The Hidden Ship by Mark Wayne McGinnis

Author:Mark Wayne McGinnis [McGinnis, Mark Wayne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781733514323
Publisher: Avenstar Productions
Published: 2019-03-11T22:00:00+00:00

chapter 25

The Takebacks started arriving around eight o’clock in the evening, some four hours earlier than expected. But by now, of course, word was out all across Castle Rock, and its neighboring communities. Clearly, the Gap invaders were up to something with the arrival of so many ground forces—perhaps preparing to mount another, maybe final, military offensive. Everyone was scared, fearing the worst. To be honest, I’d expected most of my Takeback comrades to remain with their families—even going so far as to barricade themselves within their own homes—readying themselves to make a last stand against whatever the next Gap onslaught entailed.

I was encouraged when our four pilots started to trickle into the barn; first, Orville Wright, the commercial airline pilot; then Chuck Yeager, a USAF Lieutenant; then Baron Von Rickenbacker, a seventy-year-old Vietnam airman; and finally Karen, a.k.a. Amelia Earhart, our Apache helicopter pilot. But perhaps the most surprising arrival of all was the contentious old Titus, the M1 tank commander, along with his team. The fact that everyone showed up tonight spoke volumes. It would be now or never. Without some kind of last-ditch effort on our part—even as futile as that effort might end up being—I suspected we would have no home, no families left to protect.

I assumed my customary perch atop one of the Shredders. Sitting next to me was Jhally, who’d been up, stumbling about, since early this afternoon learning to use his new crutch. It wasn’t lost on me that at any moment my barn could be infiltrated by EMS marshals, or even the Earupitan military personnel we’d spotted lately around these parts. But if so, there was nothing I could do about it.

One after another, more and more cars and trucks drove inside through the barn’s rear doors. I caught Donny’s eye. As he shepherded numerous vehicles within, I gave him a questioning gesture—what the hell? Why so many cars, so many strangers, far beyond our regular number of men and women, members of the Takebacks? I noticed most everyone was armed with either a pistol or a rifle. But I really shouldn’t have been surprised to see that word had spread beyond our fledgling group, now readying to strike back. At this point, it didn’t matter. We had more pressing concerns than maintaining secrecy this night. But the same questions and thoughts kept running through my mind, Is this really happening? Could this really be the end of days for Earth’s humanity?

I watched as more arriving newcomers first took sight of our small squadron of Shredder craft, and then the alien, Jhally—seated next to me. Their startled expressions turned to curiosity, then something akin to hopefulness.

Matt approached. Climbing up onto the Shredder’s wing, he leaned in. “Hey, too many cars to fit inside here. I don’t know who half these fucking people are. They’re parking on the driveway . . . and even beyond, out in the pasture.”

“It’s fine,” I said. “We can’t worry about it. After tonight, all bets will be off, anyway.

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