Chapter 19

We rested taking it easy and incorporating the new people into the squads. I knew it was time to break some of those squads up because of their size. At some point and soon, I needed to become an officer in my mind with true noncoms. I would have to think about how I wanted that to work out.

Sheila returned and we napped together for a while. She asked me, “When are you going to raise the levels? Some of the squads are getting too large.”

“I wonder if you’re the only other one who has noticed that.”

“I think some of the others, like Joe and Leon, are noticing. They are training assistants to help them. That will be the start other than perhaps you. You will be my XO. I need someone organized to keep up with me.” I smiled.

“I’m going to sleep with the big boss, too.” She grinned.

At that moment, we heard the whoosh of an alien air ship. Everyone dived for rifles. I shouted, “Let’s try stealth. We aren’t poised to outrun a bomb. Pass it around. Don’t shoot unless you have to shoot.” Sheila was on her radio repeating my instructions as I scurried to the front of the store so I could look outside.

As I looked out, Joe eased up beside me. “I wonder if coming here was accidental or if Ed’s group had drawn them or if we drew them.”

“I wonder about that, too, Joe. We probably will never know and will just have to deal. Do we have anyone caught in the open?”

Sheila said, “Sam and a couple of his are out but under some cover. They had sentry duty.” I nodded. She continued after a moment. “Sam says that the ship looks dirty and is making venting noises that worry them.”

“If they aren’t well back from it, tell them to get away if possible.” She nodded. She spoke softly in her radio.

We watched for anything to happen. For many long minutes, nothing did. I had pulled my binoculars out and was using them. I could see stain marks on the air ship and what looked like steam escaping. Joe looked over at me. “We’ve seen this before.”

I nodded. “Sheila, tell everyone to stand pat. We may have an alien leaving that ship walking in a seemingly drunk manner. Don’t bother the ship or aliens unless necessary. Experience says that we will be seeing a dead alien and ship very soon.”

About five minutes later, the hatch opened and an alien stepped out. It didn’t close the hatch and lurched as it walked down the road. Everyone stayed under cover and watched with me.

The alien walked drunkenly south on US 280. Two from Sam’s squad followed it at a distance. People had learned not to follow the aliens too closely. After ten or fifteen minutes, they came back quickly but as if they were scared. Sheila told me. “Sam reports that the alien fell over and steam or something is venting from its suit into the atmosphere.”

I looked at Joe who said, “We’ve been here before. We have a dead ship and a dead alien.”

“Yes. Last time, there was no follow up from another alien air ship. Sheila, have everyone stand down. Let’s get some rest. We’ll go around Birmingham tonight and continue north.”

It remained quiet all the rest of the day. In the evening, we got ready for our next run to the north. I hoped that we could use Interstate 459. Otherwise, we would have to take back roads to get around Birmingham. With one small detour, we were able to use 459 which saved time. As we rode, Sheila and I talked. I said, “I wonder how Ed and his former people are fitting in.”

Sheila smiled. “With the exception of Ed, I think they will be happy. He won’t like taking direction from Nancy. If Joe has to say something, Ed might not survive.”

“I know. That’s why he’s in Joe’s squad. Joe will do what’s necessary without hesitation. He won’t like killing him but won’t hesitate if it’s necessary.”

We were about a third back this evening as we made our way around the crater that had been Birmingham. We picked up Interstate 59 headed north for Chattanooga. Gadsden and Fort Payne had each been hit with smaller bombs. I wondered about Chattanooga. If I remembered correctly, Interstate 75 which we had to get on went through the downtown area. We could have a problem.

We did. It was four in the morning when the convoy stopped on Harry’s command. He asked me to come forward to help determine where to go.

I pulled up next to Harry’s Humvee and looked out over a huge crater. I didn’t know what the aliens thought about Chattanooga but it was hit hard. The crater looked about as big as Atlanta’s. It did mean we would have to travel out of our way to find Interstate 75. Sheila got out the maps. With Harry’s help, we traced a route around that eventually would pick up 75. We wouldn’t make it tonight so would have to find some place on this new route to hide.

We followed Interstate 74 west to Jasper finding a large shopping area there. It wasn’t as big as the one yesterday but was the biggest we could find. We parked and covered up. We went inside a couple of the stores after setting Leon’s squad out for sentry duty.

I noticed that Joe spread his squad out close to the spot Sheila and I had picked. He and Nancy joined us. The four of us lay down to rest. We slept quietly until lunchtime. It was comparatively noisy when Joe whispered, “You gave me Edward in case he needs killing.”

I smiled. “I figured you would cure him or kill him. I did feel he needed a chance. I would have just shot him.”

Joe said, “That’s a big hole where Chattanooga used to be. I wonder why the aliens hit it so hard. I don’t know of anything that would get their attention.”

“I have wondered about that myself. It looked big like Atlanta’s. I wonder if it had something to do with the landscape. It is a low mountainous area with the river going through it. There might be something in their history that made them hit it so hard. We’ll probably never know for sure.”

“Yeah. I don’t think they will tell us.”

“It’s tough to fight without knowing what the motivations might be of the enemy. It does mean that we’re involved in total war.”

We were involved in heating a bit of food for lunch during this conversation. Edward went to one of the women in Joe’s squad. He ordered her to fix his lunch. She told him to do something obscene to himself that was probably physically impossible. Edward was preparing to hit her. Joe came up behind him and grabbed his arm stopping its motion completely and suddenly.