by Jay Morris
The Merciless
and the Dead
Several months after 80% of mankind was infected by an alien created spore, half of the infected died in less than 24 hours, the other half quickly transformed from staggering, directionless zombies into shell plated creatures that were wicked fast and damn hard to kill. The creatures outnumbered the survivors two to one but after the initial shock, humanity held its own or at least killed as many of them as they did of us, problem was there were more of them and while we grew weaker, they grew stronger. Their ability to regenerate themselves was nothing less than miraculous. Each iteration was more deadly than the previous and all the while fragile humanity not only was being hunted by the monsters, we did all we could to tear ourselves apart. In less than thirty days mankind was on the verge of extinction and only those capable of reacting and adapting quickly were still alive. Those who did survive usually seemed to be in small groups, in fact I don’t recall ever seeing anyone alone in those first thirty days, except for perhaps John “Old Man” Tucker. He was always alone even in a room full of people. But I’ll let you try and figure him out for yourself, I’m not sure I ever really did.
Anyways, our group had been decimated by an ill-fated attack on a large number of monsters and by sheer bad luck. In less than 48 hours we lost twelve out of our group of twenty, including my older sister Elaine. They ranged in age from eight to seventy-seven. They were black, white, and Hispanic; male and female. They were our friends, our family, I loved them all, and I miss them every day just as I miss the others who had died before them. Most of all I miss my mom and dad and my best friend Billy Driscol.
It was only a couple of days after that when all of the monsters, that I had just recently named the Before, because they were people before they were monsters, died. Just like that, in less than a day, heck maybe at the same moment they were gone. Six hours after two of our group had returned from checking a 500 mile search where they did not find a single live Before, we saw brilliant white streaks in the sky, perhaps a dozen all together, flying off in all directions. One of them headed right towards us, the streak resolved itself into a space craft, of course you have all heard the stories, if you haven’t seen one yourself, but just in case I’ll describe what I saw with my own eyes. When it passed over us it blocked out the sky. My one time friend, then hated enemy and now friend again, Old Man Tucker, estimated it at 2,500 feet in length with wing-like projections over 2,000 feet wide that made it look a bit like a giant, white Manta Ray. A manta ray more than twice as long as an aircraft carrier. When it landed in a thick forest a couple of miles away, the impact broke every window in the lodge where we lived and tossed me, Mr. Tucker, and Billy’s mom Amy Driscol to the ground. The realization that the fear, the pain, the blood and death were not over was overwhelming. That is how we found out that aliens had created the Before. My name is John Isaac Williams, Johnny to most, and that was the day we found out our real war had begun.
Day 31, Franks Family Lodge, West Virginia
None of us slept that night, not even Lucy, my six year old little sister or her friend Gina the seven year old last survivor of the Hardy family. We spent all night trying to decide what was most important to take with us; we were leaving much behind in the form of weapons, ammunition, and food not to mention solar power, working toilets, and a potable water deep well.
The only vehicle we had left in a reliable running condition was a ½ ton pick-up truck, the others had been shot to pieces or in the case of our freightliner, tires ruined by fires started by exploding propane tanks. The old Ford was going to have to hold all eight of us; Me, Tucker, Mrs. Driscol, Mrs. West. Deputy Weir, Lucy, Gina, and my smart older girlfriend Karen (she’s 13 almost 31), then all of the supplies we needed to take with us. It was going to be tight. Tucker insisted that we only travel at night and then with no lights (he actually removed the back-up and brake light bulbs) and only on back country roads preferably one with a tree top canopy for us to hide under. It was almost dawn when we were ready so all we could do was drive down the service road a bit and back under a big oak tree.
Tucker then said he wanted to get a closer look and maybe get a feel for what was going on. He produced some black and green camo sticks and did his face, where he found them I have no idea. He refused any company but he surprised everyone by kissing Amy on the cheek after he shook my hand and hugged everyone else. Tucker checked his Colt DA, then the big 45-70 caliber lever gun and he trotted into the trees back the way we came.
So, there we were, hiding in plain sight, luckily it was fall and the weather had been cooling the last few days so we were not uncomfortable, that and everyone was knackered from being up all night so we took turns on guard and slept the morning away. I spent the time trying to figure out how many people we had lost, killed by monsters both human and alien. I wondered how many we had killed, I wondered if numbers actually went that high.
Day 31, Continued, Da-nah colony ship “Ah-ta Z-den-ah”, Embarkation Deck
The tall slender alien was watching his charges drive their vehicles down the ramps where they formed into pods of four. The vehicles supported each other and their contents and design were not only optimized for this world but for each specific ecosystem where they were being deployed. Each pod held a family unit, supplies, tools and equipment to assist the colonization technicians in transforming the biology of this world into one more pleasing to the eyes, ears, and nose of the Da-nah; just as they had done on many other worlds before. This colonization was his third, he could expect about ten more if he stayed in this position until he was allowed to choose one of his worlds and enjoy the fruits of his labor until the final transformation.
His name and designation was Colonization Director 1, Ig-hna. He was one of twenty such directors for this continent, there were twelve more on the attached southern continent. A total of one hundred that had launched together from the colonization Mother-ship “Ep-ga Z-den-ah” less than a single planetary rotation before. His directorate contained twenty pods, typical for the class of ship he commanded, however that number did vary a bit. He sighed as an underling shuffled up to him, lowered its round, plain face and handed him a communication pad. It waited for further instruction. He read the screen, ignoring the underling, he called to his subordinate:
“Command-Insistive, Assistant Director Tsi-ah, Presentation-Required.”
“Superior-Respected,
Command-Acknowledged,
Presence-Actualized”
“Statement-Factual,
Colonization-Technician-Pod-Six,
Vehicle-Three-Drive-Module-Damage
-Terrain-Related”
“Statement-Factual-Acknowledged,
Query-Permissive,
Deployment-Vehicle-Specialty-Repair”
“Permissive-Accepted, Initiate”
` Once that tiresome detail was attended to he turned to watch the last pod descend the ramp, he smiled and made the sound of pleasure that was usually reserved for intimacy. Then again, that his job was nearly complete and he would soon be back in space, was nearly as satisfying as mating. A long peaceful journey to intercept the Da-nah vessel Nexus, oh the joy. It would be at least 22 nano-galactic rotations before another colonization would be ready. Perhaps he would mate in the interval? He strode up the ramp into his pride and joy; the “Ah-ta Z-den-ah”, the “Bright Seed of the Da-nah”. After that a short jaunt back into orbit and docking with “Ep-ga Z-den-ah”, the “Seed Mother of the Da-nah.” He would report to the Supreme Director, then he would take rest and nourishment, perhaps compose a communication to several of his s
iblings, and then begin the long, quiet journey home.
Day 31, continued, Bed of a white 2007 Ford F-150
I lay on a pile of rolled up sleeping bags watching Gina and Lucy’s guard duty. Well Mrs. West was on watch but my sister was having tremendous success as well. Using nothing more than two small cans of tomato paste for binoculars they had successfully identified such diverse threats as a herd of stampeding squirrels, a ‘supracorn’, which apparently is like a unicorn with a “bazillion” horns, and of all things, the first West Virginia sighting of a blue whale.
We ate lunch late, probably around two, Ritz crackers, Vienna sausages, and canned pears. By five we were all starting to get bored when we heard the crashing of trees, we armed ourselves but the sound seemed to grow distant and then a huge vehicle the size of a British double decker bus crashed through the tree line and crossed the divided highway and proceeded to crash through the trees on the other side. Before it reached those trees a second vehicle, almost as large exited the forest on our side. That vehicle had enormous claws or crane like things mounted on the roof. Then a third, larger yet, but sleeker and more stream lined, and finally a fourth, that one wider than numbers two and three, and longest of all, but more box like. There was a walkway that appeared to go all the way around, ended the frightening procession. What shocked me the most? No wheels or treads, they hovered about three feet above the ground and the trees and bushes appeared to be flattened before the vehicles actually made contact.
When the crashing sounds finally were muffled by distance Mrs. West cautiously went over to the path. She knelt down and picked up a handful of brown gravel, she let it sift through her fingers, some was so fine it was carried away by the slight breeze. She jogged back to us,
“That stuff, that was all that was left of the trees and bushes, even some of the rocks were shattered or had big cracks in them” She said.
Karen asked why would they do that and Mrs. Driscol offered an opinion, “Recycling?” We all filtered back to the truck.
“Whoever, or whatever was in those things, either wasn’t looking for us or didn’t care” Mrs. West said.
Gina summed up how we were all feeling when she said with a long sigh,
“Just great.”
Later, as the sun was beginning to set, we heard more crashing in the distance but it sounded a great deal like it was just moving in a circle because it didn’t get any closer.
“What do you think that is all about?” I asked.
It was Tucker who spoke as he stepped from the darkness of the forest,
“That’s the lodge being flattened” he said.
Then it was Lucy’s turn to perfectly mimic her friend right down to the sigh,
“Just Great.”
We ate dinner and listened to Tucker tell us what he saw.
“It was huge, every bit as big as we thought John” he said. “It sat there, those big wings sort of dipped down at the tips. The, what do you call it? The fuselage hung down below them, half a dozen ramps were already down and more were in the process of being lowered.”
He shook his head as if he didn’t believe what he was about to say,
“These people, about 4 feet tall were scrambling all around.”
Lucy climbed on one knee and Gina climbed on the other,
“What did they look like gampa” Gina asked.
Her huge eyes so innocent. Amy stifled a laugh and Karen squeezed my hand and said “Aww” under her breath to me. Tucker seemed startled but was able to cut off his immediate response at
“Graaaaa?” and changed it to
“Well, honey, ahem, they had pale gray skin and round faces like Charlie Brown.”
My sister was not to be outdone, she crossed her arms and asked her question,
“Great-Great-Great-Grandfather, were they scary?”
Tucker was ready for her though and said that
“Grandpa, will do Lucy.”
Mrs. West had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing which got her a pretty fierce glare from Tucker but I was beginning to understand that Tucker was just all hot air, except when he wasn’t, then he just killed you.
“The little gray guys, Lucy? I don’t know, not really scary, I don’t think they are in charge, they just ran around doing whatever they were doing, wearing bathrobes in various shades of gray, I don’t know if the colors meant anything or not.”
He adjusted the little girls on his knees and when he did that I had to stop myself from laughing at the image of such a heavily armed Santa Claus.
“Then these other guys came out, they were tall, really tall, like six foot eight or more. They were all white, I mean as white as a sheet or a piece of paper.”
He looked a little uncomfortable then said,
“They looked naked, but I don’t think so because no, ummm, bits were showing. Must have been a skintight thing.”
He said, “You know I didn’t see a single weapon that I could identify as one anyway.”
Mrs. West asked “How many were there?”
Tucker answered “Not as many as you would think, there were no rows and rows of storm troopers or anything. But that was when these huge white vehicles started to roll off the ramps.”
Amy said, “Yeah, we saw four earlier, just down the road a ways” and she nodded where.
“Yep, they were all in groups of four and they spread out in all directions like points on a compass. I counted 20 groups of ...”
His words were cut off by a thunderous roar and a blinding flash of yellow light, we turned and could see and feel the starship slowly rising into the sky. Even from four or five miles away the thing was impressive, it rotated a bit then slowly it began to climb higher and higher, faster and faster until it seemed to fly straight up into space. We were all holding our hands over our ears when a second ship appeared off to the south and it too disappeared into the stars. For two hours we watched as streaks of light showed us their paths of departure. Amy sat next to Tucker and took Lucy from him, both girls were trembling and to be honest I think I was too.
“John? Does this mean they are leaving?” She asked.
“I don’t know Amy, I don’t think so. I think it means they are here to stay” Tucker responded grimly.
We decided to stay put since we had no idea where the aliens were anyway. Tucker told us how the white ones stood around while the little “gray bastards” ran around like crazy. He said the white ones spoke, more or less, clicks, buzzes, intermittent strings of harsh sounding syllables something like ‘ka na na ta blah blah blah’. Personally I think he made up the blah blah part. He said he followed the four vehicles that were heading towards the lodge. He said they started flattening a space near our graveyard. He said it got bigger and bigger concentric circles until it started to impact the lodge itself. He said it didn’t appear the house was the target, it was just in the way. When the big boxy one was on the other side of the hill he checked out what they had done to the East wing.
“It was powdered, wood, glass, metal, even rocks. They just drove up to it, it fell over, and they drove over it and this.”
He reached into his pocket and held out what looked like multicolored baby powder. We all took some and looked at it, it was really fine, almost soft, and sure enough I could see sparkly bits of silver and copper color in it.
We all talked for a long time, I’m not sure when I fell asleep but as strange as it seems I wasn’t scared. I should have been I know but life was hard, life was short, we didn’t have time to be scared anymore.
Day 31 continued
Da-Nah Colonization Technical Vehicle 17-2,
Family Habitation Unit,
Sleeping Compartment - Offspring
“Parent-Male, Interrogative-Permissive Queries-Multiple”
“Familial–Response-Paternal, Queries-Authorized.”
“Permissive-Composite-Authorization-Requests,
Conjunctive {Familial-Siblings, Extra-Vehicular-Activity, Unsupervised};”
; “Familial-Response-Emotive-Humorous, Consideration-Delay (300)
{Familial-Siblings: Approval-Partial, Dependency-Age
E.V.A: Authorized
Unsupervised: Permissive-Denied};”
“Parent-Male, Interrogative-Permissive Query”
“Familial–Response-Paternal, Query-Authorized.”
“Permissive-Authorization-Request-Modified, Supervision-underling-Multiple”
“Familial-Response-Emotive-Patience, Consideration-Delay (Indeterminate-Dependency-Solar)”
“Parent-Male, Statement-Factual, Status-Emotive-Affection”
“Familial-Response-Paternal, Statement-Factual, Status-Emotive-Affection
Command-Paternal-Insistive, Sleep”
“Command-Paternal-Insistive-Sleep, Acknowledged”
Technician A-nar left his children warm and safe in their sleep units. He was very pleased with his eldest daughter’s curiosity and eagerness to explore their new home world. He knew that the dominant predator had been eradicated but dangerous sub-predators may still exist not to mention unknown plant life. He thought however that if he sent an underling or two armed with light sticks that should deter anything left out there. He would allow his four eldest children the opportunity to explore assuming their respective mothers had no concerns. He would speak to Sa-An-ah in his sleep chamber as soon as he arrived, he would contact the other two in their respective technical vehicles when the local star appeared on the horizon.
Day 32, The Da-nah colonization Mother-ship “Ep-ga Z-den-ah”, Command Deck
Colonization Co-coordinator Ka-na Ah explored the planet below on the high resolution screen. She was merely curious about the world, apparently surveys had indicated a number of natural structures and artificial constructs that met even the highest standards of Da-nah sensibilities. She considered the world a remarkable find, large diverse ecosystems with the largest number of potential Da-nah animal and plant conversion candidates in 1,233 years. She had ordered that number researched and confirmed, in addition there was plentiful water supplies that covered two thirds of the world, once purified and populated with appropriate Da-nah modified species this would indeed be a remarkable world.