by Janet Shore
The four creatures reached the Jazene labs under Lake Assad. They systematically began to destroy the facility from the bottom up. All levels and floors of the facility were to be utterly destroyed. Suddenly, the automatic defensive system for the containment of the monster army was triggered. The army of genetically crafted soldiers had been released. The workers at the facility did not have any time to react. The four creatures crashed through the ceiling of the uppermost level of the labs into Lake Assad. In their wake, the monster army was suctioned. The water from the lake poured through the ruins of the laboratory onto the field below holding the chambers. The soldier walked over to Derek, reached down to touch him, and then dematerialized with him back to the Danali ship orbiting earth. The entire cavern was filled with the water from the lake and the debris from the lab. The cave itself was small compared to Lake Assad. Filling the cave and the ruins of the Jazene laboratory did not affect the water level of Lake Assad at all.
The whole of the horror emerged from Lake Assad into the air. The creatures split off in four directions circumnavigating the earth. The horrid soldiers dropped in great numbers methodically into the regions traversed. As they landed, they killed anyone or anything they encountered. They killed with the same weapon that L and N used at Deer Park to fight off the stinging locusts, fire coming from the mouths of the creatures.
The crowd at Deer Park was sizable. L and N had successfully created a safe zone against the stinging assault, but had warned that something worse was coming. A horde of soldiers breathing fire dropped from the sky around Deer Park. L’s staff broadcast the message to the world,
“Protect yourselves. We are overwhelmed.”
The monsters invaded Deer Park killing everyone there, including L and N. However, the monster army had a shelf life. Once its destruction was done, the monsters themselves died. All over the world, the remnant that remained misinterpreted the event. They blamed L and N. There was much worldwide celebration over their death at Deer Park. After three and a half days, a Danali ship hovered over Deer Park illuminating L and N with a beam that revived them. L broadcast to the world through his staff,
“We are not damaged. We may have lost some years, but we are alive. Approximately thirty percent of everyone we have encountered is dead. This was not our doing.”
Then, a teleporting beam lifted L and N back into the ship which quickly ascended and left earth’s orbit. The beam’s power caused many regional earthquakes. The Earth was devastated. As the monster army moved across the globe, the earth’s population had been severely reduced. The number of people missing in the great abduction was dwarfed by the amount of people burned alive by the mouths of these creatures. Culling the population interrupted vital services. Power companies did not have enough personnel to repair the damage caused, or even to keep the generators going, as fuel supplies failed to arrive. Fuel distribution for refined products such as gasoline left the streets and highways littered with abandoned vehicles as they ran out of gas over a period of weeks. Without power, water companies failed to deliver vital water to the sinks, showers, tubs, and toilets of the world. In many cases, the destruction included major breaks in water and gas lines, and too few emergency personnel left to respond. Many of the responders put their own family situation ahead of the community. Many homes were abandoned. Hordes of people wandered the streets, looting the grocery stores, emptying the shelves. The distribution of food to these stores ended when the delivery trucks could not get gas. Those nearest a natural water source camped there, many armed with a limited amount of ammunition to keep order. A person can only survive without water for three days, so when the water sources failed many died of thirst. Even some people with wells could not draw water out of them due to the failure of the electrically powered pumps. Fresh water lakes and streams were crowded with survivors. The failure of electric power caused the phone system to fail. All data centers went dark. Perhaps not so oddly, the nuclear power plants still functioned. Safe havens for limited services surrounded the area around the plant. However, the output of the few plants that existed was not enough to keep the general power grid up, so the plants isolated their output from the grid itself. There were no newspapers, no television, radio, or any other means of general communication except word of mouth. Tales of monsters biting and burning spread to communities that were already frightened by losing all their vital services. Global fear reached an insane level. Without electricity and fuel, the military ground to a halt. Small governments convened only to conclude that being cut off made them ineffective in assessing or helping the global situation.
The Exoplanet Institute was out of commission. All of the computer screens were dark. Except for Dr. Jenner, all personnel had abandoned the facility. Several buildings had been destroyed from the searing mouths of a mutant battalion. Dr. Jenner wandered down the corridor of the main building with a fairly strong hand lantern that still had a few hours of battery power left. He had returned to the building to retrieve a briefcase full of hardcopy printouts related to the Jazene presence on Mars. As he approached the door of his office, he noticed an odd glow coming from the gaps around the doorframe. Carefully, he opened the door without stepping in. At the end of the room was a black orb pulsating. The orb slowly rotated. Then it began to morph into a humanoid form, a grey smooth hairless body with large black eyes. The creature stared deeply at Dr. Jenner. Dr. Jenner walked in. His briefcase was on his desk. The creature spoke with a voice that had a strange multi-timber echo,
“Dr. Jenner, the Danali have destroyed one of our labs below Lake Assad in Syria releasing a mutant army that has nearly destroyed a third of your planet. The collateral damage is devastating. All of your facilities and resources are ruined. Only those that have adequate water supplies survived. Your nuclear power facilities have a small habitable zone around them. The dead rot in the open. All of the governments in the world have no effective ability to operate. The data in your briefcase will not help you.”
Dr. Jenner was stunned,
“Yes, but I would still like to have my briefcase.”
The creature replied,
“Take it.”
Dr. Jenner took his briefcase,
“Why are you here in my office?”
The creature spoke,
“I want you to know that the Jazene will restore your planet under a single effective government. We are delivering the same message to the Pentagon team in charge of monitoring our arrival and activities. Take this device.”
Dr. Jenner reached out to receive the device,
“What is it?”
The creature explained,
“We have distributed this device to the Pentagon team already. With it, you can communicate with them, with the new government, and with us. The new government will effectively allow the current local nations to function through our technology. In this extreme situation, a central coordinating control is required to get you back up on your feet. Sovereignty is eliminated in favor of this new system. Also, in order for this communication device to function it will connect to your right hand. Do not be alarmed by the harmless mark that it leaves.”
The device attached itself to Dr. Jenner’s right hand. The creature morphed again, and then dissolved as it transported out of the facility. Dr. Jenner looked at his right hand. Suddenly, he heard a voice,
“Dr. Jenner, are you there? This is General Arnold.”
Surprised, Dr. Jenner answered,
“Yes, General, a black orb was here and fitted me with this device.”
At the Pentagon, Pedro Sanchez and Major Sanders were looking at the devices attached to their right hands. General Arnold asked,
“Do you have any information about what was meant by a new central government?”
Dr. Jenner left his office and walked down the hallway as the four exchanged ideas and opinions on what this meant. Either the Jazene were helping kick start civilization back to a normal level, or perhaps they wanted to take advantage of the situation. Th
e destruction of their lab by the Danali prematurely released their horrible weapon, throwing a wrench in their plans, and devastating earth’s population.
While governments searched for answers, people were still near death in many areas, struggling to make sense of it all. John and Bob Chester were brothers that farmed in Nebraska. The mutant fire-breathers had come through their small town and burned it to the ground. The corn fields were turned to ash. John and Bob’s wives and children were killed when the family home burned. Bob was crying. His depression deepened as each day passed with their situation getting worse. They had figured out a way to hand pump water from their well. They ran out of store bought food, and hunted each day to eat. Their ammunition was low because their cache exploded in the barn when the mutant hit the barn with its flaming mouth. John tried to console Bob,
“Bob, don’t cry. It will be ok.”
Bob was hysterical,
“No, it won’t. The world is over. Even if we had corn, there are no buyers. They’re dead. Our families are dead. John, they are dead. We are barely making it ourselves, eating rabbits and squirrels. I got sick on that can of beans we found in town. There is no help from anyone. We have no idea what is going on. Where are the police, the military, and the other emergency people? Remember when we walked up to the hospital? It had been destroyed by those creatures that breathe fire. There was nothing left. We have been invaded. They have won the war and left us to die. Do you call this nightmare life? I cannot take it anymore. I do not care if this is the way people lived tens of thousands of years ago. I cannot do it. We were raised differently. We should have television and computers. I can’t even listen to music. I have to remember it in my head. Cars should drive us where we want to go. Gas stations should have our fuel. Banks should have our money. Pharmacies should have our medicine. Doctors should be available. There are no doctors left. They are all dead. Store buyers should buy our harvest. The government should pay us for not growing corn on the south forty acres. Our children should enjoy school, and maybe do better than we did. They are dead. They are all dead.”
John comforted his brother,
“I know. I know. Maybe the next town has some survivors. Maybe things are better in the next town.”
Bob pushed his brother’s arm away,
“No. What happened here is not isolated. I know it. It’s over. What is the use of living like this?”
With that, Bob picked up his hand gun, pointed it at his temple, and pulled the trigger, killing himself. Bob fell to the ground in a bloody mess.
John screamed,
“No. No. No.”
John sat down and cried.
At the Vatican, the counterfeit Pope showed one of the devices to Antonio Prenka, the monster from the sea,
“With this device, the infrastructure of Earth will be restored better than ever. We will be able to get goods and services to those in need. As soon as the need arrives anywhere in the world, the device on their hand communicates to our central system aboard orbiting spaceships. The ships are cloaked so that our enemy does not detect their presence. If detected, they will certainly be destroyed. That crashing ship would rain fire from the sky and demolish anything it landed on with the force of a nuclear explosion.
The people of Earth will become completely dependent on these devices and on us for sustenance. There is also another model that can attach to their foreheads. Before the mass media disappeared, your survival of the shot to the head was broadcast across the world. I think we can use that as a unifying symbol communicated directly to humanity through these devices. There will be a holographic image of you, Antonio that will speak to them. For example, if someone needs a tank of gas, they will hear your reassuring voice from a projected image assuring them that their need would be met as soon as possible. Those without the device will have to fend for themselves. Their chances of survival are very low.
Also, you will speak to them yourself, Antonio, and to the local governments, guiding them toward recovery.”
Antonio looked at Peto,
“That sounds very good. When can I make my first speech?”
Peto answered,
“The distribution of the devices should be complete very soon. I, as Pope Peter, will broadcast to them, to instruct them on how to use the devices. I will also celebrate your arrival and survival to them, and announce that you will shortly address them with your vision for the restoration of humanity from the disasters perpetrated by our enemy.”
Antonio smiled with a wry grin. The next six weeks saw a burst of activity, as the Jazene distributed the devices first to the local governments who then distributed it to their people. The people were pleased to see the government taking some kind of action. They eagerly attended training classes on how to use the device. Through the device, they were encouraged by reassuring messages from Pope Peter. All the while, they were totally deceived because the Pope was really Peto. Yet, even if they had known the Pope’s true identity, their gratitude at the restoration of basic goods and services, food, medicine, running water, toilets, and fuel would still have given them a kind of material hope that the world would return to normal.
In Nebraska, John Chester walked into the grocery store in town. The scene was radically different than the week before. Military trucks had restored the meats, milk, water, and produce to the shelves. Military personnel ran the store which was packed with people. Guards had to let groups of fifty into the store at a time to manage the traffic. The line of waiting people stretched down the street for a mile. People were allowed one full grocery cart per person. They were allowed to take the cart with them. The military had supplied the store with a thousand extra grocery carts. Without cars, the only way to transport the food was to walk the cart home. The fuel truck to resupply the gas station had not yet arrived. In anticipation, the military were also giving out free gas cans, so that people could fuel their cars enough to drive them to the gas station. The multi-state lottery machines were down and would never function again. As the people went through the checkout line, all of their items were scanned, and through the devices on their hand automatically paid for. The emergency social welfare state was firmly in place.
John walked down the street with his grocery cart. Behind him, he heard his name,
“John. Wait up.”
John greeted his old friend, Randall Gray,
“Randall, how are you doing?”
Randall pushed his grocery cart faster to catch up,
“Well, it is just me now. Everyone in the family is dead.”
John empathized,
“My family is dead too. The farm is burned. My brother committed suicide.”
Randall replied,
“I’m staying in a cave five miles south of here. If you don’t have a place to stay, you are welcome to stay with me. There is no one else in the cave.”
John said,
“I may take you up on that.”
The two pushed their grocery carts down the two lane state highway arriving at Randall’s cave. That night they ate well. John commented,
“That was so good that I could have sworn I was in a five star restaurant.”
In the morning, the two were awakened by a message from the devices on their hand. Pope Peter’s voice could be heard and Antonio’s projected image could be seen in the dim dawn light inside the cave,
“Let us all thank Antonio Prenka. Yesterday’s troubles are gone. Today you are well fed. Tomorrow a brighter future for us all awaits. Antonio has a message for you.”
The image of Antonio Prenka began to speak,
“Friends, we are at war with the Danali, cursed be their name. The Danali are also at war with our allies, the Jazene that provided the devices you wear. Isn’t it wonderful that we can all communicate with each other? By now, you will have received the supplies we promised. They will sustain you. In the night sky, the falling stars that you see are a beautiful reminder of a victorious battle against the enemy. Their ships will burn up as they
crash into our planet. Do not be concerned. Everything is now in hand. The governments of the world report into my office here at the Vatican. I have coordinated the global relief of those that have survived the plague of the monster army. Do not fear. I will be with you always.”
The image disappeared. John walked outside the mouth of the cave, stretched his arms, and looked around. The gas truck was supposed to arrive today. He was sure that the crowds at the gas station would be large,
“Randall, I think we should wait a few days before we fill our gas cans.”
Randall spoke up from inside the cave,
“I’m sure if we wait the lines will be shorter, but it is not the gas that I’m concerned about. It’s the car lots. Everyone is going to take their cans to the empty dealerships to drive off in a new car. Most of the vehicles crashed or were destroyed by the fire of the monster army. They exploded. So, the few working vehicles that are left are probably at these empty dealerships, even though they took heavy damage as well. The looting of the car lots is going to be first come first serve. Antonio Prenka did not promise everyone a car.”
John replied,
“The military appears to have preserved their vehicles.”
Randall retorted,
“In case you haven’t noticed, there is a double standard at work here. The military has control of everything, including vehicles and supplies. They protect it with deadly force. They shield it from harm with their best technology. To their credit, they now are helping us and not just leaving us to die of exposure. They are clearing the roads of crashed and blocked vehicles with bulldozers. They need the roads clear for them to reestablish supply routes. All of those cars are gone. Whatever’s left is either parked in a garage that did not succumb to the monster army, or is at the dealerships.”