Intruders: The Invasion: A Post-Apocalyptic, Alien Invasion Thriller (Book 1) by Tracy Sharp Page A
Authors: Tracy Sharp
Ads: Link
finger and read the short blurb
handwritten in loopy script.
To my best friend in the world. Hope your
year is full of love, friends, and laughter.
Lots of love, Taylor.
I wondered if Taylor had escaped the reptiles and the dead.
Maybe Luka had, too.
I blinked back tears and swallowed down a lump in my throat.
It was time to pack up. This house wouldn’t be safe for
long.
I packed the backpack with the bare minimum of what I’d need
if I had to take off fast.
Back in the bathroom I threw ibuprofen and bandages into the
back pack.
In the kitchen I found Hank’s food and filled two freezer
bags full. Again, he looked at me quizzically.
“Well, you’re coming with me, aren’t you?”
His tail wagged at the tone of my voice. He understood that
we’d be going somewhere, and he was apparently all for not being left alone to
starve.
“Are you hungry?”
His tail thumped the floor and he stood up. He walked toward
the kitchen, throwing me a look that said, “Well? What are you waiting for?”
My entire body ached as I stood, and I looked through the
slats in the vertical blinds before heading into the kitchen. The backyard was
quiet, and flooded with bright sunshine. The snow glinted in the light, looking
like diamond chips.
The fence was too tall for me to see into our back yard, but
I knew the dead were walking around out there. The lizards seemed to be gone
for now. But there was no way to be sure.
Hank came up beside me and placed his head beneath my hand.
“I’m sorry, buddy. Just assessing the situation out there. Looks quiet for
now.”
We went into the kitchen and I poured Hank a full bowl of
food. His water bowl was being fed by a gallon bottle turned upside down into his
dish, so that would be fine for a while. While Hank ate, I lifted a corner of
the curtain covering the window in the kitchen door. I peeked outside. There
were several dead still eating the old lady and old man, but many of them had
left the streets to search in the houses.
There were no lizards moving around the streets.
“I think the lizards are nocturnal, Hank.” I kept my voice
low, not wanting to draw the attention of the dead in the front yard.
Hank lifted his head and looked at me, still chewing his
kibble.
“I don’t think they like the daylight.”
He walked over and sat next to me. I sat on the kitchen
floor, leaning my back against the cupboards, and he lay down next to me.
“But they may be back tonight, to do another sweep. See what
they can find.” My chest tightened at the thought, and my breath quickened. If
I wasn’t careful, I’d go into a full panic. It would be easy to just lose it.
Scream hysterically. I felt like my sanity was slipping. Was I the only person
left in the world? Had everyone been eaten? Or were there others, hiding away,
like me?
“If we’re careful, we can move around in the day time. But
you need to stay right with me, Hank. It’s way too dangerous to go around joy
sniffing. You know?”
Hank did know. I could feel it in the bunched muscles
beneath his fur. In the way he pushed right up against me.
“We’ll be okay if we’re careful. We won’t let them get us.”
We sat on the cold linoleum and I began to try to form some
kind of plan to keep us alive.
* * *
We sat like that for a long time. The cold and the shock of
what was happening had settled deep into my muscles and bones. I felt sluggish
and so tired. Like I could sleep for an entire year.
But I knew that if I didn’t get moving, Hank and I would
both end up dead, one way or the other. The lizards apparently weren’t
interested in Hank, but the dead would be. They didn’t seem to be really picky
about what they ate.
My stomach felt hungry and queasy at the same time, and I
felt weak. Being outside in the cold, hanging onto a tree branch for hours had
given me a case of the shivers that wouldn’t go away.
Looking up at the cupboards, I tried to get up the gumption
to push myself up.
handwritten in loopy script.
To my best friend in the world. Hope your
year is full of love, friends, and laughter.
Lots of love, Taylor.
I wondered if Taylor had escaped the reptiles and the dead.
Maybe Luka had, too.
I blinked back tears and swallowed down a lump in my throat.
It was time to pack up. This house wouldn’t be safe for
long.
I packed the backpack with the bare minimum of what I’d need
if I had to take off fast.
Back in the bathroom I threw ibuprofen and bandages into the
back pack.
In the kitchen I found Hank’s food and filled two freezer
bags full. Again, he looked at me quizzically.
“Well, you’re coming with me, aren’t you?”
His tail wagged at the tone of my voice. He understood that
we’d be going somewhere, and he was apparently all for not being left alone to
starve.
“Are you hungry?”
His tail thumped the floor and he stood up. He walked toward
the kitchen, throwing me a look that said, “Well? What are you waiting for?”
My entire body ached as I stood, and I looked through the
slats in the vertical blinds before heading into the kitchen. The backyard was
quiet, and flooded with bright sunshine. The snow glinted in the light, looking
like diamond chips.
The fence was too tall for me to see into our back yard, but
I knew the dead were walking around out there. The lizards seemed to be gone
for now. But there was no way to be sure.
Hank came up beside me and placed his head beneath my hand.
“I’m sorry, buddy. Just assessing the situation out there. Looks quiet for
now.”
We went into the kitchen and I poured Hank a full bowl of
food. His water bowl was being fed by a gallon bottle turned upside down into his
dish, so that would be fine for a while. While Hank ate, I lifted a corner of
the curtain covering the window in the kitchen door. I peeked outside. There
were several dead still eating the old lady and old man, but many of them had
left the streets to search in the houses.
There were no lizards moving around the streets.
“I think the lizards are nocturnal, Hank.” I kept my voice
low, not wanting to draw the attention of the dead in the front yard.
Hank lifted his head and looked at me, still chewing his
kibble.
“I don’t think they like the daylight.”
He walked over and sat next to me. I sat on the kitchen
floor, leaning my back against the cupboards, and he lay down next to me.
“But they may be back tonight, to do another sweep. See what
they can find.” My chest tightened at the thought, and my breath quickened. If
I wasn’t careful, I’d go into a full panic. It would be easy to just lose it.
Scream hysterically. I felt like my sanity was slipping. Was I the only person
left in the world? Had everyone been eaten? Or were there others, hiding away,
like me?
“If we’re careful, we can move around in the day time. But
you need to stay right with me, Hank. It’s way too dangerous to go around joy
sniffing. You know?”
Hank did know. I could feel it in the bunched muscles
beneath his fur. In the way he pushed right up against me.
“We’ll be okay if we’re careful. We won’t let them get us.”
We sat on the cold linoleum and I began to try to form some
kind of plan to keep us alive.
* * *
We sat like that for a long time. The cold and the shock of
what was happening had settled deep into my muscles and bones. I felt sluggish
and so tired. Like I could sleep for an entire year.
But I knew that if I didn’t get moving, Hank and I would
both end up dead, one way or the other. The lizards apparently weren’t
interested in Hank, but the dead would be. They didn’t seem to be really picky
about what they ate.
My stomach felt hungry and queasy at the same time, and I
felt weak. Being outside in the cold, hanging onto a tree branch for hours had
given me a case of the shivers that wouldn’t go away.
Looking up at the cupboards, I tried to get up the gumption
to push myself up.
Similar Books
