Transmission

Kevin dove into the car, where Luna was already working with the key, trying to make the thing start.

“I thought you knew what you were doing,” he said.

“This is different from my cousin’s truck,” she replied. “Give me a minute.”

Kevin looked over the dashboard at the advancing horde of scientists. “I’m not sure that we have a minute.”

“Wait, I think I’ve got it!” The engine didn’t exactly roar to life, given how small the car was, but it started. Luna threw it into gear, and they lurched forward, crunching it against the car in front.

“Other way,” Kevin said.

“Do you want to drive?” Luna shot back. She managed to get it into reverse, backing out of the parking space with another scrape of metal on metal. She put the car back into drive and they set off for the gate.

A protester flung himself in front of the car, bouncing off the hood and then rising to his feet, apparently unharmed. Kevin had seen Ted shoot the controlled scientists without it stopping them though, so he doubted the car had done much. Another flung itself onto the hood, holding on tight, white-pupiled eyes staring straight at them.

“Get it off! Get it off!” Luna yelled.

Kevin wasn’t sure how he was supposed to do that, but he did his best. Rolling down the window on his side, he leaned out, wrenching at the protestor’s grip. He yanked, and the protestor fell clear, tumbling to the concrete.

They were clear then, driving away through the NASA compound, heading for the highway while controlled people trailed after them. The small car burst out onto the roads, and Kevin looked around, hoping that he would see people just going about their business, half hoping that there would be cops there who would stop them for driving so erratically, so that they could warn people about what was happening.

Instead, people stood by the sides of the road, perfectly still as they stared at the sky.

“The vapor’s spreading,” Kevin said.

Luna nodded. “We have to get to our parents. Now.”

 They barreled down the road. Kevin could see Luna’s knuckles were white on the steering wheel as she drove, her face set with concentration. Despite that, they wove and braked as she struggled to get used to it. If there had been other people driving there, Kevin had no doubt that they would have crashed within the first mile. Instead, the only other cars on the roads were stationary ones, abandoned at the sides, or occasionally just in the middle of the highway while their owners got out to stare at the sky.

This was his fault. If he’d never said anything about what he’d seen, if he’d never led people to the rock, then this wouldn’t have happened. There wouldn’t be people standing there as blankly as mannequins, the effect spreading…

His mother. She would be out there, not knowing what was happening. Not knowing what to do. Would she be safe? What if she was like them here? No, Kevin couldn’t stand that thought. Kevin got his phone out, trying to call his mother to warn her. He wasn’t surprised to find a half dozen missed calls from her, all the messages wanting to know where he was. He called her back.

“Kevin?” she said as she picked up. “Kevin, where are you? Where have you been? You weren’t home when I got back. I’ve been going out of my mind!”

Kevin sighed with relief because, by the sound of it, his mother was still very much occupying her own mind.

“Mom, I’m with Luna,” he said.

“Luna? What are you two doing? Where are you? There’s stuff on TV… They’re saying all kinds of things.”

“It’s hard to explain, Mom,” Kevin said. “We went to the NASA institute to warn people that the aliens had tricked us, but we were too late.”

“The aliens?” Kevin’s mother said. “Kevin, you went all that way? It wasn’t safe, and—”

“Mom,” Kevin said, “you have to listen to me. There was a kind of gas or something inside the rock. It changes people, it lets the aliens control them. You have to find a facemask, or a place that isn’t open to the air.”

“Kevin,” his mother said. “This really doesn’t sound—”

“I’m not crazy, Mom,” Kevin insisted, before his mother could finish it. “I’m not. Just look at the TV. If you don’t believe me, Luna will tell you.”

He held out the phone for Luna to speak. He wasn’t sure if it was such a good idea, distracting her like that, but he needed to do something to try to keep his mother safe.

“Ms. McKenzie, it’s all true,” Luna said. “You need to listen to me. I saw it. I saw the scientists change… Yes, I know it sounds crazy, but I swear it’s true. We’re coming to get you now.”

She jerked the wheel sharply to avoid another car and Kevin pulled the phone away.

“Mom? We’ll be there as soon as we can. If anyone tries to get in, look at their eyes. If their pupils are white, don’t let them in. Even us. And Mom? I love you.”

It probably wasn’t a cool thing to say, but right then, Kevin didn’t care. He wanted his mother to know.

“I love you too,” his mother said. “Whatever this is, we’ll find a way to sort it all out.”