from my companion's gaze but I rushed over and came between them and my companion. "Please, don't do this!"

He started clicking in my direction but it didn't seem menacing but more out of curiosity. Then he raised his clawed hand and made a motion for us to drop our weapons. McKenna and the rest of the loonies put their weapons down but I remained in my position.

To dissuade him from killing anyone, I unwrapped his mask from my jacket and lifted it up to show him. "I found your gear so please, don't hurt anyone else and I'll give it back to you. Please . . ."

I sounded like I was begging but then he clicked again and tilted his head. For an instant, I could sense that his eyes were burning into mine, looking into my soul and sent shivers throughout my whole body. However, my companion's gaze turned to the side when Baxley started his twitches again. Fuck! Not now!

With my companion distracted, McKenna kicks his weapon back into his hands and fires at him. My companion falls down, letting go of Nettles as he drops to the ground. I didn't want this to happen and now there is no other way to stop this.

The whole group rushed toward the doors to the school nearby, seeking shelter and a place to hide. While everyone else stayed behind to defend the entrance, McKenna, Rory, Brackett and myself went inside and closed the doors, taking a second to catch our breaths.

"What the fuck, McKenna? Why did you shoot at him?"

I saw his face was full of confusion mixed with anger. "It killed my men! It would have killed Nettles if given the chance!"

"He just wanted his stuff back. If you haven't stolen it when you were in Mexico then none of this would have happened!"

My mouth stayed wide open as I realized what I've done. I couldn't stop my words from coming out. I said something that I couldn't take back and now, I had to face the circumstances in the form of McKenna asking the one question I dreaded.

"How did you know about that?"

I tried to answer but all I could do was stammer. I didn't know how to answer him and he looked like he was demanding an answer.

Soon, we were interrupted by a huge blast that smashed one of the doors into pieces, sending shrapnel of wood in our direction. All of us rushed to the side for cover but we didn't stop there. All three of us ran towards the stairs to try and find an escape.

During this, my world was running in slow motion. How did it come to this? What will happen now?

There were no answers to my questions. All I know is that the confrontation between us and my companion was coming swiftly but if I had known what would happen next, I would have stopped right then and there, ready to face the consequences.

However, life is cruel and all I can do was face it as I felt my companion closing in on us, ready to hunt.

Hi Readers!

Hope you like this chapter. It's starting to heat up and everything is about to come crashing down.

This chapter was going to have more but it started to get too long so I'm splitting it into two chapters. Don't worry, it's going to get better! So the next chapter is going to come earlier this week as well.

The reason for this is because you guys are great and that I got more time on my hands but for unfortunate reasons. As many of you might know, the Hill fire is spreading in Thousand Oaks and is hitting too close to my home so we had to evacuate for a bit but so far our house is safe and was able to return.

However, with my campus closed due to the fire, I had time to stay home and write my stories but I want to pay tribute to those who have lost their homes due to the fires. It has been scary for us all. :(

Also, I want to pay tribute to the victims of the shooting at the Borderline Bar and Grill that had either lost their lives (including Officer Ron Helus) or been injured. It was a sad day for all of us and we didn't have time to recover when the fires began.

Again, thank you to all my readers and hope that all of you are safe and well.

The next chapter will be either posted tomorrow or on Sunday. Sorry for the long message :(

Thank you very much!