Over the next week, the Oakland Clan hit two more overseer pods, rescuing ten people. They recovered stacks of canned fruit from one, and fresh pears from the other. The clan lost three members during the first raid and a slave on the second raid. A female was missing in the second pod as well, probably sent away on “vacation.”

As far as the rescued people went, the clan had decided to lock them in some cages for thirty total days. Daniel had advised his people that it was necessary, because when the former slaves detoxed off the overseers’ drink, they would become violent and dangerous. Once he let them know about his horrible experience with the crimes of rape and murder, his people understood.

Olivia had quickly improved upon Daniel’s attack strategy, proving that she was as smart as he had expected her to be. During the raids she had their forces carry as many ladders as they could, and now had everyone carrying a large pack so anyone could grab food, no matter where they were during the attack.

The Oakland Clan had taken out six overseers at the fruit cannery and had moved fast enough at the pear orchard that they had only killed the initial two guards. It had helped that the pears happened to be in baskets already. Daniel’s clan was eating good.

Daniel learned from one of his scouts that over a hundred seekers had arrived in Haywood, a large city to the south, and were dismantling the town. It was an eleven-mile hike, which he sent thirty of his people on to deal with the seekers. Olivia and Stiffy ran the operation and they obliterated the overseers’ army of gatherers.

While all of that action was taking place, Daniel also started sending out small four person squads to eliminate the random seekers in the greater Oakland area. He didn’t have to wonder if they were getting the enemy’s attention. Two days after the Haywood raid, a long column of enemy hover cars rode into Oakland from the west. They set up at the Merritt College campus. Enemy forces were now less than three miles away.

“What’re we going to do, Dat?” Olivia asked at a meeting that Daniel had called to discuss the situation.

“Lay low. That’s what we ought to do,” Stiffy answered for him.

“We can use the tunnels to move away from them,” Sterns offered.

“What’d the scouts report about the enemy?” Daniel asked, not agreeable to any of those options.

“Ten cars, each with one of those big auto blasters on the back. Forty overseers in total, Hambone informed him. “What are you thinkin’ boss?”

“Let’s hit ‘em,” their leader said.

Sterns scratched his whitening head and whistled, “Hit ‘em? This ain’t no pod. There’re forty of them alien bastards.”

“I told you all from the beginning that we were going to take the fight to them. I expected this. Why’d you think that they drive around in those hover cars of theirs, when they can transport anywhere that they want with their power circles? It is a show of force. They’re gauging how serious the threat is and are expecting us to back down,” Daniel explained while rubbing his now casted left hand. Hambone had done a good job plastering it up, although it itched, mostly in places that he couldn’t reach.

“So, you want to smash ‘em right in the mouth and show ‘em that this is our town?” Olivia Reyes asked. “I like it.”

“No safe haven for them in Oakland,” Daniel affirmed.

“Okay. No safe haven,” Stiffy agreed.

“It’s aggressive. Let’s do it. How many men are you thinkin’ we’ll need?” Sterns joined in on the building excitement in the planning room.

“Let’s take a hundred. All heavily armed. We’ll put as many sniper rifles as we have on the nearby rooftops, to take out their auto blasters. We’ll arm ten men with grenades to toss in the vehicles. Let’s teach these aliens that this war was never over,” Daniel pounded his fist on the wooden table in front of him for effect.

“We are certainly going to lose people,” Olivia advised.

“We are fighting a war. Casualties are to be expected. Let’s just do everything in our power to mitigate the number.” Daniel words concluded the meeting.

The large attack party assembled at midnight. The only key command member that stayed behind was the obese Tiny, because the group expected to do a lot of running. Daniel was on the sniper crew, which numbered four. Each had assigned targets. Daniel broke the rest of the attack team down into nine and ten man squads, one to attack each hover car. Olivia had operational control over the ground forces, while Hambone, Stiffy, and Sterns each ran a squad.

By midnight, the four snipers were in place, while the ten ground squads had set up in various buildings along campus drive. Daniel himself was on the rooftop of the two-story Covah College High School, that was located on the campus. He rested his M40 on his casted arm, which worked quite well to steady the weapon.

Once the sun began to rise, the clan leader was able to observe the overseers’ vehicles parked in a semi-circle at the end of the street. It struck him as odd that with the rising sun, he could see that all four occupants of each vehicle were in their positions and looked to be ready to go. He couldn’t help but wonder why the enemy hadn’t been sleeping and if they were aware of the impending attack.

Daniel was about to call off the raid by walkie-talkie, when an explosion broke the early morning silence. One of his men had lit several gas cans and tires on fire at the end of the block, to attract the overseers. The enemy immediately began to drive out, hovering towards the billowing black smoke. Too late now. It looked like the fight was on.

When the hovering column approached, Daniel sighted in on one of the three auto blaster operators that he was supposed to take out. His shot would be the signal for the ambush to begin. He took a deep breath, and as he released it, fired. The round from the M40 flew true, blowing out the overseer’s little round red light. It was an incredible shot at that range.

Within seconds, gunfire sounded from all sides, followed by grenade explosions. Both the front and back cars were blown to pieces and were on fire. Red blaster beams responded to their initial assault, showing that the enemy was playing for keeps. Two of Daniel’s men were hit and turned into black dust.

He couldn’t worry about that while he reloaded the M40 and aimed in on his second gunner and fired. Direct hit! The overseer toppled from the hover car and lay motionless on the pavement. Daniel tensed up when of some of the remaining auto blasters opened up on his advancing troops, while more hover cars exploded. The overseer in the second to last hovercar, his third target, was firing long strings of red blasts.

Daniel rapidly reloaded his bolt action M40 and quickly aimed in again, and fired. His round struck low, failing to eliminate the gunner. Calm down and relax. While Daniel reloaded, the overseer swung about, and launched a long burst on a squad of ten fighters who were advancing towards one of the middle cars. A moment later, all ten were black ash piles.

Daniel stared through the scope, only seeing the enemy gunner’s back. He knew that the overseer was already unleashing on another squad, that it had pinned down behind a concrete wall. Daniel took his best guess as to where the red circle was on the other side, and fired. Down went the overseer, now unmoving!

Then a loud whistle-type alarm sounded, startling the clan leader. Daniel wasn’t sure what it meant, but knew that it wasn’t theirs. Then he saw them. Seekers. A couple hundred of them pouring out of the science center and heading straight for his people. The enemy had set an ambush of their own!

Daniel rushed to the corner of the roof that was closest to the charging seekers and began firing rounds as quickly as he could reload the bolt action rifle. When the other snipers joined in, the seekers started to go down in groups. Still, a large number of the raging bald men reached his forces.

Daniel saw the squad nearest the seekers, led by a young blond woman with a buzz cut, go down in a sea of the rampaging enemy. Several of the seekers bashed the female squad leader over and over with their bars, while even more advanced forward towards more targets.

Olivia and Stiffy lined up their people on each side of the ten burning hover cars and unleashed a blistering wall of fire at the approaching headbanded men. With the help of the snipers, the enemy numbers rapidly shrank. Daniel aimed in on one of the last remaining seekers and gasped in horror!

He recognized the man! It was Number Two from his old apple orchard pod. The big black man looked exactly the same, from his muscular body to his tall stature. Well, not quite exactly the same. He now wore the headband of a seeker and had their milky white eyes. The black man was nearly on top of Stiffy, yet Daniel hesitated to pull the trigger.

Crack! A distant rifle sounded off, dropping the man formerly known as Number Two. One of the other snipers had taken him out. Finally, all of the seekers were down and finished. Stiffy, who was close to Daniel’s building, looked up towards him and gave a thumbs up. Then a red power circle surrounded the black man and with a fizz, he was no more than black dust.

Drones! Nearly thirty of them were swooping in from all directions, firing their red blaster beams at anything that moved. Daniel saw six people turned to ash in as many seconds. Olivia blew a loud airhorn, sounding the retreat. His remaining people began to flee in various directions, with the fast-moving drones giving chase. Many of his fighters didn’t make it.

The snipers tried to cover the disorderly withdraw. Daniel took out a drone that had zeroed in on Olivia, although it took three shots to hit the moving target. A second drone was hesitating over the smoking hover cars as it seemed to be searching for a new target. Daniel dropped it with a single shot. Then the drones targeted the snipers.

One bald Hispanic male held his ground, dropping two of the three drones that came for him. The third blasted him. A second sniper was killed when he ran smack into a drone after he exited the building that he had been positioned on. Daniel didn’t know what happened to the third sniper, he was too busy running.

Red power circles blasted the ground around the clan leader while he fled for the roof access door, diving into the darkened stairwell. A drone followed him in, which immediately lit up with blue and green lights. That was followed by six rapid successive shots from Daniels .357 Taurus. All six bullets tore into the drone at close range, sending it to the ground in a pile of sparks and smoke.

Daniel quickly reloaded his revolver, then made his way down to the bottom floor of the school. He knew that most of the windows on the building had been broken out, so the drones could be anywhere. A quick peek into the room at the bottom of the stairs revealed that it was empty. He made his way to the hallway on the opposite side of the room, just as a drone passed by.

It flew right in front of Daniel’s face, causing him to instinctively swing at it, knocking it to the floor with his arm cast. He followed up by stomping on the flying machine, breaking it into several pieces. When Daniel turned around, he was facing another drone. It could have blasted him, but instead seemed to be filming him. He unloaded his six-shooter into that drone, sending it clattering across the room.

Daniel took a moment to reload his M40 and the Taurus. A quick study, by looking out of the many windows, revealed that he was surrounded. At least six drones remained outside his building, and appeared to be covering the entire high school. He made his way back up to the second floor, where he found a window that gave him a good view of three of the drones. It was in a small bathroom, maybe ten feet by ten feet

“Dat, where are you?” cracked over his walkie-talkie. It was Olivia.

“Still in the school,” he answered.

“Why? Get the hell out of there. The rest of us made it back to the tunnel entrance,” she advised.

“I’m not done here,” he relayed. “Seems they still want to play.”

“Dat, I am going to gather the survivors. We will come for you,” the walkie-talkie sounded.

“No. Hold your position. We have lost too many people already. I’ve got this,” he ordered.

Daniel took aim with the M40 and dropped the closest of the flying menaces. While he reloaded, he watched the other two visible drones approaching. Two shots later, he had another one down, then a red power circle blasted the wall right beside his head. The third drone, and now a fourth were coming straight for his window.

Daniel scurried out of the small room and slammed the door shut behind him. He counted to five, then opened the door a crack and tossed his last grenade into the room. After the loud explosion shook the small bathroom, he went back inside and was surprised to see three smoking and sparking drones scattered about the floor. That left one.

After waiting for over an hour, Daniel quietly made his way back down to the first floor. The building was clear. He let his people know that he was safe and would wait until dark to exit the high school and return to the tunnels. Once the sun fell, he could see no blue and green lights anywhere. Thinking that the last drone had left, Daniel made his move and exited the high school through the front doors.

Immediately he could see the green and blue lights coming from above him. The tricky bastard had been lying in wait above the door. Daniel went for his Taurus, knowing all too well that he would be blasted before he got a shot off.

Crack! The drone slammed against the building wall, and bounced off, falling to ground. A bullet had torn it to pieces, fired from the building across the street. A minute later, his unaccounted-for sniper came out and met up with him. She was a short muscular black woman named Tiana.

“That thing had ya,” she said, grinning.

“Would’ve if it weren’t for you.” He gave her a fist bump.

“I saw our other two snipers go down. Noticed that you never came out. I decided to hold my position and see if I could back you up. After you spoke on the radio, I knew that you might need me,” she explained.

“You sound like ex-military,” he guessed.

“US Army sniper,” she stated proudly.

“I owe you one. You saved my life,” he thanked her.

“Well, you can’t save the world if you’re dead.” Tiana smiled, happy to have helped.

The two of them collected up as many of their fallen comrades’ weapons that they could find, and headed back to the tunnels. Once they were there, Olivia ran up to Daniel and gave him a tight embrace, glad that he had survived. The thirty-two surviving members of the attack force made their way back to the underground camp.

Daniel went to his small room and sat on his bed, without speaking to anyone. He wearily placed his head in his hands. The attack had been a dismal failure. They had lost sixty-eight people. At this rate, he would have the Oakland Clan destroyed in a month.

How hadn’t he seen the trap? The enemy rolled in a squad of overseers right into the middle of the area where they had been hitting pods. Then they just sat there and waited as obvious bait. He had bit, hook line and sinker. He had rushed his forces right in and attacked. Damnit!

He would need to be much smarter in the future if they stood any chance of beating these invaders. Daniel laid back on the bed, not looking forward to the meeting that he had called for, first thing in the morning. He had a very restless sleep.

“My apologies. We got hammered out there yesterday,” he started, then letting out a long sigh added, “Losing Stiffy and all those people are on me.”

“Look, we did lose a lot of good people yesterday, but you yourself said that there will be casualties in war.” Sterns surprisingly came to his defense.

 “I hate to lose anybody, but you guys are drowning in a glass half empty,” Olivia spoke. “We took out forty overseers. Forty!”

“Not to mention about two hundred seekers,” Hambone added, lucky to have survived the mayhem himself.

“Yes, and thirty drones, ten of which you yourself took out Dat,” his cute Hispanic Second-In-Command praised, picking up where Hambone had left off. “So yes, we did lose, but they lost bigger. Let’s just move on from here and continue the fight.”

“I do have some good news,” Tiny interjected. “I got the morse code unit back up and running. You know, the system they set up in the beginning, when we thought that the clans were going to fight.”

“Are we communicating with anyone?” Daniel inquired.

“I sent a test message to several clans to see if anyone answers,” Tiny advised.

“Well?” Daniel was anxious to know who was out there.

“Sacramento Clan responded. Seems someone there is smitten with you. Several questions about how you were and when you were returning.” Tiny smiled, knowing full well who it was. “They also said that word is spreading about the rising resistance activities that occurred over here last week.”

“Dang, word spreads fast, even during the end of the world.” Sterns chuckled.

“Anything from Alcatraz?” Daniel questioned, remembering the resistance propaganda.

“Nothing,” Tiny answered.

“Alcatraz?” Sterns looked surprised, then said, “Wait a minute.”

The man dug through his pack and pulled out a small grey solar AM/FM radio. He turned it to AM and scrolled through the channels, until finally they all heard a voice. “The resistance lives . . . if you want to fight . . . come to Alcatraz . . . the resistance lives . . . if you want to fight…….come to Alcatraz,” the voice crackled over and over again, in a repeating loop.

Seeing that Daniel looked confused, Sterns explained, “That has been playing since the invasion. Over and over. Even in the beginning, and I have been with the Oakland Clan from the start. Alcatraz has never sent so much as a peep over the morse code messenger. Three times a clan leader has tried to send groups over there to check it out. Not one person has ever returned.”

“Alcatraz is a dead end my friend,” Olivia affirmed.

Tiana surprised them by rushing into the room, saying, “Bounty hunters. A complete crew just rolled into Mills College. They have white flags tied to their bikes. Looks like they want to talk.”

“Did you recognize them?” Daniel asked.

“Never seen them before, Dat. Their jackets say Dog Pack and they are wearing rockers showing that they are out of Denver,” she answered.

“Okay Tiana, this is what I need you to do,” Daniel began.

Thirty minutes later, Daniel, Olivia, and Hambone walked out of the main viaduct tunnel and headed towards the six men lounging in front of the El Campanil Tower. When the bounty hunters saw the Oakland Clan members approaching, the bikers all got to their feet. There were six beat up Harleys behind the group, two of which had sidecars.

“What brings you to our city?” Daniel spoke first.

“Business,” an older scraggly looking fellow spoke up, apparently their leader.

Daniel took a quick assessment of the group. Besides the old guy, there was a medium built black man with a long scar down the side of his face, a chubby white guy, and a Hispanic fellow that looked to be more boy than man. The last two Dog Pack members were worn-out looking middle-aged females, one with red hair and one with black. None of the crew had any visible weapons.

“We don’t make those kinds of trades anymore, now that I am in charge,” Daniel answered the man.

“You misunderstand us,” the man replied, reaching into his pocket.

Thirty members of Dat’s clan rose up on the walls of the Campanil Tower, racking shotguns and chambering rounds, while they took aim at the bikers. Tiana stood on the first floor, aiming in with a .44 Magnum pistol in each hand. It was an impressive show of force.

“If a weapon comes out of that pocket, you will all die where you stand,” the tough black woman warned.

“Whoa, whoa . . . you misunderstand. Just smokes. Cigarettes.” The old man smiled, pulling out a pack of Virginia Slims. “We’re looking for the one that they call Dat.”

Daniel was taken aback, because he didn’t know this man. “Why?”

“Word is, Dat is the man who is leading the counterattack against the overseers. I am certain that is you. My name is Petey and this is my crew, the Dog Pack. We want to join up and help you fight,” he said.

“Where did you hear this word?” Daniel inquired, surprised by what he was hearing.

“The ham operator in Sacramento still talks to the one in Denver. Solar powered radio systems are still up and running. We’re on good terms with the Denver Clan, since we agreed not to bounty from them.” Petey hesitated for a minute, as if he wanted to say more, but didn’t.

“What else? What’re you hiding?” Daniel questioned, guessing that there was more to the story.

“Look man, we bountied two days ago. Yesterday, when I went into the command module to collect, the overseers came up on the screen. They showed me a picture of you. Said that you were in Oakland. Offered a triple reward if we bountied you. We put two and two together and assumed that the man in the overseers’ screen was the Dat from the ham radio,” Petey explained.

“So, you’ve come to collect, have you?” Daniel guessed.

“They ain’t collecting nothing, boss.” Tiana smirked, while both Olivia and Hambone stepped in front of Daniel, expecting trouble.

“Stop. Stop.” It was the red-haired woman pushing through her fellow bikers with a burlap sack in her hands, which she dumped onto the ground.

Six overseer batons spilled out onto the grass. A couple of the other bikers cautiously brought over handguns, their chambers locked back to show that they were empty, and laid them next to the batons.

“I have a .22 pistol,” Petey said, slowly pulling it from his back, and holding it with two fingers, laid it on the ground next to the other weapons. “Now we’re unarmed. We surrender.”

“Surrender?” Daniel echoed his word, realizing that this had taken an unexpected turn.

“Look, we’ve had enough. We all discussed it, and we don’t want to live on the clock anymore. Please let us join up with you guys. We’re good. Very good. We’ll fight hard for you,” the redhead spoke for a second time, with the others nodding in agreement.

“I don’t like it. Maybe they’re tricking us, to bounty you later. Those sons of bitch aliens are smart enough to try something like that,” Hambone whispered back to Daniel.

“Please Dat. I knew when the overseers tried to send us after you, that they were scared.  You’re the real deal, and we just want to be part of that. You’re becoming a legend man. Let us join up,” the old man begged.

“What makes you think that we’d want to take you in?” Daniel questioned, knowing full well that he had every intention of taking them in.

“The Sacramento ham operator said that you were a jarhead. I was a marine too,” the stringy-haired old man answered.

“Really? What was the 1st General Order?” Dat tested him with a question that all marines would know.

“To walk my post from flank to flank and take no shit from any rank.” The old man smiled.

“Yep, he’s a marine.” Lance Corporal Reyes chuckled.

‘Take charge of this post and all government property in view’ was the actual correct answer to Daniel’s question. The old man’s answer was a joke that salty marines would often say to each other. The old man had definitely been a marine.

“I wasn’t a glorious one, got busted back down to private several times for conduct unbecoming, but I did get an honorable discharge. Come on man, that’s got to count for somethin’ Dat,” Petey stated. “Don’t leave us out.”

“You said that you didn’t want to live on the clock anymore?” Daniel asked, a plan rapidly forming in his mind.

“No. we’re done man,” the Dog Pack leader answered.

“Well, if you want in, I need you back on that clock one more time.” Daniel smiled wryly at Petey.

“What do you mean?” The old man frowned.

Daniel pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to the gang leader. It had the name of fourteen towns on it. It was a list of all of the places that the Dirty Down and Dead had storage sheds. Hambone and Tiny had helped him make it a few days ago, during a supply meeting. Daniel had been trying to figure out how to retrieve the supplies from the sheds. Now he knew.

“You have twenty-eight days of freedom left. No more bounties allowed. I want you to ride to each of the towns on that paper and bust into the sheds there. They’re easy to find. They’re all by a command module and have a concrete pad next to them. Load whatever weapons and supplies you find into your side cars and bring it all back here. Then, and only then, are you in.”       

“Are they guarded? Who owns them?” Petey asked.

“We used to,” Daniel answered, then said, “You better get moving. You are now back on the clock.”

In the evening, Olivia came to his room and sat on Daniel’s bed, “Sterns got a message from the Frisco Clan. They want to meet with you in a couple of days.”

“Where? How?” he questioned, handing her a half-drunk bottle of rum that he had been sipping from.

“The overseers brought down both the Golden Gate Bridge and the

Richmond San Rafael Bridge during the initial invasion,” she revealed, taking a long swallow. “There’s a beach on Almeda Island where we used to meet to trade with them in the past. It’s been a couple of years, but the High Street Bridge is still passable, so we can get across. That’s where they want to meet.”

“Any idea what they want?” Daniel wondered, taking the bottle back for another swig.

“No clue, but I doubt that it’s to surrender.” Olivia laughed, the cute feminine way that he liked so much, while they took turns drinking.

“Well, what do you think?” he questioned.

She liked that he respected, and actually wanted her opinion. “Doubt that it’s to trade since they didn’t message that. Might be important. I think that you should meet with them. Don’t worry, we’ll have your back. You know that you can always count on me.”

“I trust you, Olivia. Completely.” He smiled, staring into her big brown eyes. He liked that she had a strong personality, yet her eyes were always tender.

Olivia finished the bottle, then leaned in and kissed him hard on the mouth, before reluctantly pulling away, saying, “I shouldn’t. You’re the boss.”

Olivia kissed him again, this time longer and more intense, her actions not matching her words. She managed to break away and rise from his bed, the booze making her feel all tingly inside. At least that’s what she told herself. “Besides . . . I . . . like girls.” She seemed a lot less confident about that statement than she had been the first time that she had told him.

“As you wish, Lance Corporal Reyes.” Daniel smiled, enjoying how cute her expressions were when she was confused.

“Ah what the hell,” she gave in with a sigh, “One more time won’t hurt anything.” The cute young woman climbed into his bed and proceeded to give him a much-needed workout for the next couple of hours.

Warning: The author has noted that this contains the highest level of violence.
Warning: The author has noted that this contains the highest level of language.

Daniel ordered two more pods to be hit the next night. Both were farther away, up in the Woodminster area. He was looking for supplies, and got them. Olivia led the first team, which lost only one man, and returned with numerous cans of fruit.

Daniel personally led the second group hitting a pod, that interestingly enough, turned out to be a chicken farm. The clan got into a heavy firefight with the overseers, losing six people, before Daniel managed to drop a grenade on the enemy and ended the fight.

The pod raiders returned with not only bags, but arms full of live birds, and even two crates packed with eggs. It was a huge morale booster for the clan. They had a good old-fashion breakfast for dinner that night. After they ate, his parley crew met up, ready for the upcoming night’s mission. There were ten of them. This included Daniel, Olivia, Hambone, Tiana, and six others.

The group took several tunnels, making a wrong turn at one point, now that they didn’t have Stiffy with them. After backtracking, the team eventually ended up exiting near the High Street Bridge. It was a total of about ten miles to Crown Memorial State Beach, where the meeting was supposed to occur.

It took them nearly three hours to cover the distance, because they were constantly searching for drones, and traveling in the dark was treacherous. One man stepped in a pothole and broke his ankle once they were on the island. Daniel had Hambone take the injured man back to the Oakland Clan, while the rest of them continued to the meeting place.  

Once the small group reached the beach, Olivia and Tiana took two men forward. They scouted around, making sure that this wasn’t another overseer trap. By midnight, the group of eight were waiting patiently on the beach. Then one o’clock came. Then two. Just as Daniel was about to call it off, thinking that they had been stood up, they heard oars.

Two long aluminum boats loaded with people arrived, totaling ten men and two women.  Daniel found himself wondering how hard it must have been to row all the way across the bay. He guessed that it was at least twelve miles.

“You must be the legendary Dat?” A smiling light-skinned black man came forward offering his hand. He had brown curly hair and was smiling. “I’m Stigler. I run the Frisco Clan as of about two months ago.”

“I’m Dat,” Daniel said, shaking the man’s hand, noticing that the Frisco Clan members were all skinny, sickly looking, and wore torn and damaged clothing.

“I apologize for our tardiness, the bay is full of drones tonight,” the Frisco Clan Leader explained.

“No worries. We had some issues of our own,” the Oakland Clan Leader replied.

“We haven’t come to harm you,” Stigler said. “I know that relations have been . . . tense in the past.”

“So, what are you here for?” Daniel asked.

“Several of the clans are still using the old morse code system.  We’ve heard of your efforts over here,” the small black man said.

“So, you want to join up? An alliance?” Daniel inquired.

“Actually, we need help. We’re down to less than a hundred people, and we’re starving. We were hoping that you would be willing to help us,” Stigler requested.

Daniel signaled Tiana, who came forward with a large military style duffel bag and a crate with six chickens, while he said, “This is a friendship offering. The bags are loaded with various canned goods. The chickens are roosters and are for eating. It will go a long way if you make a stew.”

“Oh, thank you brothers,” Stigler answered, signaling for some of his own people to grab the goods. Daniel could see a few of them licking their lips.

“There is plenty more where that came from.”

“What do you mean?” Stigler questioned.

“Are there overseer pods in San Francisco?”

“Not too many in the city, but numerous ones out on the north and south ends,” the man relayed.

“They’re full of food and people. Yours for the taking,” Daniel advised.

“But how? Show us Dat, and we’ll ally ourselves with you,” Stigler offered.

“Okay. Deal,” Daniel agreed. “I will come with you and show you how, for your promise of alliance. But there is one strict rule that you must agree to.”

“What?” Stigler eyed him.

“No more people eating. None. That’s over,” Daniel said.

“You show us how to get food and that won’t need to happen,” Stigler agreed, looking at the ground and then his feet; his gaze shifting anywhere but meeting Daniel’s.  

Dat held a meeting with his people on the beach and ordered Olivia and another man to return to the clan and lie low until he got back in a week. She protested, wanting to accompany him. Once Daniel explained that he needed her in charge, until his return, she agreed.

Before Olivia left, she pulled him in tight and gave him a warm hug, saying, “I’m still not so sure about this, Daniel. Remember that they are cannibals.”

“We’re so thankful to you guys. You really are saving us,” Stigler called out to him, causing Daniel to realize that he was doing the right thing.

“We have to trust people at some point.” Daniel turned his focus back to the cute Hispanic woman. He leaned down and kissed Olivia on the forehead, before releasing her. Dat, Tiana, and his four remaining people got into the boats and left with the Frisco Clan. Olivia and her partner stood on the shore and watched them leave. Her face was covered in worry.

The people in the two boats rowed for several hours, starting out by taking turns. Once Dat was on the oars, he noticed that nobody relieved him. He didn’t mind the workout, thinking that maybe the Frisco Clan members were all in a weakened state due to their lack of food.

When the boaters approached Alcatraz Island, they could see bright lights. Daniel asked about the lights, causing Stigler to say that nobody who went to Alcatraz ever came back. Several of the men in the boat kept repeating “Bad people. Bad people.”

Later, the boaters saw the lights of a couple of drones, but luckily, they remained far off. The group arrived safely at a long dock where Stigler directed Daniel to moor up. After tying up the two boats, the group walked into an open area. There was a burn barrel lit the center of it, casting off just enough light to give the scene an eerie surreal look, but failing to penetrate the surrounding dark shadows.

A second later, they were surrounded by at least fifty-armed people, aiming their guns in the faces of the Oakland Clan members The armed people were led by a young man with curly hair and a small moustache. He could have been Stigler’s twin, if he weren’t white and red-headed.

A few men came up and took the weapons from Daniel and his people. Tiana gave him an “oh shit, should we fight” look, but her leader shook his head no. There were way too many of them.

“Looks like it went well, babe,” the red-haired man said to Stigler.

“You know it, Ronnie. I brought fresh meat, as well as chickens and a lot of can goods.” Stigler replied, placing a long kiss on the man’s lips.

“Oh great, gay cannibals,” Daniel said, shaking his head.

“Shup up you toxic alpha male,” Stigler answered and signaled his people, who responded by pushing six prisoner onto their knees.

“Oh Stiggy, you told that big lummox what’s what!” the man named Ronnie giggled, slapping Stigler on the butt.

Daniel heard a gurgling down at the end and realized that the Frisco Clan members were slicing the throat of the far man. Then the second and third. Daniel tensed up, preparing to fight. He would make a play when they got to Tiana, who was right beside him. He would at least go down fighting. Then the fourth, a female, fell over drowning in her own blood.

"Not those two,” Ronnie ordered. “That tall piece of oaf is worth a lot to the overseers, and maybe they’ll give us extra for one of his lieutenants.”

“Chop those four meat bags up and have them ready for supper by tomorrow night. Grab the food they gave us and let’s move out,” Stigler ordered as he and Ronnie approached Daniel and Tiana, cracking them over the head with the butts of their rifles.

Daniel woke up on a hard floor. It was dark, and after feeling around he felt a body beside him, which let out a moan. It was Tiana, who was still unconscious. They were handcuffed, but foolishly they had been cuffed in the front, giving them more mobility.

Daniel managed to shake Tiana awake. While she came to, he crawled around in the dark, realizing that they were in a small closet. When he found the door, he discovered, unsurprisingly, that it was locked.

“Oh man, they slit our people’s throats,” Tiana groaned out. “We’re so screwed.”

“Keep your wits together. We have to wait for an opportunity,” Daniel whispered back.

“I don’t want ta’ be a people sandwich,” she cried.

“I don’t think that’s in the cards. They said that they’re going to turn us over to the overseers for a reward.”

“Shit,” she answered. “We’re gonna have to make a play. I say we jump whoever comes through that door.”

When the door did finally open, about a day later, Daniel and Tiana were sleeping. Both were dragged out of the closet by their hair and taken down a long hallway. After a painful stretch of distance, they reached a large open room, where several fires were burning in fire rings.

The smoke wafted to the ceiling, and flowed out of several windows. There had to be at least a hundred people standing around the fires eating. Stigler and Ronnie were two of the people at the biggest fire.

“Wanna say goodbye to your friends?” Stigler asked, holding out a piece of meat to Daniel. “Can you believe that he demanded that we stop eating people?”

The comment caused Ronnie to giggle, then the redhead said, “As if. Do you have any idea where you’re at, Dat?”

“San Francisco,” the captured man quipped.

“Don’t smart aleck me, boy toy,” Ronnie hissed, and smacked Daniel across the face.

“God, you hit like such a sissy.” Stigler laughed, then punched Daniel in the gut.

It was a solid hit, and catching him by surprise, doubled Daniel over.

“Do you need another slug to understand that I want you to sit?” Stigler asked, causing Daniel to go down on his butt, before he addressed Tiana, “And what about you bitch?”

Once they were both sitting down, Stigler said, “I believe that my man asked you if you knew where you are?”

“No idea,” Daniel stated truthfully.

“This is the Transamerica Pyramid Center. Forty-eight floors of Frisco Clan fabuloso!” Stigler revealed.

“Ta da!” Ronnie threw his hands into the air, palms up and wide open, to signify the splendor.

How in the hell did these two idiots take over this clan, Daniel wondered.

When neither of the two captives spoke, Stigler continued, “I might have lied a teensy bit about our clan. We’re much stronger that I let on.”

“That’s why we invented the ruse to capture you. The overlords offered us a year of free meat if we gave you to them. Seems they want the fantastic Dat!” Ronnie explained.

“You were so dumb to fall for our little trick!” Stigler giggled.

“The cute ones are always dumb, Stiggy.” Ronnie giggled back.

“The food you gave us was just a bonie,” Stigler stated.

“A bonie?” Dat asked.

“A bonus silly.” Stigler and Ronnie frowned at him.

When Daniel shook his head, Ronnie said, “Oh my, I feel like we are getting off on the wrong foot. You really don’t like gay cannibals do you, Dat?”

“I have no issue with the gay part. I could care less where you put your pecker. It’s the cannibal part that disgusts the crap out of me,” Daniel answered, truthfully.

“We told you that we weren’t going to eat you,” Stigler replied.

“Not unless you ask us much more nicely. Ooogah!” Ronnie interjected causing the two gay men to laugh out loud and high five each other. “Although your clan thinks that we already did eat you.”

“Yeah, they think . . . wait, what?” Stigler looked at Ronnie. “What’d you do?”

”I really couldn’t help myself, Stiggy.” The redhead shrugged.

“What did you do Ronnie?” Stiggy didn’t seem very happy now.  

“His people morse coded to check up on their leader and to see how he was doing. I coded back that he was great. Especially on bread with mustard and ketchup. I finished with ‘Thanks, let’s do lunch sometime,” Ronnie had to put his hand over his mouth to keep from bursting out in laughter.

“Oh my golly, that is funny isn’t it?” Stigler was now biting his lower lip to keep from laughing. “Funny, but stupid. What if his clan comes?”

“Who cares if they do? San Francisco is big. They’ll never find us in time to save the Datster here.” Ronnie’s words soothed his nervous boyfriend.

“Well, anyways, we aren’t going to eat you. I can’t promise that the overseers won’t gobble you up. Who knows what they do with the people that they take.” Stigler smiled at him.

“That’s right. You’re working for the overseers,” Daniel accused.

“Don’t be so naïve Dat. We’re working for ourselves. If that means giving the overseers what they ask for every once in a while, so that they leave us alone in our little fabulous palace, then so be it,” the black man scoffed.

“Small price to pay for peace, Datster.” Ronnie rolled his eyes.

“I’m so excited!” Stigler stuck his tongue in and out of his mouth several times at Daniel in a perverted fashion. “They’re going to give us fresh people meat for a whole year just for you, handsome.

“Oh, I’m so jealous,” Ronnie informed them and began sticking his tongue in out of his mouth in the same fashion that his boyfriend was doing, both staring at Dat.

“Oh babe, you got a little something in your teeth there.” Stigler pointed at Ronnie’s mouth.

“I do? Where is it?” Ronnie started picking at his teeth.

“Never mind, I think it was just a little piece of the Oakland Clan!” Stigler joked, causing both men to high five again.

“How did you become the leader of this clan?” Daniel asked Stigler, ignoring their crude vulgarity.

“Co-leader.” Ronnie corrected him, with the two cannibals becoming serious again.

“My daddy was the previous leader. He didn’t approve of Ronnie,” Stigler explained.

“Frightful man, really frightful.” Ronnie gave an exaggerated frown.

“Yes, so one night we chopped him up in his sleep, and ate him the next evening.” Stigler laughed.

“Ta da!” Ronnie threw his arms in the air again, striking a dance pose.

Several lights towards the front of the building interrupted their conversation. A commotion ensued, and then several people came over and whispered something to Stigler, causing him to exclaim, “Well alrighty then. It looks like your ride is here.”

Ronnie turned his back on Daniel to see what the activity at the front of the building was. It was the moment that Daniel had been waiting for. In a flash, he was up and had his cuffed hands over Ronnie’s head and around his neck. He held the small man tightly in place.

“Oh Dat, stop being so rude. I have a hundred people in this room alone. If you kill him, you will be dead before you reach the doors,” Stigler said whimsically, but Daniel could see fear in the man’s eyes.

“I may be dead, but you will be single,” Daniel laughed out, knowing that he was in control now.

“You couldn’t possibly kill him before we get to you,” the black clan leader said, pulling out a .38 pistol, while others from the Frisco Clan were closing in from behind Daniel.

“Oh, ya think so?” Tiana joined in, rising to her feet. “Wanna know how Dat here became the leader of the Oakland Clan?”

“Go ahead and tell them,” Daniel said.

“He killed Big Jim with one punch.” Tiana said, whistling sharply for affect, while Daniel picked Ronnie up off the floor by the chain around his neck, causing the small man to kick at the air frantically.

“Okay, okay, okay. Point taken, Daniel. Don’t hurt my baby,” Stigler pouted. “What do you want?”

“We are going to---” Daniel was interrupted by all hell breaking loose.

Explosions rocked the front door area. One, two, then three. They came one right after another. A couple of red blaster flashes could be seen, leading Daniel to believe that the overseers were attacking.

 Glass shattered and people screamed. Then gun fire erupted from all around the building, blowing through several windows and taking down most of the Frisco Clan members in the front of the room.

Daniel snapped Ronnie’s neck with a fierce twist, causing Stigler to unload his revolver at him. Five of the rounds hit Ronnie’s dead body, while the sixth struck Daniel in the left shoulder, knocking him down. Tiana leapt on the light-skinned black man and began pounding him in the face with her cuffed hands locked together. She beat Stiggler over and over again, until he was dead.

 A massive firefight took place in the center of the first floor, with the Frisco Clan members quickly falling. The people that had been coming up behind Daniel had faded into the shadows. Oddly, no reinforcements came from the other floors. Then Daniel and Tiana were surrounded by shadowy figures. A second later, the wounded Daniel could see Olivia’s face in the firelight. When Daniel got up, she ran over and gave him a big hug.

Sterns also came over and happily slapped Daniel on the back, bringing a panful groan from his lips. Hambone rushed over and began tending to his leader’s shoulder.  

“Oh, thank God you are alive! We didn’t know if they had really eaten you,” Olivia exclaimed in relief, while a small tear of joy ran down her cheek as she carefully helped Daniel over to a nearby bench. Every time she turned around, Daniel seemed to find a new way to lose blood. 

Author Notes

If this chapter makes you hungry . . .seek professional help.

Chapter 19
Home Sweet Home

By Douglas Goff

“How did you guys find us?” Daniel asked, after Hambone had painfully removed the bullet from his shoulder and bandaged him.  

“Well, after we got a crazy morse code message from the Frisco Clan, we went down to the shore and commandeered us some boats.” Sterns scratched his head. “Once we were on this side, your girlfriend . . . er . . . whatever she is, put scouts in the tallest buildings. Didn’t take long to spot the overseers’ column moving this way.”

“We took out the overseers with some of your grenades. Then we shot it out with these Frisco fools. Olivia smiled at him.

The large force of Oakland Clan members cleared the remainder of the Transamerica Pyramid Center and found just under a thousand people locked in various rooms. It seemed that not everybody agreed with Stigler and Ronnie, and those who didn’t found themselves locked up and on the menu. The gay pair and their followers had been eating their own clan members for some time.

The rescue team stayed in Frisco for only one more day, leaving Tiana behind to teach the Frisco Clan members how to take out pods and get food. She was now in charge with twenty well-armed Oakland Clan members to back her orders. Tiana’s first order of business was to move the clan underground, and out of the overseers’ reach.

Once Daniel and his group were back on the Oakland side of the bay, they were greeted with a surprise. Several horsemen had arrived, requesting to join up. They were the survivalists from Hilt.

“Room for a few more?” The survivalists were led by a man named Kenneth Zumbolt.

“We’d be happy to have you.” Daniel shook Kenneth’s hand, happy that they were very well-armed. Kenneth Zumbolt was a bald and muscular white man with a pencil thin moustache. Kenneth seemed competent.

Another group had also arrived, this one also in search of Dat. It was Barbara’s group from the waterpark. The bookish looking portly woman gave Daniel a big hug, saying, “Do you remember us? We were living In the tunnel in the water park? You gave me bullets for my pistol.”

“Of course,” Daniel answered. How could he forget. If she had any bullets at the time, the woman would have killed him.

“You really saved us! My people were on the brink of starvation when you found us. I hid on one of the old waterslides and managed to score two deer with my .38. Thanks to you, we had meat!” Barbara thanked him.

“Outstanding!” Daniel had been astonished that she had managed to kill two deer with such a small caliber weapon and certainly looked at the woman with a newfound respect.

“We traded meat for medicine with a family that was holed up nearby. They had one of those solar operated ham radios,” she explained. “We learned that a Commander Dat was leading a resistance back in Oakland, so we packed up and came. We want to join up.”

“You are more than welcome here.” Daniel was pleased to have them.

Later that night Daniel had an intense dream. Andrea was standing in a misty fog, waving at him to come. She kept saying, over and over again, “Find us.”

Daniel startled awake, realizing that someone was in his bed. That someone smelled of strawberries, although he hadn’t seen one in years, and was snuggled deep into the crook of his arm. Olivia peered at him with a sleepy grin, “I missed you. That’s all.”

“I have ta’ go,” he said.

“Go where?” she yawned.

“Home. To Oceanside. I have to know what happened to my wife and kids.”

“That’s about four hundred-and fifty-miles Dat. How’re ya’ gonna do that?” she asked, looking worried now.

“I can take a horse.”

“Are you kidding? That’s not safe. I know Hambone got the bullet out, but maybe you have a fever. Besides, what if there’re no answers there?” she asked. “Not to mention that you just got this whole resistance thing going. It’ll fall apart without you.”

“If there’s any chance that I can get some answers, then I must try. I’ll stay for another month, firming up the resistance, but then I’m going,” he stated.

“Then I’m going with you,” she advised.

“No, I need you here. Running things in my absence.”

Olivia leaned over and kissed him on the chin, saying, “I think this is a bad idea.”

                                                                   *     *     *

The following month, the growing clan hit several pods. Many of the first people that they had rescued were now off emotional quarantine and were helping them fight. Casualties were light, and things were going very well.

The Dog Pack bounty hunter crew returned towards the end of the month. The bikers were loaded with weapons, food, cigarettes, and beer. They had stolen all of the goods from Stan the Man’s sheds, just as Daniel had ordered. Then Jilly arrived with an entourage from the Sacramento Clan. They had come to trade weapons for food.

The beautiful woman was wearing a black blouse and a tight black mini skirt, with knee high black boots. Daniel couldn’t even hazard a guess as to how she had travelled on horseback like that, but he was glad that she had. She was looking good.

A large party ensued in the underground club, where Daniel had been held captive, that went late into the night. Daniel expected trouble between Olivia and Jilly, since he had been sleeping with both women, and each had some level of undefined interest in him.

It seemed tense between the two at first, but once Stan the Man’s liberated beer started to flow, the two girls started getting along like two long lost friends. Jilly and Olivia began dancing very seductively on one of the stripper poles for him, staring at him in a way that sent shivers down his spine.

After giving Olivia a few stripper pole pointers, Jilly came over and sat on Daniel’s lap. The woman was driving him nuts, wiggling in all the right ways. The beer continued to flow, and after he got drunk, Daniel lost track of both women.

When Daniel made it back to his quarters, he found the two of them sitting on his bed, locked in a passionate kiss. He started to back out of the room, but both women jumped up and grabbed him by his hands.

“Oh no you don’t,” Jillian smiled.

“Wwwe wwwere waiting for yyyou.” Olivia giggled, badly slurring her words.

The two women pulled him back into the room, and one of them drew the curtain closed. How was it possible to be getting more post-apocalyptic action than he had ever even dreamed of back in his single days?

Five hours later, Daniel left the two spent and sleeping women. He penned a note for Olivia, telling her that he had left for home and she was in charge. After placing a soft kiss on each of the women’s foreheads, he grabbed his pack. His gunshot wound had healed up nicely, so it was time to go.

Hambone met him near the entrance to the tunnels. with a sturdy horse named Sparky. Daniel figured that if he could stay on the roads, he could do over fifty miles a day, even at night. It should take him about nine or ten days to reach Oceanside.

“He was a quarter horse. Strongest mount that we have. Still, take a day and rest him about halfway,” Hambone advised. “He’ll get you there and back.”

“Thanks.” Daniel took the reins.

“You sure you don’t want some company?” the red-haired man questioned. ”You only need ask.”

“Nah. This is my journey. I have to do this one alone,” Daniel said.

“Well, you just make sure that you come back to us. If you’re not back in twenty days, we’re coming after you,” Hambone advised.

“You just make sure that you look after Olivia,” Daniel answered as he galloped away.

Daniel rode the horse at night and slept in barns, sheds, or houses during the day. The farther south he went, the more eerie and quiet it became and the more seekers he started to see. He avoided all population centers, and took State Highway 101, thinking that the overseers’ columns mostly stuck to Highway 5.

Daniel skirted wide around Los Angeles, and finally reached Oceanside on the ninth day, with only having seen a handful of seekers and a couple of drones off in the distance at night. It had been a quiet, peaceful journey, and he liked riding the horse. He hadn’t been on one since he had worked on his grandad’s cattle ranch back when he was eighteen.

Daniel had let his mind wander to anything, except what he might find once he got home. Now he stood facing the Sea Breeze Apartment Complex, where his apartment was. It was low rent housing, as he had to survive on corporal pay, but was decent enough. Of course, the ocean was three blocks away, so there really wasn’t much of a sea breeze here.

Oceanside, like most small towns, had very little seeker damage. The majority of the bald collectors were gathering in the big cities. Oceanside looked like a normal town, minus the people, plus the grass and weeds were way out of control. Okay, now he was seriously stalling.

Daniel’s custom FXDR 114 soft tail motorcycle was long gone, but his old beat up brown 2015 Chevrolet Silverado still sat in its parking spot. He tied Sparky to a fence post and walked over to the rear fender of his old truck and ran his fingers over a small dent and two-inch scratch, where Adrian had rammed it with his tricycle. A slight smile crossed his face as he relived the memory.

A movement out of his peripheral vision caught his attention, bringing his .357 out in a flash. Daniel dropped a seeker as it charged towards him, killing it with one shot between the eyes. They may not group up in the smaller towns, but there were still singles to deal with. It was time. Daniel went up the stairs to his second-floor apartment.

The nervous man placed his hand on the dark black metal doorknob and hesitated. Did he really want to do this? How could he not? Maybe it would be locked. It wasn’t. With a slight push, he was home.

The apartment was a mess. It seemed to have been ransacked numerous times, and everything of use had been taken. There were two gunshot holes in the refrigerator door and when he went into his bedroom, he let out a long moan. Lying on the bed was a body on its stomach. It wore blue jeans and a black shirt.

When Daniel rolled the body over, he realized that it was now mostly skeleton, with remnants of dried out hair and skin clinging to it. The dead person wore an ACDC t-shirt. He breathed a sigh of relief when he realized that it had been a man. Daniel wasn’t able to find any clues as to what had happened to his family. That is until he found the note.

It had been lying on the table, under a spilt plant that was now just dirt and some dried out petals. The only thing visible was his name, in Andrea’s rushed handwriting. With trembling hands, Daniel pulled it out and after shaking off the dirt, began to read.

Danny,

Waited for you for over a week. Heard bits and pieces from neighbors that there was an invasion. They said that our military was wiped out, with only remnants still in hiding. I can only assume that something has happened to you, or you would have gotten to us.

It’s getting bad here. Lootings and killings. A man broke into the house early this morning and I shot him with that little gun that you got me for Christmas. He died right by the refrigerator.

I have packed up what we need and am taking the kids to Alcatraz, where people are talking about a resistance. People say that it isn’t as bad to the north. The Johnson kid from down the street stole your bike and I don’t think that your old truck will make it that far, so we are going in my Tahoe. If you are reading this, find us. We need you baby.

Love,

Tinkerbell

Daniel Allen Taylor sat in his kitchen chair for several minutes after reading his letter, and cried like a baby. He hadn’t grieved over his family since the invasion, always holding out a tiny sliver of hope, but now that was gone. He had only heard bad things about Alcatraz.

Daniel spent two private hours in his home, going through memories and trinkets. Once he was done, he gathered up the letter and a couple of photos. He left the place, putting it all behind him. He had one sole purpose now. He was going to go to Alcatraz and kill every single overseer that he could find. He would not rest until they were all dead. Every last one of them.

Daniel was on day three of his return trip when tragedy struck. In the dark, Sparky stepped into a pothole and broke his leg. “Damnit! Damnit!! Damnit!!!” he yelled, angry with himself.

Daniel had pushed the horse way too hard and now he was forced to put him down. This left him on foot and at least three hundred miles from Oakland. Before he lost his horse, he had been making good time, and even with skirting Los Angeles, was already on the 101 south of Oxnard, California.

The August sun was brutal, so Daniel was glad to be walking at night. Still, he had sweated out valuable liquids while sleeping in an old barn that day. He managed to locate a few wells, but they were modern ones that had run on electricity. Water might become an issue.

Daniel exited the barn and started his trek north. After walking all night, he reached Oxnard, where he started to look for his daytime shelter. Then his eye caught sight of some movement. He saw two kids standing near a building just off the State Route. He only saw them for a second, but damned if they didn’t look like Adrian and Alesia.

Daniel wiped the sweat from his eyes, knowing that it was impossible. Still, he had to check it out. He made his way over to where he had seen them. The area appeared to have earthquake damage, with a road called Oxnard Street torn up and jutting skyward. While Daniel picked his way over the uneven concrete, he lost his footing and began to slide towards a dark crevice. 

Daniel managed to catch the edge of a slab, with his feet dangling into the darkness below. Not being able to see into the black chasm, he couldn’t help but feel like a tasty morsel, hanging onto the lip of a giant underground earth beast.  

In normal conditions, the muscular man would have been able to pull himself up. But, Daniel was not healthy. He had been shot, pronged, and stabbed in his shoulders over the past two months, not to mention that he had also broken his wrist. The residual aches and pains caused his arms to give way, dropping him into the darkness below.

Daniel didn’t fall far, maybe eight feet, where he landed on something that was surprisingly soft. It took him a moment to dig out his flashlight, which flickered on, lighting the room. He quickly unholstered his .357 Taurus when he saw what he had landed on. A seeker!

Daniel looked about, noting that there were six of them, lying on bed slabs made from the overseer’s white material, the same that made the pod walls. All six seekers, including the one that he had landed on, were still asleep. He was inside of a command module that had been sucked into the earth by the earthquake.

He thought about shooting the seekers in their heads while they slept, but was unsure if the first shot would wake the others. Best just to get away from here as quickly as possible. Daniel started looking for a way out.

The front end of the module, where the screens and controls were, was crushed by a large slab of asphalt and earth. The only way out was the way that he had come, but it would be a climb. From the looks of the disturbed earth, the seekers had been doing it. Then the worst happened.

The wake-up whistle sounded, causing all six of the seekers to immediately sit straight up. They began to sniff at the air around them and growl. Daniel put two bullets into the foreheads of the two seekers directly in front of him. Then the one that he had landed on grabbed him from behind, locking him in a tight bear hug.

Daniel squeezed off one more shot, before the Taurus went sliding across the floor in the struggle. The bullet struck the knee of a seeker that was approaching him from the front. The wounded seeker swung his pry bar at Daniel, who ducked forward, causing the bar to strike the seeker that was holding him.

When his captor fell backwards, releasing him, Daniel went for his boot knife and began slashing and stabbing. Back and forth he hacked at the remaining bald men, wounding them numerous times. His arm grew weary from all of the thrusting and swinging. His knife became slippery with their blood and he accidently sliced his own hand when it slipped.

The seekers were hard to kill. It took Daniel all of five very gory minutes to end the lives of the last four. After Daniel was finished, he was covered in blood and was very exhausted. Once he wrapped his new wound, Daniel leaned back against one of the dead seekers and fell asleep.

When he woke from a peaceful sleep, his gruesome reality came flooding back in. Daniel needed to get out of this command module of death. He started the treacherous climb back up to the surface, using an exposed root to assist him. It actually turned out to be easier than he had expected, and he slipped only once.

When Daniel reached the surface, it was a bit past midday. Seeing his children must have been his mind playing tricks on him, after his heartbreaking return home. He made his way back to the highway and headed north on Route 101. After walking the rest of the day and through the night, he found an old corn silo, just in time. Not only because he was exhausted, but he also needed to clean his cut because his hand was getting infected, and he was running out of antiseptic.

Daniel spent another evening walking, and did not see the children again. It had been wishful thinking, and he had to let them go, or it would drive him crazy. He busied himself singing some of his favorite songs as he walked steadily north.  

That evening, Daniel rested in an old tool shed. His feet were aching. Motorcycles and horses had spoiled him. He popped several blisters on his feet, and inspected his hand. The infection was spreading, and it didn’t help that he was now out of water.

Daniel awoke with a fever, caused by his hand infection growing worse. The only medicine that he had left was aspirin. When he exited the shed, he almost headed in the wrong direction. Daniel walked all night, and was startled on a couple of occasions when he realized that he was mumbling randomly.

Daniel made his bed that day in the back of an old Ford truck that sat on the shoulder of the road. It wasn’t very comfortable, but it was all that he had. He wasn’t sure how long he had slept when he was awakened by gun shots. Sparse at times, then rapid, again followed by a single shot here and there. The sounds were some distance to his north.

Daniel figured that he had been making about twenty-five miles a night on foot. He wasn’t sure exactly where he was, but since the land had started rising into the mountains, he believed that he was near a town that he had ridden through on his way down south. After an hour of walking, he arrived at the place, Wheeler Springs.

“Town” was a stretch. Village would be more apt. It seemed to be a small series of buildings that grew up around a natural hot spring. None of that held his gaze. What did was the dead seekers. Someone had killed eight of them in various locations along the main street. He didn’t have to wait long to find out who had done it. That someone was coming up behind him.

When Daniel turned around, he saw horse riders. Dozens of them. Way too many to count, slowly riding towards him. Several of the riders had pistols on their hips and rifles slung over their backs. Interestingly, each one carried a stick of dynamite on their belts. This looks like an old west movie, he thought.

Over half of the riders were Hispanic, wearing large sombreros and multi-colored serapes. Now, more riders were coming up the street from the direction that he had come from. Daniel sat down in a rocking chair on the porch of a storefront. Six riders broke off from the main group and rode up to him.

“Does the Border Patrol know that you’re this far north?” Daniel winked.

One of the Hispanic men smiled at him and climbed off his horse. He had a flowing black moustache and a five o’clock shadow for a beard. He was smoking a mushy wet cigar. The man looked very dirty and even a bit tired.

“I’m Juan Carlos Cortez-Monteverde, leaders of this rag-tag bands of misfits,” he said with a very thick accent and adding extra s’s to some words.  

“I’m Daniel Allen Taylor.”

“Why do you show no fears of us Daniel Allen Taylor? A lone traveller can run into all sorts of troubles in this days and age.” Juan Carlos continued to smile at him.

“The way I see it, is that you have me out-numbered and out-gunned. Not much I can do about that, and there’s no reason to get all excited about it,” Daniel explained, holding up his bandaged hand. “Any chance you have some medicine?”

Juan Carlos nodded and called out, “Doc!”

A small white man with silver rimmed spectacles climbed off his horse and came over. He unwrapped Daniel’s hand very carefully, and after squeezing out a lot of pus, poured a white powder all over it. While Doc rewrapped the infected appendage with clean bandages, Juan Carlos and Daniel continued their conversation.

“So, you aren’t going to kill me?” Daniel questioned.

“What makes you say that?” Juan Carlos smiled again. There was a warm feeling about the guy.

“Well, you just fixed me up. Doubt you’d do that if you were planning on killing me.”

“We don’t kill peoples unless we have to,” Juan Carlos advised.

“Well, I must say that I like your handy work here.” Daniel nodded towards one of the dead seekers.

“Unfortunately, they’re no longer peoples. We tried to remove one of the headbands and they just gos completely nuts. They have to be puts down,” Juan Carlos stated.

“That’s what I’ve heard. It’s unfortunate,” Daniel said

“Doesn’t matter. You may joins us if you wish. We’ve heards of a great man leading a resistance to the north. A Major Reyes has been moose codings the reports daily. A man called Commander Dat. First, my people and I are going to get cleans in the hot springs. Then we’re going to travels north to join this great man, if he’ll have us.”

“He’ll have you.” Daniel smiled knowingly.

Author Notes

More interesting characters!

Chapter 20
Say Hello To Your Old Pal

By Douglas Goff

Warning: The author has noted that this contains the highest level of language.
Warning: The author has noted that this contains the highest level of sexual content.

“So, you’re sayin’ that you’re Commander Dat?” Juan Carlos rubbed his stubbled chin. It was taking some convincing, not because Juan Carlos didn’t believe that Daniel’s name was an acronym for Dat, but because he didn’t believe that Daniel was the same man that they were seeking. “Manny, set up that moose codes thingy we got back in Tijuana.”

Daniel smiled at the man’s mispronunciation while waiting patiently for a man named Manuel checked out his story. Within an hour, the solar machine was up and running and they were able to verify that Daniel was the leader of the Oakland Clan. They also let his people know that he was okay.

“We’ve been fightin’ all the ways up from Mexico.” Juan Carlos and his horse raiders had been waging their own war against the seekers. “My country is devastated. All the big cities are gones. There’re rumors that many of my paisanos are hidings in the mountainous regions of southern Mexico, but we came north. We were hoping to find helps from the Gringos, but so far, we have only founds more destruction.” The man’s English was good, but he had a tendency to add extra s’s to his words and had a heavy accent.

“I’m sure that the invasion was worldwide. I doubt there’s any help out there. We either help ourselves, or dwindle away. That is why we’re striking back in Oakland. We’re takin’ it to them,” Daniel told Juan Carlos.

“We collected peoples in San Diego, then more along the way, and now numbers about two thousand. The horses came from ranches on both sides of the border, many of which were grazing wildly, their owners long gones. We are yours to commands, if you will have us.” The horse warriors looked to be a rugged crew of hardened fighters, consisting of both men and women.

The horses seemed to be in great shape. They were obviously grass fed, and while a bit skinny, looked rugged and sturdy. Many had nice saddles and stirrups, while others had makeshift saddles and a few even had just saddle blankets.

The group had ten old buckboard style wagons as well, that carried all manner of supplies. Fruit, vegetables, ammunition, a couple loaded with scavenged hay, and two for transporting a handful of the elderly and young.

Daniel was also surprised to see that the cowboys were herding several hundred head of cattle. He felt his mouth start to water, thinking about a juicy steak. I guess that saves them from having to scavenge for much food.

“In the beginnings, many peoples died quickly. That lefts a lot of stuff lying about to grab, not to mentions that we have found plentys of horses and cows along the way.” The Mexican leader had seen Daniel looking at his supplies with suprise. “So, will you haves us?”

“I will take anyone who is willing to pick up a gun and fight,” Daniel said, shaking Juan Carlos’ hand. He liked the confident Mexican leader. “You will remain in charge of your people and fight under my orders.”

A very clean force of Juan Carlo’s horsemen left Wheeler Springs on some well-grazed horses. Daniel noticed that only a handful of people had to ride double. It took a few days, but the group finally arrived at the Sacramento Clan compound.

Daniel took them there, because he remembered that Jilly had a very large makeshift stable behind the airfield to house their own animals. The Sacramento clan grazed their horses on the thick grass between the runways. Two thousand more horses were a lot, but they would have to make do. Hopefully it was just overnight, besides the tunnels would be no place for horses.

Daniel had intentionally kept his clan at the same location since he took over. He felt that moving would be psychologically damaging to his people. He needed them to understand that they weren’t running and hiding anymore. They were standing and fighting.

The only incident that occurred during their return ride was when a drone spotted them from a distance out, followed by a green power circle opening up in the center of the horses. Daniel went for his 12-gauge.  

“Wait . . .” Juan Carlos held his hand up to Daniel. “You won’t be needings that.”

The man nearest to the transporter quickly lit his dynamite stick and dropped it into the power circle. It closed a second later. Juan Carlos explained that he had been losing a lot of people to the overseers popping in at will, until one of his men got the idea to drop a “boom stick” into the power circle. When they did, no overseers came through. The green circles were obviously two-way transporters.

A few hours later, they reached the front gates of the Sacramento Clan.

“State your business,” the scar-faced Creeper questioned calmly, although several, more heavily armed Sacramento Clan guards were arriving to face off with the huge horse army standing outside their gates. Creeper wore the same black hooded sweatshirt and black cargo pants that he had on the first time that Daniel had seen him.

“It’s Dat, Creeper,” Daniel said, wondering if the dirty man every changed his clothes.

“State your business,” the scuzzy man repeated, his greasy black hair creeping out from the bottom of his hood like dirty black fingers. The gate guard certainly was single-minded.

“We’re here to see Jilly,” Daniel answered.

They waited for a few minutes before Jilly walked up to the gate, where at least five hundred Sacramento Clan members now faced off against Daniel’s forces. He was worried that someone was going to accidently crack off a round and a shooting war would ensue.

The black-haired clan leader was as beautiful as ever, wearing a turquoise jumpsuit. Daniel wondered how the woman always managed to look so good in such desperate times. Just the magic of Jilly, he supposed.

“We need to diffuse this situation quickly, Jilly,” Daniel said. “Have your people stand down.”

“Why are you here with so many?” she looked concerned, but signaled Creeper to send the others away. Most of her people started to wander off, now that the excitement was over.  

“We need shelter and grazing for a day or two,” Daniel requested.

“How am I going to feed all these mouths?” Jilly was hesitant to let so many in, biting her lower lip in her sexy contemplative manner.

“I understand that it’s a lot to ask,” Daniel said. “But these men have their own food and a herd of cattle.  I’m sure that he could be persuaded to give up a couple. They just need some grass to graze their horses.”

Jillian Johnson literally licked her lips as visions of juicy steaks and hamburgers passed through her mind. It had been so long since they had any beef. Daniel watched the woman, knowing that he had her. Still, she was a fierce negotiator and was always looking for an angle. She could have put the pre-invasion used car dealers to shame.  

“Okay, I guess that we could use some beef in our diet. I trust that you’ll make that happen Daniel, but nobody is coming in unless you agree to stay with me for at least a day.” The beautiful woman smiled wryly. “It’s the least that you can do after leaving Olivia and I without so much as a goodbye back in Oakland. But don’t worry, you’re cute little girlfriend more than made up for your rude departure. I have to admit, I can’t stop thinking about our last night together. So, do we have an agreement? Are you mine for a day? I asked politely this time.”

“Who could say no to that?” the Oakland Clan leader answered genuinely.

Daniel sat down to dinner with Jilly, Juan Carlos, and a couple of the Sacramento Tribunal leaders and laid out his next goal. His plan was bold, aggressive, and they all liked it. It would take a day to prepare their forces, then they were going to hit the enemy hard.

“Ninety miles in one days?” Juan Carlos shook his head wistfully while studying Daniel’s tattered and scribble-marked map. “Technically it is possible, but we would lose too manys horses and they would be worthless in the battle. Two days would still be pushing it, but would be mores feasible. Plus, the horses needs a good rest right now.”

Jilly and Daniel spent an intensely passionate day and night together. After breakfast, he decided to go and tie up some loose ends with Juan Carlos. While Daniel came down the mobile jet stairs, he saw a gruesome sight. Jilly’s two personal guards were lying on the ground in pools of blood, their throats slit from ear to ear.

“Well, don’t just stand there, Dat. Come on down and say hello to your old pal, Stan.” Stan the Man said, pointing his Baretta 9mm right at Daniel’s head from the shadow of the runway stairs.    

Daniel slowly made his way down the steps, contemplating his next move, when Stan said, “Don’t even think about it, Dat ol’ boy. Where's that smoke wagon of yours? Don't tell me that I caught you defenseless.”

“My shotgun's up in the plane with the rest of my gear.”

“You don’t have any of my frag grenades shoved up that tight ass of yours, do ya?” Stan continued.

“Just my pig sticker in my boot,” Daniel answered.

“Well, that sounds just about perfect, doesn’t it?” Stan the Man grinned his biggest grin. “Cause we gonna have us a good old fashion knife fight. Hopefully that she-cat up there didn’t sap away all of your strength. You were in there pounding that for an awful long time.”

“This isn’t necessary Stan --- “, Daniel started to say before he was loudly interrupted.

“Shut up Dat! Shut the fuck up!! I thought that we were friends. Then you put a bullet in the back of poor old Scooter’s noggin. Next you blew off Horndog’s nuts. Man, that was just wrong. Not to mention that you raided all of my cubby holes and stole my stuff. I figured the best way to settle the score was to wait for you right here. I knew that it’d be hard for you to stay away from that sweet honey pot up there. By the way, where’re our pals, Tiny and Hambone?” Stan finished his diatribe with a question.

“Oakland Clan killed them that first day,” Daniel lied, not wanting the biker leader to go after them if this went badly.

“I highly doubt that Dat. You probably got those two pussy traitors holed up somewhere real close, don’t ya?” Stan the Man smirked. “I’ll gut those two lard ass deadweights when I’m finished with you.”

The door opened above him, and Jilly came out with her AK-47, saying, “Dat?”

“Just go back in,” Daniel said. “I got this.

“Yeah Princess, listen to your boyfriend here. Just go back inside before I put a round right between those pretty dark eyes. Besides, you start shooting that big thing and you’ll end up mowing down Pretty Boy right along with me. Go back inside and Ol’ Stanley will be up for his turn in a few minutes,” Stan the Man ordered. Jillian bit her lower lip, then went back inside after Daniel nodded at her to go.

“Boy, but ain’t she a looker Dat.” Stan the Man snickered. “Too bad your woman is a merry-go-round, and everybody gets a ride!”

Daniel knew that Stan was trying to get him upset. He just stared at the dangerous man, calmly waiting for his chance. He could feel the intense adrenaline forcing heat through his veins in a rush of excitement. This was when the marine was at his best.

“Now pull out that pig sticker, Dat. Pull it out!” Stan demanded.

Daniel leaned down and slipped his boot knife free, saying, “Before we do this, I wanted to tell you about your father, Hank.”

“You got nothing to tell me Dat. That old man stopped being my dad the second that he turned me in to the cops.”

“Did he? I had an interesting conversation with the old chief. Seems that he never did turn you in. It was one of the other hookers who ratted you out,” Daniel explained.

Stan the Man scowled at him, and after setting his snub-nosed .38 on the ground, pulled out his own combat knife from a belt sheath. It was the same blade that he had finished Deacon with. “I’m going to slit you from ear to ear, boy.”

“Yeah, I don’t think so,” Daniel said, and dropped his knife on the ground. It was the moment that he had been waiting for.

“Oh Dat, don’t make this easy on old Stan. Pick up that damn knife and let’s dance!”

Daniel pulled his .357 Taurus out from behind his back, where it had been resting in his waistband, and pointed it straight at Stan’s head “Oh, did I forget to mention that I started carrying a handgun?”

“Awww geez Dat. That’s so pussy. Deacon laid down three guns for the chance to gut me with a knife.”

“Where’d that get him?” Daniel stared hard at Stan, unflinching in his resolve.

“Oh, come on now Dat.” The wicked grin had slipped from Stan’s face as quickly as the tables had turned. “Don’t be so rude. This isn’t going to go down like that. I know that you want to fight me just as badly as I want to fight you. The question of ‘who’s better’ is what that brain in your thick jarhead skull is wondering about. A good old fashioned knife fight between two equals to resolve who’s the best, mano a mano, once and for all. Don’t tell me that I underestimated you.”

“That’s where you’re mistaken. You didn’t underestimate me Stan, you misunderstood me from day one and are still doing it right up to your last moment. That mistake is going to cost you your life.”

“Misunderstood you? Hell no! You want this knife fight as bad as I do. That’s what’s rolling around in your head.”

What’s rolling around in my head is a dead woman, who was down on her luck. And because she was trying to make a few bucks as a prostitute, ended up murdered, pissed on, and buried in the back of your father’s yard. Hank’s also rolling around in my head. How you sent me in to kill your own father.”

Stan only glared at him, his anger rising, with his happy persona being gobbled up by his dark side. The transformation was almost visible, like a wolf eating a rabbit.

“Not to mention all of those survivors that you killed and stuffed into those campers over at Emigrant Lake Reservoir. I’m also thinking about all the people that you blasted, including Carmen and Rosie. This .357 here belonged to Carmen. I started carrying it so that I could kill you with it. No, I don’t see us as equals. I just see a rabid dog who needs to be put down.”

“Dat, you were always nothing more than an honor first pussy mari---“. A single gunshot ended Stan the Man’s rant.

“I don’t see the need to listen to your raving lunacy,” Daniel repeated the words that Stan had said when he had blasted the murderer in Fairfield. Thus ended the Dirty Down and Dead.

Author Notes

This has been reworked more than a few times. Now it is much shorter!

Chapter 21
Cowboys And Aliens

By Douglas Goff

Warning: The author has noted that this contains the highest level of violence.

“Any drones?” Daniel asked Manny, who rode in with the last group of scouts.

“None Dat,” the petite man answered in perfect English, having worked in the states on several occasions.

“Then it’s time,” Daniel decided, and led 2,500 horse warriors out of the Sacramento complex. After a hard ride, they located an old soccer field complex, where they rested and grazed their tired animals for the night. The men ate beef stew that had been prepared in Sacramento, and slept under the stars.

The second day, a drone had to be taken out and dynamite was dropped into a couple of green power circles that opened up in their ranks. The horse riders still had to move along the highway at a good clip, but having extended the trip to two days, as Juan Carlos had requested, paid off.

“Since we left the wagons and cattle behind, and everyone is riding single, we have made good time,” Juan Carlos said to Dat after riding up to him near a large field. “Let’s rest the horses for a few hours and let them graze. Then we can walk them until it gets dark.”

“Sure,” Daniel said, not being used to such long hard riding. “My butt hurts anyways.”

When darkness fell, they remounted and started to ride more cautiously. In this manner, they completed the ninety-mile journey north. The horse that Daniel was riding hadn’t been named as it was a fairly new addition. Once Daniel learned that, the song Riding Through The Desert On A Horse With No Name by America popped into his head. For the rest of the night, he couldn’t get the annoying lyrics out of his head.   

A couple of hours before daybreak the horse army had reached Chico, having lost only a couple dozen riders due to lagging or injured horses. Juan Carlos refused to leave the tired or wounded animals alone, so their riders stayed with their mounts until they were able to fall back to Sacramento.

Scouts provided that the enemy numbers were the same as before. Nothing had changed since Daniel had been there the first time. Thousands of seekers guarded by three overseer columns, with six hover cars each.

The three overseer units were separate from each other and positioned around the outer perimeter of Chico. The enemy columns were parked about five hundred yards out from the depleted city, on overwatch. The overseer’s attempt to protect the seekers would fail today.

The only difference this time was that nearly all of the city was now gone. About half of the seekers were picking up chunks of concrete and were throwing them into white power circles. The only other debris remaining were random piles of wood and paper.

Daniel took the last half hour of darkness to go over their battle plan one more time.

“Juan Carlos, you will sweep in from the south with your thousand horsemen and hit the column positioned on the south side of the city. I will come in from the north with a thousand riders and eliminate the column to the north. Creeper and his five hundred troops will hit that column to the west. Any questions?”

“How much times do you two needs to get to your targets,” Juan Carlos questioned, looking at his solar watch.

“Fifteen minutes. Sound about right Creeper?” Daniel asked.

“Yeah, maybe twenty. I have a small wooded area to pass through, but my column is closer than yours Dat.” the dirty man calculated.

“Okay, let’s say twenty minutes. Each of the three protection columns have twenty-four overseers in them. We have ta’ take out those big guns in those hover cars, or this fight will be over before it even gets started. Once you’ve taken out your column, head straight into the rubble of the city and we’ll all converge on the seekers and destroy them. They’re the main target of this mission.”

When Daniel returned to his troops, he handed out six of his nearly depleted supply of grenades to some of his riders, saying, “One for each car. Timing is everything. We need to blow them all up at the same time, or as close together as possible, before the overseers can unload those auto blasters on us.”

Juan Carlos and Creeper’s groups were using dynamite. Daniel and his horsemen moved out at a fast trot circling the city widely, passing through several outlying suburban neighborhoods, trying to get in close to the enemy before the dawning sunlight exposed them.

It didn’t take long before explosions on the other side of the city alerted Daniel that his time was up. Juan Carlos’ force was attacking. Then Daniel’s troops were there, with the column of six cars sitting just a few yards from them.  

“Charge!” Daniel shouted, sending his horse warriors right at the overseers. Boom! . . . Boom! Boom! . . . Boom! . . . Boom! Come on, where was number six? he thought. Finally, a sixth explosion followed the first five. Red blasts responded to their attack. Luckily, they were only single beams, indicating that his men had put the grenades right under the rapid-fire gun mounts as he had ordered.

A drone exploded just above Daniel, showering him with sparks. The clan leader had placed men with sniper rifles all around the dead city for just such a purpose. They were to eliminate any drones that they saw. A surviving overseer to Daniel’s immediate front sent a baton blast at the rider beside the clan leader. enveloping both horse and man in a red circle. With a fizzle they were ash.

Daniel urged his mount forward and smashed the overseer across the head with the butt of his shotgun. The incredible blow merely turned the thing’s head sideways. The black-suited alien turned and pointed its baton at him. That is when Daniel saw the dynamite stick burning between its legs, the wick nearly spent!

Daniel instinctively threw himself off the side of his horse when the explosion demolished the overseer, and sent his horse toppling. Daniel managed to clear the dead animal just in time, rolling through the dust and landing on his butt. The side of his mount had been shredded by shrapnel from the explosion.

The only thing left of the overseer was separated arms, legs, head, and a torso. The helmet visor was cracked, but still intact. Damn these aliens had some fiercely strong armor. Daniel himself had two steaming shards of metal protruding from his right leg, about the size of pencils, plus a couple of black burn marks on his thigh.

It looked like Daniel’s group had eliminated their target column. The wounded man rose to his feet, intent upon finally getting a look at one of these creatures, when one of his men rode up and gave him the reins to a riderless horse. He took them and wobbled towards the dead overseer, when he saw rapid fire red blasts far to his west.

Creeper’s men, the third to reach their targets, had failed to take out at least one of their auto-blasters and it was wreaking havoc on them. If they didn’t eliminate that mega-blaster, then the whole mission was in jeopardy of failing.
           

“Six of you ride with me!” Daniel shouted. “The rest of you attack into the city and take out as many seekers as you can. If we fail to take out the rest of that column, then ride out after your attack run and head back to Sacramento as planned!”

Daniel mounted his new horse rapidly, ignoring the pain that it caused to his wounded thigh. He also chose to ignore the black ashes in the saddle from the horse’s previous rider. Within seconds, he was racing towards the source emitting the red power circles in a wide arc at an incredible rate.

Daniel urged his newly acquired mount to go faster, prodding it in the ribs with his heels and shouting, “Yah! Yah!” The already tired horse, panting and snorting, took him to breakneck speeds. Six of his riders paced him and soon they were moving in a line. The rest of his forces had turned towards the seekers, intent upon taking out the real goal of the mission.

Daniel’s line surged forward, wind knocking off sombreros and whipping through their hair while they raced towards their new target. To Daniel, it felt like they were in some kind of surreal old west cowboy movie, only they weren’t after some villainous cattle rustlers, they were after aliens.

It took a couple of minutes, but they finally reached the enemy column. Four of the six hover cars were burning wrecks. The two closest to Daniel and his men were still intact and heavily engaging Creeper’s retreating forces. At least half of the fleeing man’s horses and riders had been reduced to ashes. All eight overseers from the two intact alien vehicles were still in the fight.

Daniel and his six fighters came in from the city side of the column. They were a hundred yards out when the two nearest overseers, the drivers, turned and began firing their batons at the seven advancing horsemen.

At ninety yards out, the horse to Daniel’s immediate left turned to ash, sending the rider toppling off into the dust. At seventy yards, the man and horse to his immediate right was enveloped in a red power circle and disappeared with a fizzle, leaving an ash trail floating in the wind.

The remaining fighters closed ranks and continued advancing. Daniel would rather that they’d spread out, to make themselves harder targets, but knew that it was human nature to close in during times of danger.

Daniel crouched low in his saddle and urged his panting steed forward, focusing on destroying those guns. At fifty yards another rider disappeared, while one of the big guns began to swing towards them. Crap.! Crap!! Crap!!! This was going to be close.  

At thirty yards, Daniel grabbed the two frag grenades hanging on his vest and pulled straight down. This not only freed them, but released the pins, starting his five- to seven-second count. The last rider to his left fizzled away into a red glow of ash.

The man to his right had lit his dynamite stick too early, and had to toss it behind them before it blew him up. The woman next to that man was struggling to get hers lit in the racing wind, then the point was moot, as she transformed into ash.

At ten yards out several things happened simultaneously. The big gun locked in and aimed at them. Daniel tossed both of his grenades and turned his horse hard along the already burning hover cars, nearly crashing into them. The pair of horsemen continued along the burning hover cars. Daniel was hoping that the smoke would provide them some cover while they retreated. His last mounted man was riding hard on his heels.

The explosions rattled their teeth, with Daniel having cut that much too close for comfort. Fortunately, the grenades had eliminated both the enemy cars, and their operators. When they went back for the rider who had toppled into the dust, they discovered that he had broken his neck during the fall.

The two remaining riders turned towards the city, seeing that their forces were reaching the outskirts. Daniel’s entire breakoff attack had taken less than four minutes, although it felt much longer.

A loud shrill whistle sounded, repeatedly blaring out an annoying blast. In the distance, Daniel could see that a group of seekers had been pushing a command module towards a green power circle, where it dropped in and disappeared. The group of seekers were turning to get another module from a line of several, when the alarm had sounded.

The seekers immediately stopped working and let out loud growls. After sniffing the air, they turned and began to run towards the charging pair of horsemen at a sprint. In other parts of Chico, a couple thousand seekers were charging headlong in different directions, heading for various attackers. Gunfire could be heard erupting across the wooden remnants of the city.

Daniel and his partner stayed astride their mounts and once the enemy drew close, engaged. Daniel dropped two seekers quickly with his Ranch Edition shot gun, then drew the Taurus .357, thinking that he should’ve brought something that was easier to load and carried more rounds for this mission.

“Rat . . . tat, tat, tat . . .rat. tat, tat, tat!” His partner opened up with an M-4, mowing down seven seekers in a row. “Blam!” Daniel dropped the last one with a shot from his revolver.

Numerous gunshots and explosions , followed by screaming, sounding off from ahead of them in the rubble. The pair moved forward, anxious to get into the devastated city to help their embattled friends.

Once in, Daniel saw that the former big city was now only wooden beams, house frames, and papers blowing all about. Apparently, the aliens had no use for wood or wood byproducts. The enemy just left it behind, marking where a city once stood.

It looked like an eerie skeletal graveyard marked by what looked like long outstretched wooden hands making one last dying grasp at the sky above. Everything else was gone! Everything but a few thousand seekers.

Daniel and his man came upon six of the milky-eyed bald men that were beating a black man to death with their pry bars. The clan leader dropped two with his 12-gauge, while his partner shot the rest with his M-4 and reloaded a fresh magazine.

A Hispanic lady came running around from behind a pile of wooden beams, chased by two seekers. She was blocking their line of fire on her pursuers. Just then a green power circle opened near her. Daniel reached in his pack and grabbed his last frag grenade, tossing it into the circle.

The middle-aged, wide-hipped, portly Hispanic female was rapidly losing the footrace with her attackers. She was breathing heavily, her eyes wide with fear.

“No municion! No municion!! Ayudame!!!” she screamed as one of the seekers caught up and struck her on the back with his pronged bar. Daniel’s partner dropped the attacking seeker with two rapid shots from his M-4.

The chunky woman had been knocked towards the green power circle. Daniel leapt from the back of his horse, simultaneously sending two rounds into the second pursuing seeker with the .357 that was held in his right hand, while catching the woman’s own reaching hand with his left.

“Ayudame . . .” she pleaded again.

Daniel was holding onto the woman’s hand, with half of her body now in the energy circle, which closed in response to his grenade attack. He had been staring into her fear-filled, panic-stricken brown eyes, which quickly glazed over with the cold lifeless stare of death. Her body had been cut in half when the circle closed. Daniel turned away from the smoking cauterized mess, resting his face in the dirt. Damnit! I thought that I had her.

When Daniel rose to his feet, he heard a single shot from the M-4. His partner had dropped a third seeker who had come around a wood pile and was about to pound Daniel on the head with his pry bar. The Mexican man had saved Daniel from certain death.

Daniel remounted his horse and they continued farther into the wooden ruins, riding between various piles of debris. Gunshots still rang out all around them. When the pair rounded the next pile, they were facing at least fifty charging seekers, who immediately smelled them approaching. With several loud growls, more of the brain-erased men began to pour out from around other piles of wood. Daniel and his partner were surrounded.

“We’re screwed,” Daniel said to the Mexican man.

“Se acabo,” his partner agreed, and opened up with his M-4. Daniel pumped two rounds into the closest two seekers with his shotgun and then unloaded his .357 into the wall of enemy to their front. He went for his boot knife, not having time to reload since the seekers were closing in fast.

A hail of gunfire erupted from behind them, mowing down the seekers to their rear, followed by numerous horsemen riding past the pair of relieved men, to engage the rest of the enemy. Creeper had brought his remaining forces back into the fight!

“Not gonna let you steal all the glory, Dat.” The burnt-faced man smirked at Daniel, who had never been happier to see the stringy-haired scuzzy man in his life.

There was a final smattering of gun fire erupting here and there, then it died off. Juan Carlos rode up with a dozen riders and nodded at Creeper and Daniel, asking, “Casualties?”

“I lost at least half my men, maybe a little more,” Creeper answered.

“No idea,” Daniel said, not even sure where the rest of his riders were.

“Why didn’t the overseers reinforce theirs troops? We’ve been heres for a while?” Juan Carlos seemed perplexed.

“We blew out a green circle.” Daniel grimaced at the horrible memory. “I think it’s a good sign though. Maybe we’re draining their resources.”

The man beside Daniel, the one who had stayed with him the whole time, held out his hand and said a long phrase in Spanish. The man finished speaking and smiled, revealing that his two top front teeth were capped in gold.

When Daniel looked confused, Juan Carlos translated, “He said that his name is Paco. He used to owns a brothel in Tijuana that ran a donkey show. Now he kills aliens. He wants to know if he can stays with you as your personal guard. He said that you needs one because you fights like a crazy wild man.”

Daniel grasped Paco’s hand, laughing as he shook it, saying, “Si.”

“So, original plans boss?” Juan Carlos questioned in his thickly accented voice.  

“Yes, sound the signal. We separate into small groups of ten and you guys make your way back to Sacramento. Travel slow and rest the horses. They are exhausted. Everyone makes sure that the camp is clear of drones before entering the complex. Only go through the gate at night,” Daniel ordered.

One of the men with Juan Carlos sounded three long blasts on a trumpet, signaling the departure. Doc, the white man with silver spectacles, quickly tended to Daniel’s shrapnel wounds before they departed. On the way out they heard several explosions, relaying that Daniel’s troops were dynamiting the command modules as he had ordered.

When Daniel and Paco went to separate from the others, Juan Carlos turned and said, “You can keeps that horse, Commander Dat. Her name is Ocioso. In Spanish it means idle … or useless. Because she was very difficults to tame and train.”

Daniel smiled to himself. The beautiful mare was anything but useless. We all have a role to play, and Ocioso had just played hers well, helping to win the battle for Chico.

Author Notes

Only four more chapters after this one. The next two are "big reveal chapters", and the final two are the conclusion chapters. PS I know that the blue lettering is back. It only shows up here and is a system issue.

Chapter 22
Alcatraz

By Douglas Goff

Warning: The author has noted that this contains the highest level of language.

Boy was Major Olivia Reyes gonna be pissed. Daniel chuckled to himself while he rowed towards the well-lit island. When he had returned to the Oakland Clan, about a week ago, he had learned a lot of good news.

When Olivia saw him, she had run and jumped on him, wrapping her legs around his waist, while she clung to him tightly, saying, “Oh, I should be careful, I’m carrying your child.”

She climbed off, and showed him her tiny baby bump, informing him that he had knocked her up. Daniel wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He was sure that this was a terrible time and place to birth a child, but he did have strong feelings for his spunky cute partner.

“Really? From only a couple of times?” He knew it could happen but was still surprised.

“Technically it was three . . . wait four times.” She had laughed and kissed him on the chin as she liked to do.

“And what’s this ‘Major’ stuff?’ he asked, frowning.

“Well, I though colonel was a bit pretentious. Besides, I made you a commander,” she answered.

“That’s not even a Marine Corps rank.” He frowned again.

“Daniel, people are coming in daily. Not just marines. All branches of the military, plus former police, national guard, basically everything that you can imagine. A group just arrived from Montana! We’re over ten thousand people strong now. We have to hit three pods a day just to feed this clan alone. We needed structure to maintain control. You were gone and left me in charge, so I took charge.” She was serious now.

“Okay, ‘commander and major’ it is.” Daniel now understood.

“We weren’t the only ones who got promoted. I made some captains and lieutenants as well, to lead pod raids.”

“Who did you pick?”

“That survivalist Kenneth and Barbara are both captains. That lady may look like a librarian, but I’ll tell you what, she has already led six successful long-range pod raids. They’re using Molotov cocktails and some homemade explosives to take out the overseers. Barbara showed us how to make the bombs. Smart lady. Oh, and I made Petey of the Dog Pack bounty hunters one of the lieutenants. Never seen a prouder man before. He’s doing well.”

“Sounds like all solid choices.”

“I also picked specialists for specific fields. Sterns is a Mechanical Specialist. Hambone medical, and Tiny communications. The whole ranking system is working out quite well and our people are following it.”

“Smart, beautiful, and resourceful. You are a triple threat.” Daniel gave her a warm smile.

“I have also assigned squads to make rounds to attend to the orchards. No sense letting our food supply go to waste. We will still have to eat when all of this is over with. We can keep a lot of those fruit trees going with minimal effort for now,” she smiled brightly at him.

“Damn, you’re the best choice that I’ve made in this whole war,” Daniel smiled, quite pleased with the intelligent woman’s efforts. She was a natural born leader and a good strategist.

“Damn right I’m the best choice you’ve made.” Olivia leaned in and kissed him on the mouth this time, lingering for a moment, before changing the subject entirely by saying, “So what gives with Jilly? Are you in love with her?”

He could hear just a hint of jealousy in her voice, and saw even more in her expressive eyes. Daniel figured it was best just to speak truthfully, “I’m not really sure what Jillian and I have. It’s intense, as you know . . . but kinda confusing . . . like us. I’m just not sure where any of this is going. I don’t love her, it’s just raw passion and heat. Besides, I don’t think that I’m capable of loving anyone else, not until I find out what really happened to my wife.”

“Well, I’m sorry, but I am,” Olivia said with nervous apprehension, while staring at him with her big brown tender eyes.  

“Are what?” he asked, a little confused.

“In love with you,” she answered, then quickly added, “I just thought that you should know in case something happens to either of us.”

Daniel leaned in and gave her a longer kiss, then said, “First we win this war. Then we can take some time and figure us out.”

“Hmmm . . . that’s fair,” she said. “Let’s keep it the way that it is for now. We’ll decide how to move forward after we kick these aliens off our planet.”

Daniel had also learned that the Battle of Chico, which it was now being called, had been a huge success. Even with their losses being at about four hundred, they had killed thousands of the seekers and over seventy overseers. They needed big enemy losses like that to win this thing.

It was becoming apparent that the overseers were hurting. Returning attack squads had reported that two of the pods that they had hit didn’t even have overseer guards, and none came to defend them. The clan had been able to take all of the food.

Things were going smoothly. That was until last night, when he had the dream again. Andrea standing in a mist, waving at him to come, repeating, “Find us.”  It was the “us” part that really got him. If this really was some type of supernatural visit from her, then was there some chance that his kids were still alive? Some sliver of hope?

He had really wanted to put it all behind him, after his trip to Oceanside, but he couldn’t do that with Andrea’s continued nocturnal visits. Either his mind, or this manifestation of his spirit wife, was trying to tell him something.

Olivia had taken to sleeping with him for warmth and comfort, but it had remained platonic. He thought it best, not that her sleeping in just panties made it easy on him. He believed that she was trying to give him some space to try and sort out his emotions.

Daniel had slipped away from her warm embrace just after midnight. Now he was landing on the shore of Alcatraz Island, blinded by a spotlight, which was coming from somewhere above. He didn’t plan to surrender. He uncharacteristically didn’t have any plan at all. Daniel just wanted answers.

Daniel had a lot of time to think while he was rowing across the bay. He knew that the chances of him returning were slim. He also knew that Olivia was quite capable of running the resistance and he had left her a note telling her to stick to the plan and that she was the new commander if he didn’t return.

It did bother him, a lot, that she would have to raise their child alone in this fucked up world. Still, he had to have answers. Andrea would not stop haunting his sleep until he found out what had happened to her. Somehow, he was certain of that.

Four men walked out from a fenced in area, carrying Uzi style sub-machine guns and flashlights. At least they are human. They searched Daniel, and after taking his .357, led him into the prison complex. It was odd that no words were spoken, as if they captured people daily. Daniel had finally made it to Alcatraz.

The guards walked Daniel over to a structure that bore a historical sign identifying it as Building 64, the old residential housing for the long past guards that used to work in the old prison. He had never been on the island before, and was surprised when the tower lights revealed that the building was several stories tall.

Once inside of the building they passed through a gated entrance where another pair of guards were stationed. Daniel noted that all of the sentries were wearing matching camouflage uniforms and the two new ones also had Uzis, although theirs were strapped to their backs. This is well organized.

The same four guards that initially “captured” Daniel took him through the gate and up two flights of stairs. Daniel was equally surprised to see that they had electricity inside, and that the whole place had been remodeled. The guards took him to an office at the far end of the hall. The door was open.

One of the guards went in and placed Daniel’s unloaded .357 on a desk. The guard and a man sitting behind the desk began whispering. Daniel recognized the sitting man the second that he saw him. He was Robert Rogers the governor of California. His campaign slogan had been “Have a problem? Call on Bobby!”

The slogan was weak, just like the man. Robert Rogers was an independent, who had walked the line like he was on a tight-rope, and flip-flopped on every issue. He would answer issues depending solely upon what group of people he was addressing, always trying to appease people. Whenever he was confronted with something that he didn’t want to answer or talk about, he would always say, “That is under committee review,” although nobody knew who the committee was and when the review would be over.

Governor Rogers waved him in and pointed at a chair. The guard exited and waited just outside the open door with the other three men, Uzi’s at the ready. Rogers opened a drawer in the desk and pulled out a file. After looking through it, he took off his expensive brown rimmed glasses and rubbed his eyes. He looked to be in his late fifties, was a tad over-weight, and had salt and pepper black hair.

“The infamous Commander Dat. Daniel Allen Taylor. Corporal. United States Marine Corps,” the older man said.

“Robert Rogers. Governor of California. First term,” Daniel answered in kind.

“Call me Bobby,” the former governor stared down at his hands for a moment, then said, “Look Dat, this isn’t a pissing contest. You really don’t understand how much trouble you’ve caused.”

“No, I really don’t. Why don’t you explain to me just how much trouble I’ve caused,” Daniel asked.

“How about I start with the questions. You showed up here with a revolver and six bullets. You obviously didn’t come here to fight. And you didn’t come to join the resistance because you are the resistance. So, why exactly are you here?”

Daniel thought for a moment. “You’re my governor. If you have a problem, call Bobby. Well, I came a calling.”

“Well, first off, I’m no longer a governor. I’m now an ambassador,” he corrected Daniel, then put his fancy glasses back on. “So, what’s this problem?”

“My family. They came here seven years ago,” Dat said, pulling out a picture of his wife and children from his shirt pocket. “I just want to know what happened to them.”

The older man took the picture and leaned back in his leather chair, saying, “Oh, family. I guess that is a pretty serious issue.”

Bobby studied the photo for a long moment, then said, “Thousands of people came through here over the past seven years. I can’t remember all of them, but I’ll check our records. Andrea, Adrian, and Alesia Taylor, correct?”

“Yes, how’d you know that?”

Ambassador Rogers pointed down at the open file on his desk and waved a guard in. “Take him over to the Quartermaster’s Building. I’ll meet you there in a few minutes.”

The same four men led Daniel back out the same route that they had come. On the way past the first level, he heard a man and woman arguing and farther off, a baby crying. Families must live here.

The five men walked a short distance and entered another large building, where they waited for a few minutes in a small lobby. In front of them were two large black iron doors that led further into the building. Then Robert Rogers arrived.

The ambassador approached the double doors, and after pulling a card free from around his neck, he passed it over a scanner that was on the wall beside the doors. Next, the man placed his hand on a black fingerprint scanner. Why all the security?

The doors slid open with a “whoosh” sound and all six men entered the room. Daniel had to shut his mouth, once he realized that it was hanging open. The room was a replica of a command module, only much larger. There was a computer console, with at least a hundred or more screens around the walls. Daniel tensed up when he noticed an overseer standing in the far corner. It didn’t move.

“What the hell . . .“

“Not hell Dat, quite the opposite really. Sanctuary.” Bobby smiled.

“What do you mean?” Daniel asked, confused by the comment.

“I checked on your family. They never made it here. No record of them showing up at Alcatraz at any time in the past seven years,” the ambassador revealed, not answering his question.

“So, what happens to people when they do show up to join the resistance?” Daniel asked.

“They’re sent through the green power circles. We can’t have those types running around causing trouble.” Bobby shook his head in disdain.

“What exactly is going on here?” Daniel didn’t like the situation.

“How’s about I fill you in on some missing details. It’s not like you’re leaving here anyways.”  Bobby grinned. “Come over here.”

He led Daniel over to the overseer and said, “May I?”

The red circle on its chest turned from red to green. Bobby reached up and touched a button on the helmet, sliding the face visor open. Daniel stared in disbelief. It was empty!

“Robots?” he questioned, staring at the hollow space, trying to grasp the implications. Segmented body parts and never any blood, now making total sense to him.

“Yes, in the sense that they’re not alive. Yet, a bit more complicated than I have time to explain right now. It suffices that you know that they’re all controlled by the Overlord.” Bobby continued his stunning revelations.

“Overlord?”

“There’s only one Daniel. There has only ever been one. In our language, he calls himself Overlord, and he controls all of the overseers.” Each revelation from the ambassador was more surprising than the last.

“Just one? So . . . you work for him?”

“He came to several world leaders about a month before the invasion. He showed us things, revealing that we had no chance to resist him. Then he offered sanctuaries to us as ambassadors. It was an unfortunate situation commander, but we really had no choice.” The former governor defended his actions.

“So, you built this place?” Daniel asked.

“The Overlord picked the location, but yes, I had thirty days to get this place renovated and to move key people here.”

“How many key people?” Daniel was firing off questions at will.

“The Overlord allowed a thousand. He provides us with food, as well as fuel for the large generators.”

“So, you saved your friends,” Dat scowled.

“Friends? Hell, no, who has friends in politics. I brought a few family members, but most of the people here are doctors, engineers, military men, and experts. You know, the type of people who can keep this place running.”

Daniel stared at the weak man in disbelief, saying, “You had choices. You were governor of millions. You could’ve warned the state. Hell, you could’ve warned the country and the world. Instead, you sit here and turn over anyone who wants to fight.”

“There was no fight option, Commander Dat. Come over here and let me show you what happens to any who show disobedience,” Bobby said, walking over to the computer console, where he placed his right hand on one of the black pads. He pushed a button with his left, and twenty of the screens flashed to life. Eight held pictures of empty rooms similar to the one that they were in, while twelve were fuzzy.

“Pad doesn’t run by fingerprints. It’s a DNA scanner. Checks your sweat,” Bobby offered. “Anyways, this is the link to the original twenty sanctuaries. Any slight failure to follow the Overlord’s orders have resulted in immediate destruction. Tokyo went down just last week for housing 1,001 people. Now, there’re only eight sanctuaries left.”

Daniel studied the screens. There was one showing their room, plus one marked Block Island, Rhode Island, that was now fuzzy. The active sanctuaries were marked Isle of Man, Gozo Island, Palm Jumeirah, Dzaoudzi Island, Isla Hermite, Flinders Island, and Sung Kong. Each of those screen views showed that the similar rooms were empty at this hour.

“We hold electronic meetings though these rooms once a month,” Bobby advised. “So now, how about I show you something that you’ll like.”

He typed in Daniel’s full name and the man’s entire life history came up, to include his parents’ names, all previous addresses and schools, and hospital information. It interestingly listed him as the leader of the Oakland Clan and the resistance. Several photos of him flashed on various screens, including a fairly recent one from when his clan had attacked the first overseer column at Merritt College.

It was obviously a drone picture and had large red letters across it reading “WANTED”. The rest of the pictures went all the way back to baby photos. Plus, a couple from his old orchard pod.

“Who else would you like to see?” Bobby smiled at him.

“Andrea,” he whispered, but when the governor punched her name in, nothing came up. The same for his children.

“What does that mean?” he asked.

“The Overlord only provides us with limited access. Some people don’t come up.”

“Jillian Johnson,” Daniel said.

After Bobby typed, Jillian’s life history popped up, followed by numerous photos. Some were from her stripper days, causing Bobby to whistle. Over the most recent photo was large green letters that read “COMPLIANT”.

Daniel debated if it was wise to check any more of his people, but figured that the enemy already knew who they were, so maybe it was a good idea to see just how much this Overlord knew. Daniel had the ambassador check several others. Hambone and Tiny both shown as bounty hunters, with red “NON-COMPLIANT” banners over them.

Olivia Reyes came up as a member of the Oakland Clan, but there wasn’t much more. The governor interjected, “The Oakland Clan has been a huge thorn in our side for years.”

“If the overseers’ aren’t alive, then they obviously aren’t afraid of the sewers and tunnels. So why haven’t they transported in and finished them off?” Daniel questioned, curiously.

“I wish that they could’ve exterminated those rats a long time ago, but they can’t. The overseers operate by some type of signal from the Overlord. It doesn’t reach them underground. If they transported in, then they would become nonfunctional.” Bobby scowled his disapproval. “For all of his highly-advanced technology, he still can’t get his forces underground.”

This guy is such a low-life piece-of-shit scumbag. Robert Rogers noticed that Daniel was frowning at him and said, “You don’t like me much, do you?”

“I don’t like you at all. You were a weak man before the invasion and you’re a weak man now. That is why the Overlord picked you as an ambassador. He knew that you’d roll over and play his game. Now you hide in your fake kingdom while the world is dying out there. They’re taking everything. Why don’t you ask this Overlord why he’s raping our planet?”

“Why don’t you ask him yourself, Commander? He wants to see you,” the ambassador revealed. “I’m sure that he’ll have better answers for you than I would. Of course, I thought that you should’ve been recycled, but he’s the boss.”

With that, the man nodded at the overseer. A moment later a green power circle opened in the floor next to Daniel. The overseer’s chest circle turned back green, and it came over and searched the commander.

“The last time that I went into one of these, I ended up completely naked in a room full of strangers.” Daniel said with a grimace.

“The circles can have different settings. Those didn’t allow anything but flesh to pass through. This one does allow objects through. The green power circles are two-way. None of the other colors are. Time to go commander. This is what you came for. He will have answers about your little family. This isn’t the time to get light in the loafers. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime. You’re about to meet an alien!"

Daniel closed his eyes and thought, Here goes everything. The Oakland Clan leader stepped into the circle. With a fizzle, he was gone.

Chapter 23
The Overlord

By Douglas Goff

The Overlord had a head over twice the size of that of a man’s. Its body size and shape were more comparable to that of a human’s. It was hairless and had dark purple veins running in various directions under its light purple skin.

The eyes were a deep amber color with black pupils, reminding Daniel of cats’ eyes. The alien’s mouth was round like a circle, and not flattened out like that of a human. Still, none of this was as disturbing as the hands.

They looked normal all the way until the fingers, where tentacles started.  No knuckles or bones, just wavy tentacles, and there were not just ten. Each hand had at least twenty of the worm-like extensions on them. The tentacles freaked Daniel out because they were continuously moving about, touching the buttons on the console in front of the creature.

“Daniel Allen Taylor. Come forward.” The Overlord’s lips never moved.

Daniel just heard the voice in his head. He made his way farther into the round room from where the circle had transported him. Thankfully, he had his clothes on. The overseer from back on earth appeared in the power circle, stepping out right before the green ring disappeared. The transport circle lasted only ten seconds from the time that Daniel had arrived.

Daniel moved even farther into the room, which was perfectly round, with black walls. On the walls were a honeycomb design with various sizes of hexagons across the entire surface of the circular room. He couldn’t see a door anywhere. The whole place felt alien.

The Overlord was sitting at a console in the center of the room. His chair was black and looked somewhat spongy. The console was flat, and had no screens on it. Just hundreds of tiny, unmarked buttons. The numerous tentacles were resting on several of them. The only other thing notable was a black tube hanging near the Overlord’s face. It dropped down from the dark ceiling.

“Are you a God?” Daniel asked.

“Primitives conclude this. But no, I have an expiration, as do you Daniel Allen Taylor,” the voice said in his head. It was smooth, and methodical, yet also alien.

“Why did you come here? Why did you invade us?” Dat exclaimed.

“Invade? No invade. We are symbiotic. Namuh and Quid,” the Overlord said in his mind.

“I don’t understand. Namuh? Symbiotic? You crushed our world.” Daniel frowned, knowing that it was important to keep control of his anger.

            “You are Namuh. That was the original name of your race. You came from planet Namuh 1, very far from your planet, Namuh 12,973, or Earth as you named it. We are Quid. Namuh and Quid are symbiotic.”

“We were Namuh? Not from Earth?” Daniel was confounded, feeling like his brain was struggling to grasp what the Overlord was saying.

“With certainty,” the voice sounded. “Namuh is the reverse of your word ‘human.’ Your race works the name Namuh into a language on every planet. Subconsciously, you have never forgotten who you really are. You were once a lazy, peaceful race that lacked motivation or drive. Your planet was over-populated, yet you continued to produce offspring at incredible rates.”

“Then you Quid came?” Daniel guessed.

“With Certainty. We had been symbiotic with a race called the Zohr. They were a hairy simian-like race. They were also very violent and paired mates only produced an offspring every four rotations of their sun. Inefficient,” the voice explained. “We implanted the Zohr on a series of planets, but the majority of times they would merely wipe each other out in wars and infighting. Inefficient.”

“Let me guess. You Quid replaced the Zohr with us Namuh,” Dat said, starting to see the big picture.  

“With certainty. Your race produce offspring at an incredible rate. Namuh females could birth in each rotation of your sun. Still, you were lazy, so we Quid made adjustment to your DNA,” the Overlord stated.

“Adjustments? What kind of adjustments?” Daniel wasn’t sure that he wanted the answer.

“We added in small amounts of Zohr DNA. It took several adjustments, but with their violence and hatred, combined with your reproduction capacity, we came up with the perfect symbiotic race,” the voice in his head explained.

Daniel shook his head. “You keep using the word symbiotic. How do you see it that way?”

“With certainty we Namuh and Quid are symbiotic. We have implanted your race on thousands of planets where you thrive. Namuh are now the most populated race in the known universe. Your people thrive for several generations before the harvest,” the Overlord voice answered.

“Harvest?” Daniel questioned.

“Unavoidable. Once your people have nearly depleted a planet’s resources, we come and take them. Then we implant your offspring on a new world. With certainty, your DNA never ends. Sometimes we harvest early if you Namuh are about to destroy yourselves, or are about to reach advanced technology or space travel. Sometimes adjustments are needed on the DNA mixes. With certainty, we are Symbiotic,” the voice reasserted its claim.

“Our DNA may not end, but we do. You cause that,” Dat accused.

The Overlord took the tube hanging by its head into his mouth and sucked on it, then tentacled a few buttons on the console before the voice returned, “This is your original DNA provider from Namuh 1. He was called Sardu, and was a leader amongst the Namuh people, Daniel Allen Taylor.”

On one of the big hexagon squares on the wall, the image of a face popped up. It was some type of advanced viewing screen. Daniel’s mouth fell open as he stared at the oval head with large black eyes and dark skin. He was looking at one of the “grays” that people often claim to dream about.

Somehow the long-lost relatives of the human race had remained in their subconscious minds. Supposedly this Sardu was a relative of his from thousands of generations ago. He wanted to believe that the Overlord was lying, but staring at the face, he somehow knew that he was not.

The Overlord spread his tentacles across the console board and pushed several more of the buttons. Every hexagon in the honeycomb designed room flashed alive with different faces, looking more and more human as they went on. The whole room was screens. They kept flashing through face after face, spanning generations.

“Daniel Allen Taylor these are your DNA donators throughout the generations that our races have been symbiotic. With each adjustment, the race of Namuh shows slight physical changes. With certainty, you will live forever,” the voice was back in his head.

“That is why I was with Number Seven? To impregnate her so that you could send my unborn child to a new Earth . . . or, Namuh?” he asked.

“With certainty,” the voice continued. “But you were with Number Sevens, Daniel Allen Taylor. DNA screening provided that the best type of females for you to mate with were category number seven.”

“How many number sevens?” Daniel was trying to wrap his mind around the implications of what he was hearing.

The Overlord took another sip from the tube hanging from the ceiling and tentacled a few more buttons. The familial faces disappeared, replaced by ten female faces in ten of the smaller hexagon screens.

“In the seven of your earth years since we began to harvest Namuh 12, 973, you have impregnated nine number sevens. They all carry offspring with your DNA. Once the adjustment process has completed on the fetuses, then they will be implanted on Namuh 23, 852, starting another cycle,” the Overlord revealed.

“Nine?” Daniel was nearly speechless, staring at the ten women, nine of whom he had no recollection of.

“With certainty. The last Number Seven that you remember was only with you for three weeks. It was inefficient that she was expended,” the voice sounded cold, although it hadn’t changed in tone much since their conversation had begun.

“Three weeks? Impossible. I remember being with her for over six years.” Daniel struggled with what he was being told, then remembering that she had just been on vacation before his “awakening.” How could he have forgotten that?  This creature’s tarty fruit drink packed some kind of whallop!

“The memories that you have were implanted. You were with the last Number Seven for three weeks before she was inefficiently expended,” the Overlord reiterated.

“You mean murdered,” Daniel said with a hint of anger in his own voice, unsure of how any of this was possible.

“Expended,” the voice in his head repeated.

“What happens to the pregnant mothers? Do you expend them as well.” Daniel was afraid to hear the answer.

“They are implanted on new Namuh planets with their offspring, only they are banded like your so-called seekers. They are programmed with one sole mission. To protect their young. Still, many of the implants are killed by the native creatures on each planet, but eventually another new Namuh world begins,” the Overlord advised. “Expedient and symbiotic.”

“Creatures? On each planet?” Daniel was once again stunned by what he was learning in such a short span of time. His brain felt like it was going to overload.

“With certainty, yet different classifications on each world. We implanted on Namuh 6,732, where there was a desert creature that dwelled in the sand. We Quid had missed it with our surface scans. The beasts wiped out our entire implantation subjects. Such an inefficient waste.” The Overlord shook his large bald head

“Yet you ‘expend’ millions of Namuh people with each harvest. Why don’t you just mine the planets yourself?” Daniel asked, incredulous at what he was hearing.

“Unavoidable losses, but acceptable expenditures for the harvest,” the Overlord voice coldly answered, then explained, “Quid females reproduce at a rate of one offspring every four hundred or so of your earth years. This does not allow for much population growth. Plus, Quid are more cerebral while Namuh are more physical. It would not be expedient for Quid alone to implant new planets nor harvest them. Symbiotic,” the alien voice answered.

“Where do the seekers come from? How do they fit into the plan?” Daniel asked, happy to change the subject, believing that the subject was moot since the Overlord was the only Quid left.

“DNA tests show that some of you are overly violent and aggressive. They become your so-called seekers. Also, the infertile males, as well as troublemakers. It would be inefficient to expend them. Their minds are wiped clean. All are programmed with one primary focus, and work efficiently to complete the harvest,” the Overlord revealed.

“Wiped clean? Can they ever come back?” Daniel’s mind struggled to grasp the horror of a mind wipe.

“Inefficient. They never come back. With certainty they work solely for the harvest,” the Overlord explained.

“And after the harvest is complete?” Daniel asked. “Do you ‘expend’ everyone who is left?”

“Inefficient. There is no need to do anything. Within a generation, or maybe two, a depleted and dying Namuh world will expend itself.” The answer chilled Daniel.

“And the seekers? What happens to them, after they fulfill their primary function.” Curiosity was driving the man’s questioning.

“When we mind wipe them, we heightened their sense of smell. They are programmed to smell two things, at great distances. One is their primary collection item. The second is Namuh. Once they have completed their collection task, then they seek out the only remaining thing that they smell and destroy it. An expedient and efficient use of resources.”

“So that is how we really become extinct.” Daniel realized.

“In a generation. Two at the most,” the alien answered.

“Yet you are now killing us with the red beams. That doesn’t seem efficient,” Daniel pointed out.

“The harvest is more than halfway complete. The need for further seekers and pod workers is waning. Expediently expended.”

“I saw what’s inside of your overseer suits. Robots. Yet, you keep saying ‘we’. Just how many Quid are there?” Daniel inquired with great curiosity, happy to change the subject again.  

“Overseers are not robots. I am symbiotic with them, so they are an extension of me.”

“Still, you say ‘we’,” he pressed.

“There were seven Quid just a few hundred years ago. Six males and a female. We were competing for the same Namuh type planets with the same Namuh subjects. It was inefficient. I called a plenum to discuss the inefficiency of the situation. When they arrived, I expended the other males.”

“Yet, you still say ‘we’?” Daniel continued his line of questioning.

The Quid took another long suck on the tube then pushed a single button in front of him. Immediately Daniel’s ten former lovers disappeared, and a female version of the Overseer appeared on the largest hexagon. The only way that he would have known that she was female was from the one single breast in the center of her chest.

The female alien was in a glass tube floating in a transparent liquid. It looked somewhat like clear oil. A tube from above was extending into the liquid and was resting in her mouth. She looked dead.

“Is she ‘expended’ as well?” Daniel couldn’t take his eyes off the oddity displayed before him.

“My mate is suspended in an unanimated state. I placed her there after I implanted her with my offspring. I have lived for eons and eons and my culmination is nearing. My son will be birthed in a little over twenty of your earth years. I will train him to continue the symbiotic relationship with Namuh, so as to implant more worlds,” the Overlord voice informed him.

“Still doesn’t explain why you froze the old lady.” Daniel would have laughed at his pun if he weren’t so shocked right now.

“In this manner she will not age much at all, thusly providing my son and other future Quid with a mate when the time eventually comes. It is efficient,” the voice said.

“Not for her,” Daniel quipped.

“It is with certainty that your primitive mind does not understand. We are symbiotic because it is efficient,” the Overlord voice simply stated.

It’s with certainty that I do understand,” Daniel said sarcastically. “You took a peaceful race. You fiddled with their DNA and created a more aggressive breeder slave people that you place on planets to dig up the minerals. Once they’ve depleted the planet, you come and harvest the goods. You expend the children and the very old. You pair the survivors up to mate, then take the pregnant women and start all over again. Does that about sum it all up?”

“With certainty. Symbiotic,” the Overlord said.

“So how many planets do you have implanted now?” Daniel kept his questions coming, not sure how long the Overlord would allow him to continue his interrogation.

The Overlord took another deep draw on his tube and began running his tentacles over more buttons. The image of his mate disappeared, and soon all of the hexagon screens were filled with pictures of various planets.

Daniel surprisingly noted that all had water, although some had only one land mass, while others had numerous continents. The Quid pushed another single button and all the screens filled with new planets. He did this six more times. There must have been thousands of planets.

“We are always harvesting a few planets at a time, as the process can take many of your earth years. At the same time, my main force is always being prepared to start the submission process on the next developed planet. Expedient,” the Overlord shared.  

When Dat didn’t fire off another question, the Overlord did, “So many inquires Daniel Allen Taylor, yet you still have not asked why you are here.”

“Fair enough. Why am I here?” the man asked.

“I wish to be symbiotic with you Daniel Allen Taylor,” the voice revealed.

“On our first date?” Daniel joked, more out of nervousness than anything else.

“I need you to deliver to us the clans that you have brought into dissention,” the Overlord advised.

“Betray them?” Daniel asked.

“Deliver them to be expended,” the Quid explained.

“Now why would I do that? They’re my friends.” Dat shook his head in disgust.

“Because I have that which you desire most,” the Overlord advised.

“You’ve destroyed my world. You have nothing that I want,” Daniel spat out in disdain.

The Quid took another sip from his black tube and pushed a few buttons, causing three pictures to show up. One was of Daniel’s beautiful wife, Andrea. The other was the passionate Victoria. The third was the kind and caring Carmen.

Daniel’s heart leapt into his throat as he asked, “Where are they?”

Another sip and some further button pushing and an image of Carmen picking bananas in a pod came up. Also, one of Victoria frozen in a capsule flashed onto a screen. Her face was frozen in a look of shock. The third image caused Daniel’s stomach to tighten and his muscles to tense up in fear. It was Andrea, frozen in another capsule, with a very panicked look on her face.

“What about the little girl, Rosie?” Daniel was afraid to ask.

“Rosali Maria DIAZ-Uvalde. Expended,” the voice said.

“And my own two children?” Daniel whispered hoarsely.

“All children are expendable. It is efficient,” the voice explained, coldly.

“And my wife is in the tube because she was . . . impregnated?” his voice trembled, with him barely able to control his urge to attack the Overlord.

“When we arrived for harvest, she was already implanted. Andrea Angel Taylor carries your offspring,” the voice explained.

Daniel understood the “us” in his dreams now.

“How’d you capture my family?”

“The Alcatraz Ambassador turned them over to me.” The answer caused Daniel’s blood to boil even further.

“So, what exactly are you offering me?” the shaken man asked.

“Your race is driven by its urges. The Namuh side of you will deliver your friends to satisfy your mating desires. You may choose one. I will allow you to live with your chosen mate at the Alcatraz Colony,” the Quid made his offer.

“Doesn’t make sense. Surely you have the forces and power to destroy the clans yourself. Haven’t you ever been confronted by a strong resistance before?” Daniel questioned.

“With certainty. We mistakenly allowed Namuh 6 get too advanced. The Namuh there, or Umhan as they called themselves, fought hard. It took eight years and many assets to quell them and their mighty war machines. Fortunately, the Namuh on Namuh 7 had advanced much slower and we Quid had time to replenish. But to bring the main force back here to quell an uprising now would be inefficient. That is why I have brought you here to become symbiotic with my plans,” the alien voice explained.

“And if I say no?”

“I only have a very small fraction of my forces left on your planet. A harvest detachment. If you do not become symbiotic with me, then I will be forced to send the main invasion force back to Namuh 12,973, and smash the rebellious planet, losing much efficiency in the process.”

“Then return all three of them,” Daniel begged, his feelings for the women driving him.

“Inefficient. You can only mate so much. Pick one Daniel Allen Taylor,” the voice said.

It would be Andrea. Not just because he would be saving his unborn child as well, but because she was the love of his life. It would always be Andrea.

“Give me my wife,” he said. “Not because I need to mate. I choose her because of love.”

“Love? Did you experience bouts of love when you stopped the control drink? No, you experienced real emotions Daniel Allen Taylor. Anger, joy, sadness, guilt, fear, and lust. Love is a made up Namuh emotion. It does not exist.”

“Just give me my wife back,” Daniel stated firmly, not wanting to debate the philosophy of love with an alien tyrant.

“Then we are now symbiotic?” the Overlord asked.

“We are,” Daniel whispered, a tear running down his cheek.

“I will send you back now,” the Overlord said. “You will bring the resistance forces to the place you call the Eastmont Town Center in your city of Oakland. You will do this within seven sunrises on your planet. My forces will do the rest. Andrea Angel Taylor will be delivered to you once they are there. Deliver each of the resisting clans to me or I will expend Andrea Angel Taylor and your unborn offspring. That includes Oakland, Frisco, and the ones who ride the equine creatures.”

The Overlord took a long drink from his straw and pushed a button. All of the occupied screens disappeared, and one flashed a new image of the Sacramento Clan Complex Gate, with his own horse warriors exiting. “You will also deliver the Sacramento Clan.”

Daniel grimaced. This damn alien knows everything.

“It will be done, but one last question if I may? What do you do with all of these minerals, metals, and items that you harvest. I mean it’s just you really. Why do you need all this stuff?” Daniel asked, more out of curiosity than anything.

“I make things. Invent. Create. Efficiently. Perhaps in your terms, we Quids are artist,” the voice relayed.

“Seriously? All of this because you are a tinkerer?” Daniel gasped.

“Tinkerer?” the Quid voice questioned.

“Disney reference. Oh, never mind.” Daniel frowned.

The Quid Overlord took a long suck on his black tube and pushed a button. Within a second, the image of Sacramento was replaced with several images of Tinkerbell, causing the alien to say, “With certainty.”

So, all this is really about more stuff,” Daniel said, sadly shaking his head, wondering if somehow the Quid knew that his nickname for Andrea had been Tinkerbell. “More trinkets, toys, and ships.”

“Ships?” The Quid seemed confused for the first time.

“Yes, spaceships. The ones you used to get to our planet, and the other planets,” Daniel stated.

The Quid pushed more buttons with some of his right-handed tentacles. Three new scenes replaced the Tinkerbells on the largest hexes. One was of a giant pincher arm holding a Chevy Silverado in the air. Below it were thousands of vehicles in a giant pile. Other pinchers were removing tires and plastic and metals from the hanging Silverado, dropping them down various chutes.

The second was of metal parts dropping from several chutes into a huge smelting type bowl, where the items were melting. The third screen showed liquid metals flowing down a chute, where it mixed with an odd white and bluish liquid that then flowed down another chute into a form that was in the shape of an overseer.

“I am not at your planet, nor any other Namuh world, Daniel Allen Taylor. We are millions of light years away from your earth. Right now, you are on my home planet, in the only environment available here. This is the only installation. Everything is created here. It is the optimum of efficiency. With certainty, there are no ships. There have never been any ships. Primitive inefficient concept. With the power circles, distance has no meaning. We Quid never have need to leave our home world. That would be inefficient.”

A long skinny tentacle from the Overlord’s right hand slithered up to the far top right button on the console and pushed it, opening a green power circle next to Daniel. The tentacles on the left hand had never stopped moving about pushing buttons during their entire conversation. The creature was a master multi-tasker.

“With certainty, our meeting has come to a successful conclusion Daniel Allen Taylor. You now understand that we are symbiotic,” the Quid Overlord’s voice in his head stated.

“With certainty.” Dat smiled and stepped into the green power circle. With a fizzle, and in a heartbeat of time, he was back home on Namuh 12, 973.

Author Notes

This chapter was hard to write as I wanted to annotate the Overlord's mind voice differently than Daniel's so I wasn't sure if it should be italicized or bolded. I went with italicized, but then couldn't use that for Daniel's thoughts. Perhaps one of the FS grammar gurus can straighten me out?

Chapter 24
The End Game

By Douglas Goff

Commander Dat stared at the faces sitting around the table. Olivia, Jilly, Hambone, Tiny, Sterns, and Tiana were all there. Also in attendance were their three captains, Barbara, Kenneth, and Juan Carlos. He knew that these people trusted him with their lives. He just wasn’t sure how far he could push that trust.

“Let me start by saying that we’re not fighting an army. We’re fighting one alien.”

“One?” Several of them gasped in disbelief and confusion.

“We’ve all seen and fought many overseers. You yourself have killed many, commander.” Tiana shrugged. “What’re you talking about?”

Daniel held up his hands, saying, “Let me lay it all out for you guys, then you can hit me with your questions. There’s only one. He calls himself the Overlord. The people at Alcatraz work for him and sent me to see him through a power circle.

The Overlord isn’t even here. He controls everything from his home world. The overseers are some kinda super-advanced robots that he’s in mental connection with. They don’t come down into the tunnels because he loses that connection underground. I’m not sure why the communication travels through so much space, but not through ground.”

Daniel walked back and forth with his hands on his hips, wondering just how much he should relay. Honesty seemed to usually work best, especially with friends.

“This thing planted us on the earth. Once we spent generations creating and building and digging up the resources, it returned to reap the benefits of our labor. We’re nothing more than worker ants to this Overlord, to be used as he sees fit. It’s emotionless and meticulous, concerned only with efficiency and its own goals and purpose. It’s cold and efficient. The concepts of sympathy, empathy, or love are foreign to it. The Overlord will show no mercy and his end game is the death of our world.”

When Daniel finished, Olivia spoke, “Okay, well , , , that sucks. So, what do we do? Seems like taking out the overseers won’t accomplish much. We have to get to this Overlord, but with all his technology, can we even kill him?”

“It’s true that he is more advanced than us, but not really by far. He uses plastic, rubber, and metal just like us, even if his is much stronger. And he breaths the same air, and can die just like us,” Daniel assured them.

“It doesn’t add up,” Sterns shook his head, “Why not have his robots dig up minerals that he needs.”

“This creature likes to be master. He calls us primitives. He has an incredible superiority complex feeding his giant ego. I think that the Overlord likes to play God.” Daniel shrugged, sharing his opinion.

“Same question.” Olivia frowned. “What do we do?”

“Dat has a plan. He always does,” Hambone said. “So lay it on us, Commander.”

“Yes, I do have a plan, but you guys aren’t going to like it,” the clan leader sighed. “In order to win this thing, we have to take out the Overlord. I need all four of our groups to go to the Eastmont Town Center here in Oakland within six days. Oakland Clan, Frisco Clan, Sacramento Clan, and the Horse Clan.”

“Alright! We’re going to launch a major attack!” Tiny exclaimed.

“No, quite the opposite. You’re going to be attacked,” Daniel revealed. “The Overlord requested that I turn ya’ all over in exchange for my wife.”

“Daniel!” Olivia gasped while others shook their heads, with more still frowning.

“Just wait,” Daniel raised his hands again to silence them. “Once you are there, I’ll be in Alcatraz waiting for Andrea to arrive. When she does, I’m going to go kill the Overlord. That should end this. But I can’t get to him if you guys don’t agree to bring your entire clans to Eastmont as bait.”

“Everybodys? Even womens and childrens?” Juan Carlos asked.

“Everybody,” Daniel answered.

“What if you fail?” Jilly asked what everyone in the room was contemplating.

“Then we’re all dead,” their leader simply stated, refusing to sugar-coat it.  

Daniel’s last comment caused the room to erupt in discussions that quickly led to arguments. He let it go on for a bit, gathering his thoughts, before he silenced them.

“Look, I know that I’m asking a lot of you. Using you all as bait is the last thing that I ever wanted to do, but this isn’t just about you, me, or us. There are thousands of worlds implanted with our race by this Overlord. A few are being harvested like us, right now. Other planets have already been obliterated, while the rest are just waiting for the Overlord to come and destroy them at his will. If we manage to pull this off, we aren’t only saving the remnants of our planet. We will be saving billions of lives.”

Daniel paced back and forth again, letting those words sink in, then finished with, “We have come a long way together. Many of you have put your trust and lives in my hands more than a few times. I’m asking you to do it one more time. One more time for the win. So, I need to know who is with me?”

This caused a long silence, where several people let out deep sighs. Daniel thought about saying more, but he remained quiet, giving them time to mull over the entirety of what he was asking. Finally, Olivia spoke.

“Oakland Clan is in. I trust you, Commander Dat. You won’t let us down.”

He smiled at her, then Jillian spoke, “Well, who would’ve ever thought that a stripper would be given a chance to help save billions. Sacramento Clan is behind you, although I don’t relish the thought of your wife returning and taking you away from me.”

“Well, the Frisco Clan is a mess. Won’t be losing much if we get blown to pieces. Count us in.” Tiana’s declaration sent all eyes on Juan Carlos.

“Geez, I just becames a captain,” he chuckled. “Ah hell. We’re all dyings anyways. Might as well happens in Oakland during a magnificent and glorious last stands battle! Only this times, we Mexicans will be the Alamo! Let’s do it.”

With that they were decided. Commander Dat briefed them on the details of his plan. They all agreed that it was their best shot. Everyone headed off to prepare for their upcoming roles because there was much to be done. That is everyone except Dat, Hambone, Paco, and Captain Kenneth from the survivalist compound. They went and took naps.

The four men headed out on horseback, right as the sun reached the middle of the sky, leading riderless horses with them. As the four horsemen rode, Daniel couldn’t help but feel like they were ringing in Armageddon from Revelations in the bible.

Their target was just over fifty miles to the northeast. Daniel was leading them back to Fairfield. They needed to make that distance by morning, so they took Interstate 80 at a good pace.

The only time they stopped was when Paco spotted an approaching drone. They used the occasion to switch out horses. Once the drones passed, the group continued at a trot. Dat’s second horse was Ocioso, who gave him no trouble. She was a good horse. The men reached Fairfield a bit before dawn, and arrived at their target a half hour later.

Travis Airforce Base sat just east of the actual city of Fairfield. The base had been staffed by 15,000 military and civilian employees, so wasn’t considered large by comparison to other California bases.

There was a medical center on base, but more important, it housed the 60th Air Mobility Wing, largest air group of the Air Mobility Command. Air mobility units were used by the air force to transport supplies and personnel all over the world. This base focused primarily on the Middle East.

Daniel led his three partners through the destroyed front gate, past some large buildings, and straight to the headquarters building. They found several piles of clothes outside of the front doors. After dismounting, Daniel dug through the piles and pulled out access cards on lanyards, that probably had hung around the victim’s necks.

“Look for these cards and bring me any that you find. We are looking for a specific one,” he ordered, dropping the two that he had picked up. “It belongs to the base general. It should be in, or around this building.”

The base had no visible seeker damage, although it was apparent that looters had been there. None of the clothing piles had weapons, although many had holsters. For about forty-five minutes, Kenny, Paco, and Hambone brought various badges to Daniel, but he discarded each one.

“Over here!” Kenneth shouted from a nearby parking lot.

Daniel went over and saw the survivalist digging through a pile of belongings in a driver eat of the car. “Got it!” he said, holding up a scan card that identified the man as General Richardson.

It was the card that Daniel wanted. The men mounted up and rode out onto the runway. Here they found overseer damage. Huge, charred marks and blown-up planes littered the tarmac. Daniel passed by all of that, as well as the major hangers.

Their commander led them to a series of non-descriptive aluminum buildings that looked like maintenance facilities, where Daniel dismounted. Here, the men saw their first seeker, prying on the aluminum siding on one of the hangars.

The bald man was tossing the aluminum sheets into a brown power circle that was open behind him. The group dismounted, and Kenneth walked up behind the seeker and put a bullet in the back of its head with his .44 Magnum.

Daniel approached the hangar next to the damaged one, which had a padlock on it, along with a sign that read “Runway Supply Building.”  The commander pulled out his .357 and shot the lock which stayed on.

“That only works on tv,” Kenneth said, and grabbing the dead seeker’s pry bar, he managed to tear the lock off. Paco and Daniel slid the two huge double doors open. 

Just behind the sliding doors was a large bunker that stood about twenty feet high. The bunker had a normal sized steel door with a scan pad beside it. The entire aluminum building was concealing the bunker within. On the steel door read “Authorized Personnel Only. This is a Restricted Area.”

Daniel pulled out the general’s card and inserted it into the scan pad. The three red lights on the pad turned green and the steel door slid open. Daniel told Kenneth, “Go check the other hangars to see if they hold anything of value.”

The remaining three men entered the bunker. Daniel flipped a switch and to his companion’s surprise, lights came on. “Solar. The lights and scan pads are all powered from cells on the roof.”

 The bunker held row after row of weapons, causing both of his companions to let out low whistles. Various armaments from M-4 assault rifles to 9mm pistols lined the numerous metal gun racks.  There were also stacks of crates marked as various types of grenades and rockets.

“This isn’t even the good shit.” Daniel walked past all the shelves to another fenced in area at the very back of the bunker. They had to pry off a second lock there. Inside were more crates and a large metal square cabinet, that looked to be about the size of a bank vault.

 Daniel searched around the caged area until he found two long rifle cases. “We’ll need these,” he said, handing both to Hambone to carry up to the front of the hangar.

Daniel pulled out the general’s card again, and explained, “A handful of the other cards would have gotten us this far into the bunker, but this’s the only card that can open the special weapons vault.”

With that, Daniel stuck it in a card pad on the side of the cabinet and with a hum and a click, he was able to open the door. Inside were several metal briefcases with keypads on them and digital screens. Daniel looked at a couple, and then grabbed one marked “TH-B662-04.” He exited the special weapons box, and closed it back up.

Now the men just needed to grab an assortment of other weapons to help their cause. Unfortunately, the horses could only carry so much weight, but at least they still had extra mounts that they could pack up.

When they made their way back to the front of the bunker, Kenneth came in excited, sweat glistening on his bald head. “Come on guys, you gotta see this!”

They followed the muscular man to a nearby hangar, where he showed them a completely intact Bell UH-1 Huey. For an old chopper, it looked to be in great shape. Kenneth ran up to it and slid the side door open, showing them the interior.

“Must have been one of the ranking officers ‘pet’ projects,” Daniel guessed. “Sure wish we had a pilot.”

“You do!” Kenneth exclaimed. “I flew one of these babies back in the day. If I can get her fired up, then we could take her. Shouldn’t take much. These babies could fly through think and thin.”

“I can co-pilot. I flew a traffic chopper after I got out of the military. I think that I could handle this one as well,” Hambone offered. “Holy shit, Dat. We could take a lot of these much-needed guns back! We should’ve come got these sooner.”

“It was in the works. I just wasn’t sure how we’d transport such a load, and food always seemed to be the more important priority,” the commander answered.

“Well, now we have a way.” Kenneth seemed excited. “We’ll probably need to fly this baby during the day though, so I can see where we’re going and so’s our lights don’t attract too much attention.”

“What about the horses?” Hambone asked. “It would suck to lose eight beauties like these.”

“We could have Paco take the horses back,” Kenneth suggested.

“Okay, let’s do that. We’re all tired, so we’ll sleep the rest of today. Tonight, Kenneth’ll work on getting this bird running while the rest of us’ll load the Huey with weapons. At first light, Paco will head back with the horses, and we’ll take off in the chopper,” Daniel instructed.

When the group stepped back out onto the tarmac, a red power circle nearly struck Daniel, fired from a drone. The sky was full of them, maybe twenty. The three men retreated back into the relative safety of the Huey hangar.

Two drones managed to follow the men in before Kenneth and Hambone were able to slide the hangar door shut. “Rat . . . tat, tat, tat . . . rat, tat, tat, tat, rat, tat, tat, tat, tat!” Paco unloaded a full mag of M-4 rounds into them, sending both flying machines smashing to the ground in smoking heaps.

The four men pulled on hoods with eye holes that they had in their packs. They had made them for just such occasions. They couldn’t have drone photos revealing them to the Overlord and destroying their plans.

“They have us trapped boss,” Hambone said.

“Eighteen drones are too many to attack out into,” Kenneth surmised.

Paco spoke some very fast, excited Spanish, seeming to agree with them.

“I need to get back over to the bunker and get a weapon that can take them out,” Daniel told them.

“It’s a good forty yards,” Kenneth advised.

“We won’t make it half that!” Hambone scoffed.

Again, Paco was speaking fast and with excitement.

“Maybe you three can hit the drones at the front while I make a break for it out the back,” their leader suggested.

“I’m sure that they’ll have all sides covered, boss,” Hambone assumed.

“No doubt. We have to be smart about this,” Kenneth added.

“Mira! Mira! Mira!” Paco was yelling and pointing now.

“What’s he saying?” Daniel asked.

“He’s pointing at those barrels . . . oh my . . . he’s right! We can use those barrels to get out of here. They’re full of oil.” Hambone ran over and inspected them. There were at least eight full oil barrels lined along the wall, plus two with fuel.  

“We’re going to need a lighter,” Daniel said.

Paco flipped his thumb igniting a flame, showing that he already held one in his closed fist. He had a huge grin on his face, exposing his two golden teeth. Daniel walked over and warmly slapped the Hispanic man on the back. He was really starting to like this fella.

They rolled the oil barrels over to the hangar door and stuffed rags into the small holes that were on each of the lids. While Paco lit each one, the other three men slid the door slightly open and rolled them out. Within seconds, the sky was filled with rolling plumes of black smoke, because oil burned dirty.

The men gave the burning oil some time to spill into puddles on the tarmac and watched while the huge streams of billowing black smoke blocked out the sun. No worries about alerting anyone as to their presence, the enemy was already here.

The four men left the bunker in a tight diamond formation, with Daniel at the point. They were hacking and gagging by the time that they reached the weapon’s bunker, but at least they didn’t encounter any drones.

When the wind shifted about an hour later, the four men exited the bunker in a line. Each carried a belt fed M60 machine gun with long ammunition belts dragging along the ground behind them. The drones started to come in fast, when the gun-toting warriors opened up.

All four men shook while the powerful weapons chewed through and spitting out the belt fed rounds. After about fifteen seconds, all four M60’s fell silent, their bullets spent and their chambers smoking. The eighteen drones had been shot to pieces. The hooded men went back into the weapon’s bunker and Daniel secured the iron door.

The group slept the rest of the day. That night, after making sure that the tarmac was clear, they got to work. Kenneth worked on the helicopter while the other three loaded it with weapons and grenades. Daniel secured the TH-B662-04 case under one of the rear seats, along with the two rifle cases that he had initially grabbed. The men had finished in just half the night.

After securing the special weapon’s bunker, they went to the chopper and waited for morning. Captain Kenneth had easily got the chopper running. It was in great condition. He had also hooked up a runway tractor to the platform dolly that the UH-1 sat upon. He actually had more trouble getting the tractor started than anything. Once that was done, they were ready to go.

“So, how’d you know about this place commander?” Hambone asked. “I thought that you were stationed down south in Camp Pendleton before the war.”

“Yes, I was a member of a small Marine Security Forces Detachment,” Daniel answered. “We escorted special weapons to various bases.”

“Yes, you jarheads always guarded the nukes, or so I heard,” Kenneth interjected, all three of his companions now paying very close attention.

“Not just nuclear weapons. More advanced stuff as well.” Daniel smiled wryly.

“Is that what’s in that metal case that we came for?” Hambone questioned. “Something more advanced?”

“Did you guys ever hear about the Russian briefcase scare in the late 90’s? When our intelligence agencies thought that the commies had lost some of their nukes?” Daniel asked.

“Oh yeah! That was a big deal.” Hambone snapped his fingers. “I read about it. It was believed that they’d lost over a hundred nuclear bombs that were the size of briefcases.”

“Is that what we have Daniel, a nuke?” Kenneth asked, apprehensively eyeing the seat that the case was under.

“No, this isn’t a nuclear authorized base. But the Russian scare got our country thinking, and working. Our weapons scientists developed several briefcase sized weapons in response to the threat.”

“I, for one, am glad that it’s not a nuke. We’d all be glowing by now,” Hambone smirked.

“In our case we have a thermobaric bomb, also called a vacuum bomb. It basically uses the oxygen in the air around it to create an explosion, multiplying the shockwave and overpressure. It crushes a person to death, causing major damage to internal organs, and ruptures the lungs. It also smashes structures. The Overlord breaths oxygen the same us. It’s the perfect weapon to take him and his complex out,” Daniel explained.

“How’d you know it was here?” Kenneth asked.

“I was on the security team that brought it, and a few other items to Travis, just about a month before the invasion. I was hoping and praying that it was still here,” he answered.

“Can’t help but feel that we’re the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, carrying that thing around,” Hambone solemnly stated.

“I don’t think that the Bible had them in a chopper.” Daniel chuckled, then added grimly, “Besides, it isn’t our apocalypse that we’re delivering.”

By first light, they were ready to go. Kenneth removed the tiedown straps that secured the helicopter to the platform dolly, and jumped in the tractor and began pulling the chopper out of the hangar, while Hambone started the pre-flight checklist. What none of them expected was the rows of overseers lined up on the tarmac, just on the other side of the still smoking oil patches.

“Get this thing running!” Daniel ordered.

“I’ll try,” Hambone said, while flipping switches and pushing buttons. The craft fired alive, with loud engine noises and a belch of smoke.

When the helicopter was halfway out of the hangar, Kenneth jumped from the moving tractor while red blasts exploded all round him from the enemy batons. He turned to run when a red power circle struck him in the back and enveloped him. With a fizzle, Captain Kenneth Zumbolt was ash.

“It’s on you now Hambone. They just took out Kenneth. Get this bird in the air or we’re going out with him.” Daniel jumped in the now-empty front seat beside the red-haired man.

Paco was on the .50 cal. machine gun that they’d mounted at the door last night, just waiting for a clear shot at the overseers. The propeller was rotating fast now, so Hambone pulled back on the throttle and with a shudder, up she went.

The sound of the .50 cal. exploded in their ears, alerting them that Paco now had a clear shot. The chopper swung along the line of overseers, with Paco screaming out in delight whenever he struck one of the enemy. Red bursts exploded all around the chopper, coming from above!

A cylindrical shaped object, made of the same white material that the pod walls were made from, flew by. It was about the size of the helicopter and had made the blasts from above. It was an overseer airship, like the one that Daniel and Hambone had seen at Chico. Hambone accelerated hard, sending the Huey skimming along ten feet above the ground, straight south.

They were all surprised to see the overseer aircraft, because they were so rare. Paco began exchanging bursts with the pursuing craft. It didn’t fire power rings. It fired red energy blasts, that they knew would blow them from the sky. Hambone weaved the chopper back and forth, keeping it from being struck.

Paco would have been thrown to the earth if he hadn’t smartly put on his safety strap. Several of his rounds struck the enemy craft, but merely bounced off it. Daniel climbed back into the rear of the chopper and popped the latched on one of the crates. He removed a FIM-92 Stinger. These man pads were known as air-to-air rockets and could be fired from choppers.

Daniel had it operational in seconds, and after a near miss from a red blast, he put it on his shoulder, shouting, “Turn!”

When Hambone came around, Daniel had a clear shot at the overseer craft. “Clear!” he shouted once his target acquired indicator locked on, and pulled the trigger.

The heat seeking missile shot out in a puff of smoke. It zeroed in on the alien craft which did no evasive maneuver. The missile exploded on contact, sending the overseer craft spinning towards the earth. They did not see it again.

In about twenty minutes, they were setting down on the Mills College Campus, near their base. Even with the loss of Kenneth and all six horses, the mission had been a success . . . and then some.

Author Notes

I enjoyed writing this chapter as I was in Marine Security Forces on a special weapons detail. So, if anything in this chapter makes you say "No way". I say, "Way". Nuff said.

Chapter 25
Children Are Expendable

By Douglas Goff

Warning: The author has noted that this contains the highest level of violence.
Warning: The author has noted that this contains the highest level of language.

It was go time. All the plans and preparations had been made. The clans were on the move towards the Eastmont Town Center, and would be arriving shortly. Daniel couldn’t help but feel that all of the forces in the universe were pushing him towards an inevitable showdown with the Overlord. A showdown that he wouldn’t be returning from.

“What do you mean that you’re not coming back?” Olivia gasped. Just throw the damn bomb into one of the collection circles! You said the Overlord has just one complex.” Daniel had never seen her angry before.

“We don’t know how big his complex is, or how much his super-material will dull the blast. I have to go with the weapon and make sure that the Overlord is in the room when it goes off. We only get one shot at this.”

“Daniel . . .“ Her big tender eyes swelled with tears. “Don’t do this.”

“I have to finish what I’ve started.” He grabbed her hands. “I have to save Andrea. Promise me that you will take care of her.”

“Daniel . . .” She wanted to protest again, but was well aware of his unflinching resolve, so simply said, “Damn it. You know that I will.”

Olivia hugged him tightly and planted a long tender kiss on his lips, saying, “You will come back to us. I know it.” Then they set off.

Daniel and Paco took turns rowing to the old prison island. With the help of the tower lights, Daniel could see the silhouette of the large prison backlit in the light of a full moon. For a second, he shivered, thinking that it looked much like Dracula’s Castle had.

Daniel and Andrea had visited the spooky place while honeymooning in Brasov, Romania. His wife had a strong obsession with old monster movies and the trip had been a surprise for her.

When Daniel and Paco were a hundred yards out, they waited. A “zing” rang out, and with some sparking, the large light on the opposite side of the island went out. A second shot brought on more darkness.

Paco sat on the bench seat of the rowboat and aimed in with one of the two silenced .50 caliber sniper rifles that they had taken from Travis. He zinged off a shot, blowing out the third and final spotlight on the island. Alcatraz was now dark, save a few dim building lights visible here and there.  

“Me gusta mucho!” Paco whispered. Daniel didn’t understand his words, but was certain that they had something to do with the man liking the rifle.

The pair rowed the rest of the way to shore, landing on the same small beach that Daniel had landed on before. The clan leader opened one of the two long rifle boxes that he had taken from the special weapons locker at the airbase. Inside were two scoped rifles and several darts.

They were called “snoozers” and were one of the best kept secrets of the United States military. They were real “James Bond” level weapons. The rifles came complete with night optics scopes, and the darts could put a man down for eight hours. Daniel had no intentions of massacring a bunch of civilians and men that they might need later.

The two men could see three sentries at the gate that they had taken Daniel through on his first visit to Alcatraz. In the scope, the guards appeared to be having an animated discussion about the disappearing lights. “Pitthh” sounded from beside the commander, causing one of the men to grab his neck. “Pitthh” came from Daniel’s weapon, hitting the second man.

The third guard, a female, began to spray the beach with fire from her Uzi. Paco hit her with a dart. The guards fell down in a row; one, two, three, like dominoes. Daniel and Paco had to move quickly, now that the sound of gunfire had alerted the other residents of the island. Once Daniel and Paco were through the gate, they could hear several gunshots coming from the other side of the island. The pair rapidly headed straight for the Quartermaster’s Building.

When the two men arrived, they were relieved to see that they were the only ones there. A minute later, they saw four camouflaged men leading Ambassador Robert Rogers towards the building that they were standing in front of. Obviously, he was intent upon warning the Overlord.

Daniel and Paco took aim with their snoozers. “Pitthh” . . . “pitthh” sounded off, followed by two more “pitthhs” from behind the ambassador’s group. All four of the ambassador’s guards fell to the ground. Olivia and Hambone lowered their “snoozers” and came up behind the befuddled island leader and pushed him towards their commander.

Daniel had hated to bring the pregnant woman along, but she had insisted. Olivia had wanted to make sure that things went smoothly.

“If you fail, then we’re all dead anyways,” the young woman had aptly argued. Daniel gave up. When you argued with Major Olivia Reyes, you usually ended up on the losing end.

“What the hell is this all about?” Ambassador Bobby demanded to know, scowling angrily. They ignored his question and led the upset man to the iron key card door.

“Oh, hell no, I’m not going to open that. The Overlord is gonna wipe us all out,” Bobby sniveled.

Daniel sat the bomb case on the floor and slid the general’s card into a slot at the top. After pushing some buttons, a three-minute countdown was displayed on the black panel screen at the top.

“Oh no, Commander Dat. What’s that? What’d you do?” The trembling man was nearly crying now.

“This is a thermobaric vacuum pressure bomb. I set it to go off in just about two minutes and forty-five seconds. When it does, it’s going to suck your internal organs out through all of your orifices. You’ve no time to escape governor. It’ll take out this entire island. There’s only one way to get rid of it now. Get over there and open that door. Once we’re in, you’ll get the Overlord to open a power circle, or we’ll all be dead in just over two minutes,” Daniel calmly explained.

“Shut it down,” the former governor pleaded.

“Not a chance.” Commander Daniel stared at the weak man, unflinching.

Robert Rogers thought for about five seconds, staring at the countdown clock on the black screen of the case. Daniel wasn’t worried, he had known men like Bobby his whole life. There was nothing more important to his personality type than self-preservation. The man would open the door.

But a little encouragement never hurt, Daniel thought as he unsheathed his boot knife. “Don’t think for a second that I won’t rip that access card from around your neck and chop off your hand to gain access.”

The ambassador let out a loud sigh, then placed his hand on the print pad and pulled out his key card, sliding it into the slot. With a “whoosh,” the small group entered the room. Daniel noted that it all looked the same as the last time that he had been here, complete with the overseer in the corner. Bobby Rogers went over to the console and placed his hand on the DNA pad, stating, “He’s here.”

A moment later, a green power circle opened up in the same spot that it had last time. A jumble of thoughts came rushing to Daniel’s mind. He only had a couple of seconds to talk with his long-lost wife, and had planned out a couple of quick sentences, but now his mind was frozen as she came through and stood before him.

It was Andrea, only it wasn’t. He stared horrifyingly at his wife. Her eyes were milky white, and she wore the metal headband of the seekers. Her once beautiful skin looked withered and cracked, apparently from having been frozen for so long. He reached out to touch her, causing her to snarl at him like a rabid dog.

“Six seconds commander. You have to go, before that circle closes,” Olivia advised, her face distressed at his emotional anguish.

“Do you think that this’ll work? I mean if it does, I was always on your side Commander Dat. Make sure your people know that.” Robert Rogers smiled at him, failing to see the mental torment that Daniel was going through.

“It’s under committee review,” Daniel hissed out. With one fluid motion, the traumatized man shoved his combat knife straight into Bobby’s throat.

“That’s for lying to me about my family you piece of shit,” Daniel said. The man fell to the floor gurgling in his own blood. Former California Governor Robert “Bobby” Rogers was no more.

“Four seconds and that circle closes, Daniel. If you are going to do this, you have to go now!” Olivia shouted while the overseer in the corner came to life and began advancing forward, raising its baton. “I’ll take care of Andrea.”

Paco and Hambone began wrestling with the overseer’s arms. Olivia ran and jumped onto the robot machines chest, wrapping her legs around its waist. She pushed the helmet visor button exactly where Daniel had taught her. When the visor spring up, she shoved a fragmentation grenade into the empty face hole.

Daniel didn’t have time to see how that ended, because after taking one last longing look at his mind-erased wife, he dove into the green power circle just before it disappeared. With a fizzle, he was gone!

A second later, Daniel was galaxies away, standing in the Overlord’s room. Daniel set the metal case on the floor and looked at the screen on top of the thermobaric bomb. The red digits continued to count down on the black panel, “30 . . . 29 . . .  28.”

“Daniel Allen Taylor, with certainty you should not be here,” the Overlord’s voice was back in his head.

“27 . . . 26 . . . 25”, the countdown continued ticking away the precious seconds.

“With certainty I am here, and this time I brought you a little present, to thank you for mind-wiping my wife, crapping on my planet, and animalizing my race. But to be completely honest, I’m mostly here because I simply don’t like you.”

“24. . . 23 . . .22”

“This is not symbiotic Daniel Allen Taylor,” the voice said.

I personally can’t think of anything more symbiotic than you and I exploding into space together.” Daniel looked down at the bomb screen.

“21 . . . 20 . . .19”

“What about my species? My mate? My offspring?” the voice rang out in his mind, with the first hint of panic in it. Good, it fears death.

“Children are expendable.” Daniel used the alien’s own words against him.

“18 . . .17 . . .16”

 Death was coming . . . or maybe not. Daniel was running now, straight towards the Overlord and threw himself at the panel. Daniel reached for the top right button that he had watched the Overlord tentacle last time. The creature grabbed the man’s outstretched arm with the tentacles on its right hand. Daniel could feel the wet and slimy worm-like appendages sliding along his arm.

“15 . . . 14 . . . 13”

With one last effort, Daniel shoved his arm forward and pushed the button, opening a green power circle in the same spot that the last one had just closed at. Then something unexpected happened. The Overlord sprang across the counter with a speed that surprised Daniel. More surprisingly, the alien had four large stumpy tentacles, like an octopus, where its legs should have been.

“12 . . . 11 . . .10”

Daniel realized with a sickening feeling that the Overlord was going to try and push the suitcase bomb back through the power circle, where it would kill everyone on Alcatraz. The commander sprang into action with cat like speed. Daniel reached the alien and leapt on its back, just a mere foot from the bomb.

Both man and alien fell to the floor, with the latter still trying to crawl towards the case.

“9 . . .8 . . .7”

Daniel started to slug the Overlord in the back of its large head, realizing that it didn’t have a boney skull. It was moist and spongelike. With each punch, Daniel’s hand sank into the huge head at least four inches deep.

“6 . . . 5 . . .4”

The alien got its left-handed tentacles on the bomb and began sliding it towards the green circle. In one fluid motion Daniel swung his entire body about and landed a well-placed kick on the case, sending it sliding away from the pair of fighting humanoids. When Daniel let go of the Overlord, it scurried after the bomb.

“3 . . . 2 . . .1”

But Daniel could no longer see the countdown. He had rolled into the green power circle, fizzling away, a second before it closed.

                                                        *     *     *

A couple of months later, Major Reyes approached Commander Dat as he sat on the porch of the Commander’s Quarters on Alcatraz, relaying, “Scouts have reported another massive group of seekers coming in from the east. At least five thousand heading towards the Sacramento Colony.”

Olivia had moved into Daniel’s home as soon as they had moved their headquarters to Alcatraz. She had a way of handling him. The intelligent woman knew exactly how to steer Daniel in the best direction, and they were good together. Very good.

He stared into the cute woman’s big brown eyes, knowing that he loved her. Once he came to grips with the fact that his wife’s mind was gone and would never be coming back, he had allowed himself to feel those emotions again.

Daniel rubbed Olivia’s large belly, then looked over at Andrea, who was sporting a similar maternal package. Of course, he could never rub her belly. His former wife was sitting five feet away, which was fine. Any closer, and she would attack. Even though he would never have her back, at least his child would have a fierce defender at its side.

The seekers were a real problem. Not that there weren’t many other problems. But, once the overseers had stopped functioning, and all of the power circles had dissipated, the mind-washed bald men began rampaging.

Their free Overlord food tubes were now gone, and they were hungry. The seekers turned into flesh eating lunatics that were constantly sniffing out and tracking down humans. When they found them, they attacked without fear and devoured anyone that they could. What’s worse, they hunted in packs, like wild dogs.

Humans had killed each other at unimaginable levels in the post-invasion world, plus the Overlord had taken an unknown amount of pregnant women to his world. They had no way to rescue those poor frozen souls or their unborn children.

With about half of the world’s people now dead or missing, it left the numbers between seekers and survivors just about even. Unfortunately, many survivors were in pods and it was a constant race to rescue them, before they killed each other, or fell to the seekers.

Still, things weren’t all bad. Specialist Sterns said that he would have the power back up and running in the San Francisco area within a month. That would be huge for the Bay Area Colony. Daniel had done away with the term clan, as there were way too many bad connotations with those names.

“Call in the air calvary and have the mounted units head that way,” Daniel ordered.

“Already done, commander. The helos will be here in seconds.” Major Reyes never failed to impress him.

Commander Dat got up from his chair, feeling the many pains from his war wounds. He had received numerous broken bones, had been shot, stabbed, bitten, cut, and pronged. Neither his broken hand, nor his broken nose had ever quite set right, but he didn’t worry too much about those things.

He knew that they would wrangle this planet back into order. There was no way that they couldn’t with people like Major Olivia Reyes, Governor Jilly of the Sacramento Area Colony, Governor Tiana of the Bay Area Colony, Major Juan Carlos Cortez-Monteverde of the Mounted Horse Battalion, Hambone the Medical Specialist, Sterns the Engineering Specialist, Big Man Tiny the Communications Specialist, and Paco the former brothel owner and donkey show host turned alien slayer at his disposal. Who could oppose a crew like that?

Daniel climbed into the UH-1 Huey, and after nodding at Paco on the door gun, signaled Hambone to takeoff. Tiny turned and smiled at Daniel from the co-pilot seat. The helicopter climbed into the air, heading away from the island, taking them to their next great adventure. 

Author Notes

The conclusion is finally upon us. I hope you enjoyed my book!

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