InvaSUn

12

"What in the world?" James leaned forward as we drove much slower as soon as we passed the State line connecting Missouri and Kansas. It had been another 3 hours of driving, and both Aiden and I had fallen asleep pretty much the rest of the way. I only woke up once it started to get dark.

I felt anxious being out in the open after that News Report. The sun setting wasn't making me feel any better.

The car went over a bump and jerked us both forward. "What was that!?" I panicked.

"Is it just me, or does this place look a bit worn down?" James turned on his bright headlights and glanced around. He was right. This place looked abandoned.

There weren't any cars in any of the parking lots of many buildings. In fact, the buildings looked slightly torn, and the brick buildings looked like it was ready to crumble and collapse. There weren't any citizens here, which was very odd.

I'm sure it was populated before we got here. But where did everyone go? It didn't make sense for there to be all these facilities and stores but no people around. The farther we drove into Kansas, the stranger things we saw.

There was a farm at one home on the main road, but all of the crops looked like they were dug out or ripped apart. The furniture on the porch of the house was all brown and scattered. Something odd definitely happened here.

I reached over and grabbed onto James's shoulder because of the rising level of my anxiety, and he glanced at me briefly before bringing his eyes back to the road and didn't say anything about it. Maybe he was feeling nervous too.

We eventually pulled over to a stop because there was a large cement brick blocking our way. There were multiple of them spread out like a fence as if someone were trying to keep us out.

"Do they usually block the main roads like this?" I asked and James shrugged.

"I've never seen it before. I didn't see any road construction signs on our way here." James replied softly and leaned forward. "Maybe the GPS has a detour route it can take us." He mumbled to himself and pulled out his phone. As he started typing in the search, a big and bright light flashed on our car, and I heard the sound of helicopter propellers.

It sounded incredibly loud the closer the sound got. I glanced out the window and then the windshield to find the flying vehicle. Sure enough, there was a military chopper landing near us.

"What's happening?" I looked at James nervously.

"I.. don't know." James bit his lip and clutched onto the wheel.

Then there were sirens ringing across the land and multiple army tanks that approached us from behind the large bricks. These were obviously military vehicles, but why were they here? There weren't any signs on the main road that let us know if any military bases were around.

The sirens woke Aiden up. He sat up slowly and rubbed his tired eyes before glancing around. "What's going on?" He groaned.

"We're trying to find out for ourselves." I frowned and clutched onto my seatbelt as I watched multiple men dressed in camouflage uniform approach us with heavy weaponry.

Then one man on the megaphone stood a few yards away from our vehicle. He fiddled with it before raising it to his lips and speaking through it. "Owner of the unidentified vehicle, please step out with your hands up and above your head. Passengers too!" His voice rang loudly.

The three of us looked at each other, debating in our own minds whether we should follow that command or not. If they were the military, they shouldn't be so hostile towards us, we were citizens on their side.