Blue Through the Grey
Death Ray
It is officially freezing and every inch of my body trembles in the cold crisp air. I don't know what's better, freezing to death or being blown to bits by a death ray. But my brain decides for me. DEATH RAY, DUH. Yeah brain, you're so right. I make a quick pitstop at a clothing store, grab some new boots, pants, long sleeve shirt and a button-up sweater. It's better than nothing I guess. OH GOD. I reach into my pack and pull out clear little bag, inside contains the most delicious thing on this planet. A red velvet cupcake. I rip open the bag quickly and shove half of it in my mouth, forgetting that this is the apocalypse and food is virtually down to none. I'm not too dumb, I savor the moment, taking in the gooey presence of junk food. I wrap up the other half and save it for later. I've never realized how hungry I was until I took the first bite of that cupcake. Damn, it was good. If I just had a glass of milk, that'd top it off. Back to the highway I go and right before the darkness settles upon the lightless land, I find something. A friggin camper attached to a truck. IT'S A FRIGGIN CAMPER. A nice one too. I swing open the door and take a whiff of the smell. It must've been recently bought before the arrival. It still has that New camper smell to it. I toss off my boots, throw my bag on the floor, lock the door, pull the blinds then plop down on the bed. A bed. I haven't seen one of those since the refugee camp and even then, it was a military cot, nothing special about it. I can rest my eyes easy tonight.
I follow dad up a large hill, my calves burning as they reach for something to keep me balanced. Nice trail up the mountain dad. When I ask to rest, he says; "You think the aliens rested when they were blowing us up? No" He's so stern and I'm about to throat punch him but we finally reach the top and are stopped by three armed men. They look at us, sweat pouring down their faces. It is really hot here and I can feel the sweat pour down my face as well. Gross. Oh, who's that girl? That's just sweaty gross Jenn. A man comes walking between them and waves his hand at us. I couldn't tell if it was a NO, GET AWAY wave or a SURE COME IN wave but obviously, my dad figures it out because he's walking up to the gate. I run, trying to catch up but my legs are far too weak and tired. The man must be in charge here, he calls himself Slim. Dunno why, though, he's far from slim. The first thing that pops into my head, there's literally no room. There's a row of beds on the right side and what looks like to be an eating area in the middle and to the far left there's a rickety old kitchen. What the hell are they cooking here? I don't see any food. My dad walks outside with Slim to talk about something, probably the aliens. When he comes back in, he's carrying a rifle and that rifle would soon be my best friend. No one called each other by their actual names here, don't ask me why; easier to remember I guess. I was shy eyes, dad was roach, the girl that talked about being probed was obviously named probe and Slim was...slim. Maybe they called him that because he was for sure not slim. He was kinda round and tall but had amazing posture.
BANG. I was sleeping pretty damn good. I slowly crawl over to one of the windows and peek out. Just my luck, a drone. It's hovering about fifteen feet from the ground and shining it's bright light back and forth. Searching for something. What? Me? I sure as hell hope not. For the next two frigging hours, it sits there. It eventually takes off towards the sky, back to the mothership. I can finally breathe now, it's was like I holding my breath for those two hours that felt like two decades. I force myself to go back to the bed but I can't sleep. That was way too close for comfort. I sure hope that space junk wasn't sniffing around for me. I'd kill for a steak right now, like literally kill. If some guy came up to me with a steak, I would kill him. Terrible, right? I look up at the ceiling, thinking of all the movies that will never ever be finished or even made. God, I was hoping my favorite book would be a movie before the Outsiders blew us all to hell. Desires of Lust. One of those books with the hunky male on the cover, grasping the lady with the flowing dress. My mom was totally into those kind of books but I wasn't until one day she handed over Desires of Lust. The handsome city boy Trey and the out of town girl Elizabeth meet each other and eventually fall in love. How cheesy, right? I'll never have a love like that, well only in dreams.
A drone literally fell from the sky and crashed right outside the gates. Dad and Slim joked about the aliens being microscopic, but we all knew they were being controlled at the mothership. Probe tries to lighten the mood by telling stories of how she owned a pug and how she worked at a very fancy hospital and did viral surgeries. Good for her. I'm not really interested in the bullshit that flows so easily from her mouth. I'm zoned out, thinking about the cute boy that kept screaming my name when we were on stage. I don't even know his name but I think we're in love. Ha-ha. That night, Slim and a guy they call Beef, cook up a great meal. It's deer but It's still pretty appetizing. A little boy sits next to me at the makeshift dinner table. His hair is ash blond and his eyes are a sharp blue.
"Do you think they'll find us?" He asks. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to reply to that. He reminds so much of my younger brother, this kid can't be any older than six. "I'm not sure, I hope not"
"Those aliens will be in a world of trouble if they do" He rolls up his sleeves, exposing his "Muscles"
"Oh yeah," I say. "Wouldn't want to mess with you" I tease.
"I'm Jonah, but people call me piglet"
I wipe food from my hands and onto my pants and shake his one free hand. "Jenn, but they call me Shy Eyes"
"Your eyes don't look shy. Like Slim doesn't look....slim"
And that's the last time I saw young Jonah, the last conversation I had with him, the last time I'll look into his beautiful blue eyes. He was sick the next morning and pronounced dead that afternoon. They're saying it's the aliens making people sick, I just think it's the very unsanitary housing we take refuge in. But who knows?
I follow dad up a large hill, my calves burning as they reach for something to keep me balanced. Nice trail up the mountain dad. When I ask to rest, he says; "You think the aliens rested when they were blowing us up? No" He's so stern and I'm about to throat punch him but we finally reach the top and are stopped by three armed men. They look at us, sweat pouring down their faces. It is really hot here and I can feel the sweat pour down my face as well. Gross. Oh, who's that girl? That's just sweaty gross Jenn. A man comes walking between them and waves his hand at us. I couldn't tell if it was a NO, GET AWAY wave or a SURE COME IN wave but obviously, my dad figures it out because he's walking up to the gate. I run, trying to catch up but my legs are far too weak and tired. The man must be in charge here, he calls himself Slim. Dunno why, though, he's far from slim. The first thing that pops into my head, there's literally no room. There's a row of beds on the right side and what looks like to be an eating area in the middle and to the far left there's a rickety old kitchen. What the hell are they cooking here? I don't see any food. My dad walks outside with Slim to talk about something, probably the aliens. When he comes back in, he's carrying a rifle and that rifle would soon be my best friend. No one called each other by their actual names here, don't ask me why; easier to remember I guess. I was shy eyes, dad was roach, the girl that talked about being probed was obviously named probe and Slim was...slim. Maybe they called him that because he was for sure not slim. He was kinda round and tall but had amazing posture.
BANG. I was sleeping pretty damn good. I slowly crawl over to one of the windows and peek out. Just my luck, a drone. It's hovering about fifteen feet from the ground and shining it's bright light back and forth. Searching for something. What? Me? I sure as hell hope not. For the next two frigging hours, it sits there. It eventually takes off towards the sky, back to the mothership. I can finally breathe now, it's was like I holding my breath for those two hours that felt like two decades. I force myself to go back to the bed but I can't sleep. That was way too close for comfort. I sure hope that space junk wasn't sniffing around for me. I'd kill for a steak right now, like literally kill. If some guy came up to me with a steak, I would kill him. Terrible, right? I look up at the ceiling, thinking of all the movies that will never ever be finished or even made. God, I was hoping my favorite book would be a movie before the Outsiders blew us all to hell. Desires of Lust. One of those books with the hunky male on the cover, grasping the lady with the flowing dress. My mom was totally into those kind of books but I wasn't until one day she handed over Desires of Lust. The handsome city boy Trey and the out of town girl Elizabeth meet each other and eventually fall in love. How cheesy, right? I'll never have a love like that, well only in dreams.
A drone literally fell from the sky and crashed right outside the gates. Dad and Slim joked about the aliens being microscopic, but we all knew they were being controlled at the mothership. Probe tries to lighten the mood by telling stories of how she owned a pug and how she worked at a very fancy hospital and did viral surgeries. Good for her. I'm not really interested in the bullshit that flows so easily from her mouth. I'm zoned out, thinking about the cute boy that kept screaming my name when we were on stage. I don't even know his name but I think we're in love. Ha-ha. That night, Slim and a guy they call Beef, cook up a great meal. It's deer but It's still pretty appetizing. A little boy sits next to me at the makeshift dinner table. His hair is ash blond and his eyes are a sharp blue.
"Do you think they'll find us?" He asks. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to reply to that. He reminds so much of my younger brother, this kid can't be any older than six. "I'm not sure, I hope not"
"Those aliens will be in a world of trouble if they do" He rolls up his sleeves, exposing his "Muscles"
"Oh yeah," I say. "Wouldn't want to mess with you" I tease.
"I'm Jonah, but people call me piglet"
I wipe food from my hands and onto my pants and shake his one free hand. "Jenn, but they call me Shy Eyes"
"Your eyes don't look shy. Like Slim doesn't look....slim"
And that's the last time I saw young Jonah, the last conversation I had with him, the last time I'll look into his beautiful blue eyes. He was sick the next morning and pronounced dead that afternoon. They're saying it's the aliens making people sick, I just think it's the very unsanitary housing we take refuge in. But who knows?