Steve and Shane stood on the catwalk surrounding a water tower, high above the street.
“Looks like they got a shit-ton of humans to drink the Kool-Aid,” Steve said. “I thought the slave gene was turned off.”
“I’m guessing they’re just brainwashed,” Shane replied, looking through the binoculars Steve handed him. Campfires surrounded the base of the ship, and he could see Anunnaki mingling with the human kids. He scanned up the side of the massive pyramid to the light shining down on top.
“They’ve got us outnumbered,” Steve said, sounding more tired than concerned. “Looks like a hundred to one.”
The moonlight illuminated the rest of their friends on the street below and the small army of kids who followed them. They were grossly outnumbered. Unfortunately, a mile or so behind them, the green wall of fire crept over the landscape, destroying everything in its path.
“We’ve got no choice but to fight,” Shane said. “It’s that or give up and die.”
“Hey,” Steve said, crossing his arms over his big chest. “You know me. I’d rather go down fighting, if I have to go.”
“It wants us to kill the Anunnaki,” Shane said. “We’ll keep our group tight and spear our way through those kids around the ship. We’ve got to limit human casualties and take out those bastards on top of the ship. Then maybe Greenie will let us be.”
“No complaints here,” Steve replied. “The Anunnaki killed my parents. I ain’t done getting even with them for that.”
Shane climbed down the ladder on the water tower, Steve following him. When they got to the ground, Shane could see the green wall up the street, a half a mile away. He quickly relayed his plan to his friends on the ground.
“I expect we’ll hit the kids surrounding the ship in about ten minutes,” he said. “Keep together as tight as you can and don’t let them separate us. Don’t fight them unless you have to. I want to try to get some of them to turn to our side, but at the same time, we need to push our way through and get on that ship.”
“Okay, got it,” Anfisa said nervously, looking up the street. “Can we go now?”
“Yes,” he replied. “Let’s do this.”
He tried to seem enthusiastic, but fell short. The reality of their dire situation sank in. They were about to charge into an army of thousands of teenagers, probably all armed, in hopes they could plow through them. No matter how hard they fought, the odds were against them making it to the slave ship. And even if they did, they’d be too exhausted to fight after they ran up the side of it to reach the Anunnaki.
“Ain’t no other way,” Tracy said, seeming to be thinking the same thing.
As with every conflict they’d been in, she was at his side. His friends and the Russians formed the blade along the leading edge of the less experienced soldiers behind them. They narrowed the group so it was ten people wide and approached a wall of rubble that must’ve been created by the Anunnaki to protect the recruit ship.
His army made little sound, the air charged with fearful anticipation. He looked up at the pile of rubble, expecting guards to be pointing guns at them, protecting the makeshift fortress. But no one was there.
“I don’t think they expected an attack from this street,” Tracy whispered.
“Yeah, they probably expected us to come in on the main entrance to the airport,” Jules replied. “This is a service road, and there is a gate under all that trash.”
“Let’s clear a path,” Shane said. “But keep it quiet.”
Anfisa and Tracy took charge, directing the others to drag the debris to the side. It didn’t take long to find the gate, and once there was an opening he could see through, he ordered them to stop.
“It’s too quiet,” Steve said.
The opening was just a few feet wide. Shane could see neat rows of crude shelters beyond the fence, with dwindling campfires between them.
“It looks deserted,” he whispered. “I’d expect to see some guards or something.”
“Or at least someone getting up to take a piss,” Steve replied. “When we looked from the water tower, it was crowded out here. Feels like an ambush.”
“I’m not sure we have much of a choice,” Tracy said. “If we don’t get in there, we’ll be burnt.”
Shane followed her gaze up the street behind them. The wall of green fire made its slow approach. The vegetation and buildings it encountered complained with crackling sounds as they were incinerated. Steve grabbed the gate and pushed it left. It moved, but made a loud screech as it pressed against the rubble.
“That’s enough,” Shane said, cringing.
He looked beyond the fence at the camp surrounding the ship, expecting their opposition to pour from the shelters, ready to defend their camp.
“Somebody had to hear that,” Tracy said.
“Maybe they saw the green wall coming and retreated into the ship,” Anfisa replied.
“We have no choice but to go in,” Shane echoed what Tracy had said.
“File through,” Tracy whispered to the kids behind them. “Take up a defensive position on the other side.”
Shane raised his gun to his shoulder and slipped through the narrow opening in the wall. He squatted just inside, sweeping his barrel left and right and searching for anyone pointing back at him. His friends came in behind him, followed by the Russians.
“Spread out,” he mouthed.
The moonlight left few places to hide, and he didn’t see a soul. The campfires were high and throwing little embers into the air, like they’d recently been fed. Either every kid in the camp had just gone to sleep in their tents, or they were in the ominous pyramid that towered above every building in Atlanta. The layers of balconies and apartments were cast in shadows. A chill passed through him, and he gripped his weapon tighter. Thousands of eyes might be gazing out of the ship, waiting until he and his sad little army got close enough to wipe out.
“Shit’s creepy,” Steve said. “Where’d they all go?”
“Probably running from the green wall, just like us,” Jules replied.
A hissing and crackling sound came from behind them.
“Damn it,” Tracy cursed. “Too close for comfort.”
“Keep moving,” Shane said, looking back at the barrier of rubble they had just passed through.
Green light glowed through openings, and he could see the eerie wall of death less than a football field’s length away. He led them between the shelters, vigilant for the ambush he knew awaited them.
A whistle came from somewhere to his left. Another responded from behind him, and the whistle was repeated across the camp. Kids crawled out of the tents everywhere. Most of them had guns. The ones who didn’t had clubs, knives, and other makeshift weapons. They closed around his group, but kept their guns aimed at the dirt, as if ordered to let his soldiers make the first move.
“Steady,” Shane said, holding his fist in the air to signal his soldiers not to attack.
He held his rifle the same way as the kids who’d corralled them, pointed at the ground. Scanning their faces in the dim moonlight, he waited for one to step forward as their leader.
“Hold up,” a voice from behind the kids surrounding Shane and his people shouted, cutting through the tension.
Across the camp, a small group of kids weaved their way through the tents. The moon glinted off the kid in the front.
“Is that dude wearing a bunch of gold chains?” Steve asked incredulously.
“No,” Maurice said. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“That looks like Shamus,” Shane said. His hand tightened around the grip of his weapon, but he kept the barrel down. “I thought he was dead.”
“Where do y’all think you’re going?” Shamus said as he approached. “You need to turn around and go the other way.”
Carrying large silver pistols in each hand, he stepped past the kids closest to Shane’s group and crossed his arms over his chest so the guns rested on either shoulder. He smiled his threatening smile with the gold grill covering his front teeth until his eyes fell on Maurice. Then his face went slack with disbelief.
“It can’t be,” Shamus said. “Maurice?”
“Yeah, it’s me,” Maurice said none too nicely. “Looks like your gang has grown.”
“Yeah.” Shamus smiled again. “I’m big time now.”
Shamus’ gang had killed Aaron. Seeing the smiling thug made him want revenge. Shane pushed the wave of anger aside, knowing this negotiation could save a lot of lives.
“We need to get to that ship,” Shane said. “Let us pass.”
“I never forget a face. I recognize you, too,” Shamus said. He spoke like they were old friends, but he still had his silver pistols resting across his chest like he was ready to start shooting at any moment. “Seems like the last time I saw you, you were trying to bully your way through my city.”
“Yes,” Shane replied, “and lucky we made it or everyone here would already be dead.”
“Maybe,” Shamus said, scratching his chin with the business end of one of the pistols. “So, why do you need to get by me this time? You gonna tell me you’re here to save the world again?”
“Something like that,” Shane replied.
The green fire burned into the wall of debris, drawing their attention. The kids nearest made sounds of alarm and crowded closer to the ship.
“What the hell?” Shamus’s eyes were wide.
“Yeah, that. Greenie,” Shane said. “It has chased us for a hundred miles, pushing us down here to this ship.”
“For what?” The threatening arrogance on Shamus’ face was gone. Now he looked concerned.
“Greenie seems to be communicating with two of my soldiers. They say it wants us to kill all the aliens.” Shane pointed at the ship. “They say if we don’t, it’ll kill all the humans.”
The green wall of fire paused just beyond the first row of tents, like it was giving Shane a chance to talk to Shamus before it pushed them into the ship.
“So,” Shane said, expecting they wouldn’t have long before the fire pressed closer to them. “Who are you fighting for?”
“I’m fighting for my city,” Shamus replied, sounding scared. “And it looks like that thing has burnt it to the ground.”
“It’s moving!” a kid near the green wall shouted.
“And so are we,” Shane said, looking at Shamus. “We are going up the side of that ship. We are going to kill the aliens who killed our parents. Are you going to try to stop us?”
The gangster looked at Greenie and then at Shane.
“Not this time,” Shamus said. “I never liked these bastards anyway. We’ll be behind you.”
Shane nodded, containing his relief behind a stoic expression.
“I think it’s time for our charge,” he said over his shoulder, keeping one eye on Shamus.
“Yes,” Anfisa agreed. “Hit them fast and hard.”
“And before we lose half our troops to that green fire,” Tracy said.
His pulse kicking up to a gallop, Shane put his hand in the air, made a circular motion, and then pointed at the spaceship. He rushed forward. Shamus shouted for the kids under his command to get out of the way and then to follow Shane’s soldiers up the side of the ship.
Shane and his friends had been in this situation so many times, and he’d gotten through without getting shot. He wondered if it was his time to go.
He’d gladly take a bullet for any of his friends, but he had this unshakeable feeling of invincibility. The Anunnaki must’ve felt confident, convincing Shamus and his army of teenagers to join them. But Shane had been able to get them to switch sides, and he guessed the kids behind him now easily outnumbered the enemy above.
He’d made it through so many impossible situations, had skirted death so many times. However, wisdom gained from those experiences told him to ignore the feeling. Their training and experience gave his friends and the Russians an edge, but any of them could die at any moment. It was luck keeping them alive.
They were twenty yards from the base of the ship, headed straight for the staircase that led up the side. Enough light reflected off the marble-colored steps for him to see they weren’t moving. Normally, they flowed up and down, a giant escalator.
“With no power, we’ll have to climb those steps,” Jones warned. He must’ve weaved his way through their army and had slipped to Shane’s left side.
“All I care about is that we keep these people alive,” Shane replied, pointing his thumb over his shoulder. “If that green wall pushes us up those stairs, so be it.”
“Aw, damn,” Steve said. “It’s closing in on us.”
The green wall bent around them, incinerating the shelters in its path. Shamus’ kids screamed and rushed ahead of it, packing in around Shane’s people.
“It’s corralling us up the steps,” Jules said.
Mounting the stairs and going up a few, Shane saw his troops had closed ranks, squeezing into a column that could fit up the staircase. The green fire was just behind them, and it had already killed some of the kids who couldn’t move fast enough to get out of the way.
“Don’t stop,” he shouted. “Whatever you do, keep climbing.”
Facing the stairs, he settled into a quick pace up them. His eyes darted left and right as he climbed, expecting the Anunnaki to attack at any moment. It reminded him of the runs up the mountain behind the hidden base when they did the flag-capturing games, except instead of paint balls, it would be bullets that could take them out of the game. And if they stopped, they’d all be burned to death by Greenie.