Oh No, Aliens

They drove in silence for about an hour. Hadley stared out the window, biting nervously at her cuticles. With no alien monsters lurking around outside the door and now that they had a car again, she could think more clearly.

“We should probably take cover at night,” she said finally. “If those…things, really do come out at night then it might not be safe to be out in the open when it’s dark.”

“I thought you wanted to get to Fairlee as soon as possible?”

“I do, but we won’t get there at all if we’re torn to pieces.”

“Fair point.”

Hadley lapsed back into silence. She couldn’t stop thinking about that weird, empty little town. It was like the entire population had just vanished; she wondered if they’d really been relocated, and by whom. Nothing had been locked up; they’d had no problem getting into the gas station. It all gave her a very unsettled feeling.

“We’re going to need to stop for gas pretty soon,” Jack said. “I just saw a sign saying there was a rest stop about ten miles up the road.”

“Yeah, okay. Maybe there’ll be actual people there who have some idea about what’s going on. Let’s hope we don’t have to sleep in this gas station.”

“Yeah, housekeeping was really off their game and there wasn’t even a mint on the pillow.”

Hadley cracked a brief smile and looked out the window again until she’d made her expression neutral again. There was a bored looking kid working at the gas station when they pulled up. Jack paid for some gas and went back out to fill the truck.

“Hey, we just came from a town, Loper? And everyone was gone. Do you know anything about it?”

“What do you mean everyone was gone?” The kid didn’t even look up from the comic book he was reading.

“I mean, there were no people there. It was like everyone just disappeared. Have you heard anything about people being relocated or something?”

He made a noncommittal noise and Hadley rolled her eyes. She reached over and pulled the comic book away from his face. “Hey, in case you hadn’t noticed, we’re kind of living in a comic book right now so could you maybe at least pretend to pay attention?”

He looked annoyed until he saw her, the annoyance replaced with what she figured was supposed to be a suave smile.

“You have my full attention,” he said and Hadley rolled her eyes so hard she almost strained her eye sockets.

“About forty miles that way,” she said, pointing, “is a town with no people in it. It’s abandoned. Do you know anything about it?”

“I wish I could help you out, gorgeous, but I don’t know anything about it.”

“Stop trying to hit on me, you’re like twelve.”

“I’m eighteen,” he said, insulted.

“Okay, whatever. Don’t hit on grown women until you can grow facial hair, and maybe get out of town if you can. If everyone vanished from down the road, this place might be next.” She went outside to join Jack as he topped off the tank.

“Any luck?”

“I learned that he thinks I’m gorgeous and that he’s eighteen,” Hadley huffed.

“Yeah? That means he’s legal, you sure you don’t wanna give it a shot?” He grinned.

“I will feed you to the aliens, smart ass. Let’s get out of here.”

Jack chuckled and hung up the gas pump.

“I’ll drive for a while,” Hadley said.

“Still think I drive too slow?”

“Yes, actually. Didn’t you crash a car trying to drag race back in high school?”

He grimaced, handing her the keys. “I’d rather not talk about that.”

“You really went soft, didn’t you, speed demon.” Hadley climbed into the driver’s seat and adjusted it.

“I prefer to think of it as maturing rather than going soft.”

“Soft,” Hadley insisted. “And squishy.”

“Just drive.”

Hadley started the truck and they left the rest stop in the rearview. Hadley drove a solid ninety miles an hour, making Jack turn mildly green.

“Are you seriously scared of my driving?” Hadley asked in disbelief. “You? Really?”

“I try to live my life a little slower and within the confines of the law these days.”

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the world is going to absolute shit right now. I don’t think we need to really worry about obeying traffic laws.”

When it started to get dark, they pulled off the freeway again in the first town they saw and went looking for a motel.

“There’s a Super 8,” Jack said, pointing. “This area looks a little shady, but it doesn’t look like there’s a lot of other people around.”

Hadley turned into the parking lot and parked under the flickering Vacancy sign. The hostess at the desk inside eyed them with a mix of wariness and interest when Hadley handed over her ID.

“You’re from New York City?” she asked. “They’ve been talking about those alien attacks on the news all night. A bunch of people have disappeared there. How’d you get out?”

“Got lucky,” Hadley replied. “Can we get two rooms, please?”

“We’ve only got one, with two twin beds.”

“There are literally two other cars in the parking lot. One of them is probably yours,” Hadley said, annoyed. “How can you only have one room?”

“Look, it’s not my problem if you’re fighting with your boyfriend. You can take the one room or keep moving. My boss said to keep as many rooms open as possible in case people start evacuating from other cities.”

“He’s not my-forget it, fine. We’ll take the room.” She snatched the room key off of the counter a little viciously, while Jack politely thanked the girl. They got their stuff out of the truck and went in search of their room.

“Unbelievable,” Hadley grumbled. “They probably have all of one other guest staying here.”

“At least there’s two beds,” Jack said helpfully. Hadley was about to say something sarcastic but stopped herself. She’d decided she should try to curb her hostility for the rest of their little road trip. Dwelling on the past wasn’t going to get her home any faster, and he had helped her get this far. Hadley dropped her bag on the bed closest to the window and then padded into the bathroom to take a shower. She emerged with a towel wrapped around her hair and wearing a faded set of Winnie the Pooh pajamas. Jack had made another vending machine run.

“Très chic,” he said, noticing her PJ’s. Hadley pulled the towel off her head and chucked it at him.

“I can’t wait to get home and eat some real food again,” Hadley said, grimacing and picking up a bag of Doritos. “Mom will probably make enough food to feed an army because she cooks when she’s happy. Or anxious. Or has people visiting.”

“So, you and your family are close,” Jack said, almost like he was asking a question.

“Well yeah, it’s not like I had any friends growing up.” Hadley picked over his snack haul and plucked out some Chips Ahoy. “I have a big family, and we’re all tight knit. All I had were my siblings and the goats and the chickens.”

“You have goats?”

“Of course.” Hadley retreated to her own bed with her snack food and laid down, humming to herself while she ate her cookies.

“What time should I set an alarm for?” Jack asked.

“Seven. The sun should be up by then.”

After all the walking, driving, and sleeping on a gas station floor, Hadley fell asleep quickly and actually slept through the night this time. She didn’t wake until she heard the beep of the alarm clock. She could hear Jack milling around in the bathroom as she. Sat up and stretched. She got dressed and went down to collect some fruit and muffins. When she got back Jack was sitting on his bed with his legs crossed, meditating. She arched an eyebrow. Apparently he really was committed to this new calm lifestyle of his. She tossed a muffin and an apple onto his bed.

“Eat up, sunshine, it’s time to get moving again.”

She went to load their bags and Hershey into the truck while Jack checked out. She felt the back of her neck prickle and looked around to find a group of three big men eyeing her from the corner of the street. She tried to ignore them, bending to scoop up Jack’s duffel bag and toss it into the backseat. She cursed silently at the sound of approaching footsteps.

“Nice truck you got there.” Hadley watched the men warily, her hand twitching near her jacket pocket. She still had her taser and her knife.

“We lost our truck, see, and a friend of ours. Got attacked on the road last night by some kind of alien dog.”

“That’s a real shame,” Hadley said. Jack was coming out of the reception office and noticed the men.

“Is there a problem here, guys?” he asked.

“There won’t be, if you hand over the keys to your truck.”

“That’s not happening,” Hadley said. “I have the keys, and I’m sure as hell not giving them to you.”

“Well I tried asking nicely, but I guess you want to do this the hard way.”

“Hey, get away from her,” Jack said as the man made a move to grab Hadley. But she had expected it and had her taser in hand. She whipped it out and jammed it against his neck. The man’s features contorted as he jerked, the taser startlingly loud in the quiet morning. The other two guys stepped back, surprised. Hadley didn’t let up till the guy dropped, lying in a groaning heap on the ground.

“You’re gonna have to find a car somewhere else,” Hadley said, brandishing the taser at the other two. They looked pissed but didn’t make a move toward her. They were two to two now, and Hadley had made it clear that she wasn’t joking around.

“Now you two are going to go over across the street and stay there till we’re gone,” she said. “You can come collect your friend after that. Got it?”

They hesitated, and she turned the taser back on so it made its menacing crackling noise. They slowly backed off. Hadley and Jack hurriedly climbed up into the truck as they retreated across the street. Jack peeled out of the parking lot so fast the tires chirped.

“There you are, speed demon,” Hadley said, feeling a little breathless.

“That was quick thinking back there,” Jack said, speeding toward the freeway and away from the would-be car jackers.

“When I moved out here my dad gave me this as a going-away gift,” Hadley said, almost laughing. “He said better safe than sorry. I guess he was right.”