101 Ways to Skin a Hoodie

Chapter 7

I enter the tent and sit down next to Marckus as Aruetta is fumbling with a match. It's a pretty small space, but large enough for all of us to sit comfortably. It smells musty, almost like the attic of my house. A nostalgic smell at this point.

Aruetta gets one of the matches to light, and transfers the flame into an old gas lamp. The space is illuminated, and now that we don't need outside light anymore (and probably to keep us somewhat hidden from potential prying eyes), Aruetta folds a bit of cloth over the door.

"Alright guys, it's time to fess up. What's the point of taking the risk of leaving the city just to squat under the bridge right outside it? Do we have a plan or something?" I ask.

"Actually, I'm kind of in the dark as well. I told him while you were unconscious, but Marckus was taken aback by your plan to kill the aliens as well," Aruetta responds, "that was until I described that superpowered stunt you pulled back in the city. His eyes lit up and, well he can explain the rest."

"Thanks for the intro, Aru." Marckus' buoyant voice fills the tent. I'm impressed by how jovial he is, even though it's likely just an act. I certainly would have had my spirit broken if I had been living in these conditions for so long.

He continues; "Well, I suppose I should start with why I got excited. The thing is, I saw when Aruetta got taken by the alien. I didn't do anything at the time, as we have a sworn pact to not do anything stupid that would compromise our relatively safe living condition, and she was too far away for me to do anything anyway.

"It didn't stop my from feeling guilty about my inaction though, and I started to venture out into the city at night. I didn't keep this practice up for too long, but I didn't want to take the chance of Aru having made a miraculous escape and then ended up having bled out in a back alley while I say at home.

"Obviously I didn't find anything, but one thing that I did notice during my excursions is that whenever one of the aliens would go to pick up a new harvest, or take one back to its 'lair', it would always exit and reenter from the top of the Empire State Building. On top of that, I only ever got a look from a distance, but there did seem to be a larger number of them prowling around the base of the building as well."

"So you're saying the base that aliens have here on earth is inside the empire state building?" I interject, a little incredulous. I mean, it's too cinematic, isn't it?"

"Well, I'm not saying it's their only base on the planet. The odds of that are fairly slim, but if there is a recall point in this city I'd bet my money that this is it."

"Okay, but how are we going to get in there? If there is a big boss here then they'd be at the top, right? It's not like we could just get up there from the outside, and you said yourself that the base is crawling with them."

"Ah ha ha! That's where I come in!" Aruetta cuts in with an exaggerated laugh. "Come on, I'll show you why we're here." Aruetta crawls to the entrance of the tent and heads out. I look to Marckus and he motions me to follow her. I do so.

Aruetta helps me off the ground and pulls me over to a rather suspiciously shaped object that's covered by some sheets.

"I don't think I ever told you, but," Aruetta grabs the end of fabric, and pulls on it, dramatically revealing the object underneath; "before the invasion I got my junior pilots license!"

The sheet falls to the ground with a thwoomp, revealing a plane. If memory from my childhood airplane phase serves, then it's a Cessna 172 to be exact. Whatever it is, it's small. The river flows slowly by us, softly splashing against the shore.