Phoenix Rising (Invasion #1) Read online

  Phoenix Rising

  The Invasion Series, Volume 1

  Bethany Shaw

  Published by Bethany Shaw, 2016.

  This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

  PHOENIX RISING

  First edition. September 15, 2016.

  Copyright © 2016 Bethany Shaw.

  Written by Bethany Shaw.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Phoenix Rising (The Invasion Series, #1)

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  About the Author

  Also By Bethany Shaw

  Kim Burger, Editor

  Chapter One

  “They are coming!”

  Her friend’s voice rattled Addison out of her slumber. She shoved her mussed auburn hair from her face as she tossed the shabby blanket off her and stood. Her limbs were sore from sleeping on the hardwood floor, but she ignored the pinch in her muscles, needing to see what was happening. She hobbled to the window where her friend, Holly, stood and peered out. The other teachers and parents in the room were waking, too, and joining them at the window.

  “Over there.” Holly tapped on the glass, her finger pointing at the hiking trail that was about half a mile from the visitor’s center they were holed up in.

  Addison blinked; the first rays of morning light illuminated the sky, allowing her to see the landscape below. In the hills of California they had seen the attacks from their location. Smoke billowed, painting black streaks across the sky. Los Angeles was in ruins; it had to be if they could see the smoke from here.

  She’d stared at the sky well into the night—she didn’t want to see her beloved home obliterated any longer. Now her gaze drifted to where Holly indicated.

  The trees bustled with movement. One of them stepped in the barren ground and Addison gasped; this was her first time seeing one. If this was what they all looked like, it clearly was not what she was expecting, not that she could describe what “that” was anyway. Its neon-yellow skin was a close comparison to the brightness of the sun and its attire barely covered its form. Her eyes roamed through the trees counting the beings as they approached. There were sixe of them. She couldn’t make out much more than tha with the distance between them. Not that she wanted a close up. These creatures were not human.

  Addison’s amber eyes darted up to the sleek, black oval objects zipping through the air over the city of Los Angeles. Spacecraft had been flying around for days. The question of whether humans were alone or not in the universe had been answered. Not only were humans not alone, but also, the sentient beings that visited Earth were not friendly. They were evil and seemed hell-bent on destroying humanity, and these “things” were heading directly for the visitor center. It was time to get out.

  For all Addison and the members of her group knew, they may be the last living humans on Earth. Addison drew in a deep breath and let it out, as the last hope of a rescue slipped away.

  Her father wasn’t coming. He’d promised to rescue her three days ago when the invasion started, and given her clear instructions to stay hidden and far away from the city until he arrived. But that was the last communication they had in days. She closed her eyes and said a silent prayer, hoping he was alive and well, though the odds were stacked against them. But hope was the only thing keeping her going and she would not give up.

  Suddenly, small, warm fingers wrapped around her palm and she opened her eyes, glancing down at the soiled face of one of her young students. It had been three long days with limited water and no change of clothes. She felt disgusting and probably looked it, too.

  “Are you okay, Mrs. Montgomery?” Jacob asked as he stared up at her with big chocolate brown eyes.

  She forced a smile and squeezed the boy’s hand while meeting the eyes of the other adults in the room. They had to do something; standing and waiting around for them to arrive wasn’t an option.

  “Sweetheart, give me just a second, okay?” she said as she patted him on the head. She let go of his hand and sprinted to the back of the center. Taking care not to let anyone outside see her, she peeked out the window first, making sure the coast was clear. With none of them in sight, she slowly opened the back door and took a step outside. The beings weren’t back here. They had to get the kids out now.

  Addison slipped back inside and sprinted for the group.

  “Come on, Jacob. Let’s get everyone in the hall together.”

  She led the boy through the center to the hall. Hushed voices filled the large entryway as others woke the sleeping children. She hoped their enemy wouldn’t be able to see them moving around inside the center. If they did they’d know exactly what they were doing.

  “Addison!” Marcus, one of her co-teachers said as he rushed to her. He took her by the arm, pulling her close. “They’re nearly here. We’ve got a few minutes or so until they arrive.”

  She glanced to the sleepy children as they made their way down the hall. They were sleep deprived and hungry. Every second counted. They needed to get these kids moving.

  “What’s going on?” her co-teacher Marjorie asked. The elderly woman moved slowly, as she held her lower back and stifled a yawn.

  “They’re coming, aren’t they?” a parent asked their eyes wide and their bottom lip trembling.

  “Praise the Lord,” Marjorie said, clasping her hands tightly, clearly misunderstanding who was coming.

  “No.” Addison shook her head, wishing it was anyone but them coming. “It’s not the military. It’s...” she didn’t have a name for the monsters who were creating so much death and destruction. Had the military named them? The Emergency Broadcast System had blacked out yesterday morning, leaving them completely in the dark. They’d been truly on their own for nearly twenty-four hours.

  “Oh God!” Marjorie raised her hands to her mouth and trembled.

  “It’s going to be fine.” Addison guided the frail woman into the hall and toward the door. “Keep the kids quiet. Take them out the back door and run. Don’t stop. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, yes, of course.” Marjorie straightened her back and hurried the youngsters to the door. She opened their exit and instructed the kids to start following her.

  Sixty-two second graders were depending on twelve adults to keep them safe. As a large group, most of them seven and eight year olds, there was no way they were going to move fast enough to evade these creatures. Someone would have to stay back to stall them. At least then the others would have a chance at escape.

  “What do you want me to do?” Marcus asked.

  After calling her father, General Montgomery, who worked directly with the President, everyone turned to her for advice. It was a role she hadn’t asked for and didn’t want, but she supposed someone needed to be in charge.

  “Some of us need to go with the kids and keep them moving while making sure no one gets lost. We need to get them into the trees and as far away from here as possible. The rest of us,” she paused, gulping as she met the wide eyes of the men and women around her: two bus drivers, six parents, and four teachers. They were hardly battle ready. She was the only one with any military knowledge. She’d never been in the military, but her dad made sure she was trained in hand-to-hand combat and knew how to
use a gun. Yeah, a gun would be helpful right now. Too bad there wasn’t one of those lying around. “The rest of us will fight them off so the others can get out.”

  One of the moms sobbed and covered her mouth as she held back her cries.

  “It’s okay. If you aren’t up to it, go with the kids. They’ll need someone to keep them safe,” Addison said. The last thing she needed was someone falling apart in the middle of a fight. She just hoped the woman would help aid all the youngsters and not just her own.

  “We’ll need weapons,” Marcus said.

  Addison blew out a breath. The location was great, secluded and hard to find. Who’d have thought a field trip to a park on the outskirts of the city would save all of their lives? As far as being close to weapons, though, they were screwed.

  The small visitor center had a large main room, a cafeteria, and a theater room near the exit. There was no place to hide.

  “There are some knives in the cafeteria,” she told him. After the invasion and their decision to stay in the remote location in the hills, she’d inventoried the entire visitor’s center. It was a museum with a small café; there weren’t any weapons to speak of – unless she wanted to grab the archaic bow and arrow from the Native American exhibit.

  “I guess that will do.” Marcus took a step back.

  “We don’t have much time,” Addison said. “I need a few volunteers to help me keep these things occupied while everyone else runs. Everyone else get the rest of the kids and get out. Right now. Whatever you do, don’t stop running.”

  A mother gasped and squeezed her eyes shut.

  “We’ve got to move Addison,” Marcus said, pulling her towards the cafeteria.

  He was right. Addison shoved one of the mom’s toward the door before spinning on her heel. Her pulse raced as her flats clicked against the hardwood floor. A few other footsteps thumped behind her and she thanked her lucky stars it wasn’t just her and Marcus fending off the alien invaders. There! She’d said it. Aliens. A few days ago she’d have thought herself nuts, not anymore.

  Her shoes slid over the floor as she dashed into the café’s meal prep area. Marcus beat her to the utensil drawer, whipping it out and setting it on the counter. Thankfully, there was more than one butcher knife. She gripped the icy handle and stared at the blade. The edges were jagged and worn, the knife needed sharpening, heck, it needed to be replaced, but that wasn’t going to happen. It would have to do.

  Addison looked around the room. Holly, Marcus, and Isaac, the elderly bus driver, had followed her. She swallowed hard as her gaze darted to the window. There was a perfect view of the trail and the six creatures were still on their way to the nature center. “Marcus and I will take the front door and hold them off. Holly and Isaac, I want you to take a few knives and catch up to the group in case any of the...aliens come after you.”

  “What about you?” Holly asked as her lip trembled.

  Addison shook her head. “Marcus and I can take care of ourselves. We need to save the kids.” All the school staff had been through countless hours of emergency training, none of which included how to handle an alien invasion. Regardless, protecting the kids was her number one priority.

  “Addison and I will be right behind you,” Marcus spoke up.

  “Oh, okay.” Holly looked between them, her green eyes wide with worry. She heard Marcus’ words, but clearly didn’t believe them.

  “It will be fine. We need to get to our positions so we have the element of surprise,” Addison said as she reached out and squeezed Holly’s bicep.

  “Be safe.” Holly enveloped her in a tight hug before pulling back.

  “You, too.”

  Addison nodded at her friend before sprinting back toward the front door. This was Holly’s first year of teaching, too, and they became quick friends. Now wasn’t the time to think about her co-worker or anything else other than getting her head in the fight.

  She gripped the knife tighter as she dashed into the entry. Her shoes squealed over the wood as she stopped to peek out the window. The aliens were closer and would be at the door in less than a minute. By her count, there were still six of them, which meant no one had gone around back. Thank goodness. She forced a steadying breath through her nose and let it out.

  Her eyes darted to the objects in the alien’s hands—guns of some sort. She nibbled at her lip and swore under her breath. It looks like we’re in for a fight.

  Six aliens would be too much for her and Marcus alone, especially if the aliens weapons were half as dangerous as they looked. The bigger head start the others had, the better, at least her and Marcus’ deaths wouldn’t be for nothing. No. I’m not dying today. Somehow we’re going to defeat them.

  She ducked away from the window before she was spotted. With her back pressed against the wall, she sidestepped across the floor, stopping at the door. Marcus followed, standing close enough for their shoulders to touch.

  “Do you think this is going to work?” he asked.

  “I think we can give everyone else a chance,” she told him as she curled her fingers around the knife’s handle tighter.

  Her heart beat faster. This, this was it—these could very well be her last moments. She blinked back tears. There were still so many things she wanted to do with her life like find love and have a family. Drawing in a deep breath and as she let it out, she knew if this was how it was going to end—so be it, but she wasn’t going down without a fight.

  Marcus nodded. “It’s been a pleasure working with you, Addison,” he said. “I suppose now is as good a time as any to tell you I’ve been wanting to ask you out.” He chuckled and shook his head as he met her eyes.

  She’d never really thought about Marcus that way, having been too wrapped up in her first year of teaching.

  Addison opened her mouth, but her voice got caught in her throat as footsteps thundered up the wooden steps and across the front porch.

  Nausea rolled in her belly and she shivered. Whipping her head toward the door, she held her breath. Her ears strained to hear if the children were fleeing, but the only sound greeting her was the staccato of her roaring pulse.

  As the doorknob silently twisted, she lifted her arm up, ready to jab the blade into whomever came in. She glanced at Marcus, wordlessly agreeing to do whatever was necessary to keep the others safe.

  The wooden deck outside creaked and Addison’s breath caught in her throat as the door flew open and slammed against the opposite wall. She whirled around, shrieking as her blade sunk into yellowish skin. The alien’s red eyes widened as it squawked. Its arm reached up, grasping at her chest and propelling her backward. She tried to hold onto the knife embedded in the alien for balance, but she couldn’t. Her feet flew out from under her as she catapulted across the room, hitting a glass case. Crashing through it, she sent glass raining down around her as she met the unforgiving floor, grunting as the hardwood bit into her.

  Ignoring the pain slicing through her extremities, she grasped a jagged piece of glass and scrambled to her feet. Her vision blurred and she blinked rapidly to get her eyes to focus. I have to fight.

  “S-s-s-stop!” A voice hissed.

  Addison gasped as the voice echoed in her mind. Her limbs froze, refusing to budge. She whimpered and tried to force her foot to move; it shook from exertion, but lifted off the floor.

  “Stop.” The voice insisted again.

  Addison gripped her head with her free hand as the voice bounced around in her mind. Don’t listen to them! She squeezed the long shard of glass hard enough for it to cut into her skin. Fight, Addison!

  A shiver raced up her spine as she took another step forward. Her leaden body was fighting her every move, almost as if the aliens were controlling her somehow. That is not possible, is it?

  Her eyes searched for Marcus, finding her co-worker kneeling before two of the creatures with his fingers laced behind his head.

  “I love the defiant ones,” the voice said, as an alien cocked its head at her while appr
oaching.

  She wanted to continue to move, but her body seemed to be rooted to the floor. Addison opened her mouth to cry out, but no sound came.

  She looked at the alien in front of her more closely. It was slender and taller than she expected and stood at least a foot over her. Its blood-red eyes bore into her as its voice spoke within her mind again.

  “Tell me, how many of you are there?” the alien asked.

  His voice raced through her mind and her mouth opened, as if ready to tell him everything he asked. Addison tried clamping her mouth shut and gritted her teeth. I’m not telling him anything.

  “Answer me!”

  Coercion swept over her, but she maintained her silence. The longer she fought, the greater of a chance the kids and the others had to get away. Every second counted.

  The alien reached out and touched her cheek, trailing his long, scaly finger down her face. Addison screamed as she lifted her arm and tried to jab the glass into the alien’s chest. He caught her wrist, wrenching it to the side, causing the glass to fall to the floor. She tried to tug her hand free of his grasp, but he held tight.

  “It’s been a long time since I found someone so defiant,” he told her as he grasped her chin. “I shall enjoy breaking you.” He dug his fingers into her chin, causing her to close her eyes. Her jaw ached as he squeezed tighter and she tried to wrench free. “Tell me how many of you are there?”

  She gathered spittle in her mouth and spat it at the alien. He flinched as it trickled down his face.

  Gazing up at him defiantly, she noticed a lime green goo oozing from his chest. Is that blood? Yes, yes it is. This is the one I stabbed. Unfortunately, it didn’t appear to be fazing him at all. If a blade to the chest didn’t hurt them, what would?

  Faster than she could see, his hand holding her chin whipped up and struck her. She toppled to the floor as pain sliced through her skull. Sticky warmth coated her cheek and her vision darkened. No. No. No. Don’t you dare black out!