Codename Alpha

Chapter 18

Their fashion was also certainly something to behold. Before I could give it much thought, however, Max suddenly began yelling about something I couldn't see.

"Woah, what the hell is that?" he said.

I leaned over to try and get a view. Sure enough, there was a very odd creature.

"Is that, like, a pet?" I asked, knowing I wouldn't get any answers. The animal had a head reminiscent of a canine, but certainly lacked the body of one. Like the fox we had seen earlier, this animal was walking on all fours, and didn't seem outright intelligent. Additionally, it was on a leash. The fur color, a mix of tan and black, was one I had never seen before.

"Well, guess we just found out how things got weirder," Jack announced. "Get lots of footage of it, I have to focus on driving.

"Will do, man."

I watched the strange animal as we passed by it, not knowing at all what to think about it.

Nonetheless, we arrived in what looked like an older quarter of the town after turning left at a roundabout, crossing a short bridge across a river, and then another which went over another road and some train tracks. The many red-roofed buildings here had a decidedly older look to them, but were rather well kept. I wasn't quite sure if Jack even knew where he was going, seeing as he repeatedly was making random turns. The roads themselves had become far narrower, though, so it was understandable. From what I could tell, we ended up going around this older area entirely, since it didn't seem cars could even be driven further in.

Nonetheless, we got a good view of the tower and part of the accompanying building. It certainly looked old, like some kind of temple or church. The actual purpose it served was, of course, a mystery, but it was certainly cool.

"Alright, full disclosure, I have no idea where I'm going. I'd like to get back on the highway, but unfortunately we're lacking a map. I'm just gonna take it slow and follow these main roads... well, just be ready for anything. You'll be getting some extra footage, I guess."

I wondered what it'd be like to be an alien doing whatever, and then seeing a car accident, only to find that the inhabitants of one of the vehicles were aliens.

We ended up spending quite a while roaming the neighborhoods, which thankfully didn't have the cramped roads or as tight of turns as the older area did. After struggling to find a way out of the town, Jack announced that he'd just take us up into the hills so we could both get a view of the area and a quick lunch as even on an alien planet, driving on a highway for hours on end quickly got old. Thankfully, I had been asleep for most of today's driving.

The road did go up a hill, like the many others which populated this region, giving us a good view of the western part of town. I couldn't make out a path back to the highway, but it was still an interesting view. After a couple more minutes, this view was replaced entirely by a thick forest. It felt nice to just watch the trees go by as we made our way up the hill.

"Huh, it doesn't look like I can turn off at any of these places," Jack said, commenting on the many smaller paths which branched off from the road. Gates were present at every one, and without getting out of the car next to a busy road, we were out of luck. That didn't last for very long, however. We soon left the forest and came into a large clearing, with a village seemingly set in the middle. Jack ended up driving us through this village, due in part to there being no other way around, but turning left at the last intersection before the road turned away from the town.

"What's your plan here?" I asked.

"It doesn't look like there's many houses out that way," Jack said, motioning slightly towards the direction we were going in. "Well, didn't. I figure that there are some farm fields we could stop by that are far enough away from any buildings so nobody can tell what we are if they see us. After all, we share body structures.

He turned out to be correct. After driving past an odd silo-like building, we exited the village down a cement road, which eventually diverged into two paths. Jack took the unpaved one. Farm fields were on both sides of the truck. Before we reached the treeline, Jack pulled over into a small section of field that didn't look like it had anything growing in it.

"Alright, here's our first rest stop!" he announced, with a joking tone of enthusiasm. "Everyone in the car, out of the car. Go get some snacks, go to the bathroom, all that. We'll get back on the road in fifteen minutes."

"The forest is my favorite convenience store chain," I joked, as Jack turned off the engine.

While waiting for one of them to get out, I reached into my bag and pulled out a new nutrient brick. Max was the first out, also carrying a nutrient brick. I hopped out through his door and stretched.