Endure // N.H (PAUSED)

Prologue

Rain was pouring from the dark-clouded sky, onto the barely-lit abandoned city. The splashing of puddles from the marching of metallic boots added to the faint sound of the rain. The city was completely vacant. Occasionally, dogs were seen roaming the city searching for their owners, food, or shelter.

This was once a happy place to be. Couples and families gathering together to be with their loved ones. Lovely music and dancing in the streets, as people watch them in awe as they walk by. Two shakes of a lamb's tail and it all disappeared. The joy was replaced with something quite sinister, a feeling that wasn't native to Ireland. Replaced with something that could likely never be seen again for quite a long time.

The Strainséirí march daily, scanning the perimeter for any survivors. We call them Strainséirí because they aren't from our planet. Scientists sent a message into space earlier in the year, hoping some form of extraterrestrial life would hear and come to Earth. Harmless right? Well, they did get the message but they thought of it as a declaration of war. They came to conquer our planet and succeeded.

I lost my family in the incursion. My father was a Colonel for the Irish Air Corps and his life was taken away from him in an air raid. My mother died from the disease that they laid upon us because she was a nurse. My brother, Colton, also died from the disease and he was only 12 years old. I'm the only one left in my family to fight to avenge them and help save the human race from extinction.

I do a quick scan of my surroundings and sprint silently to the open area where North Inner city of Dublin once was. The statue of the O'Connell Monument was scattered in little pieces on the ground, demolished by the Strainséirí. I set my timer to three hours because that was when the next perimeter check takes place.

I grew up here in the North Inner city of Dublin and I've stayed here for all 24 years of my life. I lost my house because the Strainséirí decided that lighting up houses would be a great idea. I beg to differ that idea. Even though I lost my house, this is still my city.

I hear a loud clang and I pivot, hastily pulling out my weapon and aiming at my target, ready to fire. A tattered border collie looks up at me and growls but his black eyes showed fear. I lowered my weapon and continue to search for any human survivors.

I munch on an apple as I saunter, my head on a swivel. My clothes were drenched and the rain and the dark sky makes it hard to see. I don't want to turn on a light because it could act like a potential beacon, possibly giving away my location, and possibly have me executed.

The sound of an aircraft engine stops me dead in my tracks and my eyes avert up, frantically looking for where it's coming from. When the ship is in my sights, I duck for cover underneath a dusty pick-up truck. I take a quick glimpse at my watch and there was still two hours until a perimeter check. Maybe it's just a fly-by.

I shift around, now laying on my stomach and my heart lodges itself in my throat; they're ground troops! Their foreign armor protected their bodies from the rain as they marched. I catch a glimpse of someone in the middle of the company of Strainséirí. It was a human!

His dark-blond hair was stained with blood and was sticking out all over the place. His pale skin was concealed behind all of the bruises and gashes on his face. His clothes were torn, exposing more cuts and bruised. Oi, they really messed him up.