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

Chapter 7

It didn't feel like there was much I could do other than sit and wait for Nick to come back, but I needed answers. Answers that he was going to give me, whether he liked it or not. I had slipped one of the small kitchen knives into my bag once I had calmed down enough to think, realizing that I was going to need a way to force his hand.

Now, as I knew the time for waiting was coming to an end, I wondered why that guard would tell me anything. I was a stranger to the ramshackle village and had done nothing at all during my incredibly short time here to prove I was trustworthy. What proof did he have that I wasn't going to just turn around and report his behavior as strange or suspicious?

Maybe that was why I believed him. He had everything to lose by telling me, a complete stranger, what was happening. He trusted that I wouldn't sell him out to the people in charge. And I, I felt like I owed it to him to at least give him the benefit of the doubt.

Even if I didn't trust what he said, something here was off the more I thought on it. Maybe stopping here had been a bad idea.

The door finally opened and I looked toward it. Nick was standing there with a smile that dropped when he saw the collapsed table. "What happened?"

"I don't know," I lied. "It just kind of fell over."

He sighed. "It was probably made by one of the carpenter trainees. I'll have someone fix it later." His smile returned. "Ready to go?"

I took a breath and stood. "Yeah." My bag felt heavy knowing there was a knife inside of it, but I followed him all the same.

As we walked, I took deep breaths and told myself that if I had to draw that knife, then it would be what was best. It would have to be done, no matter how much I didn't want to.

"There she is," Nick gestured to a weird looking vehicle dotted with rust, "in all her glory. Found her hiding out in one of the old houses and fixed her up with Wasp tech."

Okay? But what was it? There was a long open part in the back that was loaded down with what seemed to be a delivery. It almost looked like the Wasp vehicles I had learned to operate, but there were wheels attached to the bottom instead of a blue strip for the hover tech. Was this a car?

I asked Nick this and he nodded. "Kind of. This is a specific type of car. A truck. Great for hauling stuff." He opened the door for me, which creaked like it did not want to do exactly that.

I sat down in the truck with my bag on the floor between my legs. This did look exactly like a Wasp vehicle without being able to hover. Interesting.

Nick entered the vehicle on the other side and turned it on. "Let's go."

Silently, I watched the small village on the bridge disappear in the mirror as a feeling of dread descended over the truck. I was going to end up having to use the knife, I just knew it.

While the vehicle quickly made its way along the old, fractured road, Nick tried to lighten the mood to no avail. When asked, I passed it off as nerves that I was close to leaving the planet, which wasn't entirely a lie. My stomach was in knots at the thought of falling into the hands of the Wasps again, but also because the thought of what I needed to do in order to save myself and others was tearing at me.

What if I was wrong? Or that guy was wrong? Would I potentially be the reason the rest of humanity cowered from the rest of the universe?

My eyes landed on Nick's feet, watching how this vehicle operated so I could take over when we were close to Evansville.

We were exactly that an hour into the drive. So I had to ask my questions now to determine if the knife was necessary after all.

"Nick," I looked up at him, "why did you decide to help me when you heard that I was going to Evansville?"

He tensed but kept his voice calm as he answered, "I was heading out here to trade anyway. Figured that I might as well help you." He gave me a nervous smile. "Why?"

"Just seemed odd," I reached carefully into my bag for the knife, "especially when there was something about a shipment for the Overlords."

Nick didn't say anything, but the truck slowed to a stop. Shit. "Whatever you thought you saw wasn't true." It sounded rehearsed, like he had said this to himself or others multiple times. "You probably just learned to read when the Wasps left, so how can you even be sure."

Just as carefully as I reached into my bag, I slid the knife out. "I never said I read it."

He reached over for me, but I thrust the knife into his hand to keep him back. Cursing, he backed away towards the door on his side of the truck. "You stole that!"

I gave him a look. "Is that really the biggest issue right now?" The knife was still at the ready in case he reached for me again, or tried to attack. "Why are you selling Humans to the Wasps?"

There was a long silence as he was clearly thinking of a response that wouldn't get him stabbed repeatedly, something I was seriously considering. "They promised, in the days before they left, that if certain parts of the world continually sent them slaves for their home planet, then they would stay away from the Earth for the next several hundred years." He sighed, a look of regret crossing his face. "We didn't necessarily want to do it, but selling out some of humanity to them is better than them returning and potentially wiping us out." He looked at me. "Wouldn't you agree?"

The way he said that did remind me of a saying the elders would say when faced with difficult decisions: The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

But this didn't feel like those moments when they would remind us of that old saying.

"No. They will take everyone. They will never stop. We need to put an end to it ourselves."

Nick's face twisted into rage. "We are protecting humanity, and you are going to help!" He reached for me again, and I lashed out with the knife.