Intruders: The Invasion: A Post-Apocalyptic, Alien Invasion Thriller (Book 1) Read Free

there.
    The lock popped open and I smiled like a kid at Christmas. I
quickly removed it and opened the locker. There was my booty.
    “Hello, my lovelies.” I removed everything from her locker
and shoved it into my backpack, including the lock. Then I high tailed it out
of there. As my old combats clicked on the freshly washed floor, I hummed a
merry tune.
    Yup. That had been one expensive wad of
gum . I hoped she’d enjoyed it before horking it at my mop.
    Was I afraid of getting caught? Nope. No one here knew my
real name. Joe paid me under the table. Luckily for me, it was just how he did
things. I wouldn’t be back here.
    I pushed through the side door leading to the back
staircase, as I didn’t think that using the main stairs or elevator would be
prudent at this time.
    I took the stairs two at a time and jumped the last five to
the bottom, then ripped the door at the bottom open and quickly booted it down
the hall. I was almost to the back door of the first floor when a voice made me
jump.
    “Hey!”
    I spun around on my heel, wondering what I’d do if it was
campus security. Giving up wasn’t an option. They’d take me to the cop shop no
matter what. So I prepared to run.
    Three guys were at the other end of the hall. These three
I’d seen before, leering at me and chuckling in the cafeteria as I’d washed the
floors. No doubt they were watching my ass. You keep pretty trim just eating
packages of crackers you pocketed from the kitchen, while the more wealthy
college students chowed down on steak sandwiches or pizza. The smells of which
are heavenly.
    But I told myself I didn’t like that crap anyway, as my
stomach growled over and over again.
    The middle one, the one I’d already pegged as the alpha of the
bunch, lifted his chin expectedly at me. His hair was perfect, and had more
product in it than I’d ever seen on a girl’s hair. The other two snickered,
chins down, glancing at each other in anticipation.
    This wasn’t good. Not even a little.
    I was in an empty lower hallway that was rarely used. They
must’ve spotted me walking through here before, and waited for me at the other,
darker end. I hadn’t seen them.
    Engaging them would seem like an invitation no matter what I
said, because when you say anything, you open up the lines of communication. So
even ‘piss off, jackwad’ can sound like, ‘hey, big boy, come talk to me’ to the
narcissist.
    So instead I spun on my heels and quickened my pace. I was
only about forty feet from the door.
    “Hey! Raggedy Ann! I’m talking to you! Want to make some
money? I know you can use the cash. It’ll be real easy.”
    I rolled my eyes and walked even faster. Thirty feet.
    “HEY!” The sound of footfalls running.
    I didn’t need to turn around to know they were now full out
chasing me, and their intensions were not honorable.
    But I’m a fast runner. It comes from running in the dead of
night when creepy guys suddenly appear behind me when my car is dead, again,
and I miss the last bus out of this place.
    Blasting through the door, I ran full-tilt across the slick,
icy walkway leading to the back end of the building, skidding and falling on my
knees. They were on me in a second. If one fell, there were two others to grab
me. Not many people around at this time of the night in the early winter. None
were at the back of the building. The parking area was empty. My idea was to
lay low and take the wooded walkway to the main parking lot where my car was
parked.
    But now I was alone with three assholes who wanted to take
something from me that I wasn’t willing to give. Not while I was alive, anyway.
    Maybe that didn’t matter to them.
    They could pretty much do what they wanted to me if they got
a good hold on me.
    “Get her behind those trees!” The leader of the pack
grunted. Excitement quickened his tone. His breaths were coming quick and
ragged. He’d been thinking about this for some time, apparently.
    One grabbed my wrists while the other