The next morning, I woke up to the sun hitting my face through my blinds. I took my hair down from its ponytail, grabbed my phone, then I went downstairs for a bowl of cereal.
"Good morning." Mom said with her usual smile, "Pancakes?"
Screw cereal.
"I would love some." I said. I grabbed a fork and plate, then I took two pancakes. I took them in the living room, and my mom turned on the news. The man on the news looked just as serious as ever.
"Citizens of the Southern states of the U.S have been sending in images of a giant ship covering the whole Southern area. It's made its way from states around Indiana and Kentucky, and is now heading downward."
"That's right above us." I said. I glanced outside the front window to see a giant ship in the air — it was a huge, black ship, bigger than anything I'd ever seen.
"Heaven, listen to me, I want you to go up to the attic and hide, don't come out whatever you do." Mom said while holding my shoulders.
"But what will you do?" I asked.
"I need to grab a few things, I just need you to go." She said. I nodded and headed to the attic. When I found a place behind some boxes to sit down, I took my phone from my pocket, preparing to text Tj. Then, the screen turned black, and every light in the house turned off. It went dead silent. I could only hear my ragged breathing. I started shivering from anxiousness and the cold.
I heard the front door open, and several footsteps came along with it. Then, a bloodcurdling scream. My hands shot up to my mouth and tears formed in my eyes. The screaming and crying got louder — I just sat there and listening, then it stopped. The front door closed again, and I knew there was no one else in my house. I shakily stood up and headed to the living room. I saw my mom, she lay on the ground, dead.
Tears pooled from my eyes and I ran back to the attic. She was gone. Was Tj? Levi? My friends? Cousins? More tears fell from my eyes as I realized that I would never see Tj again, or Levi, or anyone I held near and dear.
If I'm being completely honest, I thought I was fucked. I thought I would die. I remember thinking to myself "Is this the new life humanity will fight for?" I wasn't ready — but then again, was anyone?
I sat in that attic for hours and cried. For how long, I'm not sure. But I cried for a long time. I finally couldn't cry anymore, I just sat there, empty. There was a bang, the door had been kicked in. I was sure they had figured out someone else was here and came back for me.
My nerves kicked in, expecting to be killed. But then I heard a welcoming voice.
"Heaven, are you in here?!" Tj called from down stairs. Unable to yell back, I ran down from the attic and as soon as I saw Tj, I jumped into his arms, hugging him.
"Thank god you're okay." I cried.
"I was so worried I'd come in here and find you dead." Tj said. We heard a throat clearing and that's when I saw Levi standing beside Tj. Without thinking, I pulled him into a hug and started crying, more happy tears than sad. He quickly wrapped his arms around me, pulling me closer.
"You're okay, it's okay." Levi soothed, he began playing with my hair to clam me down. Once I was calm, I pulled away.
There they were, the two people I had hoped survived the most. They were there, they were okay. I was okay.
"You have no clue how happy I am to see you guys." I said in relief.
"We're happy to see you, too, but we need to get going, it's not safe here." Tj said.
"Can I change?" I asked, looking down at my sweats.
"Yeah, grab your dad's old shotgun, too. You're going to need it." Tj said. I nodded and went upstairs to my room. I grabbed my backpack, put some clothes in it, then I zipped it up. I grabbed some black jeans, some boots, and a black T-shirt, then I put them on. I found an old picture of my family. In the picture was me, my mom, and my dad before he died. I smiled sadly and quickly placed it into my bag.
Once I was changed, I grabbed my bag and I walked into my mom and dad's room, then I grabbed the shotgun under the bed, and the spare amo in the dresser drawer. I walked back downstairs to see Tj and Levi raiding my kitchen.
"Even during an alien invasion, you're still raiding my kitchen." I said jokingly.
"This time, it's important." Tj defended with an eye roll.
"We should get going, we have to look for more survivors before sunrise." Levi said. He grabbed his own bag, then he put everything he took from my kitchen in it, Tj copied his actions.
"Right." Tj said. I walked in-between Tj and Levi as we walked out of my house. It felt weird leaving. As we stepped outside, I felt the chill of the night hit my skin. It made me shiver a little, but no one noticed.
For the most part, we avoided walking in the open. We mostly walked behind houses and buildings if we could, so we wouldn't be seen by the Invaders. As we kept going, I started shivering more frequently, Tj finally took notice.
"Heaven, are you okay?" Tj asked, Levi looked over, "You're shivering."
"I'll be fine, trust me." I said, then I felt something warm drape over my shoulders. Levi had placed his grey hoodie over me.
"I can't take this." I said.
"I brought another jacket, please take it." Levi said. Not being able to say no to him, I put my arms through the jacket and zipped it up, causing Levi to smile. I saw Tj give me a knowing look from the corner of my eye, and I smiled at him.
After searching a few houses, we decided to call it a night, but one house in particular had a light on inside.
The three of us glanced at each other, knowing we'd have to check it just in case there was someone we could help. I began to walk up the front steps when another hand grabbed mine — Levi.
"Let me go first." He said. When he found the door was locked, he prepared to kick it down. Tj pulled me back so I wouldn't get hurt. Levi then kicked down the door, and I jumped a little at the noise. Levi walked in, then Tj and I followed him.
"Tj, you take downstairs, I'll take top right, Heaven, you take top left." Levi instructed.
"Be careful, guys." I said before walking up the stairs beside Levi. We gave each other one last look before parting ways. I walked down the left corridor, opening doors that led to empty bedrooms. Then I heard a noise to a room on my right. I quickly grabbed my shotgun from my bag and cocked it.
I kicked the door just like Ian had, and it opened.
"Hey, I did it!" I exclaimed, then something was swung at my head.
