A thunderous boom shook the small mountain town of Sayers Mills as a pair of fighter jets soared past. The shockwave from the sonic boom travelled down the narrow main street, rattling windows in their frames, and setting off car alarms. A second later, the baying of dogs filled the air.

Warren watched the fighters until they had disappeared over the forested mountaintop. If he was a conspiracy theorist, he’d probably think something big was going on. First, the cellphone network had gone down, and now over a half dozen air force jets had flown over the sleepy town in the last half an hour.

“I thought they weren’t allowed to do that,” Lisa said, as she shielded her blue eyes to glance up into the bright sky. “That’s the third time they’ve done that today. Are they trying to break all the windows? What do you think is going on?”

Warren shrugged his shoulders at his sister. “Maybe we’re at war.”

“That’s not funny.” She punched his arm playfully. “If we are at war, then I’ll have to ship out to protect your lazy ass.”

He rubbed his arm, pretending to be hurt. “Did they finally teach you how to fight at bootcamp?”

“I could always kick your ass,” she replied with a smirk. “I just let you win all those times when we were kids, so I didn’t hurt your fragile ego.”

“Sure you did.” His mood turned somber as his thoughts turned to their family. “Do you think the realtor will still meet us with the cell network down?”

Lisa pointed down the street at a bungalow that had been converted into an office. A simple sign, with gold cursive lettering loudly proclaiming ‘Fournier Realty’ sat on the front law. “Why don’t we ask her?”

Warren squinted his eyes. “That’s her office? Didn’t that used to be the old McCreary place?”

She cocked her head to the side and gave him a look. “How long has it been since you’ve been home?”

“Too long,” he replied quietly. “I should have visited a long time ago. Did… Dad ever mention me?”

“He talked about you all the time.” She placed her hand on his forearm comfortingly. “Everyone got tired of hearing about his bigshot son working down south. What was your position again? Was it head janitor at a hospital or something?”

“The janitors worked way harder than I did,” he replied. “I wouldn’t want to clean up those messes for the crap pay they received.”

“Oh, lighten up.” She hit his arm again. “I was only kidding around. We all know you’re a wonderful doctor who can do no wrong. According to Dad, you farted rainbows and turned water to wine regularly. Not like his screwup daughter.”

“You made it through bootcamp, didn’t you? And I’m in my first year of residency. I’d barely call that being a doctor at this point.”

“Better than being a private.”

“I bet you’ll make sergeant in no time.” He grinned at his younger sister. “After all, you love bossing people around.” This time, he dodged her swing and backpedaled away from her on the sidewalk. He couldn’t help but laugh as she windmilled her arms and chased after him.

Warren kept a safe distance between himself and his sister until they reached the bungalow. He stopped in front of a bulletin board with colorful house listings plastered across every square inch. His eyes widened as he read the prices. He still couldn’t get over how expensive houses had become here. Once he sold his dad’s old place, he could probably pay off most of his student loans.

Lisa walked up beside him and poked him in the ribs. “Who needs the army if you’re rich, right? Dad’s old place is worth a fortune. Heck, we could probably rent it out weekly and live off that money alone.”

He paused to consider her idea. After his student loan payments and rent, he barely had enough money leftover for food. Maybe he should convert the old family home into some sort of retreat. The town was rapidly gentrifying, and he heard there were more tourists every year. “Maybe,” he said without enthusiasm. “It would be pretty hard to run it with both of us not living here.”

“We’d hire someone, silly.” She rolled her eyes. “Do I have to think of everything? Aren’t you supposed to be some sort of super smart doctor?”

“I’ll think about it.”

He stepped up to the front door and tried the handle. It was locked. He leaned over and peered through the window. Inside, the lights were on, but he couldn’t see any movement. Either the realtor had already left to meet them at the cabin, or she was off doing some other business.

Rubbing a hand down his face, he glanced up at the foothills leading up into the foothills. He didn’t want to trek all the way up to his dad’s old place if he didn’t have to. But he also didn’t want to stand up the realtor. And with the cell network down, he had no way to contact her. “I guess we should head to dad’s,” he said. “Do you mind taking your truck? My rental isn’t exactly suited for dirt roads.”

“As long as you don’t complain about my driving.”

“Don’t worry—my life insurance is paid up.”

This time, he couldn’t avoid her punch, and her fist hit him with a meaty smack on his shoulder.

“You definitely deserved that,” she said with a huff. When she turned back to face the street, she stopped short and raised her hand to wave excitedly at someone. “Oh, what an unexpected surprise,” she said to him. “I can’t believe we ran into my friend here.”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Warren groaned internally as he rubbed his shoulder. “Please tell me you didn’t set me up with someone again. Wasn’t last time bad enough for the both of us?”

“Me? Set you up with someone?” Her mouth dropped open with fake outrage. “How could you accuse me of such a thing?”

He turned around to see who she was waving at. As he did, he prepared himself for the worst. His sister had a record of choosing awful matches for him. The last woman she’d set him up with had ordered the most expensive thing on the menu before stealing his wallet and leaving him to try to figure out how to pay for it. Thankfully, the restaurant owner had allowed him to call his dad so he could come pay for his meal.

Warren followed his sister's gaze and found himself pleasantly surprised. A woman with thick locks of dark hair cascading down to her shoulders was walking in their direction. She had high cheekbones, eyes the color of polished jade, and plump lips. The blue tube top she was wearing did little to hide her impressive curves, and a pair of tight jean shorts completed the look.

The dark-haired woman hurried over to them and leaned in to embrace Lisa. Then she stepped back and clasped her hands in front of her. “It’s good to see you again, Warren,” she said in a throaty voice. “I’m sorry to hear about your dad.”

“At least he didn’t suffer,” Warren said automatically before he paused at her words. He wracked his brain but couldn’t ever remember meeting this woman. “Again?”

Lisa smirked at him. “Don’t you remember Kassandra?”

“Kassandra,” he exclaimed. He couldn’t believe this vision of beauty standing in front of him was the girl he used to play with as a child. She looked completely transformed from the gangly girl he used to know. But then again, he probably hadn’t seen her in at least eight years. “It’s great to see you.”

She stepped in close and pulled him into a tight hug. As she did, her heavy breasts pooled against his chest and the wonderful scent of vanilla filled his nostrils.

“How long are you here for?” Kassandra asked.

“Just until I sell my dad’s place,” he replied. “We have to get rid of a lot of stuff first and maybe fix up a few things. The realtor was supposed to come up to help us get ready to list today.”

Kassandra twirled a strand of dark hair around her finger. She glanced down at the ground as she chewed on her plump lower lip. “Do you think… maybe… well—”

Lisa interrupted Kassandra. “Why don’t we all have dinner tonight? We can all catch up, and I’ll buy the drinks. "

He watched a wave of palpable relief wash across Kassandra’s face. To be honest, he was feeling a bit tongue-tied himself. He couldn’t believe his old friend had grown up to become such a stunner.

Kassandra smiled at him. “That sounds great. There’s a new Italian place just down the road. Why don’t we meet there in a few hours?”

Warren laughed. “Do you mean this place has more options than just the old steakhouse and pizzeria?”

“We even have a sushi place now!” Kassandra exclaimed. “And I think they’re building some kind of German-Thai food fusion down the road. But I have no idea what that is.”

“That makes two of us.” He glanced up as another fighter jet roared overhead. “I’ve mostly been eating Cuban lately—”

“And a steady diet of ramen noodles,” his sister cut in with a grin. “At least that’s what you told me when you got off the plane.”

“Yes,” he replied through gritted teeth, shooting his sister a dirty look. “But only when I don’t have time to cook.” He didn’t want to admit to being completely broke in front of Kassandra.

Before his sister could reply, the sound of a nearby explosion made him spin around. He watched as a fireball blossomed at the end of the street. The explosion flipped a car over and the front of the laundromat collapsed into rubble. He started to run in the direction of the blast, but then the sight of something massive rising above the mountaintop overlooking the town made him freeze in his tracks.

An impossibly large craft had appeared from behind the peak. It was roughly oblong, black as night, and covered in spikes, turrets, and jagged protrusions. It was like something you’d see in a science fiction movie, and while the distance made it hard to judge, it was easily larger than the town. As the vessel continued to rise, it blotted out the sun and cast a long shadow over the street.

The roar of a jet engine made him flinch, and he watched as a fighter screamed past the town just above the rooftops. A spray of flares burst free from the jet in a dazzling display of fireworks as projectiles streaked out from the strange craft hovering above the mountain. A bay opened in the belly of the fighter and a missile surged out; it streaked up toward the strange craft and slammed into the nose. The warhead exploded in a blinding detonation and blew a ragged hole in the vessel.

Lisa grabbed his arm and jerked him around. “We need to get out of here!”

Warren blinked his eyes as he tore his gaze away from the aerial battle. He had no idea what the hell was going on, but he knew standing out in the open was a bad idea. The best thing they could do was seek shelter. “We should go to dad’s. There are plenty of supplies and weapons up there. And I doubt whatever is happening will reach all the way into the mountains.”

Kassandra took a step back. “I need to get to the sheriff’s office.”

“No, you should come with us,” Warren said. “It’s not safe to stay here. There’s plenty of space for you at my dad’s cabin.”

Kassandra raised her eyebrow and then rounded on Lisa. “Didn’t you tell him anything about me?”

His sister gave a helpless little shrug. “I was going to talk you up before dinner. And we agreed you’d meet him later. I didn’t know you were just going to pop up like that.”

Kassandra sighed before turning back to Warren. “I’m a sheriff’s deputy. They’re going to need me with...” She waved her hands at the sky. “Whatever this is.”

As he opened his mouth to speak, he watched as hundreds of smaller crafts detached from the large vessel like seeds drifting away from a dandelion. After a second, the craft’s engines ignited, and they hurtled down toward the town.

Warren nodded tersely. “If you change your mind, meet us at my dad’s cabin.” He paused before adding. “Stay safe.” He watched Kassandra hurry away, then he pointed at his sister’s beat up old truck parked down the street. “We need to go. Right now!”

With one last look at Kassandra, he broke into a sprint and raced down the street toward his sister’s vehicle. The main street was quiet in the middle of a weekday, and only a few people dotted the street. Some had their gaze locked on the sky, while others were fleeing in their vehicles.

Reaching the truck’s side door, he impatiently banged on the window as his sister fumbled with the keys. “How the hell do you not have a FOB yet?” he shouted. “Who still uses a key?”

“Have you tried buying a new truck on a private’s salary?” She glared at him. “Anyway, this thing is way easier to fix than all that new computerized crap.”

“That’s dad talking,” he replied. “Unless you’ve suddenly aged thirty years.”

“Shut up,” she grumbled, though her heart wasn’t in it. A moment later, her door lock popped up, and she dove into the car. She reached across and swung his door open.

Warren jumped into the seat and listened as the engine revved to life. He leaned to the side to peer up into the sky—if they were lucky, they should be outside of town by the time the strange vessels arrived.

Lisa slammed the gearshift into drive and the engine roared. The tires squealed as she peeled out and sped down the street. A few pedestrians raced out of the way, and she nearly clipped another car backing out of a parking spot.

Normally, he’d say something about her insane driving, but right now wasn’t the time to worry about safety.

We’re going to make it.

Then a dark craft covered in barbed points, blackened skeletons, and menacing weapons slammed into the middle of the street. The nose of the craft burrowed into the asphalt before coming to a rest, completely blocking their path.

He glanced over his shoulder, only to see another one land on the far end of Main Street. They were trapped with no way out.