Earth: Population 2 (Paradise Lost Book 1) (12 page)

Gale hugged me tightly in response to my nuzzling closer, eliciting all sorts of crazy emotions. Was he afraid, too? Or was there something more between us?

I had no time to explore these new sensations. Sparkies flooded the area in a relentless buzz of activity.

He’d been right to hide. There were too many of them to shoot with two rifles. We would have killed the first wave just as the second bowled us over. How many of them had infiltrated planet Earth? Thousands? Millions? I didn’t want to know.

The white bodies passed us like ants around a tree, spreading out onto the beach below the dunes. Some of them headed in either direction down the beach, while the others rode the waves out to sea, their wispy haired heads reflecting the moon and bobbing with the tide. Good thing we didn’t make a swim for it.

I didn’t want to move, but Gale sprang up and pulled me with him. “Come on. Now’s our chance.”

We scurried up the incline and slid down the dunes toward the car. Gale had the key ready. The car beeped, and I cringed as I reached for my door. I collapsed inside and slammed the door behind me. Gale followed and started the engine. The dunes glowed with white light as the Sparkies changed direction, coming back for us.

“Get us out of here!”

“I’m trying.” Gale backed up just as a Sparkie flung itself at the windshield. It snapped pin-like teeth, fingers crawling up and down the glass. Gale swerved as he backed up. The Sparkie held on, jabbing its tail at the glass.

Gale stopped the car, and the Sparkie flew forward and hit the ground. “Guess he wasn’t wearing his seat belt.” Gale breathed with relief.

He hit the gas, and we jumped forward and ran over it with a thud, speeding away like we’d just robbed a bank.

But we hadn’t stolen anything. We’d failed. I watched the beach recede, feeling foolish for thinking we could beat them. A million of them versus two of us? Besides, even if we got a ship, we couldn’t fly it. I was a cashier at Save ’n Shop, and he was an actor. Heck, I hadn’t even flown in a plane. The whole plan was ludicrous, and I’d almost gotten both of us killed.

“You okay?” Gale glanced over.

“No. I shouldn’t have asked you to help me. It was a bad plan.”

“Hey, it wasn’t a bad plan at all. Risky, yes. But that doesn’t make it bad.”

I crossed my arms over my chest, cheeks burning in shame. “We almost got ourselves killed. And who are we kidding? Like we’d be able to fly it anyway.”

Gale shrugged. “I’d like a chance to try. I took some flying lessons as a kid, and some for one of the movies I had to make recently. I know it’s not a Cessna, but how hard could it be? It’s not like these Sparkies are rocket scientists. Well, probably some of them are, but not the grunts. I mean, come on. The thing whipped its tail at the windshield like the stinger would go right through the thick glass. They have a lot to learn about our world.”

I nodded, feeling somewhat better. “And us.”

“It’s a good idea. All we have to do is keep trying.”

My hopes rose just a bit. “You mean you want to go out hunting again?”

“It’s not like you have to be back for your shift. And why should I rehearse lines for a movie no one will watch.”

“You mean the Sparkies don’t like spy movies?” Oops. Had he told me what kind of film he was shooting? I think I learned it from Hailey at the party. I bit my lip. Would he notice?

“Let’s just say I’m not sure they’re my target audience.” He laughed.

I laughed with him, breathing a sigh of relief. Somehow, in the bizarreness of what my world had become, imagining the Sparkies like bubblegum-chewing teenyboppers was monumentally hilarious.

CHAPTER TWELVE

BROKEN EGGS

I plopped onto Pete’s rich leather couch. Exhaustion weighed me down, and I slumped back, still sore where the Sparkies had stung. I still wondered if the electric shock rattled my brain enough I’d dreamed this whole thing up. But, Gale was as real as ever as he coaxed a fire from the wood in the fireplace.

I grabbed the quilt from the back of the couch and draped it over my legs, watching the way the smooth muscles in his back moved as he poked the wood. A bright ember crackled into a flame, and the smoky scent filled the room. I remembered the campfire the night of the meteor. It seemed like so long ago—another world, where another Julie lay dreaming with Hailey about dreamy Jay Dovetail. Part of me wished that night had never happened. But, if it hadn’t, I would never have met Gale.

Guilt overtook me. I would have given almost anything to meet him, but an entire world of people, including my mom and my best friend, was too high a price.

Gale slumped beside me, almost touching my shoulder. “There’s a whole bunch of guest rooms in this place. You can take any one you want.”

The image of me alone in a gaudy bedroom summoned all of the 1980s horror movies I’d seen in the past. “No, thanks. With all those Sparkies running around outside, I think I’ll stay right here.”

“Me, too.” He must have seen a look of surprise pass my face because he froze. “If you don’t mind.”

Stay cool. It’s not like we we’re sleeping in the same bed. A couch is a couch, meant for watching TV, and a bed is a bed, meant for....
“Not at all.”

“Good.” Gale crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes. “Because I’m too tired to climb the stairs.”

Was there something more to it than that? Did he feel safer around me like I did around him? The urge to ask him welled up inside me, and I turned away, on my side, propping my head on a satin pillow.

Gale lay on the opposite side of the couch, his legs touching mine, emanating warmth. He kicked me gently. “Nighty night, ship hunter.”

“You, too.” I blushed, waiting for him to move his legs away, but he stayed against me and me against him. It was the two of us against the entire world.

I closed my eyes trying to think of a witty name to call him in return, but all I could think of was
pirate
. My mind drifted off to sleep.

“How much do I owe you, kiddo?” Mr. Harrisburg stared at me through his thick-rimmed square glasses. He wore his usual oil-stained overalls and plaid redneck shirt. Ever since I broke his eggs last year, he’s looked at me with narrow-eyed suspicion, like I had it out for him. And his eggs.

I looked down at my cash register. How come I didn’t remember ringing up the bags of groceries sitting on the belt? “Ummm. Fourteen thirty-two.”

“Right.” He dug in his wallet and pulled out a wrinkled twenty.

I counted the change and handed it back to him. I’d made change a million times, yet the gesture seemed strange, as though I acted as a character in a play. The money in my hand somehow seemed artificial and useless.

I grabbed the paper bag to hand to the aging mechanic, and the sides almost tore. The bag weighed a ton. What did he buy? I glanced over the top. Cans and cans of SpaghettiOs lay stacked on top of each other. Just SpaghettiOs. Where were his usual eggs and tater tots?

Mr. Harrisburg took the bag and shuffled off, and I glanced back to see a massive line forming. I had to get my butt in gear.

I turned on my belt, and more cans of SpaghettiOs glided toward me. Why was everyone buying SpaghettiOs? Was there a shortage? I glanced at the customer, and my mouth dropped open.

“Mom? What are you doing here?” Not only was she shopping by herself, but she was standing upright. A long skirt covered her legs.

“Just picking up some last minute items, hon.”

“But you hate SpaghettiOs.”

She laughed. “Who do you think they’re for?”

A sheepish burn filled my cheeks. At the same time, a warm feeling came over me. “Me, of course.” I rang them through. Gertrude came up to my register and started bagging them one by one in plastic, examining each can like it was different than the last.

Hailey came next, buying a single can of guess what…SpaghettiOs.

“Hiya, Julie. Aren’t you going to ask me if I have any coupons?”

My stomach dropped, and I glanced around for the shift leader. Thank goodness no one was here to witness my forgetfulness. I turned back to Hailey. “Don’t you have to leave soon?”

“Soon, but not yet.” She smiled and handed me a five.

I counted the change and dropped it in her hand along with her receipt. Hailey joined Mom and Mr. Harrisburg milling in the front of the store below a sale sign for milk.

The next customer cleared his throat and I turned around. I gasped. It couldn’t be.

“Gale.” Two universes that couldn’t possibly be together collided. “What are you doing here?”

“What does it look like?” He gave me the type of grin that made my heart melt to sludge and pushed two cans of SpaghettiOs toward me. “One for me, one for you.”

I whirled around to Hailey, expecting her to make some sort of shocked face. She talked with Mom in a normal conversation as if Gale Williams always visited Save ’n Shop and bought SpaghettiOs. A current of unease ran through my gut.

I rang the cans through. “For dinner?”

“That’s right.” He handed me a hundred dollar bill.

The linoleum floor shook below me, and I clutched the cash register to keep from falling. Gale stumbled back, and the floor cracked open between us.

“Julie, come on! Come with us.” Hailey and Mom shouted, and I turned around. Another crack widened every second, separating me from them. I turned back to Gale, and the crack between us widened as well.

“You’re going to have to choose.” Gale spoke in a strange, calm voice.

Panic seized my chest and I could barely breathe. “I can’t.”

“You have to.” Gale’s eyes turned distant, as if he saw through me. The crack widened between us. I was losing him. But, I couldn’t leave Mom and Hailey behind. If I didn’t choose one or the other, I’d lose them both.

The earth rattled my teeth, and I held on in indecision as everyone I cared about drifted farther away.

June 28, 2013, 7:36 a.m.

Day 5

I sat up on the couch, and a heavy quilt fell from my chest. Gale lay curled up against the opposite end, breathing deeply. He must have draped the quilt over me during the night. I reached out to touch him, and my hand froze over his left leg.

Let him sleep.

The fire had sizzled down to orange embers. The smell of wood smoke still drifted in the air. Bambi stared at me as if I could free the deer from the wall.
A little late for that.

Outside the front window, a
tick tick tick
noise pulsed in a rhythmic pattern. Then another, and another, like mini machine guns.

My pulse skipped. Had the Sparkies found us? Had they slipped inside the electric fence? So far, they hissed and charged the air with static. But that didn’t mean they didn’t have other noises up their sleeve…or bony excuse for an arm.

“Gale,” I whispered. He didn’t move, so I shook his leg. “Gale, wake up.”

He turned on his back and rubbed his eye. “Say what?”

I leaned over and grabbed the rifle on the floor beside the couch. “There’s a noise outside.”

He blinked and sprang up. “A noise?”

“Shhh. Listen.” I crouched on the floor, creeping toward the window with the rifle in hand.

Gale collected his own gun and crouched beside me. Together we snuck toward the window.

The
tick tick tick
continued undeterred.

Gale leaned over and whispered, “On the count of three.”

I nodded, clutching the gun to my chest.

“One, two…three!”

We popped up, brandishing our rifles.

The cultured lawn of the estate spread before us. A fountain gushed water, and stone statues of Michelangelo’s David and Roman gladiators stared down the paved driveway. A field of sprinklers sprayed water over the verdant green grass.

Gale burst into laughter.

Embarrassment burned inside me. I collapsed against the wall and shook my head. “They must have been on a timer. You know, set to go off every so many days.”

“Come on, Julie. You have to admit, that’s pretty funny.” Gale held his stomach as he continued to laugh at my expense.

“No it’s not. This whole end of the world garbage has got me all wired up. I can’t even separate a common household appliance from an enemy.”

Gale came over and touched my arm. “Hey, the sprinklers fooled me, too. You’ve got to lighten up, or all this crap is going to drive you crazy.”

I crossed my arms in front of me. “I’m already crazy.”

“No, you’re not.” He leaned closer, warmth radiating from his eyes. With his hair tousled from sleep, and stubble shading his chin, he looked irresistible. The intensity in his gaze unraveled me. I dropped my eyes to the floor.

He brought his hand up and touched my chin, raising my face to meet his. “You’re so much more than that.”

My pulse thumped like a bass drum as my neck and cheeks burned. What the heck did that mean? Was this “the moment” I’d waited for my whole life? Would he kiss me?

He leaned in so his lips were next to mine. A question crossed his eyes, as if he weighed a decision in his mind.

Gale’s voice changed from intense to light. “Come on, let’s find some breakfast in that trunk of yours.”

I exhaled slowly as disappointment ached inside my chest, along with a wash of relief. As much as I was attracted to Gale, I wasn’t ready for this to become something more. Besides, how could he possibly like me? We were from opposite ends of the Earth. Sunny Hollywood was nothing like clammy, cloudy Maine. I was a cashier, and he was a movie star. There was only one way for this to end, and it would end badly.

We found a few cans of peaches in my car, and Gale pulled out a canister of powdered eggs from a cupboard. As he made breakfast, I paced the room, adrenaline still rushing through me from the sprinkler incident.

“You keep doing that, and you’ll wear out the floor.”

I paused, realizing how nutty I must have looked. “See. Certifiable. Crazy.”