Amber
My first impression of Alaska as we flew lower was that it had a lot of trees. Snowy, tall pines everywhere. Endless white forests under a pale morning sky. I don’t think I would have been able to appreciate the beauty of it if Rylen wasn’t alive, landing his jet right ahead of us. But as we passed over what looked like towns and a city, I saw the charred remains of bomb destruction, and worse . . . huge heaps of dirt in fields. When people started whispering to one another about burial mounds, I tasted the sour bile I’d come to know so well.
All of our planes were pulled into industrial garages at the end of a narrow road in the middle of a forest, miles from anything. When we all stared from the windows to First Sergeant, he assured us. “Convoys are coming. Don’t worry.”
I stood with the others and lined up to get off. None of us had anything to carry other than those who held guns. We’d left every single belonging behind in our rush to exit the bunker. I tried really hard not to be pushy, but when my feet hit the ground at the base of the rickety stairs, I bolted in the direction of the fighter jet. Rylen was on the ground, looking up at a place on the wing that looked like it’d been clipped by enemy fire.
“Rylen!”
He spun, getting his helmet off just in time to catch me in his arms as I collided into him, exhaling at the feel of his healthy body against mine. He laughed and held me up, kissing the side of my head.
“I was so scared,” I said, shaking at the memory of thinking he’d been lost.
“I’m right here, Pepper. We’re all safe.”
Not all . . .
He set me down, and I choked up, covering my mouth and shaking my head.
“Amber?” He lifted my chin, and when I saw the worry in his blue-gray eyes, I had to shut mine tight, tears squeezing out. “What is it?”
I took a shuddering breath, my chest heaving. “Remy and Tater didn’t make it.”
He went still and quiet. When I opened my eyes, he was staring at me in shock. Without a word, he let me go and ran to the other passenger plane, pushing his way through our people, yelling, “Tate!” I chased after him, knowing better than to get my hopes up, but every time he shouted my brother’s name, I looked too, half expecting Tater’s smiling face to pop up in the crowd.
“Tater!” He stopped and spun amid the people, his face frantic until his eyes finally landed on mine again, and then he slumped. I knew his pain. His panic. “Wh—what happened?” His disbelief.
I shook my head. “He was with me, and then when we couldn’t find Remy, he ran back.” I swallowed down the moisture of emotion. “They never made it.”
Rylen’s hand was trembling as he ran it over his blond, cropped hair. He looked around once more before taking me in his arms tightly. I squeezed him back. It was just us now. We had new friends, who I was thankful for, but our families were gone.
“Fuck,” he whispered. “I don’t know if I should hope that they were killed or captured.”
Oh, my God. Captured? I didn’t think of that. I just imagined the aliens killing everyone on sight. I pulled away and looked at him. “Why would they capture them?”
His brow creased. “For information.”
Now my stomach was churning. “How can we find out?”
“I don’t know, Pep.” Rylen shook his head, then rubbed his face hard.
“Fite!” We both turned at the sound of New York Josh’s accent. “Nice flying, man.” The two of them clasped hands and pulled each other in, giving a slap on the back.
“Thanks. She got hit in a few places, but I think we can patch her up.”
They both glanced at the plane and nodded.
“Hey,” Josh said, turning to me. “Was Linette on your plane? She wasn’t on either chopper like she was supposed to be.”
“I don’t think so,” I said. “I didn’t see her.” There was no way Linette would miss the convoy out of the bunker. She was too hardcore to make a mistake that big. But Josh looked worried.
“All right. I’m gonna keep checking.” He jogged away, and I shared a glance with Rylen.
“She’s here somewhere,” he assured me.
Before I could respond, we were joined by a string of soldiers congratulating and thanking Rylen, including Top, our First Sergeant. They all wanted details of his flight, and how he’d shot the two jets down, but Rylen was too solemn to oblige yet. I knew, like me, he was thinking of Tater and Remy.
Top cocked his head at Ry. “How’d you get in the pilot seat, anyway? What happened to Captain King flying?”
Both men glanced over at where the redheaded pilot stood by the wall, staring down at the helmet in his hands.
“We had a disagreement on the mission, sir. I didn’t feel like dying.”
Top’s eyebrows went up, and so did mine.
“Well, okay, then.” Top grasped his shoulder and then gave it a hard pat. “I’ll debrief you when we arrive. For now, try to relax.”
“Sir?” Rylen said before he could walk away. “Still no sign of Jacob Tate or Remy Haines?”
Top’s face fell. “No, son. I’m sorry. And it seems First Lieutenant Thompson is unaccounted for, as well.” Linette.
Again, my chest collapsed and I had to reach for Rylen. I just couldn’t believe this was reality. How had it happened? I hated that we would probably never know.
Seconds later, we were surrounded by what was left of our group. Devon, Shavontae, Texas Harry, New York Josh, Short Matt, Skinny Mark, Officer Sean, and J.D.
“Where are Remy and Tater?” J.D. asked, looking around.
I caught Devon giving him a hard shake of his head, and I had to press my lips together as the whole group froze, turning to look at me in shock.
“They didn’t make it,” I whispered.
J.D. covered his mouth and his eyes watered as he moved to hug me. I let him, closing my eyes against the looks of shock.
“We can’t find Linette either,” Josh said.
“What?” Shavontae yelled. They’d been roommates.
A sobering sensation fell over our group.
“Maybe they’re together?” J.D. said in his sweet, hopeful voice.
I shook my head, and whispered. “I hope they’re dead.” This made J.D. cringe, but the others nodded. I knew they were thinking what I was—that it’d be better to die a quick death than to be captured, tortured for intel, or used as experiments. I didn’t want to think about it. I couldn’t. Tater wouldn’t be able to handle it, mentally, and Remy was so kind and tender-hearted. I hated to think of how it would affect her emotionally to be in that position.
As for Linette . . . she could probably take on the whole Baelese Army. But as tough as she was, and as much grief as she gave me, I wouldn’t wish it on her.
A side door to the massive garage opened, and a man in an Air Force uniform of navy blue marched in with five guys in Army camo behind him. Top came forward and shook his hand. A hush fell over the room.
“I’m Colonel Latham. Welcome to the outskirts of Anchorage.” He paused to look over our quiet ranks. “It’ll be a tight squeeze, but you’ll all fit in the bunker. We brought six vehicles, and we have to move quick. We’ve got a small group of local DRI at Elmendorf base—they’re scouting north of the city right now—but they’re diligent.”
Just the mention of DRI gave me the shivers. Disaster Relieve Initiative was what the aliens called themselves while they were taking over Earth, masquerading as humans pretending to help people back on their feet, to fight against the “unknown enemy”. But they were the enemy all along. It was DRI who shot my grandpa right in our living room. It was DRI who called for Captain King to bomb the innocent people of towns, killing my parents and Abuela. And it was DRI who gave women shots to cripple their reproductive systems, me and Remy included.
All I wanted in life now was to help find a way to stop them, and to use my paramedic skills to keep humans healthy enough to win back this Earth. Knowing Colonel Latham had an entire team here, humans just like us, gave me hope. If there were cells of people like us all over the world, it was just a matter of time until we could fight back. And when the time came, I would be ready.