Author’s note: 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.
And for those of you have been around a while, let me just say thanks. Especially to richard tejada, DarcKnyt, C Devon, Glenn, Biplob Kishore Deb, Bored robot, Tyler, & Georgene, who took the time to leave a comment. You guys rock.
And of course, welcome everybody to the holiday season!
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Chapter 40: Take A Hike
London kicked a rock. “That’s the sound of guns.” She said it the same way she might say, “It’s supposed to rain next week.”
I kicked a rock, too, only to find it was the tip of a much larger rock that wasn’t in the mood to be kicked. “The elementary school where you work must be pretty rough if you recognize the sound of echoing shooting.”
She turned over her shoulder and gave me the not amused eyebrow mixed with a dash of smile. “Not really.” The corners of her mouth curled up into a full-on smirk. “In fact, I’ll have you know that Adams Elementary School won the ‘safest school’ award last year for the whole state.”
“Safest school? That sounds like a consolation prize that they’d give to a, how should I say it, academically challenged school so it doesn’t feel left out at the awards ceremony.”
Her lips opened up into a genuine smile. “So you’re basically saying that my students and I are dumb? That’s a little rude, don’t you think?”
“Well that turned ugly quick. I’m not sure I like where this conversation is headed.”
“You should be a little less worried about where this conversation is headed and a little more concerned with where our guide is headed.”
Rhett had turned off the path and was cutting up the side of the hill we had been circling.
I turned off the path to follow him. “So where is our guide headed?”
Rhett answered. “I just want to check to see what’s going on.”
We reached a point with a view of the little valley between the main mine entrance and the hill with the machine gun. The entrance appeared to be blocked by the twisted wreckage of an immense metal gate along with piles of rock. That was probably the explosion we heard earlier. Near the entrance were several blackened and still smoking Army vehicles.
Some movement caught my eye. Out of a small gap in the collapsed entrance flew three of the hovering half-avocado-looking things, although unlike the one that had chased me, these had three sizable guns mounted on them.
Muzzle flashes came from the big machine gun atop the hill near the camp. It seemed to take forever for the deep rat-a-tat to echo all the way over to us.
The alien hovercrafts sped across the gap. Dirt leaped up all around them as the gunner on the hill tried to pace their advance. He was only able to hit one of them. The speeder’s nose was punched down and it bit into the earth. The momentum caused it to flip and bounce in the air before rolling into the base of the incline. By the time it had come to a rest, the other two had rounded the hill.
London gasped but said nothing. Rhett spat in the direction of the mine. I bit my lip and swore.
A chorus of distant gunshots echoed its way to us, a bitter herald of an unseen battle.
Rhett turned away. “Let’s go. We’re not going to do anyone any good standing around here.”
We marched down the hill without another word. It was another fifteen minutes or so before anyone spoke. London was the first to break the silence.
“Do you suppose they shot down those things?”
“The space death avocados?”
“I hate avocados. But I’m being serious, what do you think? Did we get them?”
“I’d guess so. I mean, we know for sure the big gun got one of those suckers, and you an I were able to get one of them on the road, right?”
She almost chuckled at the memory. “Yeah, but those ones we just saw looked, I don’t know, meaner somehow, even at this distance. Two of them got around the hill, and who knows how many more are going to pop out of that base.”
I couldn’t quite work up a reassuring smile. The pack I carried was getting too heavy for grinning. What does he have in this thing? The best I could do was a grimace. “I’m sure they’ve been dealt with.”
London threw up her hands. “It doesn’t make sense. What do they even want from us?”
“I wish I knew.”
We walked and walked some more. I was sure that we were far behind main entrance. Most of the hiking by now was uphill. Up until the crisis back in Oasis, I had run three or four times a week. I thought I was in pretty good condition. As we trudged along, however, it occurred to me that traveling with a weight on your back is all sorts of different for your body to handle. In no time, I was feeling downright out of shape.
I wasn’t about to complain or ask for a stop to rest, though. No way. I’m not going to be the pansy of the group. Besides, Rhett hardly looked like he was doing any real work at all yet. I was pretty sure he hadn’t even broken a sweat.
Rhett shushed us even though we had already stopped talking, then motioned for us to crouch behind some trees.
I followed the unspoken instructions and scanned the area to see what had spooked Rhett. Through the trees, I caught movement on the side of the next foothill over.
It was a small group of Army guys in fatigues, maybe six in all. I knew they had to be Army because all of the uniforms matched. No group of more than two in our camp looked that much alike. The soldiers pried some boards off an ancient looking wooden arch set into the hillside.
That’s probably the mine entrance we want to use.
The tiny squad ripped away a few more rotted timbers and crept into the mine. They gave no indication that they had seen us, and they didn’t appear to have left behind a guard.
Rhett eased up his rifle and used the scope to look around, then nodded and stood. “I think we’re clear. Let’s go.”
London pointed over at the mine entrance. “So, what do we do if we run into those guys?”
I shrugged.
Rhett glanced back. “We talk to them. And you’d actually better let me do the talking.”
London rolled her eyes. “And why exactly is that?”
“Because I’ve been in the military and I know how to talk to soldiers.”
London furrowed her brow, rolled her eyes, and bit her lip. I could tell she was physically restraining some angry words from escaping her mouth.
She really doesn’t like him, does she? “In any case, let’s try to not sneak up on anybody who is armed and jumpy. You know, unless his skin is green.”
Before I knew it, we were outside the dilapidated mine entrance and Rhett was going through my pack. He dug out a wind up flashlight and handed it to me, then found four chemical lights and handed them to London.
“Don’t use those unless we need them.”
She shot him a dirty look.
I wound the flashlight for a minute or so and then we climbed through the rotted timbers into the mine.
As I stepped over some loose rocks near the entrance and into the darkness, I could only think one thought. This was a stupid idea.
Keep Reading! Chapter 41 is here.
