Maya took the can from Luke and shoved the nozzle into the tank. “They got a 65 Mustang in there by any chance?”
Luke shook his head, his eyebrows furrowed.
“Never mind..” Maya used her head to point at Cameron. “I should check on her.”
She had climbed out of the backseat and sat on the curb, her back to Luke and Maya.
“Is she all right?” Luke asked.
Maya nodded. “You mind finishing up here?”
“Not a problem.”
Luke took hold of the can from Maya. She walked toward Cameron, putting her hair into a ponytail on the way. She sat down next to the woman.
“How are you feeling?” Maya finally asked.
“Fine.”
After several moments of silence, Maya wasn’t sure what to say. She sighed and stood up, deciding that maybe Cameron did just need some time alone. As she started to move over to check on the car and Luke, Cameron spoke.
“I don’t know how he could do it.”
Maya eyed the other woman, looking for a clue as to what she was talking about. “How who could do what?”
“Gerald left me there, all alone. It’s like he didn’t care about me. He could’ve gotten me to safety with the kids. But instead, he just abandoned me.”
Maya put her hand on Cameron’s shoulder. “You’re going to get to ask him why. I promise.”
Cameron looked up at Maya, smiling. Then she scoffed and shook her head. “You know, the dumbest shit of all is that I still love that bastard, and I don’t know why.”
“Yeah, well, you’ll get over that eventually. You’re a pretty girl, and you can do better than him. You’ll be fine.”
Cameron nodded before asking another question. “Do you still love him?”
Maya only glanced at Cameron before looking out at the highway.
“I’m sorry. That’s none of my business.”
“No, it’s fine. For a long time, I did. You have to understand that he is the father of my children, and he was the first man I ever loved. It took me a long time to get over him.”
“So, you don’t love him then?”
Maya looked back at Cameron and shook her head. “No, I don’t. But I can see in your eyes that you do. You should think long and hard about what you’re going to say to him when you see him again, and try to put yourself in his shoes.”
“Well, he went to your mom’s house and took your children. How much mercy are you going to show him?”
She turned from the highway and looked down into Cameron’s eyes, searching her brain for the right words to say, but nothing seemed to fit.
“I guess I have some thinking to do. Like you.”
Cameron smiled again, standing up next to Maya.
Maya noticed Luke pointing at the highway in the direction from where they had come.
About a half-mile down the highway, a van had appeared—the same white panel van they’d seen outside of the office building.
Luke waved at both women to hurry, shaking the red gas can to get as much into the tank as he could in the next several seconds.
“We’ve got to go,” Maya said.
“What’s the matter?” Cameron asked. She followed Maya’s gaze. “Is that…”
“The gang from the office.”
The women hurried to the car. As Maya ran, she watched the van approach, hearing the engine running fast and hot. One of the men lowered the passenger side window and aimed a rifle out of it.
“Get down!” Maya said, diving behind the Civic.
She hit the dirt first, and then Cameron landed beside her. When the blast came, though, it wasn’t from a rifle. It was an explosion, shaking the ground.
“What the hell was that?” Cameron asked.
Maya raised her head and got to her knees, looking over the back of the vehicle. The van had disappeared, replaced by a rising flame in the middle of the highway. Maya felt her stomach drop and a cold chill run up her spine. Then she saw the ship emerge from the clouds.
She opened the car’s door and grabbed Cameron by the hand. “Come on.”
The two women climbed into the backseat. Luke was already in the front and had apparently seen the ship, as well. He was lying across the two front seats.
“Lay across the floor,” Maya said to Cameron.
Without asking any questions, the woman did as she was told.
Maya bit her lip as she sprawled across the backseat that was still covered in glass, keeping low and trying not to move. “Everyone be still.”
Were the alien ships tracking people or simply making visual identifications? Clearly, they’d seen the van on the highway—not something difficult to notice. Maya thought about the hours they’d spent on the road. They could have been vaporized by the alien lasers at any moment. And once they got back into the car, they could still be vaporized at any moment. But what choice did they have?
The ship roared overhead, and the little Honda shimmied as if caught in the gales of a hurricane. But after a few moments, the motion subsided, and the ship disappeared.
Luke sat up first, his face red and sweat plastering his greasy hair to his forehead. “That was a close call.”
No shit. We need to get to Fort Campbell. Now.
27
Maya continued to glance at the sky as she sped down the highway. Although the alien ships hid in the upper atmosphere during the day, she didn’t want to risk everything on that observation after two close calls.
The day had begun like any other, but without jets flying overhead, truckers using their loud air brakes, or the sound of other cars on the highway. In a way, Maya was getting used to it. Despite the situation, the sound of the rattling engine felt comforting.
The kid had climbed into the backseat, where he shared a can of mixed nuts with Cameron for breakfast. They’d offered some to Maya, who had declined. She knew she needed to eat, but she wasn’t feeling up to it. She was so close to reuniting with her kids, and it was all she could think about. Hunger was the last thing on her mind.
She glanced into the rearview mirror and saw Cameron laughing and flirting with the teenager in an innocent way. She had her arm around him, and they’d been trying to sing some country song which was as foreign to Maya as contemporary jazz. She preferred to rock.
She’s empathic. Kind. Once you get past the stripper attitude.
Thoughts about Cameron inevitably led to Gerald. Maya couldn’t understand who he was now or what was motivating him. He’d taken the children and abandoned his woman. Why? It didn’t make sense, but she hoped to be able to hear his explanation to Cameron in person, and soon.
“Up there.”
In the mirror, Maya saw Cameron pointing straight ahead. She hadn’t noticed what was approaching herself, being so lost in thought.
We made it.
The American flag flew high above the main entrance, its gate topped with barbed wire, closed and secured. Maya didn’t see any soldiers out front, but the fact that the gate was closed had to be a good sign that it was protecting whatever lay inside. She hoped that would turn out to include her children.
Cameron unbuckled her seatbelt and squeezed forward through the space between seats to sit in the passenger seat. She let out an excited laugh and slapped Maya on the shoulder.
“Does it look like anyone is there?” Luke asked, finishing off the nuts while sliding into the middle of the backseat, pushing his head into the space between the front seats.
“I don’t know yet,” Maya said.
She hit the gas, speeding faster toward the base. Gripping the steering wheel, she felt sweat on her palms. Her stomach fluttered and, for a moment, she thought she might pee herself.
The front gates slid apart. A smile stretched across Maya’s face until three JLTVs came speeding out onto the road. The two in front stopped side by side, blocking the entire width of the road. The vehicles came to a sudden stop fifty yards from the front gates. Maya slowed down, stopping the Civic ten yards from the JLTVs.