Aftermath (5 page)

Paige snatched the box off the shelf, ripped it open, and dug into one of the individual packs with her fingers. She sank down on the floor, devouring the entire pack before Chad had a chance to even open his. The last time she had eaten had been some time yesterday, and after the marathon chase they’d been on earlier, she was famished.

“You were asking?” she smiled, tossing the empty pack aside.

“It’s actually not that bad,” Chad commented, shoving a handful of food in his mouth.

“Oh, it’s that bad,” Paige shook her head, “but we’re just that hungry.”

Chad let out a chuckle. When they were finished, he shoved several boxes of MREs in their back packs, while Paige went off exploring some more.

She found a roll of duct tape on the floor, and shoved it in her pack. Chad shot her a puzzled look. “Tape?”

“You break it, and this stuff can fix it,” she whispered in response. She headed over to a section of the store containing maps. She found one for Los Angeles, and another for California, and shoved both in her back pack.

“Be sure to grab some water,” Chad whispered, shoving several bottles in his pack. “We’ve got a lot of desert to cross.”

“Which mountains should we head to?” she asked.

“Whichever ones are closest,” he replied. “And the least populated.”

This made her think. “You know there’s a good chance we’re the only two people in this city who aren’t like that,” she remarked.

He nodded, as he continued shoving supplies in his pack.

“What if we’re the only two people in this country, or this world, that aren’t like that?”

“Kinda like ‘I Am Legend,’” Chad nodded.

“Exactly,” replied Paige.

“Bring lots of arrows,” he grinned at her.

This actually got a chuckle from her.

Then the bell over the front door tinkled. Paige and Chad froze, holding their breaths. Chad motioned to a clothes rack in the center aisle. The two of them slipped over to the rack, and ducked behind it. There they waited, as the sound of movement came from the front of the store. Someone was definitely inside.

Paige spotted a concave security mirror in the upper corner of a wall which was more or less in tact. She tapped Chad on the shoulder, and pointed to the mirror. There, they could see a crazed out looking woman scanning the store. She was crouched over, and seemed to be sniffing the air.

Paige reached into her back pack, and retrieved an arrow. She attempted to slip it in her bow, when the arrow dropped, clinking on the floor.

The crazed woman spun in their direction, letting out a growl. Suddenly two more crazies burst into the store, and leaped on the woman, knocking her to the floor.

Then a loud crack like thunder echoed through the city. All three crazies dropped to the floor. Like someone had turned off their switches. Paige and Chad exchanged a look.

“What was that?” she whispered. Chad just shook his head. They waited a minute, keeping their eyes on the crazies. But none of them moved. They were out cold.

Chad slowly rose, motioning Paige to keep behind him. They approached the crazies. Paige kneeled down beside the woman, pressed her finger against her neck. “She’s alive,” she said, looking up at Chad.

“That noise must have subdued them,” Chad commented. “The same way that first noise triggered the rage.”

Paige slid a hunting knife from her belt, reaching for the Crazy.

“Wait!” whispered Chad, reaching for her arm. “What are you doing?”

Paige shot him a look. Isn’t it obvious.

Chad shook his head. “We don’t need to kill them. Let’s take those things out.”

“And what if they wake up while we’re doing it?”

“Then we do whatever we have to,” finished Chad.

Paige just shook her head, sliding the knife back in her belt.

The two of them went to work digging out the implants from behind their ears. Paige was just finishing with the last of them, when another noise came from outside. This sound was like the roar of a jet engine. Chad and Paige froze, still holding onto the last of the implants. They exchanged a concerned look. “That one was new,” she commented on the noise. Chad nodded in agreement.

“Wait here,” he whispered, easing towards the front of the store.

“Where are you going?” she whispered back.

“To see what that noise was.”

“What’s going on?”

Paige and Chad spun around, to see the woman staggering to her feet.

“Shhh,” Chad whispered back, pressing his finger to his lips.

“I will not,” replied the woman, taking a worried look around the store. “Who are you?”

“We’ll explain later. Right now, just keep quiet,” Chad responded.

“Not till you tell me what’s going on.”

“Would you just shut the hell up, lady!” Paige shot back. “We’re trying to help you.”

Before they could react, the woman shot past Paige and Chad. “Help, someone, please!” she shouted, as she raced out the door.

Suddenly a mirage-like wave ripped down the street outside. It swept through the woman, instantly obliterating her into dust.

“Holy, shit,” said Paige, staring wide eyed at the door.

“What the hell was that?” It came from one of the male Crazies they had removed the implant from.

Suddenly a canon-like boom echoed down the block. The front wall of the store exploded in. Chad grabbed his backpack, turned to Paige. “Come on! Out the back!” he shouted, grabbing her by the hand. She snatched up her backpack and bow, and hurried after him.

They ducked out the back service door, and onto a loading dock in the alley, just seconds before a second sonic wave obliterated everything inside. They scrambled down from the loading dock and onto their bikes, pedaling away as fast as they could go.

The Shield

A five year old Paige awakened, and sprang out of bed. With her sparkling blue eyes, and long dark hair, even at that young age it was obvious she would grow into the stunning beauty she later became.

She was in the same bedroom, in the same house, but it was barely recognizable from her current bedroom. The walls were filled with colorful posters and drawings, the floor was clean and tidy, and with the overall pink theme, it just felt girlish. Like this was a happy little girl.

She raced downstairs, finding her mom arranging presents beneath the Christmas tree. Her mom, Hannah, smiled at her young daughter as she hurried over to the presents.

Everyone told Paige that she looked like her mom, and the resemblance was apparent. Hannah was gorgeous. She’d been approached by modeling scouts during college, but just wasn’t into it. What she was into was the handsome young ROTC cadet she’d met her freshman year. That man, Rick O’Connor, would later become her husband, and Brad and Paige’s father.

“Can we open them?” Paige asked, her young eyes pleading.

“I think Brad and your father have something for you in the garage,” her mom smiled back.

“What?” Paige asked.

Her mom shrugged. “Why don’t you go out there and see,” she teased.

Paige sprang to her feet, and rushed out the door.

Out in front of the house, Paige found the garage door open. She raced inside, and found a much younger version of Brad and her dad tightening the nut on the front wheel of a new bike. A new girl’s bike.

Brad had gotten his looks and athletic build from their dad, Rick. He had retired his commission from the Army when Paige was born, but never lost his love for playing sports and staying physically active.

“Wanna give it a spin?” Rick smiled at his young daughter.

She raced over, grabbing her dad in a hug. And then hugging Brad, before wheeling the bike out of the garage.

“Be careful,” Rick called out to her. “Watch for cars.”

“I will,” Paige called back, as she pedaled off.

***

The morning sun was just peeking over the ruins of what used to be Studio City. With its quaint cafes, and movie studios, this had once been a mecca for those in the film industry.

And now all of that was gone. There were no more movies or TV shows, and probably never would be again.

All of this raced through Paige’s mind, as she and Chad maneuvered their bikes through the rubble and debris of this once vibrant suburb of Los Angeles.

Handfuls of survivors wandered along the cracked sidewalks, staring in confusion at the devastation, and the enormous ships hovering overhead. They’d awakened after the thunderclap noise, with no knowledge of anything that had happened the previous day.

“They have no idea what’s going on,” Chad remarked, as he swerved around a deep fissure in the street.

“Should we go tell them they chased us halfway across the city yesterday, trying to kill us,” Paige smirked.

“It wasn’t their fault,” Replied Chad, watching the confused looks on their faces. “We should go help them.”

Paige shot him a look, like he was out of his mind. “Help them how?”

“Take those things out.”

“Are you serious?” she shot back.

“Yeah,” he nodded. “They’re not dangerous anymore.”

“So what happens if that sound comes again, and makes them go all dangerous. No way.”

Chad thought about it for a moment, eyeing Paige.

“Look, I know it’s a dick move not helping them, but I just really don’t want to get eaten.”

Chad nodded. She was right. “So what’s the noise we need to look out for?”

“I think it sounded kinda like nails on a chalkboard. But way worse. At least that’s the way I remember it.”

“And that other sound we heard last night,” Chad added, “that one sounded like thunder.”

“Yup,” Paige nodded. “That one’s like the off switch.”

“Any other sounds?” he asked.

She nodded. “The jet engine one. But I don’t think it had anything to do with those implants.”

“So that’s it, then?” he asked. “Just two sounds that affect their behavior?”

She nodded. “That’s it’s so far. But I’m sure those things have lots more,” she added, nodding to the ships.

***

Paige and Chad continued their trek, finally reaching the ruins of Burbank. Skeletons of once proud buildings continued to smolder in the early morning light.

A small crowd was gathered in the street just ahead. All of them seemed to be staring at the sky.

None of the people seemed to be dangerous, but Paige and Chad weren’t ready to take any chances. They skirted as widely as possible around the crowd.

“Don’t go that way!” someone in the crowd hollered. Paige instinctively skidded to a stop, as did Chad. They looked at each other, then over to the crowd. A guy in a construction outfit was waving them back.

“Why not?” Paige hollered over.

“Watch this,” he hollered back, picking up a rock, and heaving it at the sky.

Suddenly the rock exploded in mid-air, about thirty feet past where Paige and Chad were at.

“Holy shit!” Chad exclaimed.

The construction worker nodded. “Two guys got fried earlier by whatever the hell that thing is.”

Paige just stared up at the sky in the area where the rock had exploded. She slipped the bow off her back, slid an arrow into it, and fired at the sky.

The arrow exploded like the rock had.

“It’s like a force field,” she remarked.

“Any idea how far it goes?” Chad asked.

The construction worker just shrugged. “If I had to guess, I’d say probably around the entire city.”

“Those assholes aren’t gonna let us leave,” Paige swore.

“Kinda looks that way, don’t it,” replied the construction worker. He reached into the back of his pants, and pulled out a Ruger pistol. “Let’s see if they’ve got enough balls to quit hiding in those ships, and come down here and face us.”

Paige was actually starting to like this guy. He had fight in him. And judging by his size, he could probably do some damage.

“Do you have any more of those,” she asked, nodding to the gun, as she climbed off her bike and headed over to him.

Chad started to say something about her leaving her bike, but she seemed to know what she was doing.

“Got a whole apartment full. You and your friend want a couple?”

“Yeah,” she nodded.

“Let’s go get them.”

“Wait,” she said, approaching him, “let me see behind your ear.”

“What is it,” he asked.

“They put these things in us. It’s right behind your left ear.”

“No shit?” he replied feeling behind his ear, and the look on his face let her know he found it. “Can you get it out?”

“Yeah,” she replied. “It’s gonna sting a bit.”

“Just get it out.”

She was just reaching behind his ear, when that ear-splitting squeal began resonating across the city ruins. It was the nails on a chalkboard sound. The “on” switch. The construction worker and the entire crowd keeled over in excruciating pain.