It was like any other day, just hanging around and going on as usual. I had been having fun playing outside in the park with my friends.
"Hurry up—pass the ball!"
"I'm open! I'm open!"
I could feel the heat of the setting sun on my face, and the tall, uncut grass flowed between my legs as I ran. We had been playing in a grassy field away from the city with most of my friends.
As we ran around, everybody stopped when they heard loud sirens start to sound in the distance. Everyone was startled by it. Then someone pointed toward the sky.
"H-Hey… what is that thing?"
I followed everyone's gaze toward the sky. I saw what looked like a cluster of stars falling toward the city. I was confused and scared at the thought of what it might be.
Just as I was thinking, my mind was interrupted by a loud voice warning people to get out of the city.
"Everyone, this is an emergency evacuation. Please exit the city. I repeat, exit the ci—"
The person speaking was cut off when I heard a loud bang coming from the direction of the city. Not long after, I saw smoke rising from where the loud noise had come from. I was scared, not knowing what it could be that had caused such a great impact. Fear welled up inside of me as I thought of the possibility that my family might have been near there and what could have happened to them.
Heart pounding, I started running as fast as I could. I had to know if they were okay. As I made my way there, all I could think of was whether my family was alright and had evacuated. I knew that if I didn't make it in time, if I didn't try, I would surely regret it.
Making my way to the city wasn't going to be easy since I had to navigate through a dense forest. The forest between the grassland and the city was thick, and darkness was falling fast. My legs ached from running so much, but I pushed forward, dodging trees and bushes. Halfway through the forest, I felt like I was making progress, knowing I would be home soon. Just as I was running, I felt like something was wrong, something was following me.
I turned around, but I was too late in trying to run away. I wasn't able to figure out what it was. The only thing I knew was that it was pretty big in size. A light shone right as I stared at the figure—an explosion. A sharp pain suddenly stabbed my back, and I felt a burning sensation. I had been knocked away by one of the mysterious figures' attacks. I tried to stand back up, pushing against the ground, but I couldn't gather enough strength. Although the blast hadn't hit me directly, it had left me in incredible pain.
I couldn't leave my family alone…
My mind slowly faded as I lost consciousness. Trying to stay awake, I bit my lip in an attempt to shock myself awake, but it was pointless. My vision blurred, and my eyes were forcefully shut.
——
When I woke, a sharp sting came from my back, but I didn't pay it any attention. My vision wasn't fully back, so I tried using my other senses. Smoke stung my eyes, and I could taste the dust particles in the air. Parts of the forest were on fire. I could hear loud noises all around me; they sounded like feral beasts growling and explosions mixed as one. As I looked around, I noticed my clothes were torn apart, barely holding onto my body, and my shoes were gone. My body ached in ways I hadn't thought possible.
It was night. Panic gripped me again—my family. I had to reach them. I ran carefully to avoid the worst of the burning trees, but something moved behind me. The creature had returned.
This time I saw it clearly. It looked like a huge mechanical lizard. It had four huge legs protruding from the main body, with sharp claws on each of them. Its huge body looked tough and rigid; however, it still moved at an incredible pace. It seemed furious and in a rage, knocking down trees in its path. In that instant, it felt as if death were chasing me.
One indirect hit from afar knocked me out. Imagine what it could do to me if it reached me.
Thinking of this sent shivers down my spine and made my hair stand on end. I started running faster, hoping it wouldn't catch up. With every turn and every bush I had to jump over, I felt the creature drawing closer and closer. Because I had lost my shoes, my feet were scratched up. I could feel the mud between my toes slowing me down, and the hard rocks scratching the soles of my feet while I ran for my life. A blast from the beast knocked me off my feet again, tearing at my back and scraping my feet. Despite the new pain, I ran faster with newfound strength.
What was going on!? Where had all these monsters come from!?
I was able to shake off the creature and was nearing the outside of the city. The only things in front of me were clouds of dust, dead bodies, and houses burning. My heart sank as I neared my street, but that didn't matter to me at the moment. All I could do was hope that my family was okay and that nothing bad had happened to them.
As I arrived at my street, my heart started pounding, and my breathing became irregular. My shortness of breath made it seem like I might pass out. I started to tear up, feeling nothing but regret for not coming home on time when my parents had told me.
If only I hadn't gone out to play for so long, if only I had been there, I wouldn't be so worried.
"Please, please be okay," I muttered as I made my way to my house. I was right on the front step of my home, except there was no going "home" anymore. Everything and anything that used to be there was gone. There was nobody there, or at least no one alive.
Maybe there was a chance that they had escaped and fled somewhere safe.
That's what I kept thinking, just to get myself by and not start immediately crying. I kept walking, heading toward the outskirts of the city. Maybe my parents had gone out to look for me. I started running in hopes of finally feeling relief and comfort again. Suddenly, I stopped when I saw something familiar in the corner of my eyes. On the ground was a necklace like the one my dad kept on the rearview mirror of the car.
I looked around and saw a car crushed underneath a boulder. I immediately sprinted to it to make sure it wasn't my family's car. Strands of hair were coming out from the crushed window of the car; it was the sleek purple hair I had grown accustomed to seeing every day. I peeked through the crushed gap and saw my mom. Then I saw a pool of blood coming down from the side of the car. My dad had also been inside it when the boulder landed. I stood there motionless as I felt my stomach drop and my head pounding.
How could all of this have happened? Was it because I hadn't been there? Was it my fault?
I fell to my knees, trying to process what I had just seen. "W-What is this?" I felt the urge to throw up right then and there. I couldn't bear the sight in front of me.
My whole world had collapsed. My dad was gone, my mom was gone as well, and it didn't seem like my sister was crushed with them, but I didn't know where she was. I kept looking around in case I missed her somewhere. I still felt like throwing up. The peaceful days that had been my life up until now played in my head, knowing I would never have any of that again. But I had to bear the pain because I had to keep moving to find my sister and see if she was at least still alive. I picked up my dad's necklace and my sister's bear and started to search for her.
With her plush bear left behind, I knew that she had been with them when they had left, so maybe she was somewhere nearby. I went inside a nearby run-down house to search. I looked on both of its floors, but there was no sign of her being there.
"Hello, Marie, are you there?" I kept repeating these words inside every room of the house I went in, hoping to find my sister.
I started to lose hope of finding her when suddenly I heard the floor creak and a squeal come after that. I rushed toward the sound. Maybe it was a person who had not evacuated, or maybe my sister. It was a small pocket under the stairs that had been blocked by one of the doors when I came in. There, lying on the floor, I saw my sister, Marie, knees to her chest, curled up with a scared expression on her face. Her usual beautiful dark purple hair was messy from running around and sweating, and her clothes were tattered and dirty, probably from being attacked earlier.
Seeing her and sensing her fear, I reached out to her. The blank look in her eyes made me worry that she wasn't able to fully process what had happened to her and our parents.
"Hey, Marie, it's okay now. You don't have to be scared." As I said this, I couldn't help but cry. Seeing my family again in the state they were in was heartbreaking.
Finally, Marie noticed me and looked up.
"B-Brother, is that you?" As she said this, tears started to well up in her eyes. A look of relief washed over her pale face. "Aster, I missed you so much."
She hadn't even realized that I had been there before. Considering what she had just gone through, I didn't blame her for not paying attention. Her breathing was erratic, panting heavily. She was trembling and drenched in sweat, probably from her nervousness.
"Yes, it's me. I'm sorry I took so long and for leaving you alone," I told her, trying to be quiet but stumbling over my words, trying to hold back tears to not make her cry any more.
"It's… okay," she said as tears streamed from her eyes. She lunged at me and gave me a strong hug, and we stayed like that for a while. It felt like the first moment of peace I had felt all day.
Unfortunately, we couldn't stay like this for long. I had no idea if there were still monsters roaming nearby, so I pulled away and grabbed her hand.
"I'm sorry, Marie, but we need to leave. It's not safe here anymore."
She looked me in my eyes, knowing what I meant. She was just as terrified of those robotic beasts as I was. We had to find a better hiding place and, hopefully, escape to where the others had evacuated. Finally feeling myself calming down, I held Marie's hand tightly and signaled that it was time to leave here.
I walked hand-in-hand with my sister back to where I had come from, since that was the nearest place to the designated evacuation zone. Neither of us was in any condition to be walking. We had no shoes and had injuries all over our bodies. The adrenaline was gone, and I was left limping thanks to the monster that had attacked me earlier, but all that mattered was getting Marie to safety. I knew this would be dangerous, knowing what monstrosities were out there waiting for us. My only purpose guiding me was getting Marie to safety and finding a new way to live through whatever this new nightmare was.