I should be dead. Iβm surprised I woke up at all, seeing the condition Iβve gone to bed in. I am unsure of how much time Iβve been unconscious, but based on the sun setting, Iβd say no more than twenty-four hours.
This could happen again. No, this will happen again. And next time, I might never wake up. So, on this stained piece of paper, Iβll write my story to you, stranger. And I really, really hope youβll find it.
My name is Evangeline Carter. Iβm human. I survived the invasion of Earth. So far. But it has become clear to me over the past few months that Iβm affected by whatever poisons the aliens left behind.
When the first ships boomed into our skies, I was outside San Diego at a rehabilitation center. My group was on the front lawn, listening to the staff member as he enlisted the dos and donβts of our first session of wilderness therapy. Seven people disappeared into thin air in less than a second, just like that. Through the screaming and the panic, I heard the staff member yelling at us to go inside, even as he disappeared himself.
Laura, my roommate, grabbed my arm and tugged, screaming to get up and run. One moment, I was holding her hand in mine, and in the next instant, I was grasping only empty air. Screaming and shaking my head like a crazy person, I backed toward the forest, others running by me in the same direction.
Their strange ships buzzed like swarms of insects and were so many, they darkened the sky. Wherever their shadow touched, people disappeared. They came in waves, cresting the trees and heading toward the city.
By some miracle, nineteen of us remained. We reached the forest and hid, not daring to speak, even as we shared confused and frightened glances between ourselves. Our session of wilderness therapy just got more real.
As darkness fell, we ventured back inside the building, finding everyone in there gone. I hoped that only those of us who were outside vanished, but I was wrong. It seemed the roof and the walls didnβt protect them at all. This scared me. Terrified me. Trembling and sniffing, I helped the others search the center. Jake, one of the other patients, told us to grab as much food, water, and blankets as we could, and go back to hide in the forest. It was our best option, he said, until the government sent help.
Except no one came to the rescue. We watched the strange ships zip over the trees as the days passed. We ran out of food. Jake formed teams of two to take turns and go back inside the center to bring whatever meager supplies they could find. We lost five more people that way, taken by the prowling ships that seemed to appear out of nowhere.
We survived in such manner for several weeks, but then the world ended. One day, the sky caught fire. Missiles, so many they formed thick curtains, came from above. From among the trees, we witnessed San Diego exploding in a ball of fire so powerful it knocked us over to the ground even from that distance.