The battlefield was slippery, slimy, slick and sleek with intestines, innards and ichor. Men were screeching and snarling; women were groaning and gasping for oxygen; children, screaming and sobbing.
A gash of radiant flame broke through the cauldron-black sky. It was dark and dreary.
Balefire-red blood splattered from people's gaping wounds. Anxiety eclipsed the soldiers' thoughts; their eyes were wild with terror and fright; they all lay awake in a haze of fear.
Tyler overheard the cry of a child out of a reddish glow in a distance. Black smoke was billowing from the burning building.
For a moment, his mind went blank. Then the roar of the fire shook him out of his daze greeted his eyes. The child's voice echoes louder in his ears that he couldn't withstand, and without any more hesitation, he sprinted as fast as his legs could carry him to the house.
It was a three-storeyed building. The fire had started from the top floor when a missile pierced through. It collapsed on the second floor where some inmates had been entrapped. They were screaming for help. Few, took the risk of rushing out through the ravaging flames.
The sight of the apartment was terrifying. Oils, chemicals and paints were consumed, as the flames kept licking the walls and sweeping across the ceiling level. Plastics melting and dripping into hissing puddles, while the floor groans.
The dolls on the shelf began to change, their fine blond ringlets shrinking into black frizz and then crumbling into dust.
Tyler wraps his shirt to the mouth and nose in an attempt to breathe cleaner air. This time, the sounds of explosives, bullets and cries of people had left him desolate, devastated and hopeless, not knowing which direction to go.
Everyone in the apartment needed help. Some were stuck to an object, few struggling to find an exit, others burnt beyond recognition.
He so much cares about getting them all out safe, he wished he could but it is impossible. The child's his mission. While he approaches an entrance to a room, a cabinet suddenly collapses before him. In attempt to avoid it, he moves unsteadily backwards, then slips down, with the intense heat on the floor, so hard on the splinters which give him a blistering body. The pain is so severe that it takes him time to get up to his feet. He wobbles towards an unknown direction for safety.
He finds himself struggling and staggering into a certain room back to another entrance; opens the door and freezes, standing in discombobulation, while trying to retrace the mental processes which had led him there, but all turbid.
"Hel... hello...! Where are you, ch... child!" he manages to speak out.
Childhood tiptoed out.
Silence slid in like a bolt.
All was just the drip, splish and splosh of liquids from above him, coupled with the belch, squeak, buzz, crinkle, beep and peel of objects (or creatures).
Suddenly, he, faintly, hears a grunt, someone trying to huff. A five-year-old child had cramped himself tight into the corner so the flames couldn't find him.
"Hey... dear... don't be afraid. I've got you," he takes him up by the right arm.
Reaching outside, through an exit, the whole city was beyond recognition, it had been taken over.
- Few weeks ago -
A voice note had reached the White House.
It was sent by the aliens, asking the President to step down, that his government would be taken over by them (the aliens), which would then be easier for them to dominate the whole world, else, the country would be wiped out.
That was the third warning message, and apparently the last.
The President scheduled to meet with the Vice President and the members of his Cabinet to hear their suggestions.
They met just a week before the attack.
The President stood up, not as he usually did, cleared his throat and began...
"What if you woke up tomorrow and found out that the White House had been taken over? What if all you worked for was in vain, all because you offered succor to some strange beings?"
The whole house was in silence.
Then he continued, "Thank you all for being present. I want to go straight to the point. We've gathered here - in such a crucial, critical and captious moment - to deliberate and decide on what to do, how to execute it, and when to do it. And of course it has to be urgent.
As we are aware, the world is in fear and anxiety, most especially our country. Aliens, or should I say strangers and monsters are trying to take control of the world, starting from us, the world power.
And someone once told me that with great power comes great responsibility.
This is the country our predecessors worked for, warred for, and watched for.
In moments like this, we need courage, strength and wisdom. The citizens, the world are counting on us. we can't fail them. We can't let all the sacrifices done by our past heroes for the existence and progress of this land go down the drain.
In our drive - over the weeks - to protect this country and the world from coup d'etat and destruction, the U.S. has trained more soldiers - in and outside the States - more ammunition is being put in place. Russia, China, and many others are giving their assistance as we speak.
For crying out loud, these are not even humans! So, negotiating with them is way far from an option. I, therefore, need your support, your suggestions, your advice. What do you think, Vice President, Mr Robert?"
"You are right, sir. We must be prepared at all times. We have no idea how they're planning on doing this attack, and we know for sure that they are not joking about it. Let's not underestimate them."
The President went ahead to ask if anyone had any contribution.
One of the members of the Cabinet indicated,
"Our fight for independence required over six years of hard combat, and its outcome was far from victory at the initial. There were many times along the way when it seemed that the British, with their well-equipped, well-trained army and navy, had the upper hand against colonial resistance to their rule. However, we managed to rebound from defeats, we overcame hardships and won what often were surprising victories. We have gone this far, despite all the challenges. I believe this won't be an exception."