They came from the stars

Chapter two

   The road to town was lifeless and abandoned, like the white farmhouses that sat back from the road. Hay bales recently rolled dotted the fields and the smell of fresh hay hung in the air.
   I saw movement to my right and watched as a herd of deer galloped through a stand of trees. The treeline divided the field between two properties.
  When we reached town we were greeted by a flashing sign declaring an evacuation was in progress. Except that it wasn't. The town had already been evacuated and was now eerily quiet.
  Town was also a generalized term. It was little more than a dozen and a half cabins, a gas station, diner, and post office. A ramp breaking right from the road led to the freeway.
   "Where do you think everyone went?" I asked.
  Trent didn't respond.
We pulled into the gas station first and did a quick search around the building, finding nobody.
   "Looks like they left in a hurry" said Trent, noting the cars still parked at the gas pumps.
   I tried the front door and to my surprise I was unlocked. A terrible stench hit my nose when I opened the door and I turned and gagged. Trent covered his nose with his arm and stepped in.
   "No power" he said,"all the refrigerated stuff went bad."
   It took me another five minutes to stop gagging enough to go inside.
  "Damn" I said.
The place had been ransacked. Shelves had been toppled and almost everything had been looted, except for a few bags of chips and some beef jerky. It wasn't much, but it was something.
  Next we checked the diner. I felt a little bad as Trent took his axe to the window and shattered it. The place had been locked up tight and I suspected the owner thought they would return.
   The diner was untouched by any looters and was clean and neat. Tables were set and awaiting customers who may never come.
   It took only a few minutes to clear the diner, which was mostly empty. The owner must have packed up everything and took it with them. Smart. The only thing we had found was a can of baked beans and I found a Bible on the counter. It had been open and turned to a page talking about the end of days. Ironically, given my lifestyle, I grabbed the book and shoved it in my pocket. Maybe it would bring me good luck.
   With our looting run done we headed back for the cabin. This time Trent drove a little faster and I could tell he was tense. Neither of us liked the idea of stealing, but it had to be done.
  By the time we got back to the cabin the sky had turned a dark gray color and only a minute after we had unloaded the car did it started to pour.
  

Three days later

In just over a week I had become a survivalist. Daily we made looting runs to the farms and houses around us, only stopping in town when we needed to. We had drained as much gas from the gas station as we could and kept it in gas cans hidden in the garage. Certain the owners of the cabin and the house weren't come back, we moved in and claimed it as our own.
   When the night came we watched the stars and took turns sleeping in shifts. We were in agreement that if looters or even aliens came then we should be ready.
  On our looting runs we had managed to snag a couple hunting rifles, a lever action rifle, and a shotgun. Since Trent had never fired a gun before and I had, it fell on me to teach him. We had limited ammo so he had to learn quick, and he did.
   "What do you think they look like?" I asked as we drove down an abandoned country road.
   "Who?" He grunted.
"The aliens."
    He shrugged. Ever since the day we had found out about New York he had been slipping away from me, hiding in himself. I knew it was eating him up that his family was gone, but I think it was worse that he hadn't spoken to them in ten years. Part of him had always wanted to make amends with his father, but he never had. Now he never would.
   The road narrowed as we came up to a bridge that had been under repair when the invasion hit. Trent slowed as we passed. Neither of us liked going over the bridge.
  Out of the corner of my eye I saw something move and I grabbed Trent's arm.
  "Stop!"
He slammed on the brakes and we came to a screeching halt. The girl standing by the road stared at us, her eyes vacant and scared. Her body was badly bruised and covered in blood. She looked like hell.