Blue Through the Grey
Subzero
Patrol. It's always at night and an uneasy feeling always hangs above my head. If these people aren't the enemy, then how the hell are they working underneath the mothership? Rifle in my hand, it feels...normal. This morning, I had finally seen the first sign of winter. Snow. It blanketed the ground and covered everything in a white endless sea.
"These coats aren't keeping me very warm," Jessica says, breaking the silence.
"It's all they have" I reply. She's right, these coats are shit and these pants are shit and this shirt is shit. But at least, we have clean clothes. Or what we think is clean clothes. "Have you seen Noah yet?" I ask.
"No. Never really see any of the other bunkmates. You?"
I gulp. "Yeah. Turns out he's the guy I shot back in Cincy."
"No fucking way."
"Way."
"I used to know a guy named Noah. Such a prick. He left me out there to die. He promised he'd be back and he never came." She wipes something from her eye, a tear maybe.
NO JENN, DON'T GET WRAPPED UP IN EMOTIONAL SHIT. YOU HAVE TO STAY AWAY FROM DEPRESSION. She's my friend. SHE'S ALSO UNSTABLE. Which is why I'm gonna comfort her. I pull her into my arms and squeeze her tight.
"Don't be mad at him," I say. "Something could've happened along the way."
"Hey!" Reilly yells, pointing to a small hole in the fence. "What the hell is that?"
"An animal," Jessica says, pulling away from me. "Or someone trying to escape. But who'd wanna leave here?"
He walks up to me and hugs me, pushing his lips against my ear. "Kitchen. Tonight. We need to talk."
Then he walks away, back to his post. What does he wanna talk about? More shit about the last of humanity actually being aliens?
My parents never kept a gun in the house and that was a problem when some thug busted the door down. I was the only one in the house, my parents went on a date. So normal. They acted like everything was normal and It wasn't. I was laying on the couch, of course watching Fox News. The go to channel if you wanted to hear arguments 24/7. I kinda did. BAM. The door kicked in and I instantly rolled off the couch and ran upstairs. Why the hell did my parents leave me alone? There's assholes outside and now there's an asshole inside. Shit. I forgot to grab a knife when I passed through the kitchen. SMART JENNIFER. THERE'S SOME GUY IN YOUR HOUSE, PROBABLY WANTING TO KILL YOU AND YOU DON'T GRAB A KNIFE. I can hear his boots tromp up the stairs. He stops, turns and kicks in the door to my brothers room. Good thing my brothers are with my grandma. I'd rather myself die. I couldn't bare living knowing that I'd let some idiot break in and kill my family. I go through my parents closet and drawers and come up empty handed, they have nothing that can be used as a weapon. I drop to my stomach and scoot under their bed. That's what I'm good at doing, hiding in crisis. I slap my hand over my mouth to hush my breathing. The door is kicked open and in walks a pair of boots. Grey, torn, blood on the soles. He goes around to the other side, I can't move my head to see, I'm in such a small confined area. Smart of me to hide under the bed. I've done a lot of smart things recently. My ankle is grabbed and I'm yanked out of hiding. My head slams against the bed rails. Temporarily blinding me. I'm in his clutches, I'm his.
In the kitchen, there Reilly stands, tapping his finger on the stove and looking at his watch. I'm a bit late, had to wait for Jessica to finally fall asleep. He greets me with a look of anger and then he hugs me. His breath smells like chocolate. Which makes me really hungry and I wish I had some friggin chocolate.
"What's going on?" I ask. "Oh, sorry I'm late."
"It's okay. I've been thinking. How do you kill off the rest of humanity if plan A didn't work?"
Is that a trick question? "Uh..."
He shakes his head. "You gather them in one place and eventually kill them."
"Oh god." I gulp, I never really thought about it like that. It does make perfect sense. But are these what the aliens look like? I have no clue what's going on but I sure as hell intend to find out. "I have mixed feelings about this, Reilly. What if they find out we know about them?"
"They'll most likely kill us," He teases. But I'm not in the mood for jokes. "I'd much rather have ebola kill us off than aliens." Okay, he got a tiny smile out of that one. He's not great with jokes and it's rare that I ever laugh. I'm sick of sitting so I get to my feet and pull him up off the floor. It's so weird standing next to him, the top of my head reaches his chin. He looks down at and puts his finger on the edge of my chin, pulling my face upward.
"I won't let anything happen to you."
"I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself." I don't if I was offended by what he said, but it kinda struck me down. I'm not weak, I don't need someone to take care of me or look after me. I've made it this far on my own.
The man has his arms wrapped around my waist. I flail and wiggle and nothing seems to be happening. THINK QUICK, JENN. THINK. QUICK. But no matter how hard I try to THINK QUICK. It doesn't work. I eye the stairs and I see my chance. I have to take it. THINK QUICK. I bite down on his arm before his foot falls on the first step. He gasps and we both go tumbling down the hard wooden staircase. Not the best idea I've ever had. But it was the only idea. Every bone in my body screams. Thunderous pain pounds endlessly through my body. I feel dead and I'm hoping he is. But my luck is never that good. His hand reaches out and grabs my ankle again. He's not giving up. Neither am I. I kick his face hard and crawl to the kitchen. My legs feel broke but I will myself to my feet and grab a knife. I turn and there he stands, tall, eyes black as crows. I didn't know it at first, but this was the sign of the sickness. He had no idea what he was doing, his brain was taken over by a rage. A rage that wouldn't be satisfied until it got the taste of death. His fist clashed against my face, dropping me to the floor. The knife was now out of my hand and in his. My death was soon, very soon. His hand shot upward and then down with a thrust so violent, I could see the blade slicing the air. I close my eyes and wait for the knife to stab into me but it doesn't. I hear the sound of gunfire and the man falls dead beside me. My mom stands a few feet away, blond curly hair, red lipstick, black dress. In her hands, a shotgun, still smoking from the lead that expelled from the barrel. She drops the gun and runs to me. I push myself to my feet and embrace her. My life was almost at an end and at the last moment, my savior came. We packed up everything and went on the road. We lived in the RV and through the chaos, we still managed to play at that fair.
"These coats aren't keeping me very warm," Jessica says, breaking the silence.
"It's all they have" I reply. She's right, these coats are shit and these pants are shit and this shirt is shit. But at least, we have clean clothes. Or what we think is clean clothes. "Have you seen Noah yet?" I ask.
"No. Never really see any of the other bunkmates. You?"
I gulp. "Yeah. Turns out he's the guy I shot back in Cincy."
"No fucking way."
"Way."
"I used to know a guy named Noah. Such a prick. He left me out there to die. He promised he'd be back and he never came." She wipes something from her eye, a tear maybe.
NO JENN, DON'T GET WRAPPED UP IN EMOTIONAL SHIT. YOU HAVE TO STAY AWAY FROM DEPRESSION. She's my friend. SHE'S ALSO UNSTABLE. Which is why I'm gonna comfort her. I pull her into my arms and squeeze her tight.
"Don't be mad at him," I say. "Something could've happened along the way."
"Hey!" Reilly yells, pointing to a small hole in the fence. "What the hell is that?"
"An animal," Jessica says, pulling away from me. "Or someone trying to escape. But who'd wanna leave here?"
He walks up to me and hugs me, pushing his lips against my ear. "Kitchen. Tonight. We need to talk."
Then he walks away, back to his post. What does he wanna talk about? More shit about the last of humanity actually being aliens?
My parents never kept a gun in the house and that was a problem when some thug busted the door down. I was the only one in the house, my parents went on a date. So normal. They acted like everything was normal and It wasn't. I was laying on the couch, of course watching Fox News. The go to channel if you wanted to hear arguments 24/7. I kinda did. BAM. The door kicked in and I instantly rolled off the couch and ran upstairs. Why the hell did my parents leave me alone? There's assholes outside and now there's an asshole inside. Shit. I forgot to grab a knife when I passed through the kitchen. SMART JENNIFER. THERE'S SOME GUY IN YOUR HOUSE, PROBABLY WANTING TO KILL YOU AND YOU DON'T GRAB A KNIFE. I can hear his boots tromp up the stairs. He stops, turns and kicks in the door to my brothers room. Good thing my brothers are with my grandma. I'd rather myself die. I couldn't bare living knowing that I'd let some idiot break in and kill my family. I go through my parents closet and drawers and come up empty handed, they have nothing that can be used as a weapon. I drop to my stomach and scoot under their bed. That's what I'm good at doing, hiding in crisis. I slap my hand over my mouth to hush my breathing. The door is kicked open and in walks a pair of boots. Grey, torn, blood on the soles. He goes around to the other side, I can't move my head to see, I'm in such a small confined area. Smart of me to hide under the bed. I've done a lot of smart things recently. My ankle is grabbed and I'm yanked out of hiding. My head slams against the bed rails. Temporarily blinding me. I'm in his clutches, I'm his.
In the kitchen, there Reilly stands, tapping his finger on the stove and looking at his watch. I'm a bit late, had to wait for Jessica to finally fall asleep. He greets me with a look of anger and then he hugs me. His breath smells like chocolate. Which makes me really hungry and I wish I had some friggin chocolate.
"What's going on?" I ask. "Oh, sorry I'm late."
"It's okay. I've been thinking. How do you kill off the rest of humanity if plan A didn't work?"
Is that a trick question? "Uh..."
He shakes his head. "You gather them in one place and eventually kill them."
"Oh god." I gulp, I never really thought about it like that. It does make perfect sense. But are these what the aliens look like? I have no clue what's going on but I sure as hell intend to find out. "I have mixed feelings about this, Reilly. What if they find out we know about them?"
"They'll most likely kill us," He teases. But I'm not in the mood for jokes. "I'd much rather have ebola kill us off than aliens." Okay, he got a tiny smile out of that one. He's not great with jokes and it's rare that I ever laugh. I'm sick of sitting so I get to my feet and pull him up off the floor. It's so weird standing next to him, the top of my head reaches his chin. He looks down at and puts his finger on the edge of my chin, pulling my face upward.
"I won't let anything happen to you."
"I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself." I don't if I was offended by what he said, but it kinda struck me down. I'm not weak, I don't need someone to take care of me or look after me. I've made it this far on my own.
The man has his arms wrapped around my waist. I flail and wiggle and nothing seems to be happening. THINK QUICK, JENN. THINK. QUICK. But no matter how hard I try to THINK QUICK. It doesn't work. I eye the stairs and I see my chance. I have to take it. THINK QUICK. I bite down on his arm before his foot falls on the first step. He gasps and we both go tumbling down the hard wooden staircase. Not the best idea I've ever had. But it was the only idea. Every bone in my body screams. Thunderous pain pounds endlessly through my body. I feel dead and I'm hoping he is. But my luck is never that good. His hand reaches out and grabs my ankle again. He's not giving up. Neither am I. I kick his face hard and crawl to the kitchen. My legs feel broke but I will myself to my feet and grab a knife. I turn and there he stands, tall, eyes black as crows. I didn't know it at first, but this was the sign of the sickness. He had no idea what he was doing, his brain was taken over by a rage. A rage that wouldn't be satisfied until it got the taste of death. His fist clashed against my face, dropping me to the floor. The knife was now out of my hand and in his. My death was soon, very soon. His hand shot upward and then down with a thrust so violent, I could see the blade slicing the air. I close my eyes and wait for the knife to stab into me but it doesn't. I hear the sound of gunfire and the man falls dead beside me. My mom stands a few feet away, blond curly hair, red lipstick, black dress. In her hands, a shotgun, still smoking from the lead that expelled from the barrel. She drops the gun and runs to me. I push myself to my feet and embrace her. My life was almost at an end and at the last moment, my savior came. We packed up everything and went on the road. We lived in the RV and through the chaos, we still managed to play at that fair.