Aliens, what else? – Prologue

This story starts with the moment I died.

It was in the second year of the alien invasion. Until then I had managed to survive by hiding in basements or, more often, in the woods, close to abandoned towns.

That first day, when the first ships arrived, I was on my way home from school. I had to walk – of course there were no more buses, only people running in the streets. By the time I got home that side of the city was emptied (that was what the few survivors I met in those years called what was basically the enslavement of the human race, one block at a time).

So, getting to the moment I died… Let me tell you first that it wasn’t a bad thing, before you start feeling sorry for me. Or before you close this book – I promise, it’s not sad. Actually, it was the best thing that happened in my life.

You see, when I ran into that alien patrol that night, I thought it was all over. They shot me down, ram pa pa pam, ram pa pa pam… Really, I was shot. With an alien gun-thing. It stopped me from breathing, moving – anything but drooling. It wasn’t heroic, I wasn’t shot during saving orphans or kittens. I was just careless during an alien invasion. We’ve all been there, right?
And that was the moment when the miracle happened.

I revived. Surrounded by a bright light – I was floating up, to heaven. Just as I was wondering how that could be real, my vision adjusted and I saw what was really happening: I was floating because I was under one of those mini-spaceships the aliens used for patrols.

I still don’t know what those ships use for power, but that’s when it happened: I got superpowers!

 

The short apocalypse

The wind stirred a column of dust. The city’s dirt flew above the street, above the honking of the cars, above the noise and the chaos of the terrified crowd.

Dark clouds covered the sun. The pavement began to crack and crumble, until the street turned into a gaping hole.

The girl watched in horror how a bus slid in that hole, followed close by a string of cars. The screams were downed by the sound of thunder, the lightning in the sky was mirrored by the fires that were breaking out all around.

In front of her, watching without moving, was a dark silhouette – an old woman dressed in black. Her face without expression turned towards the  girl. Her hand rose in accusation.

– It was you! You brought the end of the world upon us!

The girl watched in horror in the direction the old woman was pointing now.

And it was true – it was her fault!

She started crying silently.

It was true – she did it. She has stepped on a crack in the sidewalk!