Arrival

“It’s not working,” Luna said.

“It’s not going to work,” Chloe said. “You’ve flooded it.”

“As if you know anything about it,” Luna shot back.

It had the feeling of an argument that would take too long and be too loud; that would still have them sitting there when more of the controlled people came. Already, Kevin thought he could see rustling in the trees.

“We have to go,” Kevin said. He thought he could see shapes out beyond the nearest trunks. “We have to go now.”

He got out of the car again and the others followed with obvious reluctance. At least they followed, slipping away into the trees just in time as Kevin looked back to see hikers and soldiers, park rangers and families, descending on the car in a silent, coordinated mass. Some of them looked around, seeming almost to sniff the air. Kevin hurried away as quickly as he dared.

“They won’t be distracted by the car for long,” Kevin guessed. “We need to think of something else.”

“There are plenty of cars up in the parking lot,” Chloe said.

Luna snorted. “That we don’t have keys for.”

“I don’t need a key. That’s what I was up there doing, until they charged after me.” She still sounded as though she wanted to pick a fight, but right then, if they could all get out of there, Kevin could live with that.

“We’ll need to keep quiet,” Kevin said, and the others looked at him as if he’d just said the most obvious thing in the world. They all crept forward, making their way up the mountain to the summit and the parking lot that stood there for visitors. For the moment, at least, it seemed to be empty.

“You might as well take off that stupid mask,” Chloe said to Luna. “I told you, whatever they put in the air is gone. Or are you scared?”

The last one was enough to get to Luna. Pointedly, she reached up and took off her mask, hanging it from her belt.

“I’m not scared,” she said. “I’m just not stupid.”

“We need to find a car,” Kevin said, interrupting before they could argue again.

There were plenty to choose from, left wherever they’d been parked by the people visiting the mountain. There were SUVs and minivans, modern cars and old ones in all kinds of colors and—

“That one,” Chloe said, pointing to a pickup truck that looked beaten up to the point where Kevin was amazed there was anything left of it. The paintwork was peeling, rust showing through in spots. “I’ll be able to start that one.”

They went over to it, and it turned out that one of the windows was open a crack. Chloe pulled it down further, then reached in and opened the door.

“Doesn’t it worry you that she knows how to do all this?” Luna asked Kevin.

Chloe looked back over her shoulder. “Not all of us get perfect little lives, cheerleader.”

Kevin was almost grateful for the sight of a group of the controlled people advancing slowly, obviously searching.

“Quick,” he said, “in the truck!”

They got in, keeping their heads down. Chloe was in the driver’s seat working on something with the ignition. It seemed to be taking a long time.

“I thought you said you could do this,” Luna whispered.

“I’d like to see you try,” Chloe shot back.

“Just so long as you can get us to NASA,” Luna said.

Chloe shook her head. “We’re going to LA.”

“San Francisco,” Luna insisted.

“LA,” Chloe shot back.

Kevin knew he needed to intervene, because if he didn’t, they would probably still be arguing when the controlled people caught up to them.

“Please, Chloe, we need to hear this message. And… well, if it doesn’t work out, then maybe we could go to LA. Together.”

Chloe was quiet for a minute. Kevin dared a glance over the dashboard. He hoped she made a decision soon, because the group of controlled people was getting closer.

“I guess you did kind of save my life back there,” Chloe said. “Okay.”

She kept working at what she was doing with the ignition. The engine gave a cough. Kevin looked up to see every alien-controlled person there staring at them now, looking at them with the intensity of a cat that had just spotted a mouse.

“Um… Chloe?”

They started to run forward.

“Can you do this or not?” Luna said.

Chloe didn’t answer, just kept working on whatever she was doing. The engine spluttered again, then roared to life. Chloe looked up in triumph.

“See! I told you that—”

She stopped short as a figure slammed into the truck, making a grab for them.

“Get us out of here,” Kevin said, and Chloe nodded.

The truck lurched forward as she drove, apparently not caring if she hit the controlled people or not. They swerved around a car, and a soldier threw himself into the truck’s path. Chloe didn’t slow it down even for a moment, and the crunch as they hit him was awful. He bounced off the hood and rolled to his feet, but by then they were already away.

Or kind of away, anyway. There was only so fast they could go on the mountain road, especially with the risk of abandoned cars in the way, left wherever people had been when the vapor converted their occupants. Chloe was weaving around them, but it still slowed them down enough that the controlled people running behind were keeping up.

“They’re not giving up,” Luna said with a glance back.

“They don’t get tired, they don’t stop,” Chloe said, and something about the way she said it suggested that she’d learned that the hard way. “Everyone hold on.”

Kevin clung to the dashboard as they sped up, the truck rolling alarmingly as it sped around the obstacles in the way. Kevin was sure they would crash at any moment, but somehow, impossibly, they didn’t. Chloe wrenched the wheel from one side to the other, and the truck lumbered along in response.

They skidded close to the edge of the road, and Kevin didn’t know which would be worse: crashing or being caught. Chloe seemed to have made up her mind, though, because they didn’t slow down. They sped down off the mountain, and now Kevin could see the controlled people falling further and further behind.

“We did it,” he said. “We survived.”

Luna hugged him. Over her shoulder, Kevin could see the look on Chloe’s face while she did it.

“Now all we have to do,” Luna said, “is go into the city, break into a place we barely got out of, and find a message from a second set of aliens without being grabbed by the first ones.”