“You’re perfect. Truck’s here.”
That was the last thing he said before he shoved her down the slope they had been standing on. Faith tried to stop her fall, but it was useless. She stumbled all the way down to the bottom then tripped and flew five feet before landing hard on the ground.
She felt bruised all over and coughed from the sand stirred up in the air. Her filtering mask had fallen off during the fall. Breaks squeaked and she glanced up only to have her eyes blinded by the lights of the truck that nearly hit her.
What the hell did Waller want her to do? Faith heard the door of the truck open. Was her getting run over by the truck the distraction? Fear took hold. She had to come up with something quickly because the driver was out of the truck and heading her way.
Hands gripped her arms pulling her up. Her feet trembled but held steady.
“Who are you?” the man asked. He had a slight accent.
She couldn’t see his face; he was wearing an army helmet of some sort. But he was tall, taller than anyone she had ever met before. He wore a uniform, and she noted his weapon was in a holster. Fear overwhelmed her to the point she couldn’t even speak. The male shook her a little.
“I asked who you are and where you came from. Are you injured?”
There was a sound of concern in his voice. Or was that her imagination? Why would this stranger care whether she was hurt?
“I…I..” she tried to answer him but stuttered.
She did that sometimes when she was scared or nervous. Kids used to make fun of her. Rooster still made fun of her because of it. Usually, she didn’t speak in front of others unless she was calm.
Sounds from the back of the truck had the driver turning away from her. That’s when she noticed his uniform wasn’t quite like the other soldiers’ uniforms from the dome. He was wearing one of the alien outfits.
Oh shit! This was one of the aliens. He started to head toward the back of the truck. The others might shoot him. If they shot or killed one of the alien warriors, their human lives would be forfeit. This was getting way out of control. She had to do something.
“Wait! Don’t go back there!” she yelled as she reached for his arm.
A body flew and crashed into the driver. It was so sudden, it scared her, and she screamed. She tried to scramble out of the way, tripping and falling to the ground. She hit the side of her head. When she managed to sit up, she noted who had tackled the alien soldier—Rooster.
Rooster glanced her way and yelled, “Run, you idiot!”
“You must stop! It’s one of those aliens!”
Rooster ignored her and continued to fight with the alien. One moment, he was tangled with the driver, then the next he hit the driver on the side of the head with a pipe he had hidden in a side pocket of his pants. The alien driver collapsed to the ground.
“What did you do?” Faith asked in horror. She knelt to turn the driver onto his back to check for a pulse.
“I’m saving you! That’s what I’m doing!”
She breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank God. He’s alive.”
Rooster grabbed her arm and tried to pull her to her feet. “We have to go!”
She stood but jerked her arm out of his grip. “Do you know what you just did? You hit a Drastan warrior!”
“What?” Rooster looked from her to the man still unconscious on the ground. “He’s an alien?”
“Yes. Did you or Felix know there would be aliens at this?”
“We can discuss this later! Felix gave explicit orders for me to get you to the meet-up place.”
“I can’t leave until I know he’s going to be all right.”
“He’s breathing. You said so!”
“I think he’s breathing. I’m not a d-d-damn nurse!” Her stuttering was getting worse.
Rooster tried to pull her with him again, but she twisted out of his reach. Then all hell broke loose. More soldiers came running out of the dark. Guns were going off all around her and the sandstorm picked up his pace making it even harder to see.
