Invasion: New York (Invasion America) by Vaughn Heppner

you,” the woman said. “Are you okay?”
    Jake brushed his nose and was amazed to see bright red blood on his fingers. He laughed, wiped his nose again and came away with more blood.
    “Here,” the woman said.
    Jake peered at her. She had long dark hair. She was pretty. Oh, she’d stripped earlier, although she wore waitressing clothes now with outrageous high heels. The girl—she couldn’t be more than eighteen—had tossed him the cowboy hat. He still wore it.
    “Hold still,” she told him.
    He realized she’d been handing him a towel, but he hadn’t taken it. So now, she wiped his nose for him. He hardly felt a thing.
    “Did someone hit you?” she asked.
    “Maybe,” he said, slurring as he spoke.
    “You’re totally drunk,” she said.
    He just grinned at that.
    “You should sit down, maybe drink some water.”
    “Beer,” he said. “I need more beer.”
    “Look,” she said, glancing around and seeming worried. “Give me a dollar, anything, make it look like I’m working, not just talking to you.”
    He dug in his pockets before shaking his head. “I gave all my bills to you.”
    “Then give me your hand,” she said.
    He did, and she pretended to take something from him. Jake turned around, and he saw the bald, square-shaped man heading toward him. The man stopped and he turned away. Why had he done that?
    “He wants to start something with me?” Jake slurred belligerently.
    “Don’t let it worry you, cowboy,” the girl said. “He’s just doing his job. He’s making sure—oh, never mind.”
    “What about you?” Jake asked. “You’re nice. Why are you working at a place like this?”
    Instead of scowling, she looked away, almost in a shy manner. “I don’t have a choice,” she finally said. “My mom and dad…they’re gone.”
    “Killed?” Jake asked.
    “Yeah, I suppose that’s the word for it.”
    “It’s a dirty thing, war,” Jake said. “I’m so sick of it.”
    “You’d better watch what you say,” she told him, looking worried again. “Some of our customers belong to Homeland Security. You don’t want to let them hear anything seditious.”
    “Seditious?” Jake asked. “Are you kidding me? I’ve bled a hundred times more blood than you just wiped away from my nose. I’ve killed invaders by the dozen. I’ll say exactly what I want to say, and nobody is going to tell me differently because I’m an American.”
    “Shh,” she said, touching his forearm. “You’re talking too loudly.”
    Jake found he liked her touch. He’d just seen her in the nude. Oh man, she had fantastic tits, great legs and an ass—
    “You’re pretty,” he said. “I like you.”
    “You seem like a sweet boy,” she said.
    “Boy?” he said. “I’m—”
    She squeezed his forearm. “You’re a man, I know. I saw how you looked at me.”
    He nodded, and he wanted to grab her, kiss her and maybe even do more than that. He’d just seen her naked, hadn’t he? He grinned like an idiot until he recalled the square-shaped man.
    “Is he mean to you?” Jake asked.
    “What?” she asked.
    “Mr. Square?”
    “I don’t know what you’re talking about. But I’d better go. Maybe I’ll talk to you after work.”
    She turned away, but Jake decided that she had touched him, why couldn’t he touch her? Fair was fair, right? So he grabbed her and pulled her back.
    “You’re hurting me,” she said.
    He let go. “Sorry. Sorry, I don’t mean to hurt you. Are you okay?”
    “You can’t touch me. Frank will kick you out of here if you touch me.”
    “Mr. Square, you mean?”
    “Look,” she said.
    Jake slapped his chest, and until this moment, he hadn’t gotten himself into any more trouble than a young man might in such a place. He opened his mouth, and he talked loudly again.
    “I killed for our country. I shot and stabbed Chinese invaders so free Americans can speak their mind. I don’t mind saying what I think, do you know that?”
    The girl stared at him.
    Jake slapped