by Luigi Robles
“Whatever happens, don’t stop running,” Dad yelled. “My badge will open all the doors and take us down to the lower levels. Don’t stop running.”
They were three-quarters of the way there when Mom got struck on the leg by the super-heated plasma. She fell instantly. Dad turned around to attend to Mom, trying to pick her up.
“Here! Open the door for us,” Dad yelled as he tossed his badge over to Fain.
“I can help you,” Fain yelled as he began running towards Mom and Dad. The plasma storm was loud, and it made it difficult to hear anything else.
“Fain, listen to your father,” Mom yelled as she struggled to get up.
Everything inside of Fain was telling him to go and help his parents, but he knew that if he went to help them, he would die alongside them. He didn’t know what to do. His heart broke into a million pieces. He knew that his parents would want him to survive this, but he also wanted to help; he wanted to make a difference. They didn’t deserve to die. They deserved to live—to be happy, to grow old, and to live out their lives. They had been nothing but good to him.
“Mom, Dad…” Fain muttered.
“Open the door, Fain,” Dad shouted as a shot went through his shoulder.
Fain ran towards the facility’s door and opened the door using the badge.
“Mom, Dad,” Fain said loudly, holding the door open. “Please hurry.”
“Get inside,” Dad managed to yell as he got hit a second time. “Got to the lower levels.”
“Fain, we love you,” Mom said loudly as she got struck on the other leg. “Please go.”
Then the rain of super-heated plasma got worse. It was heavier and louder, and it pierced Fain’s parents multiple times as the alien ship got closer. They fell lifelessly to the ground.
Fain was shell-shocked, unable to believe what he had just witnessed. But the alien ship kept advancing towards the facility, destroying everything in its path.
“Mom?” Fain asked, unmoving even as debris from the plasma’s destruction struck him. “Dad?” Tears fell from his eyes.
It wasn’t until a large piece of metal awning fell in front of him that he began to react once again. He woke up enough to realize that if he didn’t move, the same thing that happened to his parents would happen to him. He ran as fast as he could, looking for the way down.
He quickly made his way to the nearest elevator, and using his father’s badge, he called for it. The elevator was there in an instant. Fain went in and pressed the lowest button. It was the safest place, he figured; he didn’t know just how deep the aliens’ weapons would reach. Mere seconds passed before the elevator came to a stop and the door in front of him opened. From so far below the ground, the aliens’ attacks were hard to hear, and so were the explosions—they sounded muffled and inconsequential.
Fain stepped out into what looked like a lab. The place was filled with instruments and machines that he had never seen before. He didn’t have the slightest idea how they worked or what purpose they served. But it was all the same to Fain. He had just lost the most important thing in his life: his parents.
I wasn’t strong enough, Fain thought as he sat down against a nearby wall. There wasn’t anything I could do to save them, nothing at all. Or could I have done something to help? Something that would have kept my parents alive? Fain didn’t even bother wiping away the tears.
“Mom, Dad,” Fain sobbed. “I miss you so much. I’m sorry for being weak.”
A few minutes passed. The noises from the outside were getting louder, and the building was beginning to shake. Fain began second-guessing himself. He wasn’t sure if he had made the right decision in going ten stories down. He could be buried under millions of tons of rubble and never be found. But then he remembered that it wasn’t his decision; he was following Dad’s orders, and he knew this building well. After all, Dad had spent a great deal of his life working here.
He thought about the possibility of the building collapsing and burying him, but it didn’t take him long to realize that the fact that the building was underground was what made it so safe. The alien ship would basically have to dig a hundred-foot hole or something along those lines.
He got as comfortable as he could resting against the wall, and he closed his eyes, waiting for the noise and shaking to stop. He fell asleep.
The urge to pee woke him up, and the urge was too great to hold it in for much longer, so he ran looking for the nearest restroom. Luckily it wasn’t long before he found it. As he finished, he automatically went to flush the stall, and to his surprise, there was still running water. Then he began to notice the things around him: the lights were on and not flickering, the building wasn’t shaking anymore, and everything was silent.
“Did it stop?” he murmured. “Is it over?”
He looked for a clock, and it wasn’t long before he found it. It was a little past 6 am.
I fell asleep for that long? he thought.
Memories of the day before flooded his being, causing instant grief, but he did his best to set them aside for now. He knew that he had to get out of this place. He wiped his tears and headed straight for the elevator.
He got to the elevator in no time, knowing exactly where it was. But when he slid his dad’s card to call the elevator, the elevator didn’t come. In fact, there was no movement, no beeping sound to confirm.
“Well, good thing this isn’t the only way out of here,” Fain murmured. “Or if it is, I am royally screwed.”
He walked to the nearest corner of the building, figuring that there would be a staircase there. But there was nothing. Then as he looked around, he saw green glowing signs with the word exit and an arrow on them.
Fain wasted no time and followed the signs that hung from the ceiling. Soon he was in front of a sign that said stairs. He went towards the staircase, not needing his dad’s badge to open the door. At first, he began running up, but after the third floor up, he was tired and breathing heavily. He wasn’t used to that kind of exercise.
As he reached the sixth floor up, he realized he could go no further. Rubble and debris were blocking the way. Water was also leaking from within the rubble.
“This can’t be good,” he said as he ran towards the door that led to the sixth floor.
The door was leaking water through the seams, but only a quarter of the way up. Fain opened the heavy door, and water gushed out towards the staircase. The entire sixth floor was flooded with about a foot of water. Fain knew that it would only be a matter of hours before the entire building became flooded. Water was pouring in through the walls and collapsed ceiling.
Fain entered the sixth floor and began looking for another way out. Knowing where to look, he paid attention to the walls and the parts of the ceiling that weren’t collapsed. Soon, he found the exit signs once again, pointing in a different direction, away from the elevator and the staircase he just had been in.
In no time, he was in front of a second staircase on the opposite side of the building, but this time, he was hearing voices—human voices—and heavy machinery. He ran to the staircase and found a large aperture in the ceiling, where he saw a soldier’s helmet moving about.
“Help,” Fain yelled.
The soldier turned around and stuck his head inside the aperture.
“Is anyone there?” the soldier asked.
“Yes, help,” Fain said as he tried to climb the rubble to the aperture.
“We found one,” the soldier yelled.
5
Aftermath
Early in the morning the day after they left, Pycca and her family had made it out of the coastal city with not too many things getting in their way. Every now and then, they would get the occasional stubborn hitchhiker standing in the middle of the road. There were also plenty of checkpoints along the way—military trucks checking IDs; it was as if they were looking for specific people. But Pycca didn’t give it much thought. All she wanted was to take a hot shower, eat, and sleep. It felt like they had been driv
ing for an eternity.
“Where are we planning to go?” Pycca asked.
“We are heading to your aunt Betty’s place,” Mother answered. “I believe that’s just half an hour away?”
“What?” Father protested. “I thought we were going to Cole’s place…”
“I’m sorry, but no, that’s the next state over,” Mother complained. “I’m tired and I am scared, and I don’t want to be driving anymore.”
“Do you want me to take over?” Father asked. “We aren’t escaping from anything anymore. I can handle it.”
“I just don’t want to be outside,” Mother said. “I want to be someplace safe, and I want it to be soon.”
“Mother,” Pycca said. “They said that the aliens were defeated earlier this morning.”
“I don’t trust that radio host,” Mother said. “Or any radio host. They could come back at any time. You hear me? Any time.”
“Honey,” Father said, using a soothing voice. “You don’t know that. They could also not come back.”
“They will come back,” Mother said. “I know it. They aren’t going to like the fact that they were defeated. They didn’t travel all the way to Earth from who knows where just to leave us alone.”
Mother had a point there. But still, why wasn’t she calming down?
“They will come back,” Mother repeated, her eyes watering. “They will come back.”
Could this be PTSD? Or something along those lines? We’ll need to visit a doctor soon, Pycca thought.
“OK, Mother,” Pycca said, trying to defuse the situation. “Aunt Betty’s place should be just fine. We all need to rest and eat and sleep. It’s been a long day.”
The car fell silent.
They made it to the town where Aunt Betty lived just fine, but there was another checkpoint before entering the town. And there was a long line to get into town.
“With this kind of checkpoint,” Father said, “Cole’s place isn’t sounding too far after all.”
“We are already here,” Mother said. “At least the line is moving.”
Why is there a checkpoint here? Pycca thought. Why have there been so many checkpoints? What is the deal? I’m going to have to ask and try to find out.
They waited for fifteen minutes before it was their turn to talk to the soldier at the gate. As they pulled up to the gate, another soldier walked in front of the car with a rifle in his hands. The one talking to the people in the cars knocked on Mother’s window. Mother complied and rolled down the hover car’s window.
“How’s it going?” the soldier said once the window was rolled down. His ID tag read Nelson. “May I please see your IDs?” Nelson had what Pycca believed to be a southern accent.
“Sure thing,” Mother said as she handed Nelson the IDs.
Nelson went into his booth and seconds later came right out, handing back the IDs.
“Y’all have a good day,” Nelson said. “Go right on in.”
“Wait,” Pycca said before Mother drove on. “Who are you guys looking for? Why are there so many military checkpoints everywhere?”
“I’ll answer that question, just because no one has really asked me that,” Nelson said, leaning through the window to look at Pycca. “As of now, we aren’t looking for anyone, young miss. This right here,” Nelson gestured all around him, “is a security checkpoint. Its primary purpose is to let civilians know that there is, in fact, a military presence. Just in case any civilians want to get creative with this here end of the world situation we are facing. We are only trying to prevent any form of violence. Do you understand, young miss?”
“Thank you,” Pycca said as she nodded.
“Now, y’all go and have a good day,” Nelson said. “The world hasn’t ended yet.”
“We’ll be on our way,” Mother said as she put the car back into hover mode. “Thanks for clearing that up for my daughter.”
“It’s my pleasure, ma’am,” Nelson said as he signaled for the gate to rise.
Mother drove into the small town without saying anything else.
“Well, that’s awfully nice of them,” Father said.
“Do you think there will be violence, Father?” Pycca asked.
“Who knows,” Father said. “This is the first time that something like this has happened. The government is taking it seriously enough to prevent anything from happening. But who knows what the long-lasting effects will be?”
“I wish there was something we could do,” Pycca said.
“Yes, me too, hon. For now, let’s just try to go back to our daily lives. The threat is over,” said Father.
“We can’t go back,” Mother snapped. “You know full well that whatever life we used to have, whatever it was, is gone. Now we have to just wait until they come back again.”
“Honey, don’t be that way,” Father said. “You know that things will get better.”
Mother didn’t say anything, but Pycca knew that all Mother wanted to do was say no. She felt it in the way that Mother gripped the steering wheel.
“We are here,” Mother finally said, changing the subject.
They went inside Aunt Betty’s house, where they were warmly greeted by several family members that were also taking refuge in the large house. They offered food, which Pycca’s parents promptly refused, but they ultimately gave in after they saw that Aunt Betty was not going to back down unless they all ate.
The food was good, but Pycca didn’t have much appetite, and it seemed to be the same way with her parents, as they were just poking at the food.
After Pycca ate as much as her twirling stomach allowed her, she asked to be excused. She just wanted to sleep; she was exhausted from all the stress. Aunt Betty herself showed her which room she would be staying in. Pycca closed the door behind her and went straight for the bed. The blankets smelled like they’d just been washed. She took off her shoes and closed her eyes, and within that same minute, she fell asleep.
Pycca woke up the next day to a knock on her door. It took her a little time to realize where she was and what was happening. For a second, she thought that it might all have been just a dream, but then she quickly realized that the room she was in wasn’t her room.
“Pycca, it’s time for breakfast,” Aunt Betty said through the door.
“I’ll be right there,” Pycca managed to yell. Her throat was sore. It must have been cold in the room at night.
“Alright, take your time, darling,” Aunt Betty said. “I’ll be waiting in the kitchen; your parents are already there.”
After a quick visit to the CR, she went downstairs. As she turned into the kitchen, she was able to hear Aunt Betty already talking.
“But you know, what really matters is that you guys are here,” Aunt Betty said. “Your house can be rebuilt. It’s a good thing that you didn’t get hurt like those thousands of others.”
“But I don’t think a whole city can be rebuilt,” Father answered with a depressed tone. “And if it can, it will take decades, or who knows how long.”
A whole city rebuilt? What is Father talking about? Pycca wondered.
“What happened last night?” Pycca asked as she sat down at the table.
“Our house, along with the entire city, was destroyed by the aliens,” Father said. “It’s all over the news. But don’t bother turning it on; we can’t take any more of it.”
“What?” Pycca asked. “The entire city?”
Father only nodded.
“Don’t worry, darling,” Aunt Betty said. “As I was telling your father, what really matters is that you are all in one piece. Good thing you were able to get out of harm’s ways. I told your parents that you can stay here for as long as you want.”
The entire world as Pycca knew it began to collapse in on her. The city she had grown up in, the school, the parks, and everything she knew was gone. Erased for good. She couldn’t stop the tears from falling.
Aunt Betty went over to Pycca and hugged her from behind, while her parents were fr
ozen at the table. They didn’t even look at Pycca, much less say anything. That hurt her, it truly did, because if she couldn’t count on her parent to be there for her, what could she count on? Aunt Betty was just being nice for the time being, but she was a stranger almost, someone Pycca hardly knew. Her comfort meant little compared to her parents that she had known her entire life.
“It’s all going to be alright,” Aunt Betty said. “If not, we’ll make it alright. Now let’s try to get some food in you. You must be starving.”
Wiping the tears from her eyes, Pycca turned to look at her parents. To see if there was something of them left. But there wasn’t. Mother’s hand shook as she reached out for the coffee, and Father was just staring at the table, as if Pycca didn’t exist.
Pycca tried to tell herself that it would all just pass, that her parents would return to normal. But as time passed and weeks and months went by, she saw that her parents would never again be the parents she once knew as she was growing up. It was as if their life, their excitement to live, was sucked right out of them. Seeing her parents like that broke Pycca’s heart just a bit more each day until there was no heart to break anymore. All that was left in Pycca was anger, a fiery anger directed towards the stars.
Pycca knew that now it would be up to her to make things right, and she was determined to find a way.
August and his parents had fled to the next city over and managed to find a vacant room at the edge of the city, where they would stay the night. The room was priced at almost ten times its normal rate, but his parents didn’t argue the price. It was far into the wee hours of the night, too late for haggling, and if they didn’t take the room, they were sure that the people in line behind them would. All they wanted was a place where they would feel safe for the night, or at least safer than in the hover car. The roadblocks along the way and the heavy traffic had made it a tedious and tiring journey.
