Thirty days.
The countdown has started, North America shivers under the shadow of a massive alien spacecraft, and humanity is hurtling toward an unknown future that lurks at the end of the timer. Somewhere, somehow, the heroes are making their plan...
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SOMEWHERE IN KANSAS, USA
August 27, DAWN
I snuck across the dew-damp grass, gun in one hand, bag of food in the other, dawn still an hour off. Behind me, the house was quiet. Of course it was. Nothing ever happens in Kansas town.
Want proof?
The aliens show up, literally the whole world goes insane, and my dad declares that he needs help patching the fence so the cows stop escaping. That's it. Oh, and that I probably shouldn't go shooting bullfrogs with the guys—on account of all the newcomers driving through.
Most people see the days counting down on the TV as a countdown to impending doom, but for me, it's a countdown for my last chance for adventure.
"Kip," I called softly across the lawn. "Kip, come here boy." I pulled out my dog whistle, and blew, then waited. Damn dog was probably off chasing coyotes—which was exactly why I'd trained him with the whistle. There was no way I was charging off across the country, in search of adventures, or aliens, without him.
Kip suddenly materialized behind the barn, his tongue lolling out of his mouth. I opened the creaking door of my truck—my pride and joy, besides Kip—and he launched himself into the passenger seat. Then I set my rifle in the back seat, along with my food.
The truck rumbled through the pasture, and I left the window open, breathing in the fresh air as my heart beat with the thrill of adventure. I'd felt the earthquakes shaking the land—but I wanted to see it. The ship. I want to be there when the countdown stopped and something finally happened. The back of my truck was already packed with spare bullets, three extra canisters of gasoline, and a pile of canned food from the cellar.
Adventure, aliens, a good dog and a working truck—what more could a guy ask for?
I roared down the highway, thinking about how I needed something more than this small town, that I needed to see the spaceship and crazy happenings for myself—
—then slammed on my brakes.
There, standing in the center of the highway, was a woman.
I'd been expecting military personnel, chaos, even green aliens with too many eyeballs, but this... this wasn't something I'd planned for. I slowed down, and cast a look at Kip. He just sat there, tongue lolling out, no opinion.
I eased the car slowly closer. The woman was youngish, maybe around sixteen. She would have been beautiful, dirty blonde hair and wide eyes, if not for the fact she looked like she'd been in a car crash, covered in scratches and scrapes. In fact, I glanced around, expecting to see a car in the ditch—but there was nothing but Kansas fields for days.
