I gasped loudly upon realizing where I was.
"Where's Lianne?!"
She stirred beside me, in response to my voice.
"Hey, are you alright?" I asked worriedly.
"Lia fine." She said it calmly.
"Good, because we can't afford to take any chances."
I jumped to my feet and quickly grabbed my phone off the nightstand.
Switching on the flashlight, I checked my messages first.
No notifications.
Not even a missed call or text message.
'What the hell?!'
"You're sure you're okay?" I asked again.
"Lia, okay." She replied with a yawn, rubbing the sleep off her eyes.
"Well then, let's go check the TV."
We walked over to the living room, and Lianne held onto my shirt as her eyes scanned the area for any signs of danger.
There was nothing there.
At least not that I could see.
"Uncle Ally, don't leave me!" Lianne exclaimed from behind me.
I sighed, looking back at her.
"Don't worry about it; everything's going to be alright," I reassured her. "Let's just stay calm and check the news."
Her small hands squeezed tighter around the hem of my shirt as she nodded vigorously in agreement.
I looked away and reached for the remote control.
I flipped through the channels until I found the news channel.
"BREAKING NEWS: ALIEN ATTACK HAS BEGUN!"
My jaw dropped in shock as the bold letters flashed across the screen.
'Holy cow!'
"Aliens have attacked Earth this morning!" The anchorwoman reported, her tone urgent.
"Our cameras caught footage of the attack on one of our reporters stationed in Elysium. Our reporter witnessed alien ships firing on civilians in its capital city, Estrovale."
The camera zoomed out to show the crowd running away from the scene.
'That's close to Kuji Corp.'s HQ.'
The anchorwoman continued.
"This video clearly shows an alien ship landing near the city center."
Bang! Boooom!!!
Another shockwave went off, causing me to jump.
I held Lianne as she screamed in terror.
"Why is everywhere shaking?!!" She cried hysterically.
"Calm down." I tried to reason with her. "It's all a big movie some rich people are making that's shown on the news, nothing serious. Just relax and hold onto me, and everything will be okay."
'This is definitely not okay!'
"Are we the big heroes of this movie?" Lianne muttered, poking at my side.
'Why the sudden question?'
Deep breath.
"No, we're the other characters that have to survive in this movie and help the hero. Do not wish to be the big hero."
"Why?!" She whined. "But I want to be a superhero?"
Kkrrrr!
I gritted my teeth, trying my best to withhold what happens to those who I call 'the magnets of disaster' in a story or movie.
I refuse to be the main character in this movie turned reality!
"Bad, bad things happen to them." I warned, patting her hair and hoping she would let this go.
"I don't want anything bad to happen to you. Let's enjoy the little things we have, okay?"
I still needed to listen to the news and get the most out of what was said about our current situation.
"Oh," she whispered dejectedly, fiddling with her fingers. "Lia just wants to enjoy time with Uncle Ally."
'R–i–g–h–t.'
I pulled her closer to me and put my arm around her shoulders.
–––––––––––
"We've received reports of multiple explosions throughout the capital."
The anchor's face contorted in pain as she tried to report the story without fainting.
'That warning I received two days ago wasn't a prank? Is this some kind of sick joke?!'
I felt numb.
It was too surreal to be true.
But here it was, right in front of us.
"Stay in a safe place and away from the first wave of attack regions if possible," the anchorwoman urged.
"If you're outside, do not attempt to approach the aliens; they are hostile and will kill anyone who gets too close. We repeat, DO NOT TRY TO ATTACK THE ALIENS. You'll only end up dead."
'Who in their right minds will attack a foreign dangerous entity without a plan?'
A newscaster broke in.
"The president has ordered all citizens to evacuate immediately. If you have children, please take them along."
He turned toward the camera.
"We don't know when the next wave of attacks might come, so please leave now while you still can. Please get everyone to safety; we'll update you soon."
He paused.
"We apologize for the interruption, but the situation is getting worse by the second. Stay tuned to–"
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
More blasts shook the ground, which in turn caused my television to crash to the floor.
I stared at it for a good number of seconds before looking at an equally perplexed Lianne.
'Great, now I just lost a means of getting the rest of the information.'
"Lianne," I said gently. "Are you ready for an adventure?"
She nodded nervously, clinging to my arm.
"Do I get to eat all the candies I want?"
"Sure, all the candies you can think of," I told her. "Let's go!"
"Wait, what about momma? Is she going to be okay? Can she be part of the movie too?"
"She's fine, but don't worry, she'll send letters," I lied. "Let's get a few things we'll need and check out the Magic Castle."
"Magic Castle?!"
She frowned.
"Yeah, remember that big candy store you wanted to visit?"
She nodded slowly.
"Well, that's where we'll find it."
"Candy!!! Lia loves candy!" she squealed in delight.
I picked her up and carried her out of the room.
"Come on," I whispered.
We rushed into my room and grabbed my backpack.
"Here, let me help you," I said as I helped her put her shoes on.
Once she was fully dressed, I opened the door and headed downstairs.
I stopped momentarily, staring at the bag stacked with bills I had gained over the past few days.
I couldn't bring myself to leave them behind.
I glanced back at Lianne, who was already half-way down the stairs.
She looked confused but managed to force a smile the moment she looked my way.
'Did she really buy the lie?'
I sighed and followed after her, carrying the bags with us.
We left the house and took a cab to the nearest bus station.
There were several other people waiting there, all looking nervous or worried.
I saw a woman holding a baby, crying softly to herself.
That poor thing.
As we got closer, I could see a large group of men running around, pushing others aside.
Some of the men looked like soldiers.
They wore black uniforms with red markings on their sleeves.
Their armor looked heavy, made of metal plates.
One man yelled loudly and pointed to something on the map he held in his hand.
Other soldiers started marching towards the buses that were parked nearby.
Most of the civilians seemed panicked, rushing towards the buses and trying to board them before they were full.
Several of them tripped on one another as they ran.
Lianne and I walked past them quickly, heading straight for the bus that would take us to Fredrick's home. If there was any means of getting around this city without going in large groups that could be easily attacked, it was most definitely with his convertible.
I climbed inside, helping Lianne in with me.
The interior of the bus was packed the moment we managed to secure a seat at the far end.
People were standing shoulder to shoulder. There weren't enough seats available.
Luckily for us, Lianne was small enough to sit comfortably in my lap.
The bus ride wasn't long. It didn't take more than fifteen minutes for the bus to reach its destination.
I paid the driver again, leaving him a generous tip.
Then I helped Lianne off the bus and onto the sidewalk.
His eyes bulged as he stared at the money I handed him. He was clearly shocked, but he gave me a polite nod and drove away.
'What's up with his reaction?'
I watched him disappear into the distance, shaking my head.
"This place really is terrible," I muttered under my breath.
Lianne looked up at me, confused.
"What did you say, Uncle Ally?" she asked.
I chuckled quietly to myself.
"Nothing important," I replied.
"Lia's confused; where are we?" She asked.
I leaned forward, pointing out the window of my friend's house.
"My close pal, Fredrick, lives here," I told her. "You can call him Rick."
"But why does everyone look so scared? Why do they keep saying 'Run!'?"
'I guess all of this is a little hard to process for her, and I sure as hell am not prepared to deal with a paranoid child.'
I laughed, putting an arm on her shoulder.
"You've never been to Lus Angelos before, have you?"
"No..."
'Neither have I.'
"Well, then you're in for quite the experience," I told her. "It's not a very safe place, and from what I've seen, it's the center of most attacks in movies."
'Now, apparently Estrovale is.'
"Allen?!"
I heard Frederick's voice echo from inside the house.
Instinctively, I pushed Lianne protectively behind me as I turned to face the doorway.
He sounded excited, which surprised me.
Frederick was usually rather quiet, unless he was playing some kind of game with me.
"I'm right outside!" I called back.
A few seconds later, Frederick came outside wearing nothing but a pair of black sweatpants.
I immediately noticed that he was bleeding, and not just from the wound on his chest.
I turned my attention to the ground beside him and spotted a dead body lying there.
Fredrick was kneeling next to it, checking to make sure the man was truly dead.
"Are you alright?" He asked, glancing up at me.
"Yeah... I mean, no... I mean yeah!" I stuttered nervously, staring down at the dead man.
"Oh, sorry about that." He apologized, rubbing his forehead. "I thought I'd get rid of this one when I saw him coming. He seemed to have lost it—probably the damn alien control or something. He killed someone a few hours ago and tried to break into my home and kill me too. I couldn't let him take my stuff, though. I still need my stuff to survive the coming hell."
"Rick!" Lianne chirped happily.
'Damn, you should have waited till I introduced!'
Lianne popped into view, her eyes bright as she pointed at the corpse. "Look! A man is playing dead! Woooaaah! It looks so real!"
'He's not playing dead, you dimwit! He's fucking dead! But yet again, I can't tell you that, can I?'
It took all my self-will not to spill out what I felt inside.
Fredrick glanced over at her, then back to me.
"Who's the little one?" He asked, looking between the two of us.