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THE INVASIONBuy it nowonAMAZONSMASHWORDSKOBOand all good storesPART ONETHE ARRIVAL
 
The winter storm that blew through the Maritimes on 23rd February saved the lives of thousands of people. At the time most of them were too busy surviving to be grateful.It had started quietly enough, with a cold breeze from the Northwest blowing a few lazysnowflakes around in the early evening. Thereafter the velocity and the volume ramped up likean accelerating truck until, by the time Alice Noble went to check on the boat-shed, it was blowing a gale and she knew it would be piling up drifts that were already several feet deep.She had been listening to the steady rise of the storm with some trepidation as the winter hadalready proved to be a hard one, and the boat house roof was showing signs of wear. She wasrelieved to find everything still intact when she opened the door from the kitchen and walked intothe large barn-like space.The Zodiac sat snugly under its winter tarpaulin, looking strangely sad in its deflated state. Itseemed like a long time since the hot summer days out on the Bay with the tourists, but that wasthe price you paid for being here – the Summers were magical, but the Winters were there merelyto be endured. It was no surprise to her that many of the island’s inhabitants left in December for more clement places, but she couldn’t afford that luxury, and stayed behind with a few hardyothers, hunkered down in solitude against anything Nature could throw at them.
 And tonight it’s throwing plenty.
The main door of the shed rattled violently. It was taking the full force of the wind and the oldhinges creaked and complained with each gust. But Alice had put a new set of locks on just thisFall and she was confident it would hold. Before going back to the relative warmth of the kitchenshe ran a hand over the tarpaulin covering the rigid-hull Zodiac. This construction of fiberglassand rubber had eaten most of her life’s savings – but it also allowed her to pursue her life’sdreams. For the last two summers she’d made a living bringing tourists over from Grand Mananto spend days at a time out on the Bay of Fundy with the local whale population. If truth wastold, she’d have been out on the water anyway, but the tourists provided much needed income – more than enough to see her through the winter.She patted the tarpaulin.
Soon.
She went back to her kitchen and closed the door behind her. A mug of coffee quicklydispelled any chill that had settled into her during her visit to the shed, and she settled down inher recliner with the coffee and a fresh beer just in time for the second period of the game.She was to be disappointed. Just as the players came back out onto the ice the broadcast cut toa news-flash – and that was when she realized it was important. Anything that disrupted a bighockey night
had 
to be important.At first she thought the color had gone on the television. They showed the scene of asnowstorm in a city – but everything was tinged a deep green. The presenter sounded seriousthough, so she paid attention.“An unusual phenomena is being reported all along the East Coast tonight. It is snowing in azone stretching from New England all the way up to Labrador – nothing unusual for this time of the year. But what has the scientists baffled is the color. Across wide swathes of the storm-hitarea the snow is falling green. As you can see from our pictures, this is no joke.”The screen indeed showed what appeared to be green snow falling heavily on city streets.“Reports are also coming in that this snowfall is having strange effects on plant life in someareas, but these reports are as-yet unconfirmed, as many rural areas are completely cut off in thestorm. We will, of course keep you fully up to date with this breaking story, but in the meantime,we return you to the big game.”
 
The teams were already playing, but Alice’s curiosity was piqued. She took her mug with her and went through to the sunroom. In the summer she’d have been taking her coffee here, with thewindows open and cool evening breezes washing away the heat of the day. At this time of year the room was mostly unused. Frost ran in spider-web patterns across the windows, but she couldsee enough.
The snow is green!
 The game still blared in the front room, but she wasn’t about to let the opportunity pass her by.She went to the main door and started the process of inuring herself against the weather – snow boots, coat, hat, scarf and gloves.She opened the door thinking she was prepared. She’d left her right glove off to turn thehandle. As she opened the door some green-tinged snowflakes landed on the back of her hand.They immediately started to burn, like cinders from a fire that had been poked too vigorously.She withdrew her hand quickly and pushed the door shut. Her hand stung and she had to grit her teeth against the pain. She ran to the kitchen and ran cold water over the affected areas – fivesmall holes bubbled as if acid had fallen there.The water didn’t erase the burning. Looking closely she saw points of green deep down in thesmall wounds. They seemed to be burrowing deeper, the green areas spreading as if it wasactually eating her flesh -- and growing as it did so.
What is this shit?
There was only one thought in her mind – to get rid of the pain. She scrambled in the kitchendrawers until she found what she was looking for.She managed to light a series of matches and, while the heads still burned, poked them deepinto the wounds. Each burning brought a fresh scream from her, but five matches later she wasable to study the back of her hand. There was a ruined mess of burned tissue, and the pain wasalmost unbearable.But there were no more green spots.John Hiscock only just got to safety in time, but he had already spent most of his adult life preparing for this moment, and was not surprised it had finally come.
 Bloody terrorists!
When he was younger he’d thought it would be a nuclear event that he’d have to hide from.But in recent years it had become more obvious that it would be either a biological or chemicalattack – that was the sneaky thing to do.He’d bought this cabin high in the hills above Saint John nearly fifteen years ago, and hadspent most of his spare time building his defenses and ensuring that he would be fully stocked inthe event that his fears came to pass.They’d laughed at him long and hard for years down at the garage. Jake Forbes in particular had ridden him constantly, calling him a paranoid freak, and taking every opportunity to ask whathe was wasting his paycheck on this week.
 But who is laughing now?
He almost hadn’t been given enough warning. It was only by luck that the storm didn’t startuntil he’d got home from his shift. The first green flake had fallen as he walked from his truck tothe front door. Old Ben loped over to welcome him home and a flake landed on his nose. The olddog yelped and started to run in circles. It was only by sternly ordering him to stand still thatHiscock was able to get his training to overrule his pain. He examined the dog’s nose closely.Something green and bubbling festered in a weeping sore.A second flake landed next to the dog’s left eye and immediately started to
boil.
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