Episode 9.
THUNDERSTORMS
Raindrops pounded against the hull of the ship as the thunderstorms went on their second day. They came down hard and fast and didn’t let up.
We were lucky to have dug through the wreckage of a Key Food supermarket on Mc’Guiness Blvd for supplies before the rain hit. We got tons of canned goods and other things. Really, it was enough to feed a small army for two weeks.
We made it back to the alien ship right as the storm came on us. The rain just poured down, and we stayed put in the ship.
Carlos and I were on a steady diet of “Butterfinger” candy bars and weed. We had to have smoked roughly an ounce between the two of us over the last two days, spending our time looking through every compartment in the ship. Examining every piece of hardware and trying to figure out what it might be used for.
Carlos was fascinated by the flight controls. He kept going over to the strangely lit alien board. I kept peering out at the storm sitting dry underneath the ship on the access ramp. Day and night, I perched there waiting for whatever mess was going to find its way to us. But, all in all, nothing but the rain came. Nothing showed up on the alien life form tracker either. Just rain.
I kept one of the alien guns close by at all times. Carlos and I had stashed weapons throughout the ship just in case we had to fall back for some kind of last stand. I just wished we knew the ship better, or could read the alien text that was written on everything. I was sure it had defensive weapons onboard, but we couldn’t figure out where they were, or how to use them.
As the day moved on we got into the “shrooms” that were in the bottom of the duffel bag. Once we found them tightly wrapped beneath the “Blatt-attack” I knew it wouldn’t be long until we got into them.
We both ate about an eighth each.
They came on fast and strong. Before I knew it, I had been staring at the falling rain for over an hour, completely zoning out at the puddles and pools that were forming throughout the debris. Rivers of rain flowed along depression lines in every direction, causing streams to break off and reform again further down. It was a complete mess. Without the sewer system, everything that was once Brooklyn just washed away into deep pools and fast flowing flood rivers.
Carlos sat in front of the control board staring at the pulsing green neon lights. His eyes danced along the board while his fingers seemed to crave touching the colors.
I came over.
“Shit man…I’m fucked,” I said.
“Si…” Carlos bellowed, followed by “Niicceee!”
He turned his glassy eyes back to the board and was once more sucked into the lights. He began to lightly touch the controls. Feeling the knobs. Daring to touch the odd red glowing orb that was hardwired onto the board.
I watched him for a bit until I found myself at the access ramp again, staring at the rain. I lit up a roach that was sitting there on the ledge and smoked it. I watched the trails blow into the storm. Then, for whatever reason, I decided to walk out into the rain.
I must have walked about twenty yards away from the ship, carefully stepping over the rain soaked ground. It was impossible to see anything, just a black night sky that was occasionally lit up by long bursts of lightning. The rain soaked me down to my skin. I closed my eyes and felt it hit me.
Lightning crackled above me, followed by loud thunder and howling wind. I opened my eyes and squinted. I couldn’t see the ship, or the dim light coming from its opened hatch.
The wind whipped at me with biting rain. It was too much. I was starting to feel dizzy. I needed to get back inside, so I turned towards the direction of the ship.
I took two steps and then tripped on something and began to fall face forward. I reached out for anything to hold onto, but I only continued to fall down into the darkness with the rain.
