by J Deleon
She felt better the moment she started to eat the meat of the deer. It had been a while since she had eaten anything like this. Her fire burned bright as she settled down for the night. She stared into the flames until she could barely keep her eyes open. That’s when she put out the fire and went to sleep with only her blanket she had kept since she had last seen her mother. That blanket was the most important thing she had.
Well rested and full, Gwen started off again, disposing of the deer caucus first.
She travelled once again down the long road she had been following since New Falls. To her disappointment, it had yet to lead her anywhere.
It was late into the afternoon, the dark gray sky was starting to change into purple, when she saw a sign for the town, Winberly. She stopped in front of the sign and studied it. She couldn’t understand the feeling, but something inside of her was telling herself to stay in the town.
Out of a conscious decision, Gwen decided to stay. The town was a wreck, but she hoped there would be a place for her to stay the night. There weren’t any cars in sight. Not a sound was heard anywhere. She called out for anybody, but no one answered.
Nearby, she found a large sign for a motel fallen on its side. She went to the building and looked around. There were no employees around to assist her.
“Where is everybody?” She asked herself.
After checking all around the motel and through the buildings next to it, she started to run down the streets, calling for anybody. She felt more alone than ever the moment she decided to give up her search. Something had happened to the people in the town, and she didn’t know what. Could it have been connected to the strange disasters happening?
Gwen found a, not too badly damaged, house to stay the night in, but sleep never came to her.
She wondered around the town, the next morning, in search of food and water in which she found both. There was canned food and bottled water in almost every house she searched. Ecstatic, Gwen enjoyed the rest of her night next to a battery powered lantern and a stack of comic books she had found.
For some reason, she knew to stay in the town. The thought bothered her the rest of the day. She thought about it all that night as well. Something was going on with her, but she couldn’t make out what. It started with her vision, then with her instinct to stay in Winberly. She thought not to dwell on it for too long and try to focus on finding the Red Orb. And it appeared to her that night that she was now alone.
Adam
Adam ran out of his room and through the hallway. He heard the footsteps speed up and become louder behind him. Going through the kitchen, the dining room, and out to the backyard, Adam did whatever he could to run away from whatever was chasing him.
Out the back door, Adam ran to the fence and climbed over it. He sprinted down the street as fast as he could, but was stopped by the cry and blinding light of a monster. He clenched up, shut his eyes, covered his ears, and fell to his knees. Once he was able to open his eyes, two of the monsters were standing above him, watching him scream in terror.
One of the creatures shouted at the monsters—they stepped aside after. Adam stopped screaming once he saw the creatures approaching him. They had mostly the same features as a human would, which made him understand that they were angry at something. They stared at him, speaking to each other. Adam didn’t understand anything that they were saying.
As they watched him, Adam’s forehead started hurting. His screams returned, but filled with pain. He squeezed his forehead, but the pain only grew. The creatures started to speak faster as Adam’s pain increased. The peak of his pain arrived the moment one of the creatures grabbed him.
An array of memories past through his mind in an instant. They scrambled his head as the images flashed before his eyes. Then suddenly, they stopped. Adam was back in the present.
“Don’t touch me!” Adam shouted, taking the creatures arm off of him.
The creatures stepped back. Adam could tell they were shocked at something.
“He spoke Telemy.” One of them said in a way that Adam understood. The voice was still at a lower tone than a normal human’s, but it was English, nonetheless.
Adam now leaned up on his hands and bottom. “Did you just speak English?”
The creatures stepped back once more.
“How is this possible? There’s no way.”
“There has to be an explanation.”
“Maybe it has to do with the Red Orb?”
“No, that can’t be. It doesn’t make sense.”
The two argued with each other before Adam spoke up again. “Please, I don’t know what’s going on or who—what you two are. I just want my family back.”
The two stopped talking and focused on Adam.
“You, you’re coming with us.” One of them looked up at a monster. “Niaell.” It motioned to Adam.
“No. No. No. No.” Adam saw the monster extend its arm to grab him. “No, you can’t do this. I just want my family!” The monster lifted Adam up high in the sky. “I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING! PLEASE!”
Ian
“Will that be enough for tonight?” Scott asked Ian regarding the amount of food he had left. Food had become scarce for the two of them the past few days. They searched buildings for anything they could take, but oddly enough, they didn’t find much. After a few weeks of no electricity, and all of the food spoiling, they had to make do with whatever they could safely eat. A lot of the grocery stores had been destroyed and all of the houses mostly had perishable foods that were no good once they found them. They ate the easiest items first before running out and having to settle with canned foods and bottled water. They had to ration the food they had so they’ll have just enough to keep going.
“I don’t think so.” Ian put down his bag.
Scott looked at him in empathy. “We’ll get through this.”
Ian looked back at him. “I know.”
Scott opened his bag and pulled out an opened can of beans. It was half empty already, but enough for him to offer Ian who looked starved.
“Here,” Scott handed the can to him, “take this.”
“No. that’s yours.” Ian refused.
“Eat it. You need it more than me. Trust me.” Scott set it down in front of him.
Ian glanced at it for a while before picking it up. He grabbed a used spoon from his bag and started eating the beans. They were old and cold, but he ate them anyways.
“How long have we been walking?” Ian asked, swallowing a mouth full.
“I’m not sure. A month? I lost track.” Scott looked around.
The two had traveled through the city and then some. They journeyed through one or two nearby towns with no luck of finding the location of the Red Orb. After desperation, the two journeyed back into the city to try and find anything at all. After endless traveling, the two were still alone in the large city.
“I did too.” Ian sat down the can of beans. “God, it’s so hard.”
“I know it is.” Scott empathized.
“I mean, what if we don’t find anybody? What if we never find the Red Orb?” Ian worried.
“Hey, we will. You just have to keep your faith in me. We’ll get there…alive.” Scott comforted.
An interesting smell crossed Ian at that moment. He smelt something cooking.
“Do you smell that?” Ian looked around. Out in the not too far distance, smoke was flowing towards the sky. “I think someone’s cooking.”
Scott sniffed the air. “What the—” He stood up and grabbed his bag. “Come on.”
Ian stood up and grabbed his bag as well. He followed Scott as he jogged down the street and took cover to not be seen. Scott looked around a corner, but Ian couldn’t see what was on the other side.
“What is it?” Ian asked curiously.
“It’s a fire.” Scott continued to look. “I think you’re right. Somebody’s here.”
Scott pulled out his gun and gripped it tightly.
“What are we going to d
o?” Ian asked, keeping his eye on the gun.
“We’re going to find out if they’re good or bad. Follow me.” Scott started to sneak down the sidewalk.
Ian followed Scott carefully, looking around constantly. The two made it near the fire and hid in the closest alley. Surely enough, a lady walked out of the building they were hiding behind and examined the food tied above the fire.
“I think it’s good.” The lady called towards the building.
A second lady walked towards the fire and checked herself. “Yeah, I think you’re right.”
“Excuse me.” Scott walked towards them, gun extended out in front.
The two ladies screamed the moment Scott spoke. Two men ran out soon after and stopped once they noticed the gun. Scott then shifted the gun’s direction between the two pairs.
“Listen, I’m not going to hurt you.” The four hostages shivered in fear as Scott spoke. “I just want to know who you are, and how you are still alive.”
Scott
Nobody answered Scott at first. There was a strong silence between the six of them.
“Who’s in charge here?” Scott tried again.
Still, no response from anyone.
“Okay, look.” Scott grabbed his badge and showed it to them. “I’m a police officer. I just want to help you.”
“W—why are you pointing that gun at us?” One of the ladies asked.
Scott was now realizing that these people seemed harmless. He slowly lowered his gun.
“It’s best to be cautious. I needed to make sure you weren’t harmful.”
“We’re just people.” A man stated. “We’re just trying to survive.”
“How many of you are there?” Scott asked.
“I’m not sure.” The same lady replied. “Quite a few.” There was still fear in her voice.
“How many of you are there?” The man asked.
“Just us.” Scott put his gun back in his holster. The four strangers started to relax a bit, but remained still. “Now, how are you still alive?”
“What do you mean?” The second lady asked.
“That day. Everybody disappeared. How are you all here?” Scott demanded to know.
“Listen, we don’t know. We were all together in refuge when it was happening. We all took cover in this building. All of us were fine after it all stopped. Those monsters had no way of killing us in here. We thought it must have been the building that saved us, so, we stayed here. Over the past few weeks, more people started to find us. Now we’re all here.” The man spoke.
“So you think they’re all dead? Everybody who’s gone—dead.” Scott asked.
“That’s what we’ve come to. What else could have happened?” The man replied.
“Oh God.” Ian buried his face in his hands.
Scott noted this, but didn’t act. “So you were all in the building when they all disappeared?”
“Yes, every one of us.”
“There were no openings or anything that could have brought that green light in?”
“None. We checked.”
Scott thought about the information. He scratched his now hairy face, contemplating his options. “Who’s in charge?”
“Well, nobody is really.” The man stated. “We all just work together.”
“What are your names?” Scott asked.
“I’m Kevin.” The man who Scott was speaking with answered. His scrawny body made him appear small compared to the larger man next to him.
“I’m Samantha.” The quiet lady spoke. Her auburn hair was in a small ponytail, enhancing the glow of her sunset eyes.
“Danielle.” The first lady followed. Her tallness was her most noticeable feature, followed by her bleach blonde hair.
“Ryan.” The larger man finished.
“Scott.”
“I’m Ian.” Ian let down his hands, revealing his watery eyes.
“Well, we thought we wouldn’t see anybody else alive.” Danielle broke the silence.
“We know that feeling.” Scott turned away from Ian. He knew what was going through his mind. It was the same realization he was having at the moment, but Ian wasn’t hiding it too well.
“You look starved.” Kevin studied Ian who was noticeably skinny. Scott hadn’t noticed how different he looked from the first time he saw him. “You both do.”
“He needs to eat.” Scott kept his eyes on Ian. “He hasn’t had a proper meal in a very long time.”
“You both need to eat.” Danielle pointed out.
“Take care of him.” Scott told her. “He needs it.”
“I’ll be fine.” Ian told Scott. “You need to eat more than me.”
“Here, the both of you come get some of this. God knows you both need it more than we do.”
Ian
“Really?” Delilah, a girl around the same age as himself, asked as the two conversed. “Since day one?”
“Yeah, it’s been hard.” Ian replied.
“So, how’d he help you escape one of those monsters, again?” Delilah was intrigued by his adventure with Scott.
“Well, actually, it’s hard to explain. Everything gets kind of fuzzy when I think about that specific moment.” Ian admitted.
“So, were those monsters in the other towns as well?” Delilah asked, losing her smile.
“Not when we went, but there were no people either. We assumed that they left the towns before we got there.” Ian explained.
Scott entered the room, clean shaved and washed up. His hair was noticeably longer now than when he had it spiked up. His physique was smaller than he remembered as well. The road had taken a toll on the both of them, it appeared.
Ian watched as Scott saught out Danielle and approached her.
Scott
Scott approached Danielle. “Excuse me.”
Danielle turned to him. “You shaved.”
“I did. May I talk to you and Kevin?” Scott asked.
“Yeah, sure. He’s over there.” Danielle led Scott over to Kevin who was playing with two children. “Kevin.” Danielle motioned for him to follow them.
“I’ll be right back.” Kevin told the kids with a smile.
The three went into a hallway just past the lobby everyone had been in. They walked down to an office that, Scott assumed, they had cleaned up subsequent to the attack. Kevin closed the door behind them, giving them privacy.
“What all do you know about what’s going on?” Scott started.
“We don’t know much.” Kevin told him. “Like I said, we just hid in this place when everything was going down. We hardly ever leave it.”
“Who does leave when you need to?” Scott asked.
“It’s usually Emry and her friends. She knows the city the best.” Danielle answered.
“Has she ever brought up anything about the outside?”
“No. She never speaks of what happens outside.” Danielle replied.
“So you haven’t seen anything…in the sky?” Scott asked.
“We saw the monsters. They were falling non-stop that day.” Said Kevin.
“No, not the monsters. Bigger than that.” Scott looked him straight in the eyes.
“N—no. Nothing else.” He told him.
“What are you talking about?” Danielle asked.
Scott hesitates. “Never mind. May I speak with Emry?”
“I suppose.” Said Danielle.
“Good. Where is she?”
Danielle and Kevin led Scott to Emry, a young lady who didn’t seem much older than Ian. At first glance, all Scott could see was her pitch black hair covering her face. She was sitting down, hugging her knees, staring off into nothing. She wore all black and had pale skin.
“Emry?” Scott knelt down beside her.
Emry looked up. Her large dark brown eyes stared at him.
“May I speak with you for a moment?”
“What for?” Emry asked with a small voice.
“I just need to ask you some questions.”
�
�About what?”
“I need to get as much information about what is happening as possible. Something tells me that you can help me with that.”
“I don’t think I can.” Emry looked to the side.
“I’m sure you can. Just believe in yourself.”
Emry turned back at Scott, but only for a moment. She turned her attention at her shoes. “Okay.”
“Great.” Scott smiled. “We can even talk right here if you want.”
“Thank you.” Emry continued to look at her feet.
Scott sat down and began. “So, you and your group are the ones who leave the building?”
“Yeah, we grew up on this side of the city. We know it the best.”
“So, when you’re out there, do you see anything?”
“Like what? The monsters? I don’t like thinking about them. We try to avoid them at all costs.”
“Not the monsters. Something else.”
Emry looked up at him. She was silent.
“You have seen it then.” Scott waited for her to speak.
“Them. There’s more than one.” Emry corrected.
Scott became confused. Was there more than one Red Orb? He needed to know what she was talking about. “What do you mean? What did you see?”
“Those…aliens.” She said in a whisper.
Scott stared at her for a long while. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Aliens?”
“Yes!” She shouted quietly. “ I thought I was just imagining things, but I’ve seen them.”
“How did they look like?”
“Like us.” Emry pointed at the two of them. “But with different eyes and skin. One of them—you don’t believe me, do you?” Emry hugged her knees again.
“No. I do. Believe me, I do.” Scott understood that, compared to everything else he had seen so far, this was completely possible. “You just have to tell me more.”
“Have you seen them?” Emry asked. “Tell me I’m not the only one who’s seen them.”
“I haven’t.” Scott admitted. “But that doesn’t mean you aren’t right.”