by Erin Raegan
“Santa didn’t find you anyone, those people took one look at your work and fell in love. They found you,” she chastised. I smiled and felt the heat creep into my cheeks.
I tried not to be modest, I knew my pottery was good, but it was still hard to believe sometimes when I made big commission sales. My father only ever made big commissions. I aspired to be as good as him every day.
“You hear anything about the earthquakes?” She asked and looked around. People were huddled in groups talking animatedly. Earthquake’s seemed the topic of conversation.
“Uh, yeah, Hallie told me.”
“I didn’t even feel it,” she laughed and shook her head. “Everyone is panicking because of the one this morning on the east coast. No one was hurt, and it seemed such a small quake, but last nights was off the faults they say.”
“What does that mean?”
“Not an earthquake along the fault lines? Who knows. It was shocking to most people today, I haven’t had much time for the news this morning though.”
“I didn’t either. It was good no one was hurt at least, on both coasts? That’s creepy sure, but it could have been much worse.” There were earthquakes all around the world all the time, most you never felt.
“I heard a rumor there was one in London today.”
“Really?” Okay, kind of weird there were three significant ones in the same day. Vivian looked freaked.
“So, tell me what’s so important.” I asked, I hadn’t consumed enough caffeine for worldwide earthquakes yet. She allowed the subject change and pushed me a lukewarm coffee. I sipped and tried not to make a face. I was late, so I couldn’t blame the cold drink on her. She chuckled, reading my disgust even though I tried to hide it.
“We’ll get you a warm up,” She winked and waved over the waiter. After he left, she delved into wedding venues, tastings, and music options. I nodded appropriately and oohed and awed where it was warranted. I loved my friend, but big events were not my thing. I much preferred solitude.
“Okay, I can see I’m boring you, just be there and where a dress,” she grumbled.
I flushed and smiled guiltily. Vivian hadn’t asked me to be her maid of honor, not because I wasn’t her first choice, but I think she knew I wouldn’t handle her big day how she always dreamt. It made my stomach hollow thinking of it. She didn’t choose her cousin over me maliciously, if anything she did it for me, knowing I wouldn’t be fully committed. I could use the long distance as an excuse to make myself feel better, but the truth of it was I hadn’t been a very good best friend the last few years.
“How’s Hector?” I asked, she grinned and gazed off dreamily.
“He’s great, he just got new orders.” Hector was in the marines. I never knew what he did exactly, but he carried guns, and knew how to use them.
“Where to?” I asked, dreading the answer. After they married, Viv would go where Hector went and it would be harder to see her.
She looked away. “Maine.”
My breath left in a whoosh. So far away.
“I’m sorry, babe,” she whispered.
“Don’t be,” I said firm. “I’m happy for you. I fly all the time now, I’ll have Bryan check out buyers your way and I can be there for work.”
“It’s not an hour flight though, Hun.” She twisted her mug back and forth.
“So, I’ll get a hotel and spend a few days a month.”
“What about Frederick and Noodle, the chickens?” She blinked away tears.
“They’re animals, Viv, you’re my best friend,” I said sadly. It was true I couldn’t leave the animals long, and I loved them more so than any mere animal. But I would figure something out.
She smiled and wiped at her cheeks. Her talons were bright red. I looked down at my chipped lavender nails.
“Yes, girl, we need a manicure,” she grinned wickedly and tossed a few dollars on the table. I chuckled and stood pulling on my jacket. “A little salon time will fix everything,” She dragged me out of the shop and into the rain. Squealing she slapped me, “You could have told me it was raining this hard!”
I laughed and jogged down the street with her.
Viv ran over to a vendor and purchased an umbrella. “You must have a hundred of those by now,” I scolded her.
She flushed, “I know I can never remember to leave the house with one.”
“You’re in Seattle Viv, and it’s the season.”
“I know that, where’s yours?” Her sculpted brows hiked up.
I laughed softly, “I don’t have a fear of rain ruining my do.” I flipped my frizzy braid behind me.
Viv patted her perfect curls and rolled her eyes.
We were at the first stop light, and I had just pressed the crossing button when the ground shook. Viv shouted and grabbed onto my arm, steadying us both.
“Earthquake!” Someone shouted, and people ran―or at least tried to. The ground was shaking so forcefully they tumbled down.
“Peyton!” Viv screamed and pushed me to the ground as the traffic light ripped from the street. I hit on my back hard and we rolled under a parked car just as the light smashed into the ground right where we had been standing.
“What’s happening?” I asked her as the ground rumbled, screams nearly deafened me.
“I don’t know,” Viv shouted, I could barely hear her over the chaos in the streets.
Just as quickly as the earthquake started, it stopped. Screams were still ringing my ears, but the rumbling had quieted enough I could hear a dripping nearby. Looking to the left, I saw, and smelled the gas dripping from the car.
“Oh, shit, Viv, we have to move.” I grabbed her arm and started to crawl from beneath the car.
“What?” Viv gazed at me dazedly.
“The car’s leaking gas, we have to move!” I shouted. We crawled together from beneath the car and jogged around fallen debris and scattering people to the edge of the closest building.
“Is this safe?” She shouted and looked wearily at the tall building. I shook my head and looked around, but there was nowhere to go. Cars were piled up, and the road was littered with cracked asphalt and large debris that could have only been from the buildings.
We were in downtown Seattle. The buildings were tall, we couldn’t stay here. “Come on,” I shouted and pulled her down the sidewalk. We jogged around people. There were so many scared and crying. I spotted a man lying in the dirt, blood leaking from his temple, and stopped. He needed help. I looked around, but there was no one. Only chaos.
“What, what is it?” Viv shouted.
“We have to help him,” I said and pulled her over to the man. I knelt and felt for a pulse. There wasn’t one. “Oh, god.”
“Is he okay?” She asked. I shook my head. Tears leaked from her eyes and I stood up, pulling her away.
“Where do we go?” She cried.
“I- I don’t know,” I choked, looking around. There were so many people. I couldn’t orient myself. Blood coated a woman as she limped down the street with the help of another woman.
The ground shook again, and I took off running. We couldn’t stay. We stumbled and fell every step, but I pushed forward, dragging Viv behind me as I spotted the end of street. We could get to the park and hide in the open without the threat of tall buildings. There were still tall trees all around us, but the stone tunnel would be better protection than anywhere else.
I yanked her into the park and stumbled along the pathway. Once we reached the tunnel I pushed her under just as a thick tree came crashing down on top of it.
“Down!” I shouted and huddled with her along the wall. The left side of the tunnel shook from the impact but held steady.
“Holy shit,” she gasped and shook against me. Minutes more passed before the shaking subsided. The outside was quiet, and my ears rang from the noise.
We stayed in that tunnel for what felt like ages before Viv crawled to the end and peeked out. “You think it stopped?” She asked in a whisper.
I sho
ok my head and hugged my knees. Who knew? I had never experienced an earthquake like that before, just small shakes.
I had no idea what to expect in the event of a high magnitude earthquake, but I learned about aftershocks back in school. I doubted it was over.
Viv’s phone lit up and chimed. We both stared at her pocket in shock. It never occurred to me to call anyone. But Viv scrambled for it, no doubt thinking of Hector.
“Are you okay?” She gasped into the phone. There was a murmur on his end and she cried out in relief. He was shouting something over her cries.
“Where are you?” She choked. “Wh-what?” She cried harder.
“Give me the phone, Viv,” I said and held out my hand. I could hear Hector shouting, but Viv was too hysterical to answer him.
She handed it over and held her face in her hands.
“Baby doll, calm down,” he was shouting.
“Hector, it’s Peyton,” I said and knelt next to Viv, rubbing her back.
“Thank Christ,” he breathed. “Get her out, Peyton,” he bellowed.
“Out?” I looked around, we were already outside. But he didn’t know that.
“Get out of the city!” He growled. Explosive gunfire blared in my ear, men shouting orders drowned him out.
“We’re safe right now, the earthquake stopped,” I told him. I was confused about the gunfire, wasn’t he in the city? Viv didn’t say anything about him deploying.
“Get out! It wasn’t an earthquake! Go and don’t take any planes!” He shouted again. His breathing was erratic, like he was running.
“What?” I asked confused. What else could it have been, the whole city was shaking.
“Just go, Peyton, Please!” He shouted, and gunfire crackled out of the phone again.
“Reyes! We need you!” Someone yelled through his end.
“I have to go, Peyton, get her to the ranch, I’ll come for you. Tell my girl I love her,” he growled and then there was dead air.
“Wh-wh-what d-did he say?” Vivian cried and grabbed for the phone.
“He said it wasn’t an earthquake and to leave the city.” I stood and walked to the end of the tunnel. The sun was gone, there was something blocking it out. At first, I didn’t think anything of it, debris or dust, but looking now it was too dark.
“What was it then?” She shuffled out behind me. Her bare feet slapping against the stone. She must have lost her heels in the rush.
“Holy shit,” I breathed as I got the first look at the sky.
“What is that?” Viv clutched my hand tightly.
“We have to go,” I whispered. I could still hear gunfire. It was faint, I rubbed my ear and I realized it wasn’t an echo from the phone.
Not far from us, a lot of guns were going off.
“What the fuck is that?” Viv shouted and pointed at the sky.
“Now, Viv, we have to go NOW!” I yanked her with me and ran to the freeway. I didn’t know how we’d get there without a car, but we needed to get to the ranch. Hector would come for us.
“Is that a fucking space ship?” She screeched behind me.
Yes, there was a fucking spaceship blocking out the sun.
Chapter 3
Peyton
“What about Hector?” Vivian panted beside me. I had just told Vivian about Hector’s plans to meet at my ranch. We were running along the highway now. It was gridlocked and packed with people. There were so many cars abandoned, probably most with their keys. But, it wouldn’t do us any good, there was nowhere to drive any of them. Viv and I were one of hundreds running along the highway.
I didn’t think a single person had any idea what we were running from, just that we had to run. It was instinct. Something was coming, something bad, and we all wanted to be far away when it did.
“He’s going to meet us there,” I puffed. I regretted all those skipped gym visits now.
“Meet us? How? We can’t even find a way there!” She screeched. “Why are we even going there? Why can’t we just go find him!”
I skid to a stop and turned to her, I grabbed her by the shoulders and looked her in her pale blue eyes. “Vivian, listen to me. I don’t know what’s happening. I don’t know why we’re running, or even what from. All I know is Hector said to go to the ranch. If he believes we need to be there then we need to trust him and get there. If there is anyone on earth I know that can get there, its him,” I told her truthfully. Hector was terrifying on a good day, but he was smart and resourceful. He was the bravest man I’d ever known, including my father.
“But what if he can’t?” She choked.
“Are you kidding?” I smiled at her shakily. “He would move mountains to get to you.”
Tears leaked from her eyes, but she nodded erratically, “Okay, okay, we have to get there.”
“Okay, we’ll branch off from the highway and find another way there,” I told her and pulled her along.
We ran for miles, I knew her feet were killing her as she limped along. We couldn’t run all the way to Idaho, we needed a plane, but Hector said not to fly. After seeing that ship in the sky, I had no desire to do so anyway. So, car it was. Hopefully we could take a few backroads to bypass most of the traffic on the highway.
Long after the crickets came out and we could barely see in front of us, the traffic started to drift slowly along, and we were able to hitch a ride with a man and a woman in their mini-van. They were on their way to South Dakota.
The man and woman, Dale and Lauren, were drifting along a side road when we came across them. At first, they were wary, but one look at Viv’s tear stained cheeks, and they caved. She was beautiful even when she cried.
I patched up Vivian’s feet with what little first aid supplies they had, and she passed out shortly after I was done. It would be a ten-hour drive in normal traffic, but as we slowed and sped up around abandoned cars and walking people, I knew it would take us much longer. “Do you know what’s happening?” I asked.
“No, my father called and told us to get home. Something he saw on the news spooked him. We haven’t gotten a signal since the call dropped,” Lauren said and shook her phone.
I looked at Viv’s and saw she had no signal either. My phone was lost in the chaos. I longed to call Bryan. He was in a tall building at his firm the last I saw him. Guilt hit me hard that I hadn’t thought of him until we were long gone.
“You need the signal to call someone?” Dale asked sadly. I shook my head and looked out the window. I couldn’t think of him now, terror was the only thing on my mind. I just hoped he and Hallie were okay.
It’s wasn’t an earthquake. Hector sounded afraid. It shook me. What could possibly frighten such a strong man.
So that’s how it went, seventeen long hours in a van. Bypassing roads and frantic drivers, all the way home. I barely slept a wink and didn’t eat a thing. Viv tried calling Hector a few times, but there was never any signal. I was too afraid to think about what that might mean. We stopped for gas when we could and drove by without stopping when desperate men with bats, and guns tore the places apart. It was terrifying, and I wasn’t sure we would make it.
We were nearly there when it all fell apart.
Chapter 4
Peyton
“Shit.” Dale slammed the brakes down, and the van fishtailed wildly.
“What is that?” Lauren gasped slouched against the dashboard looking out of the windshield.
The sun had just risen a few hours ago, giving us our first glimpse since the ground shook the day before. We were one of only a few still on the road. Several cars we had been traveling beside went south, others continued to the east, and we traveled north. Now there were only about twenty cars I could see in front and behind us, and several of them had collided in the abrupt stop.
“What is it?” Vivian croaked from beside me.
“I-I don’t know.” Dale’s voice waivered.
We were over the Idaho border, only an hour outside of my home at most. I didn’t want to know what ha
d stopped us, I just wanted to keep going.
But I looked, because what else could I do?
“Oh my god,” Viv breathed and clamped a hand down onto my shoulder.
There were over a dozen things in the road. Tall white things that looked like people at first glance, but upon looking closer, looked nothing like people.
“What are they?” Lauren choked and scrambled for her seatbelt.
“Where are you going?” Dale grabbed for her as she pushed open her door.
“I- I have to see,” she whispered and fell out of the van.
“There is a fucking space ship right there! You don’t have to see shit!” Dale yelled after her, but she wasn’t listening. She moved forward, towards the white things as if in a trance. “God dammit Lauren, get back here!” He shouted and yanked open his own door.
“Peyton what are you doing?” Viv hissed. I climber over the console into the driver’s seat keeping my eyes locked on Dale and Lauren. I was not sitting around with those things watching us. “Peyton!” Viv scrambled up after me and sat in the passenger’s seat.
“I’m not leaving them but I’m not sitting back there and waiting for them to come back either,” I told her without taking my eyes off the scene in front of me. Blindly I grasped at the keys hanging from the ignition and turned. The van grumbled but didn’t start.
“Shit,” I hissed. Lauren was several cars ahead, watching the white things as they stood stock still in a line. They looked like they were blocking every lane across, like a police barricade. Except, they didn’t have emergency vehicles behind them. Nope. They had a white space ship that looked identical to the one hovering over Seattle, only miniature sized―If you could call a four-story building miniature. How we didn’t see it a mile back, I had no clue.
Lauren was an idiot, how she could want to get closer to those things confused the hell out of me. I held my breath as several other people exited their cars and cautiously stepped closer.
“Peyton.” Viv clutched at my arm.