Chapter 18

Moments later, I heard the sound of a big truck as it moved off.

Sheila said, “Well, that experiment is begun. I have had a disquieting though about Ohio and weather. If the aliens are finding us by heat sources, we will stick out like sore thumbs come winter unless we get to a warmer area. I worry a little bit about this area if it really gets a cold snap.”

“Another reason to hope Carl’s squad is successful. I didn’t want to be up there in the cold. Now, I really don’t want to be up there.”

Sheila said, “Let’s get some sleep.” I nodded and we curled up together. The night passed quietly. In the morning, we cooked some breakfast and made coffee. That brought a number of people by for a cup including the squad leaders who I told of Carl’s mission. We prepared for an easy day of walking and moved out. I had been watching but had seen no alien air ships.

We finally stopped for the night heading in to Auburn/Opelika on US 280. It appeared that Columbus was hit a couple of times or received a strike like Atlanta’s. It was gone. At about nine that evening, Joe and I started a fire on the right-of-way to give Carl and his squad a target. We did have two squads, one on each side of the road, just to cautious. Joe and I and our spouses were prepared to spend the evening out there. We didn’t need to do that because Carl and his squad drove up at about three in the morning.

Carl said, “It’s good to see you. We did well. The armory in Opelika was untouched. They have some Humvee’s we could use though they are diesel. We drove in overnight and parked our truck under a garage at a dealership. We quickly found the armory and then drove our truck over at dawn. We hid it inside. We went through the contents of the armory during the day. We kept a sentry watching for alien air ships or people but saw nothing all day. I don’t know where everyone went but there was little damage that we saw in Opelika. The worst damage was to the hospital. It looked rammed and blown apart. We found no dead bodies but many puddles from the aliens’ guns. We didn’t see any sign of bombs though we didn’t look much at Auburn or even all of Opelika. It’s a bit of a mystery about where all the people went.”

“That is worrisome. I guess we need to hide the truck for the day.”

“Yes, but we’ve an idea once we get it under some trees or any kind of canopy.”

I said, “Okay. Trees are over there.” We doused our fire completely and followed the truck into the trees. Once there, one of Carl’s men parked it. Then, he and the others covered it with thermal blankets. Carl told us what they were doing and why they hoped it would work. We left the truck and went back on the road to our camp. Once there, everyone got some sleep spread out under trees.

We would stay here today while Carl and his squad told us what they had found and had experienced using their truck. I was cautiously cheered by his news. I agreed to myself that finding no people and little damage was mysterious though I remembered the captives for the vats. I had a bad feeling that the ones we rescued weren’t the first group even at that location. An entire town could have been wiped out that way. I shuddered.

Sheila was close and must have felt it. “Are you cold, Riley?”

“No. I was just thinking about the missing people and thought about the captives and the vats.”

“Oh. That’s a possibility though it makes that part of the aliens even more scary.”

“Yes. However, I don’t have any other ideas at the moment.” I took a breath. “It will be interesting to see how the squad’s idea of the blankets works.”

The sun rose in the sky. About an hour later, we saw two alien air ships flying from the north with one higher than the other. Harry was close. I asked, “Could you hit both alien ships?”

“Yes, sir. The higher one might get away if it hit the gas soon enough. I would want to target two missiles on it with one leading it a bit. When I’ve seen them, they always dodge forward with a burst of speed. Leading one would get it.”

We took it easy today. |We watched a number of alien air ships cross our skies during the day. South of us, I saw a missile go up and take one ship out. Three alien ships attacked about an hour later bombing that area thoroughly. There were no more missiles but a few large explosions from there. I had the feeling that the other group was perhaps shooting its swan song.

It was becoming dusk when I told the squad leaders to ready their people to go to Opelika. Carl’s squad would use their truck though wait a bit later for full dark. Our older couple from Pittsview would ride with them. We started out in our spread formation with Leon’s squad leading the way. Harry would have our rear after Carl went by in the truck. Carl waited almost two hours before going by on his way to Opelika and the armory. We all made it in before dawn without any problems. I had hoped we might find some people but no sign of any people other than us ever showed. We were all in the armory by dawn. I suggested we spread out to some more places. I asked the squad leaders to come back by after their squad was settled in for the day. About an hour later, we all gathered together. Each squad leader was surprised at the good shape of the area and buildings. We were presented with a treasure trove of food and clothes since there had been no noticeable looting.

We talked about two things though they were actually one. We talked about the trip and equipping our group for that trip. The first item was whether we should use the Humvee’s here which were diesel powered or if we should locate gas powered trucks. Carl described the equipment that his squad had found which included ammo and missiles. We had uniforms available though many wanted regular civilian wear. Boots, on the other hand, were in demand. Many had learned the value of good footwear when walking long distances on a regular basis.

We had available Humvee’s and big trucks. We could carry a lot of extra gear with the trucks. We would also intentionally take more vehicles than necessary since I hoped we would add some more people to our number. Sam reported that his squad was at the Ford dealer and found some four-door pickups that used diesel fuel. Margaret reported that her squad had found a tanker that was full of diesel which we could take with us. She even had drivers for it.

We would be stretched a little but I insisted that there had to be at least two people for every vehicle. We would be traveling at night and someone needed to be riding as shotgun to give drivers a substitute and someone to help them stay awake. The convoy was coming together very quickly.

A day (night) later, we were ready to leave. Alex, our ham radio guy, had set up each truck with a radio he called a “handi-talkie” with pre-set frequencies. He had a more elaborate setup in one Humvee for himself. Carl’s squad would be point about a mile in front of the rest of us. We had three highway maps showing the route through Alabama taking back roads heading for Chattanooga. I hoped it wouldn’t be badly bombed as going around it could be difficult. We would leave at nine thirty at night heading out and figuring that we should be able to get close to Chattanooga this first night.

Sheila and I were in a large truck packed with supplies. The last alien air ship had crossed over the skies from south to north at about four thirty in the afternoon. We were leaving at nine and would stop around four. We didn’t expect to go really fast for two reasons. First, we were on state highways. Second, we were still testing all this out. I hoped to make the Chattanooga area but wouldn’t be worried if it took more time. The point was not overwhelming speed but to make the trip intact. I explained that to each driver as I ran down the line of vehicles stopping at each one.