Uninvited Ch. 04: The Way Home

He rose to his feet, retrieving his gun, and I followed behind him as he led me around the property to the back of the building. His farm was laid out much the same as mine was, he had a large barn near the farmhouse where he probably stored tools and machinery, and a grain silo for storing his harvest that would presumably be emptied into a hauler and carted off for processing at the end of the season. At least if those haulers were even running now that the aliens had been ousted. As we neared the red barn painted in the traditional Midwestern style, I noticed that there was a hole in one of the walls, splintered wood scattered about the ground. It looked as if a damned rhino had barreled straight through the side of the structure. Kadavy gestured to it, his shotgun resting across his arm.

"Any idea what did this? Something big came through in the night, broke into the barn and stole damn near all of my tools, whatever it was took a fair share of my dried food stock too. Set the dogs barking somethin' crazy, I let 'em loose and went to fetch my shotgun, but by the time I got out to the barn the thief was gone and the dogs...my dogs were dead. I'm too old to be fightin' another war, but you're fresh off the battlefield. Tell me, you ever see one of those aliens do anything like this? Has to be an alien, ain't no coyote big enough to smash through the wall like that."

I crouched to examine the splinters of painted wood, looking for tracks in the dirt maybe, but I was no detective. It was obvious that something big had done this, that was about all I could tell without more information.

"I'm...not sure," I said, straightening up and walking through the jagged hole. It was tall and wide enough that I didn't need to duck. "I've seen a few different species that could do this, as to which one it might be, and why they would be all the way out here I can't say."

My blood ran cold as I thought of Vi. We had arrived a couple of days ago, she was the only alien in the area that I knew of, surely she wouldn't have left the house at night to do this? She had still been wrapped around me when I had woken up that morning, as if she hadn't moved at all. No, she wouldn't do that, but letting Kadavy know about her right now might be a bad idea. It would probably be wise to keep her under wraps for the time being.

"You said that whatever did this took food?"

"Yeah," Kadavy said, walking through the hole to join me in the barn. "I had a stock of dried food for emergencies, fortunately your war never reached us here, at least until now..."

"Maybe that was what attracted it?"

"Likely, whatever it was took my tools too, what would they want with those?"

I shook my head, unsure. A lot of aliens had left the cities when the ADVENT network went down, some in significant numbers. Nobody in XCOM had really known how that would play out, where would they go, what would they do? We had no idea how Mutons or Vipers, or even Chryssalids behaved when the Elder's control over them was lost and they reverted to their natural state. I walked out of the barn, shielding my eyes against the sun with my hand and looking out over the surrounding landscape. It was mostly fields, but off in the distance were pockets of dense forest, the area was so sparsely populated that a goddamned dinosaur could hide out here and go unnoticed. Suddenly the picturesque, peaceful countryside of my childhood seemed oppressive and hostile. Imaginary eyes watched me from the trees, whose eyes were they, Muton? Viper? Suddenly I missed the comforting weight of my rifle on my shoulder.

"Are you alone here, Mister Kadavy?" I asked, turning to him.

"No, my wife lives with me, and until recently two dogs."

"Do you have transport? Can you get to me in an emergency? If whatever made this hole comes back tonight to steal the rest of the food, don't try to fight it. Conventional ammunition won't scratch a lot of these creatures, have a vehicle ready to go on short notice. I kept my service rifle and I have a...friend who may be able to help."

"I appreciate the offer, my wife will certainly sleep easier. I can fuel up the old Ford and park it out front." He straightened his wide brimmed hat and started to walk towards the house, I trailed a short distance behind him as he made his way up the grassy incline. "Let me get ye the number of my handyman, I'm sure he's not too busy these days, I think me and Matilda were the only ones who didn't get relocated to the city after the incident at the ADVENT facility down the way."

"Oh? They practically forced me out at gunpoint, you're saying they didn't try to relocate you at all?"

"Nope, they never came to see us. Maybe we were far enough away from the facility that they didn't think we were a risk."

Maybe, I thought, or perhaps they just didn't have a use for the elderly or the infirm in their gene clinics. The idea made me shudder, all those people floating in tanks, their bodies being broken down into genetic soup for use in the Elder's sick experiments. We arrived at the door of the farmhouse, and I waited outside while Kadavy entered and picked up what must be a phone book from a desk in the hall, wetting his thumb with his tongue and leafing through the pages.

"Ah, here we are, let me write this down for you." He scrawled the number on a stray scrap of paper and handed it to me, patting my shoulder. "I'm sure I'll be seein' you again soon, I put my number down too, give me a call if you need any farming advice."

I nodded and thanked him, shaking his leathery hand again before leaving, descending the verdant hill the house was built upon and returning to my truck. I hopped in and slammed the door, revving the engine and starting off down the dirt track towards home. I would give this handyman a call later, if he was a jack of all trades maybe he could help with other things too. Did I have anything to pay him with? Food? Ammunition? Perhaps favors were the only legal tender these days, I doubted that any ADVENT currency I had stashed in the house would be worth anything now that the regime had fallen. Damn, when you were fighting on the front lines of a revolution, things like currency inflation and food shortages were the last things on your mind. I looked out of the window again at the passing wheat fields, the forest in the distance taking on a foreboding quality. Vi would need to hunt soon to acquire a source of fresh meat, was it safe to let her go out alone with an unknown alien rampaging through the neighborhood? Hell, she would stand a better chance than me or Kadavy if she met it, but I didn't like the idea all the same.

I pulled into the garage, and Vi was waiting for me eagerly, her hood extended happily. She must have heard the truck's engine. I hopped out of the vehicle and gave her an affectionate scratch under the chin as she leaned down into range of my arm. I brandished the piece of paper Kadavy had given me.

"Looks like we have someone who might be able to help with repairs, I'll give them a call tomorrow, it's a little late in the afternoon now. You hungry?"

She nodded, probably not understanding everything I had said, but enough to know that it was time to eat. She followed me into the pantry where my stash of canned food was located, enough to last me a good while, however insufficient to feed a giant Viper for very long. We would really have to get off our asses, smooth or scaly, and figure out how we were going to hunt. I could probably buy meat from a neighboring farm if we were unsuccessful, but if we could get something for free we should, I wasn't sure what the economic situation was going to be like going forward. In a few months these cans of spam might be worth their weight in gold.

I filled a cooking pot with a few cans of meat and stirred the mixture as it heated up, Vi hovering nearby, watching the wooden spoon turn hungrily. When it was ready I poured the processed meat into two bowls, her portion consisted of several servings, and I doubted even that was really enough to sate her hunger. She had been accustomed to guzzling down slabs of fresh antelope or elk meat during our time on the Avenger, whatever local fauna happened to be unlucky enough to be standing near the ship when it set down. She ate without complaint though, wolfing down the nondescript meat in great mouthfuls. I preferred to take my time, being a puny human who actually needed to chew his food before digestion, and when I had finished the sun was beginning to dip below the horizon. I remembered the damage to Kadavy's barn, perhaps I should ask Vi about it, but that could wait until morning.

The old man would have to find out about Vi eventually if he was going to visit the farm at any point in order to help me with getting everything up and running, I couldn't very well ask her to stay hidden forever. Would he let his experiences in the war color his opinion of her? The best I could hope for was probably mistrust and suspicion, if not outright hostility. The aliens were stuck here now, nobody was coming to take them home and we couldn't genocide them, that would make us no better than the Elders. People would have to learn to tolerate their presence, perhaps when the initial anger and xenophobic fervor died down they might even be integrated into human society, it had more or less worked out under ADVENT rule. At least that was my hope.

"You ready for bed?"

Vi nodded her large head, and left the table, winding her way up the stairs to our bedroom.

Something woke me, a noise, like wood breaking. I snapped my eyes open and sat up, listening intently in the darkness. Vi was roused on the bed beside me, her long coils shifting as they rested on top of me, she raised her head on her flexible neck as her tongue flicked the air.

"Shush, what is that," I whispered. There was another splintering sound, this time loud and clear. It was coming from the direction of the barn, the damned alien must be hitting our farm tonight. We were miles away from Kadavy's property, why had it come so far? I crept out of bed and inched over to the bedroom window, easing it open and hanging my head out into the cool night air. This wall faced the barn, I should be able to see the thing. It was as black as ink outside, the moon hidden behind dark clouds, I could barely see three feet in front of me. I could hear it though, something large moving near the property.

"Vi, get your gun."

She slithered out of bed to drop silently to the wood floor, slipping out of the door and down the stairs in search of the service weapon XCOM had allowed her to keep when she had been discharged. Her plasma rifle was in the cupboard in the hall, along with my conventional assault rifle. I followed after her, wincing as the old steps creaked under my weight. Whatever it was probably couldn't hear it, but you never knew with aliens.

I fumbled for my rifle, Vi was already armed and waiting by the back door, her night vision apparently better than mine. I joined her, stacking at the door like we were about to breach an enemy stronghold. This wasn't an XCOM raid damn it, but it was hard to shake such ingrained instincts. I counted to three in a hushed whisper, then I hit the light switch for the external lamps and we pushed through the door and into the courtyard. The barn was lit in a dull yellow glow now, not ideal but better than pitch darkness, at least some of the electrical systems still worked. We marched forward slowly, rifles at the ready, and I spied the hole that had been smashed in the wall of the barn. What the hell was it after? We didn't have any food stored in the barn like Kadavy did, just the tractor and some building supplies. Was that what it wanted?

I could hear shuffling, as if something massive was walking around, inspecting the property maybe. If it was an alien it might be totally lost, cut off from the ADVENT network and scrounging to survive, did that give us the right to shoot the thing?

"Don't shoot unless it moves to attack us," I whispered, and Vi hissed her understanding. I waved her forward, and we blocked the wide hole, aiming our weapons inside the barn. There was a shape in the darkness, a massive silhouette that I could barely make out. It was huffing and sniffing like some kind of bear, metal clashing as it rummaged through one of my toolboxes, discarding unwanted screwdrivers and hammers on the ground. It paused, seeming to notice that it was being observed, and turned very slowly to face us. It was taller than a human, and bulky, built like a gorilla. As it watched us I recognized the beady, yellow eyes as they reflected what little light penetrated the slats of the old barn.

Muton.

It bellowed angrily, and began to lumber towards me, but seemed to hesitate when it saw Vi. It peered at her with its emotionless eyes, deeply set beneath its heavy brow, perhaps confused as to why we were together. It advanced cautiously and we kept our weapons trained on it. As it stepped into the light I noticed that it wasn't wearing armor, just the dark green undersuit that their combat armor would usually be affixed to. It wasn't armed either, though by no means did that make the creature less of a threat, I had seen them tear soldiers limb from limb when cornered like some enraged primate.

It seemed to be growing more agitated now, and staggered a little closer to us. Suddenly it lunged, leaping forward with a surprising burst of wild speed and barreling past us as we scrambled out of the way. I turned and aimed my weapon at it, expecting it to spin around and come at us a second time, but it was charging away from us and into the corn field. It disappeared between the unkempt shoots, the sound of its huffing breath fading as it vanished into the distance.

Vi lowered her rifle and cocked her head at me, as if to say 'what was that all about?'

"I don't know, I don't know..."

It had not attacked us, it had just wanted to get away. Mutons were a tribal race, where there was one there were certainly others, this could be a serious problem. Could a squad of Mutons who had been confused and lost after being disconnected from the ADVENT network have formed a tribe and wandered out of the city? Could they have gotten this far outside of the population centers? Where were they living? What were they eating?

"Looks like we've got a problem on our hands, Vi."

She hissed angrily in the direction the alien had fled, turning back to wind her way towards the farmhouse. I knew a lot about Vipers, but not much about Mutons, besides how much lead it took to bring one down. I would have to give Kadavy a call the next morning, perhaps he knew other people in the area and could alert them too. The Mutons might not necessarily have hostile intentions, but if someone pointed a gun at one, they would defend themselves with likely deadly results. I doubted the aliens were up to date on Earth's property and trespassing laws. I followed Vi back into the house, but I left the outside lamps on just in case the intruder came back and brought his friends. We had better keep the guns in the bedroom for the rest of the night.

"Mutons," Kadavy muttered, walking around the hole that the alien had punched in the side of my barn. "I remember them from the first war, brutal creatures, strong as an ox and nigh impossible to bring down. What are they doin' out here?"

"I don't know," I replied, standing beside Vi as he eyed her warily. Now that the culprit had been identified I felt more comfortable revealing Vi's presence, though Kadavy hadn't really warmed up to her yet. "I had heard reports that the aliens were leaving the cities to escape the fighting, they must have somehow wandered out this far."

"And your...Viper, it's a defector? Is it safe to have that thing around people?"

"Yes, we've known eachother for a long time, she fought for XCOM during the revolution."

"Well," he grumbled, pulling his hat a little lower over his eyes, "if you say so. I'd rather not see it on my property if it's all the same to you."

"That's fine, I can keep her here. She's really harmless, understands English too."

"So what are we gonna do about this? These Mutons?"

"I don't really know. The one I encountered last night wasn't hostile, at least as far as Mutons go. It seemed to be scavenging for supplies, maybe food, I caught it rummaging through my tools. Thing about Mutons is they live in tribes, I think there's a fairly good chance that there are more than just one living out in the forests. I don't see where else they could be, unless there's some vacant farmhouse near here that you know of?" Kadavy scratched his greying beard as he thought on it for a moment.

"Well, only other farm around here is the Daugherty farm a ways East of you, and they got evicted by ADVENT, haven't seen head nor tail of 'em since."

"That's a possibility, it would make sense based on where they've been sighted up to now. Maybe we should get a few more people together and go check it out."

"You think that's wise?" Kadavy asked as he withdrew a packet of cigarettes from his pocket. He pinched one between his lips, then rummaged for a matchbox and struck one. He shielded the dancing flame behind his leathery hand, puffing until the cigarette was lit, then discarded the spent match on the ground. "We've got guns but we ain't no army, we're gonna need more than a handful of shotguns if we mean to drive them off. Back in the day a whole fireteam of professional soldiers fully armed with automatic rifles would have trouble with a Muton, never mind a few farmers with buckshot."

"I may be able to call in some favors with XCOM, but I'd rather avoid that unless it's absolutely necessary. Me and Vi will go scope out the old Daugherty farm, see what's what, if it's overrun by a whole tribe of the damned things then I'm calling in backup."

"Should call in a goddamned airstrike on the place, I don't need Mutons running around my property killing my livestock and trashing my machinery." He took a long draw of his cigarette, eyeing Vi up and down as she waited at my side. "You got that one trained like a damned dog, never seen anything of the like."

I restrained myself, resisting the urge to correct the old man. Vi was as intelligent as he or I, but this kind of prejudice was to be expected, it would take a lot of time for the general perception of the aliens to change. Besides, I wasn't sure Vi could even be offended, she seemed completely indifferent to his comments.

"Well, I'd better get goin'," Kadavy muttered, dropping his cigarette but and turning to walk back towards his truck. "Keep me in the know, if there are Mutons on that farm you're gonna need all the help you can get."

I waved him off as his old Ford pickup trundled down the dirt road, then I led Vi back inside the house. Twice now the Mutons had visited at night, perhaps they were inactive during the day. If we were going to scope out the Daugherty property it might be best to catch the aliens in what to them could qualify as the early morning, dusk for us. I'd make sure Vi understood what was going on, then we would drive over there tonight and check the place out.

CHAPTER 6: PEACE OFFERING

I drove the pickup down the dirt track as the sun began to dip below the horizon, Vi was coiled in the flatbed with her plasma rifle resting on the roof, her weight making the rear suspension dip as we bounced over the uneven road. I saw the Daugherty's silo poking up above the wild fields in the distance, this should be close enough. I slowed the vehicle to a stop and hopped out, retrieving my rifle from the passenger seat and slinging it over my shoulder as Vi dropped down heavily behind me.

"Remember, this is just a recon mission," I whispered, and Vi nodded, turning over her weapon in her hands to check its charge level. "We need to find some high ground, if we can get a look at the farmhouse and the barn from a good distance, that would be preferable to kicking down doors. Think you can get up on that silo without being seen?" She nodded her head, and started to slink off, her long body undulating as she crouched low to the ground. She vanished into the field like some kind of monstrous grass snake, and I set off in the opposite direction to circle around to where I assumed the house would be. All of these farms seemed to have a similar layout, though unlike Kadavy's this one was not built on elevated ground, meaning many of the structures were hidden behind the tall foliage from a distance. I was a little worried as I crept forward, if I surprised a Muton who happened to be lurking in the field, it would probably punch my head clean off before I even had time to shout for help. Maybe this wasn't the best idea, but it was the only option available to us right now.