Remy
Ididn’t know how I fell asleep when I’d been so full of fear. Overwhelmed. My body must have shut down. When the van began to slow, I scrambled back up to a sitting position, confused and panicky, my body stiff, my injuries sore. Dim light seeped in through the small windows. Linette and Tater had bags of exhaustion under their eyes.
All three of us pushed to our knees to peer out the windows. The landscape looked familiar, dry with patches of scraggly bushes, like Nevada. High fences with barbed wire stretched as far as I could see. Squat, ugly buildings sat in clusters. Tater mumbled something through the knot of scarf in his mouth that sounded like “Ellis,” and Linette nodded.
Ah . . .Nellis. The Air Force base. A small thrill shot through me at the knowledge that we were so close to home. Or, what used to be home. A pang of resounding loss hit me like a kick to my abdomen, and I sat again, closing my eyes as the van turned and drove a while longer before stopping. My heart picked up rhythm as Tater and Linette shuffled to get back into their sitting positions, knees up, eyes meek as a Disaster Relief Initiative soldier in black opened the back doors, letting in a gust of dust. I raised an arm to shield my eyes, and the man—alien—grabbed my elbow, nearly toppling me out. I landed on my feet with a grunt, quickly shifting my weight to my uninjured ankle.
I turned to see a look of hatred in Tater’s eyes as he glared at the soldier. I gave my head a tiny, quick shake, and Tater seemed to sink into himself, forcing his façade back into place. I heaved out a breath as the other two were pulled out. God help us if Tater lost his temper and gave us away.
Six soldiers surrounded us, walking somewhat robotically with their ungraceful movements. It was so strange. The “DRI” aliens who’d been running the show during the takeover must have had major training to act like humans and fit in, though they couldn’t fake the lack of personalities. These others were just freaky, like robots in human shells.
When we rounded the van, Tater and Linette both gave a surprised, upward jerk of their heads and I followed suit, looking up at a building in the center of it all that did not match its surroundings. First of all, it was huge, like a palace. This was new, beautiful architecture.
While the other military buildings were squat, square, and dull, this looked like a mix of Romanian castle with Victorian rounded edges of stone, brick, and woodwork. Three stories. A mansion in the works. This couldn’t have been on base months ago when the war began. They’d erected this thing in a hot minute, fit for a king. The three of us gawked as we were led through the cold air into a blast of warmth inside.
To be among this kind of luxury felt bizarre after being underground in Utah for so long. Deep red rugs. Elegantly framed mirrors. Metalwork designs adorning the walls and hand-painted vases on pillars. Everything smelled new, like leather, fresh wood, and paint. My mother would be drooling at this interior design work.
My mother.
A hard nudge from behind forced me to put aside the wave of sickening nostalgia at the reminder that I’d never see her again. She’d never help another person stage their home to put on the market. I couldn’t get used to the idea of them gone.
We were pushed into a room with a fancy sofa and two armchairs.
“Sit,” commanded one of the soldiers. “And don’t move.”
One soldier stood guard at the door while the others left us. Tater, Linette, and I shared brief glances, but we didn’t dare try to communicate. It’d be impossible anyway with our gags. The corners of my mouth were feeling raw, and I was so thirsty. Everything was sore, but the couch felt gloriously soft when I fell onto it. All three of us sighed through our noses at the comfort after being on a hard surface for the entire night.
The comfort only lasted a few minutes before the three of us all seemed to become alert and nervous at once. What was about to happen? What would they do with us? What if they asked questions that Linette didn’t cover when she debriefed us in the van during the night? What if I said something that didn’t match the others’ stories? So many things could go wrong.
