Secret of Mars

by Eric Johnson

  “If we don’t joke, you’re going to crack.”

  “There’s no one around, we are safe.” Winston added.

  Tom whirled back and pinned them with a look. “What if you’re wrong?”

  They climbed over the last of the backyard fences on their journey to the twins’ house. On a driveway, one car stood out above all the others they had passed. A pump-action shotgun and a large camouflage backpack sat on the hood.

  Winston and Emmett spazzed out like kids excited by a new toy. “Shotgun.”

  Tom grabbed them by their collars and held them back. He pushed past and grabbed the gun. “Nothing has changed in the last ten minutes. Stop!”

  “We need that gun,” Winston said.

  He held the shotgun above his head. “You guys! It’s like herding cats. Settle down. Back off!”

  “Do you even know how to use that?” Emmett said.

  “Do you? There’s nothing to it. See like in the movies, make sure the safety is off or the monster is going to get you. Point, shoot, pump, reload. Easy-peasy.”

  “If you don’t know how to use a gun,” Emmett said. “You should put it down.”

  “Now’s not the time to worry about safety. Eat your doughnut.”

  “But have you ever used a gun?”

  “Not exactly.”

  At the end of the driveway was the first sign of what happened to all the people. Moist pieces of skin and bone, and parts rolled up like a tootsie roll were smeared like phlegm across the hot sidewalk. It could have been a big dog; it could have been a person, nothing prepared them for anything like it.

  Emmett hocked, spitting doughnut pulp out of his mouth and holding his throat.

  “I think I’m going to be sick.” Winston stumbled over his own feet.

  “It’s how we’ll end up if we’re not careful.” Tom resisted the urge to run. “One last street to cross and you guys are home free. Come on.”

  Flies swarmed the intersection. It was where they had clipped the crashed car. Glass crunched under their feet as they crossed the street. The driver hung by his leg from the windshield. His head oozed down the side of the car. A dog was licking hungrily at the puddle on the ground. Tom covered his face.

  Winston hurried past, batting at the flies. “It smells so bad.”

  Across the street Winston’s and Emmett’s expressions turned from grim to glee as their feet touched the curb. This was their territory. Each step closer to home fed their excitement and, seeing their house, they bounced, practically bubbling over with joy. “There. There. It’s there,” they shouted.

  “Quiet,” Tom hissed, trying to control them. “Go slow, we have to be careful. We . . .”

  “There’s no one here,” Emmett interrupted. “I’m sick of going slow. There’s nothing around. The creatures are gone.”

  Suddenly the pair sprinted, bounding down the block like gazelles. Tom sighed. This was going to be trouble. He walked a little faster, remaining cautious. “Damn it. I don’t have the energy for this.”

  “Come on, Tom!” Winston called out, practically laughing

  Skateboards and Rope

  The screen door smacked against the porch railing, and bounced back into Winston as he bunched up against Emmett. Their heavy oak door opened and they disappeared into their house. Tom could hear them shouting that they were home. There was only one car in the driveway, a sign that one of their parents were home.

  “Mom! Dad!” they called.

  Dammit, Tom said under his breath, they were ringing the dinner bell. The hope in their voices fell silent. Then Winston screamed. “Dad! No!”

  Tom leveled the shotgun, bracing for a fight.

  The screen door flung open, tearing off the hinge. Winston tripped over Emmett as they tumbled down the porch stairs and landed in a heap. The expressions on their faces were painted with fear. Their dad emerged, a tall, thin figure. His skin chalk white, with purple streaks running up and down his lifeless face. His face split open, skin peeling back to reveal teeth lining the inside of the crack in his skull.

  The twins scrambled to their feet and rushed to Tom’s side, narrowly evading the grasps of lashing tentacles from their father. Tom stood between them and their father. His arms and legs shook. He held tight onto the shotgun. Like a punch to the gut he couldn’t get any words out. He stuttered, “S-stop.”

  “Don’t shoot him. Please, don’t shoot him. He’s our dad.” Emmett begged.

  Time expanded as their father ambled closer. Their voices cracked with hope that what they were seeing wasn’t real. They wanted him to stop, to open his arms and tell them how much he loved them, to make it all go away and be alright again. “Dad, Dad, It’s us!”

  “Stop. Don’t come any closer,” Tom found his voice. But it kept on coming.

  The trigger moved easier that he imagined. His eyes closed as he squeezed. The recoil almost blasted it out of his hands. The silence of ringing in his ears.

  “No!” they cried out and rushed to their dad, crumpling on top of him. They held his lifeless body in their arms, looking to and away in denial, hiccupping inaudible words of loss.

  Tom’s face flushed. He could barely hear himself, trying to make the justifications for pulling the trigger.

  Then Emmett turned and stared at him with an eerie lack of expression. He simply shut down, pushing reality out of his mind. There was no inflection in his voice. “How can you stand there? You did this. What if this was your dad?”

  “I protected you,” Tom stammered.

  Down the driveways and out of the houses the creatures came like limping speed walkers. The blast of the shotgun had called them. Tom’s heart pounded in his throat; they weren’t gone after all. He grabbed Winston by the arm and pulled him to his feet.

  They’re going to get us one way or another,” Emmett said. “Our dad is here. I’m not leaving him.”

  Tom understood.

  “You can’t leave me,” Winston said. “What about mom?”

  Emmett threw Winston’s hand off his arm. “No.”

  “Emmett, please.”

  “No.”

  “I’m not giving up,” Tom said. “I won’t be defeated. Not by you and not by the creatures. Get him to come.”

  “Get up Emmett,” Winston said. “What about all the stuff you tell me about being a twin? Mom was at work, we can find her.”

  “You love mom more.”

  “Help me drag him,” Tom said. “We have to get out of here now.”

  “Wait, I’ll go. I’ll help. We’ll find mom.”

  Emmett looked different. He was determined, but cold and distant. He stooped over and straightened his dad’s collar and said goodbye. He had chosen to live, but for how long?

  Tom ran home, Emmett and Winston following in quiet shock. This time their path didn’t cut through yards, it was out in the open. Visions of their lifeless dad clouded his eyes, causing him to slow.

  I won’t be there to bail you out. It gets worse from here on, a voice whispered in his head. It would be easier to leave them behind. Bad had gone to worse. He tried to distract himself, ignoring his dad’s words. Dad was right though, he wasn’t ready. If anyone was left alive to write on his tombstone it would be, he failed. No, he thought, he wanted to avoid death at all costs. I will not quit on them. He pushed on, ignoring a stitch developing in his side, but distracting himself was a mistake.

  The creatures appeared right on top of them, coming from all directions. He whirled around and shot the closest, but the buckshot only peppered its chest. The creatures didn’t slow down. It was only the second time he’d fired a gun in his life. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a creature dive for Winston. He pushed Winston out of the way. “Jump!”

  The creature clipped his leg and he went down. The shotgun tumbled across the grass. The creature grabbed him and he cried for help.

  On the ground near Winston lay a baseball bat. He picked it up and charged, swinging wildly. His first strike didn’t do anything, but
he kept swinging and after several quick blows he bashed in the creature’s head, knocking it off Tom.

  At the same time Emmett rushed in and picked up the shotgun. He raised the gun and pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. The creatures closed in and he froze, he had no idea how to shoot it.

  Tom got to his feet, grabbed the gun from Emmett, and swung it like a bat. Emmett exhaled so suddenly that it sounded like a raspy laugh. Tom whirled around toward the street, and pulled Emmett with him. Almost paralyzed with terror it was hard to run. He had to get to his house. Their lives hung in the balance.

  On the corner, Anidea appeared out of nowhere, riding up on Tom’s mini-bike. It looked like something out of the road warrior. A shopping cart was welded on like a sidecar. It was full of provisions. “Nice to see all the happy, smiling faces waiting to greet me.” She revved the engine. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere. We better get going.”

  “You stole my mini-bike.”

  “It’s not like you were going to fix it.” She tossed Tom and Winston skateboards and rope, and Emmett hopped in the shopping cart. “Hang on, surf’s up. I’m towing you. Let’s get out of town!”

  They rode out of immediate harm’s way. “I need to find my dad” Tom told her. “He was at work.”

  Anidea held up her Game Portal. “I barely found you, and you want to go downtown? Whatever, I need batteries. I get them for free, right?”

  “Where’d you hide?” Tom asked.

  “Dog kennel. None of those things came in my backyard. I was lucky. I think I have fleas.”

  “What happened to you?” Winston asked.

  Anidea shrugged. “Tom knows, we went to the river. We saw the plane fly crazy and we went to see. Everyone was fighting. It was insane. The police started shooting people. You know the rest.”

  “You had it easy,” Emmett said. “We were in the school.”

  “The weird thing is,” Anidea said, “at night there were green lights in the sky zipping around. There were jets shooting at them too, but they disappeared in a green flash. Poof! Nothing. Crazy huh?”

  “What are you talking about? Don’t be stupid,” Emmett said. “We didn’t see or hear any of that.”

  “Whatever, kid, I’m just telling you what I saw,” Anidea said.

  The hardware store security gates were down and it instantly gave Tom hope that his dad could be alright. He jumped off the skateboard in the middle of the street and ran to the gate. pounding on it and calling out for his dad. He tried to see into the store, but it was too dark. Chills ran up his spine, what if he’s not there? “It’s all locked up. We’ll go around to the back.”

  The back door hung halfway open. Tom ran to it. This was bad. The door frame was cold. Light only shone in ten feet before it was too dark to see. The usual sounds of new keys being made and the chug of the paint mixers were silent. He stared in for a long moment listening. He knocked. “Let’s go.”

  Shaking her head, Anidea said, “It’s dark in there. I like to see when I have to fight. You haven’t been on the ground as long as I have.”

  Tom waved his hand in a wide arc. “Stay out here if you like. With the creatures.”

  “We’re staying,” Emmett said.

  Anidea smiled and put her arms over Winston’s and Emmett’s shoulders. “Yeah, you go, Tommy. Someone needs to watch out for these guys.”

  Tom shook his fist at her. “You don’t get to vote, Anidea, none of you do. No way. You guys have to come and watch my back. We are going upstairs to the office.”

  Click, click. Tom worked the light switch. “No power.”

  The store was darkest in the middle, but their eyes gradually adjusted to the dim light. The floors were littered with boxes, and packaging crunched under their feet. The smell of ammonia burst around them. “What’s that,” Anidea gagged. “Gas station bathroom?”

  “I stepped on a bottle.” Emmett said.

  “We’re making way too much noise,” Winston said.

  “If we make noise, so will the creatures,” Tom retorted.

  “I can’t see anything,” Anidea said.

  “Hey, hatchets!” Winston grinned and held one up, it glimmered in the faint light.

  “I’ve got one too,” said Emmett.

  “Nothing’s here,” Anidea said.

  Tom pointed to the grab aisle by the cash registers. “There, flashlights, and then we can get food and drinks.”

  Winston pushed past Anidea and grabbed a flashlight. He shone it around the store. At the counter they emptied candy jars, snack bars and power drinks into their packs.

  Winston opened a power drink, then spit it out. “These are warm.”

  “It’s not so bad, I can drink one, see?” Emmett said and chugged it down in one go.

  Tom put his finger to his mouth, silencing all of them without making a sound. The stairs that led to the office were behind the registers. “This way.”

  Emmett burped up red froth. “I feel sick.”

  “I bet, butthead.” Anidea pinched his arm.

  Natural Odor

  The old wooden stairs creaked. Emmett and Winston followed, climbing backwards with their hatchets ready. Tom topped the stairs and looked down the hall with his light. There was a new plywood wall about halfway down the hallway. “Dad? You in there?”

  “Tom?” a surprised but desperate voice replied. It was his dad’s coworker Eddie that responded.

  Tom pushed on the wall trying get in. “Eddie, where’s Dad?”

  “Isn’t he with you? Hold on. I’ll let you in,” Eddie said, over the whir of a screw gun and the tinkling of screws hitting the floor. The panel pulled back and Eddie appeared from the dark holding a pistol. “Get in here quick.”

  Tom was shocked. He had so many questions, but none of them were important. All he wanted to know where his dad was, but Eddie kept on talking and he couldn’t get a word in.

  Interrupting adults was something he didn’t like to do. They always got mad or ignored you when you had something important to say. But this was serious and he had learned that you have to do it yourself and not be afraid of what might happen sometimes.

  “Eddie! Dude, where’s my dad?” Tom asked desperately at the first opportunity.

  “He went to your school to get you,” Eddie replied, and tucked the gun into his belt, “but that was three days ago. I thought he was coming back for me. Here, never mind that right now. While I was sealing myself up in here, I remembered that your dad and I always talked about if the crap hit the fan. He put this kit together, said it was for earthquakes and tornadoes or a terrorist attack. In all of the craziness he must’ve completely forgotten about it. Heck, I did too. He’s worried about you.”

  Eddie dragged a large crate out of a closet. Written on it in big red letters was, ‘Don’t open till Doomsday.’

  They opened the crate. Tom shone his light in, revealing a first aid kit, heavy gloves, emergency shelter and sleeping gear.

  “Everything that you need for a disaster,” Eddie said.

  Tom pulled out a tent and the first aid kit. “Thanks, Dad.” He put the first aid kit into his pack and dug in to see what else he could find.

  “I wish he was here too,” Eddie said, resting a hand on Tom’s shoulder.

  Winston held his arms up to get everyone’s attention. “What’s that? listen.”

  “What?” Anidea asked.

  “No, quiet. Listen,” Tom said. “A dog. It’s close.”

  “I haven’t heard a sound out there in days,” Eddie said. “We’d better have a look,” He led the way down the stairs and opened the front door. They stepped into the entryway and peered out through the security gate slats. They could see the dog several doors down in the middle of the street. It was barking at something loudly.

  “Hey, that’s my dog!” Anidea said, and whistled for it to come. “D’ohgee! Here boy!”

  Winston strained against the security gate to see around the corner of the entryway. “What’s it barking
at? I can’t see anything,” he said.

  “There,” Emmett whispered, almost holding his breath. “A couple of them.”

  Eddie gasped and took a couple of steps back. “I haven’t seen them this close. What’s wrong with those poor people. What are they?”

  “Aliens did it,” Anidea said, “I saw them.”

  “Aliens? I don’t quite understand what you’re saying,” Eddie said.

  “They flew over town last night. I saw their spaceship.”

  “That makes no sense. But it doesn’t change anything. We still got trouble.”

  “The dog’s acting like he’s playing with the creatures,” Emmett said. “See how he’s darting in close and jumping out of the way.”

  “It’s cool how he spins round and stretches his paws out, then growls,” Winston said.

  “No.” Eddie pointed. “It looks like he’s leading them somewhere.”

  “He never listens anyway.”

  From behind, the crunch of packaging cut through the silence of the store. Jolted, they all turned.

  Emmett gasped. “The door. The back door. We didn’t close the back door. See the light.”

  The creatures were on them before they could react, trapping them against the front of the store.

  Winston and Emmett charged with their hatchets, swinging wildly. Eddie lunged forward into battle, shooting one in the head.

  Eddie cried, “There's too many.”

  The only direction to go to get away was up the stairs, but there was no way out from there.

  Anidea pressed against the security gate. “We have to hide!”

  Eddie grabbed the bottom of the gate. “Help me lift this.”

  Without power, the motor worked against them, making it difficult to lift.

  “We have to get him,” Winston yelled, and called for Anidea to come back.

  They were only able to lift the gate up a foot. Tom knew that he could squeeze under it, but not Eddie. He had to make a choice; leave or stay and fight. He couldn’t tell how many creatures were coming into the store. Fear made his choice. He called to Winston and Emmett to get out and yelled for Anidea to follow them.

  Eddie strained to hold the gate up with one hand. “I have a gun. I’ll keep them busy. Now go, and don’t look back.”