The world has been attacked by aliens. No, that isn't a joke. And actually, I'm sure that if you're reading this, you've heard a lot about the invasion already. I found this notebook and figured I'd write about the end of the world. Maybe when this is all over, someone will find it, and it'll become some kind of piece of history. In all actuality, it's just some crap writing from a boy who doesn't know if he's going to get another tomorrow.
First off, I avoided being captured. The aliens bombed the most heavily populated cities and then went around capturing whoever they could find. If people resisted, they were killed. So, how did I avoid this? Well, I didn't on my own, that's for sure.
When the aliens first came to the United States, word got around pretty quickly that they were capturing and killing. My parents wasted no time packing and getting ready to run. I got ready with them, willing to do anything to keep us alive. We didn't have that great of a relationship, but I realized they were willing to do anything to keep me alive too. They just had other plans.
They knocked me out and put me underground. Yup. My dad knew of an old tornado shelter in the woods where we were going through at the time, and he figured the aliens wouldn't look there. But apparently we couldn't ALL hide in there, and my parents knew I would never leave them, so they knocked me out and put me in there.
Great parenting.
I'm sure they thought they were saving me, but why we couldn't all hide in there I'll never know. Maybe they were hoping to distract the aliens and lead them all far away from me. That's all I can come up with, because when I woke up in that shelter I was completely alone, and when I got out of that shelter I was completely alone. I haven't found them yet.
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Someone tried to approach me today. A man in his 40s. Out of instinct, I ran, not even hearing him out. Maybe he just wanted to help, but I've heard enough about the aliens looking like us to be paranoid. And humans don't bring me much comfort either. I've already witnessed a shootout over some bottled water and prescription drugs. It's all so surreal, and I wonder if I'll always be this scared.
I don't think I've ever felt true fear before. Not until now, anyway. I've been nervous before an exam. Jittery before a first date. Anxious before a race. But this is a whole new kind of fear. It leaves my heart in my throat (a phrase I now understand), and my stomach always feels like hundreds of insects are swarming inside it, trying to claw their way out. At least those feelings fade a little when hunger truly takes over.
Thinking about my parents keeps me going. No, I don't expect to magically run into them in the middle of a partially destroyed Walmart while I'm scavenging for food, but I do think I'll see them again. I have a strong feeling that they're alive. It gives me hope. I need hope in a time like this.
The first thing I'll ask them when I see them is where they got the chloroform. Or, if it wasn't chloroform they used to knock me out, what was it? And why the HELL did they do it? Then we can catch up and trade stories back and forth. I can just imagine how that'll go:
"I saw 6 bodies along the highway last week."
"Yesterday, I saw an Émigré SHIP! Lasers were frying people left and right."
Typical small talk. The end of the world will make for excellent family bonding.
I can tell them about how there's a grocery store about a mile down that has cases full of Good & Plenty candies and Swedish Fish gummies, because apparently nobody likes those. Still haven't found any of my favorite candy of all time: Skittles.
~~~~~~
It's hot as hell today, and I'm out of water. I've come to realize I never truly knew what thirst felt like. Just like fear. My lips are so cracked they're bleeding, and my tongue is like sandpaper. It's amplifying my exhaustion, but I know I'm close to a store. It's early, the Earth is still recovering from the aliens. I'll find something. For now, I'm not worried. Not about finding resources, anyway.
I spend a lot of time wondering if I'm going to come across my parents. Or one of my friends, like Steve or Derrick. But no one has looked familiar, so I've avoided people in general. With the aliens looking so much like humans, there's always this nagging thought in the back of my mind that the next person I see is one of them. I still haven't figured out if they possess people like in Invasion of the Body Snatchers or if it's just a really creepy coincidence they look as similar to us as they do.
By now, I have absolutely no idea where I am. I'm long past any land that looks familiar. In my neighborhood, I thought I'd come across someone I knew. At least Mr. Franz, because he was a veteran. I figured he would surely survive. They must have all gotten rounded up and shipped off to the Reserve. That or they're dead, but I haven't seen their bodies.
All of this is so hard to wrap my head around. This isn't supposed to be happening. This is what happens in movies, where the aliens look like lizards and everybody is always screaming and running. My reality isn't like that. It's so quiet, so bare, so grim, it's almost maddening. And then when you do hear a scream, it's that much more terrifying.
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Hey everyone! Hope you enjoyed the first part of Tyler's journal. There are definitely more entries to come to help with the wait in between chapters for Altered Earth :)
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The Divide (Soldiers of the Earth Book 1)
Science FictionAfter many years, many edits, and over 500k reads on Wattpad, The Divide is finally published on Amazon! It's 2028, and Earth has been under attack by an alien species for two years. This human-like alien species, called Emigres, left their planet t...
