Extraterrestrial Invasion: Annihilation

Chapter 16: The Unusual Encounter

Jason and Eddie were returned back safely to their homes, and General Howard had organized a dozen of his men to guard their houses as other families who lost their loved ones in the abduction might swarm their homes. Don, the Quatrodius, requested to be hidden somewhere safe, so they let him live in the hollows of Mount Rushmore, under the condition that he must not frighten people. They agreed to bring him food and water supply regularly.

Colonel Rick spent his days on Earth teaching the soldiers about alien weapons. He guided them to build the same weapons using Earth materials, and soon, the technology of the human army would be almost as advanced as the aliens.

China had lost a third of its army in the battle, and the one hundred thousand soldiers President Peter had sent were halved by the end of the war. The aliens occupied the northern part of China, using the Great Wall as their boundaries.

Battle raged in Africa, and since most of the countries there were still developing, they fell into the aliens' power. The climax of the war arose in Northern Africa, and two hundred thousand European soldiers had died fighting alongside the African Army.

Another bad news was the aliens managed to take over the Middle East. The aliens had their hands and tentacles on the oil rigs in the region, and they used them against the human army.  As a result, more soldiers passed away.

***

Igor Harkov was a lumberjack in the wilderness of Siberia. He lived in a simple but warm cottage that protected him from the frigidity of the endless winter. Some people had a hobby of collecting stamps and such, but Igor's hobby was collecting coats and jackets. He had dozens of them in his closet, wearing a different outfit every day he worked.

His life had never been adventurous or extraordinary. It had been plain and dull ever since he was born. His parents used to live here too, so he was homeschooled and bad at socializing. He worked for a logging company, and every Monday, a truck would come to resupply his food and water and other essential daily needs. He never said anything to the driver other than 'thank you'. The driver even thought it was the only vocabulary he knew.

His life changed on a stormy Thursday.

It was 6 o'clock in the morning. He did not know why but he always woke up at this exact moment. Perhaps it was affected by the stronger gravitational force in the northern regions, or maybe some astronomical anomalies he had no idea about. He did things like usual. Tea was brewed as a few ounces of meat was grilled in the kitchenette. His toothpaste would lose mass at the exact same amount too.

After breakfast, he picked up his favorite axe. He felt its sharp edge and thought it was not enough. He searched the storage room and found a whetstone. When he was satisfied, he walked out of the cottage with a red-green jacket and faced the storm.

"Agh!" he yelped as pieces of snow got stuck in his eyes. He decided to wear a pair of protective glasses.

As he treaded the snow, he saw fallen trees everywhere. It was strange. He always cut down a tree and gathered them properly, not rampaging the forest like this. What was even more stranger was that he had not chopped in this part of the forest for months. Why was it suddenly destroyed?

With great determination, he investigated the cause of this disaster. Yes, it was a disaster. He had purposely left this area so the trees could grow big enough for him to cut next year. If it was ruined, then he would lose income. He needed to find the perpetrator and make him pay for his deeds.

He spent hours walking. He was so distant away from home that the environment began to seem unfamiliar, not that he could not return. He had a compass with him, wait. Something was wrong. He rummaged in his pocket and realized he had forgotten the vital navigation tool. He cursed and thought about how to assess the current situation.