I assumed that Diane had filled the other girls in about what she saw. I supposed it doesn’t matter. I’m stuck with three rather uninhibited girls whether I liked it or not. I’ll just have to grin and bare it. I’ve already accomplished the ‘bare it’ part.

I waited until breakfast was finished before telling them what I wanted to do. “We have to go out again. We need to stock up on supplies while they’re still in one piece. As time goes on material goods will disintegrate and be useless.” 

“I though we couldn’t go out because of the snow,” Janet said. 

“It seems that George has a half-track army vehicle. That should get us into town despite the road conditions.” 

“What do we have to get that’s so important?” Sharon asked. 

“We need to scavenge all of the food in cans and hardened containers. We also need to stock up on ammunition and fuel, and it wouldn’t hurt to get more clothing.” 

“I suppose you’ll want us to take our guns,” Janet said. 

“Of course. You never know what we’ll run into.” 

They groaned, but they went along with my idea. I found George in the lower level lab. He was having some of the new gear in his android body worked on. 

“We’re going to take the half-track out and to get more supplies.” 

“Yes, that’s a fine idea, Jack Siefert.” 

With his approval, I made the girls get in the M3 half-track with their AK-47 assault rifles, which the robot workers had made fully automatic. They complained about the uncomfortable seats and the cramped conditions. They also complained about lugging the rifles and a bunch of clips full of ammo. I ignored them. 

I pulled out of the compound onto the two-lane road that ran to the main highway. The half-track went through the snow without a problem. 

“This thing rides like a old horse drawn wagon,” Sharon complained. 

“I hope we don’t have to go very far in this thing,” Janet said. 

“This vehicle was made for combat, not for a Sunday drive,” I told them. “At least it provides us with some armor protection.” 

After a bumpy hard ride, I pulled into a mall. We got out with our guns ready; although, we didn’t see any aliens or even dogs. It must be too cold for them. 

We stuffed carts full of clothing and toiletries, and anything else we could grab. After we loaded it into the truck, I pulled out of the mall and drove to a small town where I remembered spotting a gun shop on the way to Pittsburg. I pulled into the parking lot and we got out again. As in the last stop, Janet and Sharon acted as lookouts while Diane and I broke into the store. We stocked up on ammunition and got out as quickly as we could. 

I drove to a supermarket. The place looked desolate. The windows had been broken and there was debris and garbage all over. We quickly took as much of the canned goods as we could carry to the truck. 

I decided to stop at another mall. We broke in and headed for the clothing and shoe stores. 

“Hey!” Sharon said in a loud whisper. “Something moved down there.” She pointed down a side corridor. 

I pointed to the left to let them know that we should take cover against the wall before the corridor. Suddenly, three creatures emerged from a store. They were brandishing weapons, but it was difficult to determine what kind of weapons they had. 

Janet dropped a clip and that’s when all hell broke loose. The creatures started firing at us. I pointed my AK-47 and pulled the trigger, sending a volley down the hall at them. 

The girls did the same. The mall sounded like a battle zone with ricocheting bullets and loud popping sounds that echoed sharply. We kept our heads down and returned fire. I made a motion for us to back away and run, and the girls didn’t waste any time obeying my order. We ran down the corridor and exited the mall. I pulled out of the mall parking lot as quickly as I could and beat it down the road. 

“I don’t think they’re following us,” Diane said. 

“What were they doing in a mall?” Janet asked. 

“Maybe they’re doing the same thing we were,” Sharon said. 

“That doesn’t make sense,” I said. “They wouldn’t have a need for the things we use. There’s something fishy about all of this, and I’m sure that George knows what’s going on.” 

“George is a machine,” Diane reminded me. “Not a real person.” 

“That’s another thing that doesn’t make sense. How was George able to stuff his memories into a computer? He’s employing technology that doesn’t exist. The other thing that bugs me is why we are the only survivors.” 

“We were just lucky,” Janet said. 

“That may be true, but consider this: Diane knows computer technology and science. I know radio circuitry. Janet’s father was a computer programmer and he taught her how to program. Sharon’s father was an electrical engineer, and she’s proficient in math.” 

“You make us sound like a bunch of nerds, Jack,” Diane said. 

“I’m not trying to demean our social status, Diane. I’m just pointing out the odd patterns in this entire catastrophe.” 

“Are you suggesting that we’re part of some elaborate plot?” 

“That is a possibility.” 

“Whose plot? George’s?” 

“It’s possible that he’s involved, or at least his computer algorithms.” 

“Maybe we’re dealing with more than one alien species,” Sharon said. “Maybe this is an alien war between two species being fought on Earth.” 

Those ideas made us rethink our situation.