“Something feels off.”
“Maybe they’re just coming out to greet us,” Luke said.
Three armed soldiers jumped out of the vehicles, aiming their rifles at Maya’s car.
“Don’t move!” one of the soldiers shouted. “Remain in your vehicle!”
Cameron checked her eyes in the mirror with a scoff. “I’m not sure that’s a greeting committee.”
“Everyone, just stay cool and do what they ask,” Maya said.
One of the soldiers remained in front of the car while the other two appeared on each side of it. The windows were already down, as they’d been riding with the A/C off to conserve fuel. A female soldier pointed the barrel of her rifle into Maya’s window.
Maya said, “Hi, I’m here to—”
“Quiet.”
Maya raised her hands and sat back in the seat. Did they look like aliens?
“Have you had any direct contact with them?” the male soldier on the passenger side of the car asked.
“With who?” Luke asked.
“Don’t fucking play smart with us, kid,” the female soldier said.
“No, we haven’t had direct alien contact.” Maya glared over her shoulder at Luke. She hoped her stare conveyed that she wanted him to keep his mouth shut.
“Are you armed?” the female asked.
“Yes. I’ve got a pistol nudged between the seats, and he’s got a shotgun in the backseat.”
The soldiers raised their weapons higher and took a step back. They glanced at each other, then refocused on the people inside of the Honda.
“Step out with your hands up,” the male soldier said.
“Slowly,” the female added.
Maya opened her door and raised her hands in the air, slowly getting out of the car. The female soldier grabbed Maya by the back of her shirt and led her to the hood of the car.
“What the hell?” Maya asked.
“Put your hands on the damn hood.”
Maya obeyed and the soldier patted her down. The other two soldiers did the same with Luke and Cameron. Cameron grumbled something about the man touching her, and that it would only happen again in his dreams. None of the soldiers seemed to care about their civil rights. Once the body searches ended, one of the soldiers went into the car and retrieved the two guns, which had been right where Maya had said they were.
“I told you. I’m not lying.”
The female soldier glared at her. “Listen, Ms. Priss, I’m following orders. You have no idea what we’ve been through.”
“Are you serious?” Cameron put her hands on her hips and blew a lock of hair from her face, stomping one foot on the asphalt. “You have no idea what we’ve been through, lady.”
Maya raised her hand to silence Cameron. “They’re just doing their jobs. Stay calm.”
“Listen to your friend,” one of the male soldiers said.
Cameron narrowed her eyes and shook her head.
The female soldier pulled one of the men aside, and after a few whispers, she turned back to Maya.
“All right. You’re clear.”
“Thank God,” Cameron said.
“Now, get back in your car and go somewhere that isn’t here,” the female soldier said.
Maya stepped forward, no longer caring whether weapons were still pointed at her. “What? No, wait. You don’t understand, my k—”
“You heard her,” one of the male soldiers said. “Load up and leave.”
“You listen to me.” Cameron approached the soldier nearest her.
Luke tried to hold her back, but couldn’t grab her before the soldier raised his weapon again.
“Hold on,” Maya said, putting her hands up for the soldiers to stop.
A door slammed then, and Maya looked up to see someone climbing out of the third JLTV. The soldier strode toward them in full gear, complete with a helmet and sunglasses. He stepped out in front of the other two JLTVs and removed his helmet to reveal a head of curly black hair. Then he took off his sunglasses to expose a familiar face.
“Gerald?”
“You know him?” the female soldier asked Maya.
“Stand down,” Gerald said. “They’re with me.”
Cameron pushed the soldier out of the way and ran toward Gerald. She stopped, smiled, and then came across his face with a slap so loud that birds flew out of a nearby tree. The soldier’s raised their weapons.
“Thanks for leaving me, asshole. I hitched a ride with your ex.”
Gerald stuck his chin out and pushed his shoulders back, pausing to take a deep breath. He turned and nodded at Maya as she approached and asked him one question.
“Where are my children?”
28
Maya stepped between Cameron and Gerald, staring into his eyes, her lower lip trembling.
“Maya, hang on. I can explain.”
She balled her fist and swung, her knuckles smacking off of his left cheek. She then grabbed him by the collar of his uniform and threw him against a nearby JLTV.
“You son of a bitch. How could you?”
She reared back again, but two soldiers came over and pulled her off him.
“What is going on?” one of the soldiers asked.
“You want to tell them, Gerald? How you’re a kidnapper?”
“What’s she talking about, Waller?”
Gerald straightened his clothes and rubbed his face where he’d taken two blows from two women within two minutes.
“It wasn’t kidnapping, goddammit. They’re my kids, too.”
“Wait. This is your ex?” the same male soldier asked.
The other asked, “And what is this about kidnapping? You said your ex-wife wanted you to take the kids to safety because she was an EMT and had a job to do.”
Maya crossed her arms. “Well, at least you only lie half the time.”
“Look, everyone. Please calm down. I can explain everything.”
“I’m not going to calm down.” Maya took a step toward Gerald again, but the soldiers blocked her way. She swung her arms away from their grips, trying to fight them off.
“Let her go,” Gerald said. “We don’t have time for this. Let’s get back inside and then we’ll figure it all out.”
Maya hissed out a curse, glaring at Gerald, daring him to say something and give her a reason to go berserk. But he looked to the ground, avoiding her stare. The soldiers seemed less inclined to fear the threat of aliens anymore in the bright sunlight, now focused on the family drama unfolding before them.
Gerald waved Cameron toward him. “Come on, honey. You can ride with me.”
“I don’t think so, darling.” Cameron walked over and stood next to Maya.
Gerald thrust his hands out, as if pleading innocence.
“She’s with me. We’ll see you inside,” Maya said before she walked back to the car. She turned and shouted at Gerald. “And I want to see my kids the second we get in there!”
She climbed into the driver’s seat while Cameron got into the passenger seat. Luke jumped into the back. Maya took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly as she watched the soldiers turn the JLTVs around to face the gates.
“Well, that was interesting.” Luke thrust his head between the seats with a weak smile on his face, his eyes darting from Maya to Cameron.
Neither woman responded. They didn’t speak to each other, either. Maya felt Cameron looking at her, but while she had empathy for the woman’s situation, her concern for the well-being of her kids was her priority—and she wasn’t about to counsel the new girlfriend through the disintegration of her relationship with her ex.