Matt had stepped into some shit with this group. And he was invested.

“We won’t speak to any of you until Celindria wakes,” a deep voice announced. Maybe not for the first time.

Kyle demanded, “We were promised answers.” He glowered from his lower elevation at the tall man on the platform.

John, who had stuck close to Kyle since the bookstore, shouted, “And what about our parents? Xelan promised you would check on our parents.”

Standing between the two of them, Andrew had braided his long brown hair, still wet from the shower. He seemed more in the know than the rest. He asked, “What’s the meaning of this, Caedes? Where’s Frullop? I know this was his idea.”

The tall Icarus on the platform—Caedes—growled, “When Celindria wakes up.” The guy was bald and gray. He was as wide as a house. His suit strained across his shoulders and chest.

Matt walked into the main hangar with a towel, drying his short-cut hair. He considered the purpose of hygiene for a moment as the conversation carried on without him. He took part in it because of societal norms. If society fell, would hygiene follow suit? Would Matt miss showering and brushing his teeth? The acts, not the necessity. He loathed the necessity. At least the coed communal shower kept things interesting. Those were the most naked body parts he’d ever seen in one place.

“Hey, pretty boy, here’s a shirt which might fit you.” One of the random ‘employees’ of the compound tossed Matt a tight black tee.

All of the Fair group’s clothes were matted with dried blood, so Matt appreciated the clean shirt. “Thanks, man.”

The technician said, “Standard issue, newbie.” He continued on with the forklift carrying loads of god only knew what.

Matt climbed into the shirt, his baseball-season muscles bulking it out. Entirely too aware, it occurred to him to glance in Lucy’s direction.

She snapped her head away fast.

Matt resisted the urge to grin. He’d caught her looking. He patted the side pocket of the borrowed cargo pants. Yes, he’d kept three condoms on him. Earlier, he’d divided up the rest of the box between Andrew, Pablo, and Kyle in the massive locker room. It was the apocalypse, and it would help to come across as generous. Amid changing clothes, he realized he’d lost the pearl he’d scavenged from the Icarus at Fair during the battle.

Was he disappointed? Yes. Stressed? No. Matt had much more pressing things to deal with, now.

A girl from behind said, “Watch out, second-cutest redhead.”

Matt stepped aside, allowing Tameka to brush by him. While scrunching product into her damp curls, she spared him a sweet smile. Then she hopped off the platform and approached Andrew’s side. Matt would accept second place to her.

Kyle moved in behind Tameka, asking, “Hey, I know this isn’t the best time, but remember when we broke up how you said you wouldn’t sleep with me unless it was the end of the world?”

Matt’s eyebrows shot up, and he blew the air from his cheeks.

Tameka pivoted to face the dead man walking. “What the fuck are you going on about?”

Andrew shared a look with Matt across the hangar, and they both looked away from the carnage. R.I.P., Kyle.

He held up his hands to ward her off. “I’m just cutting the tension. I guess I could’ve led with a better joke. Sorry.”

Tameka said, “Good. And just so we’re clear within our friend group there is definitely a pecking order, and you ain’t in it.”

Ouch. Wait, was Matt on this list?

Another tall man walked onto the platform from deep within the hangar in a business suit. Aside from the same gray pallor all the aliens shared, the rest of his features were warm: brown hair, yellow eyes, and again, no facial hair. He muttered something in the bald Icarus’ ears.

The entire group was accounted for aside from those in surgery and Lynn. When Matt left the showers, she was still washing the blood from her braids.

“Frullop, what’s going on?” Andrew asked, dropping that name again.

The Icarus had warm features but a frigid stare. Like nitrogen. There was no love lost between the two of them. “There’s no sense in repeating ourselves. We will answer once—”

A resounding, feminine voice interrupted the chaos at the front of the hangar. “You will answer them, now.”

A hush fell over not only their group but every single employee working around the building. Rayne did not sound happy. Her voice echoed and carried a weight to it Matt never hoped to match. Xelan, Pablo, and Sagan followed behind her.

Matt jumped off the platform and walked across the main floor, grateful for the pause in traffic. He approached Lucy’s side, noted the way her body relaxed with him next to her, and stared up at the front platform of the industrial space.

Caedes and Frullop regarded their leader. Frullop looked about as happy as Rayne, and Caedes suffered from resting asshole face, so no change there.

Caedes proved he was capable of diplomacy by offering, “Celindria, we thought you’d sleep—”

Rayne’s body language read stiff: posture rigid, arm in a sling, a limping gait, but her eyes roved over him like a predator. She challenged the man to test her leadership. Even injured, even smaller, even of a weaker species, she looked certain she could take him. So when she interrupted him, Matt experienced something altogether new for him.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Rayne said, “Never use that name with me, again. I don’t know you. You refer to me as General Callahan.”

Matt felt loyalty, almost trust. He seized up, ready to pounce if the entire group needed to go at them. He caught the tension in their shoulders and the clench of the Icari’s jaws.

It extended around the hangar. Each soldier, disguised as aircraft engineers and technicians, were coiled tight, eager to go. Whose side were they on? This could get messy. Still exhausted from the fight at Fair, their group might lose. As Matt rolled his shoulders back, he was willing to try.

Beside him, Lucy cracked her knuckles. Her eyes narrowed, and her jaw clenched. He recalled her fighting in the battle. Scrappy. He could work with scrappy.

Tameka, Andrew, and Kyle simply were ready. All the time. There was no prep work for them. They watched the proceedings at the front with a mission in their eyes.

Protect each other.

The bald Icarus peered around the room and back to the young woman who challenged him. He shook his business suit jacket by the lapels and the tension lessened as he said, “Yes, General Callahan. We thought you’d sleep a little longer. Rest up and recover from your injuries.”

Rayne’s inky wet hair shaded the blistered brand on her cheek. She defined frail. To top it all off, she was wearing scrubs. The least intimidating of clothes. Yet when she took a step forward, both aliens took a step back. “You mean after fighting on the front line earlier from which you were conveniently absent?” Then she peered down at her gathered friends. Did she see what Matt saw in their eyes?

The sheer resilience.

Except John. He started inching out of the crowd.

Rayne glared back at Caedes, saying, “No, I think we’ve rested enough. We’re ready for some answers.”

He opened his mouth to speak, but she held up a hand. He choked over his words to stop.

Matt peeked at Xelan, cracking a smile behind the young woman he’d trained into a leader.

Rayne said, “But first. Let me introduce you to the ranks. My Lieutenant General. If I am ever absent, you will speak to her as if she were me. Sagan?”

Sagan practically skipped to her side.

Rayne spared her a glance with a smirk. A sassy smirk. How she managed any sass, looking like a fucked up marionette puppet, astonished him, but she had it well in hand. “If she’s around, you answer to her. Understood?”

Caedes sounded like he’d swallowed ground glass. “Yes.”

“Allow me to introduce the Sovereign Ambassador of Earth. Tameka, where are you?”

Beside Matt, the first cutest redhead squared her shoulders and shouted, “Reporting!” She beamed.

Caedes did a double-take at her in the crowd. He paid her the exclusive courtesy of a silent nod.

“First up, how are we checking on their parents?” After all the bravado, Rayne’s voice hitched a little at the mention of their families.

Matt sensed a wave of sadness wash over the rest. He frowned to keep up appearances. Stoic and brooding usually worked.

In the crowd, Jack lowered his head, and Lynn rubbed circles on his back.

Frullop addressed the crowd, “We’re sending out a truck with volunteers to check on your families. Some humans have established shelters. If your families need that kind of assistance, the volunteers will escort them. They can’t come here.”

Lynn called out from an entrance, “Why the hell not?”

“Yeah?” John added.

Something passed between Rayne and Frullop without a word. She turned to her small army to say, “He’s right. This isn’t the best place for them. Look, I know you’re tired. I won’t ask this of you, but the fight isn’t over. We have so much work to do. I’m asking you to stay and finish what we started. But if you agree, you can’t bring your parents here. Can you imagine if they saw us training? How often they’d interrupt because you’re endangered in an exercise?”

Andrew exchanged a glance and a nod with Kyle. Lynn shook her head. John remained still.

Rayne continued, “Please stay and fight. The world needs humans who can stand a chance fighting the Icari and passing that knowledge onto others. If you don’t want to stay, I’m sure the truck will take you to your families.” She glanced back at baldy.

Caedes checked with Frullop before answering, “Absolutely.”

“I’m staying!” Kyle shouted. No one looked surprised.

From the back of the crowd, John called, “Me, too!”

Everyone whirled around. Lucy’s mouth gaped in a way which distracted Matt from the drama. Rather than watch the spectacle, he studied the girl beside him. In the last twenty-four hours, she’d exhibited behaviors outside her typical parameters. Brave, strong, and not afraid of the kill, Lucy had surprised Matt. A mystery lived behind those dark blue eyes. Rayne said something to John, but Matt ignored them a little longer while he reflected on Lucy’s face from when she killed an Icari back at the school. He’d recognized something of himself in her. She glanced up at him. He blinked, and the spell broke.

Rayne said, “Thank you. All of you. And I’m sure you’ll get evidence in the way of pictures. Am I right?” She glared at the man almost a foot taller than her.

Caedes stared at her a long minute before he said, “Yes. We can provide you with photographic proof. If they are alive.”

Matt didn’t give a fuck. Random employees moved into their space with pen and paper. “Name, address, parents’ names, and any identifying information you have would be helpful.”

Some guy in his early twenties approached Lucy, and she spilled her family details.

Matt slipped away. He squeezed in next to Kyle, who he noticed shooed some chick away.

Rayne whispered to Sagan on the platform.

Matt asked Kyle, “Hey, do you trust these people?”

“Not even enough to scratch my ass,” Kyle answered while he glared at the next one to pass him by.

Andrew finished answering one and stepped over. “It doesn’t help that you guys haven’t been introduced.”

Kyle looked at his shoes and muttered, “Yeah, well, they weren’t exactly friendly.”

Rayne stepped over to Xelan, and the three conferred.

Matt asked, “Do you think we’ll get an introduction?”

Kyle added, “Now that we’ve been reduced to cannon fodder?”

Andrew looked over at Rayne and beamed. “Never underestimate her.”

Xelan handed her something while they watched. She ran-limped down the stairs on the platform and unlocked the gate at the bottom. “Come on, guys! Introduce yourselves.” Matt admired her smile: eyes glittering, lips quirked, brows a little down. Mischief in a grin. She just needed to fill out her rank.

Matt peered over his shoulder at Lucy. Something was wrong. She stared at the floor and didn’t shove in line with the rest of the group. To Andrew, Matt said, “Hey, I’ll be right there.” He’d never met the guy before today, but he trusted him as much as anyone else in this room.

“I’ll save you a seat,” Andrew quipped while glancing back at Lucy, then back to Matt. He smirked. “Two seats.”

“Did you get news?” Matt asked Lucy, who seemed really impressed with the slate tiles.

Lucy sounded down as she said, “Yeah. Reports for the area were already in.” Her voice was so soft it barely carried.

“Oh,” Matt said without a clue of what to say. Did he offer condolences? Ask what happened?

She looked at him then. “They set the whole subdivision on fire. In seconds . . .”

“Yeah, those Icari are organized—”

“No, people. People started breaking into houses, trying to steal cars and anything else they could find.” Lucy clenched her fists at her sides. Her eyes grew cold as the slate floor. “I—Fuck it. It doesn’t matter.” She threw her hands up in the air and charged for the platform stairs.

Matt let her go. Lucy needed space to grieve, and he was next to useless for comfort outside of brutal honesty. He could think of one thing to help her out, though. And after this formal stuff was over, he planned to show her.