Chapter 13

It was an hour later that we all made it to the basement. It had been untouched during our absence. I thought that the bad guy groups had run into aliens or people like me. I hoped that they were a vanishing breed.

Everyone came into the basement and found places to sit. We started the process of getting to know people. The new men were all happy to be part of an organization, even though small. I warned everyone that we were just starting to bring the fight to the aliens and I suspected that it would take a long while before our small group made a difference. I said that patience was going to be necessary as we learned better what did and didn’t work and got along with each other.

Boniface was the sole survivor from a company that had used missiles against the aliens. The officers and noncoms didn’t move them out far enough or fast enough. Boniface was point on their movement after using their missiles. He had ducked behind a wall or would have died also. He knew first hand about retaliation by the aliens for attacks. We had a hot supper that all enjoyed and bunked down for the night. We set watches. It was quiet.

In the morning, the ladies cooked breakfast. As we ate, I set up squads with Joe leading the ladies. Leon would lead the three army guys he had been leading. Sam would handle a squad of the four men he had been found with. It was a basic formation but should work. I knew that I needed to get to know each man.

After completing breakfast, we left with Sam’s men working point with me. We were careful and watched for men and aliens though weren’t seeing any of either one. We exited the basement and headed out looking around. We would travel to another armory today which was just over two hours walking away providing we didn’t have any interruptions. I wasn’t sure about that not happening.

We oriented and started out. We were spread over almost a mile to prevent showing a large heat source. I knew we weren’t close enough for mutual support but the aliens made that a requirement.

We had been walking steadily for just over an hour when one of Sam’s men motioned that he heard something. I came close to him and whispered, “What did you hear, Arnold?”

“I don’t think it was alien but it wasn’t a natural noise.” I heard a clink. He smiled grimly, “That’s it again.” We waited from cover. I had Sam spread his squad across behind or adjacent to us.

I whispered, “It’s people. That’s not an alien sound and we haven’t seen one of their ships. Let’s wait them out.”

We did. Joe crawled up to join us. He whispered, “The others are growing impatient.”

I whispered back, “Signal them to stay put. It’s people. We have to be patient.” He nodded and crawled back to signal.

He stayed back. Ten minutes later, a gunshot pinged off the cover he had been using. I had the feeling it was a warning shot rather than one meant to hit anyone.

I shrugged. I rose with my rifle hanging from its strap and shouted, “Let’s talk. We both know the other is here.”

Across from me, a man stood. “That is better than a shoot-out between us. We want to kill aliens not people.”

I said, “Now, I want to talk even more.”

We approached each other slowly. I am Riley Norris and lead three squads. We are all armed and equipped with tank killer rockets. We were headed to an armory with ground to air missiles.”

“Wow! I’m Harry Anderson.” I grinned. He grimaced and continued. “I have about ten people with me but we aren’t organized very well yet. We do include three men who know ground to air missiles. We’ve gotten tired of running and want to fight back.

“Are you military?” He looked at me with a question in his eyes.

“Yes. I am Marine reserves but saw combat. My group is not suicidal but wants to strike back at the aliens as well as any who are using the chaos to take advantage of others.” Sheila came up. “Harry Anderson, please meet my wife, Sheila. She’s a member of a squad. When a formal government is reestablished, we will go through whatever formal process might be needed but we are and will be married. I’m happy and hope she is.”

Anderson said, “It’s good to meet you, Sheila. Our group has no women but I think it safe to say we all believe in equal rights. I, personally, would like to meet a nice lady at some point.” He looked at me. “Riley, you seem to have a plan insofar as planning is possible. I would like to join your group and believe all my men would, too.”

Sheila nodded slightly. I said, “Sounds good. Tell your folks to come out. Sheila, have Joe and the other squad leaders come up, please.” She nodded and left.

Sam heard that because he was close. Joe and Leon joined us quickly. Anderson’s nine men gathered around, too. My squads were spread around since the fourteen of us showed enough of a heat signature as it was. It was quiet and I filled the silence. “Gentlemen, let’s make this quick. I would be glad for you to join us. We have men and women including my wife and Joe’s. We stand solidly for equal rights and consent. I was a Marine staff Sargent and have been leading. I understand two of you understand ground to air missiles. We could use your expertise. We have ground to ground and are looking for ground to air. Your knowledge will ease the learning curve. We have found the aliens’ maintenance is sloppy and are looking for ways to exploit that. We have removed the suit of one and found that they are ugly, smelly little bastards.”

One of Harry’s guys said, “Wow! That’s more than we ever did. We had one missile and shot down an alien. Two of us were all that evaded their bombing after that.”

Joe said, “Yeah, that’s been an issue. We’re hoping to learn more about them and then take them out. That’s our stated purpose along with treating people right and stopping those who don’t.”

I said, “Let’s take this undercover before we attract alien attention. I believe they track by heat sources.” That received some surprised nods as the new guys thought it over.

We all moved under some cover and continued to talk. Sheila rejoined us along with Nancy who was sitting with Joe. The ladies caught the eyes of the new guys including Harry. Fortunately, none of those eyes were out of line.

I said, “Harry, I want to split you guys into two squads with you leading one. I would like the missile guys to be together and maybe one of them lead the other squad. Look around, guys. How will that work?” No one had a chance to answer because we all heard the whooshing sound of one of the alien airships. We all looked to see them bomb the spot were we had met.

I looked at my watch. “It took them an hour to respond this time. We need to take out a few to get their attention.”