Arrival: A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller

17

Maya awoke the next morning with the sheets clinging to her sweaty skin. She couldn’t remember the nightmare, but she knew it had involved her kids and Gerald.

Sitting up, she massaged her forehead and rubbed her eyes. Blackout curtains kept the room dark, but she could see sunlight through a crack. She’d fallen asleep in her freshly clean white tank top and underwear. After a big yawn, she slipped into her pants and went to look for Reno.

She peeked into the open bedroom where he had said he would sleep. The bed was made and the room looked exactly as it had the night before. Maya heard noises coming from the living room, though, so she walked out there.

Reno had climbed behind the television and was fumbling with connectors and wires. A digital antenna sat on the table next to the TV, and static covered the screen. Blankets had been bunched up on one end of the couch with a pillow at the other.

“Did you sleep out here?” Maya asked.

Reno jumped up and poked his head out from behind the television. “You scared me.”

“Sorry. I thought you heard me come in.”

“Yeah, I slept out here.” Reno wiped sweat from his brow. “I tried getting the TV working last night, but I couldn’t. Decided I’d rather sleep close to the front door so I could hear if someone tried to break in or something.”

“Don’t you think that’s a little paranoid?”

Reno didn’t respond. He just ducked back behind the TV.

Stretching and fighting off another yawn, Maya shook her head and decided it wasn’t worth pursuing. The smell of freshly brewed coffee came from the kitchen, and Maya nearly had to keep herself from running for a mug. Finding one already set out for her, she poured herself a full cup, mixing in powdered creamer and a half-teaspoon of sugar. A box of Fruit Loops sat on the counter next to a gallon of water. She laughed, thinking that she had never had cereal with water. And she wasn’t about to start now.

“What?” Reno asked from the other room.

“Nothing.” Maya smiled and poured herself a bowl of dry cereal.

She sat at the kitchen table and checked her phone—no signal. She heard Reno cursing and looked up to see him waving the antenna around, moving it into different configurations. The static remained on the screen. He finally tossed the antenna down onto the table and sank back into the couch.

“Stupid thing. I was really hoping we’d get a signal so we could see what’s going on.”

“We aren’t going to have any communications until that dome comes down,” Maya said.

“If it comes down.”

“Don’t say that, Reno. It will. And at least we have water and electricity.”

“For now.”

Maya furrowed her brow. “What’s your problem? You’ve been the one telling me to stay calm.”

“Things might be fine outside the dome, but the situation inside is going to get really bad, fast. The more time that passes, the more claustrophobic everyone is going to get. There isn’t enough space for hundreds of thousands of people to live here. Shit, I couldn’t get through the gridlock on Hillsboro Pike before the dome went up.”

“Then I guess it’s a good thing we’re way out here in White’s Creek and not in the city.”

Reno shook his head. “That’s not good enough.”

“What do you mean?”

“You saw the people out there. How long before they totally lose it? How long before people start breaking into places because they can’t find food or water?”

“Don’t you think that’s a little bit of an overreaction? This isn’t a movie.”

“No, it’s not a movie. This is real. And we’ve gotta be prepared to protect ourselves.”

“So, what do you suggest we do?”

“For now, we’re safe here with a pretty good supply of dry goods. I checked the pantry when you went to bed. But we’ve got nothing other than kitchen knives to defend ourselves. That won’t work. I’ve got a good friend who lives over in Donelson. Sean—he’s a big gun nut. I think, if we can get to him, that he might be willing to hook us up.”

“If he’s such a big gun enthusiast, what makes you think he’s going to be willing to give any of his weapons away at a time like this?”

“Because we’re really tight. Plus, he owes me.”

For what? Maya wondered to herself.

“You’re probably right that it’s for the best,” she said after another moment. “We should head over there soon, and then we can come back and figure out what our next move is going to be. There has to be some way to get through that dome.”

“All right,” Reno said. “I’ll go get dressed and then we’ll leave.”

They headed toward the Donelson neighborhood east of town. According to Reno, his friend Sean lived halfway between the airport and the Grand Ole Opry, off Briley Parkway.

Reno drove again. She felt weird, almost possessive about the rig when they were working—she was the unofficial driver—but now, those kinds of things felt so much less important. Maya couldn’t stop thinking about her kids, and she regretted that moment in the last conversation with her mother where she’d been given the opportunity to speak to them, and instead she’d said she would call back later to talk to them. Then the dome had come, taking away the option. She knew they were in good hands with her mother, but she wanted to hear their voices. Even though Laura was becoming more rebellious and could sometimes be cruel toward her brother, the three of them still had an inseparable bond. It had been that way since Gerald had left. It was true that both kids loved their father, but although Maya would never force them to choose a side, she knew that they understood why she’d had to divorce the man—she knew she had a bond with them that he didn’t; the three of them were a family on their own.

Then her thoughts went from her children to the crazy prepper, Jack. While the idea of aliens being behind the obelisk in Centennial Park seemed ridiculous, she couldn’t help but ponder it as one of the possible explanations. In fact, every time she tried to dismiss Jack’s theory, she always came back to the same unanswered question.

How did that obelisk get there in the first place?

As they drove through the more rural area of White’s Creek and into the city, Maya was reminded of what was taking place in the streets. Reno had to slow down to fifteen miles per hour to avoid parked cars and meandering people—both of which shouldn’t have been in the middle of Briley Parkway.

“It’s getting worse,” Reno said. “People are abandoning their cars because of the gridlock. The dome has stopped traffic completely. I wonder what lower Broadway looks like?”

“We should head that way,” Maya said. “People probably need our help.”

Reno rolled his eyes. “So do your kids.”

“Yeah… but like you said, they’re probably safer on the other side of the dome. And what if we can’t escape? We can’t drive around the city, looking for a way out. People would have found it by now if there were one. We have a responsibility to treat the injured here, now.”

“We talked about this, Maya. We need to look out for ourselves. You’ve got kids to think about—”

“I know! Can you please stop reminding me about my kids?”

Reno sighed. She leaned back in the chair and rubbed her forehead.

“Look, I’m sorry. I will go to the ends of the Earth to find Aiden and Laura, but they’re on the other side. I’m trying to keep my mind off of them by focusing on the people inside the dome. I really don’t know what else to do.”

“It’s okay. I know what you’re going through must be tough. What’s important is that we stay together. I think the best thing to do might be to go see Sean and see what he can do for us. He’s got some street hustler in him, so he might even have heard about what’s going on. And if we can’t get through the dome, then we head back downtown and do what we can to help the city.”

Maya nodded. Then she looked outside again.

A fight had broken out not far from the road, between two groups of people carrying signs and screaming at each other. One man threw a punch, and the rest dropped their signs and joined the fray.

Maya looked away.

I hope there’s a city left to help.