EPISODE 15. SURVIVORS OF THE L-TRAIN CAR #8222

Episode 15.
SURVIVORS OF THE L-TRAIN CAR #8222

I was completely lost.

I had run towards the last point where the red beacon lights had sparked, crossing over fallen buildings, burnt out cars, and bits of just about everything, only to come to a point where I was totally lost.

The lights hadn’t come back on the tracker since I started moving, so all I really had was a general direction to go by. I knew I was close. I had to be closer than I was. But where exactly? Well, that was the question.

I tried to keep my hopes up. That whoever they were, they were hiding out, or just covered by whatever was covering them. I didn’t want to think of the alternative, that something got them. That they were gone.

I stopped running. I was sure I was close. I turned in circles looking over the skyline to make sure that I wasn’t followed by the aliens. I was freaking out. There was only three hours of light left, maybe a bit more. After that, if I didn’t find them, it would be another night on their own. But, that also meant that I’d be out here by myself with that battalion of whatever’s they were.

“This sucks,” I said out loud. I reached into my backpack and took out a joint and a pack of matches, then lit it, and took a few drags.

It was getting colder. There was a breeze coming in.

I thought about Carlos back at the ship, and just prayed that those things didn’t go in his direction. I mean, why were they walking around? What were they doing? They looked completely different than the ones I killed when I stole the ship. What the hell did that mean? How many different types of aliens were out here?

I took a swig of water. There was an old 1970’s Volkswagen Bug turned over on the next hill. I let out a good laugh. The thing looked like it was still in decent condition, other than being on its side. I used to remember my father telling that they were made so well they’d probably drive right through the end of the world. Funny.

I walked over to it, checking it out. It really was okay. Not even the windows were cracked.

I took off my bag and placed the “Big Gun” beside it. Then I placed my weight firmly on the ground and pushed the thing with all that I had. It rocked a few times, then it came down on its tires with a good loud roar.

I reached into the car and pushed its horn. It rang out in all directions. I let out another laugh and beeped the horn a few more times. Then I wiped my hands against my pants and looked around again.

“Help! Is someone there?” came from behind me.

“Anyone! Help us! Can you hear us?” came in another voice.

I picked up the big gun and cautiously walked down the hill toward their voices. Where the fuck were they coming from, and what was blocking them? I passed a train entrance about two blocks back. I started to wonder.

“Where are you?” I screamed into the air, as I turned around a corner of debris.

“We’re down here!” a woman’s voice screamed.

I looked a few more feet ahead of me, and there in the ground was a gaping hole about four car lengths long. I walked over to the edge and looked down into a subway tunnel that was filled waist high in water, and there standing in it were seven people looking up at me.

I smiled.

“Don’t worry. I’m here to help.” I said to them. “I’m going to get you out of there.”

EPISODE 14. AS QUIET AS YOU CAN

Episode 14
AS QUIET AS YOU CAN

They were right on top of me.
I kept as close to the shadows as I could, barely breathing so I wouldn’t make a single sound.

One of the aliens stood a few feet away. It kept turning its head in different directions while electronic chatter came from its helmet. I was sure that it was a radio connection of some kind that kept them in contact with one another. If not, then that was their language. A grouping of static filled squarks and pings. I was so close to it that I could make out moisture on its suit. Beads of water slowly streamed along its black skin suit. It was strange, and made me second guess whether or not it was an outfit, or part of them.

The ship overhead rumbled ever so quietly. However, whatever I could see of it through the clouds was massive. It was a massive obsidian ship, probably the size of an aircraft carrier, just floating in the sky above us.

At that exact moment, my tracker flashed to show four more red dots blinking north from us in the same location. I wanted to scream. Not now.

On cue, the helmet chatter changed. Questioning tones filled their broadcast, with undercurrents from several different troops chiming in. They had to be talking about the blips. They had to have similar tracking devices. They had to have been deciding what to do.

I raised my head again to look down at the two troops below me. They stood there awaiting new instructions. One of them kicked a stone in a very human manner, almost like he was bored with the delay. Then the talking changed again, and the troops started moving in the direction of the red blips.

I stayed motionless watching them. Several more met up with the two below and began walking together in a new formation.

I held my breath. The further away they got, the more freedom of movement I had. I listened to the sound of their footsteps. I looked at the tracker. Two of the four blips had vanished from the screen. But, two remained, one of which was fading in and out. Then without any explanation, they both vanished.

I looked down at them again. The ground troops stopped moving. Well, at least they were as confused about the red lights as I was.

But it gave me a stupid idea. I reached into my bag and pulled out my blocker, opening the back of it the same way that Carlos had. The last of their ground troops were now a good half mile away from me, with the tail end of their ship hovered above. I peered through the clouds to make out what I could only assume were their engines.

“Please let this work,” I thought to myself as I hit the green reset button on the back of the blocker.

The device blinked off, and as it did a new red dot, representing me, appeared on the tracker’s screen as the device re-set itself.

Again, right on cue, the ground troops stopped walking at the same time that my red blip disappeared.

“Okay, Motherfuckers. Figure something out,” I whispered while wiping the sweat off of my brow.

I positioned myself with the “Big Gun” pointed at their men for over fifteen minutes while their helmets chattered on about what they were going to do. I figured that I’d fire down at them until I was overwhelmed, and if it came to it, I’d just empty the big gun at their ships engines until the whole damn thing came down on top of all of us. I just prayed that none of the red blips came back on the screen for long enough to confuse them.

After a few more minutes I heard their helmet chatter change again as the entire battalion resumed their original course. Hopefully they thought it was a glitch. I don’t really care, just as long as it worked. Minutes passed, and they still continued west. Twenty minutes later, I finally pried my fingers off of the “Big Gun.”

I stayed in the same position for the next hour, not daring to move while silently watching their troops walk away into the distance before I picked up my things started running over the broken terrain again.