ALIEN INVASION (26 page)

“Yep,” Alec said.

Lexion climbed into the back of the car and sat next to me. “Are you cold?” she asked.

“Yes.” I managed to stutter out.

“I am warm. My body operates at a different temperature to humans.” She placed her non-biomechanical arm around me and hugged me into her, so my head was resting on her breasts. I felt uncomfortable being on them, not because of the cushion they provided, that was not the problem, they were ample, but the fact I had tits pressed on my face, her nipple knocking off my nose a few times, but she was so warm, so I thought fuck it.

“I’m cold,” Alec said. Lexion ignored him.

“Thank you,” I said to her.

“You’re welcome.”

“Are you a cyborg?” I asked.

“No. My arm is a weapon, like your Earth guns. It can be removed.”

“Your voice, it sounds robotic.”

“My voice sounds like all my people’s do.”

“Oh, okay.”

I saw Alec throw a quick look over his shoulder. When he was back facing the front I could see him looking in the mirror at me. I stuck my tongue out at him. He smiled and shook his head.

“Do you two fuck?” Lexion asked.

I choked on my words and then quickly said, “No.” Alec laughed.

“Did I offend you?” Lexion asked me.

“No,” I said, trying to hide my shock.

“Why do you not fuck each other? Do you not wish to mate?”

“It’s …” I started.

“Yeah, June, why don’t we fuck?” Alec asked. I could tell from his tone of voice he was loving this.

“I … I don’t know what to say. We’re friends for one thing.”

“I have mated with all my friends. That is part of what makes us friends.”

“Well, Lexion,” I said, “things are different here.”

“Do you not find Alec attractive?”

“Well, June?” Alec added.

“I … I … Yeah, I guess I do.” I was so embarrassed.

“Then why not mate?”

I lost my temper, pulled away from her, and said, “Two reasons of many, if you must know. One, I’m a virgin; I haven’t had sex with anyone. Two, I’m ugly, too concerned about my fat to be able to be naked around anyone, let alone that skinny fucker.”

Lexion stared at me, as if her eyes were examining my body. “You are not ugly.”

“I’ve told her that,” Alec said. “And I’m not skinny. I’m toned, you bitch.”

“Why not mate with a friend for your first time?” Lexion said.

“Because …” I had no idea what to say.

“Because?” Lexion asked.

“I have no idea what to say,” I said.

“Would it hurt you if I was to fuck Alec?”

Alec almost crashed the car. The wheels skidded and he gained control.

“No,” I said. “It wouldn’t. Fuck away.” I crossed my arms. It would bother me. As much as I’d supported Alec when he’d had crushes on girls in the past, the more he had them, the more it had started to affect me.

Lexion leaned forward. She kissed Alec on the neck. I placed my hand on her shoulder. I saw Alec’s wide eyes in the mirror. “Okay, enough, you’ve made your point.” Tears started to sneak free. Lexion sat back and pulled me into her chest again.

“Made what point?’ Alec asked.

“You might wish to mate with him … for life,” Lexion whispered to me. “But he isn’t the most intelligent of humans.”

I smiled.

I’d dozed off. I shot upright when I realized my head was in Lexion’s lap, too close to her naked vagina for my liking. “We’re here,” Alec said.

“Thank you, Alec. You have done the …’s proud,” Lexion said.

In front of our car was the military compound. We were stopped next to a barrier, a large door after that, then beyond that was a massive concrete wall, razor wire at the top. At the side of the barrier were two guard towers. There were lights on the top of each one, the spotlight type, illuminating the road we’d come down. No one was around.

“Where are all the soldiers?” I asked Lexion.

“We have a saying,” said Alec. “It seems too quiet.”

“You are right,” Lexion said. “I believe something is amiss.”

“The aliens?” I asked.

“Most likely,” she said. “We leave the vehicle here. We go on foot from now on. Stay close to me, do you both understand?”

“Yes,” Alec said. I just nodded.

Lexion got out of the car and held her hand out for me to take. I did. Once I was out she let go and aimed her biomechanical arm at the guard tower closest to us. Alec ran around the front of the car to join us. It was his turn to take my hand then.

Lexion started to slowly walk toward the entrance of the guard tower at that side of the car. Alec and me followed. She scanned the top of the wall that was near the barrier before she opened up the door to the tower. “We go in this way,” she whispered. “We’ll not be able to open the doors beyond the barrier silently. This tower will be connected to the base, we enter it that way.”

“It seems odd,” I said.

“What does?” she asked.

“That the door to the tower is so easy to open. If it leads into the base, I’d have thought they’d keep it locked.”

“You are correct, June. It is odd. It is also the cause of my concern.” Lexion walked into the guard tower. Thankfully it was lit, so we wouldn’t have much trouble climbing the stairs to the top.

She kept her arm held out in front of her the whole ascent. Once we were at the top, a metal door met us. She pushed the door with the hand on her biomechanical arm. It slowly creaked open.

The inside was bare, just a square space with concrete walls. The one that faced us had a slit that looked out toward the road we had just traveled down to reach the base. I heard something crunch under my feet as we stepped in. I looked down and saw bullet casings.

“Why are all the lights in the base still on?” Alec asked.

“The base’s power is run from a separate source than the city,” Lexion answered.

She was looking through the slit when I said, “Lexion.” She turned to me. I motioned to the floor.

“I have seen them,” she said. “There has been fighting here. We must be cautious.” She walked past Alec and me to another door. “These must lead toward the wall that surrounds the base, the one we saw while outside by the car.”

“Is it safe to enter?” I asked.

“We have no choice, not if we wish to save your world. Do you wish for us to do that?”

“Fuck yeah,” Alec said.

“I have decided both of you should wait here. I will enter the base alone. You have both served me well. You got me to the base. I can’t ask anymore of you.”

“No way,” I said, dragging Alec forward with me. “We’ll be safer with you.”

“That might not be true.”

“I’m willing to take that chance,” I said, looking at Alec, waiting for him to back me up.

He did. “I’m with June.”

“Then you are both with me, it would seem.” She smiled. “At least wait here while I check the entrance to the base is safe. I will return once I am sure that is the case, I give you my word. A …’s word is never broken.”

She didn’t even give us time to answer; she opened the door via a computer screen that was to the side, jabbing the metal spike that came out of her biomechanical hand into the device to do so, just like she’d done to start the car. She stepped into a concrete corridor and then closed the door behind her.

I let out a long breath. Alec moved me to the wall with the slit. We both sat down, our backs to the wall. “This is a strange day.”

“The strangest,” I said, caressing the back of the hand I was holding with my thumb.

“I hope my mom is safe.”

“I hope my brother is too.”

“The city was a mess.”

“It was terrifying.”

“I’ll not forgive myself if I left her to die.” His voice broke.

“We might be doing the right thing.”

“Might?”

“I know I don’t sound too sure, and I’m not, but if Lexion is right, we might not only save our families, but also the world.”

“That sounds crazy.”

“We’re living the video games we play.”

“Yeah, but we only have one life.” He swallowed.

I placed my other hand on his knee. I let out another long breath.

“June, I …”

“Yeah?”

“About what Lexion said in the car. Is it such a bad idea? For us to … to … mate?”

“It sounds very romantic when you phrase it like that.” I smiled at him. He smiled back.

“I mean we are best friends. I’m single. You’re single.”

I swallowed then. My heart started to beat faster. “What are you asking?”

“I think that maybe, that maybe we should try.”

“Try what?”

“Us. Try us. See if it works.”

“You don’t want to be with me. You’re just panicking about the fact I might be the last available pussy.”

“I’m not … And I don’t just mean sex.”

My brow furrowed. “You want to date me? The fat, ugly, clumsy girl you wanted to use as a wingman to help you get girls at the comic book convention we were going to tonight?” I raised my eyebrows next, not sure if he was joking or not.

“You’re not fat.”

“I am.” I sighed and rolled my eyes. Why was I the only one who could see that I was?

“You’re curvy.”

“That’s a nice way of saying fat.”

“Okay, you’re fat.”

“Hey!” The bastard.

“Keep your voice down.”

“You just called me fat!” I was talking too loud. But hearing someone else say it pissed me off more than I thought it would. I think because it reminded me of all the bullies that had said it. My dad had even said it. I started to think I had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

“No, you did. I’m just agreeing with you.”

“Okay, continue.” I calmed myself the best I could. A few more slow breaths.

“You’re fat, but you’re sexy … beautiful. So if you’re beautiful, you’re not ugly. And yes, you’re the clumsiest fucker I’ve ever known, but that just makes you cute.”

I looked him in the eyes, to see if he was being serious. It looked as if he was. That scared me. “So, you do want to date?”

“The way I see it, all the time we’ve spent together, we’ve already dated, so let’s just go steady. What have we got to lose? The world could end tomorrow.” He forced a smile at his own joke.

I smiled too. I swallowed yet again. “Okay, Paula, we’re now a couple.” I squeezed his leg.

He laughed. “You called me Paula.”

“My dad will freak when I tell him I’m a lesbian.”

He laughed again. I stopped him with a kiss. Lexion stopped us by flying through the doors and crashing into the wall at our side. The alien scared us by roaring and showing its teeth as it burst through the door and charged toward us.

BRAD

I helped Sara into the back of the Humvee. Her foot looked pretty bad, but probably wasn’t as bad as it seemed. The amount of blood was disconcerting for sure, but considering what we’d been through, it was a small price to pay. Once I was in the Humvee the driver sped off. The soldier I’d spoken to outside climbed up into position, to take the large machinegun that sat on top of the vehicle.

I held Sara close to me and looked out at the world. It was burning. Some buildings had fallen. Cars had crashed, been flipped, some had obviously exploded. I was seeing bullet holes everywhere. I wasn’t sure if the army had made them or civilians defending themselves.

We turned into an industrial estate. One of the smaller warehouses went up in a ball of flames. I had to squint because of the flash of light and could feel the heat pricking at my skin. The soldier manning the gun on top of the Humvee fired off two quick bursts. I couldn’t see his target, but I heard the pop of flesh and the dying scream of the monster rattle out.

“Brad, it’s beautiful,” Sara said to me, in a whisper.

“What is?” I asked.

“The fires. The outside world. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so comfortable with my surroundings.”

That confused me. It didn’t look beautiful to me. It looked like turmoil. The world was turning to shit, kinda the opposite of what she thought about the situation.

The Humvee hit something, the wheels bounced over the top of it. The driver shouted, “I got another one. They might be big, but hit them hard enough and they turn to slush real easy.”

The machine gun burst into life again. The sound was deafening. My ears popped. The vibrations from the weapon jittered my body. I saw the target this time. An alien was on the roof of an RV. It was ripping a hole open. It reached in when it could and pulled a child from the vehicle.

The soldier fired the machine gun. He was a great shot. The bullets cut into the alien. Its top half exploded. It dropped the boy and he fell back into the RV through the hole that had just been made.

I turned to Sara. “This is beautiful to you?”