"More coffee, Hon?"

You look up from your textbook to the pleasant sounding waitress who vaguely reminds you of one of your aunts. "Um…sure. Thanks," you reply, trying to infuse your own voice with some of the same casual politeness that seems to come so easy to your waitress ("Sandy" you remind yourself, taking a glance at her nametag). It isn't so easy for you. You've been at Julie's Diner for over four hours now studying for your finals and you still have a good number of hours left before you'll be done. As Sandy refills your cup, you realize that you must be on your third pot by now, a fact that suddenly becomes apparent to your bladder.

"Hey, uh...could you tell me where the bathroom is?" you ask.

"Sure thing, sweetie. Just go back towards those tables and take a left. They're at the end of the other dining room."

************************************************************************

Following Sandy's instructions, you notice for the first time that you aren’t the only one in the diner, though you do seem to be the only student. Passing by the tables, you see what appear to be one or two truckers scattered here and there and a few other vampiric souls. None take any notice of you, all seemingly lost in thought while reading the paper or smoking a cigarette. You wonder idly what brings them here at this hour. Jobs for a few, insomnia for others. Some no doubt hiding from what they feel are worse fates at home. Sighing, you stop to rub your eyes in a vain effort to clear your head and shake the gloomy turn your thoughts have taken. You look up and see you have arrived at your destination.

************************************************************************

Washing up afterwards, you stare at the somber reflection in the mirror. "Sheesh, you look terrible," you mutter to your reflection. Dark circles under puffy eyes dilated from your truly heroic coffee intake offset the pale, sickly complexion of your skin. Frankly, you can't wait until finals are over and you can look forward to mom's home cooking and three weeks of uninterrupted sleep. Grimacing, you give one final stretch and head towards the door and several more hours of cramming.

Halfway back to your table, you stop. Something is wrong. Very wrong. It takes you a beat to realize what it is. The diner is empty. Empty of customers, empty of staff, empty of sound. Plates of partially eaten meals litter several tables, but their purchasers are nowhere to be found. Slowly continuing on to your dining room, you see the entrance of the diner is similarly deserted. "Hello?" you call tentatively. Then, more loudly this time, "Anybody around?" No response. You stick your head in the kitchen door and glance around. Eggs and other breakfast foods are burning on the stove with nobody watching over them. A pot is boiling over onto the floor. A sudden panic seizes control in your chest and you flee outside to the parking lot where you are stopped dumbstruck by what you see.

************************************************************************

The parking lot is also vacant of people, but it is what you see beyond the parking lot, on the highway that has you frozen in place. While it is very early in the morning, the highway running past this side of campus is usually still moderately busy and there are indeed a few cars on the road.

However, they are driverless.

You can see that two or three cars have run off the side of the road while others have smashed into one another, either head on or one rear ending the other. In most cases, the lights are on and the engines are still running. From one car radio, you hear the final strains of a typical power ballad from the local '80s station. As the song ends, it is replaced with a steady hiss of static.

Suddenly feeling very vulnerable in the middle of what seems to have unexpectedly become a ghost town, you realize that you have a choice to make.

************************************************************************

"I think I'd better stick with my car," you decide. "It's small, but quick in an emergency."

"Ok, you're probably right." Tina responds. She looks like she's about to say more, but she hesitates. Then, "You have your coffee, right?"

"Right here," you show her the thermos you took from the store. Tina already took the machine and as many mugs as you both could carry and threw them in her trunk so she could set up a coffee station back at the dorm. "Is there something else?" you ask.

She looks uncomfortable. "No, not…just…" then she suddenly runs over and gives you a quick kiss on the cheek, "Just be careful, Slick," she whispers into your ear giving you a tight hug. Then, before you can respond, she hops into her car and pulls out of the parking lot. Shaking your head at the mysterious nature of women, you head across the field separating the two lots and get into your car.

Heading towards Hypermart, you see gray shapes flitting in and out amongst the houses lining the road. You tell yourself it's just a combination of your imagination and the caffeine overdose, but that doesn't stop you from picking up speed dramatically. That increase in speed is precisely what keeps you from being able to stop before hitting the fright wolf that jumps in front of your car.

Unfortunately for your car, the compact simply wasn't designed to handle impacts with objects the size of a small horse at speeds in excess of 90 miles an hour. Unfortunately for you, neither was your skull. I'm afraid that you have come to a rather bloody and messy

You pick up Morgan and run into the kitchen just before the beast leaps into the living room and lands right where the two of you were standing. The creature sniffs the air once, turns towards the two of you and leaps just as Morgan puts the gun in your hand that she had yanked out of a nearby drawer. Still holding the girl in one arm, you fire with your free hand. The bullet strikes the monster in the throat and the beast slams into both of you, knocking you to the ground.

The creature staggers up and backs away, clearly stunned by the wound you inflicted upon it. You are repulsed by the glowing red blood that bursts from its ruined throat with every wheeze from the horrible beast. Not stopping to think, you fire again, this time into its head. Brains and glowing gore splatter the rear wall of the living room as the beast lands back on its haunches and collapses on the floor, dead.

You pick up Morgan and hold her close. She is crying, and there is a nasty gash on her forehead, but otherwise she seems unhurt. You clean her wound as best as you can by the sink and grab some paper towel to help stop the bleeding. Assured that she is Ok, you give yourself a once over.

When the alien (is there really any doubt now that that's what it is?) knocked you down, you landed on top of Morgan and took most of the impact yourself. Several of your ribs are very tender, but only one is probably broken. You are also covered with the alien's incandescent blood. Your shoes and pants are fairly well splattered, but your shirt is simply drenched in the sticky fluid. You are unsure what to do about that when Morgan quietly speaks up.

"Mom kept some of Daddy's shirts in her closet after he died. They're still there." This is the first that she's mentioned her father and a sharp pain pierces your heart as you turn to the newly orphaned child.

"Thanks. Are you sure you don't mind if I wear one of them?"

"No, Daddy would want you to…and Mom would have wanted you to also." You are anguished again as you realize from that response that Morgan has seen through your subterfuge and understands the fate that befell her mother. Sensing your hesitation, she replies, "It's Ok, I'll wait here. I'll be Ok."

Next, you head to the walk-in closet. The closet door has been ripped from its hinges and you realize that this is where the alien was hiding when you came to the room the first time. Had you fully entered, there is no way you would have survived the violent ambush that awaited you. Grabbing a clean sweatshirt, you exit the room quickly and change in the hallway.

************************************************************************

You hold the car door open for Morgan and as you get in yourself, you start to wonder what to do next. Morgan hands you a couple of Mt. Dews and opens a new one for herself. "You're a lot bigger than me, so I figured you'd need two," she says.

"You're a smart kid," you reply, "and brave too. That was some pretty quick thinking back there with the gun."

"Yeah, well. Mom told me I was to never, ever touch it, but I thought it would be Ok just this one time." She is silent for a moment and puts her drink down. When she starts again, there is a quaver to her voice. "Mom's…Mom's dead, isn’t she?"

You take a deep breath. "I'm so sorry, honey," you say. That's all that needs to be said. Morgan throws her arms around you and cries.

"There, there," you say patting her on the back. You only wish you could find something else to say. "There, there…"

************************************************************************

After a while, Morgan has calmed down and the two of you begin to plan what to do next.

************************************************************************

The two of you are huddled in the bathroom, both wondering what your next step should be.

"We need to give that, that, whatever-it-is time to move on," Tina suggests. "After that, I don't know. Maybe we can make it out to my car or something."

"That's not a bad idea. Let's give it half an hour or so and take a look." Glancing at her laptop, you ask, "I don't suppose you can check that in here, can you?"

Smirking slightly, she responds, "No, they're not big on potty-hookups here. When you go back out to check-"

"When I go back out and check? Why me?" you reply in mock indignation.

Tina glares at you a moment.

"As I was saying," she continues. "When you go back out to check on that thing, I'll crawl over to my table and see if I can get a connection this time. Maybe someone's figured out what's going on."

"Ok, sounds like a plan," you say, glancing at your watch. "27 minutes left to go." The two of you begin discussing possible theories on why you weren't abducted, but come up empty. Twelve minutes into the discussion, the world vanishes in a shimmering orange light.

The two of you come around on the floor of a dark, undistinguished room. Standing above you is something out of a nightmare. Tall, gray and powerful with rows of sharp, razor teeth, it gleefully regards you with hungry, glowing red eyes.

You scream.

Tina screams

You both die, rather messily I'm afraid.

"All right, kid," the man says as his expression softens just a bit from behind the mirrored sunglasses. "The meetin's down the hall in the game room. Don't stop nowhere else unless yer lookin' fer trouble."

"Yes, sir," you answer, grateful to still be in one piece. You and Morgan go down the familiar hallway, past laundry rooms, study lounges and music practice rooms until you get to the game room at the far end of the hall.

The room is a bustle of activity. Dozens of men, women, teenagers and children are talking, cheering and laughing. This is hardly what you expected from a secret meeting of resistance fighters. One young woman about your own age with fiery red hair and casual rumpled clothes stands out among the crowd. Judging from the deference with which the others seem to be treating her, you guess that she must be the leader. Right now, she appears to be giving instructions to the three men circled around her at a table. She stops as you come in and waves you over to where they are standing.

************************************************************************

"Ah, another newcomer," she says as you reach their table and set down the supplies you brought. "My name is Tina Small, you must have seen my web site." You nod in the affirmative and then introduce yourself and the two of you shake hands. "And who is this young lady?" she asks, crouching down to being her own face to Morgan's level.

"I'm Morgan Williams," she replies. "I want to help you get the aliens, 'cuz they killed my mom."

Tina pauses and looks up at you, uncertainly. You nod grimly back.

"Don't worry," she replies, clasping Morgan's hand, "you're going to get your chance. Now, do you see that nice lady over there?" she asks, pointing to a woman in her early forties with a circle of children around her, many about Morgan's age. "That's Mrs. Hopton and she's hanging out with some of the kids right now. I think they're playing some games if you want to join them." Morgan looks up at you questioningly. "Sure, sweetheart. Go ahead, I'll be right here," you tell her. Morgan hurries over to her new friends as Tina stands back up.

"Poor thing," she whispers, "loosing her mom like that." Then, she looks you over. "You seem to be young and strong. You ready to help kick some alien butt?"

"Yes, ma'am" you reply. "Just tell me what to do!"

Tina smiles and begins explaining the immediate and long-range plans of the group. They are ambitious and will be difficult to execute, but they are also clever and well thought out. With determination and luck, you have no doubt mankind will be successful in this latest challenge. Admiring your new leader, you wonder what adventure and peril the next few years will hold and you find yourself strangely excited to be a part of what has become, for all of mankind

Ortega presses the green button and a hatch slides open in the middle of the hull. He then takes a deep breath and enters with you close on his heels. The hatch closes quickly behind you.

The interior of the ship is dark, almost too dark to see anything clearly. You are walking down a short hallway with two dimly glowing green lights in the ceiling. Suddenly, you stop uneasily. "Hey Jack, did you hear that?" you ask in a hushed whisper.

He stops and freezes. "No, I didn't hear anything," he whispers back. "What did you hear?"

"It sounded like it came from that door at the end of the hall."

Ortega tenses and listens carefully. Nothing happens. "Look, kid. There's a panel next to that door just like the one we used to get in. What do you want to do?"

************************************************************************

"Chudy Hall?" you exclaim, surprised. "That's my dorm! They're having the meeting there? Interesting, I wonder who's leading it? Well kid, you feel up to a secret anti-alien meeting?"

"Sounds great!" Morgan says. You're just happy to see the kid smile again. She's been pretty gloomy and quiet since you got back from her house, with good reason.

Soon, you and Morgan are pulling up to your dorm. It is still fairly dark outside, but there is a hint of light in the east as dawn is approaching, probably no more than 15 or 20 minutes away.

Morgan carries the "borrowed" coffee and coffee maker as you lug a few cases of Mt. Dew out of the car. You slip into a side entrance and head down the stairs to the lower level of the dorm.

At the bottom of the steps is a tall, lanky man in a cowboy hat and mirrored sunglasses. He is wearing army fatigues and a grim expression, made all the more grim by the double-barreled shotgun he has aimed directly at your chest. "Stop right there!" he drawls, from behind teeth tightly clenched around a burning cigar. "What's the password?"

Using the keypad below, please type the secret password that Tina sent you in her e-mail.

"Sounds great!" Morgan says. You're just happy to see the kid smile again. She's been pretty gloomy and quiet since you got back from her house, with good reason.

Soon, you and Morgan are pulling up to your dorm. It is still fairly dark outside, but there is a hint of light in the east as dawn is approaching, probably no more than 15 or 20 minutes away.

Morgan carries the "borrowed" coffee and coffee maker as you lug a few cases of Mt. Dew out of the car. You slip into a side entrance and head down the stairs to the lower level of the dorm.

At the bottom of the steps is a tall, lanky man in a cowboy hat and mirrored sunglasses. He is wearing army fatigues and a grim expression, made all the more grim by the double-barreled shotgun he has aimed directly at your chest. "Stop right there!" he drawls, from behind teeth tightly clenched around a burning cigar. "What's the password?"

Using the keypad below, please type the secret password that Tina sent you in her e-mail.

"Sounds great!" Morgan says. You're just happy to see the kid smile again. She's been pretty gloomy and quiet since you got back from her house, with good reason.

Soon, you and Morgan are pulling up to your dorm. It is still fairly dark outside, but there is a hint of light in the east as dawn is approaching, probably no more than 15 or 20 minutes away.

Morgan carries the "borrowed" coffee and coffee maker as you lug a few cases of Mt. Dew out of the car. You slip into a side entrance and head down the stairs to the lower level of the dorm.

At the bottom of the steps is a tall, lanky man in a cowboy hat and mirrored sunglasses. He is wearing army fatigues and a grim expression, made all the more grim by the double-barreled shotgun he has aimed directly at your chest. "Stop right there!" he drawls, from behind teeth tightly clenched around a burning cigar. "What's the password?"

Using the keypad below, please type the secret password that Tina sent you in her e-mail.

"Sounds great!" Morgan says. You're just happy to see the kid smile again. She's been pretty gloomy and quiet since you got back from her house, with good reason.

Soon, you and Morgan are pulling up to your dorm. It is still fairly dark outside, but there is a hint of light in the east as dawn is approaching, probably no more than 15 or 20 minutes away.

Morgan carries the "borrowed" coffee and coffee maker as you lug a few cases of Mt. Dew out of the car. You slip into a side entrance and head down the stairs to the lower level of the dorm.

At the bottom of the steps is a tall, lanky man in a cowboy hat and mirrored sunglasses. He is wearing army fatigues and a grim expression, made all the more grim by the double-barreled shotgun he has aimed directly at your chest. "Stop right there!" he drawls, from behind teeth tightly clenched around a burning cigar. "What's the password?"

Using the keypad below, please type the secret password that Tina sent you in her e-mail.

"Sounds great!" Morgan says. You're just happy to see the kid smile again. She's been pretty gloomy and quiet since you got back from her house, with good reason.

Soon, you and Morgan are pulling up to your dorm. It is still fairly dark outside, but there is a hint of light in the east as dawn is approaching, probably no more than 15 or 20 minutes away.

Morgan carries the "borrowed" coffee and coffee maker as you lug a few cases of Mt. Dew out of the car. You slip into a side entrance and head down the stairs to the lower level of the dorm.

At the bottom of the steps is a tall, lanky man in a cowboy hat and mirrored sunglasses. He is wearing army fatigues and a grim expression, made all the more grim by the double-barreled shotgun he has aimed directly at your chest. "Stop right there!" he drawls, from behind teeth tightly clenched around a burning cigar. "What's the password?"

Using the keypad below, please type the secret password that Tina sent you in her e-mail.

"Ok kid, we'll give it a go."

You cover your ears as Jack empties his gun into the door at the end of the hallway. Unfortunately, neither of you is particularly knowledgeable about the layout of this ship. When a stray bullet causes one of the coolant pipes near the door to explode, your ears are relatively safe, but your eyes and lungs are quickly scorched by the burning gas.

The sun is coming up as you pull into the driveway. "Why did you want to come back here?" Morgan asks curiously.

"I just wasn't sure where else to go," you reply, getting out of the car. Several low growls from behind you cause you to whip around in a circle. Three of the large alien creatures are approaching you from the other side of the street. Only now do you realize that coming back to the place where you killed one of their own was probably a foolish move.

"Stay in the car!" you yell to Morgan as the aliens pounce. The last thought you have is that you wish you had left the keys in the car so Morgan would have a fighting chance to get away. Unfortunately, you still have the keys and now that your arms and legs have been removed, you really aren't in any condition to drive her anywhere.

You turn south and begin walking to the strip mall next door. The nearest place of business is a Greenback's Coffee shop, about 50 yards away. With your eyes and ears alert for the slightest sign of life, you march steadily across the narrow lawn separating the two parking lots. Suddenly, the chirping of crickets breaks the oppressive silence. With a start, you realize that you hadn't noticed their absence until now. Whatever caused the people to vanish may have temporarily frightened the animal life into silence while leaving them behind. You continue on until you crouch down in the grass just beyond the reach of the glow of the Greenback's parking lot lights. Edging to your right, you cautiously follow the edge of the asphalt until you can peer into the large front windows of the coffee shop while remaining obscured in the shadows at the edge of the lot. Finally, you get a good look.

You are not alone.

************************************************************************

At a table towards the back of the shop sits a young woman roughly your own age. Facing the south wall with her right side towards you, she is fiddling with her laptop, at times even smacking it with the palm of her hand, in what appears to be a vain attempt to channel the spirit of Arthur Fonzarelli to help her fix whatever is wrong with it. In a final exasperated gesture, she shoves the computer across her table, drains her coffee mug and rests her head in her hands, elbows on the table. She massages the back of her neck, then stops. For the first time, she seems to realize she is alone in the restaurant. Looking from side to side, she eyes the empty plates and cups around her. Fascinated, you watch from the shadows as she jumps up and spins around frantically. She runs to the counter and pulls herself halfway on top so she can peer on the floor behind it, no doubt looking for whomever sold her that cup of coffee. Unsuccessful in her search, she puts her face to the front window, hands cupped around her eyes and peers into the parking lot for a moment or two. Then, she backs away from the window and moves to the door. Opening it, she steps outside and into the parking lot, just yards away from you.

************************************************************************

As she nervously slinks into the parking lot, she passes under one of the large lamp posts and you get your first good look at her. Her red hair is carelessly pulled away from her face and hangs loosely down her back in a ponytail. Her black "I crashed in Roswell, New Mexico!" t-shirt is faded and worn as are her jeans. She is wearing a loose-fitting blue checkered flannel shirt and her tennis shoes, which have also seen better days, are black canvas Converse All Star high tops. Reaching into her pocket, she pulls out her cell phone. She continues to weave through the few cars sprinkled through the parking lot while dialing on her phone. You realize that she is edging towards a battered beige mid 1980s Volkswagon Jetta, the only car in the rear row of the lot. It also happens to be parked just three or four feet away from you. You will not be able to remain hidden for long. As she slinks through the lot, turning from one side to another with her phone to her ear, she stops and stares at her cell with a peculiar mixture of dread and confusion on her face. Suddenly, she thrusts the phone into her pocket and sprints towards her car and full speed. As she nears the driver's side door, she finally spots you. With a slight yelp, she jumps back and drops her keys. She quickly regains them and points a small cylindrical object right at you.

"Back off, buddy!" she snaps, but her wide blue eyes belie the confidence in her voice. "Take one step closer, and I'll mace your skinny butt!"

************************************************************************

"Why don't you whip up some coffee?" Tina asks. "I have a feeling this is going to be a long night."

As Tina messes with her laptop again, you make your way to the coffee machine, and the big picture windows. You hazard a quick look outside. "I don’t see the fright wolf," you call back to her.

"Fright wolf?" Tina's voice comes from the darkness.

"Oh, yeah. That's just something I made up. I thought it would take longer with…what it was doing. It must have moved farther down the highway. Still, we should stay out of sight, even with the lights off."

"Good idea," she responds, sinking down to the floor with her computer in her lap. "How's the coffee coming?"

"I got it started, how about the computer?"

"It's connecting, I think…there we go! I'm in. Don't know why I lost it before, maybe the aliens were messing with our communications or something."

"Or the sudden loss of everybody maintaining all those servers caused the system to go down."

"Maybe," she answers distractedly, "I hope my site's working."

"Your site?"

"Yeah, it's an alien conspiracy theory kind of thing. Oddly appropriate, don't you think? It's a discussion board where like-minded people can discuss everything from Area 51 to their abduction experiences."

"Well, that's…um, unusual," you reply.

Then, even in the darkness you can see her perk up a bit as a smile spreads across her face. "Boy, aren't you glad you ran in to me?"

"Oh, I suppose," you say with a grin. "Why do you ask?"

She smirks back at you. "Because my site is still working and lots of people have been posting since the abduction! I have over 300 people logged into my site. That's a record for me! This is great! We can communicate with other survivors, figure out what's going on. Hmm…from the looks of the posts, some of these people might be ready to start some kind of resistance. Oh, thank goodness!" After an inquisitive look from you she explains, "Some of my regular posters are online. I've grown kind of close to some of these guys. I'm glad they're OK. Hey, I wonder what that…" She begins scanning the site as you pour two mugs of coffee and hand Tina hers. She stops a moment, her mouth hanging open and stares at the cup in her hand as if she'd never seen a mug of coffee before. Then she looks back up at you.

************************************************************************

"Drink up, quick!" she says, taking a large gulp of her own coffee.

"What? Why?" you ask, sitting on the floor next to her.

"Just do it!" The insistence in her voice silences your questions. "Ok, Ok I'll drink my coffee!" you respond, taking a long sip from your mug. "There, happy? Now, what was that all about?"

"See for yourself," she says, turning her laptop towards you.

************************************************************************

The two of you load up the car with all the cases of Mt. Dew and coffee you can find in the store. Though you have no money, you feel bad about stealing so openly, especially in front of Morgan, so you leave a hastily scribbled IOU with your name and number on it.

"Let's get you home," you say once the two of you are back in the car.

"But I already called and my mom-"

"I know, but it will still be safer for you at your house. Don't worry, I'm not going to leave you alone."

This seems to reassure her, at least a little bit. She tells you her address and you recognize the street name, so finding her house isn't much of a problem. During the drive, you again sense the gray shadowy shapes just out of the corners of your eyes that you saw earlier tonight. Uneasily, you drive on..

As you pull into her neighborhood, you see nobody about. Whether that's the result of some kind of mass abduction or the fact that it's about 3:00 AM you can't be sure. "Here it is, on the end," Morgan says, pointing out a small ranch with white siding.

"Morgan, why don't you wait here for a sec and I'll take a look around, Ok?" She nods. Morgan has already described for you the layout of the house and assured you that she has no guard dogs or pets of any kind. "Mom's allergic to furry things," she explained. Still, you can't shake a disquieted feeling as you move through the unfamiliar house.

Going from room to room, you find nothing. The last room left unexplored is her mom's bedroom. The door is cracked and you can feel a breeze coming from that direction. "Mrs. Williams?" you tentatively call at the door. There is no response. Pushing the door open the rest of the way, you see why.

************************************************************************

You gasp and quickly shut the door. You only got a momentary glimpse, but it was enough. Blood stains violently smeared on the floor and wall, bits of hair, bone and skin plastered about the room. Morgan's mother may have survived the disappearance, but she was clearly attacked by one of the creatures and just as clearly didn’t survive. The window had been smashed, probably the means by which the monster had entered and escaped since the rest of the house seems untouched. You stand hunched over in the hall for a moment trying to regain your composure. The image in your mind is so vivid you can not get rid of it. Contemplating what you saw, a new horror begins to dawn on you. Scenes from countless nature programs from the Discover Channel replay through your mind and you see the similarities. The way in which the blood and fragments were strewn about, the lack of any large body fragments…the creature didn’t come here to kill the woman. It came here to feed.

"Hey, are you still there?" The tiny voice inquires from down the hall.

"Yeah, I'm fine." You make sure the door is closed tightly and then make your way back down the hall. Morgan is looking at you expectantly as you enter the living room. "I'm sorry, kid. Your mom isn't here." Then, "I'm sure…I'm sure she's safe though," you lie. Morgan starts to answer when an explosion from down the hall drowns her out.

Plaster, wood and dust have filled the hallway and one of the red-eyed creatures sits on its haunches at the far end, having taken out the bedroom door and a good portion of the wall when it made its entrance. Morgan screams and you shove her behind you, shielding her from the monster as you contemplate your next move. The creature is sniffing the air in front of it. The plaster and dust seem to be confusing it, but that will only be for a moment. You must act quickly.

************************************************************************

Ortega nods and draws his gun. "Stay behind me, Ok?" You agree and the two of you walk across the parking lot to the still-smoking gap in the woods. As you get closer, you can see the outline of some kind of machine. "Is it a plane?" you wonder aloud.

"No plane like I've ever seen," Ortega answers. "Look at that," he says, pointing into the darkness as you reach the edge of the woods

He's right, it isn't a plane. It's a large, round machine of some kind, about twelve feet in diameter and probably twice as long. It crashed into the woods at what must have been an incredible rate of speed, demolishing the first several rows of trees before finally coming to a rest fifty yards or so into the woods. The hull is a dull gray, but it is fairly easy to spot because of the three blinking green lights, one at the top and two at the bottom, making a perfect triangle on the end of the cylinder facing you. The two of you uneasily approach.

"It's a spaceship of some kind, isn't it, Jack?"

"Yeah, kid. I think it is."

Now next to the ship, you can get a better look at it. The three lights are each above what look like small engines, like what you can see on the back of the Space Shuttle orbiter, but much smaller. They are only about the size of your head and they are all pointed off in different directions. "Maybe this is some kind of scout ship or escape pod or something," you guess. "It doesn't look big or powerful enough to be much else."

"Maybe," Ortega replies. "Or, it could be a fighter of some kind. Look, there's a panel there." He points to a shiny metallic square about the size of a deck of cards with two glowing buttons above it. One is yellow and the other is green.

"Well," he begins, "what do you want to do?"

************************************************************************

You have several choices

************************************************************************

You stand just to the right of the door. Jack gives you a thumbs-up sign and you press the green button. With a vicious battle cry, Jack charges into the room beyond the door and you quickly follow. There's nobody there.

Laughing, Jack turns to you. "Well, I guess you were hearing things kid."

"I guess so," you respond with a nervous laugh of your own.

Seconds later, neither of you is laughing as the giant beast which was hanging from the ceiling by its claws releases its grip and takes both of you by surprise. However, you might like to know that after it finishes its meal, the creature enjoys a dark chuckle at your expense.

Having recovered from whatever happened to him, Ortega is standing behind you now, looking over your shoulder. "I don't know Jack, I can't figure it out," you say with frustration.

"Here, let me give it a go," he replies. You rest in the chair as Jack fiddles with the control panel for a while. "No, good," he says finally. "I'm going to take a break. Why don't you give it another try?" He asks.

************************************************************************

"Ladies and gentlemen, I stand before you at a moment unlike any in the history of humankind. While there have always been times of persecution, strife, war and oppression, none have come from beyond this sphere we call Earth…that we call home. Our enemy is no longer one another, but rather a shadowy force from a strange land. We do not welcome the call of war, but we will answer it. Freedom taken by force can only be restored by stronger force. There is no other option. 'The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppose.' So, I ask of you to fight back! To endure! To persist in a war that we did not start, but that we will finish! Only in our continual, unrelenting resistance, will we defeat this new enemy! A life lived under the thumb of oppression is no life at all! As a fellow countryman once said, 'Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!'"

The room erupts into a loud cheer as several of you pick Tina up and carry her on your shoulders. As you continue to cheer and march Tina around the room, you can see through the windows high in the ceiling that dawn is coming. How very appropriate, you think, that the sun should rise as a new dawn begins for the people of Earth. You are not sure how victory will be achieved, but you are confident that it will be achieved. The war will be long and the journey treacherous, but the end is secure. You know mankind will be victorious and that this is not the end, but rather

"Morgan, when I get out, slide over into my seat, but stay in the car. I'm going to leave it on. If you see any trouble, I want you to promise me you'll drive away as fast as you can, Ok?"

"But-" she begins.

"Just, promise me!"

"Ok, I promise," she concedes glumly.

You get out of the car and, after checking to make sure that Morgan has followed your instructions, you approach the pickup with your arms out to your side to show you aren't a threat.

"Stay where you are!" a voice threatens from behind the bright lights. Then, a tall, lanky figure in a cowboy hat steps out of the truck and into view. He is wearing army fatigues, mirrored sunglasses and smoking a cigar. He is also aiming a double-barreled shotgun at your chest. Keeping his gun on you, he takes a look at your car. "Looks like you had a run in with one of them aliens," he drawls, pointing at the long, deep scratches and glowing stains of blood down the side of the car. "Well, any enemy of those hairless freaks is a friend of mine," he smiles holding his hand. "Name's Jason VanHorn, but just 'bout everybody calls me Gunslinger," he says. Taking his hand you introduce yourself and then wave Morgan out of the car. She comes to your side warily and holds your hand, keeping an eye on the intimidating figure before her. Gunslinger smiles and comes down on one knee next to her. "Well, aren’t you just the prettiest little thing I've ever seen?" he croons, giving Morgan a friendly pinch on the cheek. She giggles self-consciously. "My name's Gunslinger," he says, "and I bet you don't like aliens much, do ya?"

************************************************************************

"No," she replies, "I hate them."

"Well, me too. You wanna help old Gunslinger get some of them aliens?"

"Yeah!" she says enthusiastically.

"Well, all right then. Why don't you go wait in my big truck a spell while we do some boring grown up talk out here? I've got my laptop sitting in there. You can play some games on it if you like."

"Cool! I'm really good at Minesweeper!" Then she pauses, "Oh, is that Ok?" Morgan asks looking up at you.

"Sure, sweetie, go ahead. We'll be there in a second."

As Morgan heads for the truck, Gunslinger whispers out of the side of his mouth, "So, what's her story?" he asks.

"One of those monsters got her mother," you reply. Then, you tell the tall man your story, how you ran into Morgan, discovered that caffeine kept people from being abducted and the rest of the details of your adventure so far.

"That's a real shame, a cute little thing like that havin' to go through all this. So young," Gunslinger replies sadly. "I was back at my place watchin' a movie with this girl I been seeing. I stood up to get another cup a coffee when WOOSH," his arms go out to either side at this point, "this big orange light flared from the other room and she was gone! Well, I got on the internet after that to this web site I post on quite a bit. It's for people who wanna talk 'bout aliens and such," he looks up at the sky then. "People used to think I was crazy for believin' in aliens and all that, but I guess I wasn't so crazy after all." He trails off for a beat, and then seems to come back down to earth. "Anyway, there were some other survivors on that site. We figured out about the caffeine thing and we're setting up a secret meeting at one of the dorms on campus to start a resistance movement. This girl named Tina, she runs the web site and she's gonna be leadin' the meeting. She's young, but she's brilliant and she'll make a good leader. I should know, I've done my share of time in the military. Anyway, you two wanna come with me? We could use a young, strong kid like you and the girl'll be safe there. Safer then out here, anyway."

************************************************************************

You reach out and press the yellow button. You immediately jump back as you are blinded by the bright lights that suddenly illuminate the surrounding area. As your eyes finally adjust, you see that you must have turned on the external lights on the ship. Three great lights, have popped out from beneath the engines and blaze fiercely into the night

"Well, that was anti-climactic," says Ortega wryly as he reaches out his hand to the panel.

************************************************************************

"Wow" you say, stunned.

"No kidding," Jack responds. "Well, if you ever wondered whether or not we're alone in the universe, now we know for sure." Then, he hands you a cup of coffee and takes a drink from the mug in his own hand. "I got us some more while you were fiddling with that thing," he explains. "I got back just as the video came on."

Grateful, you take a long sip. "So, now what?" you ask.

"I think we start looking for other survivors," Jack responds.

"Yeah!" you start. "I completely forgot, I saw a little girl while I was driving to the station. She ran away from me though and I lost her. Still, if she made it a lot of other people may have made it also."

"That's right," Jack continues. "And they're going to need to know what we've figured out if they're going to survive and if we're going to establish an effective resistance."

"Do you think we can?" you ask.

Jack thinks for a minute. "We know they can be killed, my gun proved that. We also know they can be outsmarted. The Gren-Star proved that by encoding that message in such a way that anybody who wasn't one of those creatures would be able to break the code. Yeah, I think they can be beat," he says. Then, "You feel up to the task?" he asks, offering his hand.

Smiling, you take his hand, "Yes, sir," you reply. As the two of you shake hands, the first rays of dawn begin to peek their way into the cabin. Both of you turn to look at the approach of the new day. Determined and optimistic, you realize that this day may be the first of a new era for humanity. You have a long way to go, but you are confident in your ultimate victory.

"Come on," says Jack, tearing your view from the window. "Let's go find some resistance fighters!"

"Hey, Hey, I'm not going to hurt you," you say as you take a step closer, hands held up where she can see them. "I think we should…" and that's as far as you get before a blast of pepper spray hits you full in the face. Screaming and furiously wiping at your eyes, you hit the ground hard.

"That's what you get, freak show!" is the last thing you hear before a swift kick to your head sends you into sweet oblivion.

You come to on the floor of a dark, undistinguished room. Standing above you is something out of a nightmare. Tall, gray and powerful with rows of sharp, razor teeth, it slowly regards you with a smile that can only be described as a ravenous.

You scream.

It is the last thing you ever do.

************************************************************************

"Don't worry, I won't!" you yell back, still lying on the ground. Then, the cop sees Morgan and softens. "Hey, sorry buddy. I didn't see the kid. You can get up now."

You and Morgan stand up and the cop introduces himself. "José Ortgea, but everybody calls me Jack," he says. You introduce yourself and Morgan and fill the cop in on your adventure so far.

"The same thing happened here, except that I wasn't in the bathroom when it happened," says Ortega. "There aren't many of us that work in the office this late and this is my first time on this shift. It's a real killer, man. Anyway, I was talking to the lady I work with when she and the janitor suddenly vanished in a bright orange flash of light! I never saw anything like it! After I recovered, I decided to go check on the prisoners. They were gone too as well as the guard. I was hoping that this was just some kind of weird prison break at first, so I radioed for help. The radio got no response other than static and the phones were dead. Even the radios in the cars are useless. It sounds like this is much bigger than a simple prison break." He takes a breath. "You're going to think I'm crazy," he cautions.

"But you think it's an alien abduction?" you finish for him.

He looks surprised. "How'd you know that?"

"We were thinking the same thing," you answer, putting your arm around Morgan. "And after what we just saw fly overhead, I'm more convinced than ever."

************************************************************************

"Hold on!" you yell as you throw the car into reverse as quickly as you can. Unfortunately, the large front claws of the beast dig into the metal hood and keep the creature from being thrown completely off of the car. However, now its back legs are dragging on the pavement off of the passenger side of the car as it tries to pull itself fully back onto the hood. With only a moment to think about it, you floor the gas pedal and drive down the road as fast as you can.

The beast screams an unearthly howl as it no doubt leaves several layers of unprotected skin on the pavement. Still, its grip on the hood holds. That's when you veer off the road and aim for a large, thick-trunked oak tree in a neighbor's yard. Grabbing Morgan, you pull her as far over onto your side of the car as you can, while aiming the passenger side of the car as close as possible to the large tree. You hit it just right as the tree slides down the length of the car, severing the arms of the beast.

You thought the screams couldn't get any louder, but you were wrong. The ear-splitting howl makes it difficult to even think at the same time that the red, glowing blood from the alien’s disembodied arms spurting all over the windshield makes it difficult to see. Half blinded by the blood and nearly deaf from the now receding howls, you careen randomly up one street and down another until you finally are sure the alien is too far behind you to be much of a nuisance any more.

Stopping the car on a quiet cul-de-sac, you stop to make sure Morgan is Ok. Back on her own side of the car, she is shaken, but otherwise seems Ok. She takes a big sigh of relief and then looks over at you. "Could you…um, get rid of those things?" she asks pointing at the still-spurting arms stuck in the hood, while averting her eyes from the gore.

"Oh, yeah," you reply, "sure thing." After cleaning up the hood and windshield as best as you can, you return to the car and look at your young passenger. "Well, that was certainly…intense," you begin.

"Yeah," Morgan replies quietly. "So, what do we do now?"

************************************************************************

"What was that, anyway?" Ortega asks. "I was inside. I ran outside as soon as I heard it."

You explain what you heard and saw. "Maybe we should investigate," you suggest when you finish.

"Not a bad idea," Ortega says. "But I think the girl should stay inside."

"I think you're right. Morgan, honey we need you to wait inside while Officer Ortega and I check out whatever landed out there."

"You'll be safe, right?" she asks.

"Sure thing, and we'll be right back, too. Oh, I almost forgot," you continue. "You need to know about the caffeine." You fill Officer Ortega in on what you discovered while the three of you go back into the station to find a safe place for Morgan to hide out.

Soon, the two of you are back outside the building after placing Morgan in an inner office. You gave her the task of repeatedly trying the TV, radio and phones until one of them works. You walk around to the back to see what happened there earlier.

There are a few lamps in the back parking lot that offer just enough illumination to allow you to barely make out the first few yards of the forest behind the building. Of course, the huge smoldering gap in the middle of the trees would be enough to spot regardless.

"What kind of vehicle do you suppose caused that?" you ask quietly.

"I don't know, but I've got to check it out. You can stay here if you like. It might be dangerous."

************************************************************************

"Wow," you say. "So, what do we do next?"

"Well, we keep the coffee brewing, that's for sure."

"Good idea. You know, I think you were right about some of those posters being ready to start a resistance movement and I think you'd be the perfect on to head it up."

"What, me?" Tina looks incredulous. "I think you got the wrong girl, Slick. I'm no leader."

"Sure you are. Those people look up to you, that much is obvious. Besides, your web site is one of the few that seem to be operational for whatever reason. You're going to have a lot more members soon and they're going to be looking to someone for guidance and leadership. I think you're that person."

"Yeah, but it's a lot easier to deal with people over the internet. If I'm hearing you right, you want me to lead them into battle. I hardly think I'm cut out for that."

"You wouldn't be alone," you reply. "I'll be there with you."

Tina stares at you for a moment and then seems to give up. "You're darn right you'll be there with me," she smiles. "Somehow I'm sure this is all your fault anyway."

"My fault?"

"Hey, my life was fine until you came along, now shut up and help me figure out what to tell these guys," Tina says while turning her attention back to the computer screen. You lean over next to her and take a look.

************************************************************************

The two of you are surprised to find you actually live in Chudy Hall since you've never seen each other before today. You decide to hold a meeting for your fledgling resistance movement in the basement there and post the information on Tina's site, encoding it such a way that humans will be able to break the code, but aliens hopefully will not. The two of you agree that Tina should head back to your dorm and get things ready as people begin to arrive and you will drive over to Hypermart to get food, drinks, weapons and other supplies.

After checking to make sure that none of your "fright wolves" are in the parking lot, you cautiously leave your sanctuary. Once outside, you wish Tina luck and then turn back to the diner where your car is parked. "Wait a minute," Tina takes hold of your arm. "Don't you think you'd be better off taking one of the trucks?" she asks, pointing towards an abandoned Ford pickup on the highway. "You'd be able to fill it up with more stuff."

"I'm not so sure," you reply. "My car isn’t very big, but it's faster. If I have a run in with one of those creatures, it might be easier to get away."

"Yeah, but a truck would be sturdier, still you have a point. I suppose it's your call."

************************************************************************

You crawl on your belly to the front of the store where the light switch is, hoping whatever is out on the highway doesn't turn back toward you. There is no way to hide from the glass door or the two big picture windows. Reaching up from the floor, you hit the switches and the store is claoked in darkness. Now, you can see more clearly what Tina saw.

It is similar in shape to a wolf, but it is much bigger, closer in size to a small horse. It has pale, almost translucent skin and no hair. Even from this distance, you can clearly see some of the thick blue veins that run along the length of its body. And its mouth…its mouth is something out of a Lovecraftian nightmare. Each jaw consists of two rows of razor teeth, each must easily as long as your hand, maybe longer. The sheer number of teeth crowds the beast's mouth, forcing the lips into a perpetual, maniacal smile. It has a large, powerful looking hindquarters and smaller, more slender front legs, giving the suggestion of a creature capable of walking erect on two legs if it so chooses. Right now, it is going back and forth among the abandoned cars. It appears to be searching…or hunting.

"Do you think it's intelligent?"

You nearly knock Tina over as you jump in the air. "Don’t do that!" you hiss at her, unaware that she had snuck up on you while you were transfixed by the horror outside.

"Sorry, didn’t mean to freak you out, there. Anyway, do you think it's intelligent?"

"I don’t know," you say. "I assume we're going on the premise that these are some kind of aliens, right?" you ask, pointing at her T-shirt, "and that all the people who vanished are the victims of some kind of mass abduction?"

"I don't see any other likely explanation."

"Right…well then we should assume it's intelligent. I mean, it figured out how to get here from whatever corner of Hell it comes from."

"Maybe, but this might not be the dominant species itself. This might be some sort of domesticated animal, though not any I'd want chained to a tree in my backyard." Then, she stiffens. "Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Oh sweetheart, no, no. Go back, go back!" She is whispering, but you can hear the urgency in her voice. Turning back toward the window, you see what has her so concerned. Timidly walking down the highway from the north is a small girl, completely oblivious to the destruction waiting for her less than a dozen yards away.

************************************************************************

The girl must be about 8 or 9. Dark skin and features, with an innocent face. Her hair is in braids down each side of her head and she is dressed in yellow pajamas, which would seem odd under other circumstances.

"We have to warn her!" Tina pushes past you and reaches for the door, but you grab her and pull her back. "It's too late," you choke. "Look."

The creature must have heard the girl or picked up her scent, because it turns around quickly and its reddish eyes glow as it growls hideously. It covers the distance between them in one quick pounce. The girl screams in terror and then the beast is on her, ripping into her throat as her screams are cut short with a gurgling gasp. Blood bathes both the creature and what is left of the girl's body, which it is now furiously shaking back and forth like a cat with a dead bird. Blood and parts best left unidentifiable splatter nearby cars, the pavement or fly off into the darkness. With a final snap of its head, the creature throws the gruesome remains back onto the pavement and you quickly turn away as it begins to feed.

Tina is retching noisily retching into a nearby trash can. You comfort her as best you can, pulling her hair back and speaking soothingly. She finishes and leans against the wall gasping, tears streaming down her face.

"Thank you," she breathes. "I wasn't prepared for that. That poor girl…"

Not wanting to admit the Herculean effort it took to keep your own dinner down, you merely nod and take a quick glance outside. "That thing is going to be, ah, distracted for a few more moments, but not much longer. If we're going to get out of here, now might be a good time."

"But, we still don’t know why we weren't taken," Tina responds. "Maybe we should figure that out first before we start running around all over town. I could try my laptop again and see if we can connect to the internet yet.

"I don't know," you caution. "We may not be safe here."

************************************************************************

You reach out and press the yellow button. You immediately jump back as you are blinded by the bright lights that suddenly illuminate the surrounding area. As your eyes finally adjust, you see that you must have turned on the external lights on the ship. Three great lights, have popped out from beneath the engines and blaze fiercely into the night

"Well, that was anti-climactic," says Ortega wryly as he reaches out his hand to the panel.

************************************************************************

"Wow" you say, stunned.

"No kidding," Jack responds. "Well, if you ever wondered whether or not we're alone in the universe, now you know." Then, he hands you a cup of coffee and takes a drink from the mug in his own hand. "I got us some more while you were fiddling with that thing," he explains. "I also wanted to check on Morgan. She still hasn't got anything to work yet, but I told her to keep trying. I also let her know what was going on here, though I spared her the more gruesome details. I got back just as the video came on."

Grateful, you take a long sip. "So, now what?" you ask.

"I think we start looking for other survivors," Jack responds. "They're going to need to know what we've figured out if they're going to survive and if we're going to establish an effective resistance."

"Do you think we can?" you ask.

Jack thinks for a minute. "We know they can be killed, my gun proved that. We also know they can be outsmarted. The Gren-Star proved that by encoding that message in such a way that anybody who wasn't one of those creatures would be able to break the code. Yeah, I think they can be beat," he says. Then, "You feel up to the task?" he asks, offering his hand.

Smiling, you take his hand, "Yes, sir," you reply. As the two of you shake hands, the first rays of dawn begin to peek their way into the cabin. Both of you turn to look at the approach of the new day. Determined and optimistic, you realize that this day may be the first of a new era for humanity. You have a long way to go, but you are confident in your ultimate victory.

"Come on," says Jack, tearing your view from the window. "Let's go get that little munchkin of yours and then let's find some resistance fighters!"

You don’t have time to come up with a plan, so you run. Abandoning the cart, you fly back the way you came, belatedly wishing you had thought to grab one of the guns first. Running, running, running until your lungs feel as if they will burst, you weave in and out among the aisles and dare to hope that you have lost the creature. That's the last thought you have before a large bulk leaps upon you from behind and slashes into your throat with unrestrained glee.

Leaving the alien body behind you, you continue down the road towards Hypermart. The rest of the trip is relatively uneventful, though you still see the gray ghost-like images in the darkness out of the corner of your eye. Unconcerned with rules regarding fire lanes, you pull the truck right up to the front doors, hop out and march in.

You never realized how creepy an empty superstore can be at night. The muzak playing over the sound system is supposed to be soothing during normal hours, but in this tomb-like environment, it only serves to further set your nerves on edge. Trying to finish your looting as quickly as possible, you throw in the last of the groceries that you will need for a while and head over to the other side of the store where the hunting supplies (and therefore, the weapons) are located. Smashing the display cases sets off alarms all over the store, but you doubt anyone will be coming to investigate. You load up on weapons and ammo and head quickly back to the entrance.

You get as far as the cleaning supplies section when you hear a crash off to your right. Down the aisle sits one of the enormous gray beasts. Eyes glowing red, the behemoth stares steadily at you as a low, hideous growl begins deep in its gullet. You realize that you only have seconds to react and save your life.

************************************************************************

Remembering what you learned about this creature's hunting abilities, you grab a large jug of ammonia from off the shelf and hurl it at the monster as it pounces toward you. Catching the bottle in its jaws, the alien howls as the bottle bursts, covering its snout and tongue with the foul-smelling liquid. It hits the ground in front of you, stunned and screaming horribly in frustration. With its main tool for hunting neutralized, the creature is unable to find you and it begins blindly smashing into the aisles to its left and right in an attempt to rid itself of the ammonia haze surrounding it.

************************************************************************

Soon, you are back outside the building after placing Morgan in an inner office. You gave her the task of repeatedly trying the TV, radio and phones until one of them worked. You walk around to the back to see what happened there earlier.

You walk across the parking lot to the still-smoking gap in the woods. As you get closer, you can see the outline of some kind of machine. "Is it a plane?" you wonder aloud.

It doesn't take long to realize that it isn't a plane. It's a large, round machine of some kind, about twelve feet in diameter and probably twice as long. It crashed into the woods at what must have been an incredible rate of speed, demolishing the first several rows of trees before finally coming to a rest fifty yards or so into the woods. The hull is a dull gray, but it is fairly easy to spot because of the three blinking green lights, one at the top and two at the bottom, making a perfect triangle on the end of the cylinder facing you. You approach uneasily.

Now next to the ship, you can get a better look at it. The three lights are each above what look like small engines, like what you can see on the back of the Space Shuttle orbiter, but much smaller. They are only about the size of your head and they are all pointed off in different directions. "Maybe this is some kind of scout ship or escape pod or something," you think to yourself. "It doesn't look big or powerful enough to be much else." Then, imbedded in the hull you see a panel about the size of a deck of cards with two glowing buttons above it. One is yellow and the other is green.

"Well," you say to yourself. "There's only one way to find out what this thing is."

************************************************************************

"Let's see if we can find anybody else who hasn't been abducted," Morgan suggests. "They may need help, especially if they don't know about the caffeine thing yet."

"Good call," you say. "Let's do what we can to keep other people from being abducted, but let's stay in the car while we look. I don't want any more surprises like that last one at your place."

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Morgan agrees.

You spend what seems like an eternity driving up and down the dark roads, examining yards and trying to peer in windows, all from the safety of the car. Finally, you see headlights of a pickup truck coming your way down the road. Both you and the truck come to a stop in the middle of the road. The bright lights of the truck shining in your eyes make it impossible for you to see the occupant (or occupants) clearly.

"I'm scared," says Morgan.

"Yeah, me too," you reply, "but that may be someone who needs our help."

************************************************************************

"No," she replies, "I hate them."

"Well, me too. You wanna help old Gunslinger get some of them aliens?"

"Yeah!" she says enthusiastically.

"Well, all right then. Why don't you go wait in my big truck a spell while we do some boring grown up talk out here? I've got my laptop sitting in there. You can play some games on it if you like."

"Cool! I'm really good at Minesweeper!" Then she pauses, "Oh, is that Ok?" Morgan asks looking up at you.

"Sure, sweetie, go ahead. We'll be there in a second."

As Morgan heads for the truck, Gunslinger whispers out of the side of his mouth, "So, what's her story?" he asks.

"One of those monsters got her mother," you reply. Then, you tell the tall man your story, how you ran into Morgan, discovered that caffeine kept people from being abducted and the rest of the details of your adventure so far.

"That's a real shame, a cute little thing like that havin' to go through all this. So young," Gunslinger replies sadly. "I was back at my place watchin' a movie with this girl I been seeing. I stood up to get another cup a coffee when WOOSH," his arms go out to either side at this point, "this big orange light flared from the other room and she was gone! Well, I got on the internet after that to this web site I post on quite a bit. It's for people who wanna talk 'bout aliens and such," he looks up at the sky then. "People used to think I was crazy for believin' in aliens and all that, but I guess I wasn't so crazy after all." He trails off for a beat, and then seems to come back down to earth. "Anyway, there were some other survivors on that site. We figured out about the caffeine thing and we're setting up a secret meeting at one of the dorms on campus to start a resistance movement. This girl named Tina, she runs the web site and she's gonna be leadin' the meeting. She's young, but she's brilliant and she'll make a good leader. I should know, I've done my share of time in the military. Anyway, you two wanna come with me? We could use a young, strong kid like you and the girl'll be safe there. Safer then out here, anyway."

************************************************************************

"Morgan, when I get out, slide over into my seat, but stay in the car. I'm going to leave it on. If you see any trouble, I want you to promise me you'll drive away as fast as you can, Ok?"

"But-" she begins.

"Just, promise me!"

"Ok, I promise," she concedes glumly.

You get out of the car and, after checking to make sure that Morgan has followed your instructions, you approach the pickup with your arms out to your side to show you aren't a threat.

"Stay where you are!" a voice threatens from behind the bright lights. Then, a tall, lanky figure in a cowboy hat steps out of the truck and into view. He is wearing army fatigues, mirrored sunglasses and smoking a cigar. He is also aiming a double-barreled shotgun at your chest. Keeping his gun on you, he takes a closer look at you. "Looks like you had a run in with one of them aliens," he drawls, indicating at the still glowing blood stains on your jeans and shoes. "Well, any enemy of those hairless freaks is a friend of mine," he smiles holding his hand. "Name's Jason VanHorn, but just 'bout everybody calls me Gunslinger," he says. Taking his hand you introduce yourself and then wave Morgan out of the car. She comes to your side warily and holds your hand, keeping an eye on the intimidating figure before her. Gunslinger smiles and comes down on one knee next to her. "Well, aren’t you just the prettiest little thing I've ever seen?" he croons, giving Morgan a friendly pinch on the cheek. She giggles self-consciously. "My name's Gunslinger," he says, "and I bet you don't like aliens much, do ya?"

************************************************************************

This night has been bad enough without a dose of pepper spray in the eye. You put your hands in the air and take several steps back. "It's Ok, it's Ok" you stammer. "I'm not going to hurt you.

"You got that right, creep!" Keeping the mace trained on you the whole time, she unhooks the key ring from it, unlocks her car and jumps in, slamming the door shut and locking it.

"Wait!" you shout, running back to the Jetta "I want to help! Something weird's going on and…" but you never get to finish as she peels away from you, out of the parking lot and down the highway. Defeated, you sigh and decide to take another look around. You go from store to store in the strip and from car to car in both the parking lot and the highway.

All empty.

All deserted.

You work hard to keep the fear from turning into full-blown panic as you jog back towards your own car in the other lot. Your attempts fail and soon you are running at full speed. You hop in your car and speed back towards your dorm. You have to find someone soon who knows what's going on. Flying down the vacated streets you see pale, wolf-like shapes flitting about in the darkness. Hoping it is just your imagination (but fearing that it is not) you increase your speed and screech into your parking space. As you put your hand on the latch to open the car door, a sudden wave of dizziness comes over you and the entire world vanishes in a flash of shimmering, orange light.

The light dissipates and you find yourself sprawled face down on the floor of a dark, featureless room. You roll over onto your back and immediately wish you hadn't. Your last sensation is of a sharp prick in your thigh, then blackness.

Your second to last sensation was a vision of many sharp, glistening fangs arranged in a ferocious, wide smile.

Ortega nods, draws his gun and walks across the parking lot. As he gets closer to the trees, he calls out, "Hey! You were right! There is some kind of vehicle in here! A plane or maybe…no it's not a plane…" His voice trails off as he enters whatever it is that he finds. Seconds later, you hear a deafening roar followed immediately by Ortega's horrific screams. Several gunshots fire into the night and you can see the flashes from here. Then, silence.

You stand open-mouthed wondering what you should do next. "Officer Ortega?" you call out. "Jack, you Ok?"

A shadow lumbers out from the darkness where Jack disappeared. It is difficult to make out from here, but you sure can't miss its two red, glowing eyes. You begin to tremble, but are too frightened to move from your spot. Then, the now familiar-looking creature walks under a parking lot lamp. The sight of it is too much. You scream in terror. That was all the creature needed to find you. It pounces just as you finally find the will to run. Unfortunately, you are too late. Your last thought it that you hope the creature won't find Morgan because it looks like you have come to

The two of you decide that the police station might be the safest way to go. When you pull into the parking lot, you realize that your car is the only non-police there, which isn't much of a surprise, given the late hour. Even if you don't take the apparent mass disappearance into account, it would be unusual to find many people here at this early hour. There are lights on at the station, which gives you some hope that at least someone was working before the disappearance.

The two of you enter the empty lobby area. It is a drab room painted in a pale, sickly green. You suppose that particular color was chosen for its supposed tranquilizing properties, but it only succeeds in making you feel slightly ill. At the other end of the lobby is a receptionist's window. Hoping to find someone in the office behind, you walk up to the window. "Hello?" you call tentatively. "Is anybody there?"

"It doesn't look like it," Morgan says from your side.

After a quick inspection of the station, you find nobody. Even the holding cells are empty. However, when you take a walk outside back behind the station, you find something very interesting. There are a few lamps in the parking lot that offer just enough illumination to allow you to barely make out the first few yards of the forest behind the building. Of course, the huge smoldering gap in the middle of the trees would be enough to spot regardless.

"What do you suppose caused that?" you wonder aloud.

"I don't know, but I don't think I want to find out," Morgan says with apprehension in her voice.

************************************************************************

"Time's up, kid."

BLAM! BLAM!

Those shots are the last things you hear before

Ortega nods, draws his gun and walks across the parking lot. As he gets closer to the trees, he calls out, "Hey! There's some kind of vehicle in here! A plane or maybe…no it's not a plane…" His voice trails off as he enters whatever it is that he finds. Seconds later, you hear a deafening roar followed immediately by Ortega's horrific screams. Several gunshots fire into the night and you can see the flashes from here. Then, silence.

You stand open-mouthed wondering what you should do next. "Officer Ortega?" you call out. "Jack, you Ok?"

A shadow lumbers out from the darkness where Jack disappeared. It is difficult to make out from here, but whatever it is, you sure can't miss its two red, glowing eyes. You begin to tremble, but are too frightened to move from your spot. Then, the creature walks under a parking lot lamp. The sight of it is too much. You scream in terror. That was all the creature needed to find you. It pounces just as you finally find the will to run. Unfortunately, you are too late. It looks like you have come to

Maybe the police can help you sort all of this out, you think to yourself. You remember that there is a police station just northeast of the diner. You get in your car and start the engine. You had left the radio on when you shut it off before. Now, it is playing only static. You scan for other stations, but find nothing. You pull out of the parking lot and head north on College Avenue.

Weaving in and out among the abandoned cars is an eerily unsettling experience. Adding to your apprehension (or perhaps caused by it) you keep thinking you see gray, nebulous shapes creeping about in the shadows just beyond the edge of your vision. As you get ready to turn right onto East Matlock Road, you see a much more substantive shape coming towards your car. It is a little girl about 8 or 9 years old. She has dark skin and features and her thick hair is pulled into braids, one down each side of her head. She is wearing yellow CatDog pajamas and her feet are bare. She freezes in your headlights and looks as if she is about to bolt. Not wanting to make her any more scared than she already is, you stop the car and turn the headlights down to the parking lights. You step out of the car with both hands palm forward in front of you. "Hey, kid," you begin softly, "are you lost?" She doesn't even bother to respond, but instead dashes off to her left into the trees off the side of the road.

"Well, that's just great," you mutter aloud to yourself. "Do I try and catch up to her and risk getting arrested for kidnapping or do I leave the poor kid alone and go on to the police station? I can always tell anyone there about the girl and maybe they can do something."

************************************************************************

Figuring your chances of finding the girl alone are somewhere between slim and none, you decide to head on to the police station. When you pull into the parking lot, yours is the only non-police car there, which doesn't surprise you. Even if you don't take the apparent mass disappearance into account, it would be unusual to find many people here at this early hour. There are lights on at the station, which gives you some hope that at least someone was working before the disappearance.

You enter the empty lobby area. It is a drab room painted in a pale, sickly green. You suppose that particular color was chosen for its supposed tranquilizing properties, but it only succeeds in making you feel slightly ill. At the other end of the lobby is a receptionist's window. Hoping to find someone in the office behind, you walk up to the window. "Hello?" you call tentatively. "Is anybody there?"

"Hold it right there!" commands a gruff voice off to your left.

************************************************************************

Instinctively putting your hands in the air, you turn towards a very agitated officer pointing a gun at you. You realize he must have entered from the side door marked "authorized personnel only." The officer is in his early thirties, has dark, receding hair, brown eyes and a thick goatee. His physique is in the early stages of a man who spends a great part of his day seated in a car eating food that's not really good for him. He isn't obese yet, but he's clearly on his way. His nametag reads "Ortega."

"Whoa!" you exclaim nervously. "I didn't realize that entering a police station was a crime."

"It could be, especially after all of the other officers and staff have disappeared on me. Do you know anything about that?"

"Actually, I came here hoping you could enlighten me," you respond. "I was studying at Julie's Diner and took a bathroom break. When I came back, everyone was gone. Even the cars on the street were abandoned."

Officer Ortega relaxes a bit and lowers his gun. "The same thing happened here, except that I wasn't in the bathroom when it happened. There aren't many of us that work in the office this late and this is my first time on this shift. It's a real killer, man. Anyway, I was talking to the lady I work with when she and the janitor suddenly vanished in a bright orange flash of light! I never saw anything like it! After I recovered, I decided to go check on the prisoners. They were gone too as well as the guard. I was hoping that this was just some kind of weird prison break at first, so I radioed for help. The radio got no response other than static and the phones were dead. Even the radios in the cars are useless. It sounds like this is much bigger than a simple prison break." He takes a breath. "You're going to think I'm crazy," he cautions.

************************************************************************

You stand just to the right of the door. Jack gives you a thumbs-up sign and you press the green button. With a vicious battle cry, Jack charges into the room beyond the door and you quickly follow. There's nobody there.

Laughing, Jack turns to you. "Well, I guess you were hearing things kid."

"I guess so," you respond with a nervous laugh of your own.

Seconds later, neither of you is laughing as the giant beast which was hanging from the ceiling by its claws releases its grip and takes both of you by surprise. However, you might like to know that after it finishes its meal, the creature enjoys a dark chuckle at your expense.

"What was that?" screams Ortega, getting back to his feet.

"I have no idea," you reply. "Maybe we should take a look."

The two of you run outside and around the building. There are a few lamps in the parking lot that offer just enough illumination to allow you to barely make out the first few yards of the forest behind the building. Of course, the huge smoldering gap in the middle of the trees would be enough to spot regardless.

"What do you suppose caused that?" you ask quietly.

"I don't know, but I've got to check it out. You can stay here if you like. It might be dangerous."

************************************************************************

"No," she replies, "I hate them."

"Well, me too. You wanna help old Gunslinger get some of them aliens?"

"Yeah!" she says enthusiastically.

"Well, all right then. Why don't you go wait in my big truck a spell while we do some boring grown up talk out here? I've got my laptop sitting in there. You can play some games on it if you like."

"Cool! I'm really good at Minesweeper!" Then she pauses, "Oh, is that Ok?" Morgan asks looking up at you.

"Sure, sweetie, go ahead. We'll be there in a second."

As Morgan heads for the truck, Gunslinger whispers out of the side of his mouth, "So, what's her story?" he asks.

"One of those monsters got her mother," you reply. Then, you tell the tall man your story, how you ran into Morgan, discovered that caffeine kept people from being abducted and the rest of the details of your adventure so far.

"That's a real shame, a cute little thing like that havin' to go through all this. So young," Gunslinger replies sadly. "I was back at my place watchin' a movie with this girl I been seeing. I stood up to get another cup a coffee when WOOSH," his arms go out to either side at this point, "this big orange light flared from the other room and she was gone! Well, I got on the internet after that to this web site I post on quite a bit. It's for people who wanna talk 'bout aliens and such," he looks up at the sky then. "People used to think I was crazy for believin' in aliens and all that, but I guess I wasn't so crazy after all." He trails off for a beat, and then seems to come back down to earth. "Anyway, there were some other survivors on that site. We figured out about the caffeine thing and we're setting up a secret meeting at one of the dorms on campus to start a resistance movement. This girl named Tina, she runs the web site and she's gonna be leadin' the meeting. She's young, but she's brilliant and she'll make a good leader. I should know, I've done my share of time in the military. Anyway, you two wanna come with me? We could use a young, strong kid like you and the girl'll be safe there. Safer then out here, anyway."

************************************************************************

The kid needs help and your conscience just won't let her run around town alone this late at night. You hop back into your car and, realizing you probably won’t run into any other moving cars, decide to go back down the highway the wrong way so that you'll be on the same side of the road that the girl is. You drive slowly, keeping one eye on the abandoned cars and the other off to your left, hoping to catch a glimpse of yellow in the darkness.

After a few minutes, you are passing the diner and then you see the girl ahead of you in the road. She is facing away from you, trying to get into a red SUV, but the doors must be locked. Giving no indication that she has heard your car yet, she moves farther down the road towards the next vehicle, a blue pickup truck. As you follow her with your eyes, you see something that stops your heart.

About a dozen yards farther down the road from the unsuspecting girl prowls beast unlike anything you have ever seen. Gray, hairless and roughly wolf-shaped, the monstrosity is the size of a small horse. With fangs as long as your hand and glowing, deep-set red eyes, the creature appears to be on the hunt. It hasn't noticed the girl yet, but that won't last much longer as the creature is just beyond the pickup truck she is approaching, where she can't see it.

Realizing you only have a moment to save the girl's life, you slam the gas pedal to the floor and fly down the road. Both girl and monster look up as you approach. Seeing the girl for the first time, the monster seems to catch on first as it hops onto the pickup truck, snarling at the now screaming girl.

************************************************************************

Just as it pounces, you bring your car to a screeching halt in between the girl and the creature. As you reach over to open the passenger side door, the beast slams into the side of your car, knocking it up on two tires for a moment. The impact shatters the driver's side windows and you are forced to clover your eyes with your arms to protect them from the flying glass. As the car crashes back down onto all four tires with a spine-bruising clatter, you finally get the passenger door open. "Get in!" you scream at the girl who needs no further encouragement from you and jumps into the car, pulling the door shut behind her.

Not waiting to make introductions, you shove your foot down on the accelerator and the car takes off amid squealing tires. In your rear-view mirror, you see the stunned creature staggering back to its feet as glowing red blood drips down its wounded side. Its red eyes are the last you see of it as you take the next left as fast as you dare in your car and shoot down the next road.

************************************************************************

And so you drive, taking roads randomly to make sure you lose the creature should it choose to hunt you. After about 5 minutes, you come up to a narrow tunnel beneath a bridge on the northwest side of campus. Figuring this is as safe a spot as any to rest a moment, you stop the car and shut off all the lights.

You turn to regard the child next to you. Staring straight ahead with tears drying on her face, she is clutching both sides of her seats with an iron grip. You hadn't realized how scared she must be. "Hey, it's Ok," you say as soothingly as possible. "We're safe now." She turns towards you. "Th..thank you for saving me," she stammers.

"All part of the job," you smile and then, offering your hand, you introduce yourself. "And what's your name?" you ask.

"Morgan Williams," she replies, taking your hand.

"Well, I'm pleased to meet you, Morgan. Now, why don't you tell me what you were doing wandering around outside this late at night?"

************************************************************************

"Well, I was spending the night at my friend Denise's house. We were eating pizza and watching some stupid movie. I got up to get another Mt. Dew and-" her voice breaks off and her dark brown eyes start to water up again.

"It's Ok, sweetheart, it's Ok," you say, pulling her close and giving her a fierce hug. "You're safe now." After a moment she seems to calm down a little and sits back in her chair, sniffling a bit. "Did Denise…did she disappear?" you ask.

"Yeah. I was in the kitchen and there was this orange light that came from the other room. When I went back, she was gone. Everybody was gone! Denise's mom was gone and so was her baby sister. I got real scared, so I tried calling my mom, but the phone didn't work, so I started walking home. That's when I ran into you." She pauses a second. "Sorry I ran away the first time, but my mom always told me not to talk to strangers."

"Don't worry about it. That's actually good advice, but this time-" you stop as something she said registers for the first time. "Morgan, you said you were drinking Mt. Dew, right?"

"Yeah. It's my favorite. Mom always says I'm going to turn yellow 'cuz I drink so much of it. I must've had about a million cans tonight." Then she looks at her dark arms speculatively. "Not yellow, yet though," she smiles.

"Was Denise drinking Mt. Dew also?"

"Nah, she doesn't like it. She usually only drinks Sprite." Morgan makes a face. "I can't stand that stuff," she says.

"That's it!" you exclaim. "Morgan, you're a genius!" you quickly start the car and pull out of the tunnel.

************************************************************************

You pull into a convenience store and drag Morgan in with you. "Hurry, Morgan, we may not have much time," you urge. As you expected, the store is empty. You take Morgan to the back where the soft drinks are and grab a Mt. Dew out of the cooler. "Here, drink this. Fast!"

Morgan looks surprised, but does as you say, taking several large gulps. "Thanks," she says, "but I wasn't really thirsty anymore"

"That's Ok, honey, just drink up the rest as fast as you can. I'll be right back." You hurry to the center of the store where the coffee dispenser is and pour yourself a cup. Drinking it as quickly as you can without burning your mouth too badly, you drain the cup. Morgan comes up beside you as you pour yourself another. She has finished about half of her bottle of Mt. Dew. "Are you Ok?" she asks.

"Yeah, Morgan, I'm fine," you answer as you take another long drink. Then, you get down on one knee and put your hand on her shoulder. "I think it's the caffeine," you say. "You and I have both had a lot tonight. It's the only thing I can think of. Whatever they used to make the others disappear seems to have missed us, probably because the caffeine made us harder to detect."

"What do you mean?" Morgan asks, her eyes wide. "Do you think it was aliens?"

"Maybe, I think that monster that was about to jump on you may have been one of them."

"Oh," she replies. "Then, does that mean they have Denise?" she asks, he bottom lip starting to quiver.

"I don't know, but if they do, we're going to do whatever we can to get her back, Ok?"

"Ok," she says. "So, what do we do now?"

************************************************************************

You stand just to the right of the door. Jack gives you a thumbs-up sign and you press the green button. You both tense as the door slides open. Jack's shooter's stance is rock solid and his head weaves from side to side as he tries to get a better look at the room beyond the door. Suddenly, his eyes widen. He drops to one knee and fires his gun at the ceiling of the other room. An unearthly and eardrum-bursting howl forces you to your knees as you clasp your hands over your ears. A large gray shape explodes into the hallway as Jack repeatedly fires his gun. Glowing red fluid splatters you, Jack and the walls as Jack fires shot after shot into the beast that has attacked him. Finally, the creature collapses to the floor and Jack's gun goes silent.

"You all right?" Jack asks, giving the gray shape a cursory kick with his boot.

"Yeah, I think so, but my ears are still ringing."

Jack snorts, "Yeah, mine too," he replies, banging the side of his head with the palm of his hand.

You walk over to Jack to get a better look at the creature. It is huge, about the size of a small horse with pale gray skin. Though hairless, it is roughly the shape of a wolf with a tremendous snout and fangs the length of your hand. It's red blood glows brightly in the darkness, creating an odd atmosphere to the already gruesome scene.

"Well, now we know what the enemy looks like," you say.

"And a mean, nasty enemy it is," replies Jack. "Now, let's go see what this guy was protecting in that room."

************************************************************************

The room beyond is clearly the cockpit of the small craft. The front wall consists mainly of several panes of glass arranged to form an octagonal window. There is one large, oddly shaped seat that doesn't seem to match the rest of the interior facing a control panel of sorts. After staring at the seat a minute, you realize that its shape would easily accommodate the large creature outside if it were able to sit as a person might.

The control panel is a mystery. It consists of what might be a touch-sensitive glass that wraps around the chair on both sides of the room. Right now, the flat surface is dark.

Shrugging, Jack reaches out and touches the panel. Without warning, an orange light erupts from a hidden source and envelops Jacks head. Jack freezes where he is, mouth open but making no sound. Then, the light switches off and Jack collapses into the chair moaning with his head in his hands. "Jack!" you exclaim. "Are you Ok?"

"Yeah," he groans. "Just give me a few minutes. Whoa, that was a rush!"

While Jack takes a minute to compose himself, you glance over at the control panel. It is no longer blank. In the front middle of the panel, an unusual section has lit up. You walk over to get a closer look.

************************************************************************

You turn around, ready to run out the way you came in, but too late you remember that the hatch closed behind you. You struggle, trying to find some kind of opening mechanism on this side of the wall, but it just isn't bright enough to see clearly. Then, as a shiver runs down your spine, you whip around to see one of the aliens stepping out of the shadows, red eyes glowing evilly in the dark.

Without hesitating, you fire the gun Morgan gave you at her house, aiming right between those two well-lit orbs. You empty the gun into the beast's skull, spraying red glowing plasma all over the walls, illuminating the once shadowy room with the incandescent bio-fluid. The creature never even had a chance to howl before you blew its head apart and sent it crumpled to the floor.

"I'm starting to enjoy this," you mutter to yourself. "I must be losing my mind." Then, you walk down the end of the hall and open the door at the far end.

************************************************************************

The room beyond is clearly the cockpit of the small craft. The front wall consists mainly of several panes of glass arranged to form an octagonal window. There is one large, oddly shaped seat that doesn't seem to match the rest of the interior facing a control panel of sorts. After staring at the seat a minute, you realize that its shape would easily accommodate the large creature outside if it were able to sit as a person might.

The control panel is a mystery. It consists of what might be a touch-sensitive glass that wraps around the chair on both sides of the room. Right now, the flat surface is dark.

Not sure what else to do, you reach out and touch the panel. Without warning, an orange light erupts from a hidden source and envelops your head. You freeze, trying desperately to scream, but your mouth is unable to make a sound. The pain is intense and you are on the verge of blacking out. Dark circles form around the edge of your vision and you fear that this might be the end. Then, the light switches off and you collapse into the chair, moaning with your head in your hands.

"Are you Ok?" asks a small voice from behind you. You turn around.

"Morgan?" you cry horrified at the violent remains she must have seen in the hallway on her way into the cockpit. "I told you to wait in the police station!"

"I got scared, so I came out here. Did you kill that alien?" she asks while handing you a fresh cup of coffee that she brought with her..

"Yes," you respond taking a sip, the pain now ebbing away from your head.

"It killed that other man out there didn't it?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so."

"Then I'm glad you killed him," she responds grimly.

You stare back at the little girl before you who has grown so worldly in the last few hours. You realize that you really have no response to what she just said, so you turn back to the control panel in front of you.

It is no longer blank. In the front middle of the panel, an unusual section has lit up. "Morgan, look at this," you say.

************************************************************************

"No, wait! We need each other!" You shout, keeping your hands where she can see them, but at the same time neither moving toward nor away from her. This gets her attention.

"We what?" she asks. Though the mace is still aimed at you, she seems less certain of herself.

"I, uh…look, what I meant is, there's something really weird going on and for some reason you and I are here and not, well wherever they are and I think that might mean something…but, um…I don’t know what exactly and I was hoping that I could, I mean that we could maybe…"

"Ok, Ok. Easy there, Turbo. You're not making any sense. Come out here where I can see you better, but keep those hands up. Now, start again s-l-o-w-l-y and tell me what's going on."

She backs up as the two of you move into the light. For the first time, you can tell her eyes are a clear emerald green. You tell her your name and everything that has happened the past 20 minutes or so, starting from your cramming session at the diner to right now, being held at mace-point by an angry redhead.

She brings the mace down. "Interesting. I was in there," she cocks a thumb back at the Greenbacks, "working on my web site when I lost my internet connection. I tried to re-establish it, but no luck. That's when I noticed that the café was suddenly empty. But, just a minute or so before that I had passed two or three couples on my way to the counter to get my ninth or tenth refill on my coffee. I remember the clerk because he had the same name as my sister's dog…kinds looked like him too. Anyway, when I realized that everyone had suddenly disappeared on me, I came out here and saw you. That reminds me…I left my laptop in the café. I need to go back and get it." As she heads back towards the building, she stops and turns her head back to you. "Why don't you come with me? Whatever's going on, we seem to be in it together. Oh yeah, my name's Tina. Tina Small." She turns the rest of the way and offers her hand.

"Well Tina, Tina Small," you joke, taking her hand, "this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship." Tina rolls her eyes. "Great, the world's coming to an end and my hero is a movie-quoting cheese ball." She smiles, "Come on, let's get my laptop."

************************************************************************

A few minutes later, you and Tina are sitting down and discussing your options. You realize you don't have many. Tina tries her cell phone, but it still isn't working. Then, she tries to reconnect to the internet.

"Well, the way I see it," you begin as Tina opens her laptop, "we have a couple of options…" Something in Tina's face makes you stop. "Tina, what's wrong?"

"I think I saw someone moving out there. Hold on a sec." She gets down on the floor and crawls over to the window. "Yeah, over there on the highway. He keeps walking behind the cars and I can't…" Suddenly she turns, races back to you, garbs you by the shirt and pulls you under a table with her. "It's not human!" she cries. "Oh, man I don’t know what it is, but it isn’t human, that's for sure! Quick, turn out the lights before it sees us!"

"Wait a minute, wait a minute," you reply. "This is an all night café. If they know this, having the lights off will be more suspicious. They'll know someone was in here after everyone else vanished. Maybe we should leave the lights on and hide in the bathroom."

"Well, whatever we do, we have to do it quick! It's on the highway, but it sure wouldn’t take long to come over here!"

************************************************************************

"Wow," you both exhale, stunned.

"So, these aliens have been hunting those poor pink people?" Morgan asks, sadness in her voice.

"I'm afraid so, and now they're hunting us."

"So, what are we going to do?" Morgan asks.

"We're going to fight, Morgan. We're going to fight. There have to be other survivors out there. We're going to find them and create a resistance army to send these aliens back where they belong! How'd you like to be my chief lieutenant?"

"Yes, sir!" she replies with a smile. Then, more seriously, "Does this mean I'll get a chance to kill some of those creeps myself?" she asks.

You would like to preserve her innocence for a while longer, but you know this is likely to be a long, hard fought war. The truth is, she will probably be old enough to handle a weapon herself and fight along other soldiers before this is over. So, you choose to answer honestly.

"Yes, sweetheart, I think you probably will. You probably will."

With that, the two of you exit the spacecraft and begin your search for other survivors. It will be a long battle, but you are confident you will win.

You have no other choice.

Did you discover the location of the secret resistance meeting?

************************************************************************

Shoving the cart in front of you, you flee from the enraged fright wolf. Breathing hard, you run as if your life depended on it, because it clearly does. You burst through the front doors and begin throwing the supplies into the bed of the pickup truck. You hear a noise in the store and through the glass doors, you see that the alien is making its way toward you. Unaware if the creature actually knows where you are (and unwilling to find out), you lift the cart up with the remaining supplies still in it and throw the entire thing into the truck. You leap into the cab and shut the door just as the creature jumps through the front doors, shattering the glass and lands on the already demolished hood of the truck. Taking the shotgun you thoughtfully grabbed from the cart and loaded as you were loading the truck, you take aim and fire.

************************************************************************

From inside the cab, the blast is a deafening roar that destroys what was left of the windshield, propelling glass and buckshot into the belly of the roaring beast. The creature flies off of the hood and hits the pavement with a wet thud. Standing up in your seat and leaning out the front of the cab, you wait for the monster to regain it feet. It does so, glowing red blood oozing from the open wound in its belly. The creature, screaming and howling, readies itself to pounce again as you give it another blast from the shotgun, sending it back to the ground. You crawl through the opening where the windshield used to be, stand up on the hood and blast the alien again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

Exhausted, you collapse on the hood of the truck and regard your handiwork.

The creature is now no more than a incandescent mound of reddish-gray goo. "At least they're mortal," you mutter to yourself, ears still ringing from the shotgun blasts. You turn around and toss the gun into the truck and then you follow suit, crawling back into the driver's seat. Careful not to get glowing alien guts all over your tires, you pull out of parking lot and head back to Chudy Hall where you hope Tina is waiting for you, safe and sound.

************************************************************************

Fearful that two encounters with the aliens in less than an hour may mean that you are being watched, you opt not to go directly back to the dorm. It is simply too risky and you can't afford for the aliens to discover the secret meeting place. Instead, you weave in and out among the various neighborhoods surrounding campus, even getting on the highway for half an hour or so, before doubling back to campus via the back roads. When you have gone for several minutes without seeing any of the gray shadows out of the corner of your eye, you head back to campus and pull up to the dorm.

Chudy Hall is a large, X-shaped building. The lower level is reserved as a gaming room, areas for musical practice, studying lounges and the laundry. Tina told you to meet her in the gaming room. As the adrenaline rush wears off from one car accident and two encounters with aliens, you begin to get a little shaky. It is in this condition that you stumble into the meeting place and see Tina conversing with a dozen or so people in a corner. Upon seeing you, she gasps and runs over, giving you a fierce hug.

"What happened?" she asks, putting her hands on either side of your head, "are you OK?" It is only then that you realize how awful you must look. With a lump the size of a grapefruit on the side of your head and vibrant alien blood covering the front of your shirt from the splatter off of the one you blew away in the parking lot, you must be a real sight.

"I'm fine," you assure her and take both of her hands in your own. She blushes a bit and looks down for a beat. Then, she raises her eyes to yours, "Well, that's good, Slick, that's real good," she says smiling. Then she pulls you close and gives you a long kiss, "I wouldn't want anything happening to my favorite cheeseball, now would I? Come on, let me introduce you to the rest of the crew." She turns and walks you back towards the others.

After telling them all your name, she introduces each one to you in turn. Each of the people here heard about the meeting from Tina's web site, most of them visiting today for the first time after the abduction. Tina saved two people for the end, clearly indicating something special about them. "This bulky guy here," she indicates a large, barrel-chested man with dark hair in his mid fifties, "is Dr. Tim Manuel. He was a medic with the Marines in Vietnam. You already know him as Dr. Feelgood, and that's going to be his nickname from now on." Dr. Feelgood shakes your hand, nearly crushing it in his iron grip. "And the lanky blond guy in the cowboy hat and mirrored sunglasses is Jason VanHorn. You know him as Gunslinger. Also a former military man, he fought in Gulf War One." Gunslinger tips his hat and you nod back. You recognize both men from their handles on Tina's web site and you don't miss the looks of loyalty and admiration in their eyes. That two trained military men would so loyally follow a college coed speaks volumes about Tina's character and the trust she inspires in others. You turn to look at her and realize that the attitudes of these military men haven't been missed by her either. Tina smiles back at you turns to address the room. Suddenly, you realize that whether she knows it or not, she has indeed become a leader.

Tina speaks.

************************************************************************

You reach out and press the yellow button. You immediately jump back as you are blinded by the bright lights that suddenly illuminate the surrounding area. As your eyes finally adjust, you see that you must have turned on the external lights on the ship. Three great lights, have popped out from beneath the engines and blaze fiercely into the night

Still squinting in the bright light, you decide to give the green button a try.

************************************************************************

"Ok kid, we'll give it a go."

You cover your ears as Jack empties his gun into the door at the end of the hallway. Unfortunately, neither of you is particularly knowledgeable about the layout of this ship. When a stray bullet causes one of the coolant pipes near the door to explode, your ears are relatively safe, but your eyes and lungs are quickly scorched by the burning gas.

Ortega presses the green button and a hatch slides open in the middle of the hull. He then takes a deep breath and enters with you close on his heels. The hatch closes quickly behind you.

The interior of the ship is dark, almost too dark to see anything clearly. You are walking down a short hallway with two dimly glowing green lights in the ceiling. Suddenly, you stop uneasily. "Hey Jack, did you hear that?" you ask in a hushed whisper.

He stops and freezes. "No, I didn't hear anything," he whispers back. "What did you hear?"

"It sounded like it came from that door at the end of the hall."

Ortega tenses and listens carefully. Nothing happens. "Look, kid. There's a panel next to that door just like the one we used to get in. What do you want to do?"

************************************************************************

Most of the ride is uneventful, until you actually pull in to the dorm parking lot. "Chudy Hall?" you ask surprised. "This is my dorm!"

"Well, good. You'll know the layout then. We're supposed to go to the game room in the basement."

"Yeah, I know where that is, follow me."

The three of you enter one of the side doors and head down to the lower level. Chudy Hall is shaped like a giant X. Each arm of the X on the lower level houses several laundry rooms, study rooms and music practice rooms. At the end of one of the main halls is a large room for playing pool, air hockey and other arcade games. You lead the little band there now.

As you enter the game room, you see that dozens of people are already there. One woman stands out from the rest however. A beautiful redhead about your own age, she wears her hair in a ponytail and her casual, rumpled clothes can't hide the obvious leadership qualities she possesses. Even in a short amount of time, it is easy to see the deference and respect others show her. She stops her conversation with a couple of men as the three of you walk in.

"Gunslinger?" she asks as she runs up, "Is that really you?"

"In the flesh, darlin'!" he replies and she throws her arms around him in a big hug.

"It's so great to finally meet you after all this time!" she gushes. "Now, who are these two?" she asks, releasing her hold on the soldier.

Gunslinger does the introductions. The redhead's name is Tina Small and she runs what until today was a small web site called Alienwatch.com. Hers was one of the few web sites that, for whatever reason, stayed up and running after the great abduction. Her knowledge of alien lore and her strong character have made her a natural leader for the resistance.

"Well, I guess it's time I address the troops," Tina smiles. "Everybody, gather around, I have something to say." Everyone stops what they are doing and forms a circle around Tina.

************************************************************************

"First of all, I am so very proud of all of you," Tina begins. She then moves into a very rousing speech, encouraging those there to not give up, that no matter what, they will prevail against this evil force that threatens them. At the end, everyone is so moved that they erupt into cheers and applause. Several actually lift Tina onto their shoulders and carry her around the room, chanting and cheering the whole time.

After things have calmed down, Tina sends Gunslinger and some other men to stand guard at the various doors. Then she comes over to you and Morgan. "Hey, sweetie," she says to the girl. "There are some other kids here who are dying to meet you. They're right over there playing air hockey. Would you like to join them?"

"Oh, yeah! I'm even better at air hockey than I am at Minesweeper! That is, if it's Ok with you," she adds looking up at you.

"Sure, kid knock 'em dead," you reply.

As Morgan runs off to meet her new friends, Tina addresses you. "I'm glad you're here," she begins. "Gunslinger told me about how you saved that little girl's life. We could use a few more people like you." Then, she lowers her voice, "to be honest, I don't feel like much of a leader. A lot of these people are long time posters on my web site, so they've kind of always looked up to me, but I'm going to need some help. It's not like I've ever led a resistance movement against aliens before. From everything I've heard, you're a good person to have around. You think you can help me to lead these guys?"

"Count me in!" you reply.

"Great, here's what I think we ought to do first-"

As Tina begins explaining her plans, you can see what a brilliant mind she really has. Her ideas are daring and will require incredible amounts of luck if they are going to be successful, but somehow, you have faith that this is going to work. It has to, there is simply too much at stake. It is only now that you realize that the next few years of your life are going to be dedicated to saving mankind.

From the other side of the room, you notice Morgan watching the two of you at work. "Yes," you remind yourself silently, "there is definitely too much at stake here." Smiling, you give Morgan a wink and a little wave. She giggles and goes back to her game of air hockey. You turn your attention back to Tina's plans. With a new determination, you are confident that you will not fail.

You and Morgan beat a hasty retreat back to your car. "Well," you say, looking over at your little passenger, "that didn't work out too well, did it?"

"No," Morgan agrees. "So what do we do now?"

"We have a few choices," you answer.

************************************************************************

Sickened, you stare at the revolting mess. It must have been a police officer based upon the pieces of uniform strewn about the hall. You also see light gleaming off of a badge in the far corner. As you begin to wonder if you should just turn around and give up on this whole thing, something turns your blood cold. You can hear breathing in the hallway with you.

************************************************************************

Did you get the gun from Morgan's house?

"I don't know Morgan, I can't figure it out," you say with frustration.

"Let me try," she replies. You rest in the chair as Morgan pushes buttons for five or ten minutes. "Sorry," she says finally. "Maybe you should try again."

************************************************************************

The ride to Denise's house is uneventful and soon you and Morgan are seated before a computer in the bedroom of Denise's parents. You already checked and the phone lines are still down. However, this computer has a cable connection and it appears to be working. Unfortunately, hardly any sites seem to be accessible. This wasn't really unexpected with the disappearance of so many people plus the communications disruptions. Then, after doing a search on "alien abduction" you find a site that is still working.

************************************************************************

You pick up Morgan and run for the front door. In one pounce, the beast is right behind you. Running through the door, you throw Morgan into the yard as far as you can and then make a remarkably well-executed tuck and roll out the door yourself. Morgan is already at the car, which you thankfully left unlocked. "Hurry!" she screams as you run for the car yourself.

A loud, repetitive thudding noise reverberates from the house, but you don't have time to look behind you. Running for the car, you throw open the door, slam it again and start the engine just as the alien creature finally breaks through the wall of the front door that was too small to allow him passage.

In one leap, the alien is on the car, denting the hood and scratching furiously at the windshield. Morgan screams and you want to do the same as you very quickly consider your options.

************************************************************************

"Let's see if we can find anybody else who hasn't been abducted," Morgan suggests. "They may need help, especially if they don't know about the caffeine thing yet."

"Good call," you say. "Let's do what we can to keep other people from being abducted, but let's stay in the car while we look. I don't want any more surprises like that last one at your place."

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Morgan agrees.

You spend what seems like an eternity driving up and down the dark roads, examining yards and trying to peer in windows, all from the safety of the car. Finally, you see headlights of a pickup truck coming your way down the road. Both you and the truck come to a stop in the middle of the road. The bright lights of the truck shining in your eyes make it impossible for you to see the occupant (or occupants) clearly.

"I'm scared," says Morgan.

"Yeah, me too" you reply, "but that may be someone who needs our help."

************************************************************************

You stand just to the right of the door. Jack gives you a thumbs-up sign and you press the green button. You both tense as the door slides open. Jack's shooter's stance is rock solid and his head weaves from side to side as he tries to get a better look at the room beyond the door. Suddenly, his eyes widen. He drops to one knee and fires his gun at the ceiling of the other room. An unearthly and eardrum-bursting howl forces you to your knees as you clasp your hands over your ears. A large gray shape explodes into the hallway as Jack repeatedly fires his gun. Glowing red fluid splatters you, Jack and the walls as Jack fires shot after shot into the beast that has attacked him. Finally, the creature collapses to the floor and Jack's gun goes silent.

"You all right?" Jack asks, giving the gray shape a cursory kick with his boot.

"Yeah, I think so, but my ears are still ringing."

Jack snorts, "Yeah, mine too," he replies, banging the side of his head with the palm of his hand.

You walk over to Jack to get a better look at the creature. "Yeah, that's one of them," you say. It's red blood glows brightly in the darkness, creating an odd atmosphere to the already gruesome scene.

"I can honestly say I'm not pleased to meet him," replies Jack. "Now, let's go see what this guy was protecting in that room."

************************************************************************

The room beyond is clearly the cockpit of the small craft. The front wall consists mainly of several panes of glass arranged to form an octagonal window. There is one large, oddly shaped seat that doesn't seem to match the rest of the interior facing a control panel of sorts. After staring at the seat a minute, you realize that its shape would easily accommodate the large creature outside if it were able to sit as a person might.

The control panel is a mystery. It consists of what might be a touch-sensitive glass that wraps around the chair on both sides of the room. Right now, the flat surface is dark.

Shrugging, Jack reaches out and touches the panel. Without warning, an orange light erupts from a hidden source and envelops Jacks head. Jack freezes where he is, mouth open but making no sound. Then, the light switches off and Jack collapses into the chair moaning with his head in his hands. "Jack!" you exclaim. "Are you Ok?"

"Yeah," he groans. "Just give me a few minutes. Whoa, that was a rush!"

While Jack takes a minute to compose himself, you glance over at the control panel. It is no longer blank. In the front middle of the panel, an unusual section has lit up. You walk over to get a closer look.

************************************************************************

"Yeah, you may be right," Tina agrees, crouching behind the service counter. "So, how do we get out?"

You crawl over to the main window and peek out. "I don't see it anymore. Maybe it's gone." You wait for what seems like an eternity, but there is no sign of the creature. "I think this is our chance, Tina. Follow me."

The two of you sneak out of thee coffee house, with you in the lead. "Let's head towards my car," Tina whispers into your ear.

Half way across the parking lot, you here a sharp hiss from Tina. Turning, you see her frozen in place, staring off to her left. "Look," she whispers sharply. "Over on the road!"

Just down to the south, you see the beast. It's red eyes making eerie streaks of light in the darkness as it prowls around the various cars. "Maybe we should head ba-" you cut off as the creature stops, whirls towards you and with a spine shattering howl, begins closing the football length distance between you with impossibly large leaps.

"RUN!" you shout, pushing Tina in front of you, back towards the coffee shop. Trying not to panic, you sprint as fast as you can towards your former shelter. "Just a few more steps," you think to yourself trying to block out the insane howling and growling that keeps getting louder and louder.

Tina gets there first, throws open the door and dives inside. Coming out of a roll, she turns to face you just as you get your hands on the door. The sudden look of horror mixed with panic on her face is the last thing you see before

Have you met José "Jack" Ortega?

************************************************************************

You press the green button and a hatch slides open in the middle of the hull. Determined, you enter the vehicle before you can change your mind. The hatch closes quickly behind you.

The interior of the ship is dark, almost too dark to see anything clearly. You are walking down a short hallway with two dimly glowing green lights in the ceiling. There is a door at the far end of the hall. You start to walk toward it, but stop short. In the middle of the hallway lie the bloody remains of a man.

************************************************************************

"I think you're probably right" you decide. "The truck might be safer and it would definitely be more practical."

"Hey, you're learning fast," Tina grins. "Always listen to the woman." She looks like she's about to say more, but she hesitates. Then, "You have your coffee, right?"

"Right here," you show her the thermos you took from the store. Tina already took the machine and as many mugs as you both could carry and threw them in her trunk so she could set op a coffee station back at the dorm. "Is there something else?" you ask.

She looks uncomfortable. "No, not…just…" then she suddenly runs over and gives you a quick kiss on the cheek, "Just be careful, Slick," she whispers into your ear giving you a tight hug. Then, before you can respond, she hops into her car and pulls out of the parking lot. Shaking your head at the mysterious nature of women, you head to the interstate and the abandoned Ford.

Upon nearing the truck, your nose is assaulted by the sharp scent of gasoline. At first you fear that the truck may have ruptured a fuel line, but you realize that the smell is coming from an accident a few yards up the road, where two smaller vehicles ran into each other head on. Carefully avoiding the pool of flammable liquid, you open the door to the truck and step inside. The keys are still in the ignition. Since it's a manual transmission, the engine died as soon as the driver vanished, which means the tank still has plenty of gas in it. While the lights have been left on, the battery still has enough juice to fire up the engine. Checking your rear view mirror for fright wolves, you start down the highway.

Heading towards Hypermart, you begin to see gray shapes flitting in and out amongst the houses lining the road. You tell yourself it's just a combination of your imagination and the caffeine overdose, but that doesn't stop you from picking up speed dramatically. That increase in speed is precisely what keeps you from being able to stop before hitting the fright wolf that jumps in front of the truck.

There is a tremendous crash as the truck slams into the horse-sized creature at about 90 miles an hour. Spinning out of control, both truck and alien roll over into a ditch off the side of the road. Although you are wearing your seatbelt, your head still smashes into the driver's side window, sending you reeling into blackness.

************************************************************************

You wake up and immediately reach for the thermos. Unsure of how long you have been out, you take a long drink, unwilling to take chances with the caffeine level in your blood. The coffee has the added benefit of helping to clear your head after the accident. Looking about, you realize that the truck must have rolled over completely because it is back on its wheels again, facing the right direction. The windshield is completely smashed on the passenger side, where the alien struck the vehicle. The driver's side is spider-webbed, but you can still see through it. You are more thankful than ever for Tina since her advice probably saved your life. There is no way your little compact would have survived this accident, but the engine of the pickup is still running.

Peering through the shattered windshield, your blood turns to ice. The alien is still intact and lying motionless right in front of the truck. This leaves you with a decision to make. This may be your best chance to get a close look at one of the creatures. It will give you an opportunity to search for weaknesses in your new enemy. On the other hand, the alien is still in one piece and may very well be alive. You can't see any blood from where you're seated and you're still alive after all. You have no idea how long you've been out since the front of your watch was smashed open in the accident. The thing could be ready to wake up at any moment.

************************************************************************

You get in your car and start the engine. You had left the radio on when you shut it off before. Now, it is playing only static. You scan for other stations, but find nothing. You pull out of the parking lot and head for your dorm, dodging the abandoned cars on the way.

As you drive, you keep seeing vague, gray shadows skulking about in the darkness, just out of the corners of your eyes. Suppressing a shudder, you give the car some extra gas, eager to get home quickly.

You pull into your usual space and run into the lobby. Never has "the lights are on, but no one's home" seemed more appropriate than now. Dashing from room to room on the ground floor, you find all the bathrooms, lounges and the reception area all deserted. This is unusual, even at this early hour and even more so the weekend before finals.

"Maybe there will be someone on my floor," you mutter to yourself while entering the elevator. You wince at every ominous jangle and creak the elevator makes on its journey to the fifth floor. The doors open and you step out into an empty lobby. To your right is the girls' hallway and the guys' is on the left. Your room is five doors down your hall.

You look down both hallways and your heart skips a beat at the sight of a tall, thick-necked guy in bare feet, flannel pants and a State University football jersey. He is also wielding a golf club across his chest. Steve, you think his name is. You haven't talked to him much, but you are familiar enough with him to know that the rattled look on his face is one that he does not wear often.

"Hey, Steve!" you call. He notices you for the first time. "Hey!" he exclaims, a smile spreading on his face. "Am I glad to see you! Do you have any idea-" and that's the last thing you hear him say as the world vanishes in a flash of orange light.

************************************************************************

You awaken on your back in a bare, dark room. Steve is next to you, unconscious. You give him a quick shake, trying to revive him, but he doesn't come around. "Come on, Steve, wake up, buddy. I don't know where we are, but we've got to get out of here!" You are so intent on waking Steve, that you don't hear the hulking gray shape behind you as it steps out of the shadows and approaches you with dark menace.

As a result, you are unprepared for both the sharp prick in your neck and the blackness that follows it.

Ortega nods and draws his gun. "Stay behind me, Ok?" You agree and the two of you walk across the parking lot to the still-smoking gap in the woods. As you get closer, you can see the outline of some kind of machine. "Is it a plane?" you wonder aloud.

"No plane like I've ever seen," Ortega answers. "Look at that," he says, pointing into the darkness as you reach the edge of the woods

He's right, it isn't a plane. It's a large, round machine of some kind, about twelve feet in diameter and probably twice as long. It crashed into the woods at what must have been an incredible rate of speed, demolishing the first several rows of trees before finally coming to a rest fifty yards or so into the woods. The hull is a dull gray, but it is fairly easy to spot because of the three blinking green lights, one at the top and two at the bottom, making a perfect triangle on the end of the cylinder facing you. The two of you uneasily approach.

"It's a spaceship of some kind, isn't it, Jack?"

"Yeah, kid. I think it is."

Now next to the ship, you can get a better look at it. The three lights are each above what look like small engines, like what you can see on the back of the Space Shuttle orbiter, but much smaller. They are only about the size of your head and they are all pointed off in different directions. "Maybe this is some kind of scout ship or escape pod or something," you guess. "It doesn't look big or powerful enough to be much else."

"Maybe," Ortega replies. "Or, it could be a fighter of some kind. Look, there's a panel there." He points to a shiny metallic square about the size of a deck of cards with two glowing buttons above it. One is yellow and the other is green. He approaches the craft slowly with his hand outstretched, until he finally makes brief contact with it drawing his hand back quickly. Then, he replaces his hand and keeps it on the machine. "They must have some incredible heat resistant tiling on this thing," he remarks. "You said this thing was on fire when it passed by overhead, but it's cool enough to touch now."

"Yeah, it's a good thing we've had such a wet winter this year, or this whole forest would have gone up in flames," you respond, indicating the few smoldering trees and underbrush.

"True enough. Well, we've put this off as long as we can. What do you think we ought to do first?" Ortega asks.

************************************************************************

You have several choices

************************************************************************

"Morgan, when I get out, slide over into my seat, but stay in the car. I'm going to leave it on. If you see any trouble, I want you to promise me you'll drive away as fast as you can, Ok?"

"But-" she begins.

"Just, promise me!"

"Ok, I promise," she concedes glumly.

You get out of the car and, after checking to make sure that Morgan has followed your instructions, you approach the pickup with your arms out to your side to show you aren't a threat.

"Stay where you are!" a voice threatens from behind the bright lights. Then, a tall, lanky figure in a cowboy hat steps out of the truck and into view. He is wearing army fatigues, mirrored sunglasses and smoking a cigar. He is also aiming a double-barreled shotgun at your chest. Keeping his gun on you, he takes a closer look at you. "Looks like you had a run in with one of them aliens," he drawls, indicating the glowing blood still dripping down the battered car door. "Well, any enemy of those hairless freaks is a friend of mine," he smiles holding his hand. "Name's Jason VanHorn, but just 'bout everybody calls me Gunslinger," he says. Taking his hand you introduce yourself and then wave Morgan out of the car. She comes to your side warily and holds your hand, keeping an eye on the intimidating figure before her. Gunslinger smiles and comes down on one knee next to her. "Well, aren’t you just the prettiest little thing I've ever seen?" he croons, giving Morgan a friendly pinch on the cheek. She giggles self-consciously. "My name's Gunslinger," he says, "and I bet you don't like aliens much, do ya?"

************************************************************************

You realize that if you get out on the driver's side, the front of the truck will block the alien from view, so you decide to crawl across the console and get out on the passenger side of the truck. Unfortunately, you discover that the passenger door was crushed in the accident and refuses to open. You crawl back into your seat, take a deep breath and open your door.

You silently hop down into the dewy grass and quickly slide down the length of the cab, back pressed flush with the vehicle. Leaning your head around the edge of the damaged hood, you see that the alien hasn't moved. Then you see why.

The force of the impact shoved a large triangle of windshield glass into the monster's throat. The blood you couldn't see from inside the truck is all too obvious here. Fascinated and sickened, you stare at the substance pooling around the front tires. The alien's blood is an iridescent red, glowing softly in the night air. This might explain the glowing eyes you saw on the creature that attacked the little girl. This one's eyes are dark however, with no signs of life. The eyes are actually quite small as well, unusual for a predatory creature. The snout of the beast however, is tremendous. It stretches out a good two and a half feet from the skull and the nostrils are each big enough to accommodate one of your fists. You realize that this beast hunts by scent, not by sight. Pulling back the gray, translucent lips sends a shudder through your body as you see that the beast boasts fangs as long as your forearm. You pry open the great jaws to reveal two rows of teeth on both the upper and lower jaws. This is clearly an enemy to be taken seriously. Then, you think you hear something across the road. You can see nothing in the shadows, but decide not to take any chances should some of the creature's friends choose to stop by and pay their respects. Jumping back into the truck, you nearly send it airborn as it flies out of the ditch and back on the road towards Hypermart.

************************************************************************

"Sorry kid, but that ain't it," says the cowboy, each word crawling slowly out of his mouth, as if they are having difficulty finding their way out from around the cigar. "Now, you got exactly 5 seconds to get you and the girl outta here before I blow a couple a holes in yer guts."

************************************************************************

"But you think it's an alien abduction?" you finish for him.

He looks surprised. "How'd you know that?"

"I was thinking the same thing," you answer. "Are we crazy?"

"Maybe," he replies, holstering his gun and rubbing his eyes with his other hand. "Man! I really need another cup of coffee. You want some?"

"Sure."

A few minutes later, you are both discussing what to do next while sipping on your coffee. The hot drink helps to clear some of the cobwebs from your brain, though you're also starting to get a bit jittery, since you've been drinking the stuff all night. Officer Ortega (or "Jack" as he claims that everybody calls him) seems to perk up as well. Suddenly, something occurs to you. "Jack, you say this is the first time you've worked this shift, right?"

"Yeah. I knew it would be rough, but I had no idea it would be this bad."

"How much coffee have you been drinking tonight?" you ask.

"Oh, I don't know. This is probably my tenth cup."

"What if that's it? What if the caffeine is what kept us from being abducted?"

"What do you mean?"

"Jack, what if the caffeine, I don't know, messes with our chemistry or brain patterns or whatever so that whoever is responsible for this wasn't able to find us? Were you drinking more coffee than the rest of your coworkers?"

"Yeah," he replies. "I was the only one drinking coffee. The others were teasing me because they've all been working this shift for months or years. They were used to it. You know," he adds thoughtfully, "you may be on to something here. We should keep drinking the coffee just in-" He is cut off as a screaming roar rattles the entire building. It sounds like an airliner coming in for a landing. Office supplies, lamps and phones tumble off of shaking desks onto the floor. You and Ortega hit the floor as well just as a terrific explosion from behind the building gives everything one final, terrific shake.

************************************************************************

Ortega presses the green button and a hatch slides open in the middle of the hull. He then takes a deep breath and enters with you close on his heels. The hatch closes quickly behind you.

The interior of the ship is dark, almost too dark to see anything clearly. You are walking down a short hallway with two dimly glowing green lights in the ceiling. Suddenly, you stop uneasily. "Hey Jack, did you hear that?" you ask in a hushed whisper.

He stops and freezes. "No, I didn't hear anything," he whispers back. "What did you hear?"

"It sounded like it came from that door at the end of the hall."

Ortega tenses and listens carefully. Nothing happens. "Look, kid. There's a panel next to that door just like the one we used to get in. What do you want to do?"

************************************************************************

Ortega nods, draws his gun and walks across the parking lot. As he gets closer to the trees, he calls out, "Hey! There's some kind of vehicle in here! A plane or maybe…no it's not a plane…" His voice trails off as he enters whatever it is that he finds. Seconds later, you hear a deafening roar followed immediately by Ortega's horrific screams. Several gunshots fire into the night and you can see the flashes from here. Then, silence.

You stand open-mouthed wondering what you should do next. "Officer Ortega?" you call out. "Jack, you Ok?"

A shadow lumbers out from the darkness where Jack disappeared. It is difficult to make out from here, but whatever it is, you sure can't miss its two red, glowing eyes. You begin to tremble, but are too frightened to move from your spot. Then, the creature walks under a parking lot lamp. The sight of it is too much. You scream in terror. That was all the creature needed to find you. It pounces just as you finally find the will to run. Unfortunately, you are too late. It looks like you have come to

"Ok kid, we'll give it a go."

You cover your ears as Jack empties his gun into the door at the end of the hallway. Unfortunately, neither of you is particularly knowledgeable about the layout of this ship. When a stray bullet causes one of the coolant pipes near the door to explode, your ears are relatively safe, but your eyes and lungs are quickly scorched by the burning gas.

You turn around, ready to run out the way you came in, but too late you remember that the hatch closed behind you. You struggle, trying to find some kind of opening mechanism on this side of the wall, but it just isn't bright enough to see clearly. Then, as a shiver runs down your spine, you whip around to see one of the aliens stepping out of the shadows, red eyes glowing evilly in the dark.

You scream and scream and scream.

And then you stop.

"Thanks, Gunslinger, but I think she and I will want to take a look at the police station instead. Maybe after that, we'll stop by the dorm."

"Ok, kid, we'll keep a spot for you," Gunslinger replies. Then, "Oh wait, hold on a sec." Gunslinger disappears into his truck and comes back moments later with some rags. "We need to clean off your car. The blood seems to attract the aliens. I found that out the hard way." A few minutes later, You and Morgan are waving from the inside of your newly cleaned car as Gunslinger drives off.

"Well, Morgan, you ready to head to the police station?"

"Sure, why not?" she replies.

************************************************************************