When The Stars Died

The Climb and the Descent

Pandora huffed and puffed as she struggled up Dead Hill, about ten metres behind Skeeter, who looked down at her, amused. "Ya do know yer 'bout three metres off the ground, Pan? Ya ain't much good at climbin', apparently." He laughed.
Pandora grabbed another dead bush and hauled herself up another half a metre. "I'm getting there." She scowled at him.
"We're tryin' to get up here before those things come down, ya know?"
"I know." Pandora blew air from her cheeks.
"Hurry up." Skeeter growled suddenly.

Pandora looked up at the moon, which was almost eclipsed by black blots.
"What are they?" She asked.
Skeeter gave her a look. "Really? Yer askin' me? My guess? Aliens. Superhumans. Flyin' dogs. Dunno."
"Aliens." Pandora breathed, grabbing a dead tree and leaping forward till she was beside Skeeter. "You think?"
Skeeter shrugged, went to look back at her, and realised she was right beside him. "How'd you get there?" He asked.
"I'm the Under 16's gymnastic national champion." Pandora said.
"Yeah, right. Bull." Skeeter snorted.
"True. I have the trophy. Well, I did."
"Okay, I'll believe that. Now, believe this. Something's followin' us." Skeeter said.

Pandora whipped her head around.
"Where? What is it?" She hissed.
"Behind you. To the right... Yeah. See that shadow under the bush?"
"Everything's shadows, you idiot. It's nighttime."
"See the one that's movin'?"
"Oh. Yes."
"It's something."
"You don't say." Pandora whispered dryly.
"Wait." Skeeter help up a hand. "It's coming closer... Oh. Oh. It's just a little critter."
"Bullet?" Pandora whirled around, and a red ball of fuzz immediately sprang onto her face.
She screamed.

Skeeter wrangled the 'little critter' off her face and clapped his hand over her mouth.
"Shut up. Yer not dyin', are ya? No. It's just a little squirrel." Skeeter draped the mammal over his shoulder, and scratched its chin.
"Hey. You throw that squirrel away now, before I do."
"I think I'll keep him." Skeeter smiled at the squirrel.
"Uh, no. If I can't keep my dog, you can't keep a mangy wild animal."
"But this mangy wild animal isn't going to eat off our supplies. Squirrels are really hardy. I think I'll call him Nut."
"Are you kidding me? What do squirrels eat again, huh?"
"Nuts. Mostly acorns, and seeds. I think sometimes they eat berries. Or somethin'."
"Ah, they eat nuts, you say? And what did you call your little friend?"
"Nut. Cos he's a hardy little fella, ain't ya?" He tickled the squirrel again, and Nut chattered away.
"Very original. But chuck away the squirrel now, please."
"Nah. He's mine now." Skeeter beamed, and continued up the slope.

"Oh," Pandora groaned, "and you think Nut's gonna follow you everywhere? He's not a homing pidgeon, you know?"
"He wants to stay with me. He told me." Skeeter said confidently.
"Shoot me now." Pandora held out her arms wide, following Skeeter. "You talk to animals?"
"Yeah. Wait." Skeeter' eyes widened. "Oh my. I can hear Nut talkin'. Oh. This is not good. I'm already goin' crazy. Help me."
"What's he saying?" Pandora tried to hide her smile.
"He's sayin'... Oh hell no... He's telling me the animals know what are comin' down."
"Talk to him! Ask him what!" Pandora smirked.
Skeeter looked at Nut seriously as they kept hiking up the slope.
"Okay. He said that they aren't animals. They're what originally lived here."
"You're actually crazy." Pandora waved her hand at him, flapping it up and down, and as she did, Skeeter flew up into the air and came back down with a thump.

Pandora squeaked. "What. Was. That?"
She wrung her hands. "Tell me I'm hallucinating. What did I just do? Skeeter, Skeeter, what was that?"
"Uh." Skeeter pulled a face. "You just magically threw me up, and then down. Which hurt, you b—"
"I did that?" Pandora held out her hand cautiously, pointing it at Nut, and flicked it up.

Nut flew into the air and hung there. Pandora gasped.
"I did that. I did that! Look! Look! That's what I can do! You talk to animals, I move things by waving my hands at them, wow, this is amazing! What is doing this?"
She released Nut and the squirrel scrambled back up Skeeter's legs and curled around his neck.

"We're superheroes." Skeeter whispered. "Or magic, or somethin'."
"We're not magic, or mutant. I think... Skeeter, this feels natural. What if this is what those original inhabitants have? They're going to kill us all. How did they kill everyone that was sleeping?"
"How am I meant to know? Do somethin' else!" Skeeter urged her.

Pandora pointed at a twisted, blackened tree, and flicked his hand up, again.
The tree flew out of the ground in a shower of dirt and roots.

"Woah." Skeeter sighed. "How heavy can you lift? A lot?"
"I lifted you, didn't I?" Pandora giggled.
"Be serious, now, city girl. Ain't nobody with super strength around here, right? Except maybe you got it. So, try."
Pandora shrugged. "What can I try on?"
"Okay. Uh, try to lift me and that log at the same time."

Pandora tried, and Skeeter and the log shot up into the air. Skeeter grinned, even when he was thrown back onto the hill.

"Hey," Pandora nudged him, "They're closer."

The moon was patched in big black dots with fins. And they were constantly getting bigger.

"Mm. I'd say five minutes before they land, though." Skeeter mused.
"Why don't we stay here and watch?" Pandora asked.
"Are ya an idiot? We're bout, a hundred metres up or so, and we still got a long way. It's takin' us about five minutes t' climb this damn hill so far, which means they'll be 'ere when we make it t' the top, and then they'll be searchin' fer people, and they'll look at a Dead Hill, they'll look, but they won't see us because we'll be sittin' at t' top, hidin' behind some bushes or somethin'. Clear?"
Pandora nodded meekly.

They continued.

"What do you think they look like?" Pandora asked, as they reached the halfway mark. At this point, they could hear the engines of the space ships or whatever they were. It was a heavy, deep throb, pulsating through the night.

"I dunno. They're probably be lookin' hungry, if ya ask me." Skeeter shrugged.
Pandora paled. "Our families." Her eyes widened.
"No," Skeeter said firmly, "don't think like that. They will not eat our families. I promise ya. Swear."
"What would they eat?"
"Uh... T' pigs, sheep, cows... Our dogs..." Skeeter coughed.
"Better... Them... Than... Us... I suppose..." Pandora broke off with a sob.

Skeeter sighed, and beckoned Pandora closer. She shuffled over to him and they hugged.
"'S okay, Pan." He muttered awkwardly. "Yer dog's probably not big enough to eat, really. They'll look at him, and move on. Yer dog and me whippet will probably be the only ones left, it's true."
Pandora squeezed him tighter. "I miss my family." She cried.

Skeeter hugged her back, and his eyes started watering. "No, this ain't the time and place for hugs and tears, okay Pan? We, we, uh, we gotta keep movin'. I don't wanna be caught, okay? Until then, I'll be yer brother, okay? How's that?"
"Okay," Pandora sniffed, rubbing her golden eyes, "and I'll be your little sister."

They continued up Dead Hill, stumbling and falling and at one point, Skeeter sprained his ankle.

He'd been walking up a particularly rocky part, and he'd clipped his boot on a stone, and went tumbling downhill for about three metres. He'd called for Pandora's help and she supported him by slinging his arm over her shoulders, and they limped their way up. Nut, who had been dislodged by his fall, scampered back to them and rested on Skeeter's head, gripping the strands of black hair.

And when they reached the top, they looked down and saw Skeeter's farm milling with tiny figures way down below them. They were so high up now.
Pandora heard Skeeter bite back a gasp of surprise and anxiety.

"We're here." Pandora said, needlessly.

Then they both stared down at the massive ships, giant sleek black and silver things that had flexible pod carriages, and a huge fin on the head of the ship.

"Ooh boy." Pandora groaned as more of the figures rushed out of a carriage carrying little objects that looked like rifles. "This is not going to be good."