(Sorry for the long chapter, folks!)  

  I killed some time by eating dinner with Sam and George. We shared stories about the pre-asteroid times. George had been an electronics instructor and Sam, his wife, a nurse. They had grown children who lived in Europe and were most likely safe, although probably worried about their parents.
  I told them all about Jilly. They were so sympathetic I ended up crying in front of them. All the tension and worry – especially the rough time Emma gave me – all came gushing out. I felt like an ****. And it was the last time I let my guard down and showed sadness or weakness to anyone.
  George was very interested in hearing about my experience just before he rescued me – about the odd gold veins and the military pickup of the ornate chair.
  “Makes me wonder if that thing came from somewhere else or not. I've heard rumors of multi-plane matrix circuitry – sort of the technology used in most computer four-layer motherboards – but amped up and placed in a 3-D matrix. Did you see anything that might have been surface mount components?”
  “Nothing I would have recognised by just a flashlight. Besides, my guess is that the whole area was sheared off and anything that would have been a 'surface' crumbled. Except the chair, and I didn't get to examine it either.”
  “Well, maybe we'll take a trip after pushing back these invaders. I would be very interested in seeing this in person.”
  We all went to bed early. Saunders, of course, posted sentries on rotation through the night. He also made sure there was a system of waking everyone before dawn. At about 5:40 am, the battle began. Most everyone was up at the sound of rather large explosions. Apparently, the invaders set off some sort of explosives in order to scare the hell out of us. There were a total of five of them which thundered across the Mississippi. I saw the flash from the last one and realized that they were using some sort of firework-like rockets with thunderous bangs instead of pretty colors. If I'd been thinking clearly, I would have realized what the enemy was really using them for.
  I was proud of all my little booby traps. At first I sort of felt sorry for the poor bastards. Their point team hit the spiked boards at full run. The first to hit the trap was wearing heavy boots; he was heavy-set and hit the boards by trying to jump down the slope. He screamed and fell backwards. Unfortunately for him, he slammed his **** into another nail board as he sat down. He screamed again and tried to warn the next two, who had no clue what was going on. One down, as he ran, limping and bleeding, back the way he came.
  The second proceeded a little more cautiously, but was wearing marching or dress shoes. He screamed and hopped around, trying to pull the board and its many nails from his foot. He ended up retreating with the nailboard firmly stuck into his foot. The third point man was the unluckiest. He realized what was wrong, but couldn't stop in time. He slid on the loose earth and fell sideways, sticking one board into the side of his leg and another into his ribs. We could see the blood streaming from his wounds as he ran back towards the main force.
  The second point group figured correctly that we had placed most of the nail boards in the center and had the rest of their troops go to the sides. Wary, now, they proceeded more slowly. They failed to see the acid Claymore trip wire and I was surprised that I could actually see smoke rising from where the acid splattered the first two point men. One must have been hit in the face near his eyes. He screamed and ran off into the bog, fell down and tried to wash off the acid. He stayed there for a long time. The other point saw the trip wire move something in the bushes and had time to hit the gorund, He rolled into the bog, his shirt melted and his back raw from the acid bath. The third point man was nervously looking around for more traps. Eventually, he made a motion to the troops who had held back.
  A group of about 10 men came running up, avoiding the nails, and set up a tripod. It was angled directly into the groups of buildings that made up the center of Tri Lando. They had boxes and broke out more of their fireworks rockets. I realized they had a sort of primitive mortar from which they were going to launch the rockets.
  They were about 12 feet behind the final booby trap. Saunders was within range to fire at the bottles to set it off. I wondered what he was waiting for. There was a gentle breeze which would carry the fumes and smoke right into the invaders midst. Why the hell was he not firing?
  A few minutes later, I saw that Saunder's training was obviously superior to mine. He had recognised that they were setting up a makeshift mortar and waited until they lit the fuse. Then he shot several rounds directly at the tripod, knocking it backwards. A scramble ensued as the invaders ran for cover. The rocket fizzled around on the ground and finally gave its report. None of the invaders were hurt, but now they knew Saunder's position and lined up to use their own rifles. That is when Saunders popped off three quick rounds, neatly hitting each bottle.
  The invaders were ready to fire as the fumes started to hit them. Choking and gagging, they dispersed, some throwing up, some coughing, many screaming for a retreat. Saunders was now able to shoot all the fish in the barrel. He took out five of them and then broke cover to retreat closer to Tri Lando. He couldn't help laughing and shouting, “That'll teach them bastards!”
  A few of the enemy saw Saunders breaking for it and tried to peg him. His training made him zig and zag and allowed him to evade their gunfire. A few of the Militia also assisted with cover fire. After about five minutes of trading useless shots, the invaders decided to retreat. This was greeted with cheers from almost everyone in Tri Lando. After about five more minutes, one of the cheering Militia men next to me turned to me with a puzzled look on his face, coughed and gurgled, spilling blood from his mouth. As he fell, I saw the crossbow bolt in the side of his neck.
  I spun around instinctively and raised my own crossbow. About ten yards away were at least 50 more invaders, who had obviously snuck in from the south. I yelled a warning and headed north and west away from them, motioning to the south and screaming my head off. Saunders looked over and began firing almost immediately. He managed to kill four or five before he went down with a bolt in his knee. I heard shouting and looked to my left. East, coming across the river in an assortment of rowboats was another hundred, at least. I yelled to Saunders and motioned to him that we were surrounded.
  Panic took over as the realization hit everyone. About half of the Militia and other people took positions to ward off this latest attack. Saunders yelled at his second in command to cover the original invaders, as well. As I began shooting bolts as fast as I could, I remember thinking that those first loud bangs from the rockets weren't to scare us. They were to tell the other invaders to start moving.
  Someone fell near me – a Militia man – his left eye impaled. He was screaming for me to kill him as I picked up his rifle. Since not all the boats were across the river, yet, I decided to slow them down a bit. I fired as fast as I could – accuracy wasn't necessary, as I was trying to pop holes in the boats and not merely kill people. I managed to actually sink only three, but slowed about fifteen others, as they took on water or, realizing that bullets were flying their way, dove over the edge of the boat. I ran back for cover near one of the few solid timber cabins around. Unfortunately for me, it happened to be the cabin George referred to as 'the hoosegow'. Emma came to the window.
  “Well, hello there, soldier. Looking for a good time?”
  “Very funny. You set this up, didn't you?”
  “Yes, but we can discuss that later. Sounds like you're breathing hard. Turned on by seeing me all trapped and helpless?”
  “No, I've been running. Now why don't you shut up and lay down before a bullet rips your evil little head off? Or, on second thought...don't.”
  “You dirty son of a bitch!” she screamed. “I'll cut your entire dick off when I get out of here!”
  “Assuming you are alive when you get out.”
  “Look, you lousy prick. Your precious Jilly is a sex slave for someone in Los Angeles. She has to blow him every day to stay alive. And she loves it. Do you hear me? She has forgotten you, Howie, and is screwing everyone she can because she loves it!” her voice was almost raw from yelling. She went to the other window, which faced the river.
  “Eddie! It's me, Emma! Come get me out of here and kill this rats ****! He's trying to hurt me! Help!”
  I peered around to see if she was really yelling at someone or not. Apparently she was. A rather large muscled, long-haired creep was looking and waving at her. He laughed and went back to work unloading the boat he'd crossed the river in.
  “Your boyfriend, Emma?”
  “Yes. And he's ten times the man you'll ever be, Howie”.
  I lifted my rifle and clicked off the safety. “Well, he's about to be a dead man. Do you want to watch?”
  I could not believe I actually said that to her. I had the sudden shocking realization how much I had changed. Not only was I about to kill someone, but I had just asked, in the most evil manner possible, if his lover wanted to watch.
  “You can't do it, Howie. You're a spineless loser Why don't you run and hide?”
  Eddie had retrieved his things, including what looked like an M-15. As I shot a warning shot, Emma screamed again.
  “Eddie watch out! This guy's gonna kill you!”
  Eddie wasn't too swift. He pulled a grease gun out and decided to use it first and ask questions later. I decided to drop and position myself a little better, since there were about 50 targets aside from him. He pulled the trigger as I hit, but sprayed the cabin instead of bothering to look for me.
  I heard Emma scream, then gurgle, then fall. That sent a shiver through my spine, even then. I didn't like her, but I didn't really want her dead. Eddie laughed and yelled into the cabin, “Did I get him? Sorry if I got you, too.”
  I gently pulled the trigger and watched his forehead splatter. Then I shot at anyone in sight. I knew I'd be throwing up later. If there was a later.