48. Uninvited guests
Jane is in the kitchen in front of the stove preparing bacon and eggs. The world will be coming to an end soon and there is no time to waste. She pulled her Frenchie into her flat when he wanted to greet her and left her last night after the meeting.
This morning they woke up entangled and landed in the shower together. Eventually, she left him in the shower and covered herself in a negligee. She feels as if the terrible future electrified her and she surmises it must be the feeling of the others as well. She feels reckless and selfish to enjoy the little time of freedom left and living a comfortable life.
Francois caresses her suddenly over her buttocks and she gets goosebumps all over her body. She turns her head and must stop him from trying to kiss her.
“Stop! I want to make our breakfast so that we can eat before the others arrive.”
“You are much too sexy to leave alone!”
“Hey, go and put on the TV and sit on the sofa. I’m almost finished and will lay the table soon.”
Francois moans, leaves her slowly and reluctantly and stands back, but doesn’t go to the sofa, forcing her to look back. He is standing there enjoying every facet of her femininity as if he wants to swallow her.
“It seems I should leave breakfast and cover myself or else you won’t leave me. I never wear clothes in my place except when it is very cold. That’s something I am going to miss on the farm. I won’t be as free as I wish there. Please do me a favor and switch on the TV and get an international news channel. I am curious. The news will tell us if those spiders have descended over the whole world.”
“Okay, but you are unbelievably sexy! So it is difficult, but I promise I will leave you in the meantime. You are right, I forgot about everything after you had pulled me in here last night. I am also curious.”
Francois goes around the counter to the sofa. Jane has an open plan kitchen that looks out on the sitting room and she can also see the flat screen from the stove when Francois falls down on the sofa and switches it on. He finds the BBC and they see videos people took on their smartphones of what happened last night. Francois switches from one channel to the other and overall finds the same breaking news: CNN, Sky News, Fox News, Al Jazeera, Russia Today, etc. They all carry the same news. He returns to BBC and increases the volume.
A reporter is interviewing with a man who was overwhelmed by a swarm of spiders in a street. “It was thousands upon thousands! I ran over them and swiped at them but no one bit me. They only scurried to get away. And then it was unbelievable to see how quickly they disappeared in the gutters and crevices and we searched for them afterwards but could not trace one of them. I just don’t understand this. People ran over them and trampled on them but we couldn’t find one injured or dead spider! It is not ordinary spiders! It just doesn’t make sense!”
Jane lays the table behind the sofa and pulls out a chair for Francois. “Come, have breakfast while we watch. It seems as if everything happened as had been predicted all over the world.”
Francois takes his place and Jane joins him with her breakfast and they eat while watching. On the screen are now a team of scientists debating and speculating where the spiders came from and whereto they vanished so quickly, but they seem to get lost and confused more and more. Jane takes the remote and switches to CNN and now they see a reporter conducting an interview with a guy from the air force with a hidden identity not showing his face and with his voice altered.
“You say the air force detected thousands of UFOs?”
“That is correct.”
“From where did they come?”
“At the base, we were initially flabbergasted because those things seemingly came from nowhere but a contact of me told me that they received information via satellite about many thousands of UFOs in 24 hours coming down from and going up to the moon. We suppose the UFOs are linked to the spiders that were released all over the world around midnight. It is all over the news now.”
“Goodness, what do you mean to say exactly?”
“I know it sounds farfetched, but it is what our observation spells out and I feel I must warn you. Listen, I’m taking a risk here to talk to you for this is highly classified information regarding our air force. We suspect that these things that have vanished into the gutters were delivered by an alien, intelligent and highly sophisticated fleet and we are very suspicious about this. We gathered and analyzed the radar routes and it seems that these things were delivered only at the dark side of the earth where there were artificial lights.”
“What does his mean? Against what do you want to warn us?”
“I ordered my family to pack their belongings in the meantime. We will leave the city as soon as possible. We will camp away from city lights in the wilderness until we are sure these things won’t emerge from the gutters and attack us.”
Jane switches off the TV. “Surely, it is happening and that guy in the air force is spot on. I wish I could contact him and tell him he is dead right.”
Francois rises when someone knocks on the front door. “I shall open for them while you get dressed.”
“Okay.”
Jane vanishes into her sleeping room. Francois peeps through the keyhole and sees Nico, Hunter, and Jack. Jane insisted that they meet here in Central after they, in their small group aside, discussed security matters and she insisted to be part of it.
Francois opens and invites them inside. “Have you seen the news?”
Jack confirms. “Yes, it is everywhere. The newspapers, over the radio and on TV.”
They each take a chair and when Jane joins them, she and Francois sit down on the sofa. She wears Francois’ oversized T-shirt and sits very close to him. Nico wonders whether she has anything on beneath the T-shirt. He finds her extremely sexy and now he sees far too much of her leg. She is a dazzling lady. She awakes something in a man.
She smiles at Nico as if she is reading his thoughts: “Thank you for allowing me to join your group, Nico. You three are ex-soldiers and I don’t even know how to assemble a rifle.”
Nico looks at Hunter. “Major, you will train her well there on the farm, won’t you?”
Hunter smiles: “I will leave that for Chloe. I have a feeling you two will make an interesting combination.”
Jane frowns at Hunter. “Chloe?”
“One of the farm owners. You are more or less of the same age. Her father was my staff-sergeant and he trained her well in many ways. She isn’t a cage fighter like you, but she knows dangerous and dirty tricks that you won’t learn because you would never be allowed to perform those tricks in the cage.”
Jane’s eyes widen. “She sounds interesting. I can’t wait to meet her. Dirty tricks, what type are they?”
“The type that can hospitalise or kill you.”
She shakes her head: “Wow!”
Jack is anxious to get things going. “Okay, Nico, let’s get our plans ready. Will you start by summing up our situation?”
Nico nods. “Okay, Jane, we dealt our secret with you last night that our initial group of eight were chosen to help the professor with his mission and that’s why we won’t join you at the farm. We will join the community in a month. You wanted to know why we couldn’t discuss it fully there. Has Francois told you?”
Jane and Francois look at each other and smile naughtily.
Nico laughs. “I presume you were too engaged in other activities up to now. To make it short: the professor is going to be our group’s leader during the coming time. He is the man who knows to find a cure amongst the survivors to end this hell in which the earth will fall. Jack, Francois and I made it our mission to protect the professor right from the start. We are going to remain behind in a secret hide-out which is equipped to let us survive for a month. Our first task after this month will be to get this group of Johan safely to the farm from where he will start to fulfill his mission. We couldn’t tell all the people about this because they would have lost their trust in us if they had known.”
Jane nods. “Okay, I understand, but I am going to miss my Frenchie a lot.”
Francois winks at her: “It is only a month; then we are there, I promise.”
Nico continues. “Good, our group of eight is well equipped to survive for a month and will be sufficiently armed when we surface and try to join you on the farm. But we are concerned about the farm community’s safety. Yesterday at the meeting I ensured that Hunter was appointed as the leader of security and law and order for the community, so everyone knows where he/she stands with him. We are, however, worried about the short time left and you will need weapons and ammunition and it will take meticulous planning. That is why we have assembled here today.”
There is a knock on the front door and Jack frowns at Jane. “Are you expecting someone?”
Jane shakes her head from side to side. “No, I am not aware of someone visiting me on this Sunday. It could maybe be one of my classmates who wants to discuss something or needs advice. We frequently are studying together but then only in the city library. I can’t imagine that she would come here without phoning in advance.”
Jane wants to rise, but Francois prevents her. “Wait here! I will investigate!”
Jack follows Francois to the front door and the Frenchman peeps through the keyhole and shakes his head despondently. Jack whispers: “What is it?”
“The task team is here.”
They hear Morrison’s heavy American accent: “Open up! We know you are in there and we are not going anywhere until you have opened the door.”