Two Steps Forward, Ten Steps Back: The Amalgam Series, #1

By Megan Heissner

The year is 1993, and William Mason is perfectly fine with living his life to the very least. However, when an alien invasion threatens to tear apart his planet, William will step up to the plate and take up a mantle he has no business taking up. And if that means facing a supreme alien leader head-on, then that is what will have to happen.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Megan Heissner
• Release date: Apr 27, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393722953

Book preview

17 November 1993

Chapter 1

As he watched the television , William used his right hand to brush his brown curls away from his glasses. He glared at the screen.

"The demon infestation has now spread from China to Mongolia, India, and Kazakhstan. According to a recent report, the death toll has risen to nearly half a million, while the injured count is almost double. Now, I’m sure most are as horrified as myself-" the newscaster said before William’s adoptive mother, Kate, began to rewind the video again.

This was now the sixteenth time she had replayed the video. At this rate, William was sure she was going to break the VHS.

Kate kept watching the gruesome footage of the red, snakelike demons setting a town in India on fire. People screamed as they were burned alive, and the cameraman was attacked halfway through the video; however, Kate replayed it time and time again.

These demons had abruptly appeared in China a few months ago. It was uncertain how many there were, but there could be no less than a thousand. They were like gremlins, if gremlins were not furry but had red scales for skin and flames for eyes. Anything they touched was set on fire, meaning that a large portion of Asia could most likely be seen aflame from space.

They were spreading across the continent fast, leaving only ash in their tracks.

No one knew exactly where they had come from. With the name they had been given, ‘demons,’ the discussion of origin had erupted into a religious war. Some claimed that Satan had sent them to overtake the world while others claimed that Asia had been cursed by some kind of ancient evil.

Regardless of the reason for their appearance, there was no fighting them. The Chinese ground militia had been sent to a nearby camp to confront them only hours after the first sightings, but the demons were smart, not to mention fast. They overtook the army within what felt like minutes.

With such a devastating loss, the rest of the planet had assumed that China would order a full-scale evacuation. However, citizens were assured of their safety, and police force members were instructed to set up a perimeter for others’ protection. Most, if not all, of the perimeters had been compromised, and many had suffered the same fate as the village in India.

The Chinese government had dropped a bomb two weeks ago in Ordos City to clear out the demons. Several buildings were leveled, yet the creatures resurfaced without a single scratch. Moreover, the government had yet to release how many people had lost their lives to that bomb.

In an attempt to appease the demons, one of China’s ambassadors had gone out to meet them a few weeks ago to negotiate peace. He was always talking about peace on the news and apparently truly believed that some form of agreement could be met.

It could not.

Within seconds, he was burned alive. His body, or what was left of it, was still lying out in the street.

Although a team had been sent out to discard his body, they never got to him. The demons were guarding the remains day and night, ready to attack any who dared to approach.

Picking his thermos up, William watched Kate. Her vivid green eyes flickered with fear behind her wire-rimmed glasses. She looked exhausted.

She knew as well as him that eventually those creatures would make their way to the United States, and just the thought of it plagued her.

William grunted before standing up, his gaze still trained on his mother. When he finally pulled his eyes away, he looked to his watch.

You thould probably head out thoon, he advised.

The lisp was subtle and could barely be heard, but it was still ever-present.

The plump woman looked at him before shifting her attention to the old clock above the mantle. Turning off the television, she stood up and made her way into the kitchen.

I don’t know what I would do without you, Kate commented with a soft smile.

You’d be late for work.

She let out a small laugh before picking up her keys and trying to grab her hard hat, but William reached it first.

Be careful. His gaze was stern.

Kate was a civil engineer. She had designed plans for an overpass that was supposed to go over one of the busiest highways in the state. However, it had run into far too many problems. The first construction crew was incompetent. They had cut corners and, in return, the overpass had almost completely fallen apart and collapsed on the highway.

The second crew was smarter, but a little less motivated. The overpass was due in two months, and the crew was in no rush.

Kate stared at him for a moment before taking her hat from his hand. A patient smile crossed her face, but her sad, tired eyes betrayed her. I’m always careful.

William frowned. I mean it.

She pushed his curly hair away from his face to kiss his forehead. It was something of a struggle since he was so much taller than her, and she had to stand on the very tips of her feet.

I love you. Have a good day at school.

Love you too, Mom, he replied.

I’ll be back around six. She pointed her finger directly at him. Don’t forget the bus!

The second that Kate shut the door behind her, William ruffled his hair and descended into deep thought. Something touched his foot causing him to look down. Butting its head into his shoe, Bear, his girlfriend’s Maine Coon, looked most displeased.

What?

Meow, the cat replied before moving towards its empty water bowl.

As William began to fill the cat’s water bowl, he listened to the truck’s engine beginning to rev. He glared, hoping that the truck had not stopped working again. At the sound of the engine starting, and the truck becoming more and more distant, his glare slowly softened.

With a sigh, he set the water bowl down and made direct eye contact with the cat. Tho uh... he started as he locked eyes with Bear, Don’t do anything bad.

Bear hissed and batted at his jeans.

Groaning, William grabbed his bag and house keys before heading outside, letting the Georgia sun beat down on him.

Walking alongside the road, he looked at the broken-down and dilapidated band of houses. They were sad and dreary, yet he knew each and every person living in those houses. They were the ones that brought life to the sad, little backwoods.

William drank his coffee and trudged along until he arrived at a light blue house.

The house was small, and the paint was peeling right off. The roof caved in just a tad but, through all of its flaws, it was a cheery house.

William walked up to the front porch and knocked on the door. He stared at it a little blankly before taking another sip from his thermos.

Coming! a voice yelled from inside.

After only a few moments, the door swung wide open, and a young girl looked up at him. She had dark, frizzy hair that stood tall and mixed well with her olive skin. Her sapphire blue eye and jade green eye both shone brilliantly with such life and vigor. She was wearing large hoop earrings and an orange Van Halen shirt. A lanyard hung around her neck with her work ID flapping at the end.

At the sight of him, she began to smile. Hey! You’re a little later than usual. I was worried you were gonna oversleep.

You think very little of me, Morgan, William replied.

Isabel Morgan Saunders was the girl next door even though she actually lived quite a few doors down. She was a kind and compassionate person, which was why she let William refer to her by her middle name.

William and Isabel had grown up together. When Kate had brought William home from the hospital after adopting him, Isabel’s grandparents had encouraged playdates for the two children. The adults could never have been aware that a simple playdate would lead to seventeen years of friendship.

You ready? He asked.

Yeah just, uh, give me a second, she said before looking back into the house, Lucas! C’mon, it’s time to go!

Coming! a small voice yelled back.

A young boy with pale skin, dark hair, and gray eyes held tightly to his Superman backpack as he ran to his sister.

Hi, Bill! Lucas greeted excitedly.

Hey, Luc. How’ve you been?

Good! he exclaimed before pulling his sister’s hand, We need to go.

Alright, alright, Isabel groaned, through a wide smile.

The three stepped off of the porch and walked down the driveway. Their stop would be further down the dirt road where the school bus for the preschool would pick Lucas up, and the school bus for the high school would arrive a little later.

Lucas started pulling on Isabel’s hand.

Yeah? What is it? she asked.

Can I give him the ticket?

Sure, Isabel replied. She began to rummage through her backpack until she pulled out a small, blue piece of paper and put it in Lucas’ hand.

Quickly, Lucas shoved it in William’s.

What ith thith? William asked him.

It’s a ticket to my play, Lucas explained.

With a black crayon, the words ‘ADMIT ONE’ were scribbled on the front of the ticket. William turned the ticket over to read 12/03/93. He chuckled at the sight of the two as it was backwards.

Did you make thith yourthelf? William asked.

Lucas smiled brightly. I did! How did you know?

Well, your big thithter’th handwriting ith a lot worthe.

Isabel gasped, not bothering to hide her disgust.

Can you come? Lucas asked through hysterical giggling.

I wouldn’t mith it for the world, buddy, William replied with a reassuring smirk.

Lucas’ gray eyes widened with excitement.

William looked to Isabel. I didn’t realithe that the prethcool did playth.

It’s more of a skit choir thing. Each class is putting on a little two to three minute song so it’ll only be about half an hour at most. I don’t know yet when he goes on, but it starts at six, she explained before looking down at her brother, Lucas is one of the singing sunflowers.

Raising an eyebrow, William looked down at the little boy who only knew how to be loud and assertive. Really?

Yes! Lucas answered with a smile as he swung his and Isabel’s hand back and forth and back and forth. And I’m the best!

The most humble too, Isabel added.

Yeah! I’m super humble!

William could not resist the urge to laugh.

The three approached their stop. Ahead of them was a dirt road with a dark, ominous forest just beyond it. Behind them was the band of houses and the highway. A few other high school students and some parents with their children were standing beside the road as the little preschool bus drove along and stopped in front of them.

Here you are, Isabel announced.

Lucas hugged her leg tightly. Bye, he said quickly before jumping into the school bus with the other children. William and Isabel waved to him as he excitedly waved back, and the bus drove away.

He’th talkative, William commented as the parents began to walk home while the high schoolers stayed in wait of their bus.

Yeah, he’s doing better, she replied, He’s been making a lot of friends.

At thith rate, he’ll be more popular than you by the time he geth to high thcool, William teased.

I’m not popular.

Oh-ho! Pleathe tell me you’re jutht trying to be modetht!

I’m not!

While unconventional, the preschool’s bus arrived almost a full fifteen minutes before the high schoolers’ bus. Not only that, but also it was a long bus ride since the school was in the town of Clements.

Timbers was too small for a school. It was a group of forty-two people all who had lived in the same, tiny houses for generations. In simple terms, it was a wasteland. Grass barely grew, trash littered everyone’s backyards and the land next to the highway, and timber wolves roamed the woods nearby.

As William and Isabel waited at the stop, William glanced over the seven other kids. Riley, Jacob, Lewis, Emma, Robert, Eleanor, and Terra. Good kids. There were a few other teenagers in Timbers, but they had decided school simply was not for them and spent their days working for pay instead.

Several minutes passed until the bus finally pulled up. William and Isabel followed the other students into the bus, which was already feeling quite cramped. After finding their usual seats, Isabel slid in first, giving William the aisle.

William was not a man of many fears but if there was ever one thing he could not handle, it was tight spaces. For all of his life, he had been plagued by claustrophobia. He could not attribute the fear to any particular experience, but anything that made him feel closed in often caused him to lose his head just a little.

While Isabel did love her window seat, he knew that she partially took it for his sake. If he was sitting next to the window, he would have felt cramped thanks to his broad shoulders and been irritated for the entire duration of the ride.

The bus jolted forward, and people started to yell and talk over each other.

Isabel pulled a book out of her backpack and flipped through the pages. After a few moments, she found her page and began to read aloud.

Feeling his eyes becoming heavy, William rested his head on the back of the bus seat. He stared at the relatively, grody ceiling.

‘Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?’ she read, "‘That depends a good deal on where you want to