Authors: Jess Harpley
Chapter 11: He lives
There was something in his hand. Something warm, smooth, and earthly. Something full of love, and admiration, dampened with the blood of the enemy.
“Eli, get up.” The voice was familiar, yet distant. Where did he remember it? He gripped the object tighter, clearing his throat with a groan.
Eli’s shoulder jostled about, “Come on, you need to see this.” He couldn’t tell if he opened his eyes or not, as it was still so dark. Taking a deep inhale, the scent of mildew and wet stone met his nose. It wasn’t what he expected. He expected to be dead, woken only when he reached Heaven.
He moved his hand over his face, looking to the object it held. Dark wood with lines carved in it. Eli’s thumb brushed the incomplete grooves, initials. He swallowed down tears that grew from the tiny sculpture, a harsh reminder.
They’re all gone.
It was difficult, but he sat up. Inspecting the once broken leg, he saw it’d been set, and wrapped. Tossing it over the edge of the makeshift bed, he stood, and put most of the weight on the good leg. The ache in Eli’s gut caused him to grit his teeth, and tsk sharply. Though blurry, his eyes began to focus on the figure at the mouth of the cave: Vendum.
“How?” Eli coughed and Vendum passed him a flask of what he hoped was water. He drank deep, and the cool liquid soothed his aching throat.
“How what?” Vendum asked.
“How did I get here? How did you get here? What happened after–after it all happened.”
“I was trying to get back to you when the train tipped. I was thrown from it and hit the side of the canyon wall. I slid into the lake and sank to the bottom.” He turned from the cave opening to face Eli who massaged his eyes to focus them.
“My primary processor was jostled loose on impact; I couldn’t perform more than one or two tasks at a time. It took me nearly three hours to get it back in place, and when I came to the surface, the Priyon were gone. The ship was gone.”
He shook his head, as if ashamed, and went on. “I searched the wreckage, but didn’t find you alive, so I went back to Kamloops. I found Xander, Sway, and a few dozen citizens at the tracks. I picked up some of her things for you. I thought you’d like to have them.”
Eli nodded, tears spilling over his lids as he choked on rage.
“That’s when I heard you. You were screaming. I brought you back here.”
Silence persisted between them as Eli tried to collect himself. His whole team, his family, everyone he knew except Vendum, was gone forever. He didn’t know what to do, what to think, or how to feel. He was lost.
Vendum turned his attention back to the cave opening, and pointed to the sky.
“They’re dying.”
Eli couldn’t see what it was Vendum wanted him to look at through his blurry, tear streaked eyes. The sky glowed red, as if fire caught all over the world at sundown.
His pallid lips moved laggardly, “What is it?”
Vendum made a noise like a sigh, though Eli knew he didn’t breathe, “They’re,” he paused in awe, “disintegrating.”
Eli rubbed his face, squinting to focus on the object in the direction of his pointing finger. Soon, he realized Vendum was not pointing at anything but the sky. The red was what he pointed at. Little glittering bits lifted up into the late evening like millions of ascending fireflies.
His hand gripped Vendum’s shoulder tightly. “What’s doing this?”
He turned to Eli mechanically, “It must be viral because it’s multiplying. They’re all dying,” he added, “everywhere.”
Eli almost smiled in victory, then thought better. Why would something viral take the Priyon out very suddenly? “What is this?”
“The end of the invasion,” Vendum’s head raised back to the sky, “And the start of the colonization.” He pointed again, his finger tracing the large, shining object as it descended into the atmosphere.
He was right. They must have been hundreds of miles out still, dozens of massive ships plummeting to Eli’s precious Earth.
“The Priyon was the military force?” He asked and Vendum responded with a solemn nod.
Evil thoughts played in Eli’s mind as he recalled information from recent history books.
“Vendum?” He asked.
“What is it, Eli?” His voice was tentative, like he already knew what Eli was going to ask. But how could he?
He leaned on him for support, “You know where the closest store of nuclear arms is,” Eli’s gaze lingered on his friend’s robotic sockets, “don’t you?”
“I do.” He nodded. “What are you thinking?”
Eli’s breathing quickened. He was excited to exact his vengeance, retribution, “You can coordinate with the other M.I.U.s, can’t you?”
“Perhaps. I severed my SYM link years ago in attempts to better develop my individuality.”
“Well, get it back online.” Eli limped to the makeshift cot, finding Sway’s M4 leaning against the wall. He grit his teeth, winding the orange, blood stained ribbon between his fingers. “How long will it take us to get to the nuclear weapons store?”
Vendum looked him over, then pondered briefly, “Without transportation, and if your state does not improve–eighty-five days.”
“How long do you estimate it will take these
aliens
to complete the colonization preparation, whatever it may be?”
“Perhaps two years,” he hummed, “but I could not know for sure. That is only my best guess based on several factors. If they need to alter the makeup of the atmosphere, possibly longer.”
“We better get a move on, then.” Eli patted his shoulder with malice in his voice.
Vendum’s blue eyes traced his face. “What is it you intend to do?”
Eli and Vendum will return! I hope you enjoyed this adventure, and urge you to let me know if you did, or didn’t. Leave feedback on Amazon, my Facebook page, Twitter, or even drop me an email. I’m always around and would be glad to address anything going on in your mind, even if it’s wholly unrelated to this work, or my others.
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Interested in more? Check out:
The Mill – Horror/Urban Fiction
Anthology: UnCommon Origins – Fringling