Walk the Earth

By Robert Wright, Jr

Fighting aliens, wild humans, and falling in love . . . just a normal day. Cassie and Rose fought to escape their homeworld of Ecstasy. Following a perilous trip across the stars they awaken the other humans on their ship, ready to start a new life on Earth. They've barely begun this new life when another threat surfaces, and with the help of new allies, they are once again fighting for their lives, their happiness and Earth's future generations.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Robert Wright, Jr
• Release date: May 12, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370968985

Robert Wright, Jr

Robert is the author of multiple young adult fantasy and sci-fi stories populated with strong female heroes and intriguing creatures pulled from his imagination. His characters are based on drawings and doodles that he has worked on since he could pick up a pencil.Robert has traveled the world and met many interesting people but now lives in Bellingham, Washington with his wife and youngest child. Bellingham and the surrounding areas are often the settings for his many novels. For more information on these enjoyable books please visit witchwaybooks.com or stop by the Witch Way Books page on Facebook.

Book preview

Book Three: The Island

Chapter 1: Before Earth

Cassie was born and raised on the planet Ecstasy. It was a cloudy, rainy, mud ball at the far end of the universe. She grew up wishing to leave her homeworld and to see other planets, planets that had blue sunny skies. You should always be careful what you wish for, as Cassie soon found out. Wishes can come true and they may not turn out exactly how you want them to.

When Cassie’s parents are thought dead her abusive uncle, Jim, is appointed her guardian. If it wasn’t for her cousin Rose, Cassie’s life would be a true hell. Soon Cassie and Rose decide it is time to escape their life, find Cassie’s parents and a spaceship that will take them off the wet world of Ecstasy.

Unfortunately for the girls, they not only have to fight Jim they find themselves being chased by aliens, Teki warriors, and the creatures of Ecstasy itself. Along the way, they get help from unexpected friends, and a spaceship named Emma who has her own quirky attitude. Finding their way into space with the help of Emma, the girls soon find that there is more than one alien race out there in the universe and all is not as it seems. The two adventurers and the human-like ship soon find and rescue Cassie’s parents and some of the last humans captured by the alien race called Mordunes before the alien’s homeworld is wiped out by an even greater danger.

They head out on a year-long journey in hibernation toward their true homeworld of Earth, only to find that humans have been mostly wiped out and their world had been taken over by an insect-like race. Emma then sacrifices herself for the two girls so that they can land on Earth and enable them, along with the rest of the humans on their ship, to take back what is rightfully theirs.

Chapter 2: A New Home

. . . Rose looked around; her eyes wide with wonder as we watched the last of the bright daylight leave the sky. As night fell, we stood there once more looking up into the darkness as a shower of sparks flew over our head in the star-filled night.

Now what, Cassie?

Now we check around the area and then we go wake my parents. After that, we clean house of any aliens and take our home back, Rose, I said as I looked around the area before I headed toward the large building before me.

Rose and I walked toward the colossal building, our weapons ready for anything. I knew that Emma had told us that the aliens left this island alone since it was surrounded by the one element (salt water) that was like acid to them, but after all our adventures neither of us were ready to let our guard down.

I stopped in front of the large double doors that were standing open and stared into the shadowed depths searching for any sign of life. The stars and the full moon that had risen shone through the holes in the building's ceiling showing a huge open area within with doors set along the walls on either side.

If it was a little bigger we could almost fit the ship in there, Cassie, Rose whispered in the silent night.

I glanced back at the ship and then at my cousin giving her a nod and a smile. I was glad that she seemed to have climbed out of the funk that she had been in ever since we had lost Emma. Yeah, but I think it would be a little hard pushing it in here.

That brought a little ghost of a smile to my cousin’s face that soon disappeared at her next words. Bet Emma would have found a way though. I saw another one of those small tears slide down her face at the mention of the ship's name and I stepped over and gave her a quick hug which brought another tiny smile as she gave a sniffle and then wiped the back of her hand across her face.

I felt a little pain in my heart and a catch in my throat at the thought of the strange ship who had acted more like a mother or maybe an eccentric aunt than a bucket of bolts and electronics. I stepped away from my cousin and looked within the building once more knowing that we had to pay attention to the job at hand and mourn later over our lost friend.

I pulled a flashlight from my side pocket and hit the button giving us a small area of light in the dark night. I want you to stay here at the door Rose and cover my back. I . . .

I don’t want to be alone, Cassie, my cousin whined, her voice rising on each word. I could hear the despair and fright in her voice and I gave her shoulders another little squeeze.

I’m not going far, okay? I just want to check out the rooms here. I stopped at the look on her face and then smiled at her. Tell you what. I won’t go in the rooms; I’ll take a quick peek inside to make sure that there aren’t any surprises waiting for us in the morning. Okay?

The look of fright my cousin wore disappeared but she still looked a little dubious at my plan. Okay Cassie, but stay where I can see you.

Yes, mother, I blurted out smiling to take the sting out of my words and trying to get my cousin to smile again. Guess I wasn’t as funny as I thought I was as she just frowned at me, but looked determined to watch my back as I explored the building.

I started over to the right side of the building since there seemed to be more doors on that wall. Walking through the door and down the inside of the wall, I kept my eyes moving looking into the shadows looking for anything that could be waiting for me to get close enough to jump out and make a meal out of me. I stopped at the first door and looked back to where my cousin was. I could see that she had her back to the metal door so that she couldn’t be attacked from behind. I watched as she slowly swung her weapon around the open area of the building watching for any movement that could possibly mean danger.

I reached down, turned the door knob and gave the rusty dirty door a push. I saw that I was standing in a stairwell that led up to another floor. I started to take a step in when I glanced back at my cousin who was looking at me with concern written on her face. I gave a small sigh and pointed up and watched as she violently shook her head at me, the worry deepening on her face. Well hell, I thought, so much for that idea as I looked back into the darkness of the stairwell. I shined the light on the stairs and saw that most of the area was blocked anyways by desks and assorted furniture and figured that I would have to wait for another day to see what was up above us.

I started to shut the door when I heard a small noise from above. I stopped and waited, listening to see if the noise would repeat itself. I must have stood there for about five minutes in the silence, but the only sound I heard was my own beating heart. A small whisper of sound jolted me out of my concentration and I whirled around raising my weapon and started to pull the trigger when I heard a diminutive cry from my cousin who was only feet from me. What the hell are you doing, Rose? I hissed at her as I dropped the business end of my rifle toward the ground.

My cousin cringed a little at my words and the tone I threw at her. I felt a little bad at seeing this, but I was pissed at getting the poop scared out of me. I took a deep breath and then glanced back into the stairwell before I shut the door and moved over to stand next to Rose. What are you doing over here? I whispered trying to keep any anger out of my voice. You’re supposed to be by the door covering me.

Instead of backing down, I saw my cousin straighten her back and a flash of her own anger hit her face. I called out to you three times. When you didn’t answer I thought you might be in trouble and came over to check on you.

Oh, sorry about that; I thought . . . Was all I could manage to get out before my cousin took a step toward me getting right up into my face.

You thought? That’s the problem with you, Cassie. You don't really stop and think, you just rush into trouble and let your luck get you out of it. You told me to watch your back and that’s what I was doing. I . . . Rose either ran out of steam or she was so mad at me that she couldn’t get the words out anymore.

I took a step back from her and looked around the open area and the doors down along the wall then back at her. Look I said I was sorry, okay? I tell you what, I don’t think that there is anything here and it’s getting late. How about we get back to the ship and buckle it up tight and get some sleep tonight.

Rose looked at me then glanced at the door I had shut with some suspicion on her face. What is it, Cassie? Did you see something in there?

I shook my head and smiled at my cousin. "No, just thought I heard a sound upstairs. I think that the exploring had better be left for daylight when we can see any big, bad uglies. Plus I’m getting hungry and I need to get cleaned up and some sleep before we try and wake my parents tomorrow.

Rose stood there looking suspiciously at the door for a few more seconds then glanced around the shadowed area as a smile crossed her face. Now you’re thinking, cousin. That sounds like a great idea; but, why wait until tomorrow to wake your parents? Why not go back and do it now?

I looked around not liking us standing in the open like this so I nodded at the door and we both started heading across the floor toward the open and our ship while I explained my thinking to my cousin. Well first off, I may have been sleeping for a year, but this day has taken a lot out of me. Second, I need to look at the ship's records to see if Emma put directions in the computer on how to wake the people we have on the ship.

Rose nodded at my words as we walked toward the ship all the while glancing around the area looking for any aliens or any other creature that might like two young girls as a nighttime snack. Okay that makes sense, Cassie, I just wish we had your parents awake or any other adults for that matter so that they could take over and figure all this stuff out.

We stopped at the bottom of the steps that led up to the ship which was our home for right now. I laid a hand on my cousin’s shoulder and looked deep into her eyes. Listen, Rose, we need to face facts here. We're eighteen now. It’s time we need to grow up and take responsibility for ourselves. I mean after all we have been through on Ecstasy and in space, I would say that we did pretty good for ourselves.

Rose gave a little shake of her head and had a small, sad smile on her face. You’re forgetting that we had Moe back home on Ecstasy, and Emma in space to help us, Cassie. She did have a point, but there were times where we had to cope with problems on our own. I was silent for a few seconds thinking about what she said when she spoke up once more. I can read your thoughts, cousin, we didn’t always have help from someone, but still it would be nice to have someone else take charge.

Yeah, she was right. It would be nice to be a cog in the machine, staying out of sight of any aliens or creatures that think we look tasty. Okay then how about we go get cleaned up, eat, and then find a way to wake up those in charge, I said as I headed up the stairs of the ship with my cousin in tow.

I stopped at the top of the stairs as I heard that slight noise once more. As I looked around for where the sound had come from, I saw that this time even Rose had heard it. She had her rifle raised in her hands and was looking off toward a small grove of young trees on a hill to the left of the ship. We waited for a few minutes but the sound never repeated and I looked down at her. See anything?

Rose gave a small shrug then gave a quick look around and shook her head. Probably some night creature trying to get something to eat is all.

I looked around once more then down at her. You’re probably right. Let’s get in so we aren’t its next meal, whatever it is. Rose nodded and we headed into the ship, making sure that we locked it down behind us.

OOOOO

The dark green eyes stared down at the two girls as they crossed the floor of the old dilapidated hangar. Lupus let out a soundless breath of air, mentally kicking himself for letting the smaller of the females hear him as he moved across the rotten upper floor of the building while he tried to get a closer look at her. He was too good of a scout to make a mistake that any young pack pup knew not to make.

Slowly he glided down the steps, going over the trash and debris that littered the passage being extra careful not to create any noise that would bring the two females back inside the hangar. He could hear them talking as they walked back toward their ship, thinking that these two lacked pack discipline, and would never last back on his homeworld where to let one's guard down for even a second meant that you died a very violent death.

Peeking around the edge of the metal door, he could see the two of them walking in the open like they didn’t have a care in the world, where any pup would be able to pick them off. He thought how easy it would be to take the two of them down and plunder whatever was in the ship. Who knows, maybe if it was flyable he could even get off this planet and back home.

Then the full moon hit the eyes of the smaller female as she glanced around the area. At least one of them was paying attention to her surroundings as the light glinting in her eyes caused a stirring within him. Then a flash of movement from a small hill caught his attention. Peering over in that direction while keeping half an eye on the two females, Lupus saw what drew his attention: a glimmer of metal flashed once more in the dark.

Lupus moved toward the back of the building and out another set of doors. Striding on silent feet, he circled the hangar and melted into the tree line. He made sure that he wasn’t seen by the females, who were still visible, or whoever was in the tree line. Moving like a ghost through the underbrush to the point that he had seen the flash, he stopped short as a rancid smell assaulted his nose.

He cursed under his breath as he slowly slid his blade out of its sheath and carefully moved forward to where the smell was the thickest in the trees. There were two kinds of people on this planet, besides the aliens that had brought down his ship. One was creatures like the two females, mostly peaceful while they scrubbed out a living on this small island. The others were almost as bad as the aliens, preying on anything living – dirty, stinking, and half crazed animals. So far he had avoided any confrontations with them, but it looked like that was about to end.

Lupus stopped behind a large tree then slowly peeked around the rough trunk. Sure enough there stood one of the wild men that ran around this island terrorizing, and wantonly killing anything that moved. The creature’s attention was solely fixed on the two girls who by now had started to move up the steps to the ship's doorway and Lupus could see that he was sighting in on the smaller female with a crossbow pistol.

Instinctively, Lupus moved across the intervening space wrapping his muscled arm around the creature’s throat while pinning the man against his body with his other arm. The smaller man struggled as Lupus lifted him like a sack of grain and moved back into the trees. Unfortunately for Lupus, the small man pulled the trigger of his crossbow and the bolt that was loaded shot downward, creasing the side of his leg. Now really pissed at being shot, even though it was slight, he tightened the arm across the man’s throat cutting off the air and soon the creature’s struggles ceased.

Letting the body slide down to the ground, Lupus carefully moved back to the tree line and saw both females standing at the ship's doorway looking over in his general direction. After a few seconds, a feeling of relief came over him as the two females exchanged words and then they both disappeared within their ship. He walked back over to the creature's body that he had taken down as he felt a small burning sensation start in his leg where he had been scratched by the crossbow bolt.

Bending over to pick the bolt out of the ground, his vision swam a little as he stood up and took a quick sniff at the tip. Great, poison, that’s all I need, he thought, as he sat down next to the body that was already growing cold and split his pants leg looking at the small scratch along the outside of his right leg. He opened a small pouch he had salvaged from his wrecked ship when he had crashed on this pit hole of a rock and reaching in pulled out a red bottle. Pulling the stopper, he took a quick deep breath and poured some of the liquid into the wound, closing his eyes while hissing at the burning sensation and the smell of cauterized flesh assaulted his nose. After a few minutes, the pain became bearable and he opened his eyes to look down at the shiny spot where the wound was now closed and sealed while purified by the liquid medicine.

Finally, the smell of the body next to him grew too strong and he stood. He looked down, muttered a small prayer to the body's spirit to ask forgiveness for his actions and that the creature's spirit would find its way to whatever beyond it believed in. He headed off through the shadowed woods to his hidey hole, as thoughts of the little female wandered through his mind.

OOOOO

The large, bloated red body of the colony's queen could hardly move in its deep dark chamber. All around her drones moved, some taking the eggs that were slowly deposited from the lower part of her body and moved them to the appropriate chamber while others brought a steady line of food to feed the ever-hungry mouth. Still more climbed over her body to groom