AllFreeNovel
Share Us
When we heard the first explosions, loud and terrifying, we cowered in a cave that we had always played in growing up. We stayed there for days until the world became strangely quiet.
The Vakarrans had attacked that day at dinnertime, bombing the major cities and political centers of the world all at the same time. Every single world leader slaughtered as a message to the rest of us, to make sure we never forgot that no one could hope to stand up against them.
After the horrors of that day, the conquest was easy for them. Since communication had been cut off, none of us could organize any sort of significant resistance. Earth had fallen to the invaders in less than a week, the bombing being the final blow. The defeat had been
laughably easy. Billions of humans slaughtered. Any form of resistance was met with punishment and death.
Men and women were separated and kept in camps far apart from each other. The men were kept as slaves to work the land and to serve the Vakarrans and the women were taken with a much more sinister purpose, as breeders. We would have their babies.
Our small city turned into a ghost town after that, as humans were taken from Earth and shipped off to wherever the Vakarrans wanted them. Over the ensuing years, my sisters and I learned to live off the land together and came across other small groups of refugees in our travels. Many joined with us, others kept to themselves, but our goals were all the same.
They all warned us of the life of shame and pain that awaited us if we ever got caught. Warned us to stay out of the Vakarrans’ grasp at all costs.
There had been several close calls in that time, including two brief periods where two Vakarran men had held me captive and reported my existence to their superiors, but they’d been stupid and had underestimated me. I’d killed them. Their black blood had been revolting when I’d slit their throats and left them to rot deep in the woods. Idiots.
The sound of a stray footstep stilled me then, the crack of a dry twig under a clueless boot and I scooted to the side, hiding in a bush. For a long time, all was quiet, but I didn’t dare move. Fuck, I hadn’t even had time to arm my traps yet.
After what felt like an hour, but was probably only ten minutes, I ventured out of my hiding place and skirted close to the edges of the trail. I kept vigilant, my eyes scanning my surroundings for any forms of unnatural life. I saw nothing, but still didn’t allow myself to be distracted by wayward thoughts.
I had more important things to accomplish tonight than to reminisce about the past. Always alert. Always watching for threats.
Finally, I made it to the first of the camera locations and inspected the forest floor all around it. The trigger was on the ground, covered by moss and leaves, but the dirt surrounding it was disturbed and footprints were visible along the muddy path. After studying them, I confirmed that they were definitely Vakarran, mainly by the size and the wider than usual toe area.
A large oak rose beside me and I climbed as high as I could, about fifteen to twenty feet off the ground. I swung my leg over one of the sturdier branches and scooted forward, laying my body down against the firm wood.
I quickly examined the little camera embedded in the tree bark and found it to be in perfect working order. So, the footage of the enemy was definitely real then. Hmmmmm.
I was ready though. I’d planned for something like this some time ago and had already taken steps to set up traps meant to maim and kill intruders in our territory.
With a small grin, I climbed down from the tree and moved off into an area that appeared to be protected by an impenetrable wall of brush. I wove through the dense shrubbery into a small cave that I had set up as a command station a long time ago. I had places like this set up all over the woods, all with the goal to keep a close eye on the forest around us.
I hardly ever visited this location, but that didn’t stop me from planning for the worst. Since the takeover ten years ago, the Vakarrans had restored electricity in some areas so that the human male slaves could work to the best of their ability. I’d tapped into the local powerlines and used residual power surges to charge a few high-capacity batteries. The electrical pull was so low that it would be impossible for anyone to notice, but it was enough to keep them consistently fully charged for my purposes.
Powering on the smallest one, I turned on a few of my computers. I had only been able to find some old-school systems in the back of our old library, but with some data wiping and finagling, I made them work for me.
I had designed several traps over the years that were set to the off position because we hadn’t needed them. We’d been safe in our various forest hideouts and hadn’t had many intruders. I turned on the security system, so I could see the rest of the woods around me. Everything seemed to be still and quiet, for the time being at least.
Chewing my lip, I studied the screens, seeing nothing. The only movement I noted was with the camera I had set up to view the gathering area where Alaina was meeting with the rest of our group of human refugees. Everyone had bags on their shoulders and was preparing to move out, deeper into the jungle and into the caves.
With a few keystrokes, I turned on some of my outlying traps and sat back to wait and watch. With my people safely out of the way, I could focus on the Vakarrans encroaching onto our land, wherever they may be.
I spent the next few hours staring at the computers until I felt like my eyes were glazing over, but shortly before sunrise, I spotted some movement close to the area that I had examined earlier for footprints. Three tall, massive forms moved into the camera’s focus and I narrowed my eyes. Instantly, I knew they weren’t human.
They approached seven feet tall. Curling horns grew out of either side of their heads, shaped just like a ram’s, or in my mind, like a demon’s. They wore battle armor, sleek black outfits that hugged their lean, muscled bodies, and they carried various weapons around their waists. Each of them had short dark hair and a pair of protective goggles that covered their copper-colored, black-rimmed eyes. I’d seen Vakarran eyes once and didn’t want to see them again.
The Vakarran crest, a purple circle emblazoned with a four-pointed star and surrounded by rings like those that circled Saturn, was woven onto their backs. Long fingers with sharp nails pointed to the ground, probably looking at a stray footprint I left behind.
With a few clicks, I activated the trap closest to them and then waited. This one was my particular favorite and my lips curved up in a sort of sadistic smile. These Vakarrans didn’t know what they had coming for them now that they’d come into my territory.
The aliens moved off the path, probably to search for me because of the footprint they’d found, but when they did, they triggered the first snare. A loud boom sounded, and a series of hydraulics triggered, activating the trap. Two huge frames shot forward, perpendicular to each other, crisscrossed with taut barbed wire that was filed to be as sharp as a knife.
The aliens didn’t stand a chance.
The wires tore through their bodies, slicing them into neat little squares of flesh that began to bleed after a fraction of a second. The look on their faces was sheer, unadulterated shock, punctuated by a short little scream. It was a long moment before their bodies slid apart into little pieces and collapsed to the ground. I flinched a little at the gruesomeness, but I quickly shook it off. The only good Vakarran was a dead one. That much was clear.
The forest around me was silent, the only noise the gentle quiet whirr of my electronic equipment. I rose and dug into a trunk beside my desk, pulling out an old-school military meal that was ready to eat, an MRE it had once been called. I opened the package and squealed with delight at finding a honey barbeque chicken sandwich, complete with an additional packet of cornbread. I feasted in celebration, even if the MRE was a few years past its ‘best by’ date. I didn’t care. It was the best food I’d had in a long time.
After all, one could only have so much raccoon, squirrel, and venison and actually enjoy it.
