All Was Lost

John sat in his recliner, feet aloft and eyes staring intently at the TV. He listened for the ref’s decision. Was it a touchdown or not. John had $50 riding on the game; not to mention top spot in the pool at work.

Just as the ref was about to announce his call there was a loud crash and then no electricity. This was followed by multiple explosions and what sounded like gun shots. He jumped from the seated position over the arm of his chair and landed on his feet. He headed for his front door adjusting his head to the height of the peep hole as he ran.

John looked through the hole just in time to see three figures aiming some kind of gun into the hedges in his front yard. He heard a single word spoken in a language he couldn't place and then all three opened up with their guns. The guns were not normal by any means. They were more like laser machine guns. The light from the weapons revealed that the figures were not wearing green clothes as John thought. The green was their skin and they were not wearing any clothes. Just metallic blue armor on their chest and a helmet of the same color.

John moved his head around the peep hole in small circles trying to see more but his vision was extremely limited. He was about to open his door when he saw the neighbor across the street open his. The neighbor stepped onto his porch and one of the figures turned toward him and opened fire. The neighbor collapsed in a heap and a fourth figure ran to him and dragged the body out of sight.

John backed away from his door. His mouth was gapping open and his eyes seemed as big as half dollars. He kept backing up until he hit the couch and fell into a seated position. He couldn’t believe what he just witnessed with his right eye. He rubbed his eye hoping the vision would disappear but it didn’t. John, a former marine, thought for a few minutes then let his training take over. He went to his bedroom closet and reached for his hunting rifle. He pulled the bolt back and let it go. The bolt locked in the load position and John felt around on the self for the magazine. He found it and slammed it into the magazine well without looking. He pulled slightly on the bolt handle and let it go again. This time the bolt slammed forward; chambering the first of five rounds in the magazine.

He developed a plan in his head to recon his yard and determine what just happened. As he loosened the sling on his rifle and slung it over his shoulder he spoke to himself but out loud.

“Exit the rear door and jump and roll into the back yard. Low crawl along the side of the house until reaching the front yard. Ease up to the corner and get the rifle at the ready. Look around the corner, muzzle first, and see what is going on in my own yard.”

The plan worked flawlessly. As his muzzle led his eyes to the front yard, he could see large holes throughout the small front yard. The only tree was split down the trunk, half leaning

nearly touching the ground. He also noticed that all of the hedges running the width of the front yard except where the porch sits had been ripped up and tossed aside. John realized that a search had just taken place. He did not know who searched or what they were searching for. He also noticed most of his neighbors were out in the street. They were talking about the damage and trying to find Frank, the man across the street.

John decided to get up and meet with neighbors but as he placed his hands on the ground to raise himself up, he noticed something moving in one of the hedge plants. He dropped back to the ground and carefully pulled his rifle forward and placed the butt against his shoulder. He laid his cheek against the stock and pulled it tight until his eye was peering down the scope and at the plant. He definitely saw something. Something small and wearing camouflage. It was not an animal but it was too small to be human. His right index finger rested on the trigger and the pull weight began to mount. Suddenly and with any reason he could think of, he looked up over his scope at the thing in the hedge plant. It looked helpless and, well, cute. He laid down his rifle and stood up without taking his eye off the creature. He waved to his neighbors to indicate that he was unhurt then started walking toward the creature.

John expected the thing to run as he approached but it didn’t. As he reached down to pick it up, it let go of the hedge as if it wanted help. As John picked it up, he noticed that while it wasn’t human, it was humanoid. The camouflage changed to purple as it let go of the hedge. John noticed that the shirt he was wearing was purple. This struck John as something he should be concerned about but he took the creature inside the house through the front door.

Once inside the house, John remembered his rifle. He laid the creature on the recliner and ran outside to retrieve the rifle. While outside, he heard his back door open and close. He ran back in through the front door expecting the creature to be gone. It, however, was not gone. It was standing in front of the TV with thin wires protruding from its body and into various ports and some speaker holes in the TV. The screen was flashing information in various languages and making a noise that sounded like static from a TV he once heard that was made in the 60’s.

John tried to turn on a lamp but the power was still out. He stared at the creature then back at the TV.

The creature focused on John’s face and eyes until John’s mouth was quietly moving as if he was reading. English was now on the screen. What John read on the screen terrified him.

Hello human. I am Kqirrten from a planet in the Sohonastric Galaxy. Your race has not yet discovered my galaxy. I have traveled over a billion of your miles to warn you that your planet is in great and immediate danger. The four creatures you saw trying to kill me through your door are here to take human specimens back to their planet for experiments in the best way to kill all humans and claim earth as their own. I arrived first to warn your kind.

John wondered how the creature knew he was watching through the peep hole. As he thought about it, he noticed that his TV was being completely taken over by the creature. Wires and lights appeared on the TV and there was a keyboard with unrecognizable symbols in the lower left side of the TV. John moved toward the TV when he caught a glimpse of metallic blue in the kitchen. He brought his rifle to bear and fired a shot. A man sized creature fell to the ground and grabbed its neck. It was clearly bleeding to death. Three other creatures then came into view, two trying to assist the wounded creature while the third began shooting its weapon at the little creature now feverishly working at John’s TV. John drew a bead on the creature who was shooting and fired another round. It struck the creature just under the armour and the creature fell to the floor, rolling over and over but making no sound. After five or six rolls, it started crawling towards the TV. The two remaining creatures gave up on the efforts to save their comrade and aimed their weapons, one at John and the other at the small creature. Both fired and both missed. John returned fire, hitting his target in the forehead. It fell dead instantly. John aimed at the last remaining combatant. The creature dropped his weapon and looked at John as if he wanted to say something but couldn’t. It pointed to the TV then pointed towards the bedroom.

John took a few seconds but realized the creature was asking for the TV in the bedroom. John,not sure what to do or think, walked the creature to the bedroom. The creature stood in front of the TV and thin wires appeared, shaking as they exited the creature's body. The wires entered the TV just as John had witnessed from the smaller creature in the living room. The creature knew what language to use so English was the only language to appear on the screen. Greetings. My name lgussants. Myself and my three friends you terminated are from the Sohonastric Galaxy. Your species has not yet discovered our galaxy, nor shall you. The creature in the other room is called, in your language, a planet killer. It was sent here to kill all life and destroy all technology. After this planet's destruction, more of its kind will arrive and rebuild this planet as a combat fort. It will be used as a refueling and rearming base as they continue taking over all galaxies. You, the one called John, helped. We were sent to stop it, but you saved it. I would go kill it now but it would be useless. The process has started and we are peaceful. We do not kill when it can do no good.

John asked the creature, hoping it could understand, what the process was and how it would destroy the Earth. The TV screen started displaying a message again. For decades your kind has combined explosive gasses, electrical currents and water. Not together but in delivery systems so close together that sometimes a blast would occur without help. The creature at your other TV just started a chain reaction of explosions through your viewing device by causing those systems to interact. Add the nuclear power plants and weapons, the massive ammunition and fuel storage facilities and under water communications, electrical lines and gas and oil lines to move the destruction from continent to continent and planet wide destruction will occur. This is our end.

John could not believe his error in judgment. He said maybe you won’t kill it but I will. He quickly moved to the living room and shot the cute,small creature. It died instantly. John could hear explosions in the distance and his neighbors screaming in terror. He walked over to the front door and put his right eye to the peep hole. In the distance he could see multiple explosions, both large and small. He thought about the last round now in the chamber of his rifle and how it could save him the suffering. He quickly decided to face what he helped start. Within a few seconds, the explosions were upon him.

A quick orange glow that took up the entire peep hole view then nothing. All was lost.