Guttural snarls ripped from the males. Deep burnt-red eyes bore down on them. Alexa pushed the shotgun out of her face. Ross took the hint and abandoned the use of the weapon.

"Hold on tight." His arm wrapped behind her seat as he concentrated, speeding backward, re-maneuvering through the white water of wrecked vehicles at double the speed.

One of the Trills soared through the air. It landed on the front of the truck.

Alexa screamed.

The hood crinkled and the back tires lifted off the ground. Ellie and Teagan scrambled back to their seats. As the tires hit concrete, the teens bounced against the roof of the car.

"Strap in girls," Ross said.

"Mom. What the hell's..."

"Hold on!" Ross whipped the wheel to the side. The rig spun 180 degrees before it straightened and screeched forward.

The Trill on the hood slid off, landing on the street next to the other one, who gained on them with each long stride.

"Mom?" Teagan clipped her belt on.

"We'll answer questions later."

Ross looked down at the gun again. "Load it. Put the clip in..."

She picked it up like one would a used tissue. Ellie reached between the seats and took the gun before Alexa could stop her. In which case, she would have chastised and reprimanded the child. But Ellie slapped the clip into the gun as if she'd been doing it her entire life.

"There." She handed the gun to Ross.

"Nice. Can you shoot?" He looked at Ellie in the mirror.

"I can hit a target, but I've never shot anything moving before."

Ross handed the gun back to Ellie.

"It's the same thing. Point and shoot."

Teagan grabbed Ellie from behind. "Thank God you're alive." She hugged and kissed her cheek.

"What about you?" Ellie pointed at the bandage on Teagan's face.

"I'm fine."

"Teagan, sit next to Ellie. Ellie? If one gets close...shoot it through the back window." Ross pushed a button and the rear window zipped down.

Thus far Ross had navigated brilliantly through the automobile-littered streets. They whipped around a corner and her mirror hit a parked vehicle.

Ross grabbed her shirt and pulled. A piece of glass from her mirror missed her face by inches through the open window.

"Sorry!"

He was sorry and she was thankful.

One of the creatures touched a foot to the same stationary car and then traveled across the front of the building sideways. Both flew over ruined vehicles and other obstacles like gold medal hurdlers.

Were they not bound by the laws of gravity? Alexa questioned herself.

"They're gaining on us." Ellie had the gun aimed out the back.

"We're almost to the highway." Ross glanced back. "Ellie can shoot them if they get too close. It might give us all a fighting chance."

The SUV veered onto the ramp of Highway 76. An overpass skewed Alexa's vision before the Trills appeared again, having jumped from the top of the overpass. They landed only feet behind them.

Ellie looked to have a deadeye on one of the Trills. "I think I can shoot one but..."

"But what?" Ross asked.

"They're falling behind." She lowered the gun.

"How fast are you going?" Alexa glanced at the speedometer.

"We just hit 65."

"Well, that's good to know." She sighed.

"What's that, Mom?" Teagan had already crawled to the seat behind them.

"They can't run faster than sixty-miles-per-hour."

"You're right." Ross wiped his sweat covered brow with his bare right arm.

"Now what?" Teagan slumped in her seat. "We're not going to make it to your lab."

Alexa reached back and touched Teagan's knee. "We won't let anything happen to the two of you. The lab isn't an option right now."

Teagan's hand folded over Alexa's, both trembled. "What about dad's shop?"

Brilliant.

Alexa went through a shopping list of items in her mind: computer, beakers, specimen containers, centrifuge.

"That's a great idea." She squeezed Teagan's hand.

"Thanks." Teagan winced and touched the bandage on her cheek.

"It isn't as bad as it feels. Try not to smile." A failed attempt to calm her daughter.

"Where's the shop?" Ross asked.

"It's at our house, which isn't far. Here ..." Teagan stretched through the seat and logged the coordinates into the GPS on the dash. "There."

"Okay." Ross turned off the freeway and left toward their home.

Home is where her heart belonged. Yet she didn't get the sense of calm she needed. She couldn't enjoy the moment because she had to have access to her work computer. If Ray shut it all down, it would all be for naught.

"I need to contact Ray."

"The lab's compromised."

This fact hadn't been lost to her.

"May I use your phone. If I can contact Ray, he can email me the formula and process notes. Hopefully, that will be enough. If he isn't able to, maybe he can bring us what we need."

"Or I could go up the mountain and send you the info." Ross glimpsed at the GPS.

No. She didn't want to risk his life more than he had already for the sake of humanity. If he'd made up his mind there wasn't a thing she could do about it. Be it morals or about the rush of charging into the fray, he'd go anyway.

They turned onto Alexa's street in what one might call a posh neighborhood. She kept a keen watch for more Trills. The desolation of her own street staggered her.

Ellie pointed out the window. "Is that Mr. Winters?"

Teagan scooted over to Ellie's window. "Oh, my God."

Mr. Winters lay face up in his perfect lawn. His front bay window had been smashed, blood covered his face and he had a hole in his chest the size of a cantaloupe.

"Poor bastard," Ross said.

"I don't think the fact that he doesn't have a father helps us at all."

Ross chuckled. "It sure didn't help him."

"What's so funny?" She scowled. Maybe she'd missed something?

Ellie sat forward and touched Ross's shoulder. "It's best if you let her talk and nod nicely. Even if you have no idea what she's talking about."

"I think I've got her figured out." He winked at Ellie through the mirror.

Most of her neighbors had vacated. Front doors and garages raised and bits of luggage scattered across a few of the lawns. She looked away from a body which dangled out a two-story window, entrails spilling to the ground.

"It's the white house on the left, the one with the pillars out front." Teagan pointed.

At least the house remained undisturbed.

Ross pulled into the driveway and parked. "Nice house."

"Thanks." When she stepped out of the car she heard the whip, whip, whip of her neighbor's home alarm.

"Should I go check it out?" Ross appeared next to her, dart gun in one hand, his own pistol in the other.

Henderson's cars sat in their driveway. Their boat took up the entire three-car garage. They would usually leave the truck on the street. They'd taken it.

"From the size of those skid marks, I'd say they took off in a hurry." Ross clipped the dart gun in his shoulder holster, which looked a bit odd because it wasn't the same size as his required firearm.

Somewhere in the distance, a woman screamed. The hairs on Alexa's neck had a conniption. An ominous shadow passed the neighbors front room bay window. She feared the worse for the Henderson family of five.

"We need to get inside now," Ross whispered in her ear.

Like a church mouse, she skittered to the lockbox bolted to the left pillar on the porch. Once opened, she took the key and instinctively closed the box. A mistake as it made a loud click. Oh, no. The unwanted sound could have alerted a nearby Trill. Her hands trembled as she unlocked the front door.

Ross followed her with Ellie in his arms.

"I told you I can walk goddammit." Ellie smiled and smacked Ross on the arm. Her hand caressed over his shoulder. Her ankle had swollen. A bit worrisome as Alexa had no idea when they would be able to get it x-rayed.

Teagan scooted past them and went in first.

"Put her on the couch." Alexa pointed to the living room sofa.

Ross nodded and set Ellie down.

"Why thank ya kind, sir."

Teagan sat on the couch next to Ellie. "Quit it, bitch. He's taken."

Alexa didn't pay much attention to their non-witty banter. She had wandered down the unsettling dark hall which led to the downstairs bathroom, the spare room, and the master bedroom. She stopped, frozen as if time ceased to exist. A portentous shadow stood tall in the corner at the end of the hall. Squinting didn't help discern the entity. In her mind, she made it out to be a stark naked male tri-allele. It kept to the corner, ready to strike. Her heart skipped as if tossed across a pond. Her hand searched the wall for the light switch. She flipped it on. Nothing. No killer human/alien hybrid just shadows playing nasty little tricks in her mind.

She retrieved several blankets from the hall closet. They included one which conjured a flood of emotions. Across the middle of the comforter, in fire-engine red, were the words 'Best Fire Chief Ever'. Bradley had worked hard to become Fire Chief. Even as a young Fire Fighter Paramedic, his work ethic astonished her, but he worked a lot. Sometimes they wouldn't see each other for three or four days, which was hardly conducive to married life. For some reason, it worked for them. Their marriage wasn't perfect ... it was miraculous.

The comforter floated out in front of her and drifted over Ellie who'd curled up on the couch with her head in Teagan's lap. When she finished tucking the blanket around her she leaned over and kissed the girl's soft freckled cheek.

Teagan looked at Alexa as if she'd lost her mind. Then, without warning, Teagan burst into tears.

"Why don't you go up to your room and get some sleep? Ellie will be safe here." She kissed Teagan on the forehead. She supposed it was an emotional response to the blanket since she never kissed or hugged anyone. Though, In the face of imminent danger, her thought process about motherhood had changed. Maybe she needed to change?

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