“How did you know how to kill these things?” Maya asked.
Luke shrugged. “Luck, I guess. I’ve been watching them ever since this all this started, and I noticed how they only came out at night. So, I figured they must be allergic to light.”
“But how did you know how to get their masks off?”
“One of the things came after me, and I didn’t have my trusty light handy. I shot at its face out of desperation, and the twelve-gauge packed enough kick to blow the thing’s mask off. I shot it, making it look like these guys here. I thought for sure I’d killed it, and when I ran back to where my light was, I heard it hiss and stand up. Even though I almost pissed my pants, I was able to shine the light in its face. The thing freaked out. I knew then that they could regenerate their body after being shot, but light really put a thorn in their side, so to speak.”
“And after it freaked out, it died. Right?”
“Si, senora. And hey, you never did tell me why you could stare at that thing without letting go of your lunch like your friend here.”
“I’m an EMT. Was an EMT. And even if I hadn’t been able to handle it, I didn’t have much of a lunch earlier.”
“Well, follow me. I can fix that.”
Luke went to the door, picking up his light and shotgun on the way. Maya took his place next to Cameron and put her arm around the woman.
“You all right?”
Cameron wiped her mouth using her forearm. “I’m trying to be. I just want to get away from all this shit.”
Luke opened the door to a small storage closet. Steel rungs on the wall formed a ladder, heading up.
“Are we going to the roof?” Maya asked.
“Yeah, come on.”
“What about the aliens?” Cameron asked.
“Trust me. Come on.”
Already up the ladder, Luke opened a hatch on the ceiling and climbed through.
Cameron shook her head at Maya. “Are you sure we can trust him? We need to get back on the road.”
“He knows a lot about the aliens. More than anyone else I’ve encountered since leaving Nashville. We should stick with him for at least a little while and see what he knows.”
Luke poked his head through the hatch. “You guys coming or what?”
Maya nodded at Cameron, then climbed the ladder.
When she emerged from the hatch, Maya scanned the rooftop. An office chair sat near a generator which the boy had rigged to two large spotlights. The flat roof looked like any office building roof, complete with access doors, hulking air conditioners, and pigeon poop galore. The boy had a tent in one corner and a plastic cooler next to it. Luke leaned his shotgun against an HVAC unit and set his portable light down. Then he stuck his arms out.
“Whatcha think?”
Maya laughed, placing her hands on her hips and looking around. “How long have you been here?”
“Couple of days. I headed up this way from Memphis after everything went down. Lucky, too. Though it didn’t get domed like other cities, that place is totally gone. How about you two? What’s your story?”
“I was in Nashville,” Maya said.
“Ah, man. That city was domed early on. I passed by there before I ended up here. How did you get out?”
“That’s another story, but the dome is gone now.”
“Gone? How?”
Maya shook her head. “I don’t know. Either way, we’re headed to Fort Campbell. That’s where my kids are.”
“It’s not far from here if you want to come along,” Cameron said.
“You’re not thinking about leaving tonight, are you?”
Maya and Cameron shared a glance, and then Maya nodded.
“You don’t want to do that. The ships come out in full force at night. They do flyovers and then drop aliens where they detect humans. You’re much better off taking a chance with the highway gangs during the day.”
“Yeah, we saw a gang earlier,” Maya said.
“Why do you stay on the roof at night if the aliens are out?” Cameron asked.
“I’ve got my lights up here. I can scare them away if I need to. And a gang of raiders are less likely to find me up here if they break into the building.”
“You’re a pretty smart kid.”
Luke blushed at Maya’s comment. “Look, if you won’t mind having me along, I’d like to come to Fort Campbell with you.”
“I’d say we owe you for what you did for us.” Maya glanced at Cameron, who was already smiling. “So, yeah, of course you can.”
Luke grinned. “Well, I promised you food.” Luke walked to his cooler and opened it, pulling out two beers and some salami. He handed one of each to the women. “How about a meal before you ladies get some rest? I can take first watch.”
Maya took a deep breath, and had already cracked the can of beer. “Sounds good.”
They ate in silence as the boy stood at the roof’s edge cradling his shotgun. As she stared up at the moon, Maya couldn’t help but think that maybe she’d get her kids back. Just maybe.
25
Maya’s eyes shot open, and she couldn’t breathe. Luke stood over her, his hand covering her mouth. She started to struggle to cry out, but he put his finger to his lips, signaling for her to be quiet. She knocked his arms away with two hard slaps.
“Stop it.” Luke’s words came out in a gritty whisper. “There’s someone here.”
She looked to Cameron, who had groaned and sat up.
“What’s going on?” Cameron asked.
“There’s something in the building,” Maya said.
“Not a something, a someone,” Luke said. “Well, someones probably.”
“Not aliens, I assume. A gang?” Maya asked.
“Yeah. About half-a-dozen men. I saw them approach and then walk toward the main entrance. They had guns.”
“Did they see you?”
Cameron had sat up on her knees as Maya asked the question, and Luke shook his head.
“What are we going to do?” Cameron asked. “Do you have any other guns?”
Luke held up his shotgun.
“Then we’ve got to get off this roof and leave,” Maya said.
“Not yet. I haven’t had time to stash my gear. I don’t want them to get it if I ever come back here.”
“You really think that’ll happen?” Maya shook her head. “You’ll come back to live in a tent on the rooftop of an office building?”
Cameron snickered as Luke smiled.
“Okay.” The sound of breaking glass came from a floor somewhere below them. “Grab your stuff and follow me.”
Luke grabbed his shotgun and a flashlight, and headed for the other side of the roof. Coming up behind him, Maya looked over the edge and saw the fire escape ladder, the last rung of it about fifteen feet up in the air; it would leaving them dangling ten feet from the pavement.
Cameron stood next to Maya and leaned over. “That’s a long drop.”
“Would you rather walk downstairs through the building? Maybe we can ask those guys if they wanna have a picnic.”
“He’s right,” Maya said. “This is the only way for us to get out of here.” She looked at Luke. “Do you have a car?”
“It’s out of gas.”
“Then we’ll have to get to ours.”
Luke held up a hand to stop them. “If they have six people in their group, they probably left at least one person keeping watch outside.”
“Well, then, we’ll have to hope your gun is bigger than his.”
“Jesus Christ,” Cameron said, lowering her head.
Luke tossed the strap of his shotgun over a shoulder and his leg over the roof’s edge, his right foot landing on the top rung of the ladder. He climbed down first so that he could make a stand in case someone heard them. He reached the bottom of the ladder and looked up at Maya and Cameron. Then he let go, dropping to the ground and landing in a squat. The soles of his Chuck Taylor’s had smacked off the asphalt loudly and Maya hoped the sound hadn’t been enough to draw attention.