To the Left

Chapter 11

When I wake up again, I'm lying on my back in the pod. For a second, I can't remember where I am, then it all comes crashing back to me. Eli is dead. The alien ship is gone. Eli is dead. I stretch out a palm to touch the glass door of the pod and crawl out, standing for a second in the middle of the street. I see no soldiers, and the burning metal hunk of the alien ship crashed into two buildings. It appears that no one survive the crash, but I still pick my way over to the wreck and stand there, staring. When I see the body I'm looking for, I close my eyes to stop the tears from falling then walk away again. I seek refuge in the office building I used to work in, and sit at the nearest desk. What now? It seems cruel that I must keep moving forward, trying to find a way to live. Haven't I done enough?

My thoughts are interrupted by a low buzz. I look around blearily for the source, then realize it's a handheld radio. Curious, I lift it to my ear and am delighted to hear a human voice. "This is Jason Brown. Does anybody copy? Over." I press a button and speak into the device. "This is Ruby Chayla. Can you hear me? Over." Jason Brown responds almost immediately. "Ruby! So glad you could tune in. Was it you who blew up the alien ship? Over." "Yeah, me and-" Me and Eli. "Me and a friend. Over." "We are grateful for you two. The aliens are gone. Where is your location? Over." I give him my coordinates, and in a little while, I hear the whir of a helicopter. 

When it lands, a man gets out. "You must be Ruby. I'm Jason, I was talking to you earlier. Where's your friend?" I stiffen when he says that, and he must realize why, because he puts a hand on my shoulder and points to the helicopter. "If you want to come with me, you can. We're headed to a more populated city to discuss plans." He says softly, and I get into the helicopter with him. On the way to the city, we make some small talk, but I remain quiet and look out the window. When we arrive, he leads me into an office building and introduces me to a group of about ten people. We discuss plans for the future of our society and how to move on from the crippling alien attacks. I step forward. "If we're going to move on, we need to do it as a united human race. We need to include the Lefts in our preparations, and we should have no problems doing that." My words draw gasps from the crowd, but I see more than half of the people there nodding in agreement. "Can you believe how foolish it would be to try to rebuild without those who could help us?" Another man stands and speaks, and I sit back down again. I think Eli would be proud that I spoke up.

After the meeting, I find myself wandering the streets of the city. I end up sitting on a park bench and looking up at the sky, watching it go from the bright of day to fade into night. "I think your friend would be proud of you." Jason sits next to me on the bench, and I turn to look at him. "I hope so. I miss him so much, I don't know how I'm supposed to move on and move forward with my life. I couldn't imagine life without him before he died, and now I don't know what to do without him." Jason chuckles dryly. "You're not supposed to move on, that's the thing. Some people never leave you. He won't. I don't know you that well, and I don't know him at all, but something tells me he'll always stay close to you." He pats my shoulder and leaves.

I look up at the stars forming in the sky. If I try, I can almost see Eli up there, smiling down at me. "You're going to be proud of me, Eli. Goodbye."

I walk away from the bench, and head back into town.