The Call of the Others

Chapter 29

Alien #5 killed off Alien #6 pretty easily. It messed up the counting system, which annoyed Charles to no end, but his mind was pressed with other matters. Namely, the fact that Alien #5 was making his way towards the hotel Alice was in. He jabbed Scott in the chest with his gun.

“Fix it,” he ordered through gritted teeth. “Now.”

Scott was still smiling idiotically. He turned off the safety and held it out to Charles.

“Quit smiling like that. You look like the Joker.”

Scott still smiled, almost in a creepy way. He held on tightly to the gun, so Charles couldn’t get it. Scott, still smiling, raised the gun to his head and calmly—ever so calmly—wrapped his index finger around the trigger. Charles saw what he was about to do and grabbed the gun, trying to pull it away from Scott’s delicate cranium. Scott turned his delirious, smiling eyes to Charles. Don’t look, don’t look… But he did look. The insanity in those eyes made Charles shudder. He desperately tried to save Scott from himself. Charles tried one last pull, his strongest one yet. He didn’t manage to pull it away, but instead he ended up falling backwards. He closed his eyes and heard a gunshot. He peeked and saw that Scott, the craziness gone from his now-sane eyes, was looking towards the hotel. Alien #5 was in a heap on the ground. Dead.

“Hey, guys! I got it!” Cary shouted proudly, waving his gun around.

“No, Cary,” Mr. Woodward said, “I got it.”

“Get away while you can! These kids will literally drive you insane!” Scott yelled before realizing… Hey, this guy looks an awful lot like me.

“Um, thanks, sir..? Hey! I know you! Wait,” Charles said, looking from Mr. Woodward to Scott. “I know you, too. You guys—eeehhhh!”

The plotline of the extremely eventful weekend was too confusing for even one of the main characters to comprehend. Martin’s jaw dropped, but Cary seemed rather calm.

“It’s just another plot twist, guys. You weren’t expecting that?” he asked.

“No! I thought that Martina being an agent was quite enough!” Martin said.

“I drew the line at Scott, myself, but…” Cary trailed off, shrugging.

Scott looked at Mr. Woodward. “Yes,” he said. “This is one of their usual conversations.”

Mr. Woodward shook his head. “Let’s just evacuate the civilians from the hotel.”

Scott shrugged. The Agency’s plan hadn’t taken him this far, so he probably could do whatever the hell he wanted now. This wasn’t worth the plastic surgery. He felt his bald head. Or my hair.

Alice was still pouting in the hotel. Nothing exciting was happening, so the pouting was more to entertain herself than anything else. It wasn’t fulfilling or in any way fun, but hey, it was a way to pass the time. I wonder where Joe is, she thought. I hope he’s sorry. He’s a jerk. Why did I date him anyway? I mean, he was nice before Cassandra showed up. Ugh, Cassandra. She’s such a freak. She turned everyone against me. I’m glad she’s dead. Now no one likes me.

Oh, and that’s all her fault, huh? said one of the many voices in Alice’s head.

Yes, she argued, debating her mental sanity. Having an argument with herself didn’t exactly seem…normal.

And it’s not that you totally micromanaged Joe’s life?

I did not micromanage his life!

Right…

Pfft, who needs you!

Alice held her head in her hands. She really was crazy.

So she wasn’t sure if she was just hallucinating or not when one, but two Mr. Woodwards crashed through the door and said, “Get out of here.”

“So, Preston?” Joe asked.

“Yes?”

“Do you know where we’re going?”

“No,” Preston replied. “But what do you want me to do? Ask for directions?”

He gestured to the empty streets, which had so much litter strewn across them that an environmentalist would probably cry at the sight.

“Well, no,” Joe said, kicking a rock on a sidewalk. “I was just wondering if you knew.”

“Ugh! We’re lost and alone, tracking aliens—and not our first time—in Cincinnati. Think about it. This is the second time we’ve had to deal with aggressive aliens. Life sucks.”

“Preston, look to the bright side.”

“And I stepped in dog poop,” Preston said, sniffling. So that’s what the smell was, Joe thought.

“Can this day get any worse?!” Preston cried. It started to rain. No, it started to pour. “THAT WAS NOT A CHALLENGE!!!!”