“Oh my God! The locusts are invading the base! What the fuck is this?” Dia shouted.
“It looks like something attracted them,” Ashley explained. “You know they were drawn to all the lights here. There must be something there that grabbed their attention.”
“Yeah, but what?”
Both women watched the locusts attack the base, attaching to everything they could. Guards ran around, trying to swipe off the insects, screaming in horror. Surprisingly, a few seemed untouched as they walked through the yard.
The camera panned over what little was left of the original Area 51 invaders. Only about a fifth of the crowd remained, yet the number of signs and trash on the ground was disastrous.
“What a shitshow indeed.”
Two
Xizi
“Wake up, brother.”
Sounds of screams assaulted his ears, jolting him awake from his deep slumber.
Xizi grudgingly opened his eyes, breathing in the familiar scent of his crew member. The dimmed lights of his holding cell highlighted a human stiletto removing his restraints. He could see the faint sapphire glow radiate from his skin, signaling he was a fellow Rkekh in a borrowed enemy form.
“Fybl?” Xizi asked, confused, rubbing his wrists.
“Yes, it is me,” Fybl’s rough deep voice rumbled.
“What’s happening? Why now?”
“I don’t know, but a ship with Verya is here to rescue everyone. It’s up to us to use their distraction to escape,” Fybl said as he offered his hand.
Xizi grabbed it and winced from his stiff limbs as his body refused to move. Hissing, he stepped down from the ledge, his muscles sending jolts of pain through them.
“What’s the date?”
“May fourth, two thousand and something. Why?”
“My memory is foggy. The humans and their ishing experiments.” Xizi groaned. “It’s been about twenty Earth years since we were captured. Why did it take anyone this long to come get us?”
“I don’t have the answers. All I know is, we have to get the Stars out of here. You were the last one to be found,” Fybl said, wrapping an arm around Xizi’s waist.
“How many survived?” Xizi asked, needing to know who was left from their crew.
“Only you, me, and Rylyx. The others are gone,” Fybl replied sadly.
The blow almost knocked him off his feet as he stumbled back in his weakened state—their crew of twelve reduced to only three.
“Confirmed?” He didn’t want to have any false hopes or what-ifs.
Fybl shook his head and looked away.
Assisting Xizi down the hallway to the emergency exit in silence, Fybl dodged the fallen human bodies along the way and kicked the door open. Xizi threw his arm up as the sudden brightness from the desert sun assaulted his eyes. A loud hum drowned out the shouts and screams.
“Why didn’t they come at night?” Xizi asked, trying to piece together what was happening. A swarm of locusts was attacking the humans, attaching themselves to everything as they created havoc. “And why an insect attack?”
“Only the Fates know why. The Verya said they created a distraction, we just need to use it to escape and gather whatever we want to take with us.” Fybl surveyed the yard. “Do you think you’re capable of cloaking out of here? We’re supposed to make our way to the nearby human city named Las Vegas and hide out. They will port us up during the fireworks celebration tonight. Something about tricking the humans into forming a mob of maniacs and believers to raid this base to find proof of aliens. Now, the area is filled with a large influx of people who want to do nothing other than party. The humans are without the means to handle them.” He chuckled, watching the humans being attacked by the mob of insects. “Who knows if the Verya had a contingency plan in case the humans were too afraid to take the base. The undercover agent who let me out said we only needed to go unnoticed for a few hours and stand outside during the fireworks display. They’ll track our soul signature and teleport us to safety.”
Xizi breathed in deeply, tasting the dryness of the fresh air. The quality had suffered greatly since he was captured.
“Las Vegas?” he asked as he shook out his stiff limbs.
