Third random story in progress...

She never would have thought they'd come so far inland, to such a small place as Elba. She knew the bots sometimes used infrared to find the humans. She had no protection; nowhere to run. The water level in the irrigation ditch was low. The water was run-off from the snow farther up the mountain, and it would have been cold enough to disguise her from the heat-seekers, but there hadn't been enough snow in years; it wouldn't cover her. She couldn't breathe underwater anyway...it would have been a foolish plan.

Then Jessie remembered the old potato cellar at the abandoned house across the street. With vaulted brick ceiling, covered in earth, it may be enough to hide the warmth of a human body. At least buy her some time. If she could get through this particular raid, the bots would leave again, not patrolling this area again for several hours. Staying low to the ground, she ran across the dirt road, climbed through the ancient, rusty barbed wire, avoiding getting caught on the sharp barbs. There weren't any trees just on the other side, but the grass was long and yellow; she could crawl through it to the potato cellar and hopefully not be spotted.

She crept forward to the old hand pump in the yard, all the while staying very low in the long June grass just on the verge of turning red despite the fact that July was nearly over. It had been a cold spring, too cold, and all the plants were behind their usual schedule. Fortunately, there had been a great deal of snow falling further up the mountains and the spring run-off from Mount Harrison had been cool and plentiful. Jessie pumped the handle vigorously a few times and water began to splutter out, spitting and gushing a rust-colored liquid first, and then gradually evening out to a crystal clear, steady flow. Thrusting her face directly into the water, she took a huge gulp, coughed a bit, surprised at the coldness, and drank deeply again.

A soft moaning sound behind her made her stiffen in fear...

-----Much later with something needed in the middle-----

Jessie came through the door and in the dim light, she saw a familiar face; handsome, blonde and tall, but she could not quite place him. Then the others closed in behind her, grasping and dragging her down so her back was on the floor. The handsome man appeared above her and knelt down.

"Who are you? Why are you here?"

"I-I...My name is..." She couldn't quite get her words out. Thoughts were coming too fast. Why did this man look so familiar? Who were all these people? How could all this underground space be here for so long with no one knowing about it?

One of the others held Jessie's head and pried her left eye open, squirting in a few drops of some stinging liquid. Jessie struggled but could not move her head from the clamp-like hands. After a moment she felt calmer and decided the liquid must have been some kind of truth-relaxant. The man questioned her again, more gently this time.

"Who are you?"

"Jessica McFarlane. I used to live across the street. You're all here under my potato cellar." The drug was beginning to make her babble.

"Why are you here?"

"I was trying to stay away from the bots. I thought the potato cellar would hide me from their heat-seekers. Then I found the portal down here in the corner. How is this even possible?" Jessie began to cry, and felt stupid. The drug, the stress, the unlikelihood of it all had been weighing her down, and now she just couldn't stop herself.

The handsome man nodded curtly to the others and they let her go. He helped her sit up and whispered, "I'm sorry, Jessie. I had to be sure it was really you. Please forgive me." And then leaning in closer, he kissed the corner of her mouth.