After The End

by Jamie Campbell

  I desperately want to find our friends but the possibility of that is waning with every minute that passes. There are hundreds of people here and hundreds of rooms where they could be. I hate the inevitability of what we have to do.

  “Maisy, we have to go. When trained and armed soldiers run, it means we shouldn’t stick around. We have to trust that Rhys and Sarah know that too,” Garlind says as gently as he can while yelling.

  I hate to give up but know it’s stupid to stay here. Our friends are smart, they know they should run too. They’d follow the others and try to find us in the melee—just like what we’re doing. It’s more unlikely that they’d stay in here when everyone else is evacuating.

  I hope.

  “Okay, we’ll go,” I finally say. Every word costs me a piece of my heart. If we leave and they don’t get out too, I’m not going to be able to live with myself.

  A loud bang makes the walls and floor shake. The emergency exit sign next to the door crashes to the ground from the vibrations.

  The decision to leave is now no longer ours.

  Screams echo down the corridor. When soldiers scream, it is something worth screaming about.

  Garlind grabs my hand again. “We have to get out of here. We’re still underground.”

  “Let’s go.”

  Being underneath the earth means a loud bang like the one we just heard could mean the bunker is caving in. The walls may seem sturdy enough but there will always be weapons that are stronger—especially if they’re alien made.

  We return to the corridor and join the flow of people in the main route. There are fewer of them now but their speed is still at full bolt.

  Garlind goes first and leads the way. We are jostled and pushed from every which way. My heart is beating much faster than usual. I don’t think these corridors have felt this small before. In the crush of people, it feels like I’m getting squished and all the air is being used too quickly.

  Sweat drips down my back as my skin grows clammy. My legs are weakening as the fear builds. I don’t think I’m going to make it out of here. Maybe the whole bunker will collapse and we’ll all be buried alive.

  My feet only walk on instinct. If Garlind wasn’t pulling me along, I might have frozen in place already. I want to stop, just to catch my breath, but I don’t have that luxury. I might be trampled by hundreds of soldiers if I halt right now.

  The corridor is too long and everyone is rushing too fast. If only that damned alarm would quiet for just a few moments I might be able to think straight and actually suck in a full lungful of air.

  It’s all too much.

  I can feel my cheeks burning from the heat. I don’t think this place was designed to have so many people in such a small space all at once.

  There are less people here than before, so why can’t I breathe properly? What has happened to all the oxygen in the bunker?

  The hair surrounding my face clings to the sweat on my neck. I can’t raise a hand to wipe it away when there is such little room around me.

  I’m going to faint.

  I bite down on my bottom lip to give myself something else to focus on. Right now, I have to be stronger than I’ve ever been before. I have to make it out of here and I can’t slow Garlind down. The world needs him to get out safely so he can save us all.

  One foot in front of the other.

  I. Can. Do. This.

  Breathe, Maisy.

  My body goes on autopilot as I stare at Garlind’s back and try not to think of anything else. All I’m doing is following him. I can tune out the screams and siren. I can pretend there is nobody else in this corridor. I can imagine we are safe and just walking.

  Whatever it is that gets me through, I do it.

  There is a bottleneck at the base of the stairs as everyone funnels into a much tighter space.

  I tell my legs to rise and take one step at a time when we finally get our turn to go upwards. Garlind continues to hold my hand tightly. I’m not going to let him down. I’m going to make it out of here no matter what.

  My foot trips over a step and I stumble. I grab onto the bannister to stop myself falling back onto the people behind me. It’s only a small misstep but it’s enough to have the walls start to press in on me again as my concentration is broken.

  A few seconds pass as everything stops and my racing heartbeat pounds in my ears.

  “Maisy, you okay?” Garlind asks.

  I’m not going to admit how terrified I am right now. I can deal with this fear later on, when we’re somewhere safer and quieter. I can go to pieces then.

  “Yeah,” I say, breathing the word more than speaking it.

  I force myself to move again. One step at a time. One step at a time.

  One.

  Step.

  At.

  A.

  Time.

  We reach the top of the staircase. Just as we do, another huge bang rings out underneath us. Whatever is happening is occurring deep within the heart of the bunker.

  Everyone moves faster now.

  We barrel down the corridor and out a door. Sunshine hits me in the face, along with some cool fresh air. Everyone spills out through the exit and run in different directions. I’m not sure if this is something they’ve trained for, or they are all just moving on instinct now.

  Is it every person for themselves?

  Garlind and I come to a halt as we try to work out what we’re supposed to do now. There is no line of people to follow anymore. There are just wide-open spaces and a very large statue of Abraham Lincoln casting a shadow over the square.

  My gaze sweeps the area around us for the familiar faces I long to see. Sarah and Rhys aren’t anywhere to be seen. I hope they got out and aren’t stupidly staying put in the bunker. It would go against all our instincts, all the discussions we’ve had about survival.

  They have to be here somewhere.

  “Maisy?” Garlind says, jolting me from my constant search. “I think we need to run really fast now.”

  Dread pulls at the bottom of my stomach as I follow his line of sight into the distance.

  I see it too.

  There are hundreds of alien space ships on the ground surrounding us. I could never believe they had this many ships in their fleet.

  The aliens have found the president’s secret bunker.

  And they’re coming for us all.

  We run just as a massive explosion crumbles the Lincoln statue into a million different pieces.

  The bunker is gone.

  And so is all hope.

  After We Fight

  Chapter 1

  Smoke fills my nostrils.

  The world hasn’t only ended, it’s burning now too. I wonder if it will burn all the way down the ground? Will there be anything left after today?

  Will we still be here after today?

  I’m hidden in a copse of trees that overlook the city below. My breathing is still ragged and my lungs burn. I can’t get a full breath without inhaling some of the toxic smoke.

  Still…it could be far worse.

  If I stop to think about how many people lost their lives today, I’m not going to be able to function. I have to stay in survival mode, keep my mind away from thinking of all the horrible things that occurred earlier.

  I don’t know if I can do that.

  Four months ago, I’d known and lost exactly two people—my parents. I thought I might have been the last person in the world to have survived the end of it.

  I was wrong. There were at least several thousand people left on this earth and probably many more than I realize even now. But the trouble with knowing other people is that I have to grow accustomed to losing them too.

  I’ve lost many.

  Every one of them who I called a friend has gone. Some I watched die, others just disappeared in the wild ether with no trace. It was the youngest one that has upset me the most. I can’t accept that Sarah is gone. I keep expecting to see her around every tree, in every voice that whispers
on the wind.

  The only person who is still with me is Garlind. The eighteen-year-old boy that I think I love with all my heart. He is still here, crouched amongst the bushes next to me, and giving me the strength to hold my head up.

  A huge plume of smoke emerges from Washington DC below. It swirls up toward the sky as if reaching out for help. But there is nobody left to come to their aid.

  The aliens attacked the army base and bunker holding the president of the United States. That’s all I know for sure. They obliterated the bunker and killed everyone they could in the process.

  Garlind and I were lucky to get out. I still don’t know how we managed it. The whole place was in such chaos and every explosion shook us to the core.

  We ran and never looked back.

  There had to be tens of thousands of aliens crawling over the place when we made it to the surface level of the bunker. We burst outside and had no chance to do anything except get as far away as possible.

  Still, I searched every broken face we passed. Somewhere down in the city is Sarah and Rhys. They were in the bunker too, but we never saw them. I hate myself for leaving without them. If I never see them again, I will live with that shame forever.

  “We did the right thing,” Garlind says, as if reading my mind. Not that it would be difficult to guess what is at the forefront of my thoughts. He knows how much I loved our friends.

  “I’m not so sure. We should have looked harder,” I reply without looking at him. I’m mesmerized by the smoke plume. Perhaps if I stare at it long enough, it will reveal the fates of our friends.

  “We did everything we could. If we’d stayed in that bunker a moment longer we would have been squished underneath a dozen layers of concrete.”

  His hand finds mine and squeezes it tightly. I know he’s trying to comfort me but I don’t want to feel anything other than guilt right now. Because at the end of the day, we got out and they didn’t. I’m a selfish survivor. I don’t deserve to be alive any more than all those people in the city.

  The alien ships rise from the ground as if in a synchronized dance. They zip straight up, soundless, peaceful. They are probably congratulating themselves on a job well done. If their plan was to kill thousands of humans today, they succeeded.

  They reach a spot in the sky and then zip forward into the wide blue expanse and gradually grow smaller. They’re heading south, probably in the direction of their base in Charleston, South Carolina.

  The sky goes quiet once more.

  I turn my back to the city and sit on the dirt of the forest floor. It’s not a very good hiding place being on the outskirts but I can’t bear to move. I know we’ll have to eventually when the survival instinct returns. Until then, I’m just going to sit here and be numb.

  Garlind settles beside me. So close our shoulders touch.

  Tears leak from the corners of my eyes and make tracks down my cheeks. I have a bucketload of emotions coursing through me right now and I don’t know how to deal with any of them.

  I pull my knees up to my chest and cradle them to me. I can’t stop the tears now, they have a mind of their own. I’ve kept everything inside for too long and they’re finding all the cracks to escape through.

  Garlind’s solid arm moves around my shoulders and pulls me against him. I revel in the solidness of him. All the bones and skin and organs and heart that make up the boy. I don’t know why he continues to stay with me. I’ve almost gotten us killed before. I’ve cried, I’ve used up supplies, I’ve breathed the same air, and now I’ve lost our friends.

  My head rests against him, my tears turning his shirt sleeve wet. He doesn’t say anything now because he knows there is nothing he can say that will make me feel any better.

  We lost them.

  That safe and secure future we were hoping for has just been blown up by the enemy.

  We have no supplies.

  We’re taking refuge in a forest that could be crawling with aliens at any moment.

  I would say we’ve hit rock bottom.

  “I don’t know what to do,” I mutter into his shoulder.

  “We’ll figure it out. We always do,” Garlind replies. He’s always ready to offer hope but this is the first time where I think he might be faking it for my sake. Something has changed in him too.

  I let the tears flow for a little longer before I sit up and look into his beautiful face. There are tear tracks on his cheeks too. I hadn’t realized he was crying along with me.

  His dark eyes are the saddest I’ve ever seen. His beautiful brown skin shimmers with the aftermath of his tears. I’m overwhelmed with love for him. He is my everything, my absolute everything. The only thing I have left.

  I can’t hold these feelings inside anymore. I’m tired of dancing around and hiding how I feel about him. Our lives here feel so tenuous and fragile. I can’t let him go another moment without telling him exactly what my heart feels.

  “Garlind, there’s something I need to tell you.” Finding the right words is difficult. I can’t find the perfect ones so I’ll have to use the only ones I can conjure.

  “What is it?” he prompts.

  It’s now or never. If I lose this opportunity, I might not get another one. I didn’t get to tell Sarah how much I cared for her. Or Rhys how much I admired his courage.

  It’s time I came clean.

  I just hope it doesn’t cost me everything.

  Chapter 2

  I lock eyes with Garlind so I can gauge his reaction. Then I take a deep breath. “I love you. I have ever since you knocked on my bunker door. You’ve shown me the world and made me see things I never thought I would. I need you to know how much I feel for you.”

  Maybe there is some surprise in his eyes. Perhaps a little shock. I don’t know for sure, I’m finding it so hard to read him right now. All I know for sure is there is a silence that lingers between us now.

  I might have made the biggest mistake of my life. If I push him away because of my stupid feelings, I’m going to have another big regret on my guilty conscience.

  Why did I have to say something?

  I haven’t interacted with enough people in this world outside my bunker to really know what I’m doing. I don’t know how to properly communicate. I don’t know how everyone else does things out here. I’ve observed for four months and still don’t understand human interaction properly.

  I should have kept my mouth shut.

  Why is he looking at me like that? He probably thinks I’m insane. We just lost our two best friends and I’m blubbering on about my feelings?

  “Please say something,” I beg. I need this torture to end.

  “I was just thinking how funny it is,” he says. My heart is splitting in two as he continues, “that I’ve loved you since you opened that bunker door and told me to go away.”

  Relief.

  Disbelief.

  Joy.

  Fear.

  All the emotions rush through me at once. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do now. What happens when you confess your love for someone? How does it change things?

  Our eyes catch one another in the glint of the last sun of the day. There is so much written in his brown irises. They tell me everything I ever need to know.

  I lean forward and catch Garlind’s kiss in the space between us. His lips are so tender at first as they test me, working out the puzzle that I am. They soon turn needy and lustful. We kiss like there might not be a tomorrow and this moment is all that matters.

  I’m soon breathless and giddy. Not only from the kiss but from the revelation that my heart has found a home. I didn’t think I was missing anything until I met Garlind. Now I feel complete again, because I have found my other half.

  Somehow, we were separated before birth. Now, we will spend the rest of our lives together and fight whatever this horrible world throws at us.

  Our lips finally part and Garlind wraps me up in his arms. He crushes me against his chest and I never want to let go. This is right. T
his is just how it was always supposed to be.

  “I’m so glad I found you, Maisy Rayne,” he whispers against my hair.

  “Me too. Never lose me again, okay?”

  “You got it.”

  We remain like that until it grows dark.

  When we can finally bear to part, we turn back around to face the city below. Dozens of alien ships are still grounded in the area. Their lights dot around Washington DC like warning beacons. There is no way we can go back down there until the city is dark once more.

  “We should make a camp for the night. Somewhere farther into the forest,” Garlind says.

  I know he’s right. But a part of me doesn’t want to leave this spot right here. If I take another step away from the city and turn my back on it, I’m accepting that Sarah and Rhys are gone. I don’t want to admit that in any way.

  Still, I nod and follow the boy I love deep into the trees until there are no more lights to illuminate the night.

  We make a camp near the bottom of a ridge. The overhanging trees and shrubs somewhat hide us from up above. If the aliens were to fly over, this area gives us the most protection from being spotted.

  I sleep curled up in Garlind’s embrace. We’ve slept like this since that first night together but this time it feels different. It means something more now. His arms are a promise and I know he will keep it.

  As will I.

  We are in this together and we will do everything possible to ensure we survive.

  Sleep is restless and difficult to find.

  The next day, we wait for the remainder of the aliens to leave. They don’t. The next five days are all the same. We eat what berries and plants we can find. We drink from a small stream further down the hill. We are barely surviving but we will not leave the city without searching for our friends first.

  On the sixth night, there are no lights in the city. All the ships have finally left and the ruins are quiet once more. We will be spending the last night in this forest tonight.

  I barely sleep.

  We get up at first light and head down toward the city for the first time since we fled. We’re more cautious than usual, just in case there are still a few aliens around. I can’t imagine why they’d leave any behind without a ship, but I’m the first to admit I don’t understand how they operate.