Sophie’s eyes widened. If what Luke was saying was true, then it was far worse than she had imagined. It was possible the government was completely gone. Sure, there would be other survivors in bunkers across the world, people like Luke who had survived the initial attack, but without jets, tanks, and nukes to fight back with, they would be eliminated one by one. Extermination was no longer just a worst-case scenario; it was quickly becoming a reality.

Overton coughed and jammed a cigarette between his dry lips. “How do we fight them?”

Luke laughed. “Typical soldier. I’m sorry, Sergeant, but we don’t fight them. We hide and hope they leave without taking every ounce of water.”

“Negative. That’s not happening,” Overton fired back. “I’ve killed almost a dozen of them already. They’re weak. Once you bring down their shields, this thing we call a gun”—Overton shouldered his rifle and smiled—“turns them into dirty martinis.”

“So you’ve seen the worms and the spiders, I take it? Odd creatures. No way in hell they’re the intelligent ones, though. From what I’ve seen, they act like bugs. The spiders are the worker bees, tracking down water, weaving anyone or anything with a certain water weight into those orbs. Then the worms harvest the glowing prison cells and deliver the H2O to the ships above with one giant belch,” he said pointing at the clear sky.

Luke’s smile faded as he watched another ray of turquoise light race up into the sky. He strolled across the metal rooftop, his boots clanking until he stood only a few steps from Overton. “I’m no Marine. I can’t shoot, and I surely wouldn’t know how to handle myself in battle. I don’t know military strategy either, but what I do know is this—” Luke paused and surveyed the skyline. “I know history. It was just a matter of time before our civilization collapsed. Look at what happened to the Roman Empire, the people of Easter Island, the Mayans, and the Native American tribes. They were all virtually wiped out. Either by an invading enemy, disease, or loss of resources.”

“But they weren’t completely wiped out,” Sophie interjected.

Luke smiled. “No, but they weren’t fighting against a far superior species either. If you think about it this way, all three of the extermination factors in the demise of those cultures are present in this invasion. Consider this,” he said, looking back over the railing. “We have an amazingly intelligent invading species. Any survivors will have to battle diseases due to lack of sanitary conditions, and the few who remain after that will have to contend with the loss of our most precious resource: water.”