Chapter 31
What about our patrol, Squad Leader Colt McAlister?” Glyph said. “We’re supposed to be in Strasburg at precisely 1930, and if I get court-martialed for defying orders, my parents will send me to the work camps on the third moon of—”
“Relax,” Colt said. “We’ll stop in Strasburg, and if we find anything, Bravo Team can stay behind while we head to Sanctuary.”
“I could go by myself,” Jonas said.
“No way,” Oz said. “Too dangerous.”
“He’s hiding something,” Pierce said. “Why else would he want to sneak away?”
“Leave him alone,” Danielle said.
“Look at the way he’s sweating,” Pierce said. “It’s obvious. He’s totally hiding something.”
“Did you ever think he might be sweating because we’re staring at him?”
“It’s more than that, isn’t it, Hickman?” Pierce glared at Jonas, who turned away without saying a word. “That’s what I thought.”
As much as he hated to admit it, Colt had a feeling that Pierce was right. Jonas was hiding something. But if Jonas and Danielle had pinpointed the coordinates for the Thule gateway, then there was a chance they could shut it down before the Thule launched their full-scale invasion.
“I’m not trying to sneak away,” Jonas said, his shoulders slumped as he stared at the ground. “It’s just that . . .”
“What?” Colt asked.
“Nothing,” Jonas said, though he was clearly frustrated. “Can we at least take a van instead of the Humvees? I don’t want the people of Sanctuary to think they’re under attack.”
They decided to stick to the back roads where they could avoid the tangled mess of freeways in and around Washington as tens of thousands fled the nation’s capital.
Even the small towns were deserted. Cars had been abandoned along the side of the road, and the lights were off in all the homes. They passed a pharmacy where a sign had been posted letting everyone know that the entire inventory had been donated to the Red Cross, and someone had spray-painted a skull and crossbones and the words Kill Them All across a school bus. The skull looked like an alien.
“Ignore it, Glyph,” Colt said. “They’re just scared, that’s all.”
They arrived at Strasburg twenty minutes early. Save for a few stubborn souls, the town was deserted like everywhere else. Colt offered to sweep through the surrounding area to make sure there weren’t any Thule, but the sheriff said that he had it covered, so they continued on to Sanctuary.
The drive took another four hours, leaving Colt ample time to come up with a good excuse as to why he had decided to stray from his orders. The only problem was that he couldn’t think of anything that sounded remotely believable.
“What if Glyph is right?” he said to Danielle. “What if they court-martial us?”
“For saving the world? I don’t think so,” she said. “Besides, you’re the new Phantom Flyer, remember? I doubt they’re going to court-martial the nation’s first official superhero.”
A couple of hours later they spotted a convenience store that was still open to the public, and even though they didn’t need to fill up with gas, Colt decided to pull over. It had been weeks since any of them had tasted soda, potato chips, or candy bars, and they loaded up to make up for lost time.
“This is truly fascinating,” Glyph said as he sniffed an open bottle of Orange Crush.
“Taste it,” Danielle said.
Glyph licked the rim and smacked his lips. “It’s quite sweet.”
“You have to chug it to get the whole effect,” Grey said.
“Yeah, like this,” Oz added before downing an entire bottle of Dr Pepper. When he was done, he smiled and released an outrageously loud belch as everyone laughed.
“I don’t understand,” Glyph said.
“Just drink it already,” Pierce said.
Glyph brought the bottle to his lips and tilted it back, downing the contents in three gulps. He blinked several times and then his eyes shot wide and he grabbed at his throat.
“What’s wrong with him?” Ethan said. “Is he dying or something?”
“Someone give him the Heimlich,” Grey said.
“Don’t look at me,” Pierce said and casually popped a Funyun into his mouth and licked his fingertips.
“Do something,” Danielle said as she grabbed Colt’s arm.
He was about to ask her what she wanted him to do when Glyph released the loudest and longest burp he had ever heard. When he was done, Glyph licked his lips and looked inside his empty bottle. “Do you think I could have another?”
It was closing in on ten o’clock by the time everyone loaded back into the van, and almost midnight when Colt saw the sign that welcomed them to Sanctuary, West Virginia, population 4,327.
“Pull over here,” Jonas said as they approached a billboard for the Blue Moon Diner, home of Ethel’s World-Famous Apple Cobbler.
“Where?” Colt asked.
“Anywhere. Just cut the lights so nobody sees us.”
Gravel crunched beneath the tires as Colt eased onto the shoulder and parked the van under the billboard. “Is this hidden enough, or should we cut down some branches and cover it up?”
“It won’t matter,” Jonas said as he slid the door open. “They already know we’re here.”
“How?” Pierce said. “Do they have a satellite pointed at us or something?”
“They just know.” Jonas climbed over a wooden fence and started walking across an empty field toward a line of trees.
“Where are you going?” Danielle asked, but he didn’t answer.
“I always wanted to live in the country. It’s so peaceful.” Stacy smiled as she looked up at the stars shining brightly in the sky overhead. It was the first clear night in weeks, and Colt watched as a cool breeze whipped through her ponytail.
“I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m following Hickman,” Pierce said as he shouldered his assault rifle and climbed the fence.
As they crossed the field, Colt picked up the scent of fear that Pierce kept masked under layers of arrogance and anger. It made him unstable. Unpredictable. Dangerous.
“Did you see that?” Ethan asked.
“See what?” Oz said.
“Up ahead in the tree.” Ethan stopped and lifted his assault rifle to his shoulder.
“Easy,” Oz said. “It’s probably Hickman.”
“There it is again, up in the branches!”
“Whatever you do, don’t—”
A loud bang echoed through the darkness as Ethan fired his weapon.
“What are you doing?” Oz ripped the rifle out of Ethan’s hand.
“Shooting an alien.”
“If they didn’t know we were here before, they do now,” Colt said.
They pressed forward, following Jonas into the trees as a gust of wind stirred up remnants of dead leaves left over from autumn. Colt stood with feet firmly planted, his eyes scanning the darkness as the hair on the back of his neck stood on end.