The Gray: Chapter One

There weren't always dragons in the Valley. I don't remember the exact moment it happened, but I do remember my life, and the lives of everyone around me, changing forever.

Five years ago, my life was so normal some may have even considered it boring. My parents were happily married and we had a nice house in the suburbs. My little brother, Matty, was as annoying as one would expect, but he knew how to create excitement. My two best friends, Lisa and Deanna, lived down the street and we were inseparable -- as any 13-year-olds should be. We did all of the normal, or boring, things kids that age do.

Then they invaded our world and everything changed.

* * *

Sometime in June, 2025

I awoke to the sound of distant booms and flashes of light, rubbing my eyes relentlessly to see if I was dreaming. Within seconds, the flashing lights grew closer, and I realized it was from explosions. As I peered out of my bedroom window, I watched the explosions multiply, frozen in fear.

My mom came crashing into my room, yelling. "Allison! Get away from there!"

From that point, everything blurred together. I grabbed a backpack and threw a few articles of clothing into it, along with my phone charger and two of my favorite books. I didn't have any clue what I was packing for, but I just knew I needed to pack lightly. I rushed to Matty's room and he was standing in the middle of the floor looking completely lost.

"Hey, bud. Just grab some stuff and throw it in here," I said gently as I snagged his backpack off his doorknob.

Downstairs, I found my parents throwing canned foods and toiletries into a big duffle bag. The explosions continued and my heart began pounding harder.

Lisa and Deanna burst through the front door with their parents and Deanna's dog, haphazardly tossing their bags to the floor to help us finish packing anything we needed. Lisa and Deanna glanced at me and I ran to them, immediately sobbing.

"What is going on?" I cried. They both started crying, too.

"Girls!" We jumped around as Lisa's dad shoved some boxes at us. "Get all of this stuff downstairs to the basement." When none of us moved, he grew louder. "NOW!" We fumbled with the bags and boxes, struggling to get them downstairs as quickly as possible.

A few minutes later, everyone else joined us in the basement, searching for flashlights and batteries and candles. Anything we might need. I still had no idea what was going on or causing those explosions, but I knew it couldn't be good.

We stayed down there for hours. Even after the power surged and everything went black. Even after the explosions grew more and more faint, and eventually stopped completely. We stayed, even as the sun began to rise, light trickling in through the basement window.

No one had spoken much, and Matty hadn't moved from my mom's side, clutching to her like his life depended on it. Sarah, Deanna's mom, rested her head on top of Deanna's. I held my backpack close to my chest, unsure if I should speak.

"Jim." My dad's voice startled me. "Why don't you and I go check things out? Everyone else stay here." My dad and Jim, Deanna's dad, stood up, stretching.

"I'll come, too." Lisa's dad, Aaron, stood as well.

Deanna, Lisa, and I exchanged worried glances as our dads headed up the stairs quietly. They were gone for what felt like an eternity before we finally heard their returning footsteps.

My dad appeared first, his face pale and distraught. Then Deanna's dad, then Lisa's. They all looked the same. Terrified. None of them said anything as they slowly came down the stairs.

"Steven?" My mom stood up slowly. "What is it? What's going on out there?"

My dad just shook his head and looked around at all of us. The fear in his eyes sent a chill down my spine. "It's bad, Claire. Everyone is gone... they're just... gone." He rubbed his shaking hands over his face and through his hair.

"It seems as though everyone has left." Now Aaron spoke. "There's abandoned vehicles up and down the streets, fires, smoke filling the sky."

"It's eerily quiet out there," Jim said softly. "I think we should get to a safer place." He turned to my parents. "Do you still have that cabin? Up in the woods?"

My dad nodded. "Yeah. Uh, we do. Yes. Allison, why don't you take Deanna and Lisa upstairs and grab a few more things from your room. Matty, you too." Everyone shuffled out of the basement in silence.

Fifteen minutes later, we were heading out the front door with backpacks and duffel bags and boxes, staying as quiet as possible. As my eyes adjusted to the bright sky, my jaw dropped.

The sky was thick with gray smoke and the smell of burning plastic and metal. Ash covered the roads and abandoned cars. We could see several fires from our front porch, some small, some big. And it really was empty. Quiet. Eerie.

We walked. And walked. And walked. Only speaking when absolutely necessary. Matty was whining quietly, shifting his backpack and struggling to keep up with the adults. I nudged him with my elbow and gave him a small smile. He grabbed my hand tightly and we continued walking.

I don't know how long we walked, but eventually the sun started to go down and daylight faded fast as we weaved in and out of cars on the old highway. There was a crisp chill that prickled my skin. I pulled a sweatshirt out of my backpack and pulled it over my head as I heard a loud crash. Lisa screamed and we all huddled closer together.

"Everybody stay close," my dad whispered cautiously.

"Where are we going? We can't stay out here in the dark," my mother said with a small gasp as another crash rang out from behind us. We all swung around, looking in every direction. There was nothing. And no one.

"Keep moving. We have to keep moving," Jim said sternly. So we did.

We continued on for about ten more minutes when I saw something gray-ish move along the treeline of the highway. I jumped back and looked to see if the others had also seen it, but they were all focused on moving forward, and when I turned back, it was gone. I looked to my side where Matty had been holding my hand and realized, at some point, he had let go. I glanced around, but I couldn't see him in the dark.

"Wait." No one heard me, so I stopped and said it louder. "Wait!" They all whipped around. "Where is Matty?" My mom gasped, looking around frantically.

"Oh, my god. Matty?" She shrieked. No answer. "Matty!"

"Claire!" My dad grabbed her by the shoulders. "We can't be yelling out here. We're too exposed."

"Exposed to what?" she shouted. "Matty!"

And soon we were all spread out with flashlights, looking in and under all of the vehicles. I spotted a huge semi-truck and bolted toward it. Matty had always loved big trucks, and this wasn't the first time he had just disappeared.

I slowly opened the passenger side door and stepped up into the truck. "Matty?" I heard a shuffling sound in the cabin space and jumped back a little bit. "Ugh," I sighed. "Matty... is that you?" I peered around the passenger seat and into the back, and there he was. "Oh, my god. Matty!" I rushed over to him. He was curled into a ball, sobbing quietly with his stuffed elephant pulled tightly to his chest.

"Allison?" He looked up at me and gasped, reaching for me. "I saw this really cool truck... and..." He was crying so hard he could barely finish his sentence. "When I turned around... you were gone." He let out another sob. "You were all gone."

I hugged him tightly and grabbed his face. "Don't ever do that again!" I wiped his tears with my sleeve and helped him out of the truck. "Mom!" I shouted. "He's here! I found him!"

Everyone ran over to us, gasping and sighing with relief and frustration. "You can't do that, Matthew!" my dad shouted. Then he lowered his voice, pulling Matty into a hug. "You have to stay with us. Okay?" Matty nodded against my dad's chest.

"Dad, the inside of this truck is huge." I pointed behind me and they all looked up. "I think there might be room for all of us."

"I don't know about that, kiddo. But I did see another semi just up the road that the rest of us could huddle up in," Aaron said quietly.

We hesitated for a moment, then the dads all nodded and we split into two groups. My family and Deanna's dog all headed for the door of the semi Matty had been in when we heard another crash, only this time it sounded much closer.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry!" my dad whispered, lifting us all into the cab. I quickly glanced through the front window at Lisa, Deanna and their parents before sliding onto the king size bed behind the seats. My dad locked both doors and joined us on the bed. Jasper, Deanna's dog, sat on my lap panting loudly.

"Shh, it's okay boy," I whispered. I scratched his ears and sat him on the bed between Matty and I.

"All right, kids. Let's two try to get comfortable and get a few hours of sleep." My dad pulled a blanket over us and gave us both a kiss on the cheek.

As I laid beside my eight-year-old brother, a tear fell from my eyes. I have to protect him, I thought. No matter what. I put my arm over him and closed my eyes.

* * *

"Honey." I woke up to my mom gently shaking my shoulder. "Wake up. We have to get moving." I rolled over and looked up at her. "Your dad went to get the others. Get your brother, grab your things, and meet me outside." She slid off of the bed and I waited until I heard the door open.

"Matty," I whispered. He didn't budge. "Matty!" I said louder, shaking him. He opened his groggy little eyes and blinked at me. "We gotta go. Mom and dad are waiting." I started to move off of the bed when he grabbed my arm.

"Please tell me I was dreaming." He already had tears in his eyes. I just looked at him, trying my best not to cry. I shook my head softly and he let out a small whimper. "I'm scared, Alli."

I sighed and pulled him into a hug. "Me too, buddy. But I promise, I won't let anything happen to you." I looked him in the eye. "Okay?" He nodded once and we shuffled out of the truck.

We headed toward the other semi about 100 yards ahead and met the others, where we continued forward. Time seemed to stand still as we made our way down the highway in silence. We only stopped for food and bathroom breaks, usually for Matty.

"This is the exit we take to get to the cabin," my dad said, and he veered right.

I remembered the image of the grey-ish figure in the trees and took in a sharp breath. My mind began to ramble, causing my heart to race.

"Dad?" He turned to look at me. "What if, whatever did this, lives in the woods? What if that's why we haven't seen anything?" Everyone stopped and turned toward me.

"Yeah. What if there's monsters in the woods?" Lisa shrieked, then covered her mouth with her hand.

"But..." Deanna's eyes were wide. "We haven't seen any other people either..."

This clearly hadn't crossed anyone's mind because we all suddenly looked very concerned.

"You girls are right. But..." My dad looked around at the other adults. "We don't have anywhere else to go."

"We could go into the city, where there's food and clothes and stuff," Lisa said.

"But what if there's monsters in the city, and all the people ran to the woods? Deanna countered.

Sarah sighed. "There are no monsters, okay Deanna?" Her tone sounded frustrated.

"We don't know who or what did this, okay? So let's just stick to the plan and head to the cabin. We're more than half way there," Aaron said with a sense of finality.

And so we did. We walked along the highway exit up onto the country road that led to our cabin. The road narrowed and the trees thickened. The sun dipped below the treeline and the air cooled. The sky seemed to clear of smoke the further we went, and I took some deep breaths of the fresh air.

"Do you think it's a good or bad sign that there doesn't seem to be any fires out here?" Deanna whispered to Lisa and I. We both shrugged and kept moving.

After a bit longer, I noticed Matty falling behind. I looped my arm through his and pulled him along. It was dark now, and the sky was clear. I gazed up at the stars and moon, wishing we were traveling for fun.

Matty tugged on my sleeve. "Look, Alli. It's a pleasant moon!" He pointed to the sky and I chuckled.

"It's called a crescent moon, dingus." He shoved me and stuck out his tongue. I laughed again and held his hand as we followed all of the parents.

Finally, we came to a clearing on the left that led to the cabin. I hesitated at the threshold of the forest, hoping we made the right decision. As we headed up the steep gravel road, my stomach churned. A twig snapped somewhere behind us and we all swung around.

"What was that?" Deanna whispered.

"Keep moving. We're almost there." My dad pushed us forward to quicken our pace.

Almost at a jog, we cleared the top of the hill and the cabin came into view. We all sighed and hurried toward it. Matty clung to my hand as we made our way down the driveway. Another twig snapped, then a low growling sound erupted from our left, then our right.

"Run!" Jim yelled.

My dad scooped Matty up. Jasper barked wildly into the trees. I kept my eyes on my brother, running as fast as I could. Another growl, only this time it sounded much closer. I glanced in the direction and saw two glowing eyes. I screamed loudly and grabbed Deanna and Lisa by their hands, running faster.

A blood curdling scream filled the forest as we hit the front door. I whipped my head around, squinting into the darkness. My hands were still clutching Deanna's and Lisa's. Matty was still in my dad's arms and my mom was unlocking the cabin door. Aaron and Beth, Lisa's mom, stood huddled next to my mom, frantically looking around. Jim struggled to keep Jasper's leash in his hand as he growled and barked like a rabid dog.

Another scream. But it was Deanna. "Mom!" She lurched forward, still screaming. "No!" I tightened my grip on her hand, pulling her back.

"Sarah!" Jim shouted. He dropped Jasper's leash and ran into the darkness.

My dad put Matty down next to me and followed after Jim. "Dad, no!" We all watched in horror as my dad snagged Jim by the collar of his shirt, dragging him back to the house. Finally, my mom unlocked the door and we all piled in as quickly as possible. Jim tumbled in as my dad pushed him. There was no sign of Sarah.

"Mom!" Deanna sobbed. She tried to bolt again, but Beth pulled her into her arms and into the living room.

Aaron locked the door as soon as my dad crossed the threshold. We all gasped for air as Deanna sobbed, Jasper still growling loudly by the door. I flipped a light on and Aaron quickly turned it back off as he peered out the window at the top of the door.

"Oh, my god," he whispered. "Oh, my god."

I scrambled into the living room to see what was going on and my heart stopped.

A large, gray being stood over Sarah's limp and bloody body. Its arms were long and its feet had massive talons. I looked up at its face, covered in Sarah's blood. Glowing yellow eyes, no nose, and a mouth full of sharp teeth.

Deanna shuddered next to me and Beth pulled her into a hug, covering her eyes. And suddenly, this creature went from horrid to absolutely terrifying as fire shot out of its mouth, engulfing Sarah's body in flames. Wings burst out to each side of its body and it disappeared into the dark sky.