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Happiness Deserved

Despite It Happening and They Invading

By Amanda RohlandPublished 3 years ago 9 min read
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Never to be removed, but maybe added to?

I. Unexpected Connection

The night before It happened, I was at a dance club off base with my squad celebrating Danny Boy's 21st birthday in good army fashion. We'd plied him with all varieties of alcohol until he was seeing double, slurring his speech, and acting ludicrously. He approached a group of girls and began hitting upon all of them until the bartender intervened.

One of those girls was beautiful, with chestnut brown hair, deep blue eyes, and long slender legs that could trap you against her with the power of a thousand miles run each year for fourteen years. I approached her after Danny Boy started serenading a pillar.

“Sorry about that! He just turned twenty-one today. I'm Chris.” I held out my hand and smiled charmingly.

“Hey, Chris!” She took my hand firmly, shook it, and held on ever-so-slightly longer than normal. “It's ok. I'm Jenna. You don't go to a club expecting to be ignored.”

“I'm sure you're never ignored.”

“You'd be surprised.” Her melodic voice trailed off. “So, when are you guys going to be deployed next?”

“We are in the 'hurry and wait' stage right now. Trained up hard the last three months and now waiting until 'they' tell us where to go.”

“Seems typical. Care for a smoke?” She grabbed my hand and led me to the back alley. We shared a cigarette. Each time we passed it back and forth, our hands lingered longer and longer. As she took the last draw of the cigarette and tossed it into a puddle, she took both my hands and pressed tightly against me. The soft strains of “I Hope You Dance” drifted towards us from the bar. “Dance with me. I love this song.”

We slow-danced around the back alley behind that bar. I nestled my chin against her soft, chestnut hair, breathing in the smell of original Herbal Essence shampoo. She began softly nibbling on my neck in gentle kisses. I tilted her chin up and from that first full lip, slight tongue kiss, I knew that my life would forever be different. Our lips continued to touch as we slowly removed each other's clothing until we were standing in that back alley with skin glowing alabaster. As I reached to take off her silver locket, a heart with an intricate pattern and some weight, she gently slapped my hand away. “No, that stays on!” She whispered this breathlessly.

Our lovemaking was passionate, noisy, and shameless that night in that back alley behind that dance club. Our souls connected forever, and we carefully dressed each other afterward while continuing to gently kiss and caress each other's hot smooth skin. We shared another cigarette and returned to the bar, dancing on the edge of the dance floor, ignoring everyone else and continuing to stay as close as possible.

We barely talked, because our eyes were silently communicating everything we needed to know about each other. We were lonely souls, craving connection, and finding it the night before It happened.

Last call came, and Danny Boy was passed out in a back booth. The guys were stumbling and severely intoxicated. “Jenna, I'd like to see you again.”

“Tomorrow night. Here?”

“Sure!” I gave her one final passionate kiss and helped my squad to our van. As designated driver, I was supposedly the most sober of the group, but I couldn't get Jenna out of my mind and don't remember driving us back to base.

All changes after It happened.

II. It Happens & They Arrive

It happened the next morning at zero nine hundred eleven hours. No one seems to know what It is, and thus we still have no name for It. Still, it caused three things to happen at once: all electronics ceased operation, all satellites plummeted to the earth, and all radio and cell phone towers vaporized. However, shortly after It happened, They came.

They are humanoids with no vocal cords who communicate telekinetically, fight with lasers, and echolocate. Their echolocation ability seems to be more like dolphins than bats, using Their large frontal lobes to detect distance. If Their frontal lobe is damaged, They lose their ability to calculate distance. They have large eyes that detect infrared at any time of the day and night, but they are blind, so masking body heat and damaging Their frontal lobes allows for effective sneak attacks.

So far, my entire squad has survived because we were near the armory when It happened. Our base commander believed in keeping a balance of old and new weapons in working order at all times. As soon as it happened, we headed for the armory. We quickly figured out which weapons still worked, and we geared up.

When They showed up, They were in groups of four, moving in a V formation like geese. They made a weird clicking noise that bounced off everything at once. Those first skirmishes were messy, but we learned that if you shot Them where Their vocal cords should have been, They died instantly. Somehow, taking out even one of the four minimized the effectiveness of their echolocation, allowing us to overpower the others even more quickly.

Those first days were brutal. They kept coming in waves, but we kept taking them out. We rotated squads after the first three days of nonstop action so that each soldier received six hours of rest and two high-calorie meals a day. This kept us fit, healthy, and alert.

After three weeks, They began sending fewer and fewer waves with smaller and smaller numbers. The base commander decided it was time to go explore the town and surrounding ranch land. He sent a company to a few of the horse ranches nearby to find us some transportation. He sent our company to the town to see how they had fared and retrieve supplies from our off-base warehouses.

Father and child: past or future?

III. Now to the Future

As we approach the town, we notice that the streets are deserted. Many of Their decaying bodies litter the streets. We see no civilians. We continue toward the center square where the courthouse, jail, and town hall stand. At the southeast corner of the square, we start laughing. The civilians have rolled all the cars down the street to create a wall and choke point. The mayor comes out to talk to our captain.

“Well, Captain, that security training from 9/11 finally paid off.”

“I see that. How'd you all fare?”

“We fought Them off. Only a few didn't survive, but they didn't join us inside. We heard you all fighting, and that encouraged us to keep fighting. Sounded like you had more action than us.”

“We didn't hear you all, so I guess we did. Any wounded?”

“Yes, but we have it under control. Come on in.”

We all enter the town square. Each of the four corners with the four intersections has the car walls and chokepoints enclosing the square. At each corner is a large bonfire, burning low during the day. One of the townsmen explains that at night, they increase the flames which allow them to hide from Them and see Them coming more easily. Their skin shimmers in the firelight like night vision goggles illuminate bodies.

“Soldiers, at ease. For the next thirty minutes, mingle,” our captain goes into the town hall with the mayor, judge, and police chief.

I look around the town square and see the barkeeper from the dance club. I make a beeline for him. “Hey, do you remember me?”

“Yes, that last night before everything changed. You were at that soldier's birthday party weren't you?”

“Yes! Do you know where Jenna is?”

“Jenna is in the clinic over there.” He points to the north side of the square.

I head for the clinic. It takes me a minute to adjust to the dim light inside from the brightness of the sunlight outside. The clinic was a mattress shop before It. Now, it serves as a small hospital which makes sense since the town hospital is newly built on the outskirts of town in an indefensible location. Then I notice her chestnut hair. She is standing over an older man in the corner whose leg is propped up on pillows.

“Jenna?” Her name horseley comes off my lips as emotions choke me. She looks up and turns; her deep blue eyes share all of her fear, uncertainty, and surprise with me instantly. “How are you doing?”

Jenna sidles up and fervidly kisses me in reply. I feel the stress of the last three weeks dissipate as I melt into her lips. She nestles against my chest, and I wrap my arms tightly around her. “Chris, I wasn’t sure I’d ever see you again. They seemed to concentrate Their attacks on your base.”

“Sorry, we didn’t have a chance to send messages out.”

“I know. Our usual ways don’t work. I have some news.” She starts playing nervously with her locket as she continues. “I started feeling unwell a few weeks ago. It started with nausea, vomiting, and general abdominal discomfort. I also missed that time of the month. I took three pregnancy tests this week. They all tested positive. I’m pregnant.”

I back away slightly, holding her out at arm's length and looking her up and down. “Is it mine?”

“I haven’t slept with anyone else since Daniel.” She opens her locket and shows me a picture of a man holding a baby. “Daniel was my husband. That is our son Josiah. They died in a car accident three years ago.” Her eyes grow sorrowful with years of mourning and pain now dulled by the passage of time but ever-present. “Three weeks ago, I was at that bar celebrating with my friends because I had gone a whole month without crying when thinking about Daniel and Josiah.”

“And I showed up!” I pull her close and lovingly kiss her fingers, the locket, and her wonderful lips.

“Yes, Chris, you showed up. I dared that night to dream that I might deserve a second chance at happiness. Then, It happened, and They came, and you didn’t.”

“You deserve happiness. I want to be a father to our child. I can’t promise you what will come next, but I’d like to find out with you.” I pull out a short piece of red yarn I’d found on the way into town and twist it around her left ring finger. “Jenna, will you do life with me?”

She nods her head in the affirmative. Our lips meet again for a long kiss of commitment and reassurance. My captain calls out for us to assemble. Although our future is uncertain, Jenna and I will be discovering it together with our little one. It and They will not keep us from our future together.

A future entwined despite It and They.

science fiction
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About the Creator

Amanda Rohland

I have been writing since high school. Unfortunately, every time I start writing a story, I lose it by moving or getting a new job. Time to start fresh.

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