Invasion

Chapter 7 - Death Inbound

9th June 2071

The morning sun was warm, bright, and real; not some artificial hologram. The couch in my ship is quite comfortable, I had a fair rest. Today we are supposed to be searching for alien remains and vital data, but, I just want to enjoy the sun. A soft voice calls me.

"Brian? You awake? You alive?"

Aurora comes into my cabin.

"Yes, how did you get in here?"

"You left the door unlocked. You've been asleep for 10 hours! C'mon Brian it's 5 past 9!"

"Oh, right. It's usually me saying that to you"

"I know right. Meet me outside in 30 minutes, I'll be attempting to start a fire with my phone"

"Okay, see you soon"

"Bye"

She leaves the ship, and I begin my morning routine.

At 20 past 9, I leave my ship. The smell of burning wood awakens my senses.

"Oh, hi! Can you find me some food to cook?"

"Okay, I'll got to the same place"

"Don't take an hour!"

"I won't, bye"

I set off to the same store as yesterday.

***

After a do a little shopping spree I take a shortcut back to the ships. The path is filled with building debris, torn metal and dead human bodies. I come across a large chuck of concrete, with a dark stick object hidden underneath. I stop, examining it. A reptilian sounding shriek covers the area. I turn to the other side of the concrete slab, and see a helpless alien body stuck under it. The alien shrieks at me in its inscrutable language. I want to help but it may kill me, but; if I can't leave it to die. I'm not that kind of person.

I take the chance and use all my strength to move the slab. It's limbs struggle to be free. Another push and the alien escapes, the concrete slap fracturing into the road. The alien snarls at me, lifting up its tail like a scorpion. A green glow comes from the tip of its tail, but soon fades away and the tail descends. It hisses at me and scuttles away. I continue my journey back to the ships.

I arrive back at the ground, Aurora looking annoyed with me.

"45 minutes Brian! We should be conducting research right now!"

"Sorry, I got a bit caught up with an alien"

"Oh. What did it do? Are you okay?"

"Fine. It was stuck under some concrete so I helped it out"

"Did it attack you?"

"No no, it just hissed at me and left"

"Okay. Did you the food? Is it in that bag"

"Yeah"

"Good. What did you get?"

"Uh... All I found was some random stuff"

I pass her my bag filled with assorted goods.

"Where did you get this all?!"

"The same place as yesterday"

"Okay. Fair enough"

We cook our goods on the fire, the crackling sound making us even more hungry. We eat and enjoy our meal, then proceed to conduct research and collect data. Aurora's task was to collect fighter remains and mine was to collect alien body remains.