The Intrusion

“Come on, Alex. Drop the books and join me,” my sister, Kacey, said from the pool. “I know you’re trying to be an adult. But come on!”

I scoffed. I closed my textbook and sat on the edge of the pool, with my feet dipped in the warm water. It was a warm and peaceful day. We were home for the weekend, me trying to find time to rest from med school and her taking a break from college. But obviously, it failed for me. Medicine followed me everywhere.

“So, what’s up with you, Kacey?” I asked as I looked around. I could hear the movie Mum and Dad are watching in the living room. “Any thoughts about what you’re gonna major in?” I looked up to see a small black dot and shrugged it off.

“I still don’t know, Alex,” she said as she swam towards me. She rested her arms on the edge as she closed her eyes to feel the sun on her skin. “But I’m definitely not going to be a doctor like you and Mum,” she smiled as she playfully splashed me with water. “I just…I don’t know. I’m pretty much jealous of you for knowing where you’re heading. First year in NYU School of Medicine. Wow.”

I smiled down at her as she played with her fingers. She does that when she’s nervous or anxious. A minute later of silence, she left the pool and covered herself with a towel before sitting beside me. “You thinking about being in Dad’s specialty instead?” I asked, even though I know the answer already.

“No. God, Alex, being an agent is like knowing almost everything.” She combed her dark hair with her fingers as she looked at me with those hazel eyes. Dad used to train us when we were little. He made us go to karate, taekwondo, and judo classes and let us train with different kinds of weapons from all over the world. He would teach us on how to survive on almost anywhere and then leave us for a week in these places. “And Dad made it clear that we are not going to follow his footsteps.”

Of course, I know. I wanted to be an agent or a soldier or even a police but he wouldn’t let me. He told us that he’s only teaching us for the sole purpose of being safe. He knows that I’m good but he doesn’t want to risk it nor admit it. So, I stopped dreaming about it and thought about something else. Like being a doctor.

I looked up again and saw the small dot a while ago got bigger. Curiosity got me. I stood up and stared. I felt Kacey follow my eyes. I watched the dot get bigger but slowly. “Go get dressed and get Mum and Dad,” I told her.

She nodded and ran to our house. The dot got covered by a cloud and in seconds, it appeared again and a little bigger from before. I felt myself turn to stone. What the hell is that? Mum and Dad appeared beside me. They were quiet. I guess Kacey told them.

Dad snapped me back and I forced to look away from the dot. “I want you all to stay inside the house,” he said. “I’ll go to the office to see what’s up.”

“But, honey, what if it’s—” Mum started but stopped when Dad gave her a look. We understood what it means. It’s a serious business. Whatever this dot is, it’s nothing good.

Dad looked at me. “You know the drill, Alex.” I nodded. Of course, I do. Once chaos starts, we are to stay inside the panic room until we can hear that it’s safe. I looked up to see the thing a little better. It looks like a fucking spaceship.

***

We stayed inside the house when we saw Dad’s car disappear at the curb towards his office. He got a call from the President, requesting his presence immediately. Mum was watching the news to see if anyone would tell what the dot is. Kacey was pacing quietly in the kitchen. I was standing by the window, the curtains are drawn but I was taking a peak at the gap every few minutes. The spaceship was getting close that it was making a huge shadow outside. Our neighbours are seeing it, too. Others were outside while the others remained inside.

“Step away from the window, Alex,” Mum said. But I didn’t listen. I needed to know if something bad will happen so we could all run to the panic room in time. I looked away for a second to see if we have everything we needed. Our bags were packed. Food and clothes were jammed inside duffel bags. Mum emptied the kitchen to make sure. Another bag was filled with weapons. I’m sure there’s more in the panic room, but we’d need everything from this attack. All in all, our things can help us survive for three months. Maybe even four, if we stretched it.

I was planning about things or what we’ll do in my head under different scenarios when I heard a scream for help. I pulled the curtain a little and saw the spaceship was too close now and they’re releasing beams of light. I followed the light and froze. My mouth went dry and sweat started to drop.

They’re attacking.

A few blocks away, I could see houses on fire. One exploded which earned a cry from Kacey. The floor began to shake as more explosions were heard. The beam light was getting closer. I turned to get two duffel bags. Kacey took the other two while mum took the last one. We headed to the basement and stopped in front of a metal door.

I punched in the code and the doors opened slowly. As soon as it was wide enough for one person to go inside, I let mum go in first. While my sister and I followed. Kacey punched the red button to close the metal doors.

The panic room wasn’t shaking but we could hear everything thanks to the surveillance system here. Mum and Kacey placed the bags on the beds while I went to the computers on the other side to see what’s happening.

Mum was crying quietly while Kacey tried to calm her down. Dad hasn’t contacted us since he left. And I could feel the anxiety build up in the air. I looked at the monitors as we watched houses get blown away. Mum turned on the television to watch the news.

“What the hell is happening?” I asked myself.

“…Aliens have landed on Earth,” the newscaster said. I turned to watch the news with my family. “An hour ago small dots have been spotted in the sky in all over the world. We didn’t get to prepare for their coming. Their intrusion was sudden. They have attacked and have started to kill millions—”

The room shook. The television went off. The monitors of the surveillance system got shut down one by one. The lights flickered. One thing is for sure: The house got blown up by their light beams.

After a minute, a phone began to ring. It was mine. I followed the sound in the darkness and found my bag on the bed. I unzipped it and the light from my phone helped me see.

“Dad?” I said as I swiped to answer.

“Alex, oh thank God you’re okay,” he said with a sigh. “Is Kacey and Kallie there with you?”

“Yeah,” I said as I sat down between Mum and Kacey. I transferred him to speaker so all of us could hear. The signal of my phone was depleting. And I’m sure that this will hinder with our communication. Mum and Kacey hugged me as I rested my head on my free hand. “Where are you, Dad?” Silence. There was static and I began to panic. My heart began to race. “Dad?”

I looked at my phone to see that it was still connected but the signal has only one bar left. Then we heard him again. “We’re in the White House, baby.” We sighed in relief. “Look, honey, they’re coming. We might not have long.” I heard shooting in the background and people screaming. “Know that I love you, guys. I love you.”

“We love you, too—” But we got cut off with static and the last we heard was guns shooting. I felt Mum’s body shake as tears from her eyes drop on my shoulder. Kacey turned and buried herself in a pillow. I was still holding my phone. Disbelief was swallowing me. Making me fall in this dark hole.

***

We sat in silence. Even when the lights went back, we stared at the walls for hours. I felt my stomach growl but I didn’t bother to move. I looked at the monitors in hopes that one camera will work again. Mum began to move and I followed her with my eyes. She took a gun and stood up. Kacey was beside her in a beat, with a gun at her side.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

She looked back at me with sad eyes. “I need to get out for a while, Alexandra. I don’t think they’re here.”

Before I could even protest, Kacey said, “Don’t worry. I’ll be with her. So stay put, okay?” She tried to smile but failed. They stepped out of the panic room then the door closed behind them with a thud.
Feeling defeated and tired, I went to the bed and laid down. I didn’t try to fight the heaviness in my eyes and I let myself drift away with sleep.

***

I woke up with a start as I felt the ground shake. I looked around and saw no one in the room. I was still alone. Fuck! The ground shook again and I felt my blood drain when I heard a loud explosion. The sound was so close, like it was above me.

In a rush, I took a gun and opened the door. I stepped out to see the basement destroyed. The ceiling has a huge hole and I could see that the house was left in rubble. I climbed up the broken stairs and walked on the remains of the house. Everything got burnt. I couldn’t even identify anything, except for the walls. There was no second floor anymore. Everything was open. The house was only a floor and a basement under the sky above.

I ran around the house, looking for my family. I tried to fight the tears away as I searched. “Where the hell are they?” I kicked a stone and it landed into the pool. I followed it and I stopped on my tracks with what I saw.

The pool was tinged with blood. Pinkish water was occupying the pool. Blood was splattered at the sides. Tears began to hinder my vision. Big rocks and trees fell into the pool. My heart began to race as I walked closer. I was praying that nothing happened to Kacey and Mum. But I was wrong. I was deadly wrong.

At the bottom of the pool was them. Their remaining parts scattered.