Silent and stillness can be almost deafening. Your thoughts seem louder and so does your breathing. Some parts of the earth were peaceful and quiet, but now, everything was burning and destroyed. Where did the comet touch down? How bad was the impact? Did it kill every single living creature on earth or did someone survive?
Briar coughed as she slowly came too. A sharp pain ran through her entire left arm as she felt around her dark surroundings. Where was she and what happened? Were the couple that tried helping her okay?
"Help," she managed to squeak out. "Anyone... there?"
She held her injured arm and managed to crawl out from under the rubble she somehow ended up under. How was she still alive? Briar looked around at the once beautiful bustling city of New York and saw the destruction around her. She had a catch in her throat as she fell to her knees, tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Oh my God," she said, scrambling to stand up but fell down from shock. "Oh... my... God... No..."
Briar managed to slide down some rubble and somewhat gracefully landed on the bottom. She looked around for some sign of life but everything was either burned, burning, or rubble.
"Is this the end of the world?" she asked herself. "There must be someone who survived. Hello? Is anyone out there?"
The only response she received were the sounds of fire crackling and buildings still falling down. Briar threw her hand to her mouth and tried so hard to stay calm. She fumbled around for her phone and tried calling her parents.
"No service," she said in dismay. "I have to get to Florida... I need to..."
*****
Pain and thirst hit him harm as Lake came to. He laid there for a while before searching for his phone and turning on the flashlight. Perhaps coming down here wasn't the best idea he's had today. Or maybe it just saved his life... but the little girl.
"Little girl?" Lake called, clawing his way through the broken down ceiling. "Please tell me you're alive."
He stopped digging, hoping he could hear her tiny voice call out to him but it was only silence. Tears clouded his vision as he continued to search for the child. A few minutes later he uncovered a small hand. His hands were shaking and bloody from the digging and fear of the worst as he reached down to touch the small hand.
"Little girl..." he said, voice shaking.
He pulled his hand away after touching her cold hand. She was gone, he thought. He failed to save her. Lake felt a tug in his chest as he started crying uncontrollably. He needed to find a way out of the tunnels or he'd die from lack of oxygen.
"Okay, Lake," he said to himself. "Get a hold of yourself. You have some sort of training for moments like this. You got this. Find a weak point in the rubble... A draft of wind. Something."
He started moving around with his flashlight. Thankfully, the whole underground structure hadn't come crashing down from the impact of the comet. Lake found out the direction he had come from as his flashlight landed on a set of stairs.
"The odds that this will be easy and nothing will be holding that down on top are not in my favor," he said, shaking his head. "Better start digging."
Thirty minutes flew by and his phone beeped, indicating his battery was low. Lake picked his phone up and turned the light off along with the phone, swearing under his breath.
"I'm starting to run out of air," he thought out loud, digging faster.
Lake huffed and puffed the faster he went. He stopped long enough to catch what little breath he had and felt a small draft coming from under a large rock. He put his mouth to it only to breathe in dust and some air. He coughed and managed to stick his hand out of the small opening.
"Help!" he called. "Someone help me!"
*****
It took Briar three or more hours to reach the other side of the city. She was thirsty and tired. So far there were no signs of life on her trek.
"From the looks of this, I highly doubt there are any survivors," she said, scratching the back of her head.
"Help! Someone help me!" someone's voice carried through the wind.
Briar looked around after hearing this call for help. She stood there, straining her ears in hopes of hearing it again.
"Help!" the voice called again.
"Hello! I hear you!" she called back. "Keep calling so I can find you!"
As the person continued to call out, Briar could hear the voice getting closer and it was then she could tell it was a man. She stopped walking to listen again and spotted a hand sticking out of some rubble where a subway tunnel was. She slid down a hill of garbage and pieces of building and nearly landed on the hand.
"I'm here..." she huffed, starting to dig.
"Thank God," he said, weariness in his voice. "I can't breathe."
"Save your breath while I dig," she instructed, pulling a large thing of concrete away from the area.
She surprised herself with the sudden burst of strength and energy. Eventually she had created a big enough hole for him to crawl out of.
"Come on out," she said, catching her breath from the digging.
It was silent for a while before seeing a dusty head pop out of the hole she created. The man used all the strength he had left to crawl out and laid on his back taking in big breaths, chuckling a little each breath.
"You're a... lifesaver," he said, smiling a handsome smile at her. "I owe you."
Briar shrugged and gave a chuckle, sitting in front of him and sighed. "I'm glad I can help. How long have you been down there?"
"I'm not sure," he said, sitting up and meeting the eyes of his rescuer.
Her dirty blonde hair was up in a messy bun and her green eyes looked tired but hopeful. She wiped dust from her face and extended her hand.
"I'm Briar Phrazer," she said, with a slight irish accent.
"Lake Michaelson," he said, shaking her small hand.
"Nice to meet you, under the circumstances," she managed a giggle.
"Likewise. Are you alone?" he asked, looking around.
She nodded, her eyes looking at her muddy shoes. "You?"
Lake's eyes dropped as well after thinking about the little girl he tried to save. "Unfortunately... I was accompanied by a little girl but..."
Briar touched his forearm and her eyes held sadness. "I'm sorry... was she your daughter?"
Lake shook his head. "Her parents were murdered and I was trying to get us to safety. I managed to find the subway tunnel but just when we were entering, the comet hit and made the tunnel cave in."
Briar teared up. "How old was she?"
Lake glanced at her. "I don't think I should tell you that..."
"I can handle it... how old?" Briar insisted.
"Five..."
Just as he thought she would, Briar started sobbing. He shook his head knowing he should not have said anything. Lake gently touched her shoulder.
"We need to get off the streets and somewhere safe," he said. "Do you have any ideas?"
Briar looked around and shrugged. "I have no clue. I just arrived here when I heard your call for help. There must be a hotel or something still standing."
Lake finally stood up and made a three-sixty spin to get a better idea. He spotted what looked to have been an apartment building. "There."
They both made their way towards the crumbled building, stepping over a lot of debris and concrete. The wind blew slightly, a distinct smell filled their nostrils. This was the smell of rotten eggs and flesh and a hint of sewer. The closer they got to the apartment building, the stronger it became. Briar covered her nose and mouth with her shirt and made a face.
"What is that awful smell?" she asked.
Lake shrugged and covered his mouth with his hand as they carefully stepped inside the collapsing building. "I'm not sure and I sure as heck don't want to go looking around to see."
Briar followed close behind and flinched every now and then when something fell from the ceiling. Small insects that survived crawled out from small spaces along with rats and mice. Briar squealed when a rat ran across her foot, making her back into a wall and falling through. The sound of her breaking through the wall echoed.
Lake jumped and quickly turned to look. "Are you okay?"
He reached in and grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet. She brushed off dust the best she could and gave him a sheepish grin. She nodded in response and continued to follow Lake through the first floor of the building.
"We need to find somewhere that's decent enough to rest. Preferably on the first floor in case we need to escape," Lake said, moving something out of the way and helping Briar step over.
"Hold up, what was that noise just then?" Briar asked, stopping and grabbing the end of Lake's shirt to get him to stop.
They stood there quietly and listened, straining their ears and trying to block out any familiar sounds they might hear. One noise in particular made their skin crawl. A low, guttural aggressive sound filled the empty broken down building. Briar started shaking from this sound and Lake gritted his teeth. He turned to her and pressed his index finger towards his lips. He then motioned for them to go back the way they came. Briar nodded and turned around very slowly to make sure she wouldn't run into anything.
She felt Lake grab her arm and he pulled her down to the floor level and pointed in the direction they were headed. There before their very eyes was a shocking looking creature. This creature was massive with a slimy scaly body. It had large sharp teeth and made a click growling sound. Lake and Briar stared at it in both terror and shock. An alien stood before them, a real alien.
Briar was about to whisper something but shut her mouth quickly as the creature turned with its back towards them. The exit was just past this massive monster and there didn't seem to be another way around it. Lake looked around and tried hard to think fast. He saw a small opening a few inches away from where the creature stood. He thought if they could get there, their way to safety would be around the corner. The odds were grim.