THEY CAME PART 13
“Yeah, there is no loving it.” I wasn’t even sure how he could have expected me to chose that.
Doug laughed so hard he was bent over with his hands on his knees. When he could finally stand up straight, he held his side with one arm. “I didn’t think you would like it.”
“Who would? That is a terrible idea!” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “This is insane. It won’t work. We need to get up there undetected. Not… not this!”
“Do you have a better idea?” Doug crossed his arms over his chest. A crooked smiled played on his face.
I didn’t and he knew it. There wasn’t a better way to get up onto that ship. Even the other voice in my head agreed with him. How could that voice agree with him and not me? “Fine. Let’s do this.”
“Good. Now come on. We need to get everyone ready.” Doug took off towards the main area everyone stayed at. We only needed a few select people. The ones who could withstand the maimers abilities would be going. If they had any kind of technical skills, that would help too. Hopefully, we wouldn’t need any skills other than stealth.
A small man brought a stack of papers to the table our group stood around. He handed them to Doug who placed them before us. With one finger, he ran it down the list on the first page and then the next. By the third, he found what he needed. “There. This is it. They are loading a group of intelligent humans not far from here in three days. That gives us time to pack up what we need and get there.” He looked into the faces of each of us. “Whoever doesn’t want to do this, speak up now.”
No one did. Every person was determined to go and save as many of their own as they could. This wouldn’t be the end of the war, but it would be a good hit from our side. If this worked, we could find a way to take them down the next time.
“Good. Now, go pack. When we get there, you won’t be going up with anything. So, whatever you take, it won’t be something you cherish.”
Everyone split up. Within the hour, we were packed and ready to leave. There wouldn’t be any vehicles. We needed to move fast but we also needed to be unseen. Vehicles were noisy. So, we kept to the bushes. Streets were too open. Anytime there was alien activity, we laid low and waited for them to completely pass.
It was hard to watch groups of humans being led by aliens, but this mission wasn’t about them. This mission was bigger than that. It could quite possibly end all of this if things went as we hoped they would. This could give us insight into how to take them down.
At night we slept in shifts. Two hours intervals gave everyone time to sleep or take watch. If we were captured, all of this would be for nothing. By the third day, we crouched in the bushes just outside the landing site for their shuttles.
It was a barren cement platform that must have been a large parking lot at some point. I could barely make out the white lines where cars could line up. Now, aliens used those lines to keep their humans in neat rows for the on coming shuttles.
The stood in shackles with their heads hung low. Tattered clothes barely stayed on their thin bodies. Clearly, the aliens didn’t believe in feeding them on their way here. The humans had scrapes and cuts on their hands, feet, and knees. It contrasted with the clean aliens standing with heads held high in pristine uniforms and glistening metal.
From above, engines sounded. Small dots descended from high in the sky. They grew as they lowered themselves to the earth. Each shuttle’s silver casing glimmered in the sunlight. These didn’t have the mockery of our flags on them as the ones that took my sister and brother-in-law. These were bare of any markings.
They finally settled down on the pavement and shut off their engines. Wide doors lowered to allow entrance. The aliens began boarding their captives. Some fought the aliens but a maimer would always bring them to heal. At one point, however, several prisoners tried to fight in the same group so maimers from other groups had to help out.
When this happened, Doug saw their opportunity and they boarded one of the ships. These shuttles were never fully loaded so they simply took seats and buckled in as if they were part of the herd. No one came to look in and make sure everyone was secured. The door just closed, and they were on their way to the main ship stationed above Earth.
