Blue Through the Grey

My soul is a bridge and it's collapsing fast. Faster than the annihilation of the human race. Morning comes so fast, I must've fallen asleep. I sit around and debate on whether I should leave the mobile home or make it a permanent camp. Half my brain says leave and the other half says stay. If I stay, that drone will eventually come back and shoot the hell out of me. If I leave, the same thing happens. What's riskier? I tell myself an excuse to leave; the air is musty. Works out pretty well because I'm back on the road, doing what I do best. Surviving. I finally eat the other half of the cupcake, I almost forgot what it tasted like. Where the hell am I going? What's my goal? There's nothing left so why have a goal? It's just me, the cars, the trees, oh and I can't forget the Aliens. I miss my friends, I miss communication. Not that I communicated much before this, but after awhile, it gets to you. Just as I pass the red ford explorer, something whizzes by my ear with a high pitched scream. It hits the window beside me, shattering it into a billion pieces. Of course, shards fly into my face, embedding themselves into my skin. But before I can get to cover, a shooting pain explodes throughout my left arm. I drop to the ground and roll underneath the car. HEY JENN, IT'S YOUR BRAIN AGAIN. HOW'S THE HIGHWAY GOING? OH, NOT GOOD? Why didn't I stay in the camper? Like I said before, stupid Jenn.

"Aim at the can," My dad says for the billionth time.
"I'm trying. The can seems to move" I tease, but he doesn't really joke anymore. "Laugh. It's funny"
"Hit the can," He says seriously.
I aim through the sights, take a deep breath and picture one of the cans as a little green alien head. BOOSH. The can explodes. I rub my shoulder, the pain from the constant kick of the rifle is starting to set in.
"That's enough for today, Jenn. Let's get lunch"
Dad takes the gun from me and stores it in the cabinet that's behind a large wooden door in the barracks. Lunch, well...it's not great. Soup. Some sort of nasty deer soup. I'm not sure if there's clothing floating around in it or not, but I shove it down my throat and pretend to like it. Beef is a little under the weather so head cook today is Probe. God, she's annoying, plus her food sucks. I'd rather eat a steaming pile of dog shit. Slim comes in and slouches down in the chair. His eyes are sunken into his head and his hair seems to be thinning. He looks like hell basically. I don't wanna ask him any questions so I just do what I planned anyway. Hunting. Dad tells me not to because it's too risky and the aliens might blow me up but we need food, not soup. I get the rifle from the cabinet and head out the back door, of course, I have to be sneaky. I don't want people to know I'm out here. I hop the fence and head into the dense forest. After an hour and a half, I finally see my prey. A deer. A beefy deer. And I'm going to blow it's head off.

WOOSH. The bullets keep raining down, if I'd stick my arm out from under the car, it'd be torn to shreds. No laser? That's odd. I could try to shoot down the drone but that'd most likely be suicide. So I wait and I wait until the drone finally gives up and shoots back towards the sky. Now is the time to move. I crawl out from my hiding place and make a run for it. The woods. Stripped of their leaves, it offers very little cover but at least, I'm not out in the open. I'm running as fast as I can, I don't even feel the wound on my arm anymore. Why am I running? The drone is gone. But in the back of my mind, it's not. The tree limbs scrape against my face, I don't care though, I'm running as if the drone was tracking me. STUPID, YOU LEFT THE CAMPER AND GOT SHOT. HOW DUMB CAN YOU BE? Pretty friggin dumb obviously. These stretch of woods aren't very long. I get to the other side in a few minutes. There awaiting me is a convenience store. How...convenient. I press my face against the front door and look side to side, no one home. I walk in, breathing in my surroundings. The great thing about this apocalypse, looters were too scared to loot. There are rows and rows of chips and candy bars and 32 packs of water. I am in heaven. Okay, now I'm feeling the gunshot wound. The adrenaline has worn off and now it feels like I have another heart and it's in my arm, beating with the rhythm of the heart in my chest. I find some gauze and wrap them around the pulsating wound. It doesn't feel too great but I have to deal with it.

The deer's head explodes before I can even aim at it. Damn. I turn to where the shot came from and guess who it is. My dad. He looks somewhat pissed and somewhat happy. Pissed that I'm out here and happy that I'm still alive.
"I told you not to come out here."
"I had to. I'm not eating cloth soup for dinner."
He laughs. "Me neither, Jenn. Ya know, you're like a horse that doesn't wanna stop running...a fighting horse."
And in that moment, I knew I was no shy eyes. I was a fighting horse, an unstoppable will to fight. Dad grabs one leg and I grab the other and we both drag it back to camp. I feel like a superstar, bringing a huge deer back. The looks on everyone's faces were priceless. I think I even saw Probe drooling as we drug it by her. Beef needs to get better soon, I'm not letting Probe ruin this meal. Over my dead body. I'm sure she'd like to see my dead body, it's no secret that I don't really like her. That night, Beef got better and we dined on deer. God, It was the best tasting thing ever. No exaggeration. After I stuff myself, I lay in my cot and read Desires of Lust for the millionth time. Some parts of the story still get to me. Like when Trey left Elizabeth for that whore three doors down, or when Trey finally realized that Elizabeth was the one for him. A real tear jerker. Reading the book only makes me miss mom more. Those stupid aliens came at the worst time. They could've come when I was I dead. Just a tad bit soon, aliens. I close the book and eventually my eyes. That's the last good sleep I'll ever have.

I rip open a bag of barbecue chips and chow down. I drink like ten bottles of water. You don't know what all you have until it's taken from you. That's what mom used to say. I'd just play it off, but now I know what she was talking about. I set up camp behind the coolers which are not cold anymore. The light fades as darkness comes. There I am, little Jenn, snuggled into her sleeping bag behind a large row of coolers waiting for the world to turn back to normal. Something wakes me up, the sound of a can dropping outside of my little shelter. I instantly grab my rifle and peek out. I can faintly see a figure, maybe a man? I hide behind a large crate of soda and wait. The door opens and sounds of boots crunching glass rings in my ears. He rounds the corner. He know's I'm there.
"Out," He says.
I come out from behind the crates. We're both pointing our guns at each other.
"Drop your weapon."
"No," I reply sternly. "Drop yours first" Sweat drips down my forehead.
"That's not gonna happen," He says.
He must be military or playing the part because he's dressed in all camo. "Then I'm not dropping mine."
"You're human," He whispers. "You would've shot me already if you weren't."
"Huh?," He doesn't make sense. He reaches into his pocket and I fire. I think I'm screaming or maybe he is. I didn't know what he was gonna pull out of his pocket. I closed my eyes in hopes that'd I'd miss. But I don't and there lying in front of me is a dead soldier. Probably the only soldier left. And I, Jennifer. Shot him. I examine him, the thing in his pocket was a small gold locket. I open it and see what looks like to be his mother and sister. I gulp hard, knowing I just killed an innocent man. I keep the locket, to remind of the innocent man I murdered. But what did he mean by I would've shot him if I wasn't human? Does he know what they look like? Are they taking human form? Questions upon questions that will never be answered.