Survivors

They found that the new base was in some ways very much like the old one. True it was much smaller, but that didn’t really matter. A base built for fifty was just as capable of looking after three as a base built for two hundred and fifty. It didn’t take them too long to find everything they needed; food, power supply, beds, even the equipment to monitor the surrounding area.

Luke elected himself leader and took control, which was probably for the best. Joe didn’t have much of a clue about what needed to be done, and Holly after her initial demonstrationof good sense seemed too numbed by Bretnel’s death to function properly. Luke’s plan was to conceal the entrance to the base as much as was humanly possible and then for them to stay inside for at least a week. During that week they were to use as little power as possible and make as little noise as they, and especially Joe could manage. If the Aliens were looking for them, then they wanted to be as hard as possible to find.

Knowing the characters as you do now I am sure it doesn’t take a lot of imagination for you to picture what a fun week that was. All three were raw and miserable. All three were tired and edgy. All three spent a lot of time alone and quiet with only their own personal demons for company who kept muttering unpleasantness inside their heads. The base didn’t exactly ring with laughter.

At the end of the week Luke announced during a miserable breakfast that he was going to go for a scout around to see if he could find any trace of the Aliens. It was a sign of just how low their spirits were that neither Joe or Holly could raise the energy to argue.

Once he had gone Holly went to the surveillance room and stared at the monitors for hours, even though absolutely nothing was happening. Joe went back to his room laid on his bed. He half heartedly leafed through a book on engineering he had found.

It was seven hours before Luke returned, seven very stressful, very long hours. Holly and Joe felt the tension of almost every minute. Luke when he finally did come back seemed refreshed, as if the air outside had somehow breathed life back into him. Before he said anything to them he went into the kitchen and got himself a big glass of water, he gulped it down thirstily.

“Well?” Said Joe with irritation when he could wait no longer “Did you see anything?”

“Absolutely nothing or at least absolutely nothing that would suggest the Aliens have been anywhere near here”

Holly sighed with relief “That’s good news”

“Yeah” said Luke suddenly grinning wolfishly “And there is some even better news”

“What?” Said Joe grinning back, even though he didn’t really know why.

“About forty miles off to the west I found a Alien base”

“Woah” said Joe “I thought you said it was good news, how the hell is that good news?”

“It’s good news little brother” replied Luke exasperated “Because it means we can go and kick some Alien butt! We can attack them! We can take them by suprise and we can take a bit revenge for Bretnel”

“Don’t” snapped Holly “Don’t try and pretend this has anything to do with Bretnel. This is all to do with you and what you want. Bretnel wouldn’t have wanted this!”

“Maybe not” bellowed Luke “But this is what he’s going to get. And I’ll tell you this much, I don’t care if you help me or not, I don’t care if you come, because I’m doing it. I’m going to go to that base and I’m going to blow every last Alien I find there to kingdom come”.

“You’re sick” sneered Joe “You should listen to yourself”.

“I listen to myself all the time” shouted Luke “Because I make a load more sense than either of you two do”, and with that he stormed off.

The next week was hellish, even by the standards of the previous few weeks they had lived through. There was a kind of inevitability about the outcome. Luke’s zealous passion was far too strong for Holly and Joe’s weariness and fear. Little by little he ground them down. Little by little he chipped away, and little by little he won the argument. So eventually they agreed to attack the base. Luke was elated and went into a frenzy of planning and preparation.