Gracie’s Touch

Chapter 1-3

Gracie slowly walked into the bathroom and stared at her reflection. She tried to calm the trembling in her hands as she pushed her short, thick strawberry blonde hair away from her face so she could wash without getting it wet. Gracie wouldn’t say she was beautiful—more like cute.

Her hair was cut in a bob that came to her chin; her eyes were too big and a deep, dark green. She had a short, button nose and lips just a little on the full side. She was very pale from having spent most of her time underground in the subway tunnels of New York. She was also very petite for her age, but that was mostly due to not having very much food for too many years.

The guys had finally set up grow lights in one tunnel, and they grew what they could. Mark had been the farmer of the group, having come from the Midwest in search of survivors. Chance knew a little, but that was mostly because of the pot plants he used to grow when he was a teenager.

Adam and Adrian were native New Yorkers used to the mean streets. They were the fighters of the group and had been instrumental in saving the lives of each of them on more than one occasion.

Gracie watched as her hair swished around her face as she leaned forward and drew in a deep breath. She tried to sound confident about what she was about to do, but in reality she was scared to death. She wasn’t sure it was going to work, and she knew if it did, there was an excellent possibility she wouldn’t survive.

She figured it would be a one-way ticket, but she also knew that if the guys knew that, they would never let her go. If there was a chance they could turn the tide of this war and defeat the aliens, she was going to take it.

The only reason she was the best candidate for this mission was because if the aliens figured out what she was doing and tried to stop her, she had a chance of counteracting their programming.

So, scared or not, she was it. She washed her face and brushed her teeth before pulling on a comfortable pair of worn jeans, an oversized T-shirt with a picture of New York on the front, and slipped into her running shoes. She grabbed some personal items and shoved them into her oversize leather bag along with an extra shirt and her hoodie.

Last, she grabbed her tablet PC and chargers. Looking around for the last time at the little bed set up against the stone wall, Gracie pulled aside the blanket she used as a door and walked down to the main staging area.