Arrival: A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller

33

In the utter darkness, Maya couldn’t see where Reno had fallen, but she could hear him groaning. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her penlight, flashing it in the direction of Reno’s voice. He lay on the ground a few yards away, clutching his injured ankle. Maya kneeled next to him.

“I took a step backward and I think my foot caught a rut. I put all my weight on my bum ankle. What’s happening here, Maya?”

In the distance, people were screaming. Emergency vehicle sirens wailed. Although they hadn’t seen anyone since escaping the tunnel, they were still within the confines of the dome where millions of others had been trapped. And now, whoever was controlling the dome had decided to not only cut the power under it, but to block all natural light, as well.

Maya shivered, despite the seasonably warm weather. “We should hide for now. God only knows what’s coming next.”

She shined her penlight around and spotted a steel toolshed next to what looked like an overgrown and abandoned flower garden.

“There,” she said, pointing. “Do you think you can hobble to it on your good leg?”

“Yeah, but you’re going to have to help me.”

Reno put his arm around Maya’s shoulder and she helped him to the door of the shed, which hadn’t been locked. Garden tools lay on the floor—shovels, rakes, and a few empty plastic spray bottles that smelled of bitter chemicals which had most likely been insecticide.

Maya helped Reno down onto the dirt-covered floor of the shed and leaned back against the corrugated steel wall. Not so far away, people continued to scream, and sirens blared. Maya shut the door and then used her penlight to find an overturned milk crate which she used as a stool, sitting down and facing Reno.

“What just happened? The dome. I think it…”

“Blocked the sun. We’re trapped in total darkness now, inside of this thing.”

“Jesus,” Reno said, putting his face in his hands. “The city was already on edge. Now it’s only going to get worse.”

Maya didn’t want to think about that. Couldn’t think about it.

“We’ll hang here for a while,” she said. “Figure out what to do next.”

Reno touched his ankle and winced before turning to face Maya again.

“I’m only going to hold you back. You shouldn’t have to slow down because of me.”

“We’re partners, and I’m not going to leave you. We’re going to get out of this dome together.”

A moment passed where it looked like he might disagree, but then he nodded.

“Let’s try and rest for a little while. We were in those tunnels all night, and even though it’s morning, we can’t see the sun. A few hours of rest might give your ankle time to heal, but I still wouldn’t take your shoe off, just in case.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.”

Reno laid down on his side while Maya leaned her head back against the wall. She closed her eyes, and was so tired that she couldn’t stop herself from dozing off.

Maya pulled up to her mother’s house in a car she’d stolen. Reno wasn’t with her. It was only her, the Chevy SUV, and the same dirty clothes she’d been wearing since the dome dropped.

But the dome wasn’t a concern anymore. Maya had made it. She was at her mother’s house.

The street was empty—no cars, no people. She jumped out of the vehicle and raced around the front of the SUV before sprinting up the concrete sidewalk leading to the front door.

“Mom!” Maya rang the doorbell several times, and then knocked.

It opened a quarter of the way under her hand.

She furrowed her brow, thinking it was strange that the door was open. Pushing the door the rest of the way open, Maya entered the house.

“Hello?” Her voice echoed off the walls.

Something isn’t right, she thought.

Maya stepped into the living room, listening to her own feet strike the oak floor. The faded sofa her mother had bought over a decade earlier sat in its same spot. The pictures of Maya’s father, as well as those of her with Aiden and Laura, decorated the mantel like they always had. But the place was empty. Continuing to move quietly, Maya went to the kitchen.

Like the living room, the kitchen looked untouched, abandoned. Her mother’s dark red hand towels hung over the oven’s handle. All the roosters she’d collected over the years sat in their respective spots on the kitchen counters and cabinets, and hung on the walls.

Maya was about to head upstairs when she heard a noise come from the garage. It sounded like something had fallen. She hurried to the door. When she opened it, she saw her mother’s car sitting in the middle of the garage, its headlights on and the engine running—windows up. The door was closed and the garage was filled with smoky exhaust.

She had been called to scenes where people had died of carbon monoxide poisoning. Maya knew the extremely poisonous gas could kill a person in mere minutes. And there was only one reason a car would be running inside of a closed garage.

Lunging for the garage door opener button on the wall, Maya smacked it, and the garage door rolled up at a steady, even pace, allowing sunlight and fresh air into the space. She approached the car and, in the daylight, could now see inside.

“No!”

Her mother sat in the driver’s seat, while Laura and Aiden sat in the back. Mom’s mouth was wide open, and her eyes were closed. The two children leaned against each other, their hands clasped together and their eyes closed. Maya beat against the window with her fists.

“Wake up! Aiden! Laura!”

But the children didn’t move.

Tears rolling down her face, Maya turned around and looked for something to use to break the windows.

“You can’t help them.”

Maya froze. She knew that voice well.

Gerald stood just outside of the garage, an arrogant smirk stretched across his face.

“What did you do?”

Gerald walked toward her, taking his time with each step. “I saved them.”

“From what?”

“This piss-poor excuse for a world.”

Crying harder, Maya shook her head. “What are you talking about, Gerald? How could you have done this?”

“Oh, cut the shit. Look around you. This place is hell on earth now. I saved our kids from suffering.”

Maya ran her hands through her hair, her eyes burning from the exhaust fumes and tears. Gerald walked closer, and Maya moved back.

“There’s no reason to be sad. They’re in a better place. You want to spare them from pain, don’t you, baby?”

Maya wiped her face and narrowed her eyes. “Don’t you call me that, you son of a bitch.”

Gerald stopped only a few feet away from her and tilted his head. “But you’re my girl, right? You’re mine.”

“You’re a monster.”

“Yeah?” Gerald laughed. “That’s your opinion. But I know what’s right for my family.”

“We’re not your family. We don’t belong to anyone.”

Gerald shrugged. “Okay. Then Reno can’t have you either.”

And pulling an ax from behind his back, Gerald raised it over his head.

Maya screamed.

Maya gasped as she sat up. Her shirt clung to her clammy skin. She took deep breaths, trying to fill her lungs with oxygen. She couldn’t believe she’d fallen asleep amidst all the chaos, but she also knew her body was hitting its physical limitations. And the nightmare had not been coincidental.

The dream had felt so real.

Somehow, she managed not to wake Reno. That was good. He needed the rest.

She got up, quietly so as not to wake him, and walked outside.

Although it was still dark, a dull, light-infused glow had filled the inside of the dome, offering what was much like the gray light before a thunderstorm. Several people had gathered nearby, all looking in the same direction. Maya jogged toward them and looked through the trees in the same direction they had been staring.

About ten miles away, a circle had appeared in the top of the dome like a celestial manhole cover. The sunlight shone through, illuminating the top of the obelisk. Maya turned to a woman standing next to her.

“What is happening?” she asked.

“I think the top opened,” the woman said.

A man in his early fifties spoke up. “About fifteen minutes ago, we saw some natural light, and so we came out here.”

“The top,” the woman said again. “The dome opened, and it let in some light.”

Maya turned when she felt someone approaching—Reno.

“What’s happening?” he asked.

“Look. Above Centennial Park.”

“I knew it,” Reno said to Maya, his eyes lighting up the way they used to. “I told you that the government would find a way to—”

Beams of purple lightning flickered across the dome above them, and a high-pitched noise cut through the air. Maya doubled over and covered her ears.

Reno was saying something, but Maya could only see his mouth moving. Her teeth vibrated, and it felt as if the sound was going to split her skull in two.

And then it stopped.

Maya stood up, her head pounding. Some of the people standing around had trickles of blood coming from their ears.

“What is that?” the man in his fifties said as he pointed toward the dome’s zenith, where a dark shape had emerged, slowly blocking the sunlight.

Maya watched as something large and dark descended through the opening. Her eyes went wide.

“Oh, my God,” Maya said. “Jack was right.”