Terrestrial (book 1)

Lana made her way outside to prepare the grill. It's New year's day 2019 at 7pm. Her plan is to teach Sean how to bbq.”Alright Sean first, you want to turn on the propane nice and steady.” “But what if it explodes?” “Nonsense, who told you that? Dad?” “Well… Yes..” “He’s just a goof, don’t take what he says literally. Remember what mom said.” As they are standing on the front lawn, Sean looks up into the sky. He gets Lana's attention and says “they're back". She knows exactly what he means. For the past year strange lights have been in the sky. It was the talk of the neighborhood. The first time they saw something strange was 1 year prior. It was just sitting in the sky but it suddenly flew away at an astronomical speed almost 10,000 mph breaking the sound barrier. Ever since, it's been lurking in the sky, shining it's light and going dark at random intervals at a certain speed in a continuous loop. Lana looked up to where Sean was pointing. As she stared at the object, her eyes began to feel like they were going to pop. They both continue to stare at this Unidentified Spacecraft. This is unlike anything both Lana and Sean have seen before. something that is not of this earth.... Their minds unable to process what they had just witnessed. They tried to ignore it, But the bright texture of the craft and the beaming light..made them feel something deep inside them…An emotion that just can't be described. Shadows began to dance in their peripheral vision. As fear crawled up Lana's spine, she realized what was happening. The Dogs barked, and Insects began to swarm. It was like something from a horror movie. These insects, as microscopic as they are, really pack quite the punch and they continue to swarm. “AHHH!” Lana screams as they grow even larger in numbers, Sean narrowly gets out of their position. “STAY RIGHT THERE LANA, I’LL GET THE BUG SPRAY!!” Scott yelled from the porch. By the time he returned, everything was quiet. No bugs, no dogs and no more lights in the sky. Lana and the gang decided to call it a night and head inside.Thunderstorms approach the house knocking out the power in the neighborhood. Lana, being the only one awake, grabs a candle and heads downstairs “It’s always one damn thing after another” She checks the circuit breaker, only problem is all the power is turned on… But with no electricity coming through. Suddenly there's a knock on the door. It's the neighbor "Eddie". Eddie smoking a joint pops in, “How are you doin tonight sexy?” “Fuck off!” Lana slaps Eddie in the face, “What the hell are you doing out in a thunderstorm?” “Just came to say hello to an old flame of mine.” Lana rolls her eyes “Pfft, you wish.” Right when Lana is about to shut the door, Eddie's foot holds it open. “Can I come in?” " I need to ask you about something I've been seeing in the sky" “Please. Leave. Now. Before I wake my brothers and kick your ass out or better yet call the police, it’s been unpleasant seeing you again.” " Okay, okay I'll leave.” “But I swear, it's really important.” Lana opens the door back up “I’ll give you 2 minutes, go.” He begins to tell her about what's been happening to all the neighbors. About the lights and the insect's. Lana pauses and asks Eddie questions. “Ok, Eddie, what did they look like?” " There were two bright lights in the sky, one was stationary and the other was flying back and forth, and there were so many bugs.” Sean asks “were the bugs themselves bright or were you talking about the lights?” " the lights." Sean looks through his map of cell towers across the area. “This Tower in the corner of Urban Street went out yesterday and in the newspaper this morning two young children went missing. I’m curious, Eddie.. You wouldn’t happen to know where they went?” " I don't know, but I think I have a clue." “What do you mean… A clue? Did someone take them? As a matter of fact, where were you before you came here to bother my sister? "I was talking to Todd, he just moved in down the street.” “How far away was Todd from where the incident took place.” “What incident?” “Well, you said you had a clue. So I want to know what you were doing before any of these events took place, because if you did something to those poor young boys, you won’t have to worry about law enforcement. You’ll be dealing with me before you deal with them also… The cigarette or blunt or whatever the fuck your holding put it out here on the ashtray I don’t want the house to smell like Marijuana or dog piss.” "I swear I didn't do anything, '' Todd said he saw the kids walking down the street and after they turned the corner, he saw a bright red light come down from the sky. It shined down right where the kids would have been walking. That was the last time anyone saw them.” Lana pulls Sean aside “Look, you saw what he saw, those insects weren’t normal, you saw the shining light, you have to believe that somethings out there.” “Look Lana, I understand this but... In this scenario you also have to question people, this guy.. Is a bum, the way he plants his feet on that $500 table that Scott just bought and smoking a blunt in the fucking living room? He’s a wack job Lana, he could’ve hurt, killed, raped or robbed those kids.” Lana sighs “Look I know Eddie and I understand that he has issues but he is no killer, he’s too much of a wuss to even punch me. But we have to take his word for it. Just this once.. Something is definitely out there and it’s causing problems I mean for fuck sake our power went out.” Eddie walks into the kitchen "Hey guys, I can bring Todd over to tell you what he saw." " He's always out there, watching the sky." " He's seen a lot." “Oh I bet he has.” says Scott “Ah, great here comes the conspiracy theorist, what's next Scotty? Gonna theorize about how much patience I have to listen to this pothead talk about our next special on the discovery channel?” Sean says sarcastically “No, I came to talk about where the kids may have gone. I spoke to Todd this morning and he told me that a Tornado came and swept them away.” Sean pauses “Huh, well I guess Dr. Doofenshmirtz over here is innocent but how do we know that it was a tornado that took them?” Scott responds “ Ya know for someone who calls me a conspiracy theorist you sure do know how to come up with new ones. Anyways Todd told me the Tornado went south.” “He said he'd never seen anything like it before, it moved so fast”.”almost like it was aiming for them specifically”. Scott walks outside the house “Todd said that the tornado was headed south but how far south? Did it only go a certain distance? Where did it stop?” Lana subtly approaches Scott “Scott, maybe the people in town know about it, I think we should head there.” “You may be right, tell Sean to get in the car, I think it’s time for a road trip.” Lana packs her things as well as Scott and Sean. “Can I come with you guys?” Sean laughs “ahhh no, you can pack up and go back to your house.” Eddie sadly walks away “Alright then… See you around.. I guess…” “God damn it fine, you can come with us but just don’t smoke up the car.” “Gee, you most certainly have a problem with smoking, what did weed ever do to you?” Sean looks back at Eddie “What the fuck kind of question is that?” Everyone begins to pack up as everyone enters the car with Lana being the driver. Lana then starts the car and heads to town.

Elsewhere… In outer space, there are ships over every major city, but no one on earth has any idea of what is waiting for them. People are disappearing and leaving no trace. “With powerful cloaking devices, they manage to stay hidden from the earthlings. While they are making strategic plans, humanity continues with life as they know it, unaware of what the future holds.”

Lana turns the radio on, only to find out that multiple children all over the world have gone missing. All of the stories of how they went missing, mirrors the story that Eddie told earlier.

No one says a word, just frightened staring. The car has been quiet for miles, until Scott says “I think we should stop for gas and snacks”. Everyone agrees, with Sean stating “yeah i’m starving”. As they pull into the gas station, they see a crowd of people freaking out. Scott walked up to the attendant (who is also outside the store). Scott asks him “what's going on”? The attendant explains that they are waiting for the police, because one of the customers came into the store and left her 3 kids in the car. Suddenly a strange colored tornado came down and took the whole car away. “It happened so fast,” he said. “ It was unreal, I've never seen anything like it. Like the tornado had a mind of its own, it only touched down over the car and went back into the sky” he exclaimed. After hearing a story like that, Scott decides to just get the gas and stop later for food. Lana could tell that Scott was afraid, no matter how hard he tried to hide it. “Are you okay”? She asks. “Not really,” he replies. “We need to find someplace to eat and rest,” Eddie suggested.

“I am very tired, we've been driving for almost 30 hours,” Lana said. “Let’s just try to get past one more city, then we can get a couple of rooms and some food”. Everyone agrees. “The further we are away from all of this, the better” Eddie replied quietly. They finally find a hotel with a 24 hour diner across the road. “We only need two rooms, me and Eddie will share a room and Lana, you and Sean will share one, '' Scott said. “ Do you guys want to get food to go or eat in the diner”? Asked eddie. “Let’s Eat inside,” Scott replied. “Give us a chance to stretch our legs’

And decompress”. When they enter and take a seat they notice that everyone is focusing on a small, old time TV. It’s on one of those 24 hour news channels. As a waitress takes their order, a reporter on the television begins to report on the incident that happened at the gas station earlier. They mention that the car of the family had been located but the children were nowhere to be found. The waitress returns with their meals and they eat in silence. A few moments later they overhear some of the customers talking about a missing farmer and his wife. They continued to listen, but didn’t hear anything of importance. Since they still needed rest, Scott decided to stay the night in town. Lana awakens to the sound of screaming and strange sounds that sounds familiar, but she just can’t place it.

She gets up and looks out of the window. She sees a huge chunk of metal in the sky. “Oh...my...fucking...God”. “Sean, wake up”! “Get your stuff, I'm going to wake dad up”. Luckily they have adjoining rooms so she doesn’t have to go outside alone.

“Dad! Eddie! Wake up! We’ve gotta get out of here’! Scott jumps from the bed and asks. “What’s going on”? “Look out the window”! Lana shouts. The men both run to the window and stare out. “Oh my god”! They say simultaneously. “Shit! Everyone get your stuff and let’s get out of here”! As they make their way to the car, two strangers ask if they can get a ride. Scott says no and keeps walking.

He’s not willing to risk his family’s safety for anyone.“Dad, where are we going”? Sean asks. “To the cabin, it has a secret bunker on the property”. Lana answered.

“We need to hit the store, to get food, necessities and weapons. Just in case the bunker isn't stocked”. Eddie suggested. “We have to be prepared for anything”.

Scott, Eddie, and Lana pool their money together and head for the nearest superstore, to get everything in one go. The place is packed more than usual.

“we have to try this one, i don’t know if we’ll get another chance. We’re all going in,

I won’t take the risk of leaving any of you in the car. With everything that has happened, I don't think it’s safe. Don’t forget to lock the doors. Said Scott.

As they enter the store, everyone seems to be in emergency mode. Running around and grabbing whatever can fit in the basket. “We need to make this quick, we’ll need to split up into two groups. Lana you will be with Sean, you two can get the food. Eddie, you're with me. We’ll get the weapons and the essentials”. Eddie asks Scott “Don’t you think it’ll be best if me and you we’re the head of each group?

You know, for safety reasons”. “ NO! There’s no way I'm leaving my children’s lives in your hands, especially not now. Lana can take care of Sean and herself”. Eddie drops his head, regretting everything he has done in the past. “ 10 minutes, then meet at the self checkouts” “Let’s go”. Scott commands. It’s insane in the store, people are starting to fight over everything. Luckily the group found almost everything they were looking for. As they are packing the car, everything goes dark. This causes them to panic. Emergency sirens are going off, and that strange beeping noise is back. As Scott starts the car, that same rhythmic beeping is coming from the radio. Scott turns off the radio, and rushes out of the parking lot.

Lana and Sean are asleep in the back. Lana can’t see anything but she can hear someone talking, it’s two men and one of them just said her name. They sound all garbled. “Dad, is that you”? She doesn't get a reply, they just keep talking. “ why aren’t you answering me”! Everything goes quiet, and it’s like she's all alone.

Suddenly Scott is awakened with a jolt. “Fuck,fuck,fuck,fuck,fuck”! “Is everything okay dad”? Asks Sean. “Yeah I'm fine, I just fell that’s all. Where’s Lana?” Mysteriously… Lana has disappeared and the whole group begins to panic “LANA!!” Her dad shouts as he stumbles across a piece of paper that reads: “Nina bantu bafuna iimpendulo, sinokufumana intaphane yakho kuthi, ukuba unqwenela ukuba umbuyise, yiza kwezi zilungelelaniso.” Her dad picks it up from the ground. There appeared to be residue on the side of the paper. It appeared to be blood. Lanas blood…AHHHHHH! "Dear God...that sounds like Lana!" Eddie shouted. "It came from the woods...come on." Scott commanded. The 3 of them take off towards the woods. As they run through the forest in search of Lana. following her blood curdling screams. trying Not to get separated while being scratched by sticks, branches and thorns. They fail to notice the silence surrounding them. Suddenly they realize her screams have stopped and they are horribly lost. A frightening sound suddenly breaks the silence. It can only be compared to a worn out fan belt mixed with a lion's roar. Sean starts to tremble and becomes paralyzed with fear. The sound seems to be moving all around them. Scott makes the choice to just stay put and stay silent until the sun comes up. Running around in the dark while lost doesn't seem like a good idea. Eddie, you and Sean should try to get a little rest...I'll keep watch and wake you if I need to. Sean falls asleep quickly, out of fear. His dream is a nightmare. *dream sequence* (He's standing in a dark void and he can see his sister far ahead of him. "Sean, come here...I need your help!" Lana shouts "Lana wait" the faster he runs, the further away she gets). Suddenly he's jolted awake. "Sean, wake up. You were shouting Lana's name. What was happening in your dream"? Scott asks. As Sean recounts his dream, they hear rapid footsteps approaching. They are all on edge. When they see a stranger with two sawed off shotguns, their hearts stop. "Oh my God, please tell me you've seen a young boy. His name is Josh. "No we haven't, but have you seen a teenage girl with short brown hair...one side is shaved"? Asked Scott. "No, you are the first people I've seen today". he replied. Those bastards took my son"! The stranger breaks down in tears. They took my daughter while we were asleep and we've been looking for her. What's your name? Maybe we can look together, that's if you want to." Said Scott. "I'm not about to turn down an offer for extra help...my name is Eli, I wish we were meeting in better circumstances. After all the introductions and done, they decide that the best move would be to get anything necessary to survive on the move for a while. After collecting everything they needed, the group met up at the edge of the forest and began the rescue mission. Even Though it's not ideal to do this with a 14 year old who's never held a gun or even thrown a punch, they have no other choice. The group decides to try and teach Sean everything they can, when they're not on the move. This Forest is obviously a dangerous place to be right now, so preparation is key. Searching during the day and training before darkness. When the sunlight is gone, fear sets in. It feels like you're constantly being watched, the sounds of something running around outside the reach of the fire is non-stop and the screeching, don't get me started on the fear it causes. When they stumble upon the naked corpse of a woman, the state of her body petrifies them. Her eyes had been removed and there were perfectly rounded holes all over her. Admittedly, this made them have to face a grim reality, but it also spurred them on. "We have to find them now. Everyday that passes they could be getting closer to ending up like this". Eli grumbled.(with hints of anger and utter fear in his voice) " Let's get moving guys, we have no time to lose" Scott said. Even Though they aren't positive that they're going in the right direction. All they can do is go toward the craft in the sky and hope for the best. The closer they get to the craft, the louder it gets.