Invasion

42

“I knew this piece of shit wouldn’t last,” Reno said.

With wrench in hand, Maya climbed under the hood. But even she knew she was fooling herself. After a few more minutes of checking seals and hoses, she stepped back from the truck and grunted as she threw the wrench to the ground. Her hands had been covered with oil and gunk. She pushed her hair away from the front of her face and wiped the sweat from her brow using her forearm.

“Damn radiator.”

Reno nodded. “That’s what I thought, too.”

“What’s that mean?” Aiden asked.

“It means this hunk of crap isn’t going anywhere,” Gerald said.

It was the first time he’d spoken in quite some time. Maya glared at him before looking at her son.

“Unfortunately, your father’s right.”

“Can’t we get a radiator out of another car?” Laura asked.

Maya looked up and down the highway. There weren’t any vehicles in sight, and she pointed that out to her daughter.

“And even if there were, we don’t have the parts, tools, or time.”

“Maybe we’ve got more time than we think,” Reno said. “We don’t know if that Donna woman was being honest. And the fact that they sped off without us doesn’t make her trustworthy in my book.”

“Maybe not, but she was right about the time.”

Reno narrowed his eyes. “How do you know that?”

“I told you, someone broadcasting over a local radio station, saying that the cities are gone, people should hide. The aliens,” Maya said, waving her greasy arm at the horizon, “are moving north. I saw flashes in the sky last night where Fort Campbell used to be. I don’t want to be on this highway when they arrive.”

“Jesus,” John said. “So, it really is getting worse.”

“And it seems like Cincinnati is our best choice,” Reno said. “Donna was right, I guess.”

“Then let’s all jump into our truck and get going,” Aiden said.

Maya turned and chastised herself for overlooking such a simple solution—until she looked at the cab and did the math.

John, Reno, and Gerald looked at each other, then at Maya. No matter how she imagined them getting into the one truck, it wouldn’t work. The old maintenance trucks had had their beds removed, with tanks of fertilizer or insecticide mounted to the frames. It was impossible for anyone to ride in the back and impossible to fit all six of them in the cab given the toolbox that had been welded to the truck’s frame.

Laura leaned over and whispered into Aiden’s ear, explaining why his solution wouldn’t work, and Maya felt her heart break as she saw the realization bloom on her son’s face.

Aiden shook his head. “There’s got to be something we can do. There has to be a bigger vehicle somewhere around here that we can take, or some way to find the tools we need to fix this one. Maybe we can take off those tanks or rip out the toolbox so we can all fit?”

“I wish we could, but the truck mods are welded. There’s no way their coming off.” Gerald’s voice began to crack. “The aliens are coming. Your mom heard it on that radio inside. We don’t have time to waste with all that. By the time we find a vehicle or get this one fixed, that stadium is gonna be closed and then we’re all going to be in trouble.”

“So, now what?” Aiden asked.

Maya looked at John, Reno, and then Gerald last. She couldn’t look at Laura or Aiden because she knew she’d fall apart. “It means that two of us are going to have to stay here.”

Aiden’s face turned pale, and his eyes darted between his parents.

“No way,” he said. “There’s got to be another way. We can’t leave anybody behind.”

“We don’t have a choice, son,” Gerald said. “It’s just the way it has to be.”

“But we haven’t even tried finding another car yet. And, Mom, are you sure it’s the radiator? What if it’s something else that you can fix?”

Maya shook her head. “It’s not, hon. I’ve been working on cars since I was your age. I know this is something that we can’t fix. I wish it were that easy.”

Aiden started to cry, and his sister wrapped her arm around him. He buried his head into her chest.

And as the four adults looked at each other once more, the question hung like a pregnant thundercloud.

Who was going to be left behind?