Arrival: A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller

15

Maya looked out the window as they passed the crowds gathering downtown. Most of the city’s churches had been represented by people holding signs, many of the Bible Belt’s faithful claiming the dome had been God’s doing—that Jesus was coming ‘home.’ Others not affiliated with a church screamed at those holding signs, believing this was a terrorist attack. Some of East Nashville’s hipsters even seemed to think a conspiracy was at play, with the United States government behind it. Maya turned away, trying to block out the conflicting words and ideologies attempting to explain the unexplainable.

Reno had insisted on driving to give Maya a break, and she knew she needed it after witnessing the helicopter’s explosion. Jack sat in the back, but had thrust his head into the rig’s cab to talk to them. Maya checked her phone every few moments, but still couldn’t get a signal. She thought of Aiden and Laura, her mom, and even Gerald—the thoughts kept rushing in, and made her eyes buzz. Finally, she sighed and shoved the phone into her pocket.

“I’m sure your kids know you’re all right,” Jack said.

Maya rubbed the back of her neck. Sweat collected on her brow.

“You need to start talking,” Maya said, ignoring the man’s comment.

“Lots of traffic out there. People in the streets,” Jack said. “There’s plenty of time.”

Pedestrians ran across the street without bothering to look for cars. Many vehicles sat in the middle of the road, several having been abandoned by their drivers. Even with the rig’s siren blaring, Reno had difficulty maneuvering through the crowds.

“I’ve got no problem dropping you off with all these crazy fools if you don’t hold up your end of the bargain,” Reno said.

“Earlier, you called that thing in the park a ‘beacon,’” Maya said. “What did you mean by that?”

“Let me first ask you a question,” Jack said. “What do you think it is? I doubt you’ve been reading the confidential reports that I have access to.”

Reno huffed and shook his head.

“Honestly, I wouldn’t even have a guess.”

“Humor me.”

Maya exhaled. She wasn’t in the mood to humor anyone. She had already convinced Reno that taking the crazy man back to his house was a worthwhile idea, and now she was having second thoughts about it. Jack talked like one of those conspiracy-theory nutjobs.

“I don’t know,” she said finally. “A lot of people are claiming this is a terrorist attack. That seems to make a lot of sense. Between the Middle East, North Korea, and Russia, there’s a lot of people who would like to attack us.”

“And how exactly do you think one of those rogue states could get a six-hundred-foot-tall structure into the ground and then make it magically rise from underneath the Parthenon?”

“Look, I was just trying to answer your question,” Maya said, her voice cracking. “Don’t play games with me. Tell me what you know. I mean, maybe the obelisk was already buried underground, and one of those countries figured out how to connect to it or something.”

“Ah,” Jack said, raising both his index finger and one of his eyebrows. “Now you are onto something.”

“Look, man,” Reno said. “We’re not letting you out of here until you tell us what you know. So why don’t you go on and spit it out?”

“All right, then. Since you kids don’t want to be patient, I’ll go on and let loose. Have you ever heard of the ETC?”

“No,” Maya said. “What’s that?”

“It stands for the Extra-Terrestrial Coalition. It’s a group that’s been around since the late 90s, right around the time the internet started to take off. I’ve been a member since ’99. I got into their theories during the Y2K craze. Stumbled across it while looking at some conspiracy theory type stuff.

“Anyway, the message board began as a watchdog group focusing on all kinds of government initiatives—mostly covert. At that time, everyone was talking about the millennium and what was going to happen to computers when the date rolled over to zeroes. But there was a sub-group of forum members more interested in something else. A real looming threat that was far greater than computer software going haywire.”

Maya waited for Jack to break his dramatic pause.

“Aliens.”

Reno laughed. “You’ve got to be kidding me. You really are a crazy bastard there, Jack.”

Jack looked at Maya. “See why I was hesitant to tell you?”

Maya could understand Reno’s reaction. This old coot had probably seen one too many invasion movies. But something in his voice made her pause anyway. She saw an understanding in Jack’s eyes that made her hesitate.

“Stop laughing,” Maya said to her partner. “Let’s hear him out.”

“You can’t be serious. Aliens? You’re really going to believe that aliens are what put the dome over the city?”

“I didn’t say I believe it. I said I want to listen to his whole explanation. He hasn’t told us how he knows all this.”

“And I’m not sure I want to after being ridiculed by your partner.”

“I apologize for my friend’s reaction,” Maya said. “But you can understand why he would laugh. People cruising internet forums and bulletin boards for evidence of an alien invasion aren’t exactly the most reliable types. But it doesn’t mean I’m not willing to hear you out. So, go on.”

The man stared at Reno, waiting for another barb or verbal insult. Reno rolled his eyes. Jack cleared his throat and continued.

“That obelisk that rose up and destroyed the Parthenon has been there for hundreds, thousands, maybe millions of years. It was buried deep beneath the Earth’s surface by an advanced alien civilization. Some of my friends in the ETC claim that there’s a generator beneath the obelisk, that it’s powering the dome. They say that, if we can somehow disrupt the power supply to the generator, we might be able to weaken or even destroy the dome. But that’s a long shot.”

“Slow down. If it’s been there for all that time, why did it decide that now was the time to rise from the ground and destroy the Parthenon? And why didn’t we know if it before now?” Maya asked.

“There are a lot of theories, but I think most of them are bullshit.” Jack paused as two men stumbled across the road, each with a fistful of the other’s shirt. “The truth is, no one really knows. But there is one thing I can tell you for sure—that obelisk didn’t just pop up out of the ground to drop a dome over Nashville because the aliens like country music. It’s a beacon—sending a signal out.”

“A signal?” Maya swallowed. “What kind of signal? To whom?”

“Maybe it’s notifying the mothership, over some kind of galactic Wi-Fi.”

“Bullshit,” Reno said.

“You don’t have to believe me. But I know it’s true. They always planned on returning, and it was never a question of if, only when.”

“And it just so happens that only losers and loners cruising internet forums know this.”

Maya shot a glare at Reno, but his sarcasm had become a lump in her throat—she wasn’t sure she could swallow Jack’s story. “How could the government hide something like that?”

“They are, and they have been for decades. If you don’t think that the government doesn’t have a top-secret team studying extraterrestrial life forms, then you’re a fool. I hate to be the one to break this to you, but we’re not getting out from under this dome. I don’t know if the government is bringing scientists in to do experiments on the outside of the dome, but there isn’t anyone inside of it that knows what to do. The police and National Guard—the only thing they’re trying is brute force, and that isn’t going to work. Your kids—you’re never going to see them again.”

Maya shuddered as Reno steered the rig to the side of the road.

“That’s it,” Reno said.

The paramedic slammed on the brakes. Maya extended her hands, palms out, and locked her elbows to keep from slamming into the dashboard. Reno threw the gear shift into park and turned to Jack, who had fallen off the gurney and now sat on the floor of the rig.

“Out.”

“What?”

“You heard me. I said, get the hell out.”

“That wasn’t the deal. I told you what I know.”

“You’re some bullshit con man. Now get. Out.”

Jack turned to Maya. “I’m sorry if I offended you. I really am. But you have to understand that—”

Reno unbuckled his seatbelt and grabbed Jack by his shirt. He dragged the man over the seat and through the door. They both tumbled to the ground, Reno falling on top of Jack. Reno planted his hands on Jack’s chest and pushed himself up to his feet.

“You can walk from here. We’re almost to White’s Creek, anyway. Honestly, I don’t care where you go, but your ride with us is over.”

Reno stepped back up into the rig and slammed the door.

Maya expected Jack to be angry, and so she waited for him to jump up and rush the rig. But he never did. Instead, through the closed door, she heard something else.

The man was laughing.

She held eye contact with him until Reno pulled away and Jack faded into the rearview mirror.