Doomsday: Day 1

I’ve always received messages in my dreams. Mostly good, sometimes not. It’s not like they all play out in real life. Sometimes though, when they do, I feel as if it’s playing out just like the dream. Like a live-action movie, and I’m the star.

Last night’s dream, however, made me want to be part of the supporting cast if it were to ever come true. It was weird. There was no one in sight and cockroaches everywhere. But I was just observing and not actually experiencing any of it. Because there was nothing to experience. Just an eerie, vast nothingness filled in with molden, cracked ground—and the sounds of scattering bug legs, which I refused to keep looking at, even in a dream.

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This morning went on per usual. My eyes were blurry as I slowly pulled myself up out of bed. The shrill in my mom’s voice could be heard for miles, and this morning was no different as she called my name to wake me up.

“Marrrleeeey, starshine. The Earth says hel—”

“Ma, please. Stop.”

“I tried being nice.” She sucks in her voice and changes her tone to an overbearing, grumpy one. Think three little bears, and she’s the biggest of them all.

“Hey kid, you’re gonna be late again,” she grunts, breathing heavily. I don’t understand how she can be so animated in the morning. “It’s going on eight o’ clock. If you miss the bus one more time I’m gonna make you chase behind it.” She bucks her shoulders and lets out another angry sigh. She’s funny, Ma is.

She pops her butt out and pushes me with it as she walks away. I watch her as she sashays to our shared bathroom and pulls out her makeup. Never did need it, but it’s always fun to watch her put it on.

“Oh, shucks.” I rub my eyes as I get closer to her to brush my teeth, wondering what she’s complaining about. As my vision clears, I notice her banana powder was covering the bathroom sink, and my jewelry box. Gosh, why did I leave that open. I go to pick up my gold, heart-shaped locket and it’s now completely white and sparkly. Definitely not a shade of banana I’ve ever seen.

“Sorry, baby,” Ma starts as she floats off to grab some paper towels from the kitchen. As soon as I hear the first rip, the doorbell rings. I hear her ask “What in the world?” to no one in particular.

“Ma’am, how many people are in there with you?,” I hear someone say without introducing themselves.

“Well hello, soldier! Just my daughter and I. Now what’s going on?” I notice her voice elevating and lots of background noise, so I make my way to the front door and stand beside her. Why is everyone running through the hallways, and who is this guy?

“Ma’am, there’s no time to explain,” the soldier begins. “There’s a meteor heading this way and we’ve been sent out to save as many of us as we can. There’s a two person per household rule. You ladies are lucky today.”

“Now wait a second! Are you telling me you expect me to-“

“Yes ma’am, this isn’t a game or a drill. Come with us now or stay and die.” He softens up quickly as we both stare into my mother’s bulging, frightened eyes. “I’m sorry but we’re running out of time. You have five minutes until we clear the building and move on. I’ll be back in three minutes to give you two ladies a moment of privacy.”

“Ha, the nerve!” She slams the door, but not before I notice a flurry of my neighbors running behind the decorated soldier.

What’s happening?

“Your father said this day would come. He did!” Ma shouts.

“Ma, what?” This is too much to process right now. She hasn’t spoken about him in years.

“Oh, we don’t have time, Marley. Just stay close to me and let’s follow these people’s orders. We should be okay.”

Those next two minutes were a blur. Not knowing what to bring, I ultimately decided on my photo book, the rest of my muffin from last night, and my jewelry box in those last few seconds. I emptied the box into my overnight bag, immediately regretting it as my mother’s banana powder began to glisten over everything.

“My life.” I start crying but stop as the soldier steps back opens our door. He escorts us out as we exit our apartment for the last time.

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Leaving our building may have been the saddest thing to happen today. We watched as people were violently pushed back from the entryway of this colossal, circular object that looks as if it could fit over 500 people. I’d never seen anything like it.

“We’re at our limit! Please move or we will have to resort to force!” A group of soldiers yelled to those outside of the line. There were families of five or more, with babies and elders, pleading with these men for a spot. It was heartbreaking to witness.

My mother and I finally made our way to the front, but all hell broke loose after she turned around to check on me. “Oh my God!” My mother’s shrill made everyone else in line turn around too. Even the soldiers.

Miles away, thousands of meters up, was a bright, fiery boulder descending from the sky, right past the morning sun. Citizens not on the line began to scream and run, oblivious as to which direction they should go.

The line turned equally chaotic as the chosen ones bum rushed to the front of the vehicle. My eyes began to fill with tears as the melee of people surrounding it started getting pepper sprayed, but these were heart cries, too. They were holding toddlers!

As I entered through the craft’s large, titanium door, another soldier directed me to the eye wash station. The volume around me was drastically lower than it had been outside, but fear and terror still loomed through the air, and it was heavy.

The door sealed shut as those in charge began directing people to empty seats. My mother motioned for me to come over to her on the opposite side. It was so strange walking across the round vehicle, as our seats were placed on its perimeter. Much bigger than it looked from the outside.

“Please sit and strap in, everyone!” someone screamed. “We are taking off in 30 seconds! The meteor is scheduled to hit in five minutes!” I don’t know why these soldiers don’t understand that their incessant yelling is actually making everything worse.

Those at the eye wash station hightailed it to the closest seats available. There were children crying and others clutching their crystals, pearls, and each other. A low, computerized voice began to countdown from 15 as the vehicle’s walls quickly changed their appearance. We could now see everything happening outside. I took a glance and noticed we were all headed towards Area 151 as the air around us turned bright orange.

My heart sank further into my stomach as the feminine voice reached 5. I gripped my mother’s hand as she looked at me and said “I love you, Marley, baby! I got you!” It was too late to say anything back. We were at 3… then 2. Then 1.

The craft continued to roll on as it lifted off the ground. It was as if time stood still. There was no movement nor sound as we whisked off towards the forbidden grounds of Area 151.

Man, was it hot. I turned around just as the woman on the other side of me screamed, rivaling my mother. The meteor looked as if it were right behind us.

I could never unsee the moment it hit.

The bodies. Disintegrating and releasing what looked like blood-curdling screams as they toppled over one another, still desperate for a seat next to my own. You could see their poor souls running in the distance, only to be scorched by the rays coming off the meteor, turning them to swirls of dust. The meteor hit our city’s tallest building as it came tumbling down onto our pasts.

Dust and pieces of the meteor caught up to us, and it hadn’t looked like we moved any further, but we were… safe somehow. As larger pieces of the meteor began to knock into us, a silverish gleam would reflect off the now invisible aircraft. We were tossed around, sure, but it was nothing compared to what we were being forced to witness outside as we slowly became engulfed in darkness, with only the floors of the craft lightly illuminated. My mother had passed out for a few minutes already, and I felt myself about to do the same.

Before anyone could react, a stern, human voice blared from the craft. “To everyone who can hear me, this is Commander Donald and we’ve successfully survived the meteoroid attack. Nothing can be done at this time, and we have limited medical team availability, so if you can help your neighbor, please do so.” When the mysterious voice ended their speech, lights illuminated where the walls once stood as those who were awake unbuckled their seatbelts.

The soldier who came to our doorstep yells out “Please adhere to Commander Don’s instructions until the smoke clears. We’ll have more insight then.” He took a long pause and lowered his tone. “We’re all we got, folks. Be wise.”

The next few hours were filled with people waking up, realizing what was happening and passing out again—my mother included. I spent the time chewing on the muffin I brought with me, too traumatized to open my mouth to actually speak. As the smoke began to dissipate, the sun shone over those cracked grounds I saw in my dream last night. And the cockroaches.

The ground began to rumble, and after living through what I just did, I closed my eyes to simply accept my fate. I’m tired.

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I wake up to what I believe is my death. I’m afraid to peek.

Did I make it to heaven? Oh my God. Wait. Sorry!

As soon as these thoughts cross my mind, I hear a shrill coming from a short distance.

Oh, man. Ma, too.

As the shrill gets closer, I open my eyes to see my mom, as expected, but something’s very wrong here.

We’re in our apartment, like nothing ever happened.

“Hey kid, you’re gonna be late again,” my mom growls, approaching my bed with her arms hunched up. Just like yesterday.

“Huh?”

“It’s going on eight o’ clock. If you miss the bus one more time—“

“You’re gonna make me chase behind it?”

“Right on the money!” she chuckles, nudging me with her bottom before heading back to the bathroom.

I watched, stunned, as she does everything I expect her to do: Pull out her banana powder and brush, absentmindedly letting the dust fall across the bathroom sink as she brought it to her face. Without peeking over, I knew she’d gotten some on my jewelry box.

“Oh, shucks.”

It was as if time stood still. Again. The fear creeping over me had me frozen in place.

“Ma, we gotta go.” I feverishly jump up and grabbing my things, as if a comet were going to land directly on our third floor apartment, completely skipping over the ones above us.

“I know, that’s why I’m telling you to get up!” I guess at this point she realizes what I’m doing and shouts “Marley, ma’am, you’re just going to school. Why are you packing your suitca—“

She’s cut off by the hard knocks at the door.

“What in the world?” She looks scared. Here we go again. What the f**k?!

“Ma,” I abruptly stop what I’m doing to command her attention. “Ma. Please, for once just listen to me. We have to go. Now.”