Bleary-eyed, Grav watched the human flee. She must have been the one who’d attacked him. He’d been passing through the woods when there’d been a loud crack, and then his chest lit up on fire.
Zok, he hated this planet.
The GM should have passed on this one. The Governing Ministry knew that now, but that didn’t help those left behind. He’d been told he would be extracted after the plague no longer posed a threat, but he had his doubts. Too many months had passed without a word. The GM might have decided sacrificing a few individuals would better benefit the empire than coming back for them.
He fumbled for his vaporizer and found it gone.She took it.He cursed.
I need to get up. She might decide to finish the job.He’d noted a firearm strapped to her leg. She should have killed him when she’d been standing over him. A Progg wouldn’t have hesitated.
Do it once. Do it right.Leave no survivors.The principle ingrained in childhood had enabled theGM to expand the empire to more than twenty-six worlds.
His chest hurt. He assumed his body would expel the embedded foreign object, but what if it didn’t? Was this how he would die?
He wiped his face, knocking loose icicles. He had no idea how long he’d been out here.Hours at least.He eyed the bright sky through the tree branches. The day star had been on the rise when he’d set out through the woods to avoid the icy roads.
I have to get up. She might come back.
Although primitive, if Earth weapons hit a vital organ, it could be fatal. The humans’ primitive defense systems had been no match for the Progg’s advanced technology. Unfortunately, no one had counted on Earth’s secret weapon. The plague.
Most of the humans had been eliminated, leaving their planet ripe for the taking, except it had been contaminated, rendering it unlivable. Worse, the contagion had been carried to Progg-Res, killing untold numbers.
Do it once. Do it right.
This campaign had been an abject failure. If the responsible parties survived the plague, they would be executed. A Progg pitied no one, but Grav thanked Zok he wasn’t on the scouting team that had identified Earth for takeover.
He touched the wound on his chest. His life fluid had frozen when it hit the frigid air, which probably had prevented him from bleeding out, but his body couldn’t expel the object until he got warm.
Gritting his teeth against the pain, he forced himself to his feet. His vision grayed, and his knees wobbled. He clung to the tree trunk for support and waited for the dizziness to subside.
He should track the woman down and eliminate the threat, but he doubted his ability to do so.Do it once. Do it right.Better to wait until he could see better, walk straight.
The best he could do was widen the distance between him and her. Letting go of the tree, he staggered away.
Chapter Two
Laurel pushed aside the thick evergreen bushes covering the entrance and dove inside the cave. “Oh god, oh god.”She sucked in huge gasps of air. Her heart pounded so hard and fast, she could almost see her heavy jacket move. This kind of stress could cause an elderly person with a heart condition to go into cardiac arrest. Except, they’d all died during the invasion.
“The motherfucker is alive! It could have killed me!” She didn’t used to talk to herself, but she hadn’t spoken to or seen another person in a year. She needed to hear a human voice, even if it was her own. Thinking out loud had become a habit.
She unholstered her dad’s gun, released the safety, shoved her hood off, and listened by the entrance for footfalls. She doubted it could follow her in its condition, but recent historical events had proven erroneous assumptions could kill you.When enormous spaceships appear in the sky and block the sun, don’t presume the visitors come in peace.
Hearing only her own ragged breathing, she removed her jacket and collapsed into a chair, keeping the handgun within easy reach on the adjacent side table.
“I screwed up.”Lizard-brain activated, she’d run pell-mell to the “safety” of her lair. Having assumed control again, her cerebral cortex pointed out she might have drawn a road map to her location. The ground was frozen solid—it wasn’t like she’d left footprints in the snow, but she’d snapped quite a few twigs and kicked up leaves and pine needles.
That wasn’t the only way she’d messed up—she’d missed the opportunity to finish the bastard off. “Why didn’t I shoot it? Obviously, I’m more ‘flight’ than ‘fight.’”
Hugging herself, she rocked. “What am I going to do? Leave? Or lie low?”
If she left, where would she go? Where would she hide? Not in a house or any building when the Progg were on the march!
Caves were the best places to hide, and southwest Missouri was home to a lot of them. But she didn’t know where any others were, except for the tourist sites like Smallin Civil War Cave and Fantastic Caverns. If she went to one of them, she might find other survivors. However, they might not appreciate a drop-in. She wouldn’t trust somebody who showed up unannounced. He could be a colluder.
“Better to call first,” she joked. Without electricity, she couldn’t even charge her phone to play games or look at her photos.
As she thought about it, she remembered billboards along the highway advertised the tourist caves. All the aliens had to do was follow the signs.
So, tourist attractions were out. Houses were out. Earth had become a veritable buyer’s market of vacant move-in-ready homes. Priced to sell—free! The attack, which had vaporized people, had left all structures intact.
