The Survivors, The Warriors, The Lovers

Chapter One

-Present Day-

April 9, 2199

Guns poised to shoot, my men and I slowly traveled through the wooded area, searching for deer, hare or even a few small birds. We kept to the northern end of the woods, near the stream. It was safe there. The aliens hated the stream. We didn't understand why they hate the stream, or water in general. The first week that the aliens were on earth we discovered their distaste for it and have since used it for our advantage. Most of the villages are built on or near water.

The safest time to hunt was when it was raining. It was also the safest time to travel to another village, if we needed to. The aliens would be hiding in shelters, away from the rain, and wouldn't come out even if they saw us. The rain is a blessing.

The brush on my right rustled. I signaled the men to pause in their steps. I lifted my gun to aim at the brush. I softly stepped towards it. A fox ran from the brush, past me and my men. I sighed in frustration. We've been hunting since the rain started two days ago. We haven't caught much besides two deer, twelve fish-from the stream-and a bobcat. It wasn't much. It wouldn't last the month we needed it. The village leader, Frankie Boulder, only allows the hunting crew out once a month to gather food and water. We didn't have much time left before we must return to the village.

The men grumbled behind me.

"Maybe we should split up in groups?" one of them suggested. I turned around to glare at the group.

"We never split up, Raj," I snapped. "It's too dangerous."

"It's raining," Raj stated. "The aliens won't be coming out for awhile."

"Yeah? And what if it suddenly stops raining? What then?"

He didn't answer. I studied the man uneasily. Raj had come to the village under sketchy circumstances. I've never trusted him; not from the very first moment I saw him. There was something about the twenty-eight year old, ex-soldier that didn't set well with me. Maybe it was the way his dark, beady eyes would twitch from side to side, as if waiting for something to pop out of the bushes. I just don't like or trust him.

"We keep moving," I ordered the men. They groaned under their breaths. I looked at them stonily. "If you have a problem, don't be shy. State it." They all looked at the ground and rubbed their necks awkwardly, none of them willing to speak up. I sighed and dropped my backpack and shotgun onto the ground. Placing my hands on my hips, I waited for one of them to start speaking. "Well? What is it?"

"We was wonderin' if Frankie knows what's he's doin'," one of the boys I found out on the road a year back muttered. "He's been acting, well-crazy-lately."

"Frankie's doing what he thinks is best for our village. It would do you well not to question him. He's done well keeping the village protected and safe from the aliens. He took you in, Laddie," I said sternly to the boy. "He gave you a place to live when no other village would. He's given you a job, clothes, food, protection! And you go around ungrateful for his generosity!" I watched the men flinch at the ice in my voice. "You should feel greatly ashamed. He could have left you out on the streets where the aliens would have killed you. Hell, he could have killed."

Some of the men around Laddie began to chuckle, shaking their heads. They looked at Laddie with amusement.

"But he didn't!" I continued. "And how do you repay him?"

Laddie opened his mouth to answer.

"-by this blatant disregard of his brilliant leadership! You question his sanity and make a mockery of him every chance you get! If I had it my way, you'd be mucking the stalls of the horses' everyday and washing the dishes with Jeff after every meal.