The ride took about 30 minutes. Jennifer thought it would never end. The truck was so loud, she couldn’t think straight. Stevie insisted on rolling the windows down, despite the cold air. To make matters worse, the truck smelled, even with the windows down.
When the truck stopped, Jennifer got out and was surprised by what she saw. When Stevie mentioned the armory, she pictured some kind of warehouse. Instead what she saw was an old wooden house, with a large flat yard. The drive way was gravel and had a couple of old rusted cars in it. The sidewalk was also gravel and went between what used to be a garden, but now was overrun with weeds.
The house it self was in no better shape. The paint was peeling in some places. Parts of the gutter were missing off one of the walls. The porch was covered in dust. The windows were impossible to see through, the dirt was so thick.
Jennifer looked over to Michael and John. Michael seemed to be comfortable with it. John was oblivious as usual.
Stevie lead them around the house to a rusted beat up trailer in the back yard. When the stepped inside, they were greeted by 7 other men. Everyone was introduced once more. Jennifer made a point to remember their names. She repeated each one as she shook their hand. She also made a point to smile at each person individually.
Michael then asked about the armaments. Stevie took them into the back room. Michael looked around. He was disappointed, but not surprised. He picked up what looked like an AK. It was certainly one of the more impressive weapons. Most of the rest were rifles and hand guns.
“You got ammo for this thing?” he asked. Stevie nodded and handed him a box of bullets. Michael clearly expected more, but nodded to Stevie in thanks all the same.
“Well, I was hoping you all had more in the way of fire arms, but I aim to make do,” he said. “It an’t the weapon that makes the man.” Stevie nodded in agreement. “Do you got explosives hiding around here?” Michael asked.
“No. I’m afraid we couldn’t get a hold of any of that stuff,” Stevie said. “We tried to whip up a batch, but it didn’t turn out so good.”
“John, do you think you could make something?” Michael asked.
“Something that goes boom, I guess?” John asked rhetorically. He thought for a minute. “Well I’ve never tried, but I could probably google the instructions. It is certainly worth a shot.”
“I’ll have Otis help you out. He’s our local science teacher,” Stevie said. John looked skeptical, but agreed nonetheless.
“Hey Otis!” Stevie yelled.
“Yes sir?” Otis yelled back.
“Can you show John how you whipped up that batch of TNT last week,” Stevie yelled. Jennifer almost put her fingers in her ear, but was afraid that would appear rude. “You might have missed an ingredient. Google or something or other.”
“I was wondering what I did wrong,” Otis yelled. “Tell him we’ll have to make a trip to Wal-Mart to pick up some supplies.”
Stevie turned to John again. “Well you had better get going,” he said. “Otis an’t one for waiting around.”
After John left, Michael leaned towards Stevie and said in a low voice, “I need to know how these folk are going to handle themselves with the bullets start flying,” he said. “Do any of them have any military training?”
“I’m afraid not,” Stevie replied. “I’m the only one with training, but they are all good men. They all hunt regularly and know there way around a gun. They’ll do fine. I’d bet my life on it.”
Michael clearly was not convinced, but he had no choice, so he didn’t push the issue.
Michael spent the rest of the night going over every aspect of combat he could fit in with this group. Jennifer sat quietly in the corner listening. She could tell most of what Michael was saying went right over the head of the group. She began doubting if this was the correct course of action. What if the aliens do attack, and everyone here gets killed? That would be a horrible waste of life. But as Michael said, we had to do something. Besides it was more likely that the aliens would attack some place hundreds or thousands of miles away.
Jennifer was woken up at about 5 am by a lot of commotion. When she sleepily asked what was going on, they answered that the aliens were on their way. John expected them to land somewhere in town in about an hour. Jennifer sat back down, her thoughts focused on what was going to happen next. The worst part was that there was nothing she could do but wait until it was over.
Michael’s hands were shaking. Thankfully the suspension on this truck really sucks, so nobody noticed. He felt like he was going to vomit, but held it back somehow. He looked around at all the faces surrounding him. There wasn’t one that wasn’t scared to death. I guess I’m not helping matters, he thought to himself. He tried to show as much confidence as he could.
The truth was he was sure they were all going to die. He wanted to tell Stevie to turn the truck around, but every time he opened his mouth he thought about all the people that would be left defenseless, and closed it again.
They reached the town and stopped somewhere near the middle of it. John still wasn’t sure where they would land, and probably wouldn’t be sure until they did. So they waited.
In the mean time Michael went over the plan again. In the past, the aliens would split into 3 teams of 4 each. One team would guard the ship. The other two would capture whoever was around and throw them into the ship. Usually they attacked a shopping center, such as a department or grocery store.
Michael was counting on that again. He would split his men into 2 groups. The main group would attack the aliens guarding the ship after the other alien teams entered the building. Mean while Wade and Billy would wait for the other 2 groups to emerge from the building. They would then pick them off while the main force held them down.
Michael hoped the plan was simple and straight forward enough. Stevie had insisted they were good men and had lots of experience hunting, but hunting wasn’t the same as combat. It’s one thing to chase an animal with a rifle. It’s quite another when the animal is chasing you with one as well.
Michael looked around again. No, he thought to himself, this really isn’t going to end well. He would have to watch out for them the best he can. With a whole lot of luck, the whole thing will end quickly in our favor. In a protracted battle, the odds were strongly against them.
Finally, John radioed in, telling them the aliens had landed in the Wal-Mart parking lot. It was about a mile away, but the hills and additional detached stores in the area made it ideal for an ambush.
The group rushed over in the truck. When they arrived, they stopped across the street down a few yards from the entrance to the parking lot. Wade and Billy got out, strapped their rifles to their backs, and ran across the street outside the view of the ship.
The others watched the alien ship while waiting for other 2 to get into position.
“That’s the biggest plane I’ve seen in my entire life,” Otis said. “And I’ve been to Mexico!”
The group ignored him. They were far to nervous to pay much attention to their own thoughts, much less others.
“Ok lets go,” Michael said. “Just remember, when the shooting starts, your feet will have a tendency to stop. Don’t let them.”
Stevie got in the drivers seat, and the others piled in back. They kept low so as not to be noticed until it was too late. Stevie eased his way down the street until he got near the entrance to the parking lot. He then gunned it. The truck sped across the median dividing the street from the parking lot. The bump nearly knocked Michael out of the back of the truck.
Stevie sped right up to the two shocked aliens that were standing on their side of the ship. Michael took aim at the farthest one and fired. The bullet ripped through the alien’s heart. Three other shots rang out from beside and behind Michael. Two hit the same man Michael had just shot. The third grazed the other alien, even though the truck was only a few feet away. Michael adjusted his aim and shot the second alien just before he managed to get his own shot off.
Michael then jumped out of the truck and glanced under the ship. He then motioned to his right indicating the other aliens were coming that way.
As he began to take cover behind the truck he noticed Otis was still in the back of the truck. Otis was kneeling down in the truck with his eyes closed. Tears flowed from his cheeks.
“Otis! Otis get down!” Michael yelled. “You’re a sitting duck there.”
Otis opened his eyes and looked at Michael. His eyes went blank as a shot ran through his chest. Blood splattered all over Michael’s face as he watched Otis fall out of site inside the back of the truck. Michael forced himself to concentrate on the men firing at him.
Michael took aim, this time at the closest one. Shots rang out from beside him. The soldier Michael had in his sites went down after someone had shot him in his shoulder. Michael quickly adjusted his aim to the other alien and killed him. He turned his attention back to the other alien, but he had been shot several more times.
Michael led the group around the ship just in time to kill the pilot as he came down the ramp. They then took cover behind the nearest cars in the parking lot. He reminded everyone to be careful of bystanders and hostages.
The first group of aliens emerged from the furthest set of doors. Michael ordered everyone to hold their fire until they were closer, but it was too late. Shots were already ringing out around him. He quickly took aim and took out one of the aliens before they managed to take cover behind the cars.
Michael held his fire, waiting for a good shot. The others were not so picky. They fired repeatedly until they were out of ammo. The smart ones then ducked behind the car to reload.
The aliens moved more like professional soldiers. Two would fire upon the group while the third moved closer, using the cars as cover. It didn’t take long before they were really close.
Michael turned his attention to the other set of doors. He didn’t want the other team of aliens getting the drop on them. They soon emerged from the door and he managed to kill two before they could take cover. Now, however, they were taking fire from two different angles.
The group began to panic and fire even more rapidly in different direction. They had no shot of hitting anyone at this rate. All the aliens really had to do was wait until we ran out of ammo and then walk up and kill us.
Sure enough, it wasn’t long before Clyde yelled, “I’m out of ammo!” He looked around and found one of the alien’s guns next to his body. He tried to make it around the ship and to the body, but was shot as soon as he exposed himself.
This, instead of making everyone realize how important not running out of ammunition was, made the group fire even more rapidly at their enemy. Michael decided to concentrate on the two remaining aliens from the second group. He hoped Wade and Billy would be able to get the drop on the others. They should be in the perfect position to do so.
Michael took aim and waited. Sure enough one of the aliens exposed him self. Michael fired, but missed. He cursed at himself, but patiently waited for the next opportunity. Before it came a couple more people yelling that they were out of ammo distracted him. He could feel the tide of the battle turning against them. He had to do something soon.
He turned his attention back to the other group of aliens. He saw Wade and Billy sneak up behind them. Michael gasped. They had exposed themselves, and didn’t have a clear shot of all three.
Michael dropped his rifle and took off directly towards the 3 aliens. He stayed low, cautious of the other 2 from the second group behind them. The three in front of him took careful aim. Michael exposed himself to their fire as he ran directly towards them. He hoped Wade and Billy would be smart enough to open fire before they did.
He was right. Both men opened fire, but on the same target. There shot was true however, and he fell. Both men took aim at the second alien. Both managed to get a shot off before he did, and he too fell and didn’t get up. The third alien, however, had a clean shot at Billy. Blood shot out of his chest as the bullet knocked him back against a car. He fell over dead.
Wade took aim and fired, but he had a very bad shot and missed. Wade, however, was out in the open. The alien took aim and easily shot him through the chest.
He then turned his attention back to Michael, but it was too late. Michael was already feet from him, pistol in hand. He easily took aim and shot the alien through his skull.
Michael put his pistol back into its holder and picked up the alien’s rifle. He turned his attention back to the other group to see two more men had been shot. Only Stevie remained. The two remaining aliens were about to overrun his position.
Michael quickly took aim and fired, more to slow them down then kill them. It worked. The aliens stopped the advancement until they could ascertain the threat Michael posed. Michael rushed around them, so that he and Stevie would be firing from opposite sides.
One of the aliens took aim at Michael, but Stevie’s shot hit the car he was leaning against just below where he was. He had to duck for cover. Michael continued to run, firing as he did. Stevie fired at them anytime either of them pointed a gun in Michael’s direction.
Good, Michael thought, at least he isn’t an idiot. He then cursed himself for having such terrible thoughts about his fallen comrades. He put himself in the perfect position. The aliens would either have to expose themselves to either him or Stevie.
They decided to split, with one taking a position to target Michael and the other in a position to target Stevie. Michael ducked behind the care and considered his options. He could hear Stevie’s shots, followed by one of the aliens.
Michael waited. When he heard Stevie’s shots again he jumped out from behind the car and fired on his counterpart. He ducked behind the car. Michael then took aim at the alien firing on Stevie and fired. It wasn’t his best shot of the night, but it managed to hit him. The alien screamed and dropped his gun.
Michael then ducked behind the car, just in time to avoid the hail of gunfire from the last remaining alien. Michael waited for a few seconds then popped his head out and fired, more as a distraction then an actual attempt at a kill.
It worked. Stevie managed to get the last kill. Michael took a deep breath. It was over. He then stood up, just in time for Stevie to jump at him from behind the car and give him a hug. If Stevie had be just a bit slower, he would have shot him out of pure instinct.
“Umm,” Michael said after Stevie didn’t let go. “We should probably make sure the aliens are dead and call an ambulance now.”
“Oh right,” Stevie said and made an obvious effort to compose himself.
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