Chapter 8

We remained undercover and waited as two couples exited the store and came toward us but on the opposite side of the road. They were being careful which was good. One couple was holding hands while the other two walked close to each other. All four had full back packs.

I looked at Rebecca and she nodded. Holding our rifles loosely, we stepped out and I said, “Hello.” All four looked up with some concern.

One couple slowly came toward us. I said, “I am Riley Norris and she is Rebecca York. We would be friendly.”

The man said, “I’m Mark Thurman with my wife, Shirley. That would work. However, let’s get out of the middle of the road.”

I smiled grimly, “That works for us. If you don’t mind, we’ll join you.” He nodded. We started across and Rebecca motioned for Leslie to join us. We arrived at the other side and all of us sat down under a couple of trees for cover.

Rebecca said, “This is Leslie Smithson who is with us.”

The other woman nodded. “I am Susan Andrews and he’s Mitch Jones. The four of us are working together. We’ve found most people dead from the aliens. Many of those left can be trouble and we have fought off or avoided four different groups. The aliens attack big groups. One group had us under attack but the aliens hit them wiping them out. There were only two left and Mitch shot them before they recovered from the shock. Their captives were all killed, too.”

Rebecca said, “We’ve seen a lot of that, too. Riley had to extract us from one group. He thinks that the aliens are tracking people by heat. That would explain why large groups attract their attention. Where are you heading?”

Mark said, “We aren’t sure about a destination. Heat makes sense. There was another couple with us but they were found by the aliens. They got the alien but were killed when it exploded.

“We have a place that is reasonably safe. We’ve been careful about cooking and fires.”

“Riley, you’re good. Were you in the service?”

“Yes, I’m in the Marine reserves. We’ve seen one group fight their ships. In a small valley, we saw smoke from a chimney. Later, an air ship hit the house and was, in turn, taken out by a rocket launched from nearby. The aliens hit the area with a bigger bomb and wiped out the valley. We were at the edge of the blast zone. Their responses are violent but seem to take some time.”

We talked for a while. Finally, I said, “Would you like to join us or have us join you? I think both of us as groups have good places for now. I know we need more numbers to create a community.”

There didn’t seem to be any real interest on their part to join us or have us join them. Finally, I suggested that we part. None of the four demurred. We walked on and checked out the next store. There were a few things that we took.

We returned to our home and prepared some supper being careful of any heat signature. After eating, we cleaned up and went to our beds. I woke at dawn feeling uncomfortable. I woke Rebecca. While she packed, I woke Leslie. Five minutes later, we left for the woods and hid out waiting for more daylight.

I realized that it would be more comfortable to stay in the house longer and come to it earlier for that matter but my paranoia was stronger than my desire for comfort. We had made a comfortable spot in the woods that allowed us to watch our house, the drive, and some of the main road. We had been there about two hours performing some light maintenance on our personal equipment when we heard noise.

I said, “Company is coming. Let’s be quiet and invisible.” We weren’t noisy and were wearing quiet colors. If we were still, it would be hard to spot us.

As the group came up, I was concerned. There were four motorcycles and two big SUV’s. They were noisy and the heat signature had to be easily noticeable. They pulled up at a house on the main road that had been little touched and which we had left alone. I hoped that place would keep them satisfied and they wouldn’t go down our drive to our two houses.

We watched as they surrounded that house. While they held their guns ready, one went to the front door and knocked on it loudly. Hearing no answer, he turned the handle and entered. Another man followed close on his heels. I was watching the rest. I didn’t see any women in the group which added to my concern. There could be a few in the SUV’s that I couldn’t see through the darkened windows.

After a few moments, the second man came to the door and said, “Clear.” Three more men went inside. Soon, they came out carrying items like blankets and canned food to one of the SUV’s. That continued until they had everything they wanted. The engines cranked. In the distance, I saw an alien airship. I pulled us down and tight behind the trees. Moments later, the aliens struck bombing the group.