An Apocalyptic Invasion

i have an awesome birthday

The next morning, I snuck out of the cabin and flew back to the HQ.
It was still pretty dark, so I wasn't surprised to not see anyone awake.
Opening the doors, I quietly walked into the building and shut them behind me, careful to not make any noise.
Something metal clattered to the ground right behind me.
"Shit." I quickly picked it up and continued on my way.
I went to the wine cellar and scanned the hundreds of bottles that were stacked neatly in racks.
"Happy birthday."
I jumped when I heard Riley behind me.
I turned to see her leaning against the doorway, wearing her pajamas.
"Why are you up at this time?"
"I wanted to have time to prepare your party."
"Joya, do we need-"
"What did you call me?"
I blinked. "Uh... Joya."
A warm smile appeared on her face. "Oh, that name."
"Yeah. I was wondering if you would like me calling you by your nicknames every now and then."
"I would love that."
"Okay. Anyway, as I was saying, do we really need a party?"
She nodded. "You're technically fifteen today- and before you say it, all the thousands of birthdays before this don't count."
"Fifteen isn't anything special."
"It's the age to get a driver's license."
"I already drive."
She sighed. "That's not the point."
"Then what is?"
"Celebrating your birthday surrounded by your friends. And you're not going to drink this early."
I grabbed a bottle and slid it out of the rack. "Try and stop me."
"I'm literally standing in front of the gate."
"Okay, then." I popped open the bottle.
"Don't you dare."
I moved it closer to my mouth.
"Carlos...," she warned.
I took a swig, then lowered it.
She gasped. "See? Still drank it either way."
"Give me some!"
"Oh, now you want a drink?"
"I haven't drank wine in so long," she said. "Just a little drink."
"I don't know..."
She pushed herself off the doorway and walked towards me. "Carlos, please. I'm begging you."
"Hm... but you have to promise to not finish the bottle."
"I do."
"Okay." I handed it to her, and she took the largest gulp I've ever seen.
"Alright, that's enough." I tried to grab it, but she moved away from me.
"Riley."
I made a grab at it again, but she had a vice grip on the bottle. So, I tickled her under the arm and took it while she was trying not to laugh.
She stomped her foot. "No fair!"
I put the cork in and placed it out of her reach. "No alcohol right now, Riley."
She jumped and tried to grab it, so I dragged her away.
She crossed her arms. "That was mean."
"Riley, unlike me, you can't control how much you drink. I didn't want you to be on the ground."
She turned away from me.
"Come on, RiRi. I know you want to do something with me."
I could see her resisting to face me again.
"I'll say your nickname again for good measure: RIRI."
She shuddered with pleasure. "You always know how to get me," she grumbled.
"I know."
"I have an idea on what to do."
I raised an eyebrow. "Already?"
"Just come with me." She grabbed my arm and pulled me outside.
There was a neighborhood not far from the HQ, so she took me there.
"What are we doing?"
"We're going to commit vandalism."
"This early in the morning?"
"You didn't say no."
"But..."
"Exactly."
"What are we going to use?"
"Good point." She let go of my arm and looked around. "There should be some pebbles around here."
I had already grabbed a log and began to whittle it using my claws.
Riley watched as I turned the log into a bow. There were still long pieces of wood left, so I used those to create arrows.
"That's so cool," she said.
"Now I need some fletching."
I noticed a bird sitting on one of the powerlines, so I handed the gun to her.
She took it, then said: "What do I do with this?"
"Kill the bird."
She looked at the houses with a worried expression. "But... won't that wake up the neighbors?"
"Just shoot the gun."
She sighed but pointed it at the bird, who was oblivious to everything that was happening. She closed one eye, stuck out the tip of her tongue, and fired.
The bullet whistled through the air and pierced the bird in the head, killing it instantly. It plummeted to the ground with a soft thud.
She stared at the now-dead bird. "How... how did the gun not make any sound?"
"It has a silencer at the end of it."
She lowered the gun. "Did I just make my first kill?"
"You did. I'm so proud of you."
She narrowed her eyes at me. "Was that sarcasm?"
"I was being genuine." I walked to the bird and picked it up, then walked back over to Riley.
I sat down and started to pluck the feathers until I had around fifteen in my hand.
Grabbing the sticks, I attached the feathers to the base of it, using the string I had to tie them around the base.
"Whoa."
"Not done yet."
I faced the building and reached out my hand. A bottle of glue flew out of the building and into my hand.
Riley smiled. "I forgot you can do that."
"Putting it into practice in case I need it." I put a few drops of glue to secure the feathers. I pulled on them to make sure they wouldn't come off. They didn't.
"They look good."
"Now I need a quiver."
I hopped onto the fence of one of the houses and wrapped my tail around one of the posts. I reached down and looked through a pile of forgotten items until I found a large piece of leather.
I climbed back down, my tail disappearing into my body.
"What are you gonna do with it?" Riley asked.
"Make a quiver."
I placed the leather flat on the ground. It was about five feet long and two feet tall. It was recently smoothed out, which would make it easier.
I placed the sticks on the leather to measure out how much I would need. All of them fit perfectly on one half of it.
I cut that half with my knife and placed the other half near me.
I rolled the leather, and the sticks fit snugly.
"Can you hand me that, please?"
Riley gave the other half to me, and I cut a circle from it, then placed it on the bottom. Even though I eyeballed it, it fit perfectly.
There was still plenty of string left, so I made holes with the tip of my knife and threaded the string through them. I tied the ends of the string and cut off the remainder with my knife.
I used part of the remaining leather to make a little sling for the quiver. I applied it using the glue and string, then tested it out.
"That fits perfectly," Riley said.
"Right? I thought so too."
I took it off and placed it on the ground.
"After this, I'm making you one."
"Okay. Thank you."
Placing my hand on the ground, I willed metal to rise onto the surface.
Right beside me, tungsten bubbled upwards and stopped when it made contact with the grass.
It took me a few seconds to turn them into arrow tips. Then I placed the tips onto the arrows, and tried to bend the metal. To my satisfaction, it resisted.
"What's that?"
I held it up. "Tungsten- one of the strongest metals on earth. Won't bend, no matter how much force is given to it."
I added some string to the bow and tested it out. The string bent perfectly.
I turned to a tree and nocked the arrow. I drew the string, then fired the arrow.
It pierced the tree on the exact spot it was supposed to land on.
Riley looked at me, her eyes glittering with admiration. "You just made that whole thing in, what, twenty minutes?"
"Pretty much." I placed the remaining arrows in the quiver. "Now we're making you one."
After twenty minutes, Riley's bow and arrows-along with the quiver-was complete.
"This is cool," she said.
"Now we go back and get the spray cans."
We went to the storage room when we arrived. I rummaged through some stuff until I found the cans.
"Do we go back?"
"Yes."
Once we were there, we set our stuff down.
"Blue, right?"
She nodded.
I carefully sprayed the paint onto her bow, quiver, and arrows. Turning the nozzle, I added thin stripes onto her bow and spots on her arrows.
"There we go."
"Ooh."
I turned to mine and got another spray can. This one was full of bright red paint.
I sprayed some spots on my bow, and stripes on my arrows to contrast Riley's.
Then I colored the quiver with red paint, then her quiver with blue.
I stepped back. "Done."
"Hey, they match."
"Yeah. Alright, now let's do some graffiti."
Riley followed me as I went to a house that wasn't protected by the fence. I shook the can and carefully traced out my name in Felidis-Cyszil-onto the wall. Then, using the glue, I filled in the spaces. I stepped back to admire my work.
Riley came over to my side. "Ooh, nice." Then she frowned. "Why did you add horns?"
"Because I'm evil."
"You are not."
I shrugged. "Whatever you say."
"Carlitos, it's true. You're the kindest person I've ever known."
"Okay. What about yours?"
"No, don't change the subject. Why do you call yourself evil when you're not?"
"I'm the king of hell, RiRi."
"So?"
"I have to be evil. If I'm not, nobody dies."
"What you do doesn't define you."
"Yeah, yeah." I was going to move over to her side when she stood in front of me.
She took my hands. "Listen to me."
"Fine."
"I don't care if you kill people. I do it too."
"Yeah, but-"
"Just let me finish. That doesn't define who you are; all of your friends, including me, know you as the kind, brave, trustworthy person they grew up with. Promise me that you will never have that negative self-talk, because you're not that type of person."
"I promise."
"I know you suffer from trauma. Sam, Tommy, and your pregnant girlfriend know it, too. But remember that you did because you were being you- Carlos Gonzalez, the bravest person I've ever known."
I didn't know I was starting to cry until she reached out and wiped the tears from my eyes.
"I-I don't even know what to say," I murmured. "Except... thank you, for everything."
"I'm here for you," she said. "Always."
We smiled at each other, then hugged.
"Let me show you my masterpiece," Riley said as she stepped back.
It was her name in Felidis, which was Ryrlyil (pronounced Rear-lil. And mine is simply said as Sizzle).
"Wow. Beautiful- just like you."
She smacked me on the arm. "I wanted it to make it decorative without making it too complex."
"You did a great job. I'm proud of you."
"I love you too. Should we head back?"
"Sure. Let me just get my stuff- and stay with me."
As I got my stuff, I heard a gunshot. A woman ran out of the house with blood on her shirt, got in her car, and drove off.
I recognized the woman. It was Mia, and it looked like she shot her husband like she promised she would.
"She actually did it," Riley said.
"Get back to HQ."
"But what about you?"
"Riley, I'm pretty sure she's looking for the building. I'm gonna help her get there and hope the cops don't find out about the murder."
I could tell she didn't like that idea, but she nodded. "Okay. But... just be careful. I don't want you to die- again."
"I'll try not to."
"No, promise me."
"I promise! Just GO!"
She gathered her stuff and ran away.
I walked backwards a little, ran, and jumped into the air.
I landed in front of the car. Mia swerved to avoid me.
She braked to a stop and got out of the car.
"Did you do it?"
She gestured to her bloody shirt. "Ya think?"
"They might report it in the morning. Follow me."
I led her to the HQ. We entered through the doors just as I heard cop sirens in the distance.
"They're going to get me," she whimpered.
I took out my gun. "Not on my watch."
I took out my earbud and placed it into my ear. "Guys, cops are coming. A lady killed her husband and they're now looking for her."
The sounds of people getting up was replaced by the gang walking down the stairs.
"Sorry, guys."
Mike shook his head. "No need to worry. I haven't fought the cops in a while."
"RiRi, can you-"
"Protect Bri?" She nodded. "Got it."
"Thank you." I cracked my knuckles. "Is everyone ready?"
"Sure thing, boss," Garth said.
I spun my gun. "Let's do this."
Keep in mind that it was still dark out; that will be very important later.
We marched outside as the cars rolled into the neighborhood.
Mike loaded his sniper rifle. "I'll take my position on one of the roofs."
"Okay. The rest of you, quietly sneak behind the houses and wait for my signal."
When they were in place, I strolled through the neighborhood.
"What's going on?"
"Murder at this house," a cop replied. "Thirty-six-year old man with a bullet through his head. Death was instantaneous."
"Interesting." I stroked my chin. "Motive?"
"We don't know yet," he said. "But he has divorce papers in his file, so maybe an estranged wife."
Behind my back, I gave the signal. A cop fell down to the ground. The others were so busy assisting her that they didn't notice the gang spreading out behind them.
Mike hopped down from the roof using the fence and came walking towards us.
I raised my gun as the cops started to realize what was going on. "If you want to arrest the criminal, you'll have to deal with us first."
All of the rifles were loaded. I made the first shot, further wounding the fallen cop.
And, as you can probably expect, that's the moment chaos erupted.
The cops started shooting at us with their pistols, so we hid behind the houses and returned fire.
Mike peeked out of a corner and gunned down another cop. "Fuck. That was my last bullet."
"Really?"
He frowned. "I could go back and get more bullets, but that would be risky."
"I'll cover you while you run back."
"You sure?"
"Yeah. Just don't die."
He smirked. "I'll try not to."
Looking around the corner again, he quietly sneaked away.
I climbed the fence and onto the roof. All of the cops were focused on the gang.
Remember when I pointed out that it was still dark? This is where it came in handy.
There was a certain spot on the roof that, when you looked in the right angle, a person could almost completely disappear.
I loaded my gun and started firing at the cops, who were running all over the place, trying to find me.
The gang advanced forward and started gunning down the remaining cops, forcing them to move away.
The ones who were alive got in their cars and started to drive away. I hopped down and blasted fireballs at them, resulting in swerving and smoking bodies flying in the air.
I continued doing this until every last cop and car was either burned down, killed, or demolished.
The road was left in absolute ruins. Bodies were scattered everywhere, and fires roared on the driveways.
I kicked a corpse out of the way, then went through the rest to see if there was anything of value. Aside from a few guns, nothing.
The gang ransacked the houses, killed the people inside, and came back out.
"What now, boss?" Mike asked. He had just come back from HQ.
"Burn everything down. I have a strong feeling that other cops will come and investigate this place."
They carried out the orders. Hefting flamethrowers, they torched the houses and blasted the street to rubble.
What was once a bustling, lively neighborhood turned into a ruined, destroyed, empty lot that was devoid of life.
I crossed my arms as I watched in satisfaction.
Garth did a little more destruction for good measure, then walked towards me.
"Is anyone hurt?"
All of them examined each other, then shook their heads.
"Good job today. Go back to HQ and get some rest- wake up at whatever time you feel makes you comfortable."
"What about you?"
"I will be fine. For now, get ready for later."
I watched them go, then went through the ruins to see if I could find anything.
I was beginning to give up when I stumbled upon a bright white crystal.
Digging further, I found a whole mess of glittering white diamonds about the size of my fingernails.
I smiled when I saw all of the ore.
GG, jackpot, I thought.
I went back up and moved some of the dirt so it covered the gems, then I dusted my hands and walked back to HQ.
Riley was waiting with an excited Bri in her arms. "That was cool!" Bri exclaimed.
"I know."
Riley gently set her down, and she ran towards me. "I wish I could do something like that one day," she said.
(Aged pretty well, if I do say so myself.)
"When you're older, I bet you will do it better than me," I assured her.
She looked up at me with big green eyes. "Really?"
"Oh, yeah." I looked up at Riley. "A lot better."
She gave me a small smile.
"Can you go back inside?" I asked her. "Me and Riley need to talk."
She nodded and happily ran inside.
When she was gone, Riley pulled out a pack of cigarettes.
"Right now?"
"I don't see why not."
I summoned a small flame on the tip of my pointer finger and used it as a lighter. When I was done, I shook my hand to extinguish the flame.
We stood there for a bit, inhaling smoke into our lungs. (In case you're wondering, smoke doesn't affect our lungs for some reason. I guess it's because we live with giant cats that breathe fire all the time.)
"That was cool, what you did back there," she said.
"I thought so too." I drew in some smoke, then slowly breathed it out.
Riley dropped the cigarette onto the ground, then pressed her foot on top of it.
I did the same thing. "I'm proud of you."
"Really?"
She nodded. "Before you say anything, just know that you deserve to leave the island when your daughter is born."
"Is that a good thing or bad thing?"
She slid her hands into her pockets, then shrugged. "You've been through a lot. This is your chance of having a big break."
"I guess so." I looked at the sun, which was starting to rise. It reminded me of all the things I've taken for granted in the past.
She reached out and squeezed my hand. "You ready?"
"For what?"
"Your birthday."
"Oh." I tilted my head left and right. "I killed some cops. It's already beginning to be fantastic."
"It'll be better when you realize what we planned."
"Yeah?"
She nodded. "We're gonna get very drunk when we're done."
I smiled. "I can't wait."