Episode 13.
A GAME OF HIDE AND SEEK.
I had run as fast as I could to close the distance between myself and the fading red dots on the tracking device. Getting over the ground without shoes was really proving to be a real pain in the ass. Still, the rain had helped to smooth over the terrain by moving a lot of the loose debris. But it sucked, and my feet were getting cut up no matter how I looked at it.
So I stopped on the top of a hill, which was really a fallen building, to catch my breath, drink some water, and give my feet a rest. I pulled out the tracker. There weren’t any dots. It had been blank for the last fifteen minutes or so, which I considered a good thing.
It could have meant that wherever they were, they were blocked by something, and the longer they stayed there, the better their chances were of not being found by anything else.
However, it could also have meant that other aliens with blockers had found them and killed them. And that meant that I could just be heading towards them.
I drank some more water and looked up at the thick cloud cover. The storm that ran through for days before was amazing, and the sky still looked so angry. Thankfully though, there were spots where the cloud cover was beginning to break that let in a few stray rays of the afternoon sun.
I got to my feet. I was standing on a fallen brick wall that looked like a part of an old NYC public school. I pulled out the tracker again to see one of the red dots blinking on the screen.
“There you go. Everything’s just fine,” I said to myself, turning towards my right just as the clouds parted enough to reveal a huge floating black craft in the sky.
“Dear God!” I stammered, immediately falling to the ground for cover as the life form tracker went crazy with “bee boo” alert sounds.
I looked down the hill to see a battalion of men moving towards me. Each one was close to seven feet tall with long, slender, athletic bodies that were covered from head to toe in black suits. They each had helmets with red reflective face plates with two antenna’s on top, and each one held a large black rifle type of gun that pulsed with red lights.
I hugged myself closer to the fallen wall. The ship above was moving slowly, keeping pace with the troops below. I quickly scanned over the surrounding area. There was nowhere to run without being seen.
Their first two sentries were only a few yards below my position, steadily moving towards me, so I did the only thing that I could do. I pushed myself into the tiny space left by the former wall’s window. It was small, but there was just enough room for me to squeeze my pack and body beneath.
I moved the “Big Gun” in front of me and made sure that it was on. Then I held the thing as close to my chest as I could, feeling the slight electronic hum that its blue pulsing lights made.
If a single one of them saw me, I’d open up.
I held my breath and listened to their footsteps coming closer.
