Free The Watchers by Ruth Ann Nordin Page B

sleeves is 30% off.”
    “ Welcome to September,” she
murmured. “I suppose shorts are on that list?”
    “ Right, but those are
25%.”
    “ Do we get an employee
discount?”
    Alicia rolled her eyes.
“2%.”
    “ Are you kidding?” Autumn
asked, studying her friend’s face.
    “ Hampton hates the fact
that there’s a sale at all.”
    “ Aren’t we lucky to be
stuck with him for a boss?”
    “ Oh yeah. We’re the envy of
the retail industry.”
    Autumn laughed, her mood growing
lighter. “Yay for us.”
    Hampton left the employee lounge and
headed their way.
    “ Time to look busy,” Alicia
whispered before she darted off for the corner of the store so she
could refold the jeans lining the shelves.
    Autumn hid her amusement and worked on
typing the sales’ prices into the computer.
    Unfortunately, he veered in Autumn’s
direction.
    She inwardly groaned. Work would be
much better if she didn’t have to interact with him. She avoided
eye contact as long as she could, but as soon as he stood right in
front of her and cleared his throat, she knew she had to look at
him.
    “ Tell Alicia that the mall
will stay open regardless of what’s happening in the Middle East,”
he said in his usual grim manner.
    “ Aren’t the aliens here to
stop us from World War III?”
    “ This isn’t funny, Miss
Daniels.”
    “ It’s not supposed to be,”
she replied. Seriously, Hampton wouldn’t know a joke if his life
depended on it. “I’m just saying that was what one of them said on
the news last night.”
    “ Yeah...well...they also
claim to be the gods from mythology.”
    She blinked in surprise. Did he
suspect the truth? It seemed that she was surrounded by people who
mindlessly accepted everything the aliens said. Well, except for
Alex. But she had only seen him twice since they went to
Nevada.
    “ Anyway, what happens in
the Middle East doesn’t affect us here in Bismarck.
Okay?”
    She gave a slight nod and watched him
as he walked off.
    As soon as he was out of viewing
range, Alicia hurried back over. “What did he want?”
    “ Just to tell us that we
have to keep working if Iran decides to attack Israel.”
    Alicia shook her head. “If it does,
then the aliens will have to intervene.”
    “ So they warn us,” Autumn
stated. She couldn’t understand why demons would want to save
people...if in fact she saw what she thought she saw at Area 51.
The event might have happened back in May, but she could still see
the alien transform into a monster. And that monster had to be a
demon, right? If an angel protected her and Alex, then angels
existed. If angels were real, weren’t demons real too? She rubbed
her forehead. Great. Another headache was coming on. It seemed to
her that she continually got headaches. Picking up her purse, she
asked, “Do you mind if I take a break?”
    “ Go for it, girl. You need
one after dealing with Hampton.”
    Autumn eagerly left the store and
stepped outside. The air was slightly cool, but the leaves hadn’t
changed color yet. Fall would come soon. Despite the disappearance
of her sister and millions of people, the seasons still came and
went. Life went on like usual. And the people around her seemed
oblivious to the fact that things weren’t as “normal” as they
appeared. Aliens made contact with them. Sure, they weren’t the
aliens portrayed in the movies, but they were still aliens.
Shouldn’t more people be reacting to this? Millions of people
vanished. Shouldn’t there be more than a few groups forming to
discuss this? Shouldn’t the media be investigating it?
    She took out a cigarette
and lit it up. She’d given up on trying to quit. What was the
point? They’d all probably be dead soon anyway. What is going on? Why are people going about their lives like
a bunch of robots? And why wasn’t she
affected?
    Shaking her head, she sat on the bench
by the trashcan and scanned the parking lot. She straightened up
when she saw Alex getting out of his car. She