Meeting and Running

Oh man, now I've done it. I managed to kill some sort of high ranked commanding officer in the Centron army and now they're after me. How do I know she was high ranked? The alien centron that found me while I was resting near the body told me so. I knew it was a bad idea to rest near the corpse I just made, but boy, I am not cut out for so much physical activity. It took too much to take down that officer, even after poisoning it. I just wanted to sit for five minutes. Turns out that I should have rested one minute less. I just needed one minute to hide and maybe I could have made it without being seen. Now they know what I look like and are swarming Mulholland Drive.

The stupid Centrons never thought to check the drainage system. Made it to Beverly Hills, but now I'm cut off from the valley. Cut off from home and all my bases. Went looking for a building good enough to make into a base and I found some sort of medical building on Brighton Way and Cannon Drive with a restaurant and a couple of other shops on the first floor. So, multi-storied with food, water, and medical supplies. Perfect. First thing I did was call the elevators to the first floor then cut the cables, open the hatches and put my grappling rope ladder to the hatch to climb out of the first elevator into the shaft. I just crafted it a few days ago. Still getting the hang of it. Then I broke into the main office, found a master key and started to explore it, deciding where to put traps. Oddly enough, the stairs next to the The Baldi kitchen don't go to the garage and the other stairs either lead out to an alley or down to the garage. Weird. Found a ton of metal pipes and other stuff in the first floor garage. Usable for a few traps. Now I need at minimum power tools to make pitfalls and such. Though finding those type of tools in Beverly Hills could be hard.

I wander the streets with the shopping cart I found in the garage, looking for a hardware store, keeping a vigilant eye out for air patrols. Found one on N Crescent Drive not too far from my new base. I loaded the cart with the corded power saws and everything else that would fit. That's when I heard it.

"Hello, I'm human." It didn't sound like the mechanized voices of the watch tech of the Centrons. It sounded female. I turn around while drawing my knife and see a teenage girl with few guns, an ammo belt, and a military bag.

"Never bring a knife to a gunfight."

"My aim is terrible, so I'll stick with my knife, thanks. So, what's your name?"

"My name is Ashley Jackson."

"Wait, the Ashley Jackson? I've managed to tap into the Centron communication network a few times. You've manage to cause a lot of damage to the Centrons since Fullerton. My name is Andy Calderon."

"Centrons. So that's what you call them. Okay. Wait, aren't you the guy that they're looking for up by Mulholland Drive? I saved a family up by Coldwater Canyon. Never seen Centrons try to interrogate humans before. There were too many to slip past them. Wait, YOU TAPPED INTO THEIR COMMS!"

"Stop shouting, you may attract their attention. A few of the Centron parts I used were faulty, I think. I got a few snippets through their translator till the receiver and the translator went kaput. Haven't managed to salvage any other alien parts yet."

"Wow, your skills..."

"SSssshhhhh...listen." 'Clop, clop, clop' "We got incoming!" As she rushes for cover behind an aisle, I rush to the register counter and duck under it. The Centron rushes in. I see her pull out a double barrel shotgun and fire. It knocks the Centron back a bit, so it must be a slug shell. The Centron makes it to the cart I left halfway to her, shoves it out of the way and the second shot is fired. I stop paying attention as the Centron partner trots in. I take my knife and stab the rear left leg of the second Centron and leave the knife. I hear another slug shell go off as I run away. The Centron pulls the knife out and lunges out with an energy blade to see that I'm almost around the counter. Another shot goes off as I double back and climb over the counter and draw another knife from my leg holster. The tight space makes it hard for the Centron to turn around to me. I hear another slug shell go off as I lunge forward and stab the right rear leg, angling the knife downward. I duck and roll into the aisle as the Centron kicks backward. Another slug shell goes off. Seeing me dodge, the energy blades are destroying the aisle and the counter, trying to make more space to turn. I hear automatic pistol fire. I just calmly wait for the Centron to turn around.

"Nice job trapping the, what you call it, Centron? I got it from here."

"Ashley, save your bullets. Wait for it."

"Wait for…" The Centron suddenly screams and spasms. "Wait, what is happening?"

"I poisoned it. The first knife was coated on the handle, the second on the blade." It stops moving and dies. "Apparently lavender is very poisonous to them. How I found out is a long story. Anyways, as soon as it seeps into their bloodstream, it does serious damage to them."

"Wait, seeps into the bloodstream? How does that work?"

"The guy who taught me how to coat poisons onto stuff said that the lavender acts as a contact poison as the Centron body soaks up the stuff like a sponge."

"Can that work on bullets?"

"Yeah, but eventually the coating wears off, so you've got to reapply. I'm staying nearby. Wanna stay with me? Wait, how did you kill the other Centron?"

"Six slug shells with my Remilton and half a clip of my Glock all in the same spot, over its heart. I was hoping to stop the first Centron so that the second Centron was stuck in between the first one and the door, since the Centrons always travel in pairs. I guess the Centron charged in. I'd be dead if you didn't stop the second one. Thanks."

"No problem. I did not hear an answer to my question. Also, the magazine holds the bullets. The clip is a part of it."

"Oh, right. I'm low on ammo, sleep, and out of water. Can you help with that?"

"I don't know how to help you with your ammo problem, but I can help you with a place to crash as well as something to drink. Follow me. You do know that the Centron armor is heaviest over the heart, right?" We continue talking and watching out for air patrols as we make it back to the medical building. I lead Ashley to a couch on the fourth floor and start making traps on the second floor. When she wakes up, she drinks some soda, we heat up whatever is in the freezer since there was no way the stuff in the fridge was not spoiled, and trade tactics and techniques.

"Why do you make traps?"

"I've got terrible aim and their armor is stupid strong, so I rely on traps. It's my forte. I'm better with my brain than my body anyways. The only person I've seen as good with guns as you is my dad. How did you get so good with them?"

"It's a little personal."

"You admitted that I saved your life earlier. I think I've earned a little personal."

"Wait, then I saved your life!"

"I wouldn't have gotten caught. They got attracted to your yelling."

"Well, my dad always wanted a boy, I guess, to follow the family military tradition. After my mom died, he coped at the gun range. I got better than he did. It's how we bonded. That's all there is to it. What does your dad do that he is as good with guns as I am?"

"He's in the military. A Ranger. I've met most of his Ranger friends, so I know a good shot when I see one. I hid in the Mike's bunker, who trained with my dad to become a Ranger. Where were you when the initial invasion started and the blue gas was dropped?"

"I was at Fullerton College over the spring break, visiting my cousin Stacy. She was sick, so the blue gas killed her. Been making my way back to the San Fernando Valley to try to get back to my Dad ever since, making the bastards pay along the way".

"Well, if he's military, they got pulled back to either Simi Valley or Santa Clarita. The Valley is a dead zone. Comms are down throughout SoCal so we can't call. Last comm I intercepted was that the Air Force had been pushed back to Death Valley."

"My dad's Air Force. Do you know where your family is?"

"Last I heard the Centrons had put up a kill list of people hampering the way. My parents are on that list…" We talked for a while at my new base and then went to sleep on different couches. Well, I hope this new companion doesn't die like the others.