Free Earth: Population 2 (Paradise Lost Book 1) by Aubrie Dionne Page A

I mean it.”
    A long, black tongue darted from its mouth, licking its prickly teeth as though it wanted to eat me. Its eyes darted back and forth as if judging the distance between the end of the gun and the slack of the chain. This species had found a way to destroy all living creatures on Earth. If I wasn’t careful, the little imp could outsmart me.
    My fingers shook in rage. If I let the surging fury win, I’d lose total control. “What have you done with my mom?”
    The tail rose, picking up static like a stray radio station on the wind. Did it call to its friends? I scanned the junkyard nervously. I needed to get back to my car. For all I knew, there could be three others surrounding it as I stood here asking questions it wouldn’t or couldn’t answer.
    Two harsh clicks came from its mouth. The way it tilted its head made me feel as if the creature judged me and I came up lacking.
    “What the hell do you expect me to do all by myself, huh?”
    The wind picked up, and static sizzled from the woods. It could have been my imagination, but under the creature’s breath I swear I heard the words wait and die .

 
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER EIGHT
    GALE WHO?
     
     
    My pulse sped into a frenzy, and blood pounded in my ears.
    Get out, get out, get out.
    I launched around the gas station building. When I turned the corner, the driver’s side door of Ellen’s car lay open. Panic jolted through me before I remembered I’d left it ajar. Thank goodness I’d already detached the gas pump. After checking the backseat, I jumped in and slammed the door behind me. Not looking back, I sped off toward the highway in the direction I’d come. Never again would I let my curiosity get the better of me. Never.
    As I grew closer to Boston, more abandoned cars littered the road. I guess people in the big city kept strange hours. All of these people must have been driving when the “vanishing” occurred. Some of the cars had flown off the road, and others had skidded to the side or whirled to face the opposite direction. I slowed to thirty miles an hour to avoid another wreck.
    No matter how much I wanted to avoid disappointment, I still looked into every driver’s side window hoping to see someone, anyone, even a dead body. At this point, I’d even settle for a zombie.
    Empty. The truth hit me in the face each time. All the vehicles lay empty. Who had all these drivers been? Mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, sisters, brothers, friends…. Where had they been going at such a late hour? I thought of Mom driving late at night after working two shifts to support me, and how easily one could fall asleep at the wheel.
    Stop it. I tortured myself by thinking of “the accident.” Even though I hadn’t been there, I’d imagined it a thousand different ways. They all ended up the same—with her leg severed by the dashboard as her car crunched into the truck in the other lane.
    As twilight fell, I ended up somewhere south of Boston. Since I had no idea where the alien ship hovered, I decided to rest for the night in a semi-secure building, rather than sleeping in the car.
    The top of a Hilton poked out from the other buildings to the left. I’d never stayed in a hotel before, so I might as well try it in style. I pulled off the highway and weaved around a black Honda sitting in the middle of the ramp. The corner of the Hilton emerged from the treeline, and I chose streets leading in the same direction.
    I had to backtrack a few times before I pulled into the fancy roundabout driveway with sculptured bushes and fluttering flags with the Hilton logo. Mom always joked about staying at the Hilton when we hit the jackpot. I wish she could have seen me now. She would have called me Ms. Fancy Pants.
    Swallowing a wave of loneliness, I loaded my backpack with food for the night and took my guns. The area was quiet, but that didn’t mean the Sparkies weren’t around. As I’d witnessed in the trapped one, they could turn their sound on