“Don’t worry,” Enrique says. “They’ve stunned him. These guys may have put up the money for a license to destroy a town and stun its inhabitants in a simulated invasion of hell-raisers from outer space or something, but they’re not allowed to hurt or kill.”

“They’ll pay damages for everything they’ve destroyed,” I added. “They’re contractually bound.”

“The hell they are,” Enrique says. “I hate these so-called ‘real-life trailers’. This is no way to advertise upcoming movies. I think the movie industry is going way too far these days, picking ‘strategic’ towns as ‘target areas’ for their goddamned advertising nonsense. This is no way to ‘prepare audiences through direct involvement’ or however they phrase it. Hell, I know there’s a lot of money at stake, but I’m not willing to take part in this madness. I don’t know about you, but I won’t go and watch this movie when it’s released, even if I get a free ticket. Any idea which movie this is for, by the way?”

“I think I heard about it,” the woman says, as we emerge from the restaurant’s back door, find ourselves in a narrow alley, and make our way to the end. “I believe this one’s called ‘Target: Earth’, a science fiction flick about an invasion from outer space.”

“Makes sense,” I say, nodding. “Hell, maybe we’re on live TV as I’m saying this. These real-life trailers are covered live.”

“They sure are,” Enrique says. “Otherwise there would be no point. This is advertising, remember? Did you see any film crews, by the way? Maybe they’re using hidden cameras, or maybe the crews are inside those ships. I suppose they can shoot from nice angles up there.”

“Nice pun, Enrique,” I say, and we finally leave the alley and spill into a street, but to our dismay we’re facing a bunch of “spacemen” who are knocking down all the “humans” they spot, and they’ve just spotted us.

“I believe we’re on the winning side in this one,” the woman says, and that last word has barely left her mouth as one of the “aliens” points his gun at her and she goes down, dead or stunned, however you like to see it.

Enrique and I dart back into the alley and run as if possessed. “I don’t think we’re on the winning side in this one at all,” I shout at Enrique.

He throws a baffled look at me, and says, “She meant that humanity is winning in this new movie.”

“I know that was what she meant,” I answer. “I was only being sarcastic. It was a joke, okay?”

“This is no time to joke,” Enrique shouts back, and then one of the alien creatures shoots us in the back with his laser gun and the world around us turns black, and two more unwilling actors in a goddamned real-life trailer go down.

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