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3 Go Take a Drive

Abby

“This is the first lead we have after thinking Pro is dead, and I’m just supposed to leave. Such bullshit,” she snarled.

Abby pulled to a stop at the intersection and sat staring at nothing.

Her family had been a wreck for so long. Months ago, Mom wanted to have a funeral for Providence. She and her sister Bethany agreed. Losing Pro wasn’t something they’d ever get over, but they all needed to say goodbye and have a bit of closure. There was only so long you could search and grieve. But Dad refused to let Pro go. Hope and April sided with him. Now they just didn’t talk about it, and the tension was noticeable.

Then out of the blue, two strange characters, aliens, show up with a letter from Pro. The story they told was too good to believe. It dredged up feelings she’d done her best to bury, because they hurt too much to hold onto—hope. And yet somehow it was just crazy enough, it had to be true.

“And I’m just supposed leave!” She shook the steering wheel.

It was like a kick in the teeth. She had just as much right to know what the hell was going on.

“Screw it. Dad’ll just have to be pissed at me.” She smacked the dash, mind made up.

Abby turned around and started heading back home. She was a few blocks away when something large darted into the road.

“Fuck!” She threw on the brakes. Her eyes widened, recognizing the hooded figure. “What the hell is he doing running around the neighborhood?”She quickly rolled down the window and hollered. “Hey!”

The giant man paused and spun around. In the halo of the street lamp, she could just make out his ruddy complexion.

Jesus, he’s huge. She noticed it earlier, but it bore repeating.

The giant alien considered her for a second, glanced warily behind him, as if weighing his options, then hustled toward the car.

What am I doing? The bravado she was feeling a moment ago waned without her father around. Are you seriously letting a giant fanged demon alien into the car?

Her eyebrows hit her hairline, when a black clad soldier emerged from between two nearby houses, heading straight for the alien.

“Shit!” That’s who he’s running from. She didn’t think twice, leaned over and threw open the door. “Get in.”

The red behemoth swiftly dove into her car, and she slammed on the gas. In the rearview mirror, she watched the Spec-ops soldier stop short. She screamed and swerved when the back window exploded a second later.

“Fucking bastard!” She corrected, hunched low in the seat and drove faster, the tires screeching as she took the next turn. “I can’t believe he’s shooting at us.” Her hands trembled on the wheel.

Except she could believe it. It also drove home the reality of who she’d just let in her car.

“Thank you,” the alien man rumbled.

“What is going on?”

“Your warriors attacked your house.”

“Dad called in the troops! Unbelievable!” A frisson of disappointment struck her. Her dad was all about rules and order, but in this case, normal rules didn’t apply. Anyone could see that.

“No, they just showed up, Peanut.”

She nearly hit a parked car, hearing the alien call her by the nickname. Not only did it come out of his mouth, sounding rumbly and deep, but it also translated through the strange contraption on his arm. She glanced over, and a snort burst out before she could muffle it. The poor guy was folded up in the passenger seat, his knees in the dash, and his head tilted against the ceiling.

“Sorry about the cramped quarters. There’s a button beside the seat to adjust it.”

He adjusted the seat but didn’t look any more comfortable. The car was just too small.

She turned at the next intersection. If she knew anything about how the government operated, they had to get out of the neighborhood before they were penned in.

“My name’s Abby, not Peanut. What’s yours?”