Intruders: The Invasion: A Post-Apocalyptic, Alien Invasion Thriller (Book 1) (11 page)

He chuckled. “Don’t worry. What you’re seeing now is regular
wildlife. They don’t eat the deer, rabbits, wolves, or fox. Anything like that.
But a chomper will. You’ll see those shuffling around. You can’t mistake them
for anything else.”

“How can you tell the difference between regular wildlife
and the lizards?”

“You’ll know the minute you see one. They don’t move like
anything else.”

That was true. I’d seen how they moved, up close and
personal. I didn’t ever want to see it again. But given the search and rescue
plan, which I was on board with even though the thought scared me so badly it
was paralyzing if I thought about it for too long, I knew that it was highly
likely that I would see them again.

“I’d be putting the goggles on and keeping them on the
second I got up here. I’d be so afraid to miss one of those things. They are
fast.”

“I use both the night vision and the regular binoculars. But
whatever works for you, Zoe.”

The guy was so laid back, I wondered if he had a regular
pulse.

I spotted movement that didn’t look like wildlife.

It didn’t move like a lizard. It stood upright and walked
slowly, hands held out ahead of them. Legs lifting high to navigate through the
snow. “Ryder—”

“I see it.” He grabbed a walkie-talkie from the small shelf.
“Ozzie. Kyle. Movement in the woods, heading our way. “Doesn’t look like Zeke.”

“Who is Zeke?”

“It’s another term for deadie. Zeke the Zombie. But this
doesn’t look like a chomper.”

“How can you tell?” I peered through the night vision
goggles, watching as the figure climbed over the snow, sinking every now and
then.

“Movements are too quick, too deliberate. But, there’s a
chomper about four yards from him. See it?”

I did see it. The deadie was moving slowly but surely toward
what had to be gasping sounds. Whoever was trying to make their way through the
woods in the dark had to be breathing hard, from fear and exertion. “Jesus. Is
he nuts? The lizards will hear him. Or her. A person moves a lot quicker than
the deadie.”

Then Ozzie and Kyle were stealthily moving toward the woods,
guns in one hand, something else in the other, but I couldn’t tell what it was.
“What are they holding there, besides the guns?”

Ryder leaned forward, peering through his night vision
goggles. “Hand held UV lights.”

The figure fell, and stayed motionless for a long moment.
The deadie moved steadily toward him. “He doesn’t know the deadie is following
him. Should we yell to him?”

“No. We can’t make noise. We don’t want to attract whatever
other chompers might be out there. One we can handle. A horde of them is a bit
more difficult.”

A flashlight beam appeared, moving over the trees. Then
another. Whoever was wandering through the woods had to be able to see them.

The deadie did. It moved more quickly, stumbling toward the
beams of light.

The figure must’ve heard the deadie coming. Moaning and
screechy sounds deadies made when they get excited, because he began moving
away from it, movements frantic.

“Help me! Help me!” It was a male voice.

“Oh shit,” Ryder said. “He’s going to bring every Zeke
within a mile upon us.”

The deadie turned and headed in his direction, away from the
light beams and toward the screaming voice.

“This guy is an idiot.” He spoke into the walkie talkie.
“Guys, step it up! He might as well be screaming ‘eat me’.”

“I’ll tell you what,” Ozzie said, his voice crackling . “He
don’t stop screaming, I’ll shoot him before Zeke gets to him.”

“HELP ME!”

The figures of Ozzie and Kyle ran over the snow toward the
screamer.

“Shut up!” Ozzie’s walkie talkie was still on, his voice a
harsh whisper. “Or I’ll shoot you just to stop you from screaming. Are you
stupid?”

The screaming stopped, and the figure moved toward the light
beams, stumbling and falling several times.

“I got him,” Kyle said.

I watched through the goggles as he reached the deadie and
took it down with what looked like a knife to the head.

But now three more were moving through the trees toward
them.

“Oh, shit,” Ryder breathed into the walkie-talkie. “Guys.
Three more heading your way.”

Ozzie reached the figure and grabbed him, dragging him
through the woods toward the compound. “Got him. Get Sherry to open the door.
Mina and Logan to get this idiot in the compound.”

When he was clear of the trees, he tossed the figure
forward, sending him skidding on his knees into the snow. He hissed at the guy,
“Go toward that building, moron. And shut the hell up. I hear another peep out
of you, I’ll kill you. Got it?”

The guy scrambled forward and ran toward the compound. Mina
and Logan ran out to meet him and urged him forward, toward the door. They
vanished below the roofline.

I lifted the goggles toward the woods, where Ozzie joined
Kyle in stabbing deadies in the head. I lifted my gaze, scanning the woods
beyond.

Five more shambling figures moved toward them.

“Ryder. They need to get out of there.”

Ryder spoke into the walkie-talkie. “Five more Zekes. I
think the idiot rang the dinner bell. You guys should come on back, before it
really gets out of hand. We’ll get them in the daylight.”

But Ozzie and Kyle stood still, the fallen deadies slumped
on the ground around them, looking around and waiting. They waved their
flashlights around. Kyle’s voice came over the walkie-talkie. “Which
direction?”

Another four headed their way from the left. Three from the
left, one from the right, and more figures slowly trudged their way toward Kyle
and Ozzie’s flashlight beams.

“Another four. All directions. Oh, Jesus. They’re
everywhere. Get out of there.” Ryder’s voice was panicked. “Now. For real,
guys. Don’t be stupid.”

“All right,” Ozzie said, resigned.

Ozzie and Kyle’s figures, made green by the night vision,
headed back out of the woods. Their movements were sure and effortless, as if
they were used to moving around in the woods and snow in the black of night. I
figured they’d been hunters before the invasion. Before they were ever marines.
Now their game had expanded to include deadies and lizards.

“HELP! OH GOD! HEEEEEELLLLP!”

This was a new voice.

I lifted my goggles. Off to the left was another figure,
heavier and larger than the last. He held a flashlight. The figure jumped
forward, scrambling and falling over the snow toward Ozzie and Kyle’s lights.
He had to be at least twenty yards away.

“Oh crap,” Ryder said.

Ozzie and Kyle turned around, toward the voice.

“HEEEEELP! They’re coming!” The last word was punctuated
with a long, terrified shriek.

“Holy shit. We’re done.” Ryder spoke into the walkie-talkie.
“Shut that guy up, guys. You’ve got another pack heading toward you.”

“Shut up!” Ozzie yelled, his voice echoing around the trees.

But the man kept screaming over Ozzie. Kyle ran toward the
man, but the pack of deadies were almost upon him.

Then the man went down, a surprised yelp coming from him.
The screaming started anew.

“Did a chomper get him?” Ryder’s eyes were wide behind his
goggles.

I strained my eyes to see through the goggles. They deadies
were close but not on top of him yet.

Realization slammed into me and my stomach turned to ice,
just as the man was pulled down, shrieking, into the ground.

Within seconds two lizards climbed out of the snow.

“Get out!” Ryder screamed into the walkie-talkie. “SNAKES!”

Ozzie and Kyle turned and ran, their movements like foxes
moving through the snow, light and effortless. They navigated through the trees
like they knew each one.

The deadies followed the sounds, heading steadily toward the
building.

The lizards weaved around them toward Ozzie and Kyle. They
skittered over the drifts toward them, covering the distance alarmingly fast.

There was no way Ozzie and Kyle would make it to the
compound.

Ryder screamed into the walkie-talkie, “UV LIGHTS!!! UV!!!!”

Ozzie and Kyle had their UV guns on before they even turned
around.

Through the goggles I saw Ozzie and Kyle fall backwards onto
the ground, skidding along the snow, bringing their UV lights up as the lizards
leapt at them.

The UV light hit the creatures in mid-air.

The most horrible sound I’d ever heard cut through the
freezing night. Twin howls of agony and rage ricocheted off the trees, rising in
the woods. The lizards smoked and disintegrated, green dust bursting outward
like an exploding comet.

Ozzie and Kyle climbed back up and ran toward the compound.

Two more lizards emerged from the hole, skittering toward
them.

Ozzie and Kyle were almost to the compound, but the lizards
were closing the distance fast.

“UV!” Ryder screamed into the walkie-talkie.

Ozzie and Kyle spun, their movements as graceful as dancers
and they hit the lizards with the UV light.

The lizards howled, shrieked, and burst, dust disintegrating
over the white.

“Holy shit!” Kyle panted. “Holy shit!”

Ozzie whooped and let out a crazy laugh as he and Kyle
turned back toward the compound, within seconds they’d disappeared below the
roof line.

Ryder’s voice was high with fear when he spoke again.
“Jesus. There are more.”

I lifted my goggles toward the woods and my heart froze as
four more lizards headed away from the hole toward the compound.

Kyle yelled into the walkie-talkie for us to get back down
into the compound. As Ryder pulled up the trap door two lizards crawled up and
clung to the plexiglass, their strange, elongated feet sticking to it, their
claws digging in.

“Go! Go! Go!” he yelled at me, holding up the trap door.

Hank was pacing frantically on the floor below. I climbed
down fast but jumped the last four feet down onto the floor.

Ryder slammed the door shut and hit the four bar locks
around it.

He jumped down and grabbed me by the hand, pulling me down
the hall and to the steel stairs leading to the main level of the compound.
Hank followed close behind.

When we got down there, the steel window coverings were slid
into place and a black man of about twenty-five sat rocking back and forth,
tears streaming down his face. “He collapsed. My dad. He couldn’t go on. I told
him to stay put and I covered him with branches. Said I’d get help. He must’ve
woke up.”

Sherry crouched in front of him, holding a steaming mug out
to him. “I’m so sorry.”

He covered his face and sobbed. “He had Alzheimer’s.”

Sherry placed the mug on the table behind the man. Moved her
hands over his arms. She said nothing, but the horror she felt was all over her
face. The old man hadn’t known what was happening.

Ozzie and Kyle stood in the middle of the room, eyes
scanning the windows.

“Shut up,” Ozzie said, throwing the man a sharp look.

The man’s shoulders shook as he cried silently into his
hands.

Something thumped on the roof, then the scratching began.
Claws scraping over metal.

We all looked up at the steel ceiling.

“They’re on the roof,” Kyle stood under the sound, staring
at the ceiling. The black man lowered his hands, his eyes round with panic.
“Those things?”

Ozzie looked at him as if he wanted to clock him. “Yeah. If
it wasn’t for you screaming your damned fool head off, they wouldn’t be
crawling all over us, and the Zekes, either. Idiot.”

The man’s face crumpled again. “I’m sorry. I was just so
scared. For me, for my dad—”

“We’re all scared,” Kyle said. “But making noise like that
draws the dead and the crawlers.”

More thumping and scratching on the roof --- now the
windows.

“Shit.” Ozzie’s eyes shifted around the room like those of a
trapped animal.

“What are those things?” The black man asked, his voice
thick with tears.

“They’re aliens,” Mina said, standing across from him. “They
live in the ground.”

“And they are not neighborly, asshole,” Ozzie said.

“I already said I’m sorry,” the man said. “And I got a name
other than idiot or asshole. It’s Wilson Brantford.”

“Now’s not the time for introductions,
Wilson
.”
Ozzie drew out the name, the same way one might draw out the words “Eff You”.

Ozzie continued looking up at the ceiling, then down at the
windows, gripping his UV light in his hand. Kyle stood still.

“I don’t think they can see very well,” I said, keeping my
voice low. “I was trapped in a car I rolled the other night. Had two of them
crawling all over the car, looking in, sniffing at the cracks in the
windshield. But Hank and I stayed really still and they went away.”

Everyone turned and looked at me, their interest piqued.

“Sorry. I forgot to mention that,” I said.

“Good to know,” Kyle said.

“I doubt it would’ve helped us out there,” Ozzie said. “Zeke
was after us, too.”

Kyle nodded. “Yeah. It wasn’t the ideal situation in which
to test the theory.”

“My dad might’ve been okay, if we’d known that,” Wilson
said, his voice low. He was thinking out loud.

“Your dad would’ve forgotten it as soon as you mentioned
it,” Ozzie said, softening a little. “I’m sorry, man.”

Wilson nodded his thanks.

A part of me wanted to be mad at Wilson for leading the
crawlers and deadies to us. But people react differently to abject terror. Not
everyone can have grace under fire when the dead are walking, and they are
after you to eat you alive.

The situation sucked. But chances were, the crawlers
would’ve found us pretty soon, anyway. They came from a hole in the woods only
meters away.

It would’ve been only a matter of time.

“That hole the snakes came out of, that was new, wasn’t it?”
Sherry asked. “If it had been there before, they would’ve come after us
sooner.”

Mina nodded. “I’d say it’s pretty fresh. Maybe they dug
their way out here over the last few nights. We’re in the compound before dark.
And it’s pretty soundproof to the outside.”

We all watched the ceiling.

“Kyle,” Sherry whispered. “Turn off the lights.”

“No,” I said, softly. “Nobody move.”

Kyle had mentioned that the place was soundproof and triple
insulated. I hoped it would help keep the lizards from hearing or sensing us in
the compound.

Hank curled up at my feet, his ears perked straight up,
listening. I stroked his fur, comforting myself as well as him.

Everyone remained as still as we could, listening to the
thumps and scratches late into the early morning hours.

They stopped all at once. The sudden absence of sound
jarring.

That’s how we knew dawn had finally come.

* * *

“I think they knew we were in here. If they didn’t they know
now.” Logan looked miserable as he sipped coffee, staring down at the table.

Kyle and Ozzie pulled the sliding steel window covers back,
letting in daylight. They looked squinted through the windows, searching for
movement.

“There’s a few Zekes out there,” Kyle said. “We’ll need to
take them down as quietly as possible. We don’t need a horde surrounding the
compound. We’ll never be able to leave it.”

“There were a shitload of them last night,” Ryder said.
“They must be around.”

“Or wandered back off into the woods?” Wilson said.

“Let’s get some food in us, first,” Ozzie said. “Then we’ll
deal with them.”

Sherry turned the lights off. “We need to plan the rescue
mission.” She turned to look at Kyle, her face haunted, and her eyes too large
for her face. “We need to try and get Melody back. “Same with Marnie, Penny and
Diane.”

“And Kelly. My sister,” I added.

“And Cassie,” Mina said.

Susan nodded. “Absolutely. There’s a reason those things
took them. I’m sure they’re still alive.”

“Before they get to us,” Ryder added.

Everyone was quiet for a moment, and I couldn’t figure out
if it was because everyone thought it would be a suicide mission or if they
were trying to come up with ideas.

“Yeah,” Mina said. “We can’t just sit around waiting for
them to figure out a way to get in here.”

“Are they smart?” Logan lifted his tired eyes and looked
around at everyone. “Or are they just driven by instinct, like snakes and
lizards are.”

“Oh, they’re smart sons-of-bitches,” Ozzie said, finally
sitting down in a rocking recliner. He ran a hand over his face. “They
orchestrated an entire invasion. Had this shit planned for years. Look at what
they’ve accomplished so far. Gotta love that team spirit.”

Kyle snorted. “Yeah. If the human race would’ve been so
willing to work together, the world might’ve been a better place while it was
still ours.”

“It will be ours again,” I said. “We just need to take it
back.”

A wide smile spread across Ozzie’s face. “I like her, Kyle.
She’s got balls.”

“She’s right,” Kyle said. “We need to take it back. And we
will. We just need to figure out how.”

Sherry put a pot of coffee in the middle of the table.
“Well, we can’t plan to take the world back on an empty stomach. We need coffee
and breakfast. So, pancakes?”

Ryder smiled. “Pancakes, then counter take-over plans.
Sounds good.”

Wilson, who had remained quiet, merely looked around, hands
wrapped around his mug. He seemed to be in some kind of shock.

I didn’t blame him, but thought that he’d better snap out of
it, and quick.

“Yeah,” Ryder said. “Let’s take it back.”

Mina poured herself more coffee. “How hard can it be?”

* * *

Logan and I helped Sherry get breakfast ready. He fried bacon
while I flipped pancakes. Sherry set the table and brought plates of pancakes
out as I finished with each batch. Each of us got two slices of crispy,
heavenly bacon. None of us were worried about hardening arteries, given the
current state of affairs.

Logan’s dark blonde waves hung over his face as he cooked,
and I couldn’t see the expression he wore.

“You like to cook?” I asked him.

“Not before everything happened. But it helps to have a
task. You know? Keeps your mind off things.”

“Yeah. I get that.” I flipped pancakes over in the pan.

He nodded, and continued moving the bacon around in the pan.
A few were burning.

“I love crispy bacon,” I said. “Here, let’s get those onto
the plate.”

“Oh, shit. Sorry.” He lifted the bacon onto the plate I held
for him. “I’m just a little freaked out from last night. You know? I mean, they
know where we are now.” He looked at me, his eyes frightened and his face pale.
“They know.”

I took a shuddering breath. “I know. But listen, we’ll get
them first. Okay?”

He looked at me, doubt and uncertainty on his face. “Yeah.”

I gripped his arm gently. “Logan, we will.”

He nodded.

“Now is not the time to fall apart. We need our wits about
us. We’ve made it this far.” I felt like a fraud. I was scared out of my mind.

“Yeah.”

“Okay then. Let’s go eat.”

Breakfast was delectable, and even enjoyable. Everyone
seemed to understand that we had to take things moment by moment, because we
really never knew for sure what would happen in the next moment. It was
possible that one or more of us could die today. The likelihood had become all
the more real after listening to the lizards clawing all over the compound last
night.

So we enjoyed the hell out of breakfast.

Wilson, who seemed to be coming out of himself in small
measures, finally spoke. “I feel like I need to say something.”

“Go ahead, Wilson,” Sherry said.

Ozzie glowered at him. “Yeah. By all means. We’re all ears,
Wilson.” Apparently he was still a little sore at Wilson for making such a
racket last night. But I was betting he was more afraid than he was angry.
Anger is just easier for some of us to swallow than fear.

Wilson shot Ozzie a look, then looked down. “First, I am
sorry, for bringing the deadies and those alien things to your safe house. If
it weren’t for me and my dad screaming, they wouldn’t even know you were here.”

“Well, we don’t really know that,” Sherry said. “I think
they were on the verge of discovering us. Those holes weren’t out there a day
ago.”

Kyle nodded. “A bunch of us check the perimeter each day,
man. It was just a matter of time. I think you just quickened the process a
little.”

“It was going to happen anyway,” Mina said.

“Still. I’m sorry.” Wilson looked at Ozzie. “Ozzie, you have
every right to be pissed. You work hard each day to keep your people safe and I
. . . I messed that up pretty good.”

Ozzie studied him over his mug, took a long swig, then
placed the mug on the table in front of him. “All right. I got it. But now that
you
have
screwed it up, I expect that you’ll work
your nuts off to help keep us safe from here on out. That includes killing
Zekes and the exploratory expedition we’ll be embarking upon today.”

“Today?” Wilson looked at him, wide-eyed.

“Yeah, sweetheart. Today. And you’ll have our backs. Because
I won’t rescue your ass again. Savvy?”

Wilson slowly nodded his head, but his mug of coffee had
begun to tremble slightly. “Yeah. Sure. I’ve got your backs.”

When the dishes were stacked and washed, we got down to the
first bit of business.

Which was to kill some deadies.

* * *

There were six deadies wandering around the entrance of the
compound. They must’ve seen Kyle and Ozzie run back into the building. We saw
them through the window facing the front area outside.

“You ever kill any deadies, Wilson?” Ozzie asked him.

“Just one. My girlfriend. It was by accident. I hit her in
the head with a cast iron frying pan. I was in the kitchen when she came at me.
It was on the stove, the closest weapon at hand.” He looked momentarily sick.
“I had to hit her a few times before she went down. But I didn’t mean to kill
her. She just kept coming at me. Trying to bite me.”

“Same technique,” Ozzie said. “But use a knife, hammer,
screw driver. Something that’ll penetrate easily. We don’t use guns unless we
have to, it draws more of them.” He handed Wilson a screw driver. “This will do
fine. Get them in the eye, the ear, anywhere you can reach the brain. You have
to kill the brain. Get that?”

Wilson nodded, looking scared and nauseous at the same time.
“I can’t believe I’m doing this. We were going to get married this summer. I
just started a new job. Now I’m about to stab walking dead people in the eyes.”

“Stop your whining, asshole. Your plans have changed. Roll
with it.” Ozzie unlocked the door and got ready to slide it open. “Everyone
ready and steady?”

Everyone responded in the affirmative. Most of us merely
nodding.

I gripped my claw hammer, claw pointed outward.

Kyle tipped his head down, gripped his hunting knife and
said, “Let’s get ‘er done.”

Ozzie grinned like a maniac. “Let’s show them some love.”

He pulled the door open.

And faced a crowd of deadies standing at the door, all
standing docile, heads hung, as if asleep.

A moment after they heard the sound of the door sliding
open, their heads lifted, one by one, and they began moving forward, hands
clawing toward us, faces in various levels of decomposition. Their teeth
gnashed and clicked as their scratchy, unearthly screeches rose. They moved
frantically at us, trying to get to food.