"Three o'clock," Doc said as he got out.
"Four thousand two hundred thirty-eight," 10k said. I looked up to him from the ground and nodded.
"Kid's on a roll," Doc said.
"Okay, talk about 'I want to believe,'" Addy said.
"The only thing the good people of Roswell believe in is liberating money from suckers," Murphy said.
"Looks like we got some believers inside," Warren said. We walked around the building to the door.
"Are you here for the Visitors?" The man inside asked us.
"Visitors?" Warren asked.
"I think he means-" Murphy gestured to the painted alien head on the wall.
"Have you been touched by Bernadette?" The man asked coming up to Warren.
"Who?" She asked.
"Don't worry. I'm Roy. I'll help you with the orientation." He said.
"Orientation?" She asked.
"Yeah. For the exodus." He said.
"What exodus?" Vasquez asked.
"It's okay to be confused. Many new arrivals are. We had a guy from Riverside, Iowa, show up, thought he was a starship captain." Roy said laughing.
"Are we supposed to understand what the hell you're talking about?" Murphy asked.
"You've been drawn here by inexplicable visions of leaving the planet on a chariot of fire, right?" Roy asked.
"No. We were drawn here by inexplicable visions of finding food and gas." Doc said from in front of me.
"You didn't have a dream of a large elongated human form with almond eyes telepathically urging you to come to Roswell at this appointed time?" Roy asked.
"Nope," Warren said passing Doc and me.
"We did see some really strange lights in the sky last night though," 10k said. I turned around and busted out laughing when I saw 10k wearing alien glasses.
"Everything's strange to you. You grew up in a cave." Murphy said. 10k followed him with his eyes.
"Well, the important thing is that you're not too late. Let me show you around before Bernadette returns. I'll introduce you to your fellow Xtronauts." Roy said walking into the next room. 10k looked at me and raised his eyebrows repetitively making me laugh.
"Xtronauts?" Doc asked. We stopped fooling around and followed them. "Hey, man. These... these aliens that you're looking for, they're not the probing kind are they?" Doc asked.
"No. We are not abductees. Those people are crazy. We're inductees. We've been invited, not kidnapped. We refer to ourselves as Xtronauts because we will be the first humans to explore the alien world." He explained.
"So, ummm. How do you plan on doing that exactly?" Murphy asked.
"The Visitors are coming to save us from the apocalypse. We have been chosen, and they're almost ready. Just six more days. Bernadette is in close contact with them.
"Bernadette?" Warren asked.
"We've all seen them. But she's the only one they communicate with." He said.
"And Roy, the... the aliens that you communicate with, do they by any chance use a radio?" Addy asked wanting to contact Citizen Z.
"Radio is far too primitive for them. They don't need our technology. They communicate with her telepathically." Roy explained. We all nodded. Crazy town.
"Finally. They are here." A tall, blonde, skinny woman said. "It's happening just like they said it would. Strangers have arrived." She smelled Doc. "Among them will be the one the Visitors are waiting for." She walked in front of Warren. "They said, and here he is. The Emissary." She said hugging Murphy.
"Oh, oh, okay," Murphy said uncomfortably. Everyone around us clapped.
"10k, Karma, Keep watch," Warren said while the others went inside. We nodded and went back to the jeep. 10k sat on the roof and I sat in the exposed trunk.
"Four thousand two hundred thirty-nine. Four thousand two hundred forty." He said.
"Good job"
"Hey, karma?" He asked. I hummed in response. "You don't talk about your dad much."
"Charlie? You were with him." I said confused.
"No I mean, before him." He said.
"Umm, well." I took a breath. "I was adopted when I was six by a guy named Michael. He raised me up until I was about eight, he passed away on a mission and Charlie took me in. I didn't really know the guy that well. I was only with him for about two to three years. why?" I asked.
"I was just wondering. I'm curious about your backstory. We all have one. Mack and Addy were at a hockey game when they met and survived until they met Warren, Doc, and Garnett. You know my story." He trailed off. I just nodded.
"Look, my birth father was not a good man. He was wrapped up in some bad stuff. I don't really know what just that I was taken away and then adopted. All I know is what happened after that. I don't even know where I'm from. I took a DNA test and I'm mostly Latina. I was raised American though." I said.
"Do you speak Spanish?" He asked.
"Among others," I replied.
"That's cool." He said. He hopped down and stood in front of me. He put his hands on my thighs. "Ready to go?" He asked.
"Yup," I said. He moved his hands to my hips and effortlessly lifted me off the jeep and onto the ground. We walked into the building where the others were.
"Okay. The lunatics have taken over the asylum. Time to go." Murphy said as we walked over to our group.
"What about that aircraft "thing" we saw? That can fly us out of here." Warren said. 10k pulled a chair around.
"There's an Air Force base here actually. They abandoned it back in the '60s. But that's just a cover story." 10k said pulling me onto his lap. Warren gave us a smile.
"Well, I want to believe in UFOs. I mean if somebody wants to fly my ass off this godforsaken planet, I'm cool with it." Doc said.
"Are you serious? Are we actually talking about going to an abandoned Air Force base in Roswell to see if we can find a UFO to fly us to California?" Murphy said looking around.
"Well, when you say it like that" Doc said.
"You mean in English?" Murphy said.
"Look. We did see something. And that something was flying, which means there's a ground crew with fuel, food, and communication. And I want to get a look at that base." Warren said.
"Maybe your buddy Dan can show us the way... to Pluto," Murphy said.
"I can show you." The blonde lady said next to me.
"I jumped out of 10k's lap and screamed. I fell on the floor and 10k fell with me, trying to catch me. Vasquez had his gun towards her, looking as rattled as I was.
"Oh my god. How long have you been there?" Murphy asked rattled too.
"A while." She said.
"Okay. That's not creepy." Murphy said. I stood up and brushed the dirt off my bottom. I sat back down on 10k's lap.
"I can show you where the base is. It's not far. I go there all the time. That's where they contact me." She said.
"The aliens?" Warren asked.
"They prefer the term Visitors." She said offended.
"Who knows, maybe we'll find a plane and a radio," Warren said.
"Or bigfoot." Murphy chimed in.
"Hey, don't laugh. My uncle had a Sasquatch pelt." 10k said. I giggled and leaned into him.
"Come. I'll show you." She said.
"Those things are really starting to freak me out," Addy said.
"I'd like to know who and what is doing that," Doc said.
"I've seen chain saws do that. Sort of." Vasquez said.
"Yeah, that's not human technology. Just saying." I said.
"Well stop just saying," Murphy said, getting annoyed with the two of us. 10k wrapped his arms around my waist as we stood in the back of the jeep.
"The Visitors did this. They were protecting me." Bernadette said.
"Slow down, girlfriend. We don't want to run into any zombies." Warren said as we walked into the building.
"Don't worry. They won't let anything happen to me." She said.
"You don't happen to know if that applies to us too, do you?" Doc asked. She just smiled.
"Wow. Look at this high tech alien technology." Murphy said picking up a landline.
"Bernadette, you don't know if there's any radio equipment around here that maybe the Visitors may have used?" Warren asked.
"There's a room with old electrical stuff. There might be a radio in it." She said.
"Yeah, where would that be?" Addy asked.
"Right behind you," Bernadette said, like it was common knowledge we were supposed to know.
"We'll check out the radio. Why don't you guys see what else you find." Warren said.
"Be careful," Vasquez said.
"You too," she said. Me and the boys followed Bernadette to a hanger.
"Wel... come ET," Doc said as he read the words on the ground written in whatever debris they could find.
"We didn't find a radio," Warren said joining us.
"We did find some Zs though," Addy said.
"Surprise, surprise." Murphy cheered.
"Rest of the place is gutted," Vasquez said.
"Well somebody's got nice handwriting," Doc said.
"I did that. This is where they're going to land." Bernadette said with her arms stretched wide.
"What makes you so sure that these aliens are the good guys anyway?" Murphy asked.
"Leave her alone, Murphy," Warren warned.
"They won't save everyone. Only the ones who've been called. They've seen what we did to ourselves. They don't want us doing it to them. But they believe there's still hope for some of humanity." She explained.
"You better hope they have a higher opinion of humanity than I do," Murphy said.
"What about the top-secret areas?" I asked. She didn't say anything just glared at me.
"You know more about this base than you're telling us, don't you?" 10k added. She looked down at the ground.
"Bernadette, is there some kind of hidden base that you're not telling us about?" Warren asked.
"They told me only to bring the Emissary." She said.
"Why?" Warren asked.
"I don't know. That's what the voices say." She said.
"The voices?" I asked.
"The voices. I hear them. In the light."
"What do the voices say?" Murphy asked.
"I don't understand it when I first hear it. Only later does it make sense. I just know what they mean. They want to take us away to a better place. They said it would be soon. They're making repairs, but they'll be finished soon."
"Wow, far out," Doc commented.
"And what do they want with me?" Murphy asked.
"They didn't say." She said.
"Maybe you're the alien cure too." Vasquez joked.
"Great. Just great." Murphy said.
"So how long have you been in contact with these Visitors?" Warren asked approaching her.
"At first, I was like everyone else. I saw the lights in the sky, but I had no idea what they were. And then one night, I was about to be killed by Zs. I was ready to die. And then the light came and it spoke to me and protected me. They led me here." She said.
"Can you take us there, this place where you hear the voices?" Warren asked.
"Yes," Bernadette said smiling. I have absolutely no good feelings about this at all.