Blue Through the Grey

Part 8: Land of Extremes
Hannah.

The great war. It wasn’t the aliens, it was the secret that the military hid for years. The Revolutionists fought the Military behind closed doors, they tried to keep them from sending the signal out, but they were defeated. The rest of the human race will come together again...To finish this war.

The smoke from a nearby fire intoxicates my lungs as I enter my small community. My boots crunch bones from discarded food. It’s disgusting but it’s what we have to deal with now. The counsel sits around a small fire and laughs about something probably stupid. I toss my findings on the ground and raise my eyebrows sarcastically. They look at me, tempted to say something but won't. Cans of food, something they thought no one would find.
“What’d you say before I ventured out into the badlands?.” I ask, it’s directed towards one man. Nathaniel, Nath for short.
“That you wouldn’t find any bloody food.” He faintly smiles at me.
“Nath, we need to talk.” He stands and the boys hoop and holler.
“Just TALKING.” He winks at them.
I pull him behind a small shack. “First of all, the counsel is disgusting. Second...I found her.”
He looks at me in shock. “Ellie?.”
“She doesn’t know who I am. They wiped her clean.” Ellie is my sister, the aliens took her while we were battling, they changed her memories and put her back. They also implanted something inside of her, something that we could use during war.
“We can get her back.” Nath says, resting a hand on my shoulder.
“No, we have to wait. I gave her my dad’s dogtag. Hoping it would jog something but she just looked at me confused. In due time, everything will come back. But right now, we need to plan an attack on Ghost.”
“You got more intel?.” He asks.
“Yeah. There’s a few non-aliens there, they don’t know what’s going on. We gotta get them out and send them to the helicarrier.”
The Helicarrier and The Revolutionists have been by each others side since the beginning of this. They have people stuck in Ghost, so we’re going to help them...it’s fair.
“So we infiltrate the base and take them?.” He asks. “It’s suicide.”
I grab his arm and look deep into his eyes. “They’ve helped us through everything, Nath. We owe them.”
“God, I hate when you’re right, Hannah.” He pulls me close and licks his lips. “Ya know…”
I pull away. “I have no time for any type of sex or love, Nathaniel. Kindly fuck off.”
“I was just suggesting.” He smiles.
“And I’m telling you no.” I walk away, shivering.

After sleeping for a little less than an hour, I’m awaken to a few shouts outside my tent. I throw on my coat, boots, and head out into the cold.
“He’s a fucking alien!.” A man screams.
“I’m not!.”
“Prove it!.”
“How?!.”
The accusing man pulls out a pistol and blasts a bullet into the other guys head. I quickly take him down and pin him to the ground.
“Get your hands off me you slut!.”
“Slut?! I will break all your fucking fingers. One by one.” Just to show I’m serious, I snap a few of his fingers. He screams in pain, but he deserves it, he just shot someone right here in front of women, and children.
“He’s a fucking monster, look!.”
He’s right. The guy he shot is mutating into some sort of animal thing. His spine tears through his skin, his teeth become razor sharp, and the flesh around his fingers rot away. Most of his skin is gone. He roars and sends everyone cowering into their tents. A boney arm smacks me across the face, knocking me to the ground. He moves on to other people, ripping their throats out. I’m grabbed up by Nath and pulled into the makeshift shack we use as the armory.
“Here.” He tosses me a rifle. “I have a feeling more of those things are coming.”
“What are those? Did the aliens send down a new fucking wave of infected?.”
“Seems so.” He says, filling a magazine.
We sneak out to the front gates. I walk out but he doesn’t follow. “Nath, let’s go.” I say. “C’mon.”
He shakes his head. “You have Ellie, I have no one.”
“That’s not true, don’t be an idiot. Let’s go.”
He quickly shuts the gate and locks it...I can’t get in. I punch it, knowing it won’t do anything. I scream his name, knowing it won’t bring him back. There’s a large flash of light and a wave of heat. I’m sent flying back into the snow. My head spins and my ears ring. I get up, my legs shakey. “Nath.” I can’t hear myself say it, but I know I did.
I hear the roar of the monsters and I instantly turn around and run. I didn’t want to leave him behind, but I have to. My life or his, the hardest decision ever.

My name is Hannah, I’m a survivor of the alien apocalypse. I sit in the woods, rocking back and forth. My bones shivering. Why did Nath blow up our camp? There were still people alive. Questions I won’t get answers to. I can hear the monsters in the distance, they’re coming for me, they can smell the blood pumping through my veins. I get up quickly and start running again. I’m tackled to the ground and clawed by one of those things. I reach for my pistol but it isn’t there. It bites at my jacket but it’s too thick for it’s teeth to get through. I grab my blade and slice it across the face. Screaming in pain, it jumps off. I dive for my pistol that’s laying dormant in the snow. My hand grasps around the gun, my finger pulls on the trigger relentlessly. It’s still not dead. The trees begin sway and part like the red sea. A weird looking helicopter comes into sight and fires endless rounds, filling the monster with millions of holes. My savior sends out a flash of light and I’m suddenly in the plane.
“Hannah.” A man says. I know him, His name is Marco, he’s the leader of the Helicarrier and also a close friend.
“Marco.” I reply. “It’s good to see you. Thanks for helping me back there.”
He nods his head as we fly away. The Revolutionist camp is completely destroyed, bodies are burning and being eaten by those things. This is what the aliens brought to the chess board. Now it’s time to show them what we brought.