“Hello, Steve.” What did someone say for small talk when the Earth was covered by a million spacecrafts? Nice weather? Did you see the Giants game? You’re still on for this Friday’s poker game, right? I waited for him to reply.
“Hey, Dean.” He nodded at the church. “I figured it was time I said hello to the big guy upstairs. Something like this makes you think. Debbie and the kids are inside; I was just parking the car. Where are you off to?” His voice wavered, and I could tell he was really worried.
“Just going to get some supplies. I figure the stores may shut down early today. That’s if any of them are open.” It was only a half lie.
“The Happy Hut is open on Sherwood Road. That old guy is open on Christmas. I guess he figures to make money while the rest of them are watching the news. Well, I’d better get in there. Debbie is a mess. Take care, Dean.”
“You too, Steve. With any hope, this will be all over soon, and I’ll call you next week about your paperwork,” I said. He nodded, his mind already on the sky. I wondered if I was the only accountant in the world who’d just brought up work today.
The side roads were nearly empty, but when I hit Sherwood, there were cars for miles. I don’t think I had ever seen this many cars in our little city before. I sat at the four-way stop, thinking of the best way to get across town without being bogged down by the traffic. I looked to the left and saw what looked to be a fresh accident. The drivers were getting out of their cars screaming at each other.
A flicker of recognition hit me when I noticed the back of James’ Jeep all smashed up, and the familiar gesture of him running of his hands through his hair when he was stressed. The driver who had rear-ended him was a large man, and was getting in his face. I threw my truck in park and jumped out. This wasn’t the first time James had needed me to come to his aid, but it was the first time in daylight.
I ran the hundred yards to the cars, the rest of traffic still gridlocked behind them. James didn’t see me as the other man was pushing and threatening him. I could hear James saying his assailant was the one who ran into his Jeep. The law didn’t seem to matter to this guy, who was built like a Mack truck. I heard him mutter something about insurance not mattering anymore, because they were all going to be dead within the day.
As the man cocked a fist to throw at James’ face, I ran behind him, kicked his left knee, and grabbed his arm. I was thankful for the memory of my high school karate lessons. We went down together towards the pavement and I whispered in his ear, “Don’t let this get out of hand. We all have enough to think about today. I’m going to help you up, and we’re all going to drive away. Okay?”
He stopped thrashing after a moment and grunted in assent. James had backed away, smirking at me as I got off the man. I stepped back quickly, ready for retaliation, but the man just moved to a sitting position. He was crying.
“My wife left me this morning. She saw the ships; told me she’d been cheating on me with my best friend. They left together, heading to his lake lot. As if being on a seaweed-infested swamp is going to stop the aliens from ripping your head off.”
I offered him my hand and pulled him to his feet. He wiped his eyes dry with the back of his dirty arm before stumbling over to his big truck. It was big enough to do some serious damage to James’ Jeep. “Watch yourselves. These bastards are here for our blood. I know it.”
He left, and James stood there looking at the back of his Jeep. Other vehicles were pulling to the side of the street, passing by the damaged vehicle. Some were honking and yelling from their windows. James flipped a few the bird.
“James, let’s get your Jeep moved to the curb and you can hop in with me. Where were you going, anyway?” I asked.
James climbed in the driver’s seat and drove off the road, onto the grass beside the curb. The back of the Jeep was crushed. “I was heading out of town, and didn’t know what to do. I guess I wanted to head into the city. I figured they would have a better defense in New York than our hick town.”
Most of the traffic I’d seen on the television was of cars heading out of the metropolises, not into them. I wondered if James’ logic was sound or crazy. I wasn’t sure at this point.
“Well, I have a couple errands to run. Want to come with me? We may as well stick together.” I looked him in the eye. “We don’t have anyone else around to watch over us.”
James smirked again and hopped out of the Jeep. He sauntered over and put his arm around my shoulders. “You got it, bud. Where are we off to?”
“Happy Hut is open, and I want to get some supplies before things head south and the looting begins.” He gave me a doubtful look. “Seriously. It happens every time in the movies, so I’m not taking any chances. Then I have one more place to hit.”
Soon we were on our way down the side streets, passing by sidewalks full of sky-gawkers. The ships appeared to not have moved at all, still six above our town and holding. The traffic was light heading towards downtown, and ten minutes later, we were pulling up to the Happy Hut. The parking lot was semi-full, but not as bad as I thought it would be. As I pulled into a spot, the radio announcer was talking about Russia firing missiles at the ships as the sun went down overseas; no reaction from the ships. No damage, no retaliation.
The line-up inside the small grocery store was about seven deep.
“You go grab some lighters, toilet paper, a couple newspapers, and a box cutter. I’m going for water, protein bars, and batteries,” I said, and we split up. People were milling around the aisles talking amongst themselves. Are they going to contact us soon? Did the government know they were coming? Should I have gone in to work today? I tried to ignore their conversations, but they were asking some good questions I doubted any of us could answer.
I turned the corner to see two women arguing over a jar of baby food. It appeared to be the last one. They both had their hands clamped tight around it, and shortly they would be in an all-out brawl if this didn’t get resolved.
“Ladies, there’s enough going on. Let’s settle this like adults,” I offered.
“Go to hell!” the blonde spat.
“Yeah! Who do you think you are? I was here first!” the other called.
“No you weren’t!”
They pushed each other and the blonde fell to the ground, hitting her head on the floor. The other grabbed the food and left, without so much as a worried glance at her fallen adversary. I couldn’t believe how fast animal instinct took over when a person felt threatened. Any other day and this would never have happened. As the blonde lady came to, I spotted a case of baby food sitting on the shelf below. Classic. I helped her to her feet, and she groggily thanked me as I handed her the case of food.
I grabbed the things I needed, throwing them into a basket, and added some mini-propane tanks and the rest of the D batteries. It surprised me that any of this stuff was still here. My heart sped up when I felt the envelope in my pocket. James had distracted me from my original purpose for leaving my house, and I had to get moving before it was too late.
I found James in the snack aisle and pulled him to the checkout. There were eight people now, and the owner was moving like a snail. Sweat was running down my sides as I thought back to my wife’s words, and I grabbed my wallet, estimating the value of my stuff. I figured it was about sixty bucks, so I pulled out eighty and dropped it on the checkout till.
I received a few curse words for my trouble as I headed out the front door, but didn’t really care. I had somewhere to get to – and fast.
“What a jerk! At least you paid him for it. I’m sure there’ll be a few looters before this is over.” James waved his hand at the gray ship hovering over town.
“Let’s get out of here. One more stop, then off to home. You want to come stay with me until whatever this is, is over?” I knew James probably wasn’t looking forward to going back to his apartment alone right now, and I could use the company too.
“You got it, buddy. We forgot a few things though.”
&n
bsp; “What’s that?” I asked, seeing that typical mischievous look in his eyes.
“Beer and pizza.” He laughed, and I joined him.
“I’m sure we can scrounge some of that up from my fridge. I’m a single man, after all.” It was more likely I had veggies and fruit at home: one of the many promises I’d made to my wife as she lay on her deathbed.
THREE
The streets on this side of town were quiet, and it only took ten minutes to get to my destination. We pulled up and I stopped at the keypad, truck window open. I could hear sirens blasting across the town: a mixture of fire and ambulance, with a hint of police. I pulled the envelope out of my pocket and opened it. The key slid out, as did a small piece of paper. 3691 was written on it. I punched that sequence into the pad and the gate in front of the truck slid open.
“What could we possibly be doing at a storage facility? There are aliens above us and you’re here looking for what? A dining room chair?” James didn’t hide his annoyance.
“Something important. Something Janine told me was important.” My voice was quiet and James just shrugged.
I drove along the path, passing countless storage units, until I reached the one by the back fence with the light hanging over it. I hadn’t been here since just after she’d died. I felt myself about to lose it and took a deep breath as the memories flooded my mind. I exhaled and threw the truck in park. I could do this.
I twisted the key into the padlock and it turned smoothly, even after being untouched for over two years. James grabbed the handle and lifted the sliding door up; it squeaked from its non-lubricated wheels. Daylight peeked inside the mostly empty space. I’d always intended on getting rid of more of my furniture because it reminded me too much of my wife. After some time, that was the very same reason I couldn’t bear to part with it. A few things from my bachelor days were stacked in the corner on a dark brown couch. I wasn’t here to reminisce about my past. I was here for something else.
I almost felt it calling me from inside one of the large plastic storage containers. James leaned against the wall, watching me through squinted eyes as I walked over to it. I opened the lid and found all of Janine’s mementos from our lives together. There were little notes she’d left me on the fridge; drawings on napkins from Michaels, our favorite little Italian restaurant; and a small jewelry box. I slowly opened the felt-covered box and saw exactly what I’d expected to find. Her wedding ring, and the necklace she’d never taken off for a minute the whole time I’d known her.
______________
Three Years Earlier
I was in bed waiting for Janine to join me when I heard her coughing from the en-suite. It was a deep, phlegm-filled cough, and it almost shocked me to hear those noises coming out of my petite wife. I went to check on her, but she wouldn’t unlock the door. I panicked when the coughing fit wouldn’t stop, and just as I was about to get a pen to pop the bathroom lock open, she opened the door. Her hair was a mess, and blood dripped from her lips. The sink was also covered in it. My heart hammered in my chest as I asked her questions, but she wouldn’t reply – couldn’t reply. She turned white and passed out in my arms.
The doctors didn’t know what was wrong with her, but they figured it was some tuberculosis mutation they’d never seen before. She spent more time in hospitals than anyone should have to and took it all with grace only she could muster. It was the strangest thing. I could never get her to seem realistic about it. I cried when they told her she would probably die within six months, and she put her hands to my face, streaming with tears, and told me I would be okay. That this was just her path.
I should have known then that something was off.
______________
We headed back to my house, and after being bombarded by James’ questions, I did need a beer. The day had been tough for me, as I’m sure it had been for most of the world. I’d almost forgotten about the ships in the sky around the world, I was so lost in my past.
The street was empty of people, and I didn’t know if they had left town or if they were all hunkering down in their homes. We pulled up and grabbed our supplies from the back of the truck. Carey barked a friendly hello from Susan’s window as we walked up my driveway. I gave him a wave, and I saw him wag his tail in reply. I’d always wanted a dog, but Janine had been terrified of them. She said they’d hated her since she could remember, and even Carey, the world’s wiggliest dog, seemed to raise his hackles at her. In the past two years, I’d really thought about getting a pup to keep me company, but it seemed like I’d be dishonoring her in some way. I knew it was stupid, and Janine would have told me to get one if she could.
Inside the house, I turned the TV on after dropping the supplies in the kitchen. It was dark in Moscow, where they showed a riot in the streets. Looters ran rampant in London, and there were stories coming in about some groups of people found dead in Ohio; presumably a cult ritual. Still, none of the ships had moved an inch, as far as anyone could tell. They seemed to move along with the Earth’s rotation; some sort of geostationary orbit within our atmosphere.
It was nearing three o’clock local time, and I was starting to feel worried. The news said that it had been almost nine hours since their arrival, and that they came near dawn on the east coast of the USA. No one knew what implication this had, or if it was relevant at all. I think the waiting and wondering was doing a number on everyone, as if them coming down and doing something – anything – would have been better.
High definition cameras showed the world the many details of the cubes, as they were calling them, and the metal-looking outsides were a stark contrast to the smooth, marble-like look of the smaller, sleeker ships. They weren’t sure on the exact size, but estimations put them at three miles per side. Massive. There were five over the United States. Sixteen over China. If I was a betting man, population was the motivation for the amount of these cubes over the world. One of them nestled in the sky, hovering there above New York, an ominous black alien vessel taunting the population.
“What the hell are these things? I mean, all those little ships and then the huge ones,” James asked. “Do you think they’re full of aliens? Are they going to land?”
“We’re going to have to wait and see. I think there are a lot more qualified people out there than us to figure it out,” I said.
“This is just insane, isn’t it, Dean?” James grabbed two beers, twisted the cap off one, and passed it over to me. “I mean, every one of us has wondered if there could be life from outer space, and here’s proof. And what do we do? Loot, kill, and panic.”
“That’s the way we’re built. Mob mentality and all of that other Psych 101 stuff I slept through in school,” I said, turning the volume up on the TV.
It was dark across the ocean, and some areas were using large searchlights to see the ships. A haunting image scrolled onto the screen from Hungary of the huge white moon with the black silhouette of a sleek ship in front of it. It sent shivers down my spine. James cleared his throat. “This isn’t going to end well.”
Moscow was in flames. Missiles had been fired at the ships for over an hour, both the huge cubes and the smaller, gray ones, and they hadn’t moved or shown any sign of damage. It was absurd! We sat there for several hours, drinking a few beers, and watching the news. The world was getting more volatile, more wound up every minute. World leaders were trying to keep everyone calm, people of every religion were speculating about end times. The United States’ most popular TV evangelist swore it was the Rapture. God’s wrath was now upon us for creating war and destruction, and through it all, people were frightened.
My stomach sank as I watched it all happening. My wife’s calm words on her deathbed rang over and over in my ears. I reached into my pocket and grabbed the box that held the necklace. I put the wedding ring back in the box and held the gold chain. The pendant was made out of some sort of crystal; a beautiful green hue glowed out of it. I’d thought it was fluorite, but Janine had said it was far rarer than that.
She hadn’t elaborated, and I’d never pressed her on it. I just knew it was from her real parents, and that it was very important to her.
My stomach growled and I peered at the clock. It was almost six thirty, and I heard James snoring in my recliner. I decided to leave him peacefully sleeping while I made a sandwich. I heard Janine’s words race through my mind again and I decided to heed her wishes. I put the chain around my neck and tucked the pendant safely under my shirt.
______________
Three Years Ago
Janine was in bed sleeping soundly when I stepped into the room. The hot soup cup was burning my hands, and I just stood there with the pain. It was a good distraction, like the burning would make my other pain go away somehow. Even though we were in our own house, the smell of the hospital still stuck in my nostrils, and I wasn’t sure if the chemical scent would ever be gone.
It was time, and Janine demanded to come home for the end. How could I deny that beautiful woman’s wishes when she was so small and frail, her life slipping away in hours and minutes instead of decades and years like someone her age should have left?
I put the soup down, sat at the foot of the bed, and watched her breathe. The sounds lulled me, and I felt my own eyes getting droopy. I lay down and curled up beside my wife like I always did when we went to bed. Even if it was too warm, I needed to feel her body next to mine to fall asleep. I’d become dependent on her in so many ways, and I had no idea what I was going to do when she was gone. As I closed my eyes, I thought about dying and wondered if we would be together in some sort of afterlife if I ended my own life when she was gone. My last thoughts were of a bottle of whiskey and a vial of pills before sleep took over my exhausted body.
The Survivors: Books 1-6 Page 2