SERIES CONTINUED: “Hatched: The Invasion is the fourth and final short story in a new La Cucaracha feature — excerpts from books. To read the earlier installments, scroll down to “Rat Tale,” “Shadows,” and “Hatched.”
By Emiliano Medina Trujillo
Chuck could see his hands moving, he felt like he was sitting in the back of a dark theater while he watched his body continue to work. He was chopping and cooking the strange chiles. Estevan was right next to Chuck, cooking burger patties on the flattop.
There was a nearly empty pot of chile and another fresh one on deck. Estevan handed Chuck two fresh sloppers. Chuck grabbed onto the plates and watched himself carry them out of the kitchen. As he passed the hall that led out back, he saw it was dark and crowded with people. They were just standing, staring, panting…
They stared straight ahead and didn’t move or show any expressions. Chuck caught just a glimpse of the people before his body walked into the main dining area.
He passed people sitting in the booths; they, too. sat completely still. Only staring, only panting. The sound was less audible because there was music playing at the bar. A bartender washing a glass behind it, shared the same mannerisms as the others. He washed the glass with repetitive, almost mechanical movements.
Chuck found himself walking up to the only two animated, normal people in the restaurant. A man and a woman, laughing and smiling. It was clear the drinks they had were not their first of the night.
Chuck placed the plates in front of the patrons. The couple stopped conversing and looked at Chuck, confused. They looked at the food and back at Chuck. “Um…excuse me! We didn’t order any food!” the woman said in an irritated tone.
“Yeah bruh, we came to drink a few brews. Plus, my lady only eats vegan!” the man said as he turned his nose away from the food.
“Pfff, transplants,” Chuck said, but his mouth didn’t move. He realized the words were all in his head. For a brief moment, his physical lip curled into a small smirk at his joke. Before he knew it, the bartender stopped washing the cup and put his face up to Chuck’s.
The bartender examined his face closely, wide eyed and almost nose to nose. Chuck tried not to move. Luckily, he realized that he couldn’t. The interaction was interrupted by the man.
“Hey! We didn’t order food! Take this crap back now!” He pushed one of the plates onto the floor with a crash. The other people in the restaurant looked at the man at the exact same time. Even with the music, an eerie silence fell over the place.
In an instant, everyone except Chuck and the bartender swarmed the couple. Chuck watched helplessly as they kicked and screamed, but it was no use. Without his consent, Chuck walked over to the people, grabbed a handful of food, and shoved it into the man’s face. The bartender did the same to the woman until everything on the plate was gone.
The crowd let the couple go and they dropped to the floor in agony. They clutched their stomachs and writhed in pain on the tile. After a minute of the horrific display, the two went limp. Chuck worried that he had killed them, but they stood up as if nothing had happened.
The bartender handed them each a wet dishcloth, and they cleaned their faces.
The two had the same look as the others. They walked over to an empty table and sat. as did everyone else in the restaurant. Everyone except Chuck, who watched himself as he cleaned up the mess left behind.
He walked back into the kitchen and threw the mess into the trash can. As he went back to cooking, he saw his leftover chile from earlier on the prep table. It was still in the small pan. He fixated on it, fighting hard against whatever was controlling him.
His feeling of sitting in the back of a theater changed as his point of view moved closer to his normal field of vision. It was like a switch was flipped. He was in control again!
He grabbed his small pan of chile and set it on a burner. If he was going to escape, he needed to look like he was bringing out food. He wasn’t trying to carry a big pot or any of that weird chile, so this should do.
He watched the pot warm. Without warning, Estevan got in his face. He examined him as the bartender had done. Chuck tried not to show expression on his face. The standoff with his friend was intense!
Chuck slowly reached for the pot of chile. He muttered below his breath “Sorry bro!” and flung the chile into his friend’s face. Estevan looked like he was about to alert the others and caught the brunt of the chili into his open mouth.
Estevan doubled over, choking on the chile. Chuck touched the pan; it wasn’t even warm yet. Estevan stiffened and seized. Chuck thought he had seriously hurt his friend and looked on with worry.
Estevan stopped moving. Chuck leaned in to see if his friend was alright. As Chuck was leaning over Estevan, his eyes popped open. Chuck instinctively held up the empty pot to defend himself.
“Tell me something the REAL Estevan would say!” Chuck demanded in a hushed tone. He waved the pan at Estevan.
“You’re dumb, bud! Get that thing out of my face! What’s going on? Is this chili?” Estevan asked in a groggy voice.
Chuck crouched down by Estevan and whispered, “Be quiet! Everyone has lost their minds! It’s like they’re zombies!”
“What are you talking about? What’s going on?” Estevan asked again.
“Look through the pick-up window, just don’t let anyone see you!” Chuck said.
The two carefully peaked up and saw the people in the restaurant just sitting at empty tables and staring. No one was talking or eating like normal. The scene looked like a lifeless oil painting.
As the two were about to duck back down, the front door burst open. Two other people were drug into the restaurant and forcefully sat in one of the booths.
Chuck noticed the already made sloppers where Estevan was working. He set them on the order window and pulled his friend onto the floor out of view.
Looking up from the floor, they saw someone take the sloppers. Chuck and Estevan peaked back through the window and saw the crowd swarm the people.
“They’re making people eat that hatch chile! It’s making everyone act weird! You were just like that!” Chuck told Estevan.
“I can’t believe this…This can’t be real…” Estevan said in disbelief.
“Look! It is! We only have about another minute or two before those people get all weird too. So let’s sneak out the back before the others come,” Chuck said as he crept towards the door of the kitchen.
He swung it open just enough to peek out. The hatch people were busy force feeding their newest victims the befouled sloppers. He gestured for Estevan to follow him, they tiptoed from the hall and out the back door. Chuck pushed on the door; it opened with a loud clack. They looked down the hall and all of the hatch people had stopped what they were doing and were staring at them.
Before the hatch people could swarm, the lights went out. Chuck and Estevan ducked out the door and wedged a chair under the handle, keeping their pursuers from getting out. Chuck and Estevan were surprised that it was already dark outside. They didn’t have much time to ponder the loss of daylight as the hatch people pounded on the door. It was only a matter of time before they would find a way out.
Chuck jogged to his car in the parking lot and reached into his pocket for his keys — no luck. He must have left them in the restaurant. They had to escape on foot, which would prove daunting, because the street was littered with people in this catatonic state.
A car came over the bridge and came to a stop at the traffic lights. They could not go forward due to a blockade of abandoned vehicles and the hatch people standing in a cluster. As soon as the car stopped it was swarmed and the occupants pulled out. The group of the hatch people carried the terrified motorists towards the restaurant.
Chuck and Estevan ran behind Gary’s tavern. They crept through the dark labyrinth of alleyways. Being careful to peek around every corner. They periodically heard someone being dragged down the street, likely back to Gary’s.
As they snuck through the alley, they noticed the main streets were dense with hatch people. The darkness provided a decent cover to move undetected. As they passed another intersecting alley, all of the street lights hummed to life.
Chuck and Estevan felt exposed in the light. They didn’t see the hatch people, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t close. The two ran down the alley, looking for some kind of cover.
They had found themselves in Neon Alley and they came upon a smashed up Honda. Chuck was surprised to see his little cousin Jaden and two girls standing by the car, one of the girls bleeding from her scalp. Jaden and the other girl did not look any better.
“Damn cuz! What happened to you?!” Chuck asked.
“We got chased by some strange people and ended up here, what are you doing? And why is your friend covered in chile?” Jaden asked.
“No time to explain! But there are a bunch of those people walking around attacking anyone who’s not like them.”
“So there are more shadow people?!” Jaden exclaimed.
“No! What? Ugh! Yous all need to follow me! I have an idea. I’ll explain when we get somewhere safe!” Chuck said as he crept up to the mouth of the alley. A crowd of people were walking on the opposite end of Neon Alley; they had not seen the group yet. Chuck led the way. Everyone else followed close behind.
They silently moved alley to alley, block by block. They made it towards the river walk, but it was ripe with hatch people. There were no more alleys to use once they passed the river walk. All of the main streets left them too exposed.
Chuck remembered there were train tracks that would take them towards his house. It avoided main streets and were very rarely used. He signaled the group to follow him.
They made their way to Sante Fe Avenue. There was another cluster of abandoned cars sitting in the road. They used the vehicles for cover as they moved towards the tree line.
They had made it into the foliage undetected. It was darker here than on the street, good for cover, bad for visibility. Luckily the moon was out and the beams cut through the vegetation.
They moved quickly towards Chuck’s house. They could see the river that passed by the tracks; they were close. They walked to the river base and were now on a cement path that ran on the edge of the river.
The group stopped walking when Chuck did. He stood and pondered a hill for a moment. He walked ahead just a bit and looked up. Chuck heard a noise behind him, but before he could turn around, he was hit by the shoulder of a huge dark figure and knocked into the dirt.
Chuck tried to breathe but all he did was wheeze. He looked up and towering over him was a large man in a security guard uniform. He leaned over Chuck and examined him.
“You okay buddy? Sorry, I thought you were one of those…things…. Let me try and help you…” Dj said as he looked down at the handcuffs on his wrists.
He still managed to grab Chuck with his cuffed hands and pull him up with ease. As he dusted Chuck off he looked over and at the rest of the group he leaned back over and whispered in Chuck’s ear.
“Are they with you or should we run?” Dj asked.
Catching his breath Chuck said, “Yeah, they’re with me…”
“Hey y’all! I’m Dj!” walking towards the group and waving, he remembered the handcuffs as he heard the metal clink. “Ugh, don’t worry about these…I should explain…”
“I trust you…” Chuck said, still a little out of breath. “We had a few classes together in school. You were a football player. I remember you.”
Dj actually didn’t remember him. He had associated with the jocks and other popular kids. He felt bad for not remembering, but he could definitely use the help after the night he had.
“Thank you…What was your name again?” Dj asked.
“Chuck, that’s my friend Estevan, my little cousin Jaden and the girls are —” Chuck was interrupted by Piper.
“I’m Piper and that’s Michelle,” she said as she held her hand out towards Dj.
“Nice to meet you,” Dj said as he shook her small hand. Looking down at her he noticed blood in her blonde hair.
“Are you hurt?” he asked.
“Oh! It was just a bump, kind of a crazy night…” Piper said as she tenderly touched her scalp.
“You can say that again! So what’s the plan?” Dj asked while scanning the group for answers.
Chuck stepped forward, “My house is up this way. There’s a dry creek that we can hike up just ahead. I’ll tell everyone my plan there.”
The group hiked towards Chuck’s backyard. They climbed over his chain link fence and went towards his back door. Chuck lifted up a flower pot and retrieved a spare key.
“Yous are all lucky, I’m just giving away all my secrets tonight aren’t I?” Chuck joked as he opened the door.
Everyone went in, Estevan got into Chuck’s fridge and grabbed a six pack of pop. He handed one to everyone in the group. Everyone but Chuck, who wandered off into another room. The group sipped their drinks.
Estevan plucked the tab off of his soda can and bent it back and forth until it snapped in half. He grabbed DJ’s handcuffs and put the sharp end into the keyhole. The cuffs sprung open.
“Where did you learn that?” Dj asked.
“I guess my years as a delinquent finally paid off,” Estevan said with a grin.
A few minutes later, Chuck struggled to carry a black foot locker into the room. He put it down on the floor with a thud and used a small silver key to unlock it.
Everyone in the room leaned in as the lid was flung open. It was full of books, pictures, guns, and a rather large feather. Chuck, reached in and pulled out a lever action Winchester. Everyone in the room jumped back. Everyone but Dj.
“Whoa! Do you even know what you’re doing with that thing?!” Estevan asked.
“Of course bro, it was my grandpa Vicente’s. He said he used it to hunt birds or something with it.”
“And what do you expect to do with that thing?” Piper asked sarcastically.
“Protection! J, what’s up with your girlfriend?” Chuck asked.
“She’s not his girlfriend!” Michelle interjectted.
“Yeah! I’m not his girlfriend,” Piper said.
Jaden didn’t say a word. He blushed and stared ahead, seemingly ignoring the conversation entirely.
Chuck laughed to himself knowing he embarrassed his cousin, a favorite pastime of his. Chuck pulled out a couple of revolvers and a large knife with writing on the handle.
Chuck looked at it and read it loud, “St. Michael the archangel defend us in battle…” Chuck stopped reading and looked around. Everyone was staring at him and the effects in the locker.
“What did you say your grandpa did?” Dj asked.
“He was a cowboy. He traveled around driving cattle and doing cowboy things. I don’t know! All I know is this stuff might come in handy!” Chuck said.
Dj grabbed one of the revolvers and popped open the cylinder. “Hey buddy, might be a little more handy if we had bullets.” He pointed the barrel towards the light, being careful not to point the weapon at anyone in the room. Light shone through the six empty chambers.
Chuck rummaged through the locker taking strange artifacts out and laying them on the floor. A photo flopped out and landed face down. Michelle read the back of it,
“Jaden and Vicente Fresno, Ca.” She picked it up and examined it.
“Hey!” She said pointing at a man in the photo, “Is this your grandpa? He’s handsome!”
Piper leaned over and said, “he looks just like Jaden…” Realizing she inadvertently called Jaden handsome, she found herself blushing remembering when everyone made fun of Jaden moments earlier.
This tender moment was short-lived. Chuck asked Jaden, “This must be who grandpa named you after?”
“Must have,” Jaden said as he looked at the man in the picture. He wore a white muscle shirt, camouflage pants, high black boots, and had a large knife on his belt. Vicente stood with his arms crossed with a half-smile. Jaden had an arm around Vicente.
Dj held a hand out towards Chuck, he motioned to see the rifle. Chuck handed it over and Dj pulled the lever back halfway.
“Yep, it’s loaded,” Dj said.
“Really?” Chuck asked dumbfounded.
“Yeah.” He pointed at the tube under the barrel. “You should have rounds in here. Just pull this lever back to chamber the next shot,” Dj said as he handed the rifle back to Chuck.
“How do you know all of this?” Estevan asked.
“I was training to get my certifications to work at the prison, so I did a lot of work with firearms. I really wanted to try out for the cert team. So much for that…” Dj said solemnly.
Chuck pulled a leather shoulder strap from the box. It had a large feather attached to it. When he clipped it on the rifle, it hung off near the back of the butt. The feather looked like it was once much larger but had been trimmed down.
Jaden, looped the knife into his belt. He felt like it would be right to be able to help protect his friends. Not much else seemed like it was going to be useful. Chuck unveiled the next part to his plan.
“So, I think I know what caused all of this. It’s this new batch
of Hatch green chile,” “How? That doesn’t make any sense?”
Michelle interrupted.
“Okay, hear me out! Estevan and me were cooking up green
chile, and these peppers were weird, like REALLY weird.
Next thing we know, everyone who eats them starts acting
like zombies and making everyone else eat the chile,” Chuck
looked around. Everyone but Estevan seemed confused.
Estevan added, “It’s true! I was like that…until…wait,
Chuck? How am I normal now? I remember one second
having a slopper shoved in my face and the next you were
going to hit me with a pan!”
Chuck thought for a moment. “Remember what I had for my
lunch?”
“Was it green chile?” Jaden asked.
“Exactly!” Chuck exclaimed as he pointed at Jaden. “I threw my chile in Estevan’s face and next thing I knew he was normal again! And this wasn’t the weird chile, this was from my own personal stash! Do you guys know what this means?” Once again, everyone had a bewildered look.
Dj raised his hand and looked around at everyone else, “Uh, your chile is the cure?”
“Yes!” Chuck slapped his hands together and pointed at Dj. “So if we can get people to eat my chile, they’ll be cured!”
“Hello!? Where will we get that many green chiles? And how are we going to get everyone to eat it?” Piper asked.
“Well, I have an entire freezer full. We load up a few backpacks and sneak into the restaurants and slip them into the chile. I noticed, as long as you don’t show facial expressions and act like them, you blend in!” Chuck explained.
“You have that much green chile?” Piper asked.
Chuck ran up to his freezer and opened it up. It was stacked with bags of frozen Chile.
“There’s more in my other freezer! Every year, I always get a few extra bushels and it’s paying off!” Chuck grinned. He pulled out a pre-made pot of green chile and started to warm it up.
“Let’s eat a little bit of chile, then we’ll head out and save everyone! It’s really good and we’ll be immune to the hatch!” Chuck said.
Everyone enjoyed the chile. Chuck only had four bags for the chile, so it was agreed that the girls stay at the house. Piper wanted to argue, but Michelle told her she needed to patch up her injuries and hold down the fort.
Chuck, Estevan, Jaden, and Dj headed out. Chuck kept the rifle slung over his shoulder. He didn’t want to use it, but he didn’t want to find himself without protection.
The group decided to take the same path back and initiate their plan at Gary’s tavern. The walk over was quiet, suspicious, and with tension in the air. They weaved their way through the alleyways.
They made it back to Gary’s. It was just as quiet, the cars that littered the streets sat still and abandoned. It was a strange sight to see in the middle of the night. The group followed Chuck up to the back door of the restaurant.
Chuck carefully turned the handle and the door opened with a squeak. It wasn’t loud, but in the silence of the night, it might as well have been a scream. They entered in a single file line, Chuck leading them right to the kitchen.
They were surprised to see the large pots of chile still simmering on the stove. Chuck knelt down and got a bag of chile from the backpack. He held it above the first pot. It was still partially frozen and slowly slid out in the form of a thin brick. Green chiles landed in the pot with a plop. He did the same with the other pots.
He pointed back to the door so they could move on to the next restaurant. They all felt a little better about the plan. As much as they wanted to joke about the situation to make light of it, they just smiled and walked. Chuck reached for the door, but before he could, it flung open.
Chuck found himself face to face with the deadpan gaze of a group of people. Chuck and his friends turned to run out the front door, but as they reached the threshold, more hatch people started coming in, these ones carrying two men struggling to get free.
They were surrounded! Dj stepped to the front of the group, he stretched his neck side to side and rolled his shoulders out.
“I’m going to open a hole for you guys, as soon as you see it shoot the gap! Don’t wait up for me, you just go!” Dj commanded as he squatted down and tucked his arms up, close to his body.
The others didn’t get the football lingo at first, but as soon as Dj stepped forward, he launched himself into the hatch people coming through the door. He made contact with the aggressors and the wall of people were pushed back through the doorway. Dj huffed and puffed, like a raging bull! The group of people at the door were shoved out of the restaurant by Dj and spilled into the parking lot.
Jaden, Chuck, and Estevan ran out of the door, then looked back at Dj. He was being swarmed by the hatch people from the parking lot as more poured out of the restaurant. He stood up, at least six people hanging off of his large frame.
“Go!!” He yelled as he started to buck and shake the people off of him. The rest of the group ran. They saw other hatch people chasing after them.
Dj struggled to get the hatch people off of him as he flung the last one from his shoulders, he noticed who the two captives were. They were the men who had arrested him!
Dj was a forgiving person, so he scooped both men up off the ground. They had their hands tied behind their backs. The hatch people were regrouping. Dj loaded both men onto his shoulders and ran. A couple of hatch people tried to get in his way, but he used the men’s bodies to plow right through the people yelling, “Sorry!” As he made his escape.
Dj ran as fast and as far as he could. He trotted up to a parked truck. He looked around. There was no sign of any hatch people, he seemed to have lost them. While Dj was trying to catch his breath, one of the men said, “You can put us down now kid!” Dj plopped the men into the bed of the truck.
“Aren’t you going to untie us?” The other man asked.
Dj reached into the man’s suit jacket and pulled out the strange pistol the man used on him earlier.
“Hey! That is technology beyond your comprehension!” The man yelled, “Put that back!”
“Let’s see,” Dj said as he pointed the pistol into the cab and shot a couple rounds in. “Guess I comprehend better than you think.”
A purple haze filled the cab. The men struggled for a few seconds before falling fast asleep. Dj held his breath and searched both men. He took the other man’s sleep pistol with a couple tubes of the purple projectiles, as well as their real pistols.
He put the sleep pistols in his belt and the tubes in his pockets. He removed the magazines from the real pistols and threw them one way and threw the pistols, throwing the pistols down the storm drain and the magazines in the opposite direction.
He grabbed a tarp from the back of the truck and covered the men. “Sorry guys, some of these people are my friends. We’ll cure them, you just sit tight, I’ll be back for you,” Dj said to the unconscious men.
Jaden, Estevan, and Chuck were still trying to outrun the hatch people. Every time they thought they had lost them, more came running. They had run all the way to the river walk.
The hatch people were stumbling and falling into the canal to try and catch up. The group was feeling the fatigue from the chase. They had started up a grassy hill to try and lose them. but, as they made it to the top, they were faced with another bunch of hatch people.
Estevan had picked up a metal pole. Jaden drew his grandpa’s knife. Chuck swung the rifle from his shoulder and took a shaky aim. They knew these people and did not want to hurt them, but they did not see a way out at the moment.
Out of nowhere, Dj rode down the street on an electric scooter. He jumped off of the scooter and it clacked onto the street. Dj pulled out one of the strange pistols and shot at the hatch people. The purple haze wafted into their faces. Within seconds, they sat down and fell asleep.
“Don’t breathe this stuff! You’ll pass out!” Dj told his friends.
The others followed Dj as he shot the purple projectiles at more incoming hatch people. They had made their way to the Main Street Bridge. Dj had neutralized a few more hatch people who were chasing them, he tried to shoot at another group who was behind them, but, the weapon only clicked. It was out of the purple projectiles.
The group ran as fast as they could over the bridge to get away from the hatch people. In the distance, a bright light zipped from the sky and drew close to the bridge at an unbelievable speed. It had stopped about 50 feet away and made its descent onto the crown of the bridge.
The group stopped in their tracks and watched the round, flat craft, float silently down into their path. It extended landing gears and set down with a light thud on the deck of the bridge. A compartment opened with a hiss. A platform extended out and two figures descended.
They were tall and gray, they had large heads and light silver armor. They had some sort of weapon on their belts. Their large black eyes and thin mouths showed little variety in their expressions.
One of the beings raised a long gray finger and placed it on its head. It wore something that looked like a gold crown, which was illuminated with the same eerie glow as the strange chile. All of the hatch people stopped running and stood at attention.
The group turned and saw the sea of people standing, and staring. Immediately, they knew these beings were behind the strange chile. The being with the crown tapped it again and stared at each member of the group.
“You are the ones who are immune to the parasite?” the being asked in a booming yet monotone voice.
No one answered.
“I saw it. I knew it. You’re not alone, and you have chosen to challenge our mission for conquest!”
As they heard the strange being’s words, Estevan, Chuck, Jaden, and Dj readied their weapons.
“Do not resist, we have conquered far more advanced planets than yours, primates! We studied your warfare, weapons, and biology. By simply commandeering a single crop, your species happily infected themselves.
“We have seen your planet’s governments fail to govern the masses. We have seen them kill their own people when outnumbered. Once the parasite is recognized, we will sit back and watch your species tear each other apart, taking your planet and its resources for our own!” the being announced.
Chuck had heard enough. He aimed the rifle at the being with the crown and worked the lever of the Winchester. A single silver bullet ejected and bounced off of the ground with a metallic clink. Chuck pulled the trigger… the rifle only clicked. It was empty!
“I thought you said this thing was loaded!?” Chuck asked Dj.
“I saw the round in there! I’m not an expert in antique guns!” Dj said.
“Pathetic!” The being interrupted. It unholstered a silver gun that began glowing blue at the end of the barrel. “This weapon was designed to destabilize any carbon-based life form on this planet!”
It pointed the weapon at Chuck. The weapon hummed ominously. Just as the being appeared ready to fire, it looked away from Chuck and peered over the crowd. In one leap, a large black dog cleared the crowd and landed with a thump next to Chuck and his friends. The being pointed the weapon at the hound.
The hound was as tall as Dj and as long as a station wagon. It had black flesh and smelt like sulfur. It emitted a crimson glow from its eyes and mouth. It crouched down, its pointed ears laid back. It growled at the being.
“Must I repeat myself?” the being said irritated. “This weapon was created to vaporize any life form on this planet. While this creature is an impressive specimen, it poses no threat!”
A blue bolt shot from the weapon and hit the dog on its shoulder. Pieces of its black flesh chipped off, exposing a red, glowing wound. It did not vaporize the hound like the being said it would, but seemed to anger it.
The hound leaped at the being, closing its massive jaws on the arm holding the weapon. The weapon skidded across the asphalt of the bridge. As the hound shook the panicked being back and forth, the other being shot a bolt at the hound.
This shot hit the hound in the snout, its rigid black flesh flaking off. Its wound glowed crimson. The hound let the first being go and lunged savagely at the second one, this time seizing it by its large head. The hound whipped the being’s limp body around, slapping its limbs against the ground.
The hound flung the beings body towards the compartment from which they had emerged. The injured being, holding its mauled arm, retreated to its fallen comrade. It used its good arm to drag the other being by the leg closer to the compartment onto the platform.
The hound backed itself up towards Chuck, it bared its teeth and locked its gaze at the being.
“We have not suffered a failure like this since the Roswell mission…We will leave you be for now primate. Mark my words, you will rue the day!” the being hissed.
“Well, you can rue all the way back home! You think this is all we have!? We keep these things as pets! You better think twice before you come back! Yeah! Get ‘em Chico!” Chuck commanded to the hound. It simply tilted its head and snarled, causing Chuck to jump back.
The being took the crown from his head and dropped it onto the road. Both beings withdrew back into the ship on the platform. The opening closed and the ship rocketed skyward about a 100 yards into the air, and in an instant shot out of sight.
The hound howled an otherworldly howl, trotted to the bridge, and jumped down out of sight. Chuck and the group turned around and the crowd that had gathered behind them looked confused, but normal. They dispersed, with no recollection of the night.
“Now what?” Jaden asked.
“I guess we go back to my place, I’ll teach you to make green chile for your girlfriend cuz,” Chuck joked.
“Not my girlfriend…” a blushing Jaden said.
“After all this I don’t want to see another bowl of green chile for as long as I live!” Estevan said.
“C’mon! I literally thawed out everything I had! We can’t waste it!” Chuck protested.
Jaden and Estevan started walking away, Chuck walked after his friends. Dj didn’t follow them. He walked over to the edge of the bridge. He watched as his new friends and the crowd walked off into the distance. He peered over the bridge for any sign of the hound. Of course, there was nothing.
Dj looked at the horizon: the sun was rising. His interview with the prison would have been soon. He neither had the time nor the gumption to pretend like he didn’t just experience the most insane night of his life. Plus, his vehicle was still at the power plant.
He looked down and saw the silver weapon the being had used. He leaned down to pick it up. As he did, he saw the men in suits, one of them was picking up the crown the other being had dropped.
“Calm down big guy, we didn’t mean anything by arresting you. If you give me a chance I’d like to explain,” the man said with his hands raised up.
Dj looked at the weapon and without a second thought, handed it to the man. “There’s a little diner by the mill, best local spot for breakfast. And they only use local chile by the way. You guys buy me breakfast, I’ll call it even,” Dj said with a smile.
“We’ll do you one better, you saved us back there, I think you’ll be interested in our organization. I heard through the grapevine you missed a pretty important interview this morning, how about we talk about a job opportunity over breakfast? We could use someone with your skills and gumption,” The man said.
“You guy’s feds?” Dj asked with a raised eyebrow.
“It’s…complicated. We can walk and talk,” the man suggested.
“Before we go, what are your names?” Dj asked.
“Matt,” the man said, “my partner is Zack.” Zack nodded at Dj.
“Donald Jones,” Dj said formally. He shook Matt and Zack’s hands.Together, they started over the bridge, beginning a rather long, rather complex conversation.
The End.
