The Rain: The End by Marietta Standlee (good summer reads TXT) 📕

I take in as much of it as possible during our ride.

Martin was right; Alfredo's really is just a hole in the wall. It looks like a place inside a small strip mall, not far from the Commissary. Even the inside looks generic, but only at first. The entire restaurant is packed, standing room only, and the smell. Oh my, the delicious smell!

"It's full!" Colin protests as Martin pulls us towards the back of the room.

Where we discover a lone, empty booth, a three-quarter circle, enough for eight people. Smack dap center is a large sign, reading Reserved, Martin laughs; I haven't seen him this giddy and happy in a long time.

"He reserves this table for us, every day, all day long. He has a list of names that are allowed to sit here." He explains.

I'm impressed and am about to climb into the booth when arms envelop me from behind. Instinct kicks in, my head moves forward and is just about to flip back for the mother of all headbutts, when I recognize the voice.

"So good to see you!" Alfredo himself.

His hold on me loosens just enough for me to turn and to be wrapped into a huge bear hug. He smells delicious, like yeast, fresh bread, tomatoes.... you get the picture.

Smiling, he finally releases me. "I'm so glad you're not dead."

I laugh and reply, "Wow, I get that a lot lately."

Alfredo slaps Colin on the arm. "You too."

Colin slaps him right back before enveloping him into a man hug. "What can I get you, kids? Anything you want on the house."

My mouth salivates so badly I can't get a word out. Colin has pity on me and orders a huge pizza for all of us. A waitress walks by with a tray full of wings and a pitcher of beer. Alfredo grabs her arm and pulls her towards us.

"Here, wings to start with, beer. Drink. Go fetch some glasses." He instructs the speechless girl.

Between mouths full of food, Colin and I entertain our friends with our exploits in Europe. Sometime between telling them about Ka and the maniac abductions, the pizza arrives.

"This beats dinosaur meat," I say between bites.

"Dinosaur meat?" Maggie turns up her nose.

"I hope you're not saying what I think you are," Martin warns.

"She did, though." Colin drapes his free arm around me.

"It was delicious," I enlighten my rapt audience. "Hey, we should go out and hunt some of those suckers, you really should try it. So much juicier than turkey."

Blake makes a gagging face, but it doesn't stop him from grabbing another slice of pizza.

"Looks like you guys have been busy." I prompt after a while.

Martin leans back, wiping tomato juice off his chin. "You can say that. Between organizing scavenging crews and guards for the fields, there has not been much time for anything."

"You've got a list of soldiers to join the cross-training?" Colin asks Blake.

"A preliminary; I figured we'll work on it together tonight." His dad answers.

"Awesome." Colin looks bored. I smirk. I know there are about a thousand things he would rather do, including a root canal and jumping out of a plane.

"I'll help." I offer, before turning to Maggie, "What have you been up to?"

Martin answers for her. "Maggie is our new weapons Commander."

I raise my eyebrows. "Sounds impressive."

"It's not." Maggie laughs. "I basically just keep track of inventory; occasionally, I get to train some newbies on guns before they enter the real training."

"We've been thin spread, as I said. Ah, here comes our newest training officer." Martin announces.

We turn and watch Alex walk toward us; his gait is just slightly off. It takes me a second before I realize he must have finally gotten his foot prosthesis. I jump up and hug him. "Alex!"

"Hey Viv!" he laughs and pulls me into his arms. "Good to see you."

"Training officer?" I ask impressed.

He laughs it off. "Yeah, they're so short-handed they even put cripples like me to work."

He scoots into the booth and reaches for a pizza slice while Maggie fills a glass with beer for him. Martin waves at the waitress for more.

"Cripple my ass." Blake jokes. "He put two guys down yesterday."

Alex waves it off, "Newbies."

"He'd be much rather be on guard duty, like me." I hear a familiar voice.

Drew squeezes in, and I hug him behind Maggie's back, who twists like a pretzel to give us room.

"Don't worry, I have excellent connections with the man who is putting a team together to kick some alien ass," I promise.

"First, we'll have to let the aliens kick our asses." Colin corrects, to which I grumble some choice curse words.

Alfredo steps forward with a tray of assorted desserts, coffee, and plates.

"Thank you." I say from the bottom of my heart, beaming gratefully at him.

"Since everything is always on the house, this is the least I can do for you," he laughs.

And it's true, since the alien invasion, money means nothing; we all must work and chip in, everybody in their own way. So whatever services there are, food like Alfredo, or hospital, it's all free. Yay, for us.

Part 9

Discoveries

Chapter 1

Thenext few days pass by in a blur of activity. Martin and Blake organize training activities so all the soldiers, Russian, militia, and military alike, will learn to fight together. In all, we have twenty-five hundred men and women under our command. A mind-blowing number compared to the amounts Colin and I are used to commanding. Colin has more experience with this than me, but it's a big number of soldiers to be responsible for, even for him.

On the other hand, it's a small number compared to what the aliens will be able to assemble. I don't even understand why the alien President insisted on us sending troops to them. Twenty-five hundred is a pitiful number, especially considering