Short Story
What they came for
“It’s almost dawn we have to go” she said as the sun began to leak thru the dust scattered across the mountain tops of what used to be London, Ky. That was before “They” came and life as we know it changed forever. I can still remember the smell of the weapon they used to level the entire eastern part of the United States. It burns in my nose from time to time like an erie reminder of the fate I barley escaped. If Uncle Tom hadn’t pushed me and Carla into the underground cellar just before the explosion I’m not sure we would have made it. I’m not sure how many others made it, but we heard a signal on an old battery powered radio Uncle Tom kept down in the cellar telling any survivors to meet down in what used to be Knoxville, Tennesse so that’s where we are going. We had to move during the day and hide at night. That’s when “They” were active. We haven’t seen them yet but we can definitely hear them at night flying around. You could feel an electric vibration in the air whenever they are near. We guess they sleep during the day like some form of vampirism alien species but that’s just speculation. This is all too new to really have any answers it’s only been a week since the explosion an only the second time we was brave enough to leave the cellar. “Are you ready” Carla asked. You could see it in her eyes she was afraid but she was too stubborn to let me know that. We couldn’t stay in the cellar any longer we had run out of supplies so we had no other choice but to find somewhere to go. We walked for miles it seemed without saying a word. I think we was both just determined to get as far as we could before nightfall started to set in. Finally in the distance I seen the place where the sign used to be to mark the Tennessee border. “We have to find a place to stay now” she demanded and I knew she was right. Neither of us could fathom the idea of being without shelter. “Just a little farther” I said hoping she would agree. “ No we don’t have time “ she said with a growl in her voice and I knew it wasn’t a good idea to challenge her. As much as I hated to admit it my sister always tried to look out for me. “I think I see a cabin up ahead in the woods, let’s see if we can stay there.” She said so I began to follow her up the side of the mountain. We knocked on the door and looked in the windows but no one appeared to be inside so I picked the lock and we finally opened the door of the cabin. “This looks like it will work for the night” Carla said “Try and get some sleep we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow “ so I unrolled my sleeping bag and laid it on the old dusty floor of the rustic cabin and laid down to try and rest. The silence filled the room and all you could hear is the click of the Heart shaped locket opening and closing that Carla kept around her neck. Daddy gave it to her the day he died and she has kept it firmly wrapped around her neck since that day. I was too young to remember him but she was very close to him and would often tell me stories about the adventures they had when she was my age. She was 8 years older than me and I was only a year when he passed. “You miss him don’t you?” I asked and she paused for a long time before she answerd. She took a deep breath and said “ more and more each day, if daddy was here he would know what to do.” She said as her voice began to crack and I could tell the question was hard to answer. “What is inside the locket? I asked but her tone immediately changed and she almost seemed mad I even asked. “None of your business!” She said as she rolled over to face the cabin wall. “Now go to sleep” so I just laid there and stared at the ceiling until I drifted into a dream.
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