Amy was propped up on her cushion, a baby cradled in each arm as she looked over the edge of the roof and an elderly woman sat beside her, fussing with her blankets.
It was the first time I’d seen all the humans in one place.With my back to the camp, I could almost imagine aliens didn’t exist.But that was a world where I didn’t have Tovis, so I turned around and shielded my eyes as I searched the crowd of red males for my mate.
I found him standing at the edge of camp, bulky horns tilted back as he looked back at me.I smiled and waved once, and he lifted his fist in reply.
“Quit mooning over your man and grab a gun,” Taz called.I dragged my eyes off Tovis and made my way to her post in the center of all the guns.
“I don’t know how to shoot,” I said hesitantly.
She quirked a brow.“Point and pull the trigger, preferably at the bad guys.Hope and I have been practicing, so we’ll try and pick off sytos that aren’t near our guys.Kyle and Troy are pretty solid shots, so they’ll do the same.Everyone else?”she looked around the roof.“Shoot if they come up here, but don’t risk missing and hitting someone important.”
Penny’s dad, Troy picked up a gun and nodded.“Friendly fire isn’t helping anyone.If you have to shoot an alien, don’t panic, don’t jerk the trigger, just breathe and squeeze.”
“Breathe and squeeze,” I repeated, patting Sal’s round back through the wrap and trying to convince myself I could handle this.
Troy cast a long look at Amy, his weathered face creasing with worry before he hid the expression.“Little Mama, you just sit and keep those babies happy.We’ve got you.”
Amy managed a wan smile, her eyes watering as she looked between the twins and took a shaky breath.
Taz grabbed two guns and passed one to Hope, who finished tying her long hair back and accepted the weapon.
“Troy, can you show Jessa the basics?”Taz asked, her eyes narrowed on the approaching mass of sytos.They were getting close, close enough I could tell that the Kwin had at least doubled her numbers since we’d escaped.
Troy eyed the remaining guns and picked up a long black rifle and a curved magazine?Clip?I had no idea.The closest to gun I’d ever been was now and the one time I shot tin targets with a pellet gun at the fair.When I was twelve.
Penny’s dad fiddled with the gun and beckoned to me, and I minced past the sprawl of weapons.
“Keep it tucked tight into your shoulder,” he told me, his voice gentle despite the rising war chant coming from the turochs below.Dozens of huge males bellowed in unison, the sound rose from the camp like a wave, rhythmic and primal.
I shivered at the intensity in their voices.I trusted Tovis, trusted that they could handle the fight.I didn’t like that it was happening or that Tovis was going into battle, but I couldn’t help but think that the sytos had to be insane to hear that chant and keep coming.
Troy handed me the gun and I put it to my shoulder like he told me.
“Finger off the trigger until you’re ready to shoot,” he said, acting like this was all target practice and he couldn’t hear the reverberating stomps joining the chanting below.I blinked hard, trying to absorb every word he said.
“This right here is the safety,” he continued, moving my finger to a small button.“It’s on right now, the gun can’t fire.Press that before you pull the trigger and don’t point this at anyone you want alive.”
“Don’t point at people, safety,” I nodded, so utterly out of my depth I could feel my fingertips going numb.Sal honked, protesting the bulk of the gun encroaching on his space.
“This gun has thirty shots, okay?”he prompted gently.
“Uhuh,” I managed.Thirty shots.I hoped I didn’t use one of them.But I would, if it was me or the sytos, Tovis or the enemy.
“You have to squeeze the trigger for every shot,” he continued.“Remember that.Squeeze.One shot.”
Squeeze, one shot.
I could do this.I could handle this.
“Here.”He led me to the center of the roof and positioned me so I was facing the steps we’d walked up a few minutes ago.“Don’t shoot anything unless it pokes its head up onto this roof.Make sure it’s blue, not red.”He hesitated.“Make sure it’s not Gigi or Uriish or Jiith, too.Just stay calm, and don’t shoot unless you see a blue face you don’t know.”
“Stay calm, blue, squeeze,” I repeated.
“You’ve got this, girl.”He patted my back and grabbed his own gun, moving to lay on the roof, looking over the edge.
I didn’t have to guess when the fight started, even out of sight, the initial contact was audible.The rhythmic war chant dissolved into a tangle of angry roars, screams of pain and shocking percussions that had to be the stunners.I remembered seeing one of the human men who’d attacked the strip club, body crumpling midair like he’d been hit by an invisible car, and swallowed hard.
A shot rang out, cracking over the melee below, then another and another.I flinched with each one, keeping my eyes fixed on the top of the steps.Picking off sytos from the roof was outside of my abilities, but I could guard the backs of those that could.
