II
They stood on the roof of the diner watching the sun come up. Cal pulled Sam close wrapping his arm around her when the light waves burst over the horizon in retro blues and purples ascending into the sky. Joe and his friend Buck sat on the deck of the roof with their backs against the back of the wall holding up the diner sign. Paul stood transfixed by the sight. His young boy Collin and his wife Shelley stood huddled together as he hugged them close. Cal found some common ground with Paul as he and his family had been driving back to California from New York when they stopped into the diner for something to eat and the attacks came.
They looked at the buildings around them. Most of them single story buildings rolling back toward the Louisville skyline. The Louisville skyline made their jaws drop in horror. The city itself was a mass of chaos. Buildings destroyed and crumbling with exposed heavy steel beams and wiring hanging down. Some buildings had caved into their own foundations scorched by weapons and fires raged, the smoke rising in dark clouds where the fires took over multiple sections of buildings and rapidly gaining ground toward the north. On the south side there were small clusters of smoke tendrils ascending into the sky.
Cal looked around at the small diner and its geographical surroundings. It was situated on a piece of property secluded only by the parking lot wrapping around the dinner half filled with cars , trucks, a few motorcycles, and an RV. The streets moving running North and South, East and West bordered the North and East side of the building, but the South and West side ran off a gentle incline and over railroad tracks to the trees beyond. Cars, motorcycles, and trash littered the streets in all directions, but there was no sign of any life. It was almost as if the people had all disappeared.
"Cars, just died where they stopped. There doesn't seem to be any human life out there." Cal shook his head and squeezed Sams shoulder reassuringly.
"Dad," Sam looked up into her fathers face, "What do we do now?"
Cal looked to Paul and Shelley and Collin and then back to Sam. "We eat, we pray, and we take stock of our situation and try to find out what we're up against."
"We pray," Buck guffawed loudly. "What makes you think theres a God up there who even cares about whats happening?"
"I'm not getting into this with you Buck," Cal started, but Buck's quick to interject attitude caught him off guard.
"That's right, because there ain't no God. No entity up there cares anything boutus. If there was, it doesn't seem like he cares now." Bucks sly smile looked evil.
"And you know this because," Sam's ire was up, she stood toe to toe with Buck "It's not about what's really there Buck. People need something to hope for, strive for, believe in, or there is no hope and no reason to live." She took a deep breathe. "Don't take the one thing from people that might keep them fighting, might keep them striving, hoping, moving forward when they might otherwise lay down and die."
"Yea whatever," Buck said waving a hand in her face. "When that big guy in the sky comes down and saves us all, then I'll believe it."
"If you have to see to believe, I pity you Buck and I for one will pray for you." Shelley said, startling them all.
"So, what are we up against?" Paul asked trying to change the subject.
"Hey guys…" Joe waved them over to the east side of the building. "I don't think we'll have to wait long. Look! What the hell is that?" He pointed at a shiny silver bipedal object slowly making its approach toward the diner with three six legged what appeared to be half human, half bug skittering their way toward up the street littered with cars. They skittered over cars as the large metallic machine picked its way through the streets flipping car out of its way and moving in a methodical fashion as if searching for something.
"Those must be those things that guy was talking about. What are they doing?" Paul said sounding more frightened than he intended.
"Flushing out the prey." Cal whispered. Paul gave him an understanding look. "We should probably get down." Cal said guiding Sam down behind the wall of the roof and sparing glances over the edge. "They must be scouts or something. I can't imagine-" Looking out over the wall, he glimpsed the forms of a young woman in her early twenties and a child about the age of four hiding behind a car about fifty feet from the walking bipedal machine. He could tell from the look of indecision on the woman's face she wasn't sure if she should run or stay put.
"Oh crap, lady get out of there!" Joe crouched up over the wall waving to the woman. She noticed him and waved him down before looking back over her shoulder to get the bearing of the machine and its three escorts.
"Joe. Shut up and get down." Cal spoke in a low tone. "Get down before you get everyone killed."
Joe ignored the warning and continued to wave his arms. The quick disjointed movement caught the attention of one of the green six legged aliens and it came skittering toward him at what appeared to be impossible speed. The Machine it was escorting immediately targeted Joe centering a multi-beamed, multi-colored laser on his chest from a machine gun attachment on its right arm. On its left was clearly an arm attachment with three opposable fingers and one thumbed metallic hand like claw. Joe had enough time to look down to see the multi-colored beamed laser change from orange to blue before someone slammed into him carrying him to the deck. He struggled with the weight on his chest as a blast of heat and light flew over their heads and showering them with brick and concrete.
"Get down! Stay out of sight." Cal whispered harshly in Joes ear.
"Get off me man!" Joe cried. Cal held him firmly against the wall.
"You are going to get us all killed. Stay down and shut up!" Cals harsh admonishment brought Joe to his senses as he realized what had just happened.
"They shot at us man. They shot some energy at us. That's like Star Wars stuff, man. Straight up crazy." Joe scanned the faces full of fear around him and settled down. "I'm ok," He held up his hand to Cal, "I promise, I'll be straight, I'll be laid back, whatever you want."
With Joe calm, Cal got up the courage to peer over the edge of the wall. The alien creature rapidly moving toward them had stopped, changed direction, and pointing at the young woman and the child who had been hiding behind a car. They broke from their cover heading straight for the diner.
"No." Cal whispered watching the beam from the metal bipedal machine gun focus and with sudden finality released a volley of projectiles into the womans fleeing back. Cal observed the light disappear from her eyes and he heard the screams of pain before she came skidding to a halt face first on the asphalt.
"Mommy! Mommy!" The child stood in the middle of the street crying and tugging at the arm of the dead woman lying face down on the concrete. Cal and Sam watched in horror as the little boy looked around and then back at the body, tears streaming down his face, screaming, "Mommy! Wake up! MAAAWWMMEEEE!"
The green six legged alien snatched him up and carried him off to the west. The other two aliens scanned the roof of the building and the streets continuing to pick their way through the jungle of cars once more. Sam covered her face crying into her fathers shoulder as they ducked behind the edge of the roof wall. Paul held Shelley and Collin as close as he could and he whispered to Collin to stay quiet. Shelley cried silently into her husbands shoulder as her own shoulders quaked with the effort to stay quiet.
The metallic bipedal machine was getting closer making its way up the street pushing cars from its path and scanning the streets for movement. The skittery green alien creatures stopped in the middle of the street on the North side of the diner. The clicking sounds of their voices carrying on the eerie silence as they deliberated back and forth.
Cal moved to the north side of the building and watched the two skittering aliens through a hole where the deck of the roof meets the wall for rain runoff. One alien was pointing at the diner, while the other was clucking and pointing in the direction of the destroyed city skyline. Finally, they both stopped tittering to one another and the one pointing at the diner shrugged its bulbous shoulders before dropping its hand like limbs and gesturing to the city skyline.
Cal took that as a sign of surrender and moved out of the line of sight of the hole. He took a few deep breathes and could feel his heart thumping in his chest as he lay there for a few minutes gathering his wits. He made eye contact with Sam and started to crawl back towards her.
"Daddy, they killed that woman and took that little boy." She whispered when he got close enough to lean up against the wall next to her. Tears streamed down her face and she wiped them away. "What are those things?"
"I don't know. Fastest things I've ever seen." Cal replied, out of breath. "We're going to have to stay well clear of them or we won't have a chance."
The look of disbelief on Paul's face belied the terror on the faces of Shelley and Collin. Paul nodded in agreement with Cal. His heart thudding in his chest and the warm morning sun was beginning feel good against his otherwise exhausted body. He looked at Cal before he leaned up to see over the edge of the wall.
One of the green six legged aliens jumped up on the roof of a car searching as its companion bipedal machine walked the North side of the building tossing cars out of its way scanning the facades of buildings looking for any sign of movement. Paul's gaze stayed locked on the skittering thing searching the empty street. He supposed it was looking for stragglers, but the bulbous body and elongated six legs allowed for a speed of movement not expected to be had by a creature of that size. The small arms protruding from its upper body belied a unique human quality offset by the insect-like shape of its head.
The Skitter stared back at the diner containing at least fifty refugees from the attacks the night before. It appeared to be scanning the building, but Paul was skeptical that it could see or hear anything inside. The alien creature didn't move, but simply stood quietly upon its perch gazing at the building. Then the sound of something even more sinister began to reach their ears from somewhere in the distance.
The roar was a soft buzzing at first, but then rapidly became a rushing sound like standing next to a roaring river. The air ships darted over head searching and shooting in various vectors across the horizon.
"Holy Sh-!" Joes outburst alerted an alien who reacted to the sudden sound and movement as Joe and Buck bolted from behind the wall of the roof heading for the hatch leading down into the diner. Cal grabbed for Sam putting a finger to his lips and motioning for her to remain silent. Paul took the queue and held tight Shelley and Collin, covering their mouths with his hands and whispering in their ears to keep quiet.
The alien rapidly scaled the side of the building and Cal watched it launch itself at Joe and Bucks. When they reached the hatch, Joe turned back to see the two families still hunched up against the wall of the roof of the diner. Joe knew at that moment his mistake had cost him his life just as Buck came crashing into him launching him from his feet down the seven foot tall ladder and onto the tile floor of the diners kitchen. The alien rushed in after them.
Cal, Sam, Paul, Shelley, and Collin listened to the screams of the people inside the diner as they tried to flee the alien. They heard glass, wood and metal breaking as objects and people were thrown through tables barricading the windows and out into the parking lot. Cal clenched his teeth listening to the soft moans of pain and screams of agony erupting from those still alive on the sidewalks. Then the all too sickening sound of the screams stopping abruptly as more aliens and bipedal machines swarmed the area to finish off the survivors. Cal and the others stayed quiet knowing there was no way out. If they were found, they would die. If they were quiet, they had a slim chance to hold onto whatever thread of life they had. The aliens didn't bother returning to the roof. They moved and skittered around the cars dispatching survivors and then, all at once, the movement ceased.
Cal put a finger to his lips and almost dared himself to look over the wall, but instead erred on the side of caution and stayed put. His split decision saved him from the twelve skittering aliens and their metal bipedal companions suddenly moving toward the diner then past it as they trampled over cars and bodies heading east toward the city skyline.
The world around them became eerily quiet once again. No sounds uttered in the silence. Not birds, not people, not cars, not even the sound of machinery operating in the distance or electricity wires humming overhead. Cal made a motion for them to be quiet as he pulled himself part way up the wall and crawled over to the hatch opening leading down into the diner.
The scene inside was unlike anything he'd ever seen before. He motioned for the rest to stay hidden and climbed down the ladder. When he reached the bottom he made his way back through the kitchen. It was in complete disarray with pots, pans, dishes and glassware broken, smashed or strewn about halfway down the hallway to the dining room.
He reached over and pulled a long slicing blade out of a rack and moved silently stopping momentarily to take in the scene when he stumbled upon Buck lying motionless in the doorway, unmistakably dead. He listened before continuing down the hall for any sound, but only silence called back to him.
"Whatever I might find in here, help me deal with it." He whispered when he pushed against the door leading into the dining room. It opened partially and then stopped. Something was lodged against it from the other side and so he pulled the other door inward and exited the kitchen. He found Gerald lying against it with his wife in his arms blocking the door. "Oh man, Gerald, no." he whispered rubbing his forehead and steeling himself for what he might find when he turned around. The candles had long gone out that had been placed around the room. Sun beams lit through the breaks in the now broken or missing blinds and barricades that had been erected to keep out the Aliens, but instead had become the walls of a tomb. Cal moved through the thirty or so bodies that lay unmoving on the floor, knowing there were quite a few more outside. People he never got the opportunity to meet or talk to, but counted on him to keep them safe. In the end, it wasn't Joe's and Bucks irresponsibility that got them killed. It was his inability to control the situation. It ended up being his inability to adequately foresee the danger and in the end, allowed one small action by a foolish kid to end in the mindless slaughter of fifty some people.
Cal dropped to his knees as the tears fell from his eyes and rolled down his cheeks. He rubbed his eyes and cheeks, clenching and unclenching his fists. His frustration wanted to scream out to the world, but his mind warned against it.
The alien moved slowly and stealthily. The human was kneeling there with his back against him. There was no escape.
Cal heard it, that scraping sound. There it was again. Slight, but evident. It was coming from behind and someone or something attempting to mask their movements and move very quietly. A broken mop handle lay a foot away and he over exaggerated his crying leaning toward it wrapping his fingers around the shaft. The stealthy footsteps stopped and then with unimaginable speed Cal saw the blur out of the corner of his eye as he fell forward turning and bracing the mop handle against the tile floor jutting up into the air like a spear.
The alien moved so fast that its weight continued to carry it forward even when it tried to alter course seeking purchase across the slippery tile floor upon seeing its error. It jittered wildly screeching as the broken end of the mop impaled it through its abdomen and continued through its back. Cal didn't waste any time bringing up the kitchen knife.
"Aaaaagggggghhhh!" He screamed releasing all of his pent up anger, rage and hatred as the green six legged alien futilely attempted to pull the broken mop handle from its writhing body screeching in pain. Cal went to work sawing off the head at the base of the neck with the knife.
"Daddy." Sam called dropping into the kitchen rushing for the door of dining room. Sam looked out at the massacre, blood and chaos and ran back into the kitchen vomiting into the sink. Unsure if she could handle the scene, but certain she needed to find out what happened to her father, she forced herself to move back into the dining room.
"Aagh!" Cal stood over the body stabbing it again and again with the blade until at last the handle was buried somewhere in the bloody mass. Instead of retrieving it, he reached for the broken mop handle and pulled it out. The body gushed more blood as the eyes of the bodiless head opened and closed and the odd shaped mouth still attempted to move as if breathing in actual air.
"Daddy!" Sam half screamed, half whispered. "Daddy." She moved through the bodies on the floor and launched herself into his arms. "Daddy, daddy, daddy," she said over and over pressing her face into his neck. "You're alive. My God… You're alive." Her breathless words turned into a mantra she held onto. You're alive. Oh God, Oh God…" She framed his dirty face in her hands and smiled. "I'm so glad you're alive."
"Me too," Cal said arms wrapped around his daughter, weapon forgotten on the floor. He looked up just in time to see Paul and his family standing helplessly in the middle of the dining room, their faces pale and weak as they took in the scene around them.
"You killed it." Paul said pointing at the beheaded six legged alien creature lying in a rapidly growing pool of blackened blood at Cal's knees. "It's dead. Right?"
"I think so," Cal nodded, "I don't know if it has friends. We should probably-" A shuddering thud on the roof and then the sound of many feet running across it echoed inside the diner.
"I shut the hatch." Paul said, "I didn't know what to do."
"Ok, we might have time. Follow me." Cal nodded toward the kitchen grabbing He led them back around the dining room with mop handle in hand and into the kitchen breathing a sigh of relief when he found what he was looking for.
The steel door of the walk in refrigerator opened easily enough. It was still cool inside, but thankfully tolerable. Most importantly there was plenty of room for all of them. He ushered them all inside and just as he shut the door to the refrigerator with a click, the closed door to the hatch leading to the roof caved in spilling aliens into the kitchen. Cal, Sam, Paul, Shelley, and Collin hunkered in the back of the refrigerator on top of a box of beef and waited.
The sounds of feet moving outside were muffled against the insulation, but there was a small indentation in the seal where the sound echoed slightly into the refrigerator. Like listening to sounds through a tube as they echoed off the walls they made out the faint sounds of jittering and the scuffle of feet through the kitchen over the broken crockery.
Then all at once the jittering became screeches and the sound of objects being thrown up against the walls in the dining area. Then the sound of rapidly scuffling feet the aliens made as they bolted back into the kitchen and up the wall escaping through the open hatch from which they'd come.
Cal and Sam listened to their muffled footsteps as they rushed off the roof of the diner and disappeared somewhere in the distance.
"You think it's safe to come out?" Sam asked putting her hand against the metal door of the refrigerator. "They didn't sound very happy."
"I hope seeing one of their own dead and beheaded scared the living hell out of them." Cal replied. The flecks of blood and gore still speckled his face and drenched his clothing. "I would think that they might leave us alone for-"
"What? Dad. What's the matter?" Sam saw the sudden look of intensity on her fathers face.
"We need to leave." Cal said pushing the door open. "We need to go. Now!"
Paul grabbed Shelley and Collin and followed Cal out to the dining room. Cal and Paul heaved the blinds out of the way and broke the last jagged pieces of window from the pane. Cal was the last to exit the building. He searched the east and west before finally motioning to the others to follow him west. They ran mostly fuelled by adrenaline, Paul carrying his son, while Shelley lagged somewhat behind. They moved through trees and out into the forested sections of the hills away from the main highway. Every now and again they would hunker down behind the trees as the green six legged aliens passed with their Mechanical bipedal companions. Staying careful to keep quiet and not move until the patrols had gone far beyond sight or hearing.
By dawn, they were exhausted, but a small farmhouse offered some small relief as they plodded upto the front porch and lay down under the awning.
"Who goes there!" Came the gruff voice from somewhere inside.
Sam flopped onto her back with her feet squarely on the ground. "I'm too tired to argue with some nutcase with a gun, I'm just going to lay right here and die if you don't mind."
"Sam." The warning tone from her dad was lessened by the exhaustion he felt. "Let's try and be nice. You might catch more bees if you use honey than if you use lemon juice. You ever hear that saying?"
"Only…" She took two deep breaths, "everytime. you. Aw hell." She blustered, "all the time."
Cal laughed in spite of his exhaustion. "Ho there!" he called through the door. "We're just passing through and wondered if you had any water. Maybe some food?"
"No! Go Away!" came the gruff response from inside.
"Oh, Brett! Be nice, they seem like ok folks. Not churched much, but right ok 'nough." A small woman with glasses and a house robe unlatched the door and opened it. "Oh my, Don't you all look so…" She gauged the look of their clothing and dark stains on Cals. "…tired. I'm Barb, and this is my husband Brett." She shuffled the door open and smiled when Paul and Shelley drew Collin close as they walked through the door. "Come in, come in. Take a load off."
"Thank you Ma'am." Cal said gesturing to Sam. "Come on kiddo, let's go inside."
Sam flopped her hands on the deck and lifted her upper body up off the steps trudging across the threshold until she leaned into her dads shoulder. "I don't know, dad. Are you sure about this?" she whispered, "Something about this doesn't feel right."
"Come on," Cal said wrapping his arm around her and heading inside. "It'll be alright.
Barb and Brett were a nice enough couple. They had retired to western Kentucky just after the Twin towers were attacked in New York. Brett was an iron worker and an active member of the Local 70. He worked in the iron and steel industry for over forty-three years. Cal could sense that there was more to it. There was an awful quietness about them.
Barb moved through the kitchen humming to herself drawing up the fixings for a chicken pot pie. She had a freezer stocked full of frozen meats and vegetables, but for the time being Cal, Paul, Sam, Shelley, and Collin sat at the kitchen table warming themselves around some hot mugs of homemade apple cider. Every now and again Brett, a tall thin man with large hands and a broad mustache wearing overalls and old steel toe boots walked into the kitchen.
"Dangerous critters you say?" Brett asked in his southern drawl. "We're pretty secluded way out here. No aliens, or monsters, or critters with ten or twenty legs. We've got our protection and that's all that matters."
"Honey?" Barb gestured to Brett, "Would you be a dear and grab me that paprika from the cupboard?"
Brett grabbed the glass jar full of orange and white powder from the top shelf and put it in Barbs hands. "Thank you sweetie."
"Dad, I am so tired." Sam said yawning. "Ms. Barb, that cider really hit the spot." She rubbed her belly. "Do you think there's a place I can lay down for a while?"
Barb smiled and pointed down the hallway. "There's a room just down there dear, right past the bathroom, second door on your right."
Cal smiled to his daughter as she passed. "I'll be here when you wake up, sweetie."
Sam laughed half heartedly. "You better."
Cal gave Paul a meaningful look. Paul smiled and lifted his glass of cider then let it slip from his fingers falling to the floor, the mug breaking into a thousand pieces.
"Oh shoot." Paul cried.
"Oh Paul." Shelley looked down and shook her head, Collin asleep on her lap.
Barb turned and stared at the mess on the floor and then as if on cue she spoke up, "Oh my goodness. I'll get you a mop."
"I'm so sorry. Just so darn clumsy. Must be more tired than I thought." Paul reached up on the sink and grabbed the long knife from the counter with one swift fluid motion and Barb with the other putting the blade to her neck.
"Oh my God, Paul what are you doing?" Shelley cried. Collin woke up on her lap and started crying.
Brett entered the room with a shotgun and Cal grabbed the pot of hot cider off the stove splashing it in his face. He stumbled back, dropping the shotgun and pawing at his face in agony. Cal swept up the shotgun and put the muzzle directly in Bretts face.
"EVERYONE SHUT UP!" The only sound was the shotgun ratcheting forward chambering a round and dropping a round out of the ejection port into Sam's waiting hand. "Now, Shelley, would you please quiet down Collin and listen."
Shelley was now standing against the back wall of the kitchen holding Collin tightly to her chest. He started to quiet down as she shushed him listening intently to Cal. "What's happening. Paul? Whats... happ-"
"Shell, just take it easy and keep Collin quiet." Paul said pressing the knife against Barbs neck.
"So," Cal began. The muzzle of the shotgun waivered, but held steady. "How long have you been abducting people, strangers, just passing through?"
"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about, young man." She said, with a sweet smile on her face. "I think it's time for you folks to leave. This isn't how you repay someone's hospitality."
"Don't you lie to me." Cal growled. "Don't you dare. How many?"
"Don't even think about it, thin man." Sam said as she came around the corner poking an old black Colt .45 revolver into Bretts back. He jerked slightly and Sam pulled the trigger putting a bullet into the meat of the back of his left leg. Brett went down on one knee and felt the muzzle of the revolver push into the back of his skull.
Barb screamed out an expletive and every other awful name she could think of. "How could you do that to my husband? I swear to the Lord I will kill you where you stand. Then I will eat the flesh off your bones!"
"That's what I figured," Cal said standing a little easier, but backing off just out of Bretts reach. Paul didn't loosen his hold on Barb, but the disgusted look on his face told the whole story.
"I'm starting to think I might be too spicy for the likes of you," Sam said mimicking the slow southern Kentucky drawl of the short woman with her glasses and house robe.
"Sam," Cal said quietly, "you're not helping."
"Sorry dad," Sam replied a sheepish admonished expression spreading across her face.
Cal realized his admonishing his daughter would distract her, make her doubt herself and not react when he needed her to. "No worries, it's ok."
"I thought it was funny," Paul said realizing Cal's intent to boost her confidence. Barb started to chuckle sarcastically, "Not that funny," Paul said pressing the knife a little tighter and drawing a little blood.
Barb reacted with a pained expression.
"I'm not going to ask for details anymore." Cal said quietly maintaining eye contact with Barb. "After all the death and the burned homes we've seen, I honestly don't care. We're going to get some food, some water, and then we're going to leave. You'll never see us again."
"You really think you're going to be ok out there, Yank?! You think there's going to be some safe haven out there waiting for you?" Barb started to cackle raging against Paul still holding her tightly. "You outsiders are all the same. You come in and you expect good southern hospitality and then you take and give nothing back. I hope those spidders take you. Them and their metal machines."
"Sam," Cal said looking at his daughter. "See if you can't find some rope and some blankets will ya? I have these two covered."
Sam disappeared into the living room followed closely by Shelley who stepped outside onto the front porch. In a few moments Sam returned with the blankets and the rope. Cal asked her to take the rope and blankets outside. He'd be there in a moment. Sam stepped out the door. The sound of a shotgun rang out. Shelley jumped, holding Collin in her arms jerking awake and beginning to cry again. She heard Barb screaming inside and then suddenly the shotgun rang out again and her screams were silenced.
Paul came walking out with flecks of blood on his clothing and sat down next to Shelley and Collin. He went to wrap his arms around her and she shied away. "Shell.."
"Why?" She asked with tears welling up in her eyes. "Why?"
Paul sighed. "Cal was right. I know it hurt him to do it, but he was right to do it, Shell. For all those people who would come this way and hope for someplace safe, but find those monsters instead." Paul reached over and she let him pull her into an embrace as he ruffled his sleeping son's hair. "And for all those people that did come this way. I love you, but there are going to be a lot of hard decisions yet to be made."
Cal came out shouldering the shotgun and sat down next to Sam on the porch steps. "We'll have to stay away from the meat, but I think the fruit, veggies, and the eggs and some of the canned food with labels are probably ok."
"I saw some backpacks in the other rooms when I was snooping around, some with clothes. The water still works too, which is odd. I think they have a generator and well water." She said leaning into her dad's shoulder.
"I'll find the generator. We should probably try to save as much gas as possible in case we need it." Cal said using the butt of the shotgun to push himself to his feet.
"Not before you get a bath." Shelley said with a giggle. "You and Paul are both ripe." She put emphasis on the last syllable.
Sam held up a finger "I testify." She said laughing. "And a bath would be nice, but I'm sure not sleeping in that creepy house." Sam put the blankets and rope aside and headed back into the house.
Paul got up. "We better bury those two and clean the floor." He said softly, "In a couple hours the sun will be down and we'll need to find a place to sleep.
Cal pointed over at the barn across the driveway. "We'll bed down in that barn over there for the night and tomorrow we'll see what else we can find."
Shelley sat on the porch rocking chair with Collin in her arms. The sun had reached over the horizon and she watched the beams of warm light slowly creep up the white posts on the end of the awning and the tears flowed down her cheeks. She could feel the warmth on her legs and the morning breeze. There were birds, none of the songs of which they sang she could recognize. The world around her was alive, but everything in her life felt like death.
"I'm sorry for chastising you back there, Sam." Cal said as he walked out of the barn to see the sunrise. He could smell the eggs and mushrooms cooking over an open fire in a cast iron skillet. "I need to trust you, and I need trust that I know you'll do what you think is right, no matter what I think."
"Awwe dad, You're growing up." She said leaning into him and giggling.
"Ohh just remember young lady, I'm still your dad and I'm older than you, so take it easy on me, I'm old." He held her close giving her a reassuring squeeze.
She mimicked her dad's low tone, "They grow up so fast. Don't they little tasty baby chicks." She said bending over cooing to the eggs sizzling in the pan.
Paul came out and smiled stretching. "Best night's sleep I've gotten in a while."
"Me too," Cal said smiling. "And the bath felt good too."
"You're telling me partner." Paul tossed a grin at Sam as she kneeled over the fire with the skillet. He noticed she'd gotten some plates from the kitchen of the house as well and relished the idea of digging into some eggs.
"Dishin it up!" Sam yelled as she turned around putting the contents of the skillet on each plate along with slices of apples and peaches dipped in honey.
Sam, Paul, and Cal sat comfortably on the front porch just a few feet from Shelley who was sharing her food with Collin.
"Where'd you get the honey?" Paul asked digging into the eggs.
"It was in the kitchen in one of the cupboards. I found some flour, sugar, baking soda, spices, and about three bottles of olive oil. You don't even want to know what I found in the basement."
"What?" Cal asked, a look of seriousness crossing his face.
Pauls intent expression unnerved Sam, but she gulped down a mouthful of food. "There's a lot of junk down there. Mostly old World War II stuff. You know? Not from our side though. A lot of stuff with swastikas and these black crosses with white highlights. It was just… weird."
Cal considered his daughters words. "Any weapons? Ammunition?"
"Boxes," she said chewing on a peach. "They have machine guns and rifles. Two cabinets full. Some of the other stuff was just strange. I think I found like six boxes full of this one book 'Mein Kampf' "
"Written by Adolf Hitler." Shelley chimed in. "It was supposed to be his great literary achievement. As it turned out, he was actually a fairly brilliant man, if not a little insane."
"Oooookaaay." Sam said curiously raising her eyebrows.
"I studied many of the famous Commanders in College. It was part of a social economics course and we had this German professor who was absolutely adamant that Hitler was misunderstood." Shelley went on.
"So.. Was Hitler misunderstood?" Cal asked with a wry grin.
"No," Shelley replied, "I think that he was like any other introverted young man who ended up getting drunk off power and finding himself swept up in a flood of social-political viewpoints that only served to bolster the egos of his sycophantic nutjob political affiliations."
"So…" Sam paused thinking about how to formulate a response. "He was nuts."
"Pretty much." Shelley said smiling.
The easy laughter broke out across the open driveway and down the hill to the grassy field that ran down to the main road. Three six legged alien creatures watched the five people talking on the porch and jittered in their own language before making their way down the hill to the four Mechs waiting below.