Indigo gripped the steering wheel, desperately trying to stay awake as her eyes glazed over from staring at the black pavement that stretched out before her. Molly continued to slumber at her side. Only fifty miles to her grandfather’s cabin, deep in the backwoods around Lake Tahoe. She prayed she could stay awake that long.
When she pulled off the main highway, she breathed a sigh of relief, knowing she was nearly there. The sun had risen several hours ago, and she felt more drained than she’d ever been in her entire life. Molly roused at her side, blinking in the sunlight.
“Are we almost there?” she asked.
“Not much further now,” Indigo said. “You should call your parents and let them know where you are. There won’t be cell reception at the cabin.”
Molly pulled her cellphone out of her purse and dialed her parents’ number. She put the phone to her ear and waited as it rang. Indigo glanced to her friend and noted her worried expression. A moment later, Molly hung up.
“No answer,” she whispered.
“I’m sure they’re all right,” Indigo said. But no one could be sure. Her parents lived in a populated area east of San Francisco. If the Mulgor were invading the most populated cities on Earth, the outlying areas would be in their radar. Anything could have happened by now.
Indigo’s mind was hazy and she couldn’t think about the atrocities that were being committed at that very moment against her own kind. All she could think about was keeping her hands on the wheel and her eyes open long enough to make it to the cabin. She prayed to God that her parents were there. If they weren’t, she didn’t know what else to do.
Molly sent her parents a text message, then turned on the radio. The single station still broadcasting gave updates on the invasion. If nothing else, at least they knew something. At least there was one single voice in the darkness keeping the rest of humanity informed.
Indigo pulled off the highway onto a one-lane rural road that led out to the cabin. Only a few more miles left until she could sleep.
Just keep going.
Just keep going.
She blinked hard. When her eyes opened, Molly screamed as a deer jumped out in front of the car. Indigo slammed on the brakes and the tires skidded on the frosty road. The car began to spin. Molly screamed again. The deer bounded away, but the car slid toward a ravine off the side of the road.
When it finally came to a stop, they were tilted sideways off the road. Indigo turned the key in the ignition, trying to start the car again. If she could get the car running, she could probably pull out of the ditch. The engine sputtered and choked.
“Shit!” Indigo swore.
They were so close, so very close. She punched the steering wheel with the side of her fist and tried to turn over the engine again. It gave a disgusted choking croak and went quiet.
“God dammit!”
She looked over at Molly, who had tears streaming down her face. Indigo was so tired of being the strong one, but she reached over and patted her friend’s arm anyway.
“Everything’s going to be okay,” Indigo said wearily. “We can walk from here; it’s only a few miles.”
Molly nodded her head in agreement. They climbed out of the car, carrying the backpack and the garbage bag full of food. Indigo grabbed the gun from the glove compartment and shoved it in the back waistband of her pants. After the run-in at the gas station, she couldn’t be too careful.
The air was cold and Molly began shivering visibly as soon as they set foot on the road. Indigo stopped briefly and pulled a sweatshirt out of the backpack and handed it to Molly. She put one on herself, and they continued on.
It was a three-mile hike up the road to the cabin. By the time she saw the short driveway that led to her grandfather’s property, she was dead tired. Her mind barely worked anymore. Her entire body was numb. When she saw the cabin come into view, the first tear slid down her face.
“This is it.” She had meant to exclaim, it but it came out as a whisper, her voice hoarse and choked.
“Oh, thank God! I’m so tired,” Molly said. “I can’t imagine how tired you are, Indigo. I feel like such a bitch for not helping you drive.”
“Don’t worry about it, Molly. You were way too out of it to drive last night. We might’ve crashed.” Indigo tried to brush it off as if it were funny. But the fact was, she was beginning to resent her friend. She hated feeling that way.
Molly had been a good friend, helpful, kind, sharing. She had helped Indigo pay bills more than once. She shared clothes with her and never asked for them back. Molly always made sure Indigo had food to eat. She had never asked for anything in return. She had been a truly good friend. Now that Indigo had the opportunity to repay her, she wasn’t going to resent Molly for her temperament or her upbringing. That just wasn’t the kind of girl Indigo was.
They trudged toward the cabin. Snowdrifts from an old storm piled against the trees in the forest that surrounded them. When they got to the cabin, Indigo saw her parents’ SUV in the driveway. Like Molly’s car, her parents’ car still ran on gasoline and didn’t have the new hover technology that so many of the wealthiest of humans had in this day and age. Molly’s car was a hand-me-down from another time. A girl her age was lucky to even have a vehicle at all. Middle-class families like Molly’s were disappearing more and more with each passing month.
Indigo’s mother flung open the front door of the cabin and ran out to greet Indigo. She enveloped her in her arms and Indigo began to sob. The fatigue finally set in and gripped her body and mind so tightly she could barely stand. Her father wrapped her in his arms and her parents brought her inside the small cabin.
It was a one-bedroom cabin with finicky electrical wiring and a big stone fireplace with a toasty, warm fire blazing within. Indigo slumped down on the ratty old couch facing the fireplace with a heavy sigh.
“She drove all night,” Molly said, setting the bag of food in the kitchen. Her parents had met Molly several times when they had visited the college, so Indigo didn’t bother introducing them. She just laid down on the couch and curled up in the fetal position. She was so tired she didn’t know if she could even sleep.
“We’re so relieved you made it, honey,” her father said, stroking her back.
“I have to sleep,” Indigo said. She couldn’t keep her eyes open. If she tried to talk to her parents or Molly now, she would burst into tears. Her whole body hurt and her mind had stopped working.
“Indigo, why don’t you go sleep on the bed in the bedroom,” she heard her father say. She was too tired to stand up or speak or do anything but lie there. She grunted and didn’t move.
“You can sleep here if you need to, sweetheart,” her mother said, pulling a blanket up over her shoulders.
She heard the rest of them move off into the kitchen, and she smelled the scent of bacon frying in a frying pan a few moments later. That was the last thing she remembered until she woke up many hours later, the light outside fading into darkness.
She sat up with a start, looking around the cabin for her parents and friend. Indigo jumped to her feet, her heart racing. The trauma of running from the lizard-men was catching up with her. While they had never seen the Mulgor, she knew they were out there. She knew they had invaded Los Angeles and were killing college kids.
She found her parents and Molly sitting around the kitchen table eating an evening meal. Her stomach contracted painfully. God, she was hungry. Everyone smiled up at her and said good morning, ironically. She smiled weakly and slid into the fourth chair at the table.
Her father dished her up a plate of spaghetti and meatballs and set it in front of her. She groaned, smelling the food wafting towards her nose. She swirled spaghetti noodles around her fork and shoved a bite into her mouth.
“We hear you’re a real hero,” her father said, breaking a piece of French bread and handing it to her.
Indigo took the bread and bit off a big chunk. “Not really,” she said, her mouth full.
“Don’t be so modest, Indigo,” Molly said. “We heard over the radio that the Mulgor came into the dormitory and shot up all of the students inside. If you hadn’t forced me to climb out the window, I would be dead, too.”
“I don’t want to think about it right now,” Indigo said. She’d slept all day, but she was still exhausted. All the time running had kept her from having to think about what was happening to her planet.
“None of us really want to think about it,” her father said. “But it’s happening. We have to deal with it.”
“The news said there’s a new Draconian armada orbiting Mars. Some big space telescope found evidence of their presence earlier today. Hopefully, they’re here to save us.”
“The Draconians are the reason for all of our problems. They’re the reason your dad lost his job at the car company. They’re the reason that our economy has been in the toilet. They’re the reason the Mulgor are here to kill us all,” her mother said.
“They’ve been trying to help us ever since the terrorists attacked New York,” Molly said.
“Too little, too late in my opinion,” Indigo’s mother said.
“They’re our only hope,” Indigo whispered before shoving another bite of food in her mouth.
“Let’s hope they don’t screw this up,” her mother said.
The Draconian interference had accentuated the problems that humanity already had. Nobody knew the whole story, but what had been shared on the news had explained that the Draconians had never intended to share new technology with humans.
They hadn’t expected humans to be as advanced as they were or to refuse mating with them for nothing in return. Humans accepted the advanced technology in exchange for peacefully cooperating with the mating lottery.
It hadn’t been the Draconians who had decided to consolidate all of the wealth earned from the new technologies into the hands of just a few corporations. The wealthiest humans had only become wealthier, and the poorest humans had become more poverty-stricken. Those in the middle had slid down the ladder, and the world was in a big, fat stinking mess. The Draconians had just given humans technology. They didn’t tell them how to handle it.
When they had decided to start helping humans, people still disliked them. There were critics who claimed the Draconians were taking away humans’ freedoms and liberties in their attempts to build a better world.
Indigo didn’t see it that way. She thought that everything was pretty messed up, but she knew that it wasn’t the Draconians’ fault. Taking control of the situation, and forcing humans to share their resources, was the grown-up thing to do. It was like a bunch of adults making a bunch of toddlers share their toys. The more she thought about it, the more ridiculous it seemed.
“We’ve had this conversation before, Mom,” Indigo said.
“This from the girl who entered the Draconian mating lottery,” her mother said.
“Mom, don’t bring that up now. That isn’t fair.”
“I don’t care how much we need money, nothing would be worth our little girl being forced to mate with some alien.”
“Mom, I’ve heard that the girls who mate with the Draconians are happy with their lives. I’ve seen the interviews on morning TV shows. Those girls are not making that up. I follow a few of them on social media. They can’t stop gushing about how awesome it is to be a Draconian’s bride,” Indigo said. She was stuffing her face all during the conversation. At that point in time, she found the food much more interesting than the subject matter.
“Well, if you had been chosen, I would’ve refused the money,” her mother said.
“Get real,” her father said. “For a half a million, we both would’ve been at her wedding. As long as she was happy with what she was doing. I would’ve supported her, and it wouldn’t have just been for the money,” her father said.
“Randy,” her mother chided. “I can’t believe you’re saying that.”
“I’ve said the same thing over and over again, Darla. Our little girl is a smart young woman. I trust and support her to make her own decisions.”
“Thanks, Dad,” Indigo said. Her plate was empty so she scooped herself another helping. As an athlete, she had to keep her energy up to perform the kind of physical activities required on the tennis court. Driving all night to escape from an alien invasion was no different.
“I never joined the lottery,” Molly said.
“You didn’t?” Indigo asked. Although it didn’t surprise her. Molly didn’t need the money for herself or anyone in her family. Unless she was a super adventurous person, which Molly wasn’t, it wouldn’t make any sense for her to join the mating lottery.
“I just never saw the point,” Molly said. “I’d rather marry a human. And besides, those Draconian men are so tall. I’ve heard rumors that their, you know… Equipment, is gargantuan.”
Indigo’s mother gasped and both of the girls started to giggle. Her father cleared his throat and stood from the table.
“I’ve got the dishes tonight,” he said.
He started to clear the table and Indigo’s mother helped him carry everything to the counter near the sink. They cleaned up the kitchen together while having a semi-heated discussion in low tones out of earshot of Molly and Indigo.
“Are they fighting?” Molly asked.
“No,” she said. “They just have a disagreement about the Draconians that goes back five years. The Mulgor invasion is just accentuating it. God, I can’t believe how tired I still am.”
“Where are we all going to sleep?” Molly asked.
“The couch is a pullout bed. Mom and Dad will sleep in the queen-size bed in the bedroom. I’m going to take a little walk around outside and get some fresh air before I pass out again for the night.”
Indigo stood from the table, her belly full, and she moved to the front door. Outside, the air was crisp and the sun was setting over the Western mountains. The sharp scent of pine filled the air and needles crunched under her feet as she walked into the forest. She could hear an owl hoot in the distance as twilight set in. How good it must be to be a creature of the wild, where the worries of men were unknown to them.