Chapter 4
We leave for town at sunrise. While on watch last night I accidentally fell asleep. It was a good thing I woke up before Travis - he can be strict when it comes to the rules. And a big rule for survival is to be prepared for anything. Which means taking “watcher shifts” at night.
For the last two hours, we’ve been walking north towards town. When we first left the bunker we were taking breaks every fifteen minutes because of Ty. After four breaks, Travis ended up putting him on his shoulders and hasn’t taken him down since.
My hand slips back to grab the last water bottle from the side pocket of my backpack. The plastic bottle is half full. It’s a good thing we’re heading into town; this isn’t going to last us long. I take a mouthful and swish the warm water around before swallowing it.
My arm extends out with the bottle in hand to offer some to Travis. Without responding he opens his mouth, motioning for me to pour it in for him. I press it up to his lips so he can take a few gulps. Water drips down his bottom lip, into his short beard. Once he’s finished, I slide the almost empty bottle back into the side pocket of my backpack.
As we cut through the overgrown grassy fields, a warm wind blows my long hair back over my shoulders. At night, this open space would be known as “no man’s land”. To survive you must stay out of sight.
Once a month, we go into town to restock on food and supplies. Over time, we discovered that small towns tend to have all the supplies that we need, so haven’t had the desire to go into any big cities. Travis says it’s important to stay under the radar. That, and to never stay in one place for too long. When we do go into town we get in, we get what we need, and then we get out.
We haven’t come across many people, or Grey Ones for that matter since the invasion. But we hear them. Screams from the aliens… and humans.
In the first few weeks, we had met multiple families in the forest hiding in small bunkers and shacks, but after a few months went by everyone seemed to disappear. Or we would find them and their loved ones slaughtered in their secret hideaways. Nonetheless, it’s been months since we’ve found any other living survivors.
Not everyone was lucky enough to have someone like Travis to keep them alive. He’s taught us to be cautious. Always reminding us that this world is one big war zone now. A war of aliens vs mankind. And right now, we’re losing.
Travis has his rules for survival. For instance, we only stay a couple of nights in each place, we take shifts sleeping at night, and we always have our bags ready to go. The days Travis isn’t hunting we run drills, practice with weapons, hand to hand combat, and workout to stay in shape. Besides that, we’ve spent the last six months teaching Ty everything he needs to know. From survival skills to normal school assignments. To us, it’s not just about surviving anymore. It’s about educating him, and ourselves, so we can be smart enough to win this war.
By the time we reach the outskirts of downtown, the sun has risen above our heads. From here, the destroyed shops on Main Street remind me of a riot’s aftermath. Broken glass from windows cover the blood stained sidewalks from where the top predators mutilated their prey.
After we do quick perimeter check we head into town. With our guards up, we walk alongside the shops where rotted body limbs lie in the street. We no longer try to shield Ty from the mess. At this point, it has become a normal thing for anyone who survived to stumble across corpses. That is assuming you’re not tucked away in a bunker that you haven’t been forced to abandon.
The pharmacy is only a five-minute stroll down the long street. Once inside, we split up to get what few supplies are needed. While Ty and I go behind the pharmacy counter to stock up on first aid supplies, Travis searches for any food still sitting on the shelves. There aren’t many medical supplies left anymore so we take what is available.
We find Travis in the snack food aisle stocking up on the last bits of food remaining. Stuffed inside his backpack I find that he was able to scavenge up some good things. A box of cereal bars, two jars of crunchy peanut butter, salty crackers, and a tall water bottle. It’s not much, but it will last us until we can reach our next bunker where more food is stored.
Bunker 1 is only a few miles away from downtown. We built it a couple of years ago for precautionary reasons. Travis was deployed for so long at a time that he wanted to make sure Ty and I had somewhere safe to hide in case of a terrorist invasion. I didn’t think it would ever be used, but here we are. Using it as our safe zone during an alien invasion.
Attached to the bunker is an underground tunnel that leads directly into our home. My childhood home. After my parents died four years ago, they left everything to me. That included our home, their million-dollar life insurance policies, and my dad’s guns and dagger collection.
This tunnel was originally stocked with a year’s supply for three. When we were there a few weeks ago we still had half of the supply left. From gasoline, to ammo, to half of our water supply. Today’s stop in town gave us some supplies that we keep in other areas. We never keep all of our supplies in one place, it’s safer to keep things separate. There are still people out there who weren’t prepared for an emergency so they’re going around stealing from other survivors. Even in our small town danger lurks everywhere.
Bunker 1 is the safest place I know. I’ve been pushing for the idea to live there full-time, but Travis says there’s a reason it hasn’t been found. Because no one has led enemies to it. The only people who know about our bunker are us, his family, and the people who helped us build it and the tunnel. Most of those people, if not all of them, are now dead.
When we step into the cluster of trees surrounding our home, Travis slides his rough hand into mine. The scar on his left cheek is more visible now that he’s cleaned his face a little with water from the creek.
The night the Grey Ones dropped from the sky, we were having a family night at the Portland Zoo. After making our rounds viewing the Christmas lights and animals, we made our way back to the truck. Walking through the parking lot, Ty pointed above. We watched as the clouds rolled in, turning the sky completely black. Suddenly, we saw what we thought were meteors falling. At first there was only one, and then another two appeared, and then ten more. After only a few seconds the sky lit up with monsters plummeting for Earth. Chaos ensued as people ran to their cars, screaming. Some even left their children and loved ones behind.
Travis picked up Ty and bolted for the car, with me following right next to them. By the time we reached the truck their screams were all around us.
That’s when we had our first face to face encounter with one of them.
As we sprinted up to the truck Travis pressed the button on the small key remote, unlocking the doors. While he ran around the hood, I helped Ty climb in through the passenger side. His wet feet slipped a few times before he made it into the seat.
The engine roared on as I stepped up into the truck. That’s probably why I didn’t hear it come up behind me. Before I could make it inside, I felt serrated teeth bite into my leg; yanking me to the pavement. I shouted for help as it dragged my body across the pavement. All around us these things were chomping down on other people. Some were still screaming as the monsters ripped their limbs off with their bloody teeth.
When the creature unlocked its jaw from my leg, I sat up quickly; pressed against a car door. Behind it, I could see Travis sprinting towards us with something in his hand. He was shouting my name; his voice lost in the screams of others.
The creature stepped back and began sniffing the blood dripping from my leg. When it lifted its gaze to my face, Travis appeared behind it. He smacked the side of its armored head with a black tire iron. All that did was make the thing even more aggressive. It spun around, ready to attack. Face to face with the Grey One, he swung again. This time it caught his arm with its talon fingers, twisting it around until he dropped the tire iron. He swung his other fist, but the thing caught it right in front of its face. I watched in horror as the
vicious creature’s oversized head dropped back and screamed out at the dark sky.
Travis kicked the alien’s chest, sending it stumbling backwards. Within a single second, the beast dropped on all fours and lunged on top of him. While he fought back violently, its long nails slit his cheek open. I knew I had to do something.
My hand reached out to the side and lifted the tire iron off the asphalt. With the weapon in hand, I pulled myself up to my feet. Before it could make Travis the next corpse in the parking lot I stabbed the end of the tire iron in the back of its head. Its skull made a loud cracking sound as it fell heavily on top of him.
While I helped him shove the massive alien off, I noticed its light grey skin was armored, like an armadillo’s. Its chest rose up and down slowly as it struggled to draw in air. We hadn’t known then about their ability to heal themselves. We got out of there before we could witness it.
Travis drove with a lead foot as we took back roads out of Portland until the aliens’ piercing screams were far behind us. After an hour, we finally reached our secluded home. The first thing we did was turn on the TV to discover that every channel had an emergency broadcast. The invasion was happening all over the world. In the U.S. it had started in big cities like D.C., NYC, Seattle, L.A., Portland, and was already beginning to spread out quickly. Before we could make any phone calls, the towers and power lines went down. Never to come back again.
Travis didn’t waste any time. We grabbed our emergency backpacks from the coat closet, then hid in the home bunker immediately. It was already stocked up with supplies - thanks to Travis and his need to be prepared.
In the first few weeks following the attacks, Travis would go into town alone to gather additional supplies. He chose to go by himself because he didn’t want to run the risk of all of us dying. We had no idea what we were really up against. It wasn’t until the Grey Ones made their way through our deserted town that we were able to study them. But our education came at a cost.
Every time their screams would be accompanied by those of their hopeless victims, Travis would attempt to help. But by the time he reached them, it was always too late. The lives of acquaintances, the old lady down the street, and even Ty’s friends from school were all lost to these monsters.
After a few attacks we realized that they were only coming during the late night hours. So we decided to try travelling by day.
One snowy morning we left for a more isolated place. Our cabin. While traveling by foot through the dense trees we began to come across other survivors. Some were living in bunkers while others were taking shelter in cabins deep in the woods. Every time we passed the survivors that we had become friends with, we made sure to stop in and check on them. That was long ago though. It’s been months since the last time we saw any other survivors alive.
“We’re here.” Travis says, interrupting my thoughts.
When I look up from the dirt beneath my boots, there’s a brick well a few feet in front of us. The empty well is a cover for our secret entrance. The inside was designed to be a ten-foot climbing wall using uneven bricks, carefully placed. Towards the bottom is a trick door that, when pushed inwards, opens up into the studio sized bunker.
“What time is it? It seems early.” I say. I lift my gaze up at the branches of the tall pine trees, the sunlight peeking through blinds my eyes.
“It’s 15:07.” Travis says glancing down at his black watch. I bought him that for Christmas last year; which we spent inside our home bunker.
“Let’s get inside and I’ll make us something to eat.” I say, attempting to make my tone cheerful. After a long night and day, I’m ready to be somewhere safe. I grip my hands on the top of the well and begin lowering myself down before Travis can stop me. He hates when I take the lead.
I use the uneven bricks to climb down the wall quickly. We’ve been running drills on this wall ever since the invasion happened. Training so often that I’ve learned how to navigate it with my eyes closed.
When I reach the secret door I firmly push the bricks inward. At first, the door doesn’t budge. It’s stuck. The door became sticky a few months ago. I push harder until I hear a click sound. When the wall opens up it reveals the dark bunker waiting for me. I glance up at Travis, who’s busy helping Ty lower himself into the well. Eager to get us inside I look back into the room. Besides the small amount of light shining in from the well, it’s pitch black. Quietly, I listen to the silent room for a few seconds. Once I decide the coast is clear I make my way inside. Feet first, I carefully lower myself through the window sized opening.
“Isabelle, wait.” Travis demands.
My body drops a few feet to the cement floor creating a loud thud. I lower down on one knee and listen again for anything that may be hiding. It’s still silent. I slip off my backpack - I won’t be needing it for now. A cold chill runs through my body as I stand up. After walking all day in the summer heat, the underground coolness feels good. Like stepping out of a sauna into an air conditioned room.
When I take my first step forward, a crash comes from a few feet in front of me. My body freezes at the sound of the metal table scraping against the floor. The sound is quickly followed by a vicious growl. Could one of them found a way inside? While I reach for the dagger in my thigh holster, the claws scraping the cement head straight for me.