The Last Day On Earth (Book 1 of The Galaxy Series)

Chapter 6

Truthfully, all I wanted to do was relax in the shack that Nick had left me in. It was beyond tempting since I had never felt the sort of security I had felt when I first arrived here, and I nearly did, just ignoring every part of me that wanted to find out what that sentence I saw could be about. I could have misread it, after all, or misconstrued the meaning. Maybe "Overlords" was what the people in charge of Evansville called themselves, and was definitely not the name the Wasps forced us to call them.

However, there was still a part of me that was extremely alarmed at the sentence, and I felt that if there was any proof, I would be able to find it somewhere around this little village.

Leaving the shack without really knowing where I was going felt, odd, to be honest. I've never just wandered aimlessly or gone anywhere without purpose. So it felt weirdly nice being able to even think I don't know where to go. 

I had to go somewhere, though; I couldn't just keep standing outside of the shack looking around at the people talking and just going about their lives, at the shacks that were more homey than the buildings we were forced to live in when the Wasps were still here.

Well, maybe I could start at the one place that I couldn't see from here: the building zone for the new town. It seemed weirdly guarded for a completely harmless area, and maybe they were just being extra careful because it was important to them, but it just seemed odd to me for some reason.

In fact, something seemed off about this whole place.

I would never downplay the importance of the security felt here, ever, because it was important, but after how they reacted to my arrival from French Lick, only to shrug it off after I revealed what my plans were just seemed...weird. Everything kept pointing in the direction of what I saw being true and not a misunderstanding. 

Then again, it could be a coincidence.

I really was trying to convince myself, wasn't I?

Finally, I pulled myself together and just walked. I couldn't allow myself to become complacent, not now, not after all that I had been through and seen. This may not have been the best world, and maybe Humanity wasn't the best race, but they were my people and this was my planet, and if there was something going on, I felt as if I should find out what it was.

Wow, that was oddly patriotic of me. Was I using that word right? I think so. Still, no one deserved to go back to the slavery of the Wasps.

I was climbing the hill to the in progress town when I was stopped by a man with a modified Wasp gun. He didn't point it at me, but it was clear he would use it if necessary. "Haven't seen your face before."

"Oh, I'm just passing through on my way to Evansville," I explained. "Nick offered to drive me the rest of the way, so I figured I would explore while I'm waiting." That wasn't entirely a lie.

The guard nodded but, unlike everyone else I had told my plans to, didn't seem too thrilled. "I can't let you over here. This is an important site for us, and it can be dangerous to just walk around."

"I thought a town was being built."

"It is. But, trust me, this is no place to just explore. You could get killed." He seemed not so on guard anymore, more like he was trying to signal something to me.

So I told him, "I worked construction on the Indianapolis Tower all my life. I can handle myself."

He smirked for a moment before leaning in. "If you're looking for the answers to something," he said in a low voice, "you won't find them here."

I was confused when he leaned away from me. How the hell did he know I was looking for something?

"You aren't the first one to come over here thinking that something sinister is going on," he explained. "This, behind me," gestured with his gun to the in progress town, "is simply a construction site. Honestly, there is nothing happening over here." Then he gave me a knowing look. "There is, however, something happening elsewhere."

I was still confused. Not by his words, but the fact that this seemingly random guard said them to me, a complete stranger. "Why are you telling me this?"

He looked around for a moment, as if making sure he couldn't be heard before he leaned in again and said, "I kept my head down until they forced my sister and ten other people from the village to go to Evansville." He leaned back again, giving me a knowing look. "I cannot anymore."

Forced? Then, what I saw...? "What do you want me to do?"

"Go to Evansville. Either replace one of them on the ship leaving or stop it. Either way, I think you know what's going to happen to that ship." He turned when he heard something coming down the hill behind him and asked if everything was okay. "Yeah, just letting our visitor know a bit about the area." When the other person left, he turned back to me. "Alright, head back down. Act like nothing is wrong." He gave me a look before I turned and left back the way I came.

By the time I got back to the shack I was supposed to have stayed in, I was shaking. They were selling people to the Wasps? How? Why? We have freedom now, finally, and to just sell your own people seemed...

I kicked the table inside the shack and screamed as it fell apart, poorly constructed. What the hell was I supposed to do about this? I was nobody, just a traveler trying to get away from my past, a former construction worker for the Wasps, and someone trying to find herself amongst everything going on on this fucked up planet.

What could I even do?

I sat on the edge of the bed the bag was on and stared at the door with scared tears.

What the hell do I do now?