Arrival: A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller

45

“How did you do that?” Kenny asked.

Maya picked her machete up off the ground and led Carly, Kenny, and the rest of the survivors back to the bathroom. The alien she’d battled had flipped onto its stomach and managed to cover its head with scraps of clothing torn from dead bodies. Its feet twitched, but it was otherwise still.

“Help me drag it out of the stall.”

Kenny looked at Carly before addressing Maya, wincing as he shifted his weight from his bum leg. “Now, sweetheart, I don’t know what you think we’re gonna—”

“Do it, Kenny,” Maya said, interrupting him. “All of us grab something and pull this thing out into the middle of the floor.”

They each grabbed a part of it then, touching the alien as if it had been covered in slime. Kenny and Carly pulled its feet while another man helped Maya yank the creature by the arms. It tensed up and whined, keeping the rags over its unmasked face. Maya couldn’t believe how heavy it was. She felt the blood flowing again from the wound in her shoulder.

“Now hold it still.”

Maya reached down and snatched the rags from the alien’s face.

At first, the creature stared up into the flickering fluorescent lights. But within a second, its face contorted into a snarl and a low, gravelly hum came from its mouth. As Maya tossed the rags aside, the alien hissed. Tendrils of smoke began to twist from its eyes, and the gray skin started to brown, sending the reek of burning brake pads into the air.

Kenny and Carly backed away while the other man ran from the bathroom.

Flames followed the smoke and engulfed the alien’s face, burning it down to a charred, black skull.

Maya put her hands on her hips and stared at Kenny. “That’s what happened to them.”

Carly put her hand on Kenny’s and the corners of her mouth raised into a wide grin.

Maya pointed the machete towards the ceiling. “It’s gotta be the light. That’s why they have to wear masks—not to protect themselves from the air, but from the light. It must be why they dropped the dome before the invasion. Sunlight would fry them.”

“Well, bless your heart,” Kenny said to Maya.

“But there are hundreds, maybe thousands, of those things out there,” Carly said. “How are we supposed to get the masks off all of them? And what light are we gonna use? Only lights we’ve had on in here are powered by a back-up generator. Most places won’t have that.”

Outside and in the distance, Maya heard explosions and screams, both human and inhuman. She had been so concerned with her own survival inside the warehouse that she had forgotten about everything happening outside.

“So, what do we do now?” Kenny asked.

“I don’t know, but I can’t stay here. I’m sorry.”

Kenny shot Maya an incredulous stare. “You’re really leaving? After all this? You’re going to get yourself killed out there.”

“I have to.”

“We need you. You’re not afraid of these things. You know how to fight them.”

“And now you do, too.” Maya shrugged. “Sorry, but I can’t stay. My kids are out there—outside of the dome. I’ve got to get to them.”

A minute passed, but then Kenny nodded. “I understand.”

He extended his hand and Maya shook it.

“Thanks for taking me in,” Maya said. She tried handing him the machete, but Kenny pushed it back at her.

“You keep it. In fact, take these, too.”

He pulled a Glock from his waist and handed it to her, along with an extra loaded magazine.

“You sure?” she asked.

“Of course. You’re going to need something to slow them down before you burn their faces off.”

She shook his hand again and thanked him, and then walked away, heading to where Daniel and his mother sat in an empty storage room. She was cradling him in her arms, and turned to smile at Maya when she walked into the room.

“Thank you so much for what you did.”

“It’s no problem.”

Daniel climbed out of his mother’s lap and hugged Maya. “Thank you,” he said.

Maya looked into his eyes. “You listen to your mom. All right?”

The boy nodded.

“Good luck finding your children,” the woman said.

“Thank you.”

Maya walked past the dead aliens, resisting the urge to look at them again. When she reached the bay doors that had been blown out, she looked back at the survivors. They waved at her, Kenny and Carly standing with their arms around each other.

Maya smiled back at them and waved before she jumped off the dock and ran into the darkness.