Invasion (The Alien Wars #1) (18 page)

Molly hesitated. “Well, we’re probably over halfway there. I know we haven’t seen any Seods for a while, but that might be because they’re waiting for us to return to the cabin.”

Derek nodded. “I just wish Kenneth were here.”

“Then all three of us would be lost,” Molly stated.

“Sure, but at least we’d be lost together.” Derek stood up. “Look, the sun will be setting soon. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be spending the night in the snow, so the faster we find the cave, the better.”

“Maybe Kenneth will be at the cave when we get there,” Molly beamed.

“Hopefully.”
Derek shrugged. “Anything is possible.”

~*~*~

For what seemed like the tenth time,
Logan
stared at his watch. Zero hour was now only two minutes away. He peered around the corner. The View looked exactly the same as before.

He glanced back at the others who were sitting on the sidewalk. Muscles needed the majority of his men, so only Peter, Baldy, and Xavier were with him. Four people weren’t a lot, but
Logan
was content. It wasn’t so much the number of people, but how experienced they were.

He glanced at his watch again. The seconds ticked by.
“Five, four, three, two, one, now!”
Nothing happened.
Logan
gazed back at his watch. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing.
Probably just a small problem,” Xavier said. “I’m sure we’ll hear something within the next minute.”

“I hope so,”
Logan
replied.

The group waited anxiously by the corner, each taking turns glancing at The View. When five minutes had passed and still nothing had happened,
Logan
started pacing back and forth. “Something’s wrong.
Muscles knows
the plan. He had plenty of time to set up. Something’s gone wrong. I just feel it.”

“Reckon we ought to go back to the warehouse?” Baldy suggested.

Logan
shook his head as he glanced back at The View. “I’m not going to wait till tomorrow. I’m going in there tonight, with or without the distraction.”

“But that’s suicide!” Baldy said. “What about those machine guns out front?”

“Not to mention the snipers on the roofs,” Peter said.

Logan
nodded. “Don’t you think I know the risks? I struggled with leaving Lucy once, and I’m not going through that ever again. It’s now or never.” He glanced at the time. “I’ll give it another fifteen minutes. If nothing happens by then, I’m going in regardless.”

The minutes passed painfully slowly for everyone, but especially for
Logan
. He sat down on the sidewalk and closed his eyes. He thought about the happier times he and Lucy had experienced together: walking along Fisherman’s Wharf in the thick fog on a gloomy summer’s day in
San Francisco
; enjoying fresh chocolate in
Ghirardelli Square
; and watching the sun set into the Pacific at
Baker
Beach
. He cherished every moment with Lucy, because it felt so right being with her. He had once tried explaining the feeling of being in love to Kenneth, but it was hard for him to understand. He’d never fallen for a woman like his brother had.

As he opened his eyes, his thoughts returned to the task at hand. Many things had changed, but one thing remained the same, and that was the love he had for Lucy. His separation and fear of loss had increased his feelings for her more than ever before.

Checking his watch, he realized it was time to go. Walking over to the Humvee, he saddled himself with some weapons, taking a bolt-action rifle, a pistol, a hand grenade, and some ammo. After putting the weapons into a backpack, he slung them over his shoulder and walked back to the others.

“I wonder what happened to Muscles and his team,” Peter said.

“I say we return to the warehouse,” Baldy stated. “We need to regroup and assess the situation with an open mind, not go lone-wolf and try to be a hero.”

Logan
turned to Baldy. “I’m not asking you to come. I’ve learned from experience that there’s no use forcing someone to do something they don’t want to do. So go back if you want to.” He nodded at Peter and Xavier. “Does anyone want to join me?”

Xavier raised his hand. “I’ll come.”

Logan
smiled. “Thanks. We’ll leave in a minute.” He strolled to the corner and peered around. The situation was still the same. He suddenly stiffened as he heard a noise.

He swiftly turned around. A Humvee roared down the street toward them. He chambered a round for his weapon and gave a hand signal. The whole team slid back into the cover of their pre-planned ambush positions.

~*~*~

Darkness was closing in as Kenneth slipped and stumbled, staying upright only by grasping at saplings and branches. Wind and snow lashed through the trees, not making the job any easier.

From time to time he stopped and paused as he glanced around. Nothing except snow and trees could be seen. He thought that the storm had eased enough, so he’d set off an hour ago, but shortly afterwards, it returned with a vengeance.

He had skied part of the way, but after accidentally breaking one of the poles, he decided to leave them, thinking he’d make more progress on foot. He now regretted that decision. But there was nothing he could do about it now. After waiting a few moments, he stood up and continued walking.

Fortunately, the storm hadn’t turned into a blizzard, and he didn’t think he was lost, but as he had to take several detours due to Seods, the trek was taking ages. Only time would tell if he was on the right track.

He continued walking. The snow got thicker and the trail got thinner as he left the ski runs and wound around the mountain. He had no idea where the cave was, and in this weather, he could walk right past it and not even notice it.

Once he was sure that he was beside the peak, he decided to stop. It wasn’t any use going farther with the storm so bad. He sat down in the thicket of some trees and waited. For the twentieth time, he was glad that he’d taken the cold-weather clothing from the shop at
Tahoe
Summit
Village
. He would have been freezing by now if he hadn’t, for even with the extra warmth on, it was still chilly.

The storm started to clear after about half an hour. Realizing this was the chance he’d been waiting for, Kenneth continued searching. Now, with the snow finally ceasing, he’d be able to see the cave on the mountainside. Though, with darkness not far off, he had to be fast.

The crack of a branch made him stop and turn around. His heart lodged in his throat. No less than sixty feet away was a Seod. As soon as the creature saw he’d been spotted, he pulled out his silencer.

As green bolts hit the snow all around him, Kenneth raced down the mountainside. He was so annoyed with himself. He knew he had no chance in hell of outrunning the Seod on foot, but with no snowmobile and no skis, he had no other choice.

As he twisted and turned, he glanced back. The Seod was closing in fast. At this rate, he’d be within touching distance in ten seconds.

Kenneth had experienced quite a few close calls during the years, but none, not even the recent event at the lake, came close to how scared and frightened he was feeling right now. He felt as though he was on death’s door with only a matter of seconds left to live.

~*~*~

Logan
put his weapon down when he saw that it was Muscles. He looked angry.
Real angry.
He stopped the vehicle and stiffly climbed out. Blood was dripping down his right leg.

“What happened?” Xavier blurted out, gazing back and forth between Muscles and the only other occupant of the Humvee. He was young, around seventeen, and had a stone-cold face. It took a few seconds for Xavier to realize why he looked so similar to Muscles. “I didn’t know you had a son.”

Muscles nodded briefly. “Well, I do. Name’s Jake, but people call him Jet.”

“Jet?”
Logan
questioned. “What kind of name—”

“You have a problem with that?” Jet asked, walking forward, an intense look on his face.

Logan
raised his hands as he saw the boy’s physique. He was muscular as well. Not as much as his father, but big for his age. “No, I don’t have a problem. Good to meet you, Jet.”

“What the hell happened?” Baldy blurted out, striding forward. “Why didn’t the distraction start at zero hour?”

Muscles tried to keep his voice down as he replied, but
Logan
could see it was hard, because he was so angry. “Sanchez knew we were coming.”

Peter looked shocked. “What?”

Muscles explained. “We got to the intersection with ten minutes to spare. My men and I set up. It was all going according to plan, but then the convoy didn’t show. I should’ve realized something was amiss, but didn’t. Suddenly, snipers shot at us from the rooftops. We tried to fire back, but then they threw tear gas, and I ordered a retreat. My son and I are the only ones that got out alive.”

Logan
frowned. “I wonder why we didn’t hear anything.”

“They had silencers attached to all their weapons,” Muscles said. “Presumably, they wanted everyone else to not assume that something was wrong so that they could catch the rest of the group at the warehouse.”

“Did you pass by it?” Baldy questioned.

Muscles nodded as he sat down on the sidewalk. “I saw a glint of something shine from around the corner. That was enough to make me run.”

“What bad luck,” Baldy stated, sitting down.

Peter snorted. “Hell, it wasn’t bad luck. Somebody snitched on us.”

Muscles sighed. “Peter’s right. The operation was too clean-cut. They knew about the distraction and the warehouse. God knows what else they know about.”

“What about Alpha?” Baldy asked.

“Alpha?
Who’s Alpha?” Xavier said, frowning.

“A spy,” Jet said. “But he isn’t responsible.”

Muscles and Jet shared a look between them. It was clear to
Logan
that they disagreed.

“Alpha is the code name for our man in Sanchez’s headquarters,” Jet said. “He’s the one who informed us about the convoy.”

“And the convoy didn’t come,” Baldy said.

“Alpha isn’t to blame,” Jet repeated. “He wouldn’t do a thing like that.”

“Then what happened?”
Logan
asked.

“I only told a few people about this,” Muscles said. “Apart from Alpha and Jet, the only other people that knew the location
was
your lot.”

The four, Peter, Baldy, Logan, and Xavier, were shocked. Xavier was first to speak. “You don’t think …” Before he could finish talking, Jet pulled out a pistol.

Striding toward them, Jet put the weapon to
Logan
’s head. “Admit that you’re the one that spilled the beans. Admit—”

“Hold it, son,” Muscles interrupted, standing up. “This is not—”

“Shut up, Dad! One of these men is responsible for killing those men back there, and I’m not going to put the gun down until I find out who it was.” Jet glared at
Logan
as he released the safety catch on the pistol and put his finger on the trigger. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t pull the trigger right now.”

Logan
’s face might not have shown it, but he was scared. He had seen men like Jet before, and there was no use arguing with someone like that.

“This has gone far enough!” Xavier said, walking forward. “I think—”