Goodbye Sky Harbor

by Mathis, Philip Brian

  Knock, knock

  Col. Posey looked up at the door. “Come in.” He firmly instructed. Maj. Roland Jones swiftly opened the colonel’s door and saluted accordingly.

  “At ease Major.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  “What do you have for me?” The colonel inquired while he poured himself another glass of scotch. “Would you like a glass Major?”

  “No thank you sir.”

  “Alright, well take a seat. What’s the news insofar?”

  “The first round of cargo planes and military personnel arrived at Sky Harbor earlier tonight. They have a separate hanger the airport is not currently using, trying our best to stay covert. Should we start sending the second round now?”

  “Yeah go ahead.”

  “Are you heading out tonight sir?”

  “Not yet Major, Gen. Baumgartner is heading things up at the moment. I sent him correspondence earlier making him aware of my arrival tomorrow at 0900.”

  “Yes sir.” Jones replied. “How are you doing Colonel?”

  “Just fine, I’ve been waiting a long time to get back out there.” Maj. Jones looked on as the colonel started pouring himself another glass of scotch.

  “That’s not exactly what I meant.”

  Col. Posey looked up, boldly staring back at his guest with harrowing eyes. The Major looked at the bottle very insinuatingly before glancing back at the colonel. Richard just offered a withered grin before pouring a glass for Jones. “Here Roland, drink up. We’re going to need it.”

  “Yes sir.”

  The colonel slid the glass to the end of his desk. Maj. Jones picked up the drink and held it up in the air. “Here’s to America sir.” Col. Posey proceeded to hold up his drink halfheartedly. “Yeah, that sounds about right.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Creed woke up the next day in an unsurprisingly good mood, on the verge of successfully completing his first week of the school year. He got showered and clothed quickly before storming downstairs. He had exchanged the humming for actual singing. Which normally would’ve attracted additional attention from his father, but he was too busy watching the television. Creed’s mother, who never usually had time to sit down and watch television in the mornings, was hunkered down right next to her husband on the couch. Creed peered over towards the television and noticed the huge red colored font on the bottom of the screen that read ‘Is War Unavoidable?’ His impeccably positive mood was suddenly turning sour as if he had eaten some bad food.

  “Holy shit Dad. What’s going on?” Creed asked.

  “Don’t curse Creed. Jesus.”

  “Sorry ma.”

  “Things between China and the U.S. are really heating up,” Creed’s Father replied. “It doesn’t look good at all. Our President continues to threaten the President of China, mobilizing ships all over the Indian and Pacific Ocean. China’s calling the movement an act of war. I don’t know.” Creed’s Father replied.

  The hairs on Creed’s arms started to stand up as he listened to his dad speak about the imminent possibility of an all-out war between the two countries.

  “Wait. This is China we are speaking about, right? Who the hell gets into a fight with China? I mean, not only do they seem like pretty peaceful people, but aren’t they a large country too? I don’t know squat when it comes to their politics and what they’re military strength might look like, but don’t they lead the world in technology, automobiles, coal, and just, everything really? Couldn’t they truly kick our ass if they wanted to?” Creed was progressively becoming vexed. He woke up feeling energized and inspired by last night only to have those emotions scattered thanks to a big headed narcissistic President throwing jabs at other leaders. It wasn’t that this was specifically conflicting with his life, but he knew that war between giants never ended well for anyone. All that Creed wanted to accomplish this morning was relish in his budding relationship that just started turning romantic.

  “This reminds me of a time when I was a kid just about your age Creed. My Father told me that China was going to take over the world one day. I would just laugh since I had no idea what the hell he was talking about. I never really cared for my Dad’s jokes.”

  “I knew something was up last night at the airport.” Creed uttered.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Last night we headed out to Sky Harbor and I noticed three military planes flying overhead and eventually landing down at the airport. I thought it was the strangest thing.”

  “Who’s we Creed?”

  “I went with Genesis and Kuruk, I told you last night.”

  “You didn’t see anything else, just the military planes?”

  “Yeah.”

  “That is strange, why would they be landing at Sky Harbor?”

  “That’s what we were wondering.” Creed assessed as he grabbed his backpack and started making his towards the front door. “Alright well, I’m leaving. I’ll see you guys later.”

  “Alright, be careful Creed.” His Father pleaded.

  “Will do.”

  Later, the simple sight of Genesis’s beaming smile as he approached their meet up spot made him almost completely forget about the countries dispute. For the moment as his eyes met with hers, the building turmoil between the two governing factions seemed completely irrelevant. What was even more interesting was that after the night before, Creed seemed to have forgotten about his special abilities. However, none of that seemed to matter just then. Creed’s mind was stuck on how Genesis’ body looked in the moon’s glow streaming in through the window, painted amongst her nude silk skin. Her eyes falling into the back of her head as their bodies tingled with pure ecstasy. About halfway to the school, Genesis blatantly broke in and interrupted his daydream.

  “Did you hear about what’s going on with China?”

  Creed couldn’t believe it. Was that really the only thing on her mind that morning? How could losing your virginity not be at the top of her list of palpable conversation starters? Were girls really that easily distracted?

  “Yeah, crazy isn’t it?” Genesis noticed that Creed’s smile turned down. “What’s wrong?” She asked.

  “Nothing, why?”

  “Well just a second ago you had a smile from ear to ear, and then it just disappeared.”

  Creed stopped walking and turned towards her. “Is that really all you’re thinking about this morning?”

  Genesis abruptly smiled back at him.

  “Well yeah. Why, is that not what you were thinking?”

  Before Creed could respond, Genesis giggled and then pulled Creed towards her. Genesis jumped up into his arms and kissed his lips. After a few seconds, Genesis slipped down from Creed’s arms and watched as his face turned red. “Boys.” Genesis proclaimed.

  “Wait, what do you mean?”

  “Our country is on the verge of war and all you guys still care about is sex.”

  “Shut up, I was just wondering if –”

  “I’m kidding Creed, it’s cute.” Genesis kept walking while Creed sat there wondering if that could’ve gone better. He wondered if his priorities were a little mixed up since it’s not every day you find your country on the brink of war. Creed eventually caught back up to Genesis.

  “It is pretty crazy what’s happening, isn’t it?”

  “Well seriously though, what do you think is going to happen?”

  “I don’t know to be honest. I thought it was strange seeing those military planes last night though. Then this.”

  “But why would they have them flying to Sky Harbor?”

  “I’m seriously not sure.”

  Genesis and Creed both looked at each other with reassuring smiles as they approached the school.

  Unfortunately, by the time Creed and Genesis were finishing lunch that afternoon, the Unites States was already in war with China. The C.I.A.’s speculations had proven accurate as a surprise attack had started in New York and along the eastern coast. Multitudes of planes had already
been reported as flying in and out of the North Eastern region dropping bombs. The attack felt transparent to the one on Pearl Harbor. About a half an hour after the initial attacks had begun, alarms started sounding in the Mesa area while the Chinese air force were now flying over the West Coast. They were now coming from both sides of the country. Everyone in the school was now freaking out. Originally once the alarms sounded, the administration was thinking of keeping the school on lockdown. It wasn’t until some of the parents started showing up and demanding their kids that they changed their minds and let everyone go home, telling everyone to ‘be safe.’ Reports were still only coming in from New York, so they figured the fighting would stay contained and away from Arizona. Nobody had yet heard about California being infiltrated. Creed and Genesis quickly rushed off towards their usual route. They both had preemptively decided that Creed would follow Genesis to her house and then call his folks. That idea quickly changed just then as bombs began dropping over Phoenix. You could hear the shrieking explosions even twenty-eight miles away. A slightly subtle rift in the ground could be felt by the terrified teens as they both walked down the street. “Shit.” Creed yelled.

  The two of them looked up at the sky and noticed the planes in the near distance. A few of them could be seen dropping bombs as they approached. Seconds literally turned into minutes as the couple took off in an erratic sprint. The ground started shaking wildly as bombs were now being dropped all over the city of Mesa. Cars were crashing into each other while attempting to avoid the onslaught of explosions all around them. The scene outside was quickly turning into mass bedlam. Creed and Genesis scampered towards the houses across the street when they suddenly heard a loud voice crying out.

  “Creed look out.” Mr. Walsh was yelling out behind them while pointing up at the sky. Without even looking in the direction his English teacher was undoubtedly implying, Creed immediately understood what was about to happen next. This was it, he thought. This was the end. And what better way to go than holding on to the love of his life. A proclamation Creed had always felt but something that was just recently realized by the two of them. He knew that in his short time here on Earth, he felt confident that he never wasted one moment of his sixteen-year adventure. Creed closed his eyes with a seemingly absolute sense of what was to come while Genesis peered upwards and saw it approaching. She was blankly staring into the insidious eyes of her bitter end. There were no regrets wavering in either of their minds. For some strange reason Creed even felt secure knowing this destined departure wouldn’t be wasted as he held Genesis hands. Creed knew in his heart that he had truly lived every second of his life with the utmost fulfillment, and most importantly, he had loved. What more would a person ask for in this life anyway? As the bomb finally contacted the ground a few yards away, the earth shook violently and proceeded to tear apart the gravel. A blinding light from the explosion flickered before a large chunk of the ground came rolling towards the two of them. The teens both closed their eyes and in one smooth motion, Creed grabbed onto Genesis and lunged her towards the ground. As soon as his arms wrapped around hers, an energy field engulfed the couple entirely. A red organic glow could be seen covering Creed and Genesis in about a nine-foot radius. The large piece of gravel and accompanying remnants fell all around Creed and Genesis as they crouched in the middle of this glowing phenomenon. Mr. Walsh and a few other on-lookers noticed the large chunk of gravel split into pieces of smaller pieces as it hit the energy field. Within seconds the whirring of the airplanes began to dissipate as they flew on past the city, but not before leaving a skyline of darkness. Smoke and ash continued to fall, littering the ground below. Everyone that survived stood completely dazed and confused. Creed and Genesis looked at each other in disbelief.

  “What happened?” Genesis frigidly asked.

  “I don’t know.”

  “I thought that was it.”

  “Yeah, me too.” Genesis was still shaking and beginning to experience symptoms of shock.

  “Hey, look at me. Genesis, look at me.” Creed grabbed onto her and held her tight to try and calm her down as she started to cry. As he stood there consoling Genesis, he wondered to himself what exactly happened in that moment. It appeared to simply be just another new ability. But why? How? Creed thought. Did I truly emit that energy? After a minute or so, Genesis began to calm down. Creed looked around at their surroundings and noticed a growing array of on-lookers beginning to form around where they were lying. Mr. Walsh crouched down in the distance with a gaping look of shock. Creed’s French teacher Mrs. Bender along with a few other students and their parents, stood there staring over at him in disbelief. He figured there were too many witnesses to deny anything now. The secret was out. No matter what was to happen from here on out, things were no longer going to be the same for Creed, and he knew it.

  A mile down the road Kuruk was speeding down the street and towards the school. He knew that Genesis was probably still there and was anxious to find her. Kuruk quickly spotted his sister and Creed standing in the middle of the road. Right before he could reach them however, he witnessed Creed wrap his arms around Genesis in the distance and suddenly spring into the air.

  “Whoa, what the hell?” Kuruk peered up into the sky in sudden shock as his sister and Creed disappeared into the clouds. Just then Kuruk looked back towards the road at the last second before slamming his truck into another car that had been previously evacuated during the attacks.

  Creed flew until they reached Genesis’ street, landing a couple houses down from her house. Genesis herself was still in a minor state of shock as Creed assisted her towards the house. Paquala rushed out of the house as soon as he noticed them approaching and grabbed onto his daughter. Holding her tight for what seemed like an eternity.

  “Oh, thank God. You’re alright.” He glanced over at Creed and reached his arm out towards him. “You okay?”

  “Yeah.”

  Paquala stood there for a moment outside his house, embracing the rattled teens.

  “Here, let’s head inside before they decide to come back.”

  A little while later Kuruk came barreling into the driveway. He ran inside the house and saw Creed and Genesis sitting at the dinner table with his father. Paquala looked up at him and quickly realized that Genesis had returned long before he did. “Wait, where were you? I sent you to get your sister.” Paquala shouted.

  “They were gone by the time I got there.”

  “You must have crossed paths with them, there is only way to the school.”

  “I know Dad, it was just dark and chaotic, it was hard to see.”

  “Alright, alright, it’s okay. The important thing is that all you kids are okay.”

  Kuruk looked over suspiciously at Creed while he knowingly lied to his father. He didn’t really know how to react or what to say, he just knew he wanted a moment alone to speak with Creed before anything else.

  Paquala got up from the table and walked over to the television to see if he could find anything out on their local news station. While her father walked off, Genesis turned to Creed and spoke for the first time while being home. “Was it the Chinese? Was that the beginning?”

  “I would say so. Shit, I still have to call my parents.” Creed realized.

  Paquala flipped on the television and switched the channel to the local ABC fifteen news station. The signal was luckily still coming in on the T.V., and in big red letters sprawled across the screen read America under Attack. All the while Creed finally walked outside to try and call his parents. His father picked up and Creed quickly breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily there wasn’t too much damage around his house or their neighborhood. He couldn’t help but now wonder if the Chinese were just randomly dropping bombs or if they had some type of meticulous plan of attack. What if the men piloting those planes saw the school, thinking it was some sort of government building and decided to just blow the shit out of it. Man, was it a tough time to be a student in the public education system these days.
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  Meanwhile back inside the house, Kuruk was anxiously waiting to get Creed alone. After a few minutes, Creed finally returned from the porch and sat back down at the table. Creed reported to Genesis that he told his parents that he’d just wait a little while before heading back to his house.

  “So, could I speak to you alone Creed?” Kuruk chimed in.

  “Yeah, of course.”

  “What do you want with Creed?”

  “Oh nothing, just wanted to talk, away from dad.”

  “So, I’m assuming you wouldn’t mind if I came too then, would you?”

  “Fine, let’s go to my room.”

  The three of them walked off towards Kuruk’s room while Paquala sat on the couch, solemnly watching the news.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  The war was now being officially reported across the country. The anchors were now stating that China had ordered an unknown multitude of air raids. Before their aerial attacks, China had already begun mobilizing aircraft carriers on route to invade the Eastern Coastline. It still wasn’t clear if the missile attacks were specifically organized or if it was more of a random affair. Either way the entire country was on alert while the rest of the world was watching. The U.N. had already issued a statement later that afternoon, calling the attacks unprecedented and callous; a heinous mistake. They went on to publicly denounce the attacks initiated by the Chinese government, however; they were equally contributing accountability towards the U.S. President for his threatening verbiage along with his instigative actions leading up to the events. More specifically they pointed out the President’s decision to mobilize their Navy.