Arrival: A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller

34

It filled the circular opening above the obelisk, blocking out any natural light that might have possibly found its way inside the dome. It was like nothing Maya had ever seen. Someone had passed around a pair of binoculars which gave Maya a better look from that distance.

The core of the object resembled a spaceship out of a 1950s science fiction movie—smooth, round, and with a low profile. But unlike those prop pieces that had dangled from fishing line, this one was real. Blinking lights dotted the surface, flashing in perfect synchronicity. What appeared to be thick, scaly patches covered the spacecraft, some thicker than others. Long, thin, antennae wiggled in the air with purple lightning silently erupting between the ends of them. Two triangular wings unfolded from each side after the craft descended through the dome’s aperture. Four conical thrusters blew thick, white smoke toward the ground.

“Is that military?” someone asked.

“I don’t think so,” Maya said.

Maya thought back to what Jack had said. He had warned them. Maya, and especially Reno, had shrugged it off. Maya had wanted to believe what the man was saying, she realized now, but she hadn’t been able to bring her logical mind to do so.

But he’d been right.

A light exploded from the tip of the obelisk, rotating like it came from the top of a lighthouse. The ship spun a hundred and eighty degrees as it descended through the smoky darkness, a door sliding open on the bottom of the ship.

Maya dropped the binoculars and covered her ears as a loud siren pierced the air, apparently originating from within the obelisk. She looked up at the monumental structure again, noticing that the spinning lights on top had turned red.

The ship descended until it rested on top of the obelisk. And then the siren ceased, and the aperture of the dome closed, this being followed by a painful and unnatural silence. An eerie calmness fell over Maya as she stared at the ship.

None of the others standing near her had spoken during their observation, and then one woman said, “I’m glad that’s over.”

I don’t think anything’s over.

The lights on the ship stopped blinking a few moments later, and a heavy, foggy, darkness filled the inside of the dome.

“You all sure that’s not the government?” But the man seemed less convinced of the ship’s earthly origins than he had been. “They could have sent that in here to get us out.”

The ship’s lights flashed on again, this time from a cluster toward what appeared to be the front of the craft. The lights danced and then rearranged themselves, forming a flashing border around an invisible, rectangular hatch.

“What’s it doing now?” someone asked.

Maya felt a cold sweat on her neck, and the inside of her mouth tasted like burning plastic. She made her hands into fists, and the muscles in her lower back tightened.

The ship looked like a flying skyscraper the size of a football field. Compared to the behemoth now docked on the top of the obelisk, the movement near the ship’s hatch appeared ephemeral—like ashes being carried into the air on the smoke of a campfire. More of the specks danced in the air near the ship’s hatch. The swarm began to thicken and then spread out, reminding Maya of a roiling mass of angry bees. As the flying objects spread out from the hatch, Maya saw that the swarm consisted of hundreds, possibly thousands, of what looked to be flying insects. But the distance to the obelisk had distorted her depth perception. Objects she had believed to be insectile grew in size, the closer they flew toward their small group of observers. Within seconds, Maya realized that the ship had dropped thousands of flying creatures into the dome, each one the size of a massive grizzly bear.

“What are those?” someone asked.

Some of the things began landing a few hundred yards away and then slowly walking toward them as if taking a stroll through the park. Maya had picked up the binoculars and could tell they weren’t human, but the rest of the people had yet to get a good look—including Reno.

“We need to get out of here,” Maya said to Reno. “Right now.”

“Where should we go?”

“I don’t know. But we can’t stay here.”

Maya swallowed as those things that had landed continued at a slow, steady pace toward them. It was too dark and smoky to see exactly what they were, but she knew instinctively that it wouldn’t be a good idea to stick around and find out. She ran as Reno called after her, unable to keep pace with his hurt ankle.

Oh my God. Oh my God.

While the gathering crowd gawked at the sky, Maya ran back to the shed where she had been hiding with Reno. He called after her, hobbling along, but she ignored him. Maya burst through the door and gathered their things. Reno was waiting for her when she came out.

“Maya. What’s up with you?”

“Look in the damn sky, Reno, and you tell me what you think is going on. That ship is sending out… things, by the thousands. We’re not safe here.”

“They’re probably paratroopers sent down here to help us. 101st Airborne out of Fort Campbell or something.”

“Open your eyes! Does that look like anything you’ve ever seen before? Reno, Jack was right.”

“Jack?” Reno sighed. “Come on. Now you’re listening to the crazy talk of a prepper?”

“Have you ever seen anything like that? The dome, the obelisk, the ship, the flying things…”

Putting his hands on his hips, Reno exhaled and looked to the ground.

“Please,” Maya said. “We’ve got to get out of here right now.”

“Where are we going to go?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe we can find somewhere to hide. Even back down in the tunnels could be a good idea. But we can’t stay here.”

“All right,” Reno said. “I trust you. Let’s go.”

“How’s your ankle?”

“I think I’ll be okay for now. Don’t wait up for me, though. All right?”

Maya nodded, but she wasn’t going to leave Reno behind.

Dozens of people had gathered around the group they’d been in earlier. Those who had powered off their devices to save the battery now turned the phones back on, pointed them toward the ship, and snapped photos or filmed videos. Others tried getting footage of the objects falling from the hatch of the spacecraft.

“Everyone take cover,” Maya said, eyeing the sights as she came close enough to the group to get their attention.

“Why?” a woman asked.

“This is amazing,” another said. “The army skydivers are coming to free us from the dome. U.S.A.!”

“It’s not safe out here,” Maya said.

Another man who had been insisting the ship was U.S. military spoke up again. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, lady,” he said, apparently convinced that the ship had dropped Clarkville’s own 101^st Airborne into the dome.

“Sir, I know you’re convinced that ship is our military, but I can assure you that it’s not. Now, y’all need to go back into your houses and—”

“Then what is it?” the man asked, cutting her off. “If you’re so damn smart, tell us.”

Maya licked her lips. The words sat on her tongue, but she hesitated. What would these people think if she said what she knew was most likely true?

“I think they’re aliens.”

The word that Maya had wanted to avoid hadn’t come from her lips. It had been Reno who’d answered the man’s question. He stood next to his partner now, shoulders squared, facing the crowd.

Maya knew that Reno believed Jack was nothing but a delirious fool who needed to be institutionalized. To hear the word come from his mouth and to know that he believed in Maya enough to take this stand brought her a brief respite from the craziness. But Reno’s declaration did little to convince the people around them.

Instead of taking cover, they laughed. The group’s voices formed into a collective guffaw.

“You have to listen to us!” Maya shouted over the raucous crowd. She glanced at the sky again. Most of the objects that had dropped from the hatch had disappeared—probably moving toward them as she spoke.

“Yeah, okay, Agent Scully,” another man said.

An explosion shook the ground before Maya could respond. She ducked, and everyone around her screamed and turned toward downtown Nashville.

A dark cloud of smoke rose from the horizon, billowing outward in all directions, going toward the suburbs—toward them.

“What on God’s green Earth was that?” someone asked.

Maya grabbed Reno’s hand. She pulled him along with her as she started away from the crowd. She had tried. They were on their own now.

Another explosion, this one significantly closer.

The crowd scattered. People ran in all directions while some dropped to their knees in prayer. Maya watched a mother pick up her toddler and sprint toward one of the nearby houses, taking her other child by the hand and running so fast that she was dragging the little boy behind her.

Maya hadn’t even realized she had let go of Reno’s hand. She turned around and saw her partner limping, a good ten yards behind her. Yet another explosion came then, this one a mile away at most. The ground rumbled, and Maya covered her head as she went back for Reno.

He was waving her on as she got to him.

“I told you to keep going!” he said.

“I’m not leaving you!”

People ran past them, moving frantically in all directions. Someone bowled into Maya, sending her tumbling to the ground. She landed on her side, scraping the skin from her hip on the rough, concrete path.

“You all right?” Reno asked, reaching down to help Maya up.

“Yeah,” she said with a grimace, rolling the top of her pants off her bleeding hip. “We’ve gotta keep moving.”

She grabbed Reno’s hand and they ran into the night as explosions continued to shake the city.