Reality Hits

“We’re coming for you Robert. We’re going to kill you. You can not hide Robert. You can not run.” 

The voices were talking to him again. They had gotten louder recently. He could finally hear them talking to him. The drugs dulled the voices, muted their calls. They floated to him through a fog, thick as liquid, slow and drug through cement. Vague echoes, reminiscent of their former terror filled glory.

“We’ll kill you Robert. Don’t try to hide.” They always said that. Only now he heard. No longer was his mind hazy. They would not drug him ever again. Never again would he let them. He was prepared this time. 

“They’re going to kill you all. The end is near!” He was alone in the swarm of people. The hoard buzzed around him. Young and old alike gathered together for their oncoming death in the desert. He had to warn them. They would not listen, but he would try none the less. The sun beat down on them all with a fury threatening to scorch the very Earth upon which they walked. Robert inhaled sharply through his mask. The gas mask diminished his vision but was necessary if he wished to survive. He had prepared for this day. For years he had heard the voices. For years they had whispered to him. Talked to him, followed him. Now they would finally arrive. He was ready. He would live. It saddened him how many pedestrians were completely unprepared for any biological warfare, for the initial extermination, the scorching of the Earth. He was. He was prepared for everything.  

“You will all die.”  He moved among the crowd swiftly, warning them all. No one heard. No one stopped to listen. The mask muffled his already strained voice. 

“Save yourselves while you still can” His voice was labored, and raspy yet still he found the strength to continue. They would be here soon. He must save as many people as possible before he retreated back underground. 

“We’re watching you Robert. We see you.” They were close. He knew they were coming. Without realizing it he had made his way through the crowd towards the military platform erected above the masses. A woman in pink stood before a camera and bleachers filled with government suits. Snug bastards. High on their horses. They would see. They would all see. He was not crazy. 

“We’re coming Robert.”  It was them. They were here. He felt them before he heard them. The sound was as if a canon had torn the sky in two. The boom reverberated through his bones down to his soul like electricity. He turned and peered at the heavens. Around him he heard the shrieks of humans falling over themselves with shock. Above him on the platform the lady reporter jabbered excitedly into a microphone. Within mere seconds a second boom followed sending shivers down his spine. 

“We’re here Robert. We’re going to get you.”

The ship burst into the atmosphere in a flurry of flames. The sky ripped apart to submit to the oncoming craft. Fire and smoke encased the metal sphere as it raced down towards the Earth’s surface as if trying to break through a sheet of cellophane sky. The heavens swirled, submitting to the will of the vessel as it tore through the stratosphere. Robert’s heart beat in his ears. They were finally here. Soon everything would change. Without waiting for them to land he took off running. He must make it back to his bunker before they landed and began the extermination. With brutal force he made his way through the crowd tearing through the throng of beings. Around him faces peered upward in shock, others in fear, some in hope. He ignored them all and pushed onward turning his back to the sky.

“Run! Run for your lives you fools!” He tried shouting at those in passing but found his voice lost among the noise and confusion of those already screaming around him. He found his bike chained where he left it, tied to a cactus encased in scrawny desert shrubbery and hopped on. The weight of his backpack and gun shifted to the seat behind him as he kicked the bike into first popping the clutch as he went. Few people hollered as he began to ride past them. Many nearly got ran over. Several did. There were people everywhere. Thousands and thousands of souls. 

His bike made it to the dirt road backed up with traffic for miles in both directions. He wove his way into the middle of both lanes and began to slowly speed up slowing down only occasionally for people getting in or out of cars. The summer sun made his black protective suit a sauna. His knuckles buckled and cracked from the heat with lack of water though as he rode sweating underneath his black gloves and long sleeve shirt. Thankfully his house was on the outskirts of town. He shouldn’t of risked staying up as long as he did. He never should have been above ground when they first entered the atmosphere or even got that close. That was his first mistake. 

He heard the spaceship stop. A hollow metal bellow like a roar from a giant broken horn echoed over the crowd. He looked at the faces around him as he rode. Many were crying, some in happiness, others in desperation and regret. Everywhere he turned it seemed there were kids; babes brought here unwillingly in their parents arms, all of which were going to die. The gravel road crackled under his tires throwing dirt and rocks behind him as be made his way through infinitely stalled traffic. The desert expanded onwards to both his left and right while the reflections from the city north of him glared in his eyes. 

We see you Robert we will kill you Robert.

He began to panic. He should not be on the surface. He tried speeding up but was blocked every step of the way. Everywhere he turned there were people getting out of cars to look up at the sky. 

“Take me, take me now!” One gangly haired teenager bellowed out, his hands outstretched to the sky while he stood on top of his beaten down blue truck. His friends took up his chant in the bed of the truck all standing with their hands to the sky. 

“Take us, take us now” They sang reaching upwards with hands grasping at invisible transporter beams.

Robert was forced to stop as he came upon a crash blocking three lanes. Instead of turning around and finding a route he left the bike and took off running, jumping over the mangled cars knowing it would be faster than trying to find a way through this crowd at this point. It was a damn shame he’d had to leave the bike. His own fault though. He should have been back sooner. He saw the outline of his trailer on the horizon and attempted to hasten his pace. 

He pushed onward despite the heat exhaustion threatening to overwhelm him and began throwing people out of his way almost in a fit of hysterics. 

“Move, move!” He shouted through the mask, in between gasps for air, but no one heard, or no one listened. 

In his desperation he collided with a young girl, the two sent tumbling down together in his rush to live. She couldn’t have been more than eight years old. Staring at the sky wide eyed she had been to short for him to easily push out of the way. Robert put his hands forward barely managing not to crunch the poor girl as he rolled over onto his back letting her get up. She was crying and ran to her nearby parents, both of which were completely oblivious to the entire ordeal, their faces peering upward. 

He couldn’t help it. He looked upward at the big ship hovering above them all. It was massive. Larger than downtown Phoenix it floated over the crowd throwing them all, including Robert into shadow. He was going to die. It was to late. He should have been safe in his bunker by now. 

“Welcome to Earth” A voice said from a loud speaker somewhere in the military set up. Robert shuddered. The fools. Welcoming their very death.

The ship remained floating in mid air almost as if cooling off. Then it began. 

A thin mist descended upon them all. Like wet nets of spiderwebs the mist encased them all in a translucent fog. Thinner then rain, the air became heavy with the mist cascading forth from the hovering alien vessel. Robert tightened his gas mask, wiped the fog from the plates protecting his eyes and made sure he had no exposed skin. All around him people were screaming and dropping to the ground. Their skin began to swelter and boil. Blisters covered exposed skin, breaking in pussy festering wounds. Screams arose from everyone exposed to the liquid gas. As Robert watched while those around him rolled spasming in pain their muscles twitching in reaction to the exposure he calmly realized that nothing was happening to him. He exhaled through the mask suddenly aware of the fact that he had been holding his breath.

He got to his feet while those around him struggled to keep from pulling out their hair in agony. He would not wait around any longer. His muscles ached already from carrying so much gear around with him but he knew if he stood any chance at all now he had to get back to the shelter. He found himself struggling to get enough air through the mask but continued to push himself forward. One step after another, making his way through the writhing sea of bodies around him he pushed forward hopping over young, thin, tan, fat, old alike all of which were dying. His feet finally reached concrete as he made it to the road to his trailer and underground bunker. The screams of those around him filled his ears but none of which where louder than the voices already screaming at him inside his own head. 

“Don’t try to run Robert, we’re going to kill you Robert.” 

They wouldn’t stop. They never stopped. The damned voices. He began to step on those that got in his way. No longer would he leap from one moaning body to another. Whatever was the fastest route he took, be it kicking some, stepping on others and leaping over the rest. 

He entered the confines of his property and ran past the run down trailer making his way to his underground bunker. He had thought that living out here in the desert would protect him from the initial attack. He should have gone to the hills, hundreds of miles away from the nearest town. He had chanced it though and had only gone out into the desert miles away from the city in hopes of being able to loot it later. He reached the door to his fort, and struggled to take the key from his pocket. Nearly on the verge of losing his mental sanity he managed to get the key free from its zippered pocked and push it into the lock. The air tight room gasped as the door opened and swung inward revealing a steep descent into the Earth. Robert turned and looked one last time at the world around him. The spaceship blocked out the sun, but not the screams. Thousands writhing around on the ground, tormented by an unknown poison. They had chose their own fate. They had called him crazy. Now they were choking on their own words. 

“We’ll kill you Robert. You can not hide.”

Robert sighed and turned his back on the sun, and the screams of the dying human race and withdrew into the Earth closing the door behind him as he went. 

Elliot

Elliot had been in office for near five years now. He had thirty years under his belt of congregational work alone. All his years in office, in the military, in college, none of it had prepared him for the arrival of extra terrestrial beings. When he had received word of their coming twenty four hours ago he had thought his advisors had gone mad. Surely there had been a communication error somewhere along the line of command. However after hearing the transmission and witnessing the statistical reports from the NASA Near Earth Asteroid Detection program himself he had had to accept the sad truth that human beings were no longer alone in the universe. 

Without warning the entire world had been thrown into disarray, not to mention his own cabinet. He was no longer safe in his own office. He had to leave, get out of DC as soon as humanely possible. It took less than half an hour after receiving the initial warning for him and his family to be whisked off on a plane to an old cold war bunker somewhere deep in the Rocky Mountains. 

He had heard nothing new since the initial attack. An hour ago the first space ship had descended upon the planet spraying forth a poison into the atmosphere wiping out the entire Phoenix populace. It had since proceeded to make it’s way up the western seaboard killing anyone still above ground. He was supposed to meet with the UN security council in three hours via video phone to discuss what was to be done about the aliens currently exterminating the human race. 

Right now he had to be brought up to date with events on the surface. He checked his watch. He had mere minutes before he had to be online for the conference call. He was alone in his room before his computer. The concrete walls made him feel claustrophobic despite the enormity of the room. The entire bunker expanded for miles underground. A man could live buried down here for the entirety of his life. His own room was lush and decorated more elaborately than anything he had seen in the United States. It reminded him of the gothic castles he had seen in Europe. Drapes hung from the walls, intricately painted masterpieces took the place of windows. Marble busts sat on pedestals displayed for all to see. His own bed, an old four poster canopy bed sat  up against the wall reminding him how foreign all of this was. He missed his tempurpedic bed with the white egyptian cotton sheets and full length windows letting in the sun. 

He flipped on his computer monitor and waited for the thing to power up. Eventually he entered his password and logged on opening the computer program necessary to connect him to the outside world. His personal friend, and secretary of State Luther Smith was waiting for him. The man looked worn thin. Dark bags lined his eyes, his hair appeared more gray than Elliot remembered. He clearly hadn’t been sleeping. 

“You look terrible Luther.” He stated putting his headphones on as he saw his Attorney General Mark Water log on. The screen displayed all three men. Elliot looked worse than Luther he realized. 

“I feel terrible.” Came Luther’s response. The man looked as if he had been drugged with heroine. Elliot regretted mentioning anything to the man. The two exchanged formalities while the Grumpy General Water did something off screen. Within minutes the Secretary of Homeland security and the Secretary of Defense had managed to log on from their separate access points. 

“Where do we stand?” Elliot asked after making sure that everyone was ready. There was no reason to waste time.

“We’ve lost the entire East coast and most of the West. That poison they sprayed into the atmosphere caught wind and migrated East.” Says the Secretary of Homeland Security. Behind him prominently displayed is a lit up map of the world. 

“They’ve continued to migrate Eastward and we estimate that within twenty four hours anything living on the surface of the Earth will be extinguished.” The man’s voice was flat and informative.  

Elliot sighed and could not help but rest his forehead on his palm. Less than two days ago his biggest problem had been the budget deficit. How he longed for that life now. 

“What do we know about this poison they are exterminating us with? Is there any treatment or antibody for it” Elliot asked massaging his temples with his finger tips. 

“We are waiting to hear back from the CDC right now.” Luther states from his corner in the screen. “Should be any second now.” He adds. 

Luther is safely stowed away within the CDC. Everyone one of Elliot’s cabinet members had been flown to separate locations to prevent the total annihilation of the American government. If one member died, the others would remain. 

“We’ve been in contact with the UN and another ship has appeared over South Russia.” General Water adds, thinking now as an appropriate time to reveal this information. 

Elliot watched the responses of every man present. Luther sighed as if he had just been punctured. Secretary of State Ken Atienza grunted disapprovingly while Secretary of Defense Walter Donath rubbed his forehead as if he had a headache. Elliot felt a light throb in his own cranium. 

“What about our own defenses?” He managed to get out not wanting to hear the response. 

“Useless.” Secretary of Defense Walter Donath replied monotonously. “We can’t get above ground to employ any real attack and we still haven’t been able to get through their defenses when we do. Every attempt at getting near their ships has ended in flames. Their weaponry is like nothing we’ve ever seen before.” Elliot felt bad for the man. Three years from now he was scheduled to retire. Now he never may. Who knows when the next time elections would be held. 

“They’ve deployed several smaller ships to the surface but we have been unable to determine why.” Secretary Donath added as if things weren’t already bad enough. 

Elliot sighed. Soon enough they would be digging below ground to the bunkers and fallout shelters. 

“Mr. President, I’ve just gotten word that they’ve determined what they’re using to kill us with us on the surface.” Luther Smith’s voice chimes in disrupting Elliot’s chain of thought. 

“What?” he stuttered without really thinking. 

“I’ve got a research toxicologist here that says he knows about the poison.” Luther continues. “They say the’ve determined what happened on the surface.” 

Elliot blinked, and adjusted his headphones and microphone. 

“Well let’s hear it then.” Elliot stated not really wanting to take any part in this conversation. 

“I’ll make sure you all get a copy of the report.” Luther added before looking down at his keyboard. 

“Let’s hear it now.” comes General Water’s gruff voice. 

“I’m waiting on the toxicologist himself to arrive right now.” Luther responded with a hint of irritation in his tone. The lack of sleep was not sitting well with his anger tolerance. 

Elliot zoned out while they jabbered amongst themselves. 

“Mr. President the toxicologist with the CDC is here.” Luther said his voice a notch louder than necessary. Elliot snapped back to Earth with Luther’s slight nagging. The men were all quiet awaiting his response. 

“Well get him online then man, what does he have to say?” Elliot snapped with annoyance without meaning to. Luther looked taken back but moved off screen and was shortly replaced by a thin man in his early sixties. He appeared hunched over with age, his skin covered in dark pink splotches. His broad forehead took up most his face and covered his bird like beak of a nose. 

“We have managed to isolate a bacterial strain from samples obtained from the initial attack on the surface. What we found is a bacterial strain similar to anthrax however it appears to be much more aggressive. The toxins produced are much more potent then anthrax and it seems to be resistant to every antibiotic we have.” The doctor paused whether for dramatic effect or more air Elliot could not determine, however the short lapse into silence disheartened him. He had maintained hope that there was something that could be done to treat those on the surface. 

“We have no leads as to how we can treat this outbreak. My entire research team is still working on finding any microbial sensitivities however we have not had any luck thus far.” The man exhaled and looked off screen to view what Elliot could only assume was Luther. 

“How long will the stuff remain in the atmosphere?” Secretary Donath asks, always the sensible one amongst Elliot’s staff. 

“At this time we have no idea. We’ve never seen anything like this before.” The scientist looks grim. He must have lost someone. 

“What about any life on the surface? Animals? Plants? Our food for damn sake” Elliot blurted out feeling stupid for even asking, but still wanting to hope that things hadn’t gotten as bad as they seemed.

“Any animal not buried underground or in a cave will probably die. Plants should not be affected however they will be coated in the bacteria hence we can assume nothing on the surface is edible.” The scientist coughs and continues to shift his gaze elsewhere clearly wanting to be anywhere but here right now. Elliot felt his pain. 

“Anything else we need to know?” Elliot asked wanting this meeting to be over with already. They still had yet to determine what their next plan of action was going to be. He would have to wait to hear back from the UN before he knew more.

“It would appear that anyone wearing a hazmat suit can breach the surface if necessary.” The man added as if this were a good thing. Perhaps it was. Elliot wondered how many hazmat suits he had available. Enough for the entire armed forces? Enough to reclaim the surface? Elliot wondered if he would ever breathe fresh air again.

“Thank you James” Luther’s voice came over the headset as he ushered the poor battered doctor off screen. “I’ll make sure everyone gets a copy of their findings of course.” Luther continued. The computer screen flickered like a light temporarily freezing each man in their own corners of the screen. Elliot took the time to knead his neck and close his eyes in weariness. What else could happen now? The computer came back to life like an undead machine and the meeting continued. Elliot sat back in his oak padded chair and attempted to digest the bleak news. 

Rural America

“She’s going to die if we don’t get her more antibiotics.” My mother’s voice is a hollow whisper, faint as a mouse her words barely brisk my ears. She’s standing above my five year old baby sister’s cot. A neon light hangs from the concrete ceiling in the square room illuminating all in a flickering light. My sister’s eyes are distant. She moans as if dead and rolls around in pain under thin blue sheets. Her skin is milky white, with black and blue bruises covering her body. She has lost almost all her baby fat and remains a wisp of a child skeleton. 

It’s been weeks since we retreated underground to live safely in the confines of my father’s fallout shelter. After the cold war my father became forever convinced that if not Russia, then the Chinese were likely to go off at any second sending us all back to the stone ages. Every free second of his adult life was spent preparing for a nuclear fall out. When it was announced that E.t. was coming to Earth my father was more than prepared. 

“I’m going above grounds.” I declare to my mother. The need is dire. We knew eventually that we would have to return to the surface for something. Despite what my father said something was bound to happen eventually. Chaos theory. 

“Your father isn’t going to like it.” My mother continues to stare down at my baby sister. She doesn’t try to stop me. We both know what’s at risk here. My baby sister is the life of this family. Without her we will all die. I move forward and grasp her hand between my palms. Her small hand is cold and clammy between my fingers. 

“I’ll be fine.” I say silently to my sister. My mother puts her hands on my shoulder and squeezes me lightly for comfort. She looks almost as hollowed out as my sister. She has never had the stomach for any sort of illness. My dying sister has been worse then the plague on my mother. Dark circles line her eyes. Her stare is lifeless and withdrawn from reality.

“You’ll be fine.” She says under her breath. I can’t tell if she is speaking to my sister or myself. 

“I’m going to go talk to dad.” I declare decidedly before turning and leaving the cot with my sister and mother behind. The air in the bunker is cool on my skin, goosebumps cover my skin. I knew I would have to leave eventually yet now that the thought has been voiced I can’t help but feel fear fill my body. Weeks ago I wouldn’t have been physically capable of a trip to the surface. I was weak and flabby, terribly out of shape. Now after weeks of powering the generator myself I have gotten in better shape then I’d ever been in in my life. My mother and father would have to run the thing themselves now. 

I walk past the kitchen, through the living room and arrive at my dad’s door. I can hear the radio broadcasts through the door. Ever since the initial attack on the surface my father has been glued to the radio learning everything he can about the enemy. The reports flash through my brain. Everything my father found important he told my mother and I. We knew about as much as anyone could about the alien invasion. I can’t help but shudder at the thought of some of the reported deaths. A chill runs down my spine. I’m only fourteen yet I know that if anyone is going to save my sister it’s got to be me. 

I hear a moan arise from my sister in the other room. The sobs of my mother drift silently towards me. I raise my fist and knock on my father’s door. 

“Come in quickly.” My father’s gruff voice reaches my ears. I turn the knob and shift my weight onto the heavy door opening it only with the full weight of my body. My father lies on his king size bed reading some sort of dictionary. His legs encased in scrubs, his beer belly protruding slightly from beneath his standard issue government shirt he’s propped up by several pillows among his blue sheets. The radio buzzes continually in the corner on a wooden desk among a mixture of survival books. Bookcases line the walls covering every free inch of space. Maps, medical dictionaries, construction blueprints, anything my father thought useful has been stored safely away underground for years now. 

“Melody has gotten worse. Mom say’s she needs more antibiotics.” I can’t make my father’s eye contact, instead I look at a map of surrounding fresh water sources hanging above my father falling from a book shelf above his head.

“Melody is a strong girl. She’ll pull through.” My father continues to study his book, he takes a highlighter from somewhere among the covers and colors a passage in.

“She’s only getting worse. If we don’t get her meds she’ll die.” The statement rolls off my tongue before I have time to think. Hearing the statement aloud seems to make the situation more dire, almost more true.

“Melody is a strong girl.” My father states, his voice rough, like gristle. For him the conversation is over. No one goes to the surface. 

“She’ll die.” I struggle to get out. No one ever argues with my father and gets away with it. My father looks up from the book he’s reading for the first time since I entered the room and stares at me. His hair is buzzed short and balding, his face is wrinkled with age, his skin tan and splotchy with age spots. For a man in his late sixties he appears far older than his age. 

“She won’t die.” He states as if he knows with infinite certainty that she will live without further complications from here on out. 

“You haven’t seen her. She’s dying.” I protest, further balancing on the edge of uncertainty with my father. It’s true. My father has not seen my sister for weeks now. He  has remained immobilized in his bed since we retreated from the surface. After being paralyzed in Vietnam he has been restrained to his bed or wheelchair. Normally a rather active man regardless after the initial invasion my father has refused to leave his room and risk missing some precious announcement on the radio. When he sleeps my mother or I have to stay in the room to listen for any emergency broadcasts relayed our way.

“She won’t die.” He states again as if I am stupid before returning to his book.

“She won’t last much longer. We need to get her medical help. We have to go to the surface.” I find my courage and manage to continue on with my battle. 

“Your sister isn’t going to die. We can’t risk going to the surface for anything for anyone. Do you want us all to die?” My dad explodes releasing his frustration into the room. His voice echoes throughout the concrete complex. Even half paralyzed in bed he’s still a scary figure. I can’t imagine what he would be like if he could walk. 

“Do you want to die? Do you want to kill your mother and I?” He continues on gaining momentum and energy with every passing word. 

“No of course not” I manage to get out, losing confidence with every passing moment. 

“If you go to the surface it’s a death sentence.” My father lowers his voice some trying to hammer in the severity of the situation. 

“I’d rather be killed by aliens then see Melody die.” I declare without realizing the validity of the statement. 

My father exhales sharply but remains silent in thought.

“You know what you’re risking don’t you. If you don’t come back I could lose both of my daughters.” There is a tenderness to my father’s voice which I do not recognize. I’m shocked to hear anything like this coming from (him) my father.

“I won’t die Dad. You’ve had me prepared for this my whole life.” I know it’s true. No one else has had to learn how to survive like my sister and I. Ever since the day we were both born my father has been training us for the apocalypse. Maybe not an alien apocalypse but an apocalypse none the less. 

My father looks down at his book and remains silent for so long that I almost think he has moved on when he finally speaks. 

“You’re going prepared. You travel light, you travel fast and you travel quietly. Don’t get caught by anything, or anyone. Get me my chair.” My dad motions for his wheel chair sitting folded underneath the wood desk chair slot. 

It takes me a few seconds to react with shock before I run a few feet forward and grab the titanium and foam chair before constructing the thing and placing it next to my father’s bed. With big labored breaths he scoots over in his bed and gets into the thing with some struggle. Before long he’s situated and ready to go. I roll him forward through his bedroom door, the living room, the kitchen and push him into the spare storage room. This is the first time we have ever left the radio unattended. 

With his instruction I begin to gather a variety of tools necessary to survive above ground. I take a backpacking bag and begin to stuff rope, ammunition, knives, and food into the sack. The preparation takes a good few hours but before long I am ready to leave the safety of the bunker. I wear a black hazmat suit with night vision goggles. A Katana sword hangs at my side as well as a .45 caliber pistol, 250 rounds of ammunition, a silencer, a hatchet, two flat edged 8 inch blades, a crow bar and a radio. In my pockets I carry a smart phone, and a large map of the surrounding area. On my back a large sack filled with water purification tablets, canned food, two pairs of socks, a compass, a flashlight, sleeping bag, a .22 rimfire pistol, and ammunition weighs me down. I have a M1 Garand semi automatic rifle slung over my shoulder as my primary weapon.  Once I breach the surface I’ll take my bike to the nearest Walgreen’s a quarter of a mile west and loot the surrounding area. If done appropriately I should be back within twenty four hours. 

“Keep it clean, keep it oiled, keep it loaded, and keep it close.” My dad says bringing me back to reality. He’s talking about my gun of course. 

“I know Dad.” I retort sounding annoyed but really I’m glad he cares. I’ve heard this line from him a hundred times before. I never thought that it would come in handy though. 

“Move swift, move silent and only stay above ground as long as you need to.” My dad adds hesitantly. He looks at me reflectively in all my armor and gear and almost looks proud. 

“I’ll be back by tonight.” I declare, not wanting to make my sister wait any longer than necessary. My dad rolls forward and puts his hand to my shoulder. 

“You’ll be fine.” He says with encouragement. I turn and make my way to my sister’s room to say goodbye to my mother before making my way to the stairs. My father follows me to the first step and hands me the key to the upper door. 

“Stay away from anyone you come into contact with. Remember the reports from the surface. Remember the guns. Avoid traveling during the day and only take what you can carry safely. Don’t forget to find a can opener if you can.” My dad adds before pulling me towards him and embracing me in a hug. The first I can ever remember receiving from him. 

“I’ll be fine. You’ve had me prepare for this since the day I was born.” I say not sure whether I’m trying to comfort myself or him. I can just see the fear play out on his countenance. 

“I know you will be kiddo.” He says as if saying good bye. I take one last glance back towards my sister’s room and take the first step upwards closing the bunker door behind me as I go. 

Robert

Robert blinked back sunlight through his mask. He had been underground for weeks watching the alien bastards. His own place was no longer safe. They knew where he was. He had to leave. Since their descent to the surface Robert had been on constant guard. Sleeping only when necessary. He had rationed his food and watched them spread like wildfire across the surface of the planet. Giant cockroaches, the size of horses without wings, standing up straight they moved swifter then the wind it seemed. Robert had watched them descend from their ships. Small fragments of the giant sphere braking off flying to the ground below with unnatural ease. Then like bugs they swarmed forth over the surface. The Earth was infested. Infested and it was his job to cleanse it. He must protect his homestead. 

He shut the heavy metal door to his house below hearing the alarm beep and went on his way. They had yet to enter his trailer or any part of the neighborhood thus far but Robert knew they were waiting. Waiting for him. He would not let them down. He felt exposed in the sun but without a working pair of night vision goggles there was nothing that he could do. He had almost died last time he tried going up without them. Today he had to go into town to get not only goggles but a variety of supplies including more canned food and ammunition. He ran swiftly through the confines of his neighborhood until he came to the entrance. They were out there. He heard them. Always watching. Always listening. Waiting. 

He peeked cautiously around the corner and saw them. They moved between the parked cars still infinitely stalled since the initial attack gathering the corpses of the deceased. Robert watched with disgust through dying hedges as the bodies of his fellow man were piled up in large heaps constructed sporadically every quarter mile. He had to get to his bike. He had managed to find a perfectly working CR125 a mile up the road. He had never seen the vermin this close. They worked silently and without sound, moving bodies as easily as if they were pillows. There were three nearest to him that he could see as well as several more further down the road. 

He knew they could be killed. He had already killed several, however the bodies were tedious to move and took more time then they were worth. He didn’t want to leave the corpses lying around for the others to find. He may have to wait for another day to breach the surface. He wondered how much longer he could hold out for. They knew where he was. They were coming for him already. Did he dare risk staying longer? 

“We’re coming for you Robert.” 

No. He had to leave now. Gathering his courage he waited until the three oversized bugs had their backs to him before he made a run for the nearest parked car. Squatting down he held his cover and triple checked his ammo supply on his belt before darting a glance around the car. They were five cars down from him in the direction he needed to go. 

“We see you Robert.” Fuck. They knew where he was. He had no choice now. He dropped to one knee and took up arms. His semiautomatic felt light in his hands. As soon as he cocked the gun he would alert the creatures to his whereabouts. He had to be fast. He slowly made his way back and positioned his sight on the body of nearest in the group. He cocked the gun and shot the first one dead center. The thing paused then fell forward. The other two jumped as if he had thrown an explosive before descending down towards him scurrying over cars as they went. Without aiming he shot in a flurry of fear towards the two beasts dropping another. 

The third closed in on him and took from the folds of its a belly what looked like a protractor made of rocky iron. The thing lit up radiating heat from the surface of the weapon before Robert felt the pain. Every inch of his body felt as if he were on fire. The very molecules that held him together burned with a heat that seared like acid. He managed to scream with every ounce of his strength and he began retching up blood. The pain overtook him before he blacked out and fell to the ground in agony. 

Elliot

If it could go wrong, it did it seemed. Elliot sat alone with his youngest child in their drawing room deep underground before a computer screen. Dark shades of purple lined the room making it somber and bleak. The decor did nothing to lighten his mood. His daughter played with her doll on his lap giggling with the painted plastic while he tried to digest the latest news from the surface. Two hours ago they had just initiated the first counter attack. Their nuclear weapons had done nothing to the hull of the ship and had blasted away half of North America. 

“Well what about the ones still above ground?” Elliot asked trying to keep his voice down with his daughter still in the room. He bounced the girl on his knee keeping her quiet. 

“It doesn’t seem to have affected any of them. We just managed to irradiate the whole country.” General Water states as if he saw this coming. Elliot bit his tongue. The bastard. He was worried something like this would happen when the man suggested the thing in the first place. It was his own fault. They both knew it. He had okayed the plan. What else was there to be done? 

“Do we know anything about their weaponry yet or are we still shooting in the dark here?” He growled upsetting his daughter slightly. Ever since the scourge of the surface he had permitted no one permission above ground. He had already lost far too many men. Between the intermittent anthrax sweeps and radiation guns Elliot was ready to call it quits on humanity. He secretly wished he were safe in a bunker alone with his family. Not buried in a castle fortress with thousands of citizens. They had yet to find the vice president. 

“We’ve managed to obtain one of their weapons but have yet to determine how to use it properly.” General Water’s voice is grave as he reads from a memo on hand. The screen flickers throwing Water into black. His daughter drops her doll and begins to motion for it whimpering ever so slightly in response. Bending down to pick it up General Water continues talking in his ear piece. 

“Died of radiation poisoning” he states going on without noticing Elliot’s brief disappearance. “Victims received a dosage of over 1000 grey units, enough to cause almost immediate unconsciousness and death within the hour.”

“Fuck.” Elliot spluttered without meaning to, forgetting about his daughter briefly. If it wasn’t one thing then it was another. “Can’t kill us with poison so they take out the gamma ray guns” Elliot thought miserably.  What more could go wrong he thought to himself before turning the computer off on General Water. 

‘Murica Perks

A shotgun to the abdomen was the best way to take down E.T if you were far enough away. However a round from a semiautomatic did essentially the same thing it just took them a few seconds longer to drop. If you were close enough a well placed slice could cut the bastards in two. I’ve hit the jackpot from a looters stand point. I stand before a large case the size of a queen size bed filled with weapons. While searching through trailer parks I’ve managed to come across a hoard of weapons. Shotguns, machine guns, grenades, antibiotics, water storage tanks, batteries, gas, canned food, but never as much in one place as this. The only dilemma when finding something this amazing was what to take. I have my semiautomatic as well as my .45 caliber. I’ve managed to downsize recently. I now carry my katana sword, a hatchet, a crowbar, my pistol, and primary weapon, a Ruger Mini-14. My hazmat suit has been fitted so that it moves faster and quieter. 

I hear an explosion of shattered metal, roaring forth from outside the trailer. Within seconds the door in the kitchen bangs open Melody appearing in the gap. She slams the door behind her in a flurry. Her hair has been buzzed short, her hazmat suit is zipped down and wrapped around her waist revealing her tanned toned skin. On her back, her weapon of choice, a 12 gauge shotgun rests slung between her shoulder blades. Two machetes hang from her belt as well as .22 rimfire caliber pistol, a hatchet and four grenades. Ever since her recovery Melody has spent no more then 12 hours a day underground. Preferring the air and aliens then the silence and confined space with family below ground she was constantly roaming the neighborhood. 

“We’ve got to go. They followed me. They’ve got those guns. I managed to blow a few of them but we got to get out of here now common.” Melody rushes forward and grabs my hands ignoring the guns closing the bedroom door behind her. I’m tempted to grab a crossbow but leave it having never tested it safely before now. 

We are mere feet away from the door when the cheap material bent inwards, permitting the brown roach access to our hideaway. Melody wastes no time and takes out her machete cutting off the head spraying blue blood into the air, before proceeding to cut off arms as the creature screams and backs out of the trailer. It’s not dead. You must destroy the lower abdomen if you wanted to kill the fuckers. 

“Get down.” She smiles at me before tossing a grenade out the door after the spineless bastard. Typical Melody. We both head towards the bedroom door and cover ourselves as much as possible before we hear the explosion tear apart the Earth and cheap trailer. Melody is up before me dusting herself off running through the hole blasted in the side of the wall screaming with anger. Damn kid. She was going to get herself killed before she reached ten years old. I get up not wanting to lose her or get left behind. I exit the ramshackle housing and manage to trip up three roaches after my sister. The first in line has one of those damned guns in his hands aiming at my sister. Within seconds my sword is out and the creature’s arms are off. It screams as blue blood sprays from its discarded limbs. Without thinking I slice off it’s lower abdomen. Blue organs fall out as the body falls forward the other two skittering over it as if nothing happened. They have their guns out. Grossed out by what I’m about to do I run forward sliding underneath the two remaining aliens, covered in blue guts, ripping their flesh open and spilling blue blood onto the parched desert Earth. When I get up Melody is waiting impatiently tapping her foot by the end of the Trailer. 

“Are you done now?” She asks seriously. I ignore her. 

“There is enough ammo and weaponry in that trailer for weeks.” I say pointing at the disfigured shell. She looks at it for a second before turning and motioning for me to follow. 

“Lets get the truck.” She says decidedly. I follow behind like a puppy. Melody was a shy girl at school. She had never succeeded or really came out of her shell until the apocalypse. She’s really blossomed these past few weeks. The solidarity seemed to suit her well. Most my days were spent reading or running the generator for my parents. I kept my sister up to date on the deaths around the world and helped supply food and ammunition whenever I could. At only five years old she was the primary bread winner for our family.

We weave our way out of the trailer park and find our bikes parked against the entrance surrounded by Aliens. I can see Melody wrestle with the thought of throwing a grenade. If we lose the bikes we would have to walk back miles in the dark tonight. 

“Don’t do it.” I say alerting E.T. of our arrival. The four creatures run towards us. Melody takes out her other machete and with both hands runs screaming towards the creatures before they have time to react. I lose no time and follow closely behind her. Melody has managed to chop off the creatures ligaments and disarm the first two before I get to her. She loses her machete in the gut of one and takes out her hatchet hacking away at the beast with the ferocity of a wild bear. With my running start I place a perfectly aimed slice through the gut of one and the head of another. The third manages to take out a weapon. I watch as the thing glows ready to fire. I chop off the arm as I hear the thing buzz going off and Melody’s scream. When I turn to look she lays on the ground in a puddle of her own vomit convulsing, her hair falling out her head. I hear nothing but the gurgling of blue blood gushing forth from the fallen aliens.

I go to my sister and find her still alive but hot from fever. I gulp down large breaths of air and try to not think about what has just happened. Blue blood runs around my feet meeting my sister’s fallen convulsing body. I go and lay her on her back. I need a car. I need the truck. I grab her body and begin pulling her to the nearest trailer gulping back sobs as I do so. I know there is bound to be more of the things nearby. I haul her up the stairs into a trailer with three corpses. Blisters and scabs cover their body, they lay on the ground frozen in agony. I shove them aside with my foot and make room for my sister. I look around the trailer find blankets and construct a bed on the floor of the small kitchen for my sister. I lay her on the blankets and watch as she continues to wretch up blood and stomach vile. Sweet calmness overtakes me. I feel nothing. I walk to her soon to be corpse and take the grenades from her belt. I kiss her sweaty forehead before taking leave of the room slamming the door behind me. I spy the bikes a couple of meters away from the fallen monsters. With a chill unlike me I take the pin from the grenade and toss it towards the bikes running behind the trailer as I do so. The explosive goes up in rush of flames and metal tearing the motorbikes into shards of flying scrap metal. I hear fragments hit the walls of the house. That would have been heard for sure. Let the bastards come, I’d take them all. 

I check my ammunition and realize that my best bet is on top of one of the trailers. I scramble to climb the cheap ladder to the top of the vehicle where I can see around me. Once on top I survey my surroundings. 

The blasted trailer lies to the west of me. Blistered bodies lay in the streets from the initial invasion. The entire confines is surrounded by dying hedges. I hear the scuttle of insect feet rush towards the explosion. It’s like the damn things are attracted to explosives. I wait as I see five of them round the corner. Like lizards they dart forward to the remains of their fallen comrade and the motorbikes. Two more enter behind the initial five. I lay on my stomach in an attempt to remain out of sight. I’m doomed if they find me. 

I crawl to the edge of the trailer as I hear a moan issue forth from the trailer beneath me. The moan is drawn out with no soul, the dying cry hollow and empty. The aliens hear it too. They scuttle forward towards me and the trailer. I worry about my sister below. The people below were dead, I’m sure of it. What else could make that sound. I wonder what has happened to my sister. Before the alien can make his way to the trailer door the moan is joined by another three. One is deeper, the other more drawn out but the empty dying moans sound exactly alike one another. I watch as the aliens enter the complex and revel as I hear the creature scream from inside. The remaining seven beasts stall and do not enter the trailer. I can’t help but hope that Melody is okay. 

The hollow death moans continue to emit from the trailer in a chorus of violent screams. I watch as more aliens enter the trailer park. The closest alien runs forward bending the trailer door in on itself. The creature slithers inside before there is silence then the shrieks of the dying alien. The moaning continues growing louder as if radiating from every trailer. I watch from my perch as more and more roaches scuttle forth running through the streets of the trailer park. 

The sound of the door being ripped open shocks me but motivates me to pull myself to the edge of the trailer. I look down below and see a blistered, decaying arm issue forth from the trailer. The door swings open and the man falls face forward releasing two other blistered sweltering bodies. The aliens take aim with their weapons, I close my eyes and hear the buzz of their weapons go off. The moans continue. I open my eyes and watch as the people continue towards the aliens. Within seconds they are upon the first one. They tear off his arms with super human strength and begin the eat his flesh. 

It take mere seconds before I watch awe shocked as the bodies lying rotting in the streets rise to their feet inhuman groans pouring forth from their mouths. The aliens point their weapons at the walking corpses but to no affect. The bugs scuttle around in confusion as they are overcome by the moaning human corpses. Blue blood rains down upon the ground as the bugs are torn apart by the hungry men and then eaten. I back up to the center of my trailer and remain on my stomach silent as a mouse as the shrieks of the aliens become lost among the groan of the dead. I can stay here for days if I have to. 

Elliot

“Zombies?” Was he hearing things correctly? Elliot looked at the man, or boy rather. He was a few inches shorter than Elliot but still looked like a soldier. 

“Yes sir. Zombies have started killing the aliens.” 

Elliot had stopped taking any more reports yesterday. He had flat out refused. 

“I resign” he had called out sleep deprived and overwhelmed. He had since refused to leave his bedroom or turn on his computer. His wife had plead with him earlier but he had plugged his ears and hummed like a small child. 

“Are you fucking kidding me?” he knew it wasn’t the kids fault but he still couldn’t keep his anger down.

“Yes Mr. President. If you’d check your email or log onto your account you could see the reports.” The boy looked fierce despite his size. He spoke to Elliot without embarrassment like some of the younger ones normally did.

“I take one nights sleep and they think it’s funny to pull my leg.” Elliot couldn’t believe his cabinet. They had to have known he would come back after he slept. He just needed rest. They all did. There was nothing more they could do on the surface. It was overrun. End of story. For all he cared he could spend the rest of his life living underground with his family reading and surfing the net. He knew it was never that simple though. There were many that demanded action. He wanted to keep everyone underground as long as possible, keep them alive.

“This is a serious report sir.” The young man continued to pester Elliot not giving up on delivering his message. “You need to turn on your computer.”

Elliot looked at the man and dismissed him saying he would of course log on. He couldn’t imagine that they would do something so childish like this to him. He closed his door regretting answering it in the first place. He dragged himself to his desk and turned on the monitor. He checked his emails slowly reading the reports, watching the videos several times over again before he was convinced. He logged on to his video phone account and dialed his friend Luther. 

There was no way they could possibly make all this up. There were videos of entire cities of bodies rising up and overcoming the aliens. With a vicious hunger they consumed any flesh they could find living or dead. Fallen animals, soldiers in hazmat suits, aliens, all were consumed by the hoard. Elliot couldn’t believe his luck. 

Luther answered the video call. He appeared to have slept but looked stressed none the less. Deep creases had taken root on his face aging him ten years. “So you finally decided to come back to us did you?” Luther accused directing his anger at Elliot. Elliot looked elsewhere. He shouldn’t have gone offline no matter how tired he was. It was his job to be strong. He would never be weak again. 

“So zombies?” He asked, he still felt he was being pranked. 

“It would appear so.” Luther admitted looking a tad embarrassed. 

“Well Fuck that’s great.” Elliot exclaimed smiling for the first time in months. 

“Not quite.” Luther looked hesitant. 

“Why not?” Elliot asked happy to be potentially rid of the extra terrestrial vermin. 

“Well they are harder to kill then the aliens, and there are more of them.” Luther states as if this is obvious.

“Yes but couldn’t we just kill them off slowly over the years and live underground in the meanwhile?” Elliot responded irritated with Luther’s tone.

“I suppose but it would take years upon years.” Luther stutters as if this is out of the question.

“Well then lets do that then” Elliot chides glad to be done with the matter.

The End?

Earplugs were essential. They essentially kept me alive. Without them I’m sure I would have perished my now by the hand of my own gun. I’m a block away from the bunker. The moaning is enough to drive you insane. I fight the urge to to take out my earplugs. Its risky giving up my hearing but I can no longer take the sound. I’m in one of my neighbors houses crouched down behind the counter my back up against the fridge. With my hatchet in hand I duck down and move through the room as quickly as possible into the living room staying down behind the couch. That’s the thing with wearing earplugs. You never knew if anything was ever in the room with you. I always assumed the worst. I spy a side door from my position near the kitchen. I pop my head up quickly over the couch and make sure I’m alone in the room before darting to the door staying as low as I can and out of sight of the windows. My plan is to go from house to house until I get to the bunker. I take a mirror out of my pocket and slowly open the door, using the mirror as my eyes I make sure there is nothing outside before I walk out into a gravel yard. A chain link fence separates the two houses and nothing more. 

I head towards the gate trying to walk as catlike as possible when I see a walker out in the street. I freeze praying it continues on without noticing me out in the open like this when it turns and looks at me. Blisters cover any exposed skin, a bone protrudes just above the knee cap cutting through the worn jeans. I shove the mirror in my pocket and unsheathe my sword. The walker begins to slowly walk towards me. I relax some. This one is no danger. The problem is if the others notice this one. I walk out the gate and go towards the nearest house. The door’s locked. Fuck. I back up a few feet keeping an eye on the oncoming zombie before kicking the door. The cheap lock breaks and the door swings inward. The slow street zombie is mere feet away from me when I head into the kitchen of the house and close the door before me. 

The kitchen is empty and tackily decorated with cows everywhere. Cow plates hang on the walls, a cow cookie jar sits on the cow covered table cloth, cow curtains line the sink. I shudder imagining what kind of crazy people lived here. I don’t have to wait long to find out. With my back still against the door I can feel the zombie on the outside beating to get in. From the living room comes another zombie. The thing is covered in blisters and hairless dressed in a pink bathrobe. I feel the leather handle of my sword and gain courage from the shimmer of the iron in my hand. Running forward I slice off the head with one well placed upward blow.

The door from the kitchen swings in emitting three more ghouls all covered in the festering blisters. I take out my hatchet and throw it dead center in the face of the first walker. The corpse stops, drops to its knees and falls to the ground with my hatched burring deep between the eyes. The other two walkers continue on as if nothing has happened. I tap my fingers on my sword and establish my stance as they wobble towards me. The first one is mere feet away from me before I strike cutting the thing from navel to shoulder blade the body pausing before falling apart in what I can only assume in another heartless groan. I step over the still moving corpse and slice the other’s head and left arm off. The two groan. I kick over one and bend over to take my axe from it’s cranium when I feel the cold hard grip of death grab my ankles. It takes less then seconds for me to react. I swipe my sword wide around my feet cutting off an arm from the elbow up. The hand continues to clench with unnatural super human strength to my ankle. The top half of the zombie crawls towards me. I withdraw my hatchet from the face of the blistered man and swing the axe around wide gathering momentum before I lodge the hatchet deep in the man’s skull. The ghoul threatens to fall but remains stuck to the hatchet in my hand. The hand around my ankle drops dead on the ground. I dislodge the weapon sending the zombie lifeless once again to the floor. I make sure I have all my weapons before moving on through the house to the next exit. I use my mirror once more when opening the door and bolt out into the side street. Five zombies lumber slowly out in the street. One sees me and comes running. I head back towards the house spinning on the heels of my feet in the dirt. I’m inches away from the door when I trip. I make sure not to land on any of my own weapons and take most the impact on the side of my ribcage, I roll over onto my back expecting to see the thing inches away from my body. I’m shocked when nothing is near me. All five ghouls are stuck behind the chain link fence. I can’t help but laugh. I get up dusting myself off feeling stupid for not realizing my mistake earlier. I never should have gone through the houses. 

I walk away from the zombies towards the fence dividing the property line and look four houses down to my dad’s wall. I scramble up the chain link fence and drop into the next yard. I run across and struggle over the next chain link fence and continue on until I reach my father’s fifteen foot cement wall. The top of which is lined with barbed wire and broken glass. I run around to the north side of the compound into the open street when I see it. The alien ship a block west. Five brown roaches run chased by a hoard of living dead onto their ship. Two of the roaches are taken down as the other three watch closing the door on their fallen comrades. This ship has been here since the initial invasion. I have never seen it move until now. The ships buzzes loudly and begins to hover in mid air raising high above the heads of the undead. It looks like a giant fly as it heads up towards the clouds and the mother ship above. The dead fall on top of one another trying to get to the disappearing ship. 

I can’t help but smile and hope that the dead have ridden the Earth of the Alien infestation. I look up at the sky watching the ascending ship rise like a balloon caught in the wind. Soon the sky is filled with alien balloons all floating up towards the heavens. 

I blink back to reality and realize that the massive hoard that was following the aliens now has turned in my direction. I run to the door of the compound and punch in the key code my father set waiting for the lights to turn green. My adrenalin courses through my body. Every second wasted is a another chance for the dead to get me. I take a grenade off my belt and toss it towards the oncoming crowd. The thing explodes right when the green lights go off on the door signaling the damned thing was open. I put my hand on the metal circle push in and turn the handle counter clock wise while putting all my weight on the door opening it inward. I run into the cold sealed room and shut the door behind me with a heavy crunch. It may be a few days before I can roam the surface again.