If you can't beat them, join them.

-proverb

Will

I never thought I'd set foot in a department store ever again in broad daylight, but here I am. With an alien no less.

We've been driving most of the day, only making one short stop at a drive-through where the four of us shared two portions of fries and two sodas. Now we're in some other nameless town and it's my turn to guard the alien and Blake's to babysit, though I know he has no objections. I can't make sense of it. If anyone had shown so much interest in my girlfriend, I would have punched his lights out, but this alien doesn't seem bothered by it. How could they have ever conquered Earth?

"Remember," the alien says, "stay calm and smile at people. You don't have to say anything, I can do the talking."

"Whatever, just hurry," I mutter. I have to constantly suppress the urge to reach for my weapon that's concealed by my coat.

I follow him inside the building. For anyone that didn't know better, it would look like any normal day on Earth; shopping families, groups of friends hanging out, but everyone is so freakishly happy and nice that it's anything but normal. I feel out of place, but I guess that I am.

"Right," the alien, Burns, I have to remember calling him by name, now says, "heating stones first." He takes a trolley and starts to push it down the aisle.

"Heating stones?" I question.

The alien, I mean Burns, smiles and nods. "They're perfect for cooking. You can leave them in the sun for a day and they'll store the sun's energy. It beats any generator."

So he's being practical. One point for the alien. The generator we have in the hide-out is about to die on us. I've never heard of these heating stones, so I am guessing they're alien, but if they make our lives easier I suppose it's okay.

I watch as he takes two large flat round stones and places them on the trolley.

People pass us and I stiffen, but no one even looks in our direction. I still hold my breath. It feels like everything about me screams human, but Burns acts like nothing is the matter. He looks at me calmly. "Batteries next, right? Just tell me which ones to get." He points at the large rack behind me.

I turn and study them carefully. This is my field of expertise. Quickly I take a few packs of the kind we normally use "Flashlights," I mutter. We'll need more of those too.

Burns nods. "Next aisle," he points at the sign that reads 'lights'. Of course. Categorizing objects seems to be the favorite pastime of these creatures. It was always very helpful on raids.

After the flashlights we move to the camping tools and I watch as Burns loads up on pocketknives, cutlery and sleeping mats and bags.

I almost jump out of my skin when there's a sudden voice behind us. "Wow, you sure seem like you have big plans."

My body freezes and involuntarily my hand moves to my belt, but Burns steps in between me and the intruder, blocking most of my view, and smiles. "Yes, we're going camping with friends."

"How exciting!" the annoying alien says in and excited tone, "where are you going?"

"California," I growl before Burns has a chance to answer. Of course the attention is on me now, but I couldn't risk Burns selling us out.

"Hello," the alien blinks, "I didn't see you there."

"Don't mind him," Burns smiles, "Growls at Claw Beasts is a little shy."

"Growls at Claw Beasts?" the alien's eyes grow wide.

Burns chuckles. "It is a joke from our last planet." He holds out his hand. "Sleeps in Snow Fields."

The alien shakes his hand. "Watches Coral."

"Nice to meet you, Watches Coral," Burns says, "I'm sorry we can't stay and chat, but we need to go."

"Oh, of course," the alien nods, still looking happy, "have fun on your trip!"

"Thank you," Burns smiles. He pushes me forward and we walk down the aisle together.

My breath escapes. That had been close.

"It's fine," Burns murmurs. Is he really trying to comfort me? "Do we need anything else here?" he continues, "or can we go back to the van?"

I want to go back to the van and far away from these creatures, but my eye catches something else. Binoculars with night vision. "These," I nod. The might come in handy at some point.

Burns grabs a pair without protest. "Anything else?"

I think for a moment, but shake my head. If we have to stay here any longer, I'm going to flip. I start to feel suffocated. We've all experienced it. We feel safer in the hideout.

The two of us head for the register. Even if all of this is free, they're still scanning everything. Why are they taking so long?

Finally the creature behind the counter smiles at us. "There you go. Have a nice day and please come back!"

Burns smiles and waves while he walks back towards our van. I hurry after him. This went well, but I won't feel at ease until we're home again.

Burns uses the same knocking pattern as before and a few seconds later it's answered from the inside. Burns slides the door open. It's Blake looking out of the van.

"Move back idiot!" I hiss.

He rolls his eyes. "Remember Will, Souls are kind and peaceful." But he still moves to the side so we can store our new spoils. It's getting pretty full.

"Do we have everything we need now?" Emma asks from the back of the van.

I glance at her annoyed. "We still need more food."

"We'll get that somewhere else," Blake says, "but not today. We need to rest. We've been on the road all day."

I grit my teeth, but I know he's right. We need to find a secure spot to park the van for the night so we can get some sleep and we'll have to take up guard duty. I slide the door closed again and get into the passenger seat. Burns takes his seat again and drives off while I carefully unfold the map. "Any suggestions?" I ask, "any abandoned roads nearby?"

"We can just take a motel," Burns suggests, "I can book the room and you can wait in the van."

"No," I growl. Going to a store is one thing, spending the night in a room with only one exit and away from our only means of escape is something different. "We're sleeping in the van."

Surprisingly enough there are no protests. I had suspected at least Emma to say something, but she stays quiet.

Blake leans over and takes the map from me. He studies it a moment. "There's a river ten miles from here. No houses nearby. Is that good enough?"

"We'll check it out," Burns says, "just point me in the right direction."

"Take the next exit and then straight for about six miles."

It doesn't take long for us to reach our destination. Burns parks the van out of sight from the main road. "This should be safe enough."

"I'll still take first watch," I declare. I climb over the seat and grab the binoculars. I knew they would come in handy. I turn to Blake. "I'll wake you in a few hours."

"I can take watch too," Emma speaks up.

"No," I tell her, "you two aren't taking any watch."

"Get a grip, Will," Blake says.

"It's fine," Burns assures him, "don't argue. You can divide the watch." He clears a space between our raided goods and makes himself comfortable.

Emma lets out a deep sigh, but settles next to him.

I cross looks with Blake and glare. "Well? What are you waiting for? Sleep while you can." I settle in the front again, gun in hand, binoculars ready.

Blake rolls his eyes, but settles next to the other two and I turn my attention on the outside world.

"You're acting like an idiot."

They are the last words I hear for a long time.

***

Hours pass before I hear rustling in the back. A few seconds later, Blake lowers himself in the passenger seat. He cracks his neck and shoulders and then looks at me. "I thought you said you'd wake me."

I snort. "I didn't want to disturb you," I mock, "you looked so cozy with your girlfriend and her alien."

"Stop being such an ass, Will," Blake growls.

"What?" I question, "you're saying you're not into her?"

"Don't," he warned, "I've known her half my life, okay? You've known her what? A few weeks? You don't know a thing about her. All you can see is her defending an alien you hate. Leave her alone already. And Burns too. He's proven himself. All the time he's been with us not once has be tried to escape. He didn't even defend himself when some of us tried to kill him. He's provided all these goods for us that are going to make our lives a hell of a lot easier. He's even saved your sorry ass when that tunnel collapsed. Why can't you just admit that you were wrong?"

I grit my teeth. Why can't I say I was wrong? Because if I was wrong then Maria died for nothing. But I have been wrong. Maybe not about all of those aliens, but I have been wrong about this one.

I look back over my shoulder. With all the groceries we've picked up there isn't much room to sleep, but they've somehow managed to find a spot, sprawled out across the non-breakable groceries.

I look at the both of them. Emma is lying so close to Burns that she's lying more on top of him than against him, but she still makes it look like it's the most comfortable spot in the world.

And the way Burns is holding her is like he's afraid she can be taken from him any second.

I've never seen a stranger pair, nor a tighter one. I sigh. Perhaps they are right. Perhaps there is hope for us yet. "On our way back we should get our hands on some clothes," I decide, "if we can get whatever we want now, at least I want some designer jeans."

I can't see Blake's face from how I am angled, but I know he is smirking.

A/N Sorry it's been a while. Life has been busy and I wanted to finish up one of my other stories before continuing this one. That story is almost wrapped up now. Only one more chapter. So I will try to update Silver Lining faster from now on.