by Isaiah Lee
The scanner beeped and the woman nodded Karen through. Jason followed, flashing his phone. He was nodded through as well and joined Karen. Hank slid his phone open but couldn’t seem to find the email receipt.
The woman impatiently tapped a pen against a blank piece of paper in front of her. “Sir, you’ll need to move along if you don’t have…”
He panicked the first time he overlooked the receipt. He swiped up, then down, then back again. Hank gleamed as he spotted the email. He held the phone to the narrow opening at the bottom of the glass. “Here you go,” he mocked.
The woman gritted her teeth as she scanned the barcode and her computer chimed. “Move on, sir.” Damn! She wanted to badly to push this punk to the back of the line.
Hank thought the woman wanted to say more. He laughed as her cheeks reddened and her lips moved ever so slightly. Had he been able to read lips, he would have seen that she mouthed “fucking punk” under her breath.
Hank quickly found the other two and they headed to their seats.
Soon the stadium blackened and a single guitar riff began. A drummer joined in moments later, lightly tapping the cymbals. A thunderous bass hit blasted through the crowd. A second guitarist began playing an intense solo as a scream emanated from the speakers.
The bassist began strumming a mesmerizing beat. Stage lights cut on and revealed The Demonoids. The lead singer, who had moved passed the initial scream and began the chorus, adorned black leather pants with long silver chains draping around them. He had only a black vest to cover his torso. Tattoos fully wrapped the visible parts of his arms.
He sang – or screamed, more often than not – into a microphone that was shaped like a skull. The microphone stand was shaped like a headless skeleton who extended its left arm high into the air. Inside the left hand was the skull-shaped microphone. The band’s trademark, a skull with a rose in its mouth and blood dripping from the eye sockets, was embroidered into the curtain behind them.
A roar sounded through the crowd as they finished the first song and began the second. Karen began head-banging lightly. She lay a hand on Jason’s thigh and squeezed ever so slightly. “Thanks for bringing me!”
Jason nodded. He couldn’t contain his goofy smile. “Sure.”
Karen, Hank, and Jason watched as the five band members hopped around the stage, their screaming vocals and powerful rock sound filling all of their senses. Vibrations from the intense metallic sounds seemed to rattle their bones. Jason had to admit: seeing them play in person was one of the coolest things he had ever done. He could definitely say this experience was worth every penny, even if he’d had to charge it and literally had no pennies left to call his backup fund.
Hank shot a puzzled look toward Jason. “You feel that?”
“I felt something. Almost like the seats shook a little.”
Karen nodded. “You think it’s because the music is so loud?”
“Probably,” Jason assured her, squeezing her hand.
There it was again: tremors. It was something like Jason imagined an earthquake might feel. The seat and ground beneath their feet shook, ever so slightly. So, it had been more than music after all.
Jason glanced around and saw that there were several other people in the crowd who had puzzled expressions. “I guess they felt it, too.”
The bassist on stage stopped hopping around and stared from where he stood. His hands were still strumming an insane solo, but his attention was elsewhere. It was amazing that he never missed a note. He must have rehearsed it a thousand times to know it so well. He stared into the crowd – no, somewhere behind the crowd – at something that Jason couldn’t see.
That was when Jason saw it. A green flash. Then another. They were coming from behind him and reflecting in front of him.
Jason stood and turned around in time to see a chunk of concrete fall from the ceiling onto a section of seating about thirty feet behind him to the left, crushing everyone who seated there. He pulled Karen from her seat into the aisle, immediately followed by Hank, and moved away from the carnage.
Thirteen people had been flattened by the falling debris, multiple more injured and trapped under the wreckage.
“What’s going on?” Karen screamed as she was pulled behind Jason.
Before he could answer, more chunks of ceiling came crashing down onto the crowd. These pieces were on the other side of the stadium but the screams still permeated the entire space.
Chaos ensued. People began jumping from their seats and pushing toward the aisles, searching for a way out. Once the doorways slowed and concertgoers jammed to a standstill, people began throwing smaller, weaker patrons down on the ground. Several women were trampled and killed from the mayhem.
Another green flash. This one lit the entire building. The band had already moved offstage; the sound of microphone interference screeching through the speakers was barely audible over the screaming crowd.
It was too late when Jason spotted the origin of the flash. An explosion on the opposite side of the building obliterated nearly half of the remaining structure. Debris rained down on Jason and Karen as they were slammed to the ground.
Jason spotted an opening to their left – he guessed it to lead to bathrooms or possibly concessions – and pulled Karen behind him. Few people seemed to notice the still-dark doorway until Jason and Karen stepped through it. Somebody behind them screamed and pointed as a herd of crazed people began to run toward them.
Jason needn’t scream for Karen to know she had to run. She and Jason sprinted toward the end of a hallway, which split left and right, and stopped just long enough to figure their path. To the left was a closed door. To the right, the hallway continued. They continued right before the others could trample them.
The hallway, which was a different one from the one they came into the building in, opened into the concession area. Several doors opened to the outside and were almost in reach. Jason’s heart sank. “Where’s Hank?”
Karen looked panicked. “I don’t know. We lost him before we found that hallway.”
People began pouring out of the path behind them. “We’ve got to get out of here before the entire building collapses.”
Fighting the urge to turn back and search for Hank, Jason took Karen’s hand again and led her outside the building.
They were barely forty feet away before another explosion rocked the ground as the remaining structure began to collapse behind them.
Jason and Karen turned around just in time to see the structure crumble. A massive cloud of dust overtook them, completely blocking their sight.
Chapter 17
Once the dust cloud began to settle, the full extent of the damage could be evaluated. The entire music center had collapsed. The adjacent parking garage, along with three more surrounding buildings, were also destroyed. Power had been knocked out on the block; the only source of light were the flaming ruins and a smattering of cell phone lights.
“What… what happened?” Karen asked as she took in their surroundings.
Jason shook his head. “Looks like that alien bastard was right. Except that it’s not been three days. There were green flashes like those the other day when…” Hank. He remembered Hank never made it out of the wrecked building before it collapsed.
He ran over to the rubble and began digging futilely through it.
“What are you doing, Jason?” Karen asked. She ran over to him and placed a consoling hand on his shoulder. She had only known Hank a short time. She could only imagine how Jason felt about losing another of his friends.
“I’ve… gotta… find… Hank!” Jason struggled to say as he lifted chunks of rubble and tossed them aside.
Karen caught his hand and pulled him back into an embrace. “I’m sorry, Jason. Hank didn’t make it.”
Jason opened his mouth to protest. He couldn’t seem to find his voice.
Karen shook her head. “You saw that he was stuck in with that crowd of people. You saw…” She fought the water
works as she continued. “You saw that he wasn’t behind us when we got out to the concession stand right before everything collapsed. I’m sorry, Jason.”
Jason was lost for words. Why couldn’t this have just been a nightmare? It seemed surreal; he kept seeing the terrified look on Hank’s face the last time they saw him, trapped in a mob of screaming concertgoers.
It was then that the numbness began to fade. Reality began to set in as the den of crying and screaming people around them filled their senses. Smoke and ash nearly choked them.
The sky in front of Jason and Karen lit up with a bright green flash. A thick, white fog had begun rolling down the street toward them.
Jason saw this and grabbed Karen’s hand. He pulled her behind him as he began to run from the scene. The parking garage had been destroyed, and anyway, Hank had the key to his truck on him. “There was fog like that in Shepherd Park. I don’t know what it is, but I know it has something to do with those fucking aliens.”
Karen nearly stumbled a few times as she tried to follow Jason. “Where are we going to go?”
An explosion sounded behind them. Jason glanced back and watched as an apartment building fell into pieces and crumbled to the ground. Fire erupted from the wreckage and engulfed everything around in a white-hot blaze.
“Away from here is all I know. We have to get somewhere safe, then we’ll come up with a plan.”
They traveled as fast as they could on foot away from the blasts and flashes behind them. “My apartment isn’t far from here,” Karen said. “We could take my car and get away from here.”
Jason thought about his apartment and Pontiac. Even if it had been closer, Jason knew the Pontiac would struggle as a getaway car. He had been putting off much-needed maintenance for a long time. He did good to get back and forth to work without having to jump it off or pump up the tires. “Sounds like a plan. You lead.”
Karen knew the area much better than Jason and led him through an alleyway. Normally, Karen would have never dreamed of walking around in an alleyway at night, but this time she could make an exception. Muggers seemed like the least of their worries at this point.
Two police cars blasted past the other side of the alleyway as Karen and Jason emerged into the street. “How much further,” Jason asked. He propped against the stucco wall beside him and attempted to catch his breath.
Karen leaned on the wall beside him, panting. “A couple of blocks.” She tried to control her breathing until she caught her breath. With her fear level, it seemed impossible to calm herself down. She was afraid she might hyperventilate. “You think the aliens are already here?”
Jason nodded. “Looks like it. Green flashes and that crazy white fog appeared in the park where Stacy and Johnny died. I would bet anything that damned fog has something to do with those aliens. I’m not sure exactly what it does to humans, I just know we want to avoid it.”
Karen began jogging at a more reasonable pace toward her apartment. In the distance they could hear explosions and sirens. Pops of gunfire echoed through the night. High pitched whi whi sounds reported the aliens’ return fire. Within seconds, the gunfire stopped. Was this a good sign or bad?
They finally arrived outside Karen’s apartment, a duplex, and rushed to the front door. Karen pulled her key from her pocket and shoved it in the lock. “Let’s pack all the supplies we can find. I don’t see us coming back here.”
Jason agreed. “I doubt it.” He followed her inside and stopped in the living room. The space was nicer than he had expected. From the dilapidated, outdated outside, Jason expected to see worn carpet, peeling wallpaper, or at least water-stained ceilings.
Instead, Karen kept her house immaculate. There was not a speck of dust on any surface. The carpet had those recently-vacuumed lines. Surprisingly, the kitchen appeared to have been recently updated. Clean, white cabinets contrasted the dark faux-granite counters. For a second, Jason was a little envious of the apartment, which put his to shame.
He immediately forgot his envy as reality set back in. They had minutes at best before the aliens might be upon them. They weren’t entirely sure which direction the assault was moving; neither wanted to stick around and find out.
“What would you like me to do?” Jason asked. He truly didn’t know where to start in someone else’s home. “I don’t know where anything is…”
“Open that closet to your right. There’s a duffle in there. Would you fill it with anything you find that looks important or necessary? I’ll start in the bedroom.”
Jason nodded and found the duffle bag. He moved to the kitchen and began pulling open drawers and cabinets. He packed a knife set – luckily a plastic protector sheath was on each knife – before moving to the next drawer down. They didn’t need a can opener, tongs, or similar utensil. He did grab two forks and two spoons. They weren’t necessities, but they would offer a small comfort in the end of the world. Maybe.
He continued to search the kitchen until he found a snack drawer. Chocolates, packs of crackers, and cans of nuts filled the drawer to the brim. He filled a plastic grocery bag full of the snacks – no telling when they might have a real meal now – and stuffed it into the end of the duffle so that it wouldn’t get crushed.
Thankfully, Karen seemed to have just gone grocery shopping. She had two full cases of bottled water sitting in the floor of her pantry. Jason carried these out to her car and loaded them in the trunk. Next, he packed two blankets off the back of the couch and love seat and stuffed them into the trunk alongside the bottled water.
He returned to the kitchen where he found a junk drawer. He emptied the contents onto the otherwise bare counter and sorted them into two piles. The first pile, which was very small, contained items he deemed important enough to pack. The second pile – the discard pile – seemed to grow without end as he quickly moved items around.
After about a minute, Jason scraped the keep pile into the duffle. Several flashlights, stray batteries that he prayed would fit something, and a small hammer and screwdriver set.
Karen came back from her bedroom with a small suitcase. “What’s in that?” Jason asked as she rolled it toward him.
“You know, makeup, shampoo, clean clothes. The stuff I really need.” She waited a minute before laughing. “I had a stash of cash in my mattress. I packed that, my handgun and all its ammo, a phone charger, a notepad and, of course, the ever-needed TP.”
“Toilet paper. Really?”
“Hey, you can walk around stinking like shit for the end of the world. I’m gonna smell like a garden rose!” She looked at the package. It suggested that the paper had been scented like lavender. “Okay, lavender.”
Jason laughed as he gripped the handle and pulled it toward the door. Karen dropped a handful of small objects into her purse, along with a tablet computer and matching charger. Jason raised an eyebrow. “I keep all my important documents and pictures backed up on that flash drive. I can’t stand the thoughts of losing everything, you know?”
Jason nodded. He would have worried more except he knew that he had nothing valuable to lose. An Xbox One console with a handful of games and an acoustic guitar that had several years of dust buildup on it. “I understand. What else do you need?”
An explosion in the distance reiterated their rush. She grabbed the keyring hanging on a tack beside the front door. “I think that’s it. Let’s go.”
Jason finished packing the trunk as Karen cranked the Mercedes-Benz coupe. It roared to life and Jason couldn’t help but smile. “Nice ride,” he said, admiring the driver.
“Thanks. Ready?” Karen asked. Jason nodded his assent as Karen jerked the gearshift into reverse and spun into the road. She floored the accelerator; the engine never hesitated as the tires squealed and the car launched forward.
Chapter 18
“Where are we headed?” Karen asked as she dodged parked cars on the side of the narrow street.
Jason pulled his phone from his pocket. An alert sounded and a notification read
fifteen percent battery. “You have a charger?” he asked.
Karen nodded. “In the glovebox.”
Jason opened the compartment and found the plug. He continued where he had left off before the interruption. “Obviously, Syracuse is under attack. We’re fucked if we stay here. There are already people saying that The Coliseum has collapsed – but they don’t seem they know it was an attack. People who weren’t there are talking like it was some sort of structural issue.”
He pulled up a map on his phone and began scrolling. “We could take I-90 West toward Buffalo. Wait, no. People here are saying Buffalo is under attack. We could take I-81 to I-476, then to I-95. We could follow I-95 all the way into Florida if we needed to. Right now that looks like our best bet. I think that would open up the largest number of possibilities.”
Karen took a screeching right onto a side street and gunned the gas. A green flash lit her rearview. An explosion followed. The duplex, along with nearly every other house on the block, had been obliterated. Her heartrate quickened. “We left just in time.”
Jason turned around and saw the fireball behind them. He gulped. “Shit.”
Karen whipped the wheel as another frantic driver nearly sideswiped them. She lay on the horn and cursed loudly. “Stupid motherfucker!” She blushed as she realized Jason had heard her. “Sorry.”
“No, I totally agree. That was a real dickhead move.” He pulled the map up closer on his phone.
“Tell me where to go,” Karen told me. “I’ll do my best.”
Jason directed Karen to the interstate. It appeared to be moving from first glance. She easily merged into traffic before whipping the coupe to the far left lane. She gunned the engine, shooting past other drivers with little effort.
Within ten miles, everything seemed to normal out. Traffic flowed like usual. There were no green flashes or explosions. The aliens just hadn’t made it this far yet. No reason to sit around and wait on them to appear.