The Invasion (Book 1): Intruders Read online

  We both watched the ground carefully as we made it back to the compound.

  Logan had been sleeping when Hank and I burst through the door of the compound earlier. He had still been sleeping when I checked on him before going back to look for Kyle and Sherry.

  It was deathly quiet in the compound, as Hank followed me to Logan’s room. A creeping sense of dread slithered up my spine and I felt my skin rise into gooseflesh. As we came closer to the room, I noted that Logan’s steady, quiet snoring was absent.

  Maybe he’s awake.

  I stopped outside the door and looked down at Hank. His hackles were up, and his head was lowered as he let out a growl, deep in his throat.

  My chest tightened and fear buzzed through me.

  Oh Christ, he’s dead. He’s dead.

  As if in response to my thought, a strange inhuman groan sounded from the bedroom.

  I grabbed the screwdriver from my belt and waited.

  “Logan.” My hand shook.

  Hank let out a growling bark.

  Logan growled, too, the sound urgent and hungry.

  My heartbeat hammered in my ears as I waited.

  Logan shuffled out of the bedroom, his hair matted to his head, his eyes milky grey. His mouth opened and his lips stretched over his teeth.

  Raising the screwdriver, I waited until he came a little closer.

  When he was a couple of feet from me I stepped forward and shoved the screwdriver through his ear.

  His mouth opened wide and he crumpled to the ground.

  Sadness welled up inside of me and I backed away, a sob escaping my throat. Tears filled my eyes, and my throat constricted.

  I was alone. I was the last human left alive at the compound.

  In the entire world, for all I knew.

  All I had left was Hank.

  Dropping the screwdriver, I sank to the floor, covering my face with my hands. Hank licked my hands and I wrapped my arms around him and buried my face in his neck, my breaths hitching and I let loose and cried into his fur.

  I stayed like that for a long time, until I had run out of tears to cry.

  Then I wiped my face with my forearm and took a deep, shuddering breath. “Gotta get a grip, huh, boy.”

  Hank followed me outside as I searched the ground for new holes. The area back to the compound looked free of dents, but I knew there had to be holes out there. Hank and I were careful as we walked back.

  “We can’t stay here, boy.” The crawlers knew I was here. It would be only a matter of maybe another day before the area around the compound was so full of holes that there wouldn’t be anywhere for Hank and me to go. They’d get us.

  I didn’t know where we’d go, but I did know that we had to move while we still could.

  As we reached the door of the compound, I looked up at the darkening sky. Dusk. Soon the darkness would take over the sky, and the crawlers would be back.

  Shutting and locking the door behind us, I headed to Ozzie’s laptop. I swiped at the touchpad and the computer came back to life, out of sleep mode. Ozzie hadn’t had time to finish reading the document before we’d gone back out to the hole. Maybe there was something in the document that could help me. Dr. Barrows had been studying the creatures’ bones. There had to be some information in there that could help us survive. Fight them.

  I skimmed the document frantically, feeling the press of time.

  They would be coming back out of their holes soon.

  My eyes locked on something and my blood froze.

  It is possible that these creatures still thrive in colder areas, like the Arctic.

  Differences in bone structure from the glacial bones indicates that the newer bones are a hybrid. They are breeding themselves to be able to withstand a warmer climate.

  If that happens, the human race will be annihilated. Wiped out.

  I need to find a way to kill them. I need to find someone who can help me. If we don’t stop them, then God help us all.

  The text ended there, but there were more photos, and the name Griffin Murphy, a Paleontologist at the New York City Museum of Paleontology.

  If I could make it to the museum, maybe, together we could find a way. Maybe we could find others who could help us.

  I shut the laptop and headed to the couch and sat bundled up in my ski jacket with Hank beside me.

  We’d set out at first light, when the lizards skittered back into their holes. We’d be careful of the dirt roads. It would be easier for the crawlers to dig through those. Ozzie or Kyle’s pickup truck would make it easier to watch the roads for holes. I’d pack just what we needed, enough food and water to get us to New York City, and UV lights, lots of UV lights. Maybe we’d find help along the way. We could grow our numbers again and be able to fight them off, easier.

  With just a little bit of luck, we’d make it. We’d find Griffin Murphy and he’d know how to wipe these things from the Earth.

  Maybe they were here first, and they want the Earth back. But we were here last, and I’d find enough of us left to fight them. Expose them to the sun. Kill every one of them.

  If our luck held out, the trucks wouldn’t be stuck in sink holes and there wouldn’t be too many holes around the compound to be able to get out.

  Maybe we’d be okay for a while.

  Hank placed his head on my leg and I moved a hand over his back, finding comfort in his thick fur.

  And we listened as the scratching sounds began.

  The End

  Acknowledgements

  Thanks to my family for cheering me on. Your encouragement means the world to me.

  Thanks to Matt Jones, for his wonderful editing work on this book.

  Thanks to Yvonne Betancourt, formatter extraordinaire.

  Thanks to Ben, light of my life

  And, as always, to my husband, Jeff, who is my best friend and strongest supporter. I love you.

  About the Author

  Tracy Sharp grew up in a small mining town in Northern Ontario, Canada, where there wasn’t much to do except dress warmly and write stories to entertain herself. She is fond of horror movies, thrilling novels, bellowing out her favorite songs in the car, iced coffee, flamethrowers and Slinkies. She lives in Upstate NY with her family.

  Tracy is the author of three Leah Ryan novels, Repo Chick Blues, Finding Chloe and Dirty Business, as well as the short novel Jacked Up, written with J.A Konrath, the horror novel Soul Trade and a young adult paranormal mystery, Spooked, and the paranormal romantic thriller Flash Fire.

  You can visit Tracy at her author page on Amazon.com

  Also by Tracy Sharp

  Repo Chick Blues

  Reformed car thief Leah Ryan is trouble. She is turning over a new leaf, but needs a job fast. She's a natural at stealing cars. What better job for her than Repo Chick?

  When Leah stumbles onto a sex ring during a routine Repo job, her distrust of law enforcement and all things authority leads her to enlist the help of a few friends from her shady past.

  A past she promised herself she'd never return to.

  This is the first book in the Leah Ryan Series. Leah also appears in the short novel Jacked Up, which also features Lieutenant Jack Daniels, written with in collaboration with J.A Konrath.

  Finding Chloe

  An exotic dancer vanishes from the underbelly of the city. Repo agent and reformed car thief Leah Ryan has a knack for rescue, and she's a sucker for a lost cause.

  Unable to turn away from helping find a stripper whose disappearance many are indifferent to, Leah soon discovers that there are those who would keep Chloe Nolan from being found, and that there is far more to her disappearance than meets the eye.

  This is the second book in the Leah Ryan series. Leah also appears in the short novel Jacked Up, which also features Lieutenant Jack Daniels, written in collaboration with J.A Konrath.

  Dirty Business

  Pregnant women are disappearing in the capital region. The mother one of the missing women hires private in
vestigator Leah Ryan and partner Jackson Quick to find her daughter.

  A simple missing persons case turns into a nightmare as the list of suspects grows. Alexia's unfaithful husband, a cult leader who impregnates his female followers whose babies suddenly vanish, and a shady network of adoption agencies involved in a black market baby scheme.

  Taking this case leads Jackson and Leah into a labyrinth of mystery and murder.

  This is the third book in the Leah Ryan series. Leah also appears in the short story Jacked Up, which also features Lieutenant Jack Daniels, written in collaboration with J.A. Konrath.

  Leah Ryan Thrillers

  Repo Chick Blues

  Finding Chloe

  Dirty Business

  Red Surf

  Jacked Up with J.A Konrath

  Happy Hour (Jack Daniels/Leah Ryan)

  Spooked

  Soul Trade

  Flash Fire

  As Melinda Duchamp

  Fifty Shades of Jezebel and the Beanstalk with J.A Konrath and Ann Voss Peterson

  Fifty Shades of Puss and Boots with J.A Konrath and Ann Voss Peterson

  Fifty Shades of Goldilocks with J.A Konrath and Ann Voss Peterson

  Copyright

  Intruders

  Copyright © 2015 by TRACY SHARP

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, situations and incidents are the product of the author’s imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Formatting by http://www.ebook-format.com

  Table of Contents

  INTRUDERS

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Acknowledgements

  About the Author

  Also by Tracy Sharp

  Copyright