by Brandon Hale
“What if they’re not God,” Jerry said, “but God sent them to save you. Are you going to be one of those people that say, ’No, thanks. The Lord will save me!’ Because I don’t know if I can still be friends with you if you’re that person.”
“That point,” Lauren said, “weighs heavier on me than you could possibly know. I’ve spent my entire adult life fighting against that type of blind faith.”
“And now you’ve become the very thing you stood against,” Jerry said. “You’re just like Darth Vader.”
“No,” Lauren said. “I’m not Darth Vader, dammit. That would be true if we knew these aliens were here to help. Fact is, we don’t know it. No matter how logical Arthur made it sound, believing that they are saviors is a faith based decision. So if I’m forced to make a faith based decision no matter what, I’m going to choose the faith I’ve spent my life evaluating.”
“Except,” Jerry said, “the aliens are here, with their hands extended. They are offering help. They’re the ones that arrived to get you away from the apocalypse. I don’t see God standing on the streets, offering to take you away from the asteroid.”
“You’re right,” Lauren said. “And you know what else you don’t see?”
“What?”
“An asteroid,” Lauren said.
Jerry thought for a moment, then said, “Okay, I’ll give you that one.”
“Bottom line,” Lauren said. “I’m staying. Accept it or don’t. Either way, your opinion won’t change my decision.”
“Fair enough,” Jerry said. He turned and looked out the window again. “Even if the asteroid doesn’t come, we’re in for a world of shit. Like you said, the power will eventually go out. And the water. And I doubt there will be anyone to repair it. I think we need to find other people.”
“Jerry,” Lauren said, “if the asteroid doesn‘t come, I think we‘ll have bigger problems than a power outage.”
Jerry looked at Lauren. “What could be a bigger problem than a permanent loss of water and power in the middle of winter?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Lauren said. “Maybe the fact that aliens came to Earth and lied to us about an apocalyptic asteroid. Maybe the fact that they managed to get the majority of humanity to leave the planet Earth.”
“Oh, yeah,” Jerry said. “I guess that would be more important.”
“To be honest,” Lauren said, “I hope there is an asteroid. I hope the aliens did come to save us, and I hope that you and I ultimately realize how foolish we were to ignore their warnings. Because that would mean humanity has survived on some exciting new world.”
“Yeah,” Jerry said. “I could actually deal with the asteroid because it would mean Alice is probably safe.”
“And Arthur,” Lauren said.
“And Arthur,” Jerry agreed.
“And most of humanity,” Lauren added.
“But if they lied,” Jerry said, shaking his head.
“Yeah,” Lauren said. “I can’t really think of a positive outcome to that.”
Alice stood by the window, watching Earth get smaller. She closed one eye, stretched her arm forward, and pointed a thumb at the ceiling.
“What are you doing?” Arthur said quietly.
“It’s smaller than my thumb,” Alice said.
“The Earth?”
Alice nodded. “When I put my thumb in front of it, it completely covers it.”
“We’ve come a long way,” Arthur said.
“A little too loud,” Alice whispered.
“Sorry,” Arthur mouthed.
The others were asleep. Each person lay along the wall, in an upraised portion of the floor. Alice had provided everyone with their “beds” by simply wishing they had somewhere soft to lie. The beds had pulled up from the floor instantly.
Alice was starting to understand how it worked. She was starting to understand the subtle difference between a thought and a wish. She thought with words, and the thoughts were never answered. But if she just vaguely wished for something, it happened. So far, she had only wished for the window and the beds, but she planned on trying some new ideas when the others were awake.
“How long was I asleep?” Arthur asked.
Alice shrugged. “A few minutes, I guess. Not long, really.”
“You’ve been here the entire time?”
Alice nodded. “When you touched the wall,” she whispered, “what did you hear?”
“I didn’t hear anything,” Arthur said. “I felt a tickle run throughout my body. If felt like a breeze blowing across your skin, but without the wind. Why? What did you feel?”
“I felt the same thing,” Alice said. Her answer was technically true, if not complete.
Arthur apparently recognized that her answer was incomplete. “Did you hear something?” he asked.
Alice nodded. “I guess you could call it that,” she whispered. “Although I certainly didn’t hear them with my ears.”
“Them?”
“Yeah,” Alice said. “Voices. In my head. Only they seemed to talk with images, not words. I don’t know how to explain it. I could hear their knowledge.”
“Amazing,” Arthur said. “Was it them? The aliens?”
“It must have been,” Alice said. “But it really didn’t feel like it. It felt like…” She hesitated.
“It felt like what?” Arthur asked.
“Like the ship,” Alice said. “I felt like I was hearing the ship’s thoughts.”
“You think the ship’s alive?”
Alice shook her head, “I don’t know. Maybe, but that doesn’t feel right.” She looked at Arthur. “It was exhilarating. When my hand was on the wall, I could feel the ship, but I could also hear other voices. They seemed more distant.”
“It had to be the aliens,” Arthur said. “Maybe the ship is an entirely new life form.”
“No,” Alice said. “It was the same. Just… closer.”
“Simply incredible,” Arthur whispered. “We know so little about these people. Hell, maybe they’re the same thing. Maybe they’re shape shifters. Really, anything is possible.”
“Maybe,” Alice said, “but I doubt it. Like I said, they were connected, and they were the same, but there‘s a difference I can‘t quite explain.”
“It’s okay,” Arthur said. “I wonder why they can talk to you but not to the rest of us.”
“I don’t know,” Alice said. “The little girl said they liked me. That’s kind of creepy.”
“Have you touched the walls since then?” Arthur asked.
“No,” Alice whispered. “I started to a few times, but chickened out. The feeling is very wonderful, but at the same time overwhelming. I think I understand how those people fell into comas.”
Arthur nodded. “Maybe the ship is just a more mature version of the aliens. Maybe it’s just another step in their physical development. Maybe the aliens are the caterpillars and the ship is the butterfly.”
“Maybe,” Alice said. “That sounds closer than them being entirely different entities.”
“It’s fascinating,” Arthur said. “Truly.”
“Are you trying to sound like Spock?”
“Maybe a little,” Arthur said with a smile. “So what was the ship saying to you?”
“Nothing, really,” Alice said. “It felt more receptive than anything else. Like it only wanted to know what I wanted.” She looked out the window. “Shit,” she whispered. “I lost it.”
“What?”
“Earth,” Alice said. “It’s gone.”
Arthur looked into the field of stars. “There it is,” he said.
“Where?”
Arthur walked behind her and pointed across her shoulder toward the window. “There.”
Following his finger with her eyes, Alice smiled. “It’s tiny,” she said. “How fast are we moving?”
“I don’t know,” Arthur said, “but something weird is happening. What’s your watch say?”
Alice looked at her wrist. “Five thirty-
seven.”
“Mine says the same thing,” Arthur said. “Which would mean we’ve been on this ship for about two hours.”
“That’s not right,” Alice said. “We’ve been here for a hell of a lot longer than a couple hours.”
“Yeah,” Arthur said. “I think we’re witnessing watery time, whatever the hell that means. I think it‘s genuine, though. Like you said, we‘ve been here for several hours, yet nobody has shown any sign of being hungry, and nobody has needed to use the restroom yet.”
“When that time comes,” Alice said, “I hope I can communicate it accurately.”
“Me too,” Arthur said. “I’d hate to pee on the heads of the people below us.”
Alice quietly laughed. After a pause, she said, “I wonder if that means it’s only been a couple hours for Lauren and Jerry,” Alice said.
“Maybe,” Arthur said. “Who knows.”
“Do you think they’re really going to find another ship?”
Arthur put his arm across her shoulder and stared at Earth. By now, it was just another star. “Do you really want me to answer that?” he asked.
“No,” Alice said.
“So what about the other voices?” Arthur asked. “The distant ones. Were they receptive as well?”
Alice appreciated his effort to change the subject. “No,” she said. “They were definitely sending, not receiving. They weren‘t sending anything my way, though. They seemed to be unaware that I was connected. Only the ship knew I was there.”
“They were talking to the ship?”
Alice nodded.
“What were they saying?” Arthur asked.
“Images,” Alice said. “Of stars. And planets. Hundreds of them. Probably thousands.”
Arthur smiled. “They were driving.”
Alice turned to Arthur and said, “You know I love you, right?”
“Wow,” Arthur said. “Major subject change there.”
“Things have been crazy since we found each other,” Alice said. “And everything went insane from the moment we walked into that coffee shop and saw Jerry and Lauren.”
“Yeah,” Arthur said.
“Emotions were all over the place,” Alice said. “We were holed up in that house with Jerry and Lauren, and everything was just plain nuts.”
“Alice,” Arthur said, “if you’re trying to explain any behavior while we were staying together, it’s completely unnecessary.”
“I know,” Alice said, “but I just want you to be absolutely certain about how I feel. I love Jerry. I always will.”
“I understand,” Arthur said. “The same is true with Lauren. We covered that multiple times.”
“I know,” Alice said, “but I don’t think we really got beyond that. We never got to the part where I tell you how I feel about you.”
“I’m pretty confident that I know how you feel about me,” Arthur said.
“I didn’t need the second semester of Western Civ,” Alice said. “After the first semester, I had the necessary credits. Guess why I took the second semester of your class.”
“Because I’m a brilliant teacher,” Arthur said with a smile.
“You are,” Alice said. “You can joke about that all you want, but it’s true. But we both know that’s not why I took it. I didn’t really know it at the time, but I took it because I love you. You’re a pretentious ass, but I love you. Before the aliens came to Earth, I knew that you were the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.
“I couldn’t stand the thought of not having Jerry in my life, but we were never in love. From day one, I think I fell in love with his past and his pain.”
“You’ve touched onto that before,” Arthur said.
“But that wasn’t the case with you,” Alice said. “I fell in love with the person you are. I fell in love with the way you treat every student with respect. I fell in love with your thirst for knowledge. And when you were teaching, you weren’t just giving us information. You acted like you had discovered some fantastic secret and you wanted to share it with all of us. I didn’t fall in love with your past, or your position. I fell in love with you.
“And I can’t imagine going another day of my life without you in it.”
Arthur pulled Alice closer and continued to watch the stars beyond the window. “I think I know why the ship talks to you,” he said.
Alice smiled. “Why?’
“Because,” he answered, “you are everything they hoped humanity would become.”
“Wake up!”
They both turned around to see Linda shaking her husband. “Wake up, you old fart.”
Roger stirred. “What the hell do you want? Are we there already?”
“No,” Linda said. “We’re not there.”
“Then why the hell’d you wake me up?”
“Tell me,” Linda said, “how much you love me.”
“What the hell, woman,” Roger said. “You can’t tell somebody how much you love em. You either love them or you don’t. There ain’t no damn love measurements.”
“Tell me,” Linda said again, “how much you love me.”
“I don’t know,” Roger said as he rolled back over and faced the wall. “Half a pint or so, I guess.” Almost immediately, he was snoring.
Linda looked at Alice. “You’re very lucky, honey,” she said.
Preparing for the Inevitable
Jerry walked down the street, smoking a cigarette, hoping the flurrying snow wouldn’t turn into a snow shower. He walked up the porch and entered the house.
“It’s starting to snow,” he said.
“Cigarette,” Lauren said from the couch.
“Come on,” Jerry said. “It’s snowing.”
“Don’t care,” Lauren said. “Outside.”
“But, the apocalypse is coming,” Jerry said. “The apocalypse. Do you really think smoking inside the house is such a big deal.”
“Out!” Lauren said as she picked up a cushion and threw it in Jerry’s direction.
“Okay,” Jerry said as he stepped on the porch. “You’re a tyrant.”
He quickly finished the cigarette, threw it on the ground, and stepped back inside. “It’s starting to snow,” he said again.
Lauren looked outside. “Wow,” she said. “Hard to believe it was in the high fifties a week or two ago. We need to get some supplies.”
Jerry looked at the television and saw the newscaster standing in a field. “Is the cable back?”
“No,” Lauren said. “Arthur recorded all the newscasts on the DVR. I guess before he decided he was leaving the planet, he wanted a record of the events. I turned it on while you were gone so I could pretend there are other people out there.”
“About that,” Jerry said, “there isn’t. Any other people, I mean. I went to every house within five miles. I didn’t find a single person. I’m starting to think we really are alone here.”
“Nonsense,” Lauren said as she walked to the door and grabbed her coat. “I’m sure somebody else in this town decided to stay.”
“You’re going to find them now?” Jerry asked.
“No,” Lauren said. “I’m going shopping. That snow seems to be picking up. If the power goes out, we’ll need some logs for the fireplace, and some extra blankets. And maybe a kerosene heater or two.”
“Yeah,” Jerry said. “We’ll take my car. Just prepare yourself. It’s creepy as hell out there.”
As they rode toward town, Lauren played with the radio, trying to find a station.
“I seriously doubt you’ll find anything,” Jerry said.
“You never know,” Lauren said. She looked at the road in front of her. “The ground’s getting white.”
“Yeah,” Jerry said. The weather had progressed beyond flurries. These were snow showers. “Why couldn’t they have come in summer?”
“We’ve got to stop thinking about the power,” Lauren said. “It’ll happen or it won’t.”
“The roads will get bad very soon,”
Jerry said, “with no traffic at all.”
“Maybe it’ll stop,” Lauren said looking at the snow.
“I wonder what Arthur and Alice are doing right now,” Jerry said.
Lauren smiled. “Arthur is spouting off some theory involving the Aztecs, and Alice is pretending to be interested while secretly wishing he’d just shut up so she can enjoy the moment.”
Jerry laughed quietly. “Probably,” he said. “You know, your chances of finding a station are zero if you keep pushing the scan button. You need to do it manually. The scan skips over most of the stations.”
“I was going to,” Lauren said. “I just scanned once.”
As they pulled onto the main stretch of road in town, Lauren said, “You’re right. It is creepy. It‘s like a zombie movie.”
The stores were all dark. The light dusting of snow on all of the sidewalks was undisturbed.
“Go back,” Jerry said. “Was that a voice?”
“I think so,” Lauren said as she rolled the tuner back to 98.5 and stopped.
The signal was weak, but it was definitely a man’s voice.
“--snowing here at the studio,” the voice was saying. “Temperature’s thirty-four degrees. Prime snowing weather. I wish I had a weather report to give you folks, but I don’t.” The man’s voice was subdued.
“He sounds sad,” Lauren said.
“Yeah,” Jerry said. “He probably doesn’t know if anyone’s listening. I’d say he’s on the air just to keep sane. What‘s the station?”
“Ninety-eight point five,” Lauren said.
“WXBL,” Jerry said. “Alternative rock. They play a lot of grunge from the nineties.”
“If you’re just tuning in,” the man on the radio said, “welcome to your best choice in radio. Mainly because we’re your only choice at this point. My name’s Donald Barnett, but if you’re a regular, you probably know me as Howler Jones.”
“Holy shit,” Jerry said. “That’s Howler. He sounds different. I mean, he‘s not--”
“Howling?” Lauren offered.
Jerry smiled. “Yeah.”
“Today,” the man continued, “I’m just Donald. I hope I was your favorite here at XBL, because I’m the only person at the studio who stayed. I’ve moved into the station, so I’ll be on pretty much nonstop as long as I have power.”