Jim Thorn - Invasion

“I love you guys.”

Laura smiled at her mom and nodded.

Aiden said, “We love you, too, Mom.”

Reno stepped aside as the kids walked past, out the door, and toward the mess hall. Once they left, he shut the door before walking over to the couch where he stood facing Maya.

They stared at each other for several moments, and then Reno cracked a smile, triggering Maya to do the same. She lunged forward and wrapped her arms around his neck so that they embraced, Reno’s arms pulling her to him. Maya planted a kiss on his cheek before taking a step backward. She sat down on the couch and Reno sat down next to her, taking her hand in his.

“I’m so glad you’re all right,” Maya said. “I felt so bad for—”

“Don’t. You have no reason to feel guilty. I told you to leave me there. You needed to get to your kids, and I was holding you back.”

Maya rolled her eyes, which had moistened at the corners again. “Were you? You made it to my kids before I did.”

Laughing, Reno shrugged. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“What happened?” Maya leaned in and dropped her voice. “How did you get here? I saw what happened to so many people inside the dome, and I was sure you were still inside.”

“I was. And that’s what I want to talk to you about.”

She waited.

“Jack didn’t make it. But you gave him the solution, their weakness.”

Maya turned her head sideways. “Huh?”

“Your Mustang. You were always complaining about the shitty radiator. Well, that’s what gave Jack the idea. The dome was powered with geothermal heat pumped up to a power generator in the obelisk. We exploded the cooling system, which then dropped the dome. And once the domes come down, those fuckers are vulnerable. The masks, the dome, the ships—it’s all because they’re sensitive to light. That’s our weapon, Maya. That’s how we can turn back this alien invasion.”

She gawked, her mind racing with the mechanical and technical implications of Jack’s discovery. “Jack. He—”

“Sacrificed himself to help us with the war. He’s a hero.”

Maya had only known Jack for a short bit, but his contribution to the human race would be remembered for a long time. Reno continued.

“I found some buddies of mine. Cops. We found the Guard and attacked the obelisk. Brought it down. That was when we loaded up and got the hell out of Nashville. Ended up here.”

She struggled to take it all in. First, the emotional reunion with her children, and now Jack and Reno had found a weakness in the obelisks. Plus, finding weapons had become easier once they understood which ones to use. The base had been using spotlights as a defense, but there wasn’t any reason why they could take those on the offensive.

“So, you know how to take down the domes? All of them”

Reno nodded. “Yeah, pretty sure they all work the same way. I was thinking about it, and I’ll bet they planted the generators inside the Earth a long time ago. We’ve been living on top of them for thousands of years.”

“Now you sound like Jack.”

Reno laughed and then shrugged.

“Well, have you told whoever’s in command here?”

“I have.”

“What did they say?”

Reno sighed, and looked at the far wall. He hesitated.

“What is it?”

He looked back at her. “Gerald. I don’t think he’s the top dog, but he’s definitely high up on the chain of command here. He thinks it’s too risky to go on the offensive, that we should stay here and wait for the ‘government’ to tell us what to do, as if that still exists. But the farther you get from the big cities the less infrastructure remains. I think that’s why some ex-military guy like your ex can be running this place while the Guard was still operating in Nashville.”

Maya had just arrived and still hadn’t wrapped her mind around things. Her kids. Gerald. Reno. It was all too much, and coming too soon.

“Gerald in charge of this place? These people? He couldn’t manage to take care of a puppy.” Maya shook her head, feeling overwhelmed and with a desire to hit pause and just think about things for a moment. “I could use a few minutes alone. I’ve got a lot to process.”

“I understand. But hear me out. Some of the scouts saw you guys coming. They reported back to Gerald and he suspected it could be you. And when he told me what they’d seen, it was the only reason I stuck around. But I really don’t think we’re safe. The aliens know we’re here. We’re a target. And Gerald is happy to stay, living like whatever happens outside the gate doesn’t affect us. We need to leave and get the information I have into the right hands. Find the real military and fight back.”

Maya pulled her hand from Reno’s.

“I just need a night. I’ve got to sleep on it.”

Reno nodded and stood. “I understand.”

Maya stood next. “I don’t want you being upset.”

“I know. I’m not. Just think about what I said.”

Reno leaned forward to embrace Maya as she reached out for his hand. They met in the middle, eyes averted, and further contact abandoned.

He cleared his throat, then turned around and went to the door.

“I’m sorry,” Maya said.

After opening the door, Reno looked back. “Think about what I said. For the sake of the people here. And your kids.”

Maya followed the voices of her children as she walked down the hallway. She came to a closed door and pushed it open to reveal a classroom with desks and a whiteboard on the front wall. The smell of copy machine toner and fresh magic markers filled the room, and she wondered what they had been up to before she’d arrived. Aiden and Laura sat in two of the desks and Luke was perched on top of another, facing both kids. He had one of Aiden’s portable gaming machines in his hands.

“Well, I see you kids met Luke.”

“Mom, this is so cool,” Aiden said. “Luke said he can hack my 3DS and load it with hundreds of games. For free!”

“Yeah, it’s called piracy, dumbass,” Laura said.

“Laura, watch your language.”

“Yeah, and everyone does it anyway,” Aiden said.

Maya frowned as she turned to Luke. “It sounds illegal, and I don’t want you guys breaking the law.”

Luke smiled. “Don’t worry. I can’t really do it until we have some Internet anyway. So, for now, we’ll keep it legal and you can just keep making Mario levels.” He handed the console back to Aiden.

“Did you kids get something to eat?”

“Ugh,” Luke said. “Unfortunately.”

Laura raised her eyebrows at her mom. “Told you the food sucks.”

“Well, be thankful that you have something. There’s a lot of people struggling out there.”

“Lucky them,” Aiden said.

Maya rolled her eyes, ignoring her children’s comments. She took a deep breath and crossed her arms. “I’m going to go lay down for a little while. Are you guys okay?”

“I’ll look after them,” Luke said.

Laura rolled her eyes. “Whatever. We’re, like, the same age. I don’t need you looking after me.”

“Okay, looks like you guys will be fine,” Maya said. “I’ll see y’all in a little while.”

Maya walked out and hung a right down the hallway. She had only taken a few steps when she heard adult laughter behind her. She turned around to see Gerald and Cameron holding hands and walking toward her. They looked up to see Maya staring back at them, and Cameron’s smile quickly disappeared as they stopped by the door.

“Hey.” Cameron avoided eye contact with Maya, who raised her eyebrows.

“Where are you headed?” Gerald asked.

“I was going to try to rest for a while. Needless to say, it’s been a long few days.”