Oh No, Aliens

"Jackson Enright?"

Jack had blacked out for a minute or two after their car ride was interrupted. He wasn't fully recovered from the poison yet, and the sudden jerk of the car made his head spin and his ears ring. When he got control of himself again and his vision adjusted, he saw that one of the men was standing on his side of the truck while another held back a kicking and screaming Hadley. The third man was looking through her backpack. He took out the pink taser, and the two of them were saying something to her that Jack couldn't hear. He looked to the man next to him and furrowed his brow.

"What the hell, man?" Jack said. "What's this about?"

"You tell me," he said. "You stole a car."

"And it broke down-"

"This is serious, Mr. Enright," he told him.

Jack got out of the car and moved past him, towards the men dealing with Hadley.

"Let her go, she has nothing to do with this," Jack told him. "I picked her up in Pennsylvania. She's just a hitchhiker."

They might have believed him, if at that moment the man searching the bag hadn't pulled out the green chip they'd taken from the car. The one who had his eye on Jack gave him a look.

"We're taking you both back to headquarters," he concluded.

"That's not necessary," Jack said. "If this is about me, then you can rest assured that I won't go out and tell anyone about what I know. I don't care. And neither does she. Just take the chip and let us leave. Michael can find another kid to use for his big plan."

"It's gone a little too far for that, I'm afraid."

Hadley made an attempt to swing her leg up and kick the guy holding her bag. He jerked back and dropped the bag, but the one holding her tightened his grip on holding her arms behind her back and caused her to wince out in pain. Jack felt his face get hot, stepping towards him again and pointing a finger in his face.

"I told you to let her go," he said.

"Relax, kid. She's fine."

There it was again. Why did everyone call him a kid and tell him to relax? It was one of the most agitating things. A little too agitating. Mixed with the rage of them hurting Hadley for no reason and ganging up on her two to one, Jack felt years of anger management training just fade away. He was back to seeing red, just like he did when he was in high school.

The next few moments were a blur, but he felt one of them grab his arm and his automatic reflex was to turn around and twist the guy's arm behind his back and yank hard. There was a crack and a pop where his shoulder was dislocated and Jack shoved him to the side, moving on to the one holding Hadley. He pulled her off of her, accidentally pushing her to the ground in the process. She watched with her mouth agape as Jack grabbed the man by the front of his shirt and punching him hard in the nose with a loud crack. He blacked out on the spot. The third man had forgotten about Hadley's bag by now and was backing up towards his own car. He made it to the driver's seat but Jack caught his leg in and the door before he was able to leave.

"Are you going to forget what happened here, or do I need to slam your leg in the car door?" Jack asked.

"I'm just following orders man, I'll say we never found you."

"You better," Jack said, letting go of the guy's leg. "Don't leave the other two behind. That's such an ass move."

He nodded quickly and Jack walked away from him. Hadley had scrambled to her feet and put everything back in her bag, getting back into the truck. Jack followed her in and she drove off.

He was silent in the passengers seat for a long time, staring out the window and trying to compose himself. Hershey sat curled up in his lap, seemingly sensing that his owner was in some sort of distress.
Jack felt awful that he had let go of himself like that. It had been years since he'd been in a fight, and even though this was a form of self defense, he felt terrible. He turned to look at Hadley, who was equally silent. He noticed that there was a tear in her jeans and some scrapes on her arms.

"Shit," Jack muttered. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" she asked. "You didn't know those guys were going to follow you this far."

"For hurting you," he said. "I pushed you."

"You did?" she frowned. "Jack, I fell. You didn't push me."

"You fell because I pushed you," Jack sighed. "I told you that I wasn't that guy anymore, and then I hurt you."

Hadley pulled over to the side of the road and put the truck in park. She then turned all the way in her seat to face him.

"Listen closely," she said firmly. "Jackson. You did not hurt me. I fell when you came forward to defend me. Those guys were threatening me, and you stopped them. You shouldn't be apologizing to me. I should be thanking you. You're not that guy anymore. You're not taking out fury on people who don't deserve it. You defended us in a threatening situation."

Jack was quiet for a moment, then looked back at her.

"Okay," he said quietly.

She gave him a soft smile, then turned her attention back to the wheel again.

"There's a diner up ahead," she suggested. "Do you want to get some pancakes?"

"Waffles."

"Huh?"

"I want waffles."

"Okay," she said with a light laugh. "We'll get waffles."

It was a pleasant change of scenery when there were actual, living people at the diner. Not a lot and most of them looked like truck drivers taking a break from work, but they were people. Still, it was suspiciously silent.

They slid into a booth and a waitress came by to their table to pass out some menus. She spoke in a dull and bored tone, hardly looking at them.

"I'll be back in five minutes to take your order," she said bluntly. "It's speed service today. In and out."

"Pardon?" Hadley said.

"There's been reports of a lurker out there," she said with a sigh. "We're trying to keep them away from the diner."

"I think they go where they want to go," Jack said. "So you know about the aliens?"

"They've been popping up everywhere," she said. "Rumor has it that they're being placed among smaller populations to train them before they get sent to the big cities."

"Sent by who?"

"Whoever wants control over us. Now are you ordering or not?"

Jack and Hadley awkwardly placed their order, looking at each other as she walked away. They needed to get back to Texas, and they needed to get there soon.