Empire of Dirt #3

Wednesday 1:30 PM

The massive ships were parked for some time around the world. The world stood still as everyone waited for them to do...anything really. The ships were nearly the size of the cities they hovered over, a dark metallic blue disk with seven spires jutting out from the edge of it.

While the world wondered what was going to happen, people cowered in fear, people danced in the streets, people simply sat on their couches with their eyes glued to the television, and the Soteria operatives strapped on their gear and were ready to take action.

The new guests to Earth decided to act first. The people cowering in fear became petrified as their lights went out. The people dancing stopped as the various stereos and boomboxes quite playing their music. The people watching from their homes stopped watching since their televisions all stopped working at once. Cars stopped driving, boat’s motors failed, airplanes began their descent downward, the Amish had no idea what was going on but that’s really not that important. The Soteria operatives devices were conditioned to survive an EMP attack, so all that did was tell them that these visitors did not have the friendliest intentions.

Soteria made their move, emerging from their homes and offices, brandishing weapons that haven’t been released to the public gun nuts and home defenders (for good reason too, they make your average AR-15 look like it was made my Nerf).

The visitors made their move too, as what they created as foot soldiers for this specific invasion descended from the ships. They landed, and opened fire without prejudice.

They were about ten feet tall, looking like a massive somewhat-human, covered in a mix of blue metal and hard plastic. They were faceless, only machine-like sensors and devices. People would learn that this did not hinder their aim in any way, rather the hybrid abominations seemed rather enhanced by their synthetic additions.

The Invasion of Manhattan would later be regarded as a pivotal point in the upcoming history of the overall attack on Earth, however the citizens at this point in time did not see it as anything other than raw terror and confusion.

Lily Burns stood in the breakroom at The Soap Box headquarters. She and her co-workers could hear the carnage outside. Dave peaked through the door, he saw a squad of them move past the window on the other side of the office space.

“I...I don’t think they noticed us.” he said, trying his hardest to remain calm. He opened the door slightly more. The coast was clear.

He ushered to everyone, staying hid just meant they’ll be found at some point.

The journalists creeped their way out the back door, Lily contested: “Should we really be going out there?”

“It’s either die in here or find help out there”.

“But…”

“But what? They will find us eventually, outside is much safer.”

Dave walked outside and was immediately shot in the face.

The crew collectively screamed and ran back inside.

The alien beast very clearly heard them, and walked through the door. It looked at the frightened and tiny humans, and raised it’s rifle. It fired off three shots, killing three of them, before a series of shots from a human weapon deafened the room. The beast turned to face the threat, as the three Soteria operatives stood triumphantly in the doorway.

“What the fuck is going on? Who the fuck are you people?” demanded a bloodsoaked and frantic Lily.

“Well I was expecting a thank you, but since you asked so nicely, Major Connac with his merry band of men. Now let’s get you people the fuck out of here.”

Thank you for reading the third installment of “Empire of Dirt”. That was a lot of fun to write, and I don’t typically write action sequences, my writing is more broody and slow, so far this has been a fun experience stepping out of my comfort zone. So what do you think happens next? The first issue details Lily alone and hiding from these things (spoiler alert but not really: They’re designated by Soteria as ‘Colossus’ or ‘Colossi’ for plural in case you are actually THAT much of a nerd) so how does she end up alone? If you are reading these from me posting them on Instagram, I would love for you to comment any thoughts you have so far.

I hope you enjoyed reading this issue as much as I did writing it. Check out Boxhead Books on Facebook, follow @boxheadbooks on Instagram as well as my personal account: @tytyscifi (which I will be posting on a lot more often now), and go look at www.boxheadbooks.com for some other blog posts as well as shop around and check out my other works for sale. I do want to shout out Declan Walker who is a very important person right now. He is officially the second person to publish under Boxhead Books other than myself, and I am incredibly grateful for that. Walker’s book of surreal and thought provoking poems are the perfect thing for a snowy afternoon spent inside with your favorite cup of tea. I cannot recommend checking out his writings enough, I don’t even read poetry and I already plan on paying myself for his book (does that sound egotistical? Genuinely not sure.) Check out the e-book edition (paperback coming soon) anywhere books are sold: “Conversations With The Universe: By Declan Walker”. As always, remember to #ReadOutsideThBox.