Aftershock

I hid around the corner of the abandoned mansion, my chest pounding against the heart shaped locket that hung around my neck. I could hear the clicking noises coming from the creatures in the distance. The heat from my breath filled my gas mask and made my brow bone bead with sweat. My black hair clung to my throat in clumps. It felt like I had been running for years, although I had only run a half mile. Sidling with my back against the wall, I held my breath and peered around the corner to my right.

There were four beasts stomping into the dirt with two back legs and six arms all ending with a set of deadly claws. The way they moved frightened and disgusted me. A slick substance gleamed against their black scaly skin and bloody drool dripped from their mouths. They had no eyes, but that clicking noise was some type of mirrored echolocation used to find their next victims. Orange smog hung heavily in the air around me blocking out most of the sun. Plants grew wildly along the siding of the house, and I admired them as I silently watched the beasts twitch deeper into the toxic gasses.

I knew I had to make my move, so I found the closest window and unsheathed my switchblade. I cut away at the beautiful plants and slid the glass upward. Hoisting myself into the house, I made sure to stay silent. I needed a bandage badly and I knew a house of this size had to have something to help me out. I must’ve been lucky, because I had picked an entrance to the kitchen. I cheered in my head,

“Yes! I need a pat on the back for this one!”

Everything in the kitchen was white, outside of the black countertops and steel appliances. Breaking into houses always creeped me out, even though I knew no one would be in them. The room was extremely still and covered in a layer of crimson dust, like it had been ignored by the tragedy. I thought about what had happened that day as I rummaged through drawers and cabinets.

It was two years ago but it seemed like just yesterday. I was walking in the park with my fiancé when all of the sudden, the sky lit up with fire. The clouds had gone bright orange and smoke filled the atmosphere as hundreds of meteors began falling to the Earth. People around us began to panic, grabbing for their children and friends while making their way back to their cars. I held my love’s hand tightly and looked at him in fear. A phone rang and I squeezed his fingers,

“Please don’t leave me right now, Henry. I don’t know what’s going on, and I don’t want you in the middle of it.”

He frowned as he answered his military cell phone,

“Y-yes, sir. Understood.” Henry slid the device back in his pocket and turned to face me.

He held both of my shoulders so strongly that it almost hurt. His green irises were contrasted against the red sky as he searched my face. Looking down, he dug around in the breast pocket of his military uniform and pulled out a golden necklace. At the base of the chain was a quarter sized heart shaped locket. He fumbled with it but eventually got it to click open, and revealed two pictures on the inside. One picture was of us together and the other was of my precious Great Dane, Brutus. I cried as I held the necklace in my hands, and desperately pleaded with him to stay,

“You can’t go! This can’t be the only thing I have left of you!”

Explosions started sounding around us as meteors made contact with the ground, and mortified screams pierced my eardrums. Through the thickness of the chaos Henry boomed,

“I love you Lara, but I have to protect you and everyone else. Stay alive. Remember what I taught you! I’ll see you again.”

He handed me a pistol, and kissed the top of my head. I was sobbing at that point not able to form coherent sentences. Then without a word, Henry took off into the crowds of people.

Snapping back to reality I found myself holding onto the locket. I missed him with every bone in my body, but I knew once I got to a survivor’s colony I’d be able to locate him. One day, I’d find out how to destroy those nasty alien parasites. Sighing, I fixed my eyes back on the drawers and closed the last one. Moving to the right I opened the cabinet under the sink and was met with tingles when I saw an entire med kit.

“Score!” I began to internally dance and celebrate.

I tended to the wounds on my hands then stuck the med kit in my backpack along with other various supplies. The blisters on my fingers ached viciously, and I knew I would eventually have to put up a fight. After scanning the kitchen for food, water, and miscellaneous weapons, I slid back out the window into the toxic wasteland. Red dirt covered the ground, and the air reeked of sulfur mixed with iron. Craters, burned down houses, and patches of trees were my only means of shelter.

Ducking under a shrub, I pulled out my map and drug a finger to my location. Holding my left hand still, I used my right hand to point at the location of the survivor bunker. I was only an hour away from a good night’s rest. I fastened the katana blade that was strapped around my waist, and made sure my pistol was loaded with ammo. Wiping off the shield of my gas mask I ran out from under the shrub and sprinted past multitudes of charred homes. Another half mile passed by until I heard the clicking of a beast. It sounded close to where I was so I panicked and baseball slid into a crater.

Maybe I wasn’t so lucky, because at the center of the crater was the beast. My stomach churned as I realized it was feasting on a small child. It snapped its head in my direction and ferociously clicked through it’s two mouths. All of it’s limbs twitched and turned a disgusting body to face me, while hissing through red spit. I silently shifted to the side but it followed my every move. Slowly, I pulled my katana from its navy blue sheath and braced myself.

Suddenly, it took off around the side of the crater towards me. Predicting its moves I sprinted out ahead of it and struggled to reach the top of the crater, but when I did I willed every muscle fiber in my body to respond in the way I needed. It felt like slow motion as I sprung backwards off of the wall. Twisting my body in the air, the beast was only a few inches from my face snapping at me for a chunk of flesh. As I completed my backflip I swung the katana out from underneath me and made perfect contact to the beast’s throat. Black blood sprayed my gasmask, and the nasty creature slumped to the ground.

I knelt in the dirt, thankful to be alive. Through the sound of my own raspy breath I heard screams of people in the distance. I scrambled up the side of the crater desperate to have human contact again. The smog wasn’t as thick in this area, so about a football field away I saw three beasts being shot at by a group of people. Their guns echoed through the wasteland and I knew I needed to help them. I prayed for the soul of the small child I left behind, and took off towards the commotion.

Getting closer to the group I decided to close in from the side. I ran to the left with my katana in one hand and my pistol in the other. The sound of the rifles being shot distracted the beasts from my presence so I closed in on the nearest one, slid underneath it, and sliced off three of its disgusting black appendages. It fell to one side roaring in protest as I rolled back to my feet. I walked towards the writhing figure and aimed my pistol at its head,

“This one’s for Brutus,” I couldn’t help but think about my long lost dog as I shot the creature in the brain. I added a few more bullets to it’s skull, just to make sure it was really dead.

Noticing that the shouting and gunshots had stopped behind me, I turned to find three men walking in my direction.

One of them spoke up, “Hey lady, are you okay?”

Again, wiping the blood from my gas mask I replied, “Yeah, I’m fine. What about you guys?”

“We’re fine, but have you happened to see a small boy running around out here?” Another man spoke up, concern tugged at his voice.

I looked down, then quietly broke the news to the men about the boy I had just left behind.

“That’s a shame. He was such a kind kid, and had no family left. I told him not to come outside, but he never listened and always tried getting samples from plants. Kid loved science,” the last man shook his head in disbelief.

I was sad for a moment, and then came to realize I was actually having a conversation,

“Wait, where did you guys come from? I’ve been alone for nearly a year and a half,” I questioned the group.

“Good lord! How did you stay alive that long on your own? We all come from one of the underground bunkers,” one of the men scratched his head baffled by my survival.

I clutched the now bloody locket and explained,

“My fiancé was in the military. He taught me everything I know about combat and keeping myself afloat. I’ve been searching for a bunker for so long. If I may, can I come back with you guys? My name is Lara.”

They all glanced at each other through their gas masks and nodded in agreement,

“We could use somebody like you to help protect civilians, if you’d be interested.”

“Of course. As long as I can sleep in a real bed, and eat something other than canned corn for once,” I shivered, remembering the taste of the horrible things I’d been eating.

Two of the men chuckled and the third one patted me on the shoulder,

“Sure thing Ms. Lara. Come with us.”

I walked with the men for about a mile through a bare patch of the wasteland. They told me their names were Leo, Rick, and Arden, and recapped their stories about the day the tragedy happened before we reached an iron door embedded into the red dirt. My heart was racing and I craved legitimate safety. Leo turned the wheel to the hatch, and cool air wooshed out from the cylindrical cavity. He looked at me and outstretched a hand,

“Ladies first.”

I took his hand, and descended down into the bunker. When I reached the bottom of the ladder I ripped off my mask and inhaled deeply. It had been so long that I was able to take my mask off that I almost felt naked. The men hopped off the ladder one by one behind me and removed their own masks. Arden walked ahead of us and punched in numbers on a keypad. The iron wall in front of us groaned and began opening up, revealing bright white lights and the sound of a community.

When I stepped into the open space my heart nearly exploded. Talking to civilians across from me was a familiar, and very handsome man. I clutched the stained heart locket around my neck and burst into tears as I ran towards him,

“Henry!”