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  Michael was a forward for the Denver Nuggets basketball team. He had taken some time off to visit with his little brother who was a private, on leave from the Army. They kicked around for a couple of days, just having fun and catching up on family news, when the earthquakes hit.

  It was bedlam in Denver. At first, the two brothers laid low, trying to assess the situation from the relative safety of Michael’s living room. Then they heard about Mt. Rainier. They knew they had to take a trip to Washington State. Michael and Gary Anderson’s mother, grandma, and two little sisters lived in Spokane. The news was brief and sporadic, but it looked as though Spokane, like so many other cities, was a war-zone of refugees and criminals. The clincher came when Gary called home. The fear they heard in their mother’s voice, over the speakerphone galvanized both young men into immediate action.

  They packed everything they could into Michaels little hybrid car and set out on Hwy 25, then turned west onto Hwy 80. Getting out of the Denver hub was hellish. Michael was pretty sure the only reason they weren’t stopped and molested more often was because at 6’7” and 6’5”, the brother’s sheer size struck fear into the hearts of any comers. If their physical size didn’t cause the car-jackers pause, Gary’s guns did.

  Michael would never forget the hate and hostility he saw in people’s eyes as they made their way out of the city. He didn’t think it was because of the color of their skin, but because they had a car, guns, and supplies. Gary disagreed, but Michael couldn’t blame him. In the game of basketball, Michael was one of the elite. In the game of life, two huge, armed black men were tried and convicted of criminal behavior, whether they were guilty of it or not.

  Safely past the car wreck, Gary sat down in the passenger seat and placed the rifle on the back seat. Sighing, he picked up a road map, ran his finger over the red highway line and said, “About twenty more miles and we can hit 29, north into Idaho. I really don’t want to go into Salt Lake City, Mike. Not if we don’t have to.”

  “I know…” Michael responded. “But we really need some juice for the car. The only place we’re going to find a hook-up for the charger is a bigger filling station, in a bigger city.”

  “Hey…pull over, okay? I need to take a leak, and we could use more water.”

  Michael nodded at Gary’s request, and pulled off the side of the road. Thinking that discretion right now was the better part of valor, he kept the car rolling and pulled in behind a group of large rocks. That way he and his brother could get out, stretch their legs and rest a little while, without being spotted by passersby.

  Michael was normally a trusting soul, but the last couple of days taught him the meaning of caution. All the rules of society, the “Golden Rules” in the Bible, were suspended in the aftermath of the earthquakes. He was convinced, despite his brother’s doubts, that there were plenty of good, righteous people left in the world. There were plenty of bad ones too, though. Michael’s mamma didn’t raise fools for sons.

  Gary said, “Michael, here…catch.” Michael looked up in time to catch a bottle of water. Then he walked over to the open trunk to grab a bag of peanuts out of a box of food.

  “Okay, look here.” Gary waved Michael to where he stood by the hood of the car. He pointed to the map. “Salt Lake City is big. I bet we can find a major gas station, like a Conoco or a BP, in the outskirts here…”

  Michael studied the map. He opened his mouth to agree, when a noise startled him into silence. It was a whispery purring the brothers felt, as well as heard.

  “Army choppers, maybe.” Gary spoke softly in Michael’s ear. The fillings in the back of Michael’s mouth began to vibrate. Suddenly, Gary grabbed his arm and cried, “Get down!”

  Michael crouched in the dirt with his brother, gazing open-mouthed at what was cruising up on them from the southeast.

  It was a wedge shaped formation of low-flying aircraft. There were about twenty ships and they were like nothing he had ever seen before. They were shaped like boomerangs and spun in place even as they moved forward in the sky. Each ship was roughly thirty feet wide, and pulsed with a sickly, green glow.

  The whole fleet stopped from time to time as Michael and Gary watched. One craft or another hovered in place, while a blue light shot down to the ground below, scanning the area with laser-like precision. Twice, they saw the blue light turn red. They could see and hear explosions wherever the red light touched.

  “Run!” Gary shouted and ran toward the rocks.

  Michael followed his brother, and the two men squeezed into the rocks. Gary was able to wedge himself under a ledge, while Michael found shelter between the giant boulders. He tried to make his large body small. The sound of the aircrafts was huge now…all encompassing. As his ears rang, and his fillings rattled, the earth shook around them. Dirt, weeds, gravel, and Gary’s discarded water bottle rose into the air. Michael’s mouth sagged open in disbelief as the front end of the car left the ground. Then he saw his brother’s hand shoot out from the rocks and grab the right front tire. Michael saw Gary’s muscles clench, but the car stayed on the ground.

  Michael saw a mini-van approach from the west and stop in the middle of the road. The sound of the aircrafts changed suddenly, from a low-pitched humming to a high buzzing whine, and the red light appeared again. It focused on the stalled car. Instantly, the car was vaporized. Michael gasped, and bit down hard on the scream rising up in his throat. He realized he’d just witnessed something alien destroy a whole carload of people in front of his eyes.

  “Michael, get down! Lower…” Gary hissed.

  Michael wriggled as far down as he possibly could. His head wouldn’t go any lower, though. He could only pray that his bald dome would look like another rock to the flying predators.

  “What’s going on, Michael?” Gary whispered.

  Michael looked up at the alien spacecraft. The ships were about a quarter of a mile ahead of where he and Gary hid. Michael could see more blue rays scan the ground. His heart was pounding in his chest and he could taste copper from where he bit his tongue. The ground was stable now, and the suspended water bottle fell to the rocks, splashing water where Gary lay on the ground.

  “It’s all right, I think,” Michael said. “They’re leaving.”

  Gary scrambled up from the ground, and clasped Michael’s arm. He pulled gently, helping extricate Michael from the rocks stony grasp. “What the hell was that?” Gary grunted, wiping a bloody elbow on the top of his jeans.

  Michael shook his head. “I don’t know, but look at what they did!”

  Gary turned to look and saw the smoking vehicle in the road.

  “Oh, my God,” he muttered.

  “Come on, Gary.” Michael spoke softly. “We need to stay out of sight and decide what to do, okay?” Gary was still staring at the burnt out vehicle and his mouth opened and closed like a beached fish.

  “Gary!” Michael growled harshly.

  Gary turned to Michael with a shake of his head. “Yeah, you’re right. Let’s grab some stuff and go hide up in those trees.”

  Michael nodded. They ran to the car, grabbed up their backpacks and food, then sprinted into the woods. There was as much underbrush as tall timber, but presently they found a large aspen tree. They ducked under the long branches and sat down, gasping in shock.

  “Okay, Mike. I couldn’t see much, so you have to tell me what that was. Was it a missile? Was it the Air Force? Michael!”

  Michael looked at his little brother. “You saw them, Gary. That wasn’t anything man-made, and you know it.”

  Gary’s face was an unhealthy shade of gray. He shook his head in denial. “No…really, I didn’t see much…just the lights.”

  “You didn’t hear them, or feel them?” Michael spoke kindly. He knew shock when he saw it.

  “Yeah, yeah…I heard it. I think I got a glimpse of them too, but you were standing in front of me. They were aliens weren’t they?” Gary was only nineteen, and basically pretty tough, but he was having a hard time with this
new reality.

  “I’m pretty sure that’s what they were, kiddo…as if the earthquakes and the volcano weren’t bad enough. Problem is it looks like they are destroying cars and the people inside of them. What do you think we should do?”

  Gary shook his head. “Drive only at night…with the lights off? I don’t know.”

  “Actually, I was thinking the same thing.” Michael tore the head off a dandelion and stared at his brother. “They may be able to see in the dark…you know, with infra-red or something. But we’re lost out here. Somehow, we have to make it back to Mom’s house.”

  “Yeah…I know,” Gary muttered and grabbed a water bottle. He drank half the contents and handed the rest to Michael. The brothers sat for a few minutes, saying nothing. Michael glanced at his watch, frowning in puzzled wonder. He looked at the clock on his dashboard maybe a couple of hours ago, and remembered it being about 4:30 in the afternoon. Now, the clock read 10:45. Somehow, the dial on his wristwatch had either sped up or spun backwards when the alien spacecraft flew overhead.

  “We’ll wait for an hour or so, okay? I think it’s about 6:00…my watch is messed up…but by then, the sun should be about to set. I guess it will be as safe as it’s going to get.”

  Gary nodded. “Guess so.” He squirmed around a little and turned to his brother with a grimace. “Promise you won’t say anything?”

  Michael stared quizzically. “Yeah…about what?”

  Gary looked away. “I pissed myself. I got to looking at the map and those things came…” he plucked at the crotch of his jeans. Tears were streaming down his face and his shoulders shook with silent sobs of grief and fear.

  Michael reached out and touched his brother’s shoulder. “It’s all right, Gary”

  Gary shook his head. “It’s not all right, Michael! Everything is screwed up. Mom and Grandma and the girls might be hurt, or even killed by the time we get there. Now there are those things to contend with?

  “I know.” Michael’s head hung low. He felt tears sting his eyes. “I know! It doesn’t matter, though. We’ve got to keep trying. If we drove all night we could be in Washington State by tomorrow afternoon.” He glared at his younger brother. “Okay?”

  Gary rubbed a hand over his eyes. “Yeah, sure. You’re right…sorry.”

  “It’s all right, bro.” Michael rummaged in the box of food and found a Hershey’s bar. He broke it in half and handed a piece to Gary.

  “I really want to get to the car and change my pants,” Gary mumbled. “Also, like an idiot, I left the guns in there. I don’t like being stuck here with no protection.” He stood up, and for a moment, Michael wanted to tackle him back down to the ground. He saw that his brother was determined, however.

  He stood up. “I’ll go with you.”

  Gary looked relieved, although he muttered, “You don’t need to hold my ha—”

  They had stepped out from under the tree and stood on a rise that overlooked the road and the valley below. From out of nowhere, another spacecraft appeared about twenty feet ahead of them.

  This ship was different. It was a perfect sphere, no more than twelve feet in circumference. Its silver hide was plated, like a turtle’s back. There was a large porthole in the front, and two little beings sat and gazed out at them. They were exactly like the pictures Michael had glimpsed on the front page of shock rags at the check-out counters in grocery stores… gray and wrinkled, with over-large heads and huge, black eyes. One of the little aliens was wearing some sort of mask over its face. From where Michael stood, he could see data scrolling across it, like digital language on a computer screen. The other one sat in the passenger seat and held a silver tablet in its hands.

  Michael and Gary stared in astonishment, and the tiny gray aliens stared back in equal surprise. Then, with a slight wave of one three fingered hand and a solemn nod of its head, the alien in the passenger’s, or co-pilot’s, seat spoke to the driver and the little silver ship rose up and flew away.

  Chapter 5

  But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Joshua 24:15

  Naomi –

  Nana Nay leaned forward in her wrap chair and said, “Now remember, I’m no historian. For accurate information about what happened when the dam broke, you kids need to listen to, and learn from, your wonderful teachers.”

  There was a ripple of laughter from the audience, and a smattering of applause. After a few moments, Naomi continued.

  “The month of July was a busy time for us at the ranch. Uncle Allen and I made a series of phone calls inviting friends and family members to join us. Within days, our population grew from seven to over forty people. Allen called his wife’s family: her mother and father, and oldest brother, David Tolliver. They rolled up in a giant motor home and set up camp just outside of the greenhouse. A number of our neighbors had come to stay, and a good friend of my dad’s, an insurance salesman named Lenny Brance and his family, pulled up in a travel-trailer.

  “Allen also called two of his employees and offered shelter. One man declined, saying he and his family were heading to Texas, but the other man, Stevie Zakar, accepted the offer with gratitude. He showed up with his young wife Tiffany and two year old baby Matthew in tow. Stevie, like my uncle Allen, didn’t go anywhere without his carpentry tools. Within moments of his arrival, Allen, Stevie, Zack and David walked off, tools in hand, and started pacing out a new perimeter line for the ranch.

  “Four days later, a stout new fence circled the homestead, encompassing the two houses, the inner stock-yard, the barn, outbuildings, greenhouse and garden. The men also built a large fortified gate, complete with a rough but adequate guard house. A tall platform was erected on one side. A ladder that reached to the top of the platform was currently under construction.

  “As I picked lettuce and spinach in the greenhouse, I saw Josh shimmy up the partially built ladder with an old lawn chair. He was laughing. For a moment, I wanted to laugh as well, until I looked past his boyish joy and saw the platform for what it actually was…a guard tower built to keep unwelcome trespassers out. Unfortunately, there had already been a number of altercations with unruly prowlers. More than once my uncle and brother were forced to chase off thieves at the point of a gun.

  “I heard a horn honk and stared out at the driveway. There was a little red Subaru parked at the gate. I ran outside to greet my mom’s best friend, Lori, her daughter Lindsay, and her baby boy, Levi, who was also my godson. The rack on the top of the car was piled high with boxes and suitcases. The back of the car held two big dogs. I caught my uncle’s eyes and looked away. It was non-negotiable for me that Lori and her family should come to stay with us, but Uncle Allen was dead set against too many dogs to feed. I happened to know, however, that both of the boxers, Tank and Tonka, were magnificent guard dogs. Lori knew about my uncle’s concerns and she, too, avoided Allen’s gaze.

  “Lori’s family was taking two rooms downstairs in the basement. I pitched in to help them unpack, and as we carried bags and boxes inside and down the stairs, Lori and Lindsay talked about the deterioration of the city of Spokane. The downtown area was like a war-zone. There was looting, theft, rapes and murders. Half of the police force had fled, leaving only the worst and strongest criminals to do whatever they wanted, with no fear of reprisal.

  “There were mass evacuations from hospitals and nursing homes, because these institutions were a prime targets for drugs and much needed medical supplies. Lori stopped what she was doing and gave me a hug. ‘Thank you again, honey, for letting us come.’ She brushed a tear from her eye. ‘I don’t know what we would have done otherwise.’

  “I shrugged. ‘I wouldn’t have it any other way. Listen, I’ve got to go and finish harvesting the greens, okay? When you’re done unpacking, come to the greenhouse. I’ll introduce you to the others and we’ll start dinner.’

  “My mother’s best and oldest friend gave me one more squeeze and I ran upstairs. I waved at my Aunt Wendy who was canning beans in the kitchen. Steppin
g out onto the front porch, I stopped short and stared.

  “My Uncle Allen, Zack and Stevie were facing off against two men in front of the gate. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but both Zack and Stevie had their rifles propped against their shoulders. Allen was shaking his head. The two strangers were gesturing wildly, and I saw one of the men poked my uncle in the chest with the tip of his finger. My uncle raised his fist. With the lazy control of an alley cat with a mouse, Allen knocked the man off his feet and into the gravel. Finally, the two men backed away and got into their car.

  “I walked to the gate and watched as the car did a three-point turn and drove away. ‘We need to watch out for those two, I think,’ my uncle muttered.

  “Zack nodded. ‘Yeah, I thought things were going to go bad, for a minute.’

  “We heard another car approach. Stevie clutched the clipboard, while Uncle Allen raised the binoculars to check the license plate number of the vehicle.

  “‘Um…XES-743,’ Allen turned to Stevie, who nodded and said, ‘Pastor and Mrs. Ralph Edgington.’

  “I felt a grin tug at my lips. Pastor Ralph and his wife Katie had been a big part of my life since the day I was born. He baptized me and my brothers when we were little, and Katie had been our Sunday school teacher. He was one of the few black men in our little town, but had made his tiny, white Presbyterian church into a haven—free from politics and racial bias.

  “He honked once and got out of his old Volvo station wagon. He stood and stared a moment down the gravel drive from whence he came. Then he turned back and walked to where we stood. His eyes were grave.

  “‘Howdy folks. Is everything okay here?’ he looked at us, taking note of the firearms in the men’s hands.

  “I ran the few feet that separated us and gave the old man a hug. ‘Welcome, Pastor! I’m so glad you came. I want to introduce my uncle Allen, and our friend, Steve Zackar.’ Both men reached out a hand to shake. My uncle looked past Ralph’s shoulder.