Blue Through the Grey

The Great War

We sit on top of a small building and look out over a field of wheat while the sun’s rays shine upon our skin. I wrap my arm around Sasha and she turns towards me, looking deep into my eyes. She know’s I’m afraid of what’s to come in the war. If she isn’t scared, then there’s something wrong with her. She intertwines her fingers in my long brown ponytail and pulls me close.
“Tomorrow we march into the city and take back what’s ours.” She says quietly.
“Doesn’t that scare you?” I ask.
“A bit. If we fail, humanity is gone.”
“We won't,” I say sternly. “We will win.”

The gates of our camp slide open and Andrea is there to greet us. She’s planning some big motivation speech tonight around the bonfire. It’s stupid, we all know what’s gonna happen tomorrow. Most of us will die. She walks us through the speech and asks if everything about it is absolutely amazing. I actually just wanna scream, cry, run away, maybe find a nice little place on the beach to live and eventually die. She follows us until we get to the cabin and Sasha shuts the door in her face. Emily and Evan sit at the kitchen table, discussing something.
“Hey,” I say, throwing my backpack on the floor.
“Find anything good while you were out?” Emily asks.
“Nothing really.” I actually didn’t bother to look for supplies, oops.
“Are you ready?” Evan goes to the sink and fills a cup full of water.
“To battle? I feel like...No, I’m not ready. But it has to be done.”

The bonfire is hot. The whole camp is gathered around, laughing and cheering. It’s like they aren’t even phased by the upcoming war. Andrea gets close to the fire and raises her hands.
“People of our colony. We know what lies in front of us tomorrow. Blood will pour on the battleground. We will slaughter and be slaughtered. But, we will prevail. We will march into that city and take back what is ours!”
The whole crowd cheers, but I don’t. I can’t just sit here and cheer for our deaths.
“Tonight, we dine. Tomorrow, we fight.” She says happily.
She starts to walk away but I stop her. “How can you be so happy about this?” I ask.
Her face turns to a frown. “Do you think I’m happy with war? I’m trying to boost morale so we don’t go into the fight thinking we’re going to die.” She walks off.
I stand there, completely frozen. She’s right, morale is important right now. I run off deep into the woods, stopping at where Marco died. I drop to my knees and cry. Why would any sort of God put us through this mess? I would’ve been happier if the planet was destroyed by fire and we were all reduced to ash quickly. I’m scared, not for me...but for the human race.
A hand touches my shoulder and I instantly turn. Sasha picks me up off the dirt and pulls me into a hug, a hug that lasts for a long time. But I need it to last.
I push away. “Sasha...If I die tomorrow, I need you to have this.” I hand her a tracking device. “My sister Ellie, she might the key to something in this war. So if I die, find her. Tell her you know me.”
“You’re not gonna die.” She says. “But I’ll keep it. Let’s go get some sleep.”

Back in our cabin, Sasha and I share a bed. She’s fallen asleep way before me. I just can’t sleep on a night like this. It’s New War’s Eve. When I eventually do fall asleep, I dream of the fallen. Jennifer, Reilly, Marco, Nath. They all died, but they died for humanity. They died so we can exist.
Sirens blare and I instantly wake up with the sun peering through the curtains. It’s war day. I jump out of bed, shower, tie up my hair, put on jeans, a thermal skin-tight long-sleeved shirt, and lastly...my combat boots. I head downstairs where all the others gather around the table, looking at plans. They all turn to me and salute.
“Congrats,” Andrea says. “You’re commander.”
“Oh, so now I have to lead an army? Their blood will be on my hands.”
“You’ll do fine.” She smiles. “Hannah, I’d like you to meet Lexa. She’s the leader of Treehill.”
She looks at me and smiles. She’s beautiful. Long flowy brown hair in multiple braids, black war paint around her eyes, she’s dressed like she’s from medieval times.
“Nice to meet you, Hannah.” She shakes my hand. “Now, I figured we could go in through the tunnels but that’d be stupid. They’re expecting us and we’re expecting them.” Lexa is definitely a strong leader. And she’s only like 23. But I guess that doesn’t matter in the alien apocalypse.
“I say we just storm in and wait for the first gun to fire,” I say. “Not a smart plan but it’s all we got.”
“Okay. Sounds good. Andrea, you have that tech from the friendly aliens?” Lexa asks.
“Yep. These are new exo’s that are made with alien technology. They’re gonna be extremely helpful. We have enough for everyone.”
“Alright. Let’s get going.” Lexa nods to me and we all exit the cabin, our deaths soon.

Lexa and Andrea give one last speech and we all glide to the battlefield. A war-torn, post-apocalyptic Columbus. The buildings are leaning, rubble in the streets, bodies that are now bones, cars rusted and blown to shreds. Here we go, there’s no turning back now. Andrea stands tall and tells us that we will win, we will fight to the death. Then her head explodes and blood splatters against the first row of soldiers. We scatter, hiding around corners. I see Lexa across the street, holding her rifle close to her chest. She looks at me and signals for us to head out from cover.
“Warning. Hostiles incoming.” ISAC says in my ear.
We all flood the street and see our enemies.
“First blood belongs to the aliens,” Lexa says.
“You must be a leader. You're fighting? Who will fight your battle?” An alien laughs. He must be commander of his army.
“Most species bare their teeth as a threat, as a display of aggression; of leadership. I bare my rifle, no one fights for me!” She aims and shoots, commander of the aliens dead.

All hell breaks loose.

“Get down!” Lexa screams. “Mobile cover, now!”
We all grab a small box out of our Exo’s and toss it on the ground. It shoots open, it’s steel wall as wide as two people and as tall as my waist. I crouch down behind and blind fire, the shoot up and fire through my sights. Sasha slides beside me and opens fire. The aliens drop to the ground, one after another. When I think we’re winning, I look around and see our army is thinning as well. I hide behind cover and look up at the sky. The mothership hovers there, probably watching our every move. Filming our war to show to little alien children in the future.
“Hannah!” A woman yells. It’s one of the friendly aliens. “We can take this fight to them.” She says as she ducks down beside me. “We have one of their teleporting devices, we can use it and get up there and blow the ship. It’ll destroy every drone, and every contact that the aliens have with each other!”
I think for a minute. If I did that...I’d die. But I’d die for us, for the humans. And if I do this, the battle would end right now. Sasha tugs on my shoulder. “You can’t do this, you’ll die!”
“I have to!” I scream over the gunfire. “I have to save us.” I wave Lexa over here.
“What’s up? We’re getting murdered out here.” She says, firing at the aliens.
“I’m going up in the mothership with a few of the friendly aliens. We’re gonna blow it.”
“Are you sure about this?” She asks.
“Yes. It’s the only way to win. Sasha, remember what I said about Ellie.” I kiss her forehead and wipe a tear from her cheek. “I love you,” I say.
“I love you too.” She smiles.

The teleportation makes my body feel odd. It’s a good feeling, though. We end up in some sort of room, it’s kinda dark and smells funky.
“We’ll have to blow the main controls.” The girl says, her name is Shai. “ISAC, search for the control room.”
“Control room found. Lower level.”
“Alright, you heard the man. Let’s go.”
We reach lower levels but it’s like a maze down here. I can’t even imagine what’s going on outside right now. Is Lexa and Sasha still alive? What’s gonna happen when the ship blows into a billion pieces?
A man appears out of nowhere and kills the guy with us. He tosses Shai across the room and literally hovers towards me and wraps his hand around my neck. Shai jumps up and pushes him off.
“Go,” I say. “Arm the explosives. I’ll take care of him.”
She runs off and I pull out my sword. “Just you and me.”
He smiles and makes a blade out of thin air. “Alright. Seems fair. You should know, I will win. This battle is pointless.”
I cut his speech short with a swing of my blade. He kicks me in the side, sending shooting pain throughout my body. I swing my sword again, hitting his, listening to the clank of the two objects. Our blades connect a few more times then he elbows me, kicks, and shoves me to the hard floor. I roll out of the way of his swords and sweep his legs out from underneath him. I jump to my feet and hold my blade to his neck. He laughs and throws me across the room. I smash against the wall. Every muscle and joint in my body are screaming. But I have to fight. I run at him, blade drawn. It slices into his stomach. He lets out a load moan in pain. I twist around, slicing his back. One final slice. His head flies off and blood spits from his neck.
“Hannah, if you’re still alive. The charges are set. We have only a few seconds left. It was a pleasure working with you.”
“You too,” I say, taking deep breaths. “Goodbye.”
There’s a large sound, then fire seeps through the floor beside me. I slide down the wall until I hit the floor. Then I feel us heading towards earth. I’m crying at this point, because I’m about to die, but we just won this war. The ship hits the ground, the impact sends me flying forward. I feel the heat engulf me. Then...it’s black.