Bea Cannon - A Small Gray Dot

“I’m taking Morgan, and we’re leaving,” I said softly. “If you want to stay here and wait for Henderson, help yourself. He’s one of them too, and I imagine he’s not going to be thrilled about this.”

The guys held their guns on them while I got Morgan to her feet. She wobbled like a top and started to collapse. I caught her under an arm, holding her up. She said something, her words slurring badly but I was able to make out “dickless sonofabitch”. I almost smiled. I lifted up her chin and studied her eyes. She was almost unconscious but she was mad and still trying to fight. I had a feeling that if he was anywhere near her when she came to, Talbert was in for another cussing out and a possible kick to the balls. At the moment, though, she wasn’t going to be able to walk, let alone run. She was fairly small so I got her across my shoulder.

Duncan stared at me. “Hey, man, I’ll carry her if you want.”

“I’ve got her,” I said. I knew he was just trying to spare an “old man.” I smiled. “I’m not as old as I look.”

One of his eyebrows went up. “Uh, how old are you?”

“Thirty-two. Okay, let’s get out of here.” We certainly didn’t have time to stand around talking about my age.

He looked surprised but he nodded.

I looked down and noticed our two leftover Molotov cocktails. The nitwits had brought them in, too. There were also three strange objects lying there. They were black and vaguely gun-shaped. I’d never seen anything like them but guessed they were weapons. Talbert and Slim must’ve taken them from the aliens once they saw the one I’d killed. Odd. There had been ten – eleven counting the one I’d killed out in the hall – but they’d only had three weapons between them. I began to wonder if they were really fighters but it was something on which I could speculate later. I turned to the guys.

“Get the cocktails and those… whatevers… and come on, we’ve got to get out of here.” I didn’t hear any running footsteps so the sounds still coming from outside may have muffled the gunfire but best to get moving.

Duncan nixed the funny guns. “Leave ‘em. Whatever they are they don’t work. They pointed them at us and I think they tried to shoot but nothing happened. They’re either out of ammo – or broken.”

I nodded and headed for the door past the leather chaise were Morgan must have been resting because her jacket was lying there. I picked it up, tossed it to Duncan, and maneuvered around the remains of the Binqua. Lem scooped up the cocktails as he went out ahead of me. Duncan picked up one of the odd weapons anyway, and he and Percy followed us out. I supposed he wanted a souvenir. Lem headed down the hall. He obviously knew the stairwell’s direction so I followed him since I’d been unconscious when taken to the room.

We passed a room where I glanced in and noticed a table stacked with rifles. That indicated the Binqua had more than those funny guns of theirs. They had also acquired a number of ours. There wasn’t time to do anything about those.

We came up on the alien I’d killed in the hall, and behind me I heard, “Wait!” Talbert came limping from the room followed by Slim, who was rubbing the back of his head. “We’re going with you!”

I shrugged and kept going. I didn’t care whether they came or not. I wasn’t there to save them. Lem threw open the door to the stairs and started down. I clattered behind him followed by Percy and Duncan who were followed by Talbert and Slim.

We got to the bottom where Lem opened the door cautiously and peered out. He stepped outside and motioned to us. We went out hugging the side of the building. The noise had died down out front but as we hustled down to the corner I could see flickering from still burning fires.

Someone shouted something in a strange language and Talbert whispered, “That’s Mr. Henderson! He really is one of them!”

I shifted Morgan to get a better grip, and eyed him. Idiot. If we made it out, I’d deal with him then. I turned towards the fence. Going up the hill through the strand of trees was our only choice. This was taking longer than I wanted. I hoped they were all concentrating on the fire and not watching the monitors. Morgan hung limp on my shoulder. She was wearing a long sleeved shirt so I trusted she wouldn’t become too cold because I wasn’t going to stop to get her into the jacket.

We started up the hill dodging through the trees, and reached the fence where we exited the strand. We were nearing the gate when a bright flash lit up the ground in front of us. A smell similar to the one of the heated metal on the burning vehicles hit my nose. I pulled up. The gate and a long section of the fence were melting where the light touched. Damn. They had lasers. I felt as if we were in a bad sci-fi movie.

We ducked back into the trees.

“Get down!” I yelled. Everyone got low. As I crouched, Morgan slid from my shoulder to the ground. She moaned and lay still. I did a fast check. She was breathing.

Another flash came from behind us and everybody flattened to the ground. More burning metal. Either they were the worst shots in existence or they didn’t want to kill Morgan. Probably the latter so I figured them to be warning shots. Sure enough, in the next instant, a voice boomed out over a loud speaker in that weird accent.

“Return the woman, and you will be allowed to leave without harm!”

Sure we would. Right up until we handed her over.

Still, they could decide to give up on that tactic and then we’d all be fried meat. I crawled to where I could see the parking lot. The lamplights were still working but even if they went out, seeing wouldn’t be a problem as it was still lit up from the burning vehicles. A couple of figures were crouching near an apparatus that bore a strong resemblance to an old-fashioned satellite dish.

“Hey, man, we can’t give her to them! No telling what they’ll do to her. All that damn probing an’ shit you hear about—” started Slim.

“Shut up, fool! Nobody’s giving her to them! Besides, she’s the only reason we’re still alive!” That was Talbert. At least he had that much sense.

My mind raced and hit on an iffy idea. “Lem, give me the cocktails!”

He handed them over.

“Okay, as soon as you see a flash down there, make a run for it. Percy, get Morgan. I’ll follow as fast as I can. Here,” I handed Duncan the car key. “Get to the car. If you don’t see me in a minute, take off anyway.”

I didn’t wait for an answer. I did a fast crawl back down the hill. Hiding behind one of the bigger trees, I pulled out the lighter, lit one of the cocktails, popped up fast, and flung it towards the laser. It broke on the pavement in front of it and the figures beside it scrambled away as flames washed down under the thing. I lit and threw the other one and then sprinted back up the hill. I didn’t bother to see where it hit but it must’ve splashed one of them because I heard a giggling shriek that went up the scale.

I swept through the opening that used to be the gate to see everyone had reached the car except Percy who couldn’t run as fast while carrying Morgan. I caught up and we reached the car together. He threw open the front passenger door and shoved Morgan in and squeezed in beside her. Duncan was waiting outside the driver’s side, and he handed me the key and crammed into the back seat with the others. I glanced in the back and all I saw were gleaming wide-eyes.

I got the car in gear and took off down the path. In a few seconds, I was on Main speeding away from Semptor Labs.

TO BE ON THE SAFE SIDE, I TURNED OFF ON THE unnamed street that went past the alley where the Hole in the Wall was, before circling around to Carter Street.