She didn’t dare turn around as heavy, booted feet thumped on the linoleum behind her. Aletta grabbed the edge of a row of shelves, swinging herself around the end of the aisle and careening into Dylan just as she emerged from the next row.
They gripped hands and ran, oblivious to anything but the sound of their footsteps and heavy breathing.
They shot out of the building and into the car park, the dim light barely brighter than the inside of the abandoned supermarket.
Aletta glanced over her shoulder to see their pursuer stop in front of the building, staring down at his watch.
Why wasn’t he following them?
“Letty?” Dylan pointed a shaking finger to a large, wedge-shaped black vehicle that hadn’t been there when they’d entered the supermarket. “What’s that?”
While they’d been inside, the fog had thickened. It was like trying to see through a misted window; only indistinct shapes and muffled noises indicated they weren’t alone. But movement had the fog swirling, and the looming shape Aletta had at first taken for a bus came into view.
It was sitting in the center of the parking lot, about thirty yards in front of them. Short legs extended like landing gear from the underside, and a ramp lowered from the back.
The lack of wheels had Aletta frowning. How had it gotten there?
Then wings unfurled from the sides, snapping into place with a metallic click, before starting to shift slowly up and down, like a dragonfly. The fog swirled around the ship with each pump of its wings, sending gusts of damp air across the car park to stir Aletta’s hair. It had to be an aircraft of some kind, so why not a spaceship? It wasn’t like today hadn’t been weird enough.
She turned back to the store to see their pursuer look up from his arm with a frown, something flashing on the face of his watch. How didhestill have working electronics? He looked up and strode determinedly toward them, breaking into a jog as he shouted something in a language she couldn’t understand.
“I have no idea what the fuck that thing is, but we have to get out of here.” She grabbed Dylan’s hand and darted to the left of the strange ship and toward the entry to the parking lot, still hidden in the fog.
He shouted again, his footsteps right behind her, and then his fingers dug into her upper arm, pinching painfully. She twisted out of his grip, dragging Dylan with her.
And then she heard the scream.
The same scream they’d been hearing all day, this time much closer. Dylan whimpered, her hand shaking in Aletta’s. She shot a look back at their attacker, but he had frozen in place, his eyes wild as he took a step backward.
She pushed Dylan behind her and spun on the spot, trying to see what had made the noise, but the fog was too thick. Then a dark shape moved just out of sight between them and their exit.
No, not a dark shape. A cockroach. A ten-foot-tall cockroach with a black shiny exoskeleton that glittered with the colors of the rainbow as it turned toward Aletta and Dylan.
It was blocking their only way out. She turned to keep an eye on the cockroach while still keeping the ship in view. Two moreof the big guys in black had stepped out, and all three were now standing back next to the ship as if ready to make a quick exit.
She looked from the cockroach to the ship and back. They were trapped.
“Fuck.” Aletta herded a shaking Dylan behind her.
There was no way they were going anywhere near that cockroach thing. It reared up on its back two legs. They weren’t going back into that supermarket, even if they could get past the ship. She’d watched enough horror movies to know how that ended.
So that only left one option.
She grabbed Dylan by the shoulders, staring into her eyes. “Whatever happens, I love you. Ok?”
Dylan gaped at her. “What? No, don’t?—”
“You have to run. Hide. Get out of the city. It’s worse than we thought, Dee. Save yourself.”
She took a step toward the alien, because spaceships, so why not aliens? Hell, those others were probably just another two-legged variety.
“Letty!” Dylan yelled.
The alien chittered and tilted its head to one side like a dog trying to understand a new stimulus.
“Letty! Don’t leave me!”
Aletta squeezed her eyes shut, a single tear sliding down her cheek. She clenched her hands into fists, opened her eyes, and took another step toward the alien. It opened its maw, showing rows of razor-sharp teeth. She stared up at it in terror as it opened its mouth to scream—or more like screech—the sound they’d heard before. A reply came from the distance, then it clicked and hissed at Aletta, taking a step toward her.
