Jupiters Collision

We've set out to find other survivors. We know there are other survivors but the radios are all static now. When the nuclear bombs were detonated a few of us hid underground to wait it out. To wait until the shaking from the explosions had stopped. To wait for the air to clear up a bit. We are running low on supplies, so we must go in search of more. Those of us who have made it through this seemingly endless nightmare are trying not to go as insane as those who couldn't handle knowing their world may not be as it was before.

I should start at the beginning. The year is 2045. One day the world was safe and still intact; by the end of the next day those of us able to get away from the horrors we were witnessing (bombs exploding; earthquakes of mega proportions; the oceans spilling over; the lights) went underground. We were able to contact a few survivors but then, nothing. Static. There was one survivor in particular. A father of two children; a husband. He told us about these particular lights in the sky he had seen. Oceanic waves of lights. Like the oceans and the sky had switched places. He had an odd note to his voice, like he was hypnotized. He informed us of his coordinations and told us if we found his family to reassure him that he was safe. That was nearly fifteen years ago. So we left our safe haven to go in search of supplies and other possible survivors.

When we had resurfaced to the top, we saw these lights. It was like the whole sky was gone. There was just...an ocean of beautifully colored lights. They seemed to have been coming from north of where we were bunkered. My partners and I agreed that that must be the place the man we had spoken to fifteen years ago must be. Assuming he was still alive. Still, we were convinced we needed to check it out. There had to be other survivors. We survived, right?

*

We had walked several miles before we first saw the tunnel. The earth had changed so much in all the years we were down under.

The trees became one with the leaves. The leaves were no longer forests of green; now there were bright greens mixed in with bluish green colors. The grass had these kinds of tusks growing up with reddish hues. Plastic was the word that came to mind, and yet they were as real as you and me. Animals seemed to have become extinct. It felt like we were in some kind of alternate reality. Or on an alien planet. And by the time we had reached the tunnel half of us were pale and starving from lack of wanting to eat or sleep.

We found a journal on the way to the tunnels. Seems it had been the surviving father's daughter's journal. We confirmed that this must be the place where he had radioed us from, so we took a look around to see if we could locate him. As my partners were assessing the place, I sat down near a tree to read the journal. The daughter stated that her father had been gone for several weeks before they set out to search for him. She had described in her writings of witnessing her mother and brother being overcome with a hypnosis-like demeanor such as my partners and I had felt. She also stated that her brother and mother hadn't eaten or slept in several days due to lack of desire of needing to.

She then goes on to tell of the pods. Pods that her father says they were to step into and then allow gases to overtake the senses to put a body into a deep sleep. That was the end of her journal. Too late, I remembered my partners; because halfway through the partaking of the pod system, the girl described aliens from another planet, the planet of Jupiter and how these ethereal, almost iridescent creatures were here to protect our species and planet from being destroyed by other aliens sent here from the planet Mars.

I ran into the tunnels as fast as I could, trying to warn the others of what I had just ascertained through the girl's journal writings. I couldn't find my partners anywhere. I did, however, encounter one of these aliens. Its backside was turned towards me. It was holding a gold heart shaped locket in its hand. This locket was another object the girl described in her journal; a piece of jewelry given to her by her father in case he never returned. I stood as still as I possibly could, hoping to study this alien; this paragon. It was a stunning sight to behold! Even more stunning than the oceanic waves of light above us! These aliens were more than just mere entities; they were angelic creatures sent here to protect us!

*

When the alien had departed from the area of the pods I decided it was time to take a look around, just to be safe, before I tried to make contact with them; after all my partners were still AWOL. As I was walking towards the pods I detected an obsessive odor coming from them. I took a peek inside one of the pods and found a young girl, no more than the age of twelve. She must be the girl from the journal. She appeared to be asleep but I believed her to be dead. Her pallored face was ashen and I was noticing some discoloration upon her skin. There were others who were starting to decay in their pods as well. A man, the father I presumed; a boy, the brother; and a woman, the mother this girl spoke of in her journal entries. This must be the family the father had told my partners and I about, which I took to mean that these creatures were not sent here to protect us, they were sent here to destroy us.

I ran as quickly as I could towards the exit of the tunnels, making as little noise as possible so as not to alarm the aliens in case one or more of them were nearby. As I was nearing the exit, I heard a noise behind me. The alien holding the locket had noticed me attempting to depart its domain. I keep a mirror in my pack for emergencies such as this; something to deflect light into a creature's eyes if ever I needed to escape certain death. I held the mirror up to the lights coming up out of the tunnels, hoping the reflection would divert its attention, not knowing whether or not it even had eyes to stun. The sound it made coming out of a hole in its face was akin to a fire alarm. It was calling on others! Quickly, I escaped out of the tunnel and hid behind these plastic like trees. I could see the alien following me as well as others coming up out of the tunnels.

I searched for a well rounded tree to hide behind. Once I was there I crouched down and was still, waiting on the aliens to grow bored of trying to find me. Instead, I could see long snouts coming out of their faces, similar to an anteater's snout. They began to sniff the grounds and claw at the earth. I held my breath in anticipation sure they would find me. Alas, their explorations were unsuccessful and I was able to escape without fear of being traced.

I ran through the forests as fast as I could, not even attempting to look back to be sure I wasn't being followed. As soon as I felt I could stop, I slowed down and took a rest so as to clear my head. The girl wrote about another army of aliens from the planet of Mars. I was sure I would run into them if I kept heading away from Jupiters aliens, so I had to ponder my next move. If I backtracked from whence I came I could make it back to my bunker and I would be safe, but without the necessary supplies I needed to survive even a few nights. The only chance I had of surviving the end of the world was to keep going as far as I could while still being alert for more than just mere animals now.

*

My journey towards the east has been long and hard but so far I have not run into anything remotely alien-like. I killed a few deer (if it was a nuclear blast surely the animals would be as dead from radiation poisoning as humans) and a few rabbits. I found a stream and started walking along the edge of it; I caught a few fish to eat out of the river the stream led to and filled all of my canisters with fresh water. I have not found signs of a different species from another planet, but my journey is far from over. There must be other humans alive. I can't be the only one.

I decided that I needed to stop and rest for the night so I set up a tent and a fire and I made an alarm system with sticks of wood to protect myself. I would continue my search for more people and resources in the morning. As I was laying down to sleep I heard a rustling in the woods. It was such a small sound I figured it must be an animal but I kept my ears alert nonetheless.

A few hours of sleep later and I heard another rustling noise. I popped my head up to investigate the noise. As I was climbing out of my tent I noticed some sort of a footprint not human near it. Cautiously, I began to examine my little area where I was squatting. There were more footprints. I decided to pack up and move on to another location. As I was getting ready to start walking again, there were more noises behind me. I began to run as quickly and as stealthily as I could hoping to outrun whomever or whatever was possibly chasing me.

I had reached the end of the path. I decided to stop and rest for a minute to clear my head and assess my situation. Suddenly I could feel my hands being bent behind my back. It seems something or someone had found me. I fought them off and turned around to find out what had attacked me. I could only ascertain that these aliens attacking me must be the aliens from Mars! They were tall and had stubby faces and big black round eyes. They were talking to me in a language unlike any I had heard before. They're legs were so long I couldn't outrun them and they captured me and knocked me unconscious.

I woke up in some kind of a tube. I had a headache and my side was hurting like something had been stabbed into me. I looked down and saw smaller tubes coming out of my side. I tried to raise my head but my neck and my arms were restrained. An alien came back and started adjusting the tubes and my blood started draining out. They also had given me some kind of substance that disintegrated my insides and they started flowing through another tube. I could see my life flashing before my eyes. I could feel unconsciousness creeping up again. The last thought in my head was that I hoped there are other survivors and that they are able to get away.

CB 6/22/2021