Jim Thorn - Invasion

The workers had left the keys in the ignitions and both trucks started. Maya pulled out first with Gerald, Aiden, and Laura on the bench seat inside the cab. A toolbox had been mounted on the floor on the passenger side, making it almost impossible for the four of them to fit in the truck. It appeared to have had been modified to handle a one-man crew. Reno and John followed in the other truck.

They sped out of the garage and down an access road along the fence bordering the base. When Maya saw an area of it blown apart by the aliens, she cut across the lawn and through the breach, where she picked up the highway near the base. Driving away, she looked in the rearview mirror as the continued attack on Fort Campbell lit up like the Fourth of July.

As Maya sped away from the base, she constantly looked into the rearview mirror to see if any of the aliens had been following them. From what she could tell, the aliens weren’t in pursuit—the orange glow of fire over Fort Campbell made her think that they’d been bent on destroying the base rather than chasing down a few survivors. What she did know was that Reno and John had made it out, as well, because their truck tailed Maya by only a few car lengths.

She looked down at her hands, her knuckles white and her arms shaking. Her mind raced, wondering what the consequences would have been had she not listened to Reno. He’d been right. He’d been concerned that the aliens would inevitably attack the base, so much so that he had been insistent on leaving that night, not even waiting until the morning when it would have been safer. What if she had listened to Gerald instead? She shook off the thought, thankful that they had made it out alive.

Only, they hadn’t all made it out alive.

Glancing to her right, Maya looked at Gerald on the end of the bench seat. He stared blankly out his window and into the dark void of rural Kentucky’s night. His girlfriend had died saving the life of his ex-wife. And Maya couldn’t help but feel like she was to blame. Cameron wouldn’t have stepped outside the base if Maya hadn’t been leaving with her kids.

“Mom, I’m scared.”

Aiden’s voice pulled Maya out of her thoughts of Cameron. She turned to her son sitting right next to her, Laura positioned between Aiden and Gerald. His eyes seemed glazed over, and like Maya, he was shaking. She reached over and grabbed his hand.

“I know, hon. But everything’s going to be fine. We got out of there. We’re alive.”

“But where are we going?” Laura asked.

Maya recognized the tone—her usually calm teenager was scared. Laura had lost the sarcastic edge she usually carried, and beneath her words lay the fears of a child in a woman’s body.

“I’m not sure.”

Maya looked at Gerald again. He was still gazing out the window with a blank stare she could see reflected in the passenger side mirror. She wanted to ask him if he was okay, but he had zoned out. And with his temper, she worried that anything she said to him could cause a meltdown. Add that to the fact that he’d just watched his girlfriend get vaporized by aliens.

But there’s no way we can stay on the road. We’re too vulnerable.

It was why Maya had wanted to wait until the next morning to leave. They could have planned a thoughtful escape and taken their time getting to a safe place without the aliens filling the skies. She now knew that plan would have likely ended up with them dead, of course, so she was thankful she’d followed Reno’s instincts instead of her own.

Everyone in the truck remained silent as Maya continued driving for miles, the only sound the clattering of the loose bolts and rusted metal on the body of the old maintenance truck. Maya’s mind continued to churn as she thought of where they could go. Her eyes darted between the road ahead, her family inside of the truck, Reno and John behind them, and the skies—which she constantly checked to make sure there were no aliens on the way.

“We should go back.”

Maya looked over at Gerald, finding his watery eyes fixed on hers.

“They blew up the damn base.” The response had come out of Maya’s mouth before she’d even thought about it. “You’re joking, right?”

“Do I fucking look like I’m joking?”

Out of the corner of her eye, Maya saw Aiden’s body stiffen. He took a deep breath and stared at the road ahead, listening just like Laura was. Maya took a deep breath.

“Look, I know emotions are raw right now, but there’s nothing to go back to. We’ve got to keep moving and—”

“And what?” Gerald asked, interrupting Maya. “Just forget about her?”

Maya closed her eyes only long enough to take another breath. In that moment, she saw Cameron’s smiling face. Maya had come to like her. In fact, they had become friends.

“I’m hurting, too. But we’ve got our kids to think about now.”

“Don’t you say that. Don’t you lie to me. You didn’t give a shit about her. You’ve got to be loving the fact that I’m in pain. Does that feel good, Maya? Are you enjoying this?”

Maya gripped the wheel tighter, sweat making her palms clammy.

“You’re the one who left her to die while you ran off to kidnap our kids.”

“Yeah, well, maybe it would’ve been better if you had never made it out of that dome.” Gerald leaned back and snickered. “Maybe you should have—”

“Shut up!” Laura said, putting her arms up as if to block them out. “Both of you.”

Maya had almost forgotten the kids were between them, the old wounds caused by Gerald having reopened. They’d fallen back into their old ways without regard for what was most important. Laura and Aiden were old enough now to better understand why people split up, but hearing their parents argue like this was not helping anyone.

Everyone is on edge. Best to find a place to stop and regroup.

Another mile up the road, Maya saw a sign for a rest stop. It warned her that there wouldn’t be another one for twenty miles. With the air clear of ships and aliens, she turned off.

“Why are we stopping?” Gerald asked.

“So that everyone can get some fresh air and so that we can chat with Reno and John and figure out where we’re going.”

Maya pulled to the end of the parking lot and drove up over the curb and into the grass. There were scattered trees lining the edge of the rest area, and she pulled the truck into them so they’d be out of view from the road with some cover above. Maya parked the truck and climbed out. She walked to a concrete picnic table and sat on top of it.

As Reno and John opened the doors of their own truck, Reno already held his arms out in a question. “Why are we stopping?”

“We’ve gotten far enough away from the base and the sky is clear.” Maya looked up as if to confirm what she had just said. “I figured we could regroup and figure out exactly where we’re going.”

The kids walked over and joined Maya near the picnic table. Aiden sat on the bench while Laura leaned against a tree with her arms crossed.

Gerald had remained in the truck. Reno glanced at him, then back to Maya. He nodded at Gerald with his chin. Maya shook her head as Reno and John walked over to the picnic table.

“We need to figure out where we’re going,” Maya said.

“I don’t know where to go.” Reno turned to John, inviting his opinion.

“Yeah, those guys back at the base made it seem like there weren’t a lot of options. And there certainly isn’t much left of Nashville.”

Maya sighed. “Well, we can’t keep driving down the highway. It’s not safe, especially not at night. We need to—”

A light hit Maya in the face, blinding her. She raised her hands as the kids cried out. Maya tried to look up, but the light was too bright.