Sorry again for the wait. I’m (again) buried under other projects. This one’s a little short, but at least it’s something, right? Ahh, if only I could make a full time living doing StoryHack…
For those of you who haven’t read any of the Journey Of St. Laurent before: You are now reading an online serial pulp novel. If you didn’t start at the beginning, you may want to do so. Chapter 1: Down By The Bay. This serial is the sequel to my first novel, Oasis.
38: Thunderstruck
The UFO was similar in shape to the others I had seen, but somehow more sinister. The main triangular body was an almost painfully reflective silver. Spaced around the base were several half spheres. They were bright red with gold flecks and their surface shifted and morphed as the craft rose in the air.
The gunner at the big machine gun stayed strong and kept the barrel trained on the invader. Fire and lead spewed up into the sky.
Sparks and shrapnel carved a messy line on the UFO as the heavy bullets tore into its shell.
Can it really be doing that much damage? Why isn’t it flying any higher?
One of the glowing half spheres on the alien ship flashed.
The machine gunner was crumpled in half and launched upward and back toward the camp. His arms and legs flopped as his body spun through the air. Either his clothes or his corpse burst into flame just before I lost sight of it.
One side of the UFO dipped a few feet. Several of the half spheres flashed in rapid succession. I couldn’t tell exactly what the aliens hit, but fire jumped into the sky in several locations.
I instinctively dropped to my knees and tugged on London’s shirt.
She understood and flung herself down with me in a kneeling huddle. We weren’t under any kind of cover, but it felt safer to be low to the ground.
Then as if on queue, everyone in camp that could heft a firearm pulled the trigger at once and sent up a thundering wave of lead.
The deafening gunpowder chorus rattled my teeth and shook my eyeballs.
I spared a glance up.
The UFO had passed over the hill and was now over one end of the camp, but it was clearly in trouble. Every visible metal surface was speckled with holes. It wobbled and shook in the air. Two or three of the half spheres had burst, spraying a glowing red liquid on the ground.
The ragtag group of survivalists continued to pump ammunition into the floating silver beast.
Wherever the red liquid fell, flames jumped skyward.
The remaining red spheres flashed like massive cameras at a concert. Fires erupted all around. Everything the aliens hit caught fire.
The dogged survivalists just kept pulling their triggers and reloading.
I don’t know whether it was the internal damage or the added physical weight of all the thousands of bullets from the camp, but the UFO couldn’t take any more and came crashing out of the air.
I’m certain there was screaming from the crowd, but my ears were ringing too loudly to hear it.
The immense craft slammed into the camp, shattering the remaining half spheres. The ground shook enough that if I hadn’t already been kneeling, I might have fallen. Dirt and shrapnel spewed into the air. The spilled red liquid set fire to everything near it. I was a good thirty yards back and the temperature where I was jumped probably fifteen degrees.
London stood and pulled me up, too.
The lusty thrill of victory breezed through my body for a moment. It chased off by an injection of icy horror when I looked around and saw the damage the crash had done.
The UFO had fallen in the middle of the camp, crushing who knows how many people. What was left of the craft’s metal skin glowed white hot. Fires raged around the camp.
There was a massive hole on the top of the downed craft.
I wondered if the army had hit it with a rocket propelled grenade or something. Maybe that’s why it came in so low. Maybe it had to. The stench of gunpowder, melting plastic, and burning flesh tore into my nostrils.
It had been a vain hope to think that this band of patriots could make any real stand against the aliens.
How many ships did they have? We were lucky to have brought that one down. Any if the military hadn’t been near the entrance to soften it up, we might never have even had a shot.
I wondered why we hadn’t seen any more alien craft yet. Had the military managed to seal the entrance? My thoughts drifted down to the little vial in my cargo pocket. If the aliens were even temporarily stuck, then right now might be the only chance anyone would ever have to infect them all at once.
A man limped toward the first aid station. Nasty burns covered his left arm and leg.
London ran up to him and help support his good side.
Where did that idiot in charge of the first aid go?
I moved for the boxes of supplies and saw him sitting with his legs crossed just staring off into space. Worthless.
"Corbin, a little help here?"
"Can you get him to the cot over there? I’ll see if there’s something we can use here."
London grunted and changed course.
I emptied the box onto the table and found some gauze for the burned man as well as a handful of what I was really looking for.
looking forward to the next one!