Invasion Day: An Oral History of the Veech War by Micah Gurley (good books for high schoolers .TXT) 📕

We ended up in a small town, maybe not even a town, a place. A small place. It had a little country store and a catfish restaurant. Not much trouble for us to get into. Its name is Byhalia, Mississippi. They had us all camping around that restaurant, and we all ate catfish from the pond for the next week. We stayed in Byhalia for the next two years or so and then moved back to Memphis after everything had died down. The Veech weren't active in that area, so it was safe from them. We spent the rest of the war picking up the pieces, trying to stay fed and clear what we could of Memphis.

We lost tens of thousands in those first few days, tens of thousands more in the fires that swamped the city, and then more died trying to get away. Such a waste of life. Memphis's population is thirty percent of what it was before the invasion, but we haven't given up on her. She's a better place to live now than ever before. And (He smiles.) I never did finish high school.

Joseph and Carol Sutton

Near Midland, Texas

Joseph and Carol Sutton meet me on a large field outside of Midland, Texas. Once overflowing in cotton, the area now sits fallow, its rows of crops replaced with wild sage, giving visitors a beautiful view of one of the largest refugee camps after Invasion Day. They agreed to talk about life in the camp.

Joseph: Somehow, I thought it would be more difficult being back here, but it's hard to see it like this and remember the way it was back then.

Carol: It's still hot, but they did a fantastic job of cleaning it up. There must have been tons of garbage and other stuff left after it closed down.

Joseph: It has been a long time. (He points to a small creek in front of us and looks over at me.) That's where we met, somewhere along that creek, but I remember it being bigger back then.

I didn't get here until, man, I don't even know… maybe six days after Invasion Day. I didn't leave Llano right away, not until after the 1st battle of Houston. I thought the boys from Fort Hood would take care of the aliens. Everyone watched on the news as hundreds of tanks, helicopters, and thousands of soldiers attacked the aliens. You know how it went, the same as the 1st battle of D.C.

After that, all of Llano freaked and took off west like a swarm of locusts. The trip wasn't as bad as the Great I-40 Traffic Jam, but it was no picnic. We walked. Tens of thousands of us. People from dozens of small cities, at least those who were willing to leave. The trip took us days. The roads were utterly congested, but being Texans, many country boys just drove their 4x4s over the plains. Some of my cousins and I got a ride for a little part of it. Anyway, we all made it here—the fields around Midland.

I don't know who stopped or why they picked the area they did, but soon, other people began to stop at this place. Maybe it seemed far enough away, or maybe they were just too tired to go on, but by the time I got here, there were already hundreds of thousands camped in the fields that stretched miles wide.

I was just tired. I drove a courier truck for a living and wasn't in great shape. Not bad shape. I was only 26 at the time, but walking three days straight will wear you out. My cousins and I made it to an area that was on the edge of the crowd. We didn't want to be surrounded. We threw down what little we had and collapsed immediately. When we woke up, we were surrounded on every side like sardines, and all of our food was gone. (He laughs.)

Not great planning. We were exhausted, scared, and angry, but we had no idea what to do. Right next to us was a father and two young sons, 10 and 12, who made camp. His name was Randal, a skinny white guy who looked like a young Bill Gates, and by that, I mean a nerdy-looking professor type.

Carol: He did not look that nerdy, Joseph!

Joseph: (He nods his head behind his wife, then gives me a wink.) Sure, honey. Anyway, the first time I tried to talk to him, he pushed his kids behind him and pulled out a bowie knife that was a foot long. I stopped in my tracks. The guy might have looked like a professor, but he had ice in his veins. After ten minutes of me trying to appear as gentle as a church mouse, the guy relaxed. We talked – I listened to his story, told him ours – and agreed to help each other out as much as we could. He didn't have much food but offered us some.

The next day or so, we just sat and waited. People were still coming in from all over Texas. We had no idea what was happening with the war or the aliens, which had us all jumpy. Conditions in the camp were getting worse, and it had only been two days.

The army did help. Supplies were dropped in different spots around the camps by helicopters, but getting to them became a battle. People were hungry, and it started to get ugly. A first, we got enough to get by. It was rice and water, with a lot of MREs thrown in, but it was enough. My two cousins and I made a deal with Randal, who needed the supplies but didn't want to leave his kids. One of us took turns staying with the boys, and we would, in turn, share everything we got. This worked for