Windchime
The wind rattled rusty wind chimes on an abandoned home. A stark neighborhood stood where there was once a thriving community. Every house seemed to be either ransacked or left behind. Dried corpses lay across the streets, no longer human, in a town left behind to rot. A sudden jolt snapped his spine straight. He woke up in a cold sweat and slumped back into the pillow, his chest still heaving. It was just a dang dream.
There was a muffled voice.
He checked the time. 8:33 AM.
“ADRIAN!” Adrian sprang up, gathering his things and running downstairs. His mom yelled, “Honey, now be careful on the porch. It snowed overnight.”
“Okay.”
“Yup it’s a cold one especially for St. Patrick’s Day.”
Adrian burst through the door, passing his family’s wind chimes and making it just before the bus took off.
The town of Valley City, Ohio was buried in a cold winter morning, silent until... A deafening crack shot through the sky. A blinding, phosphorus emerald green flash turned the sky white for a fraction of a second. The ground bucked violently, throwing cars and shattering every South-facing building. Adrian’s bus rocked from side to side. He raced to check his phone. A civil emergency alert popped up on the screen: “SPACE DEBRIS IMPACT IN THIS AREA. SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.” As everyone else’s phone buzzed, Adrian looked out the window and saw a giant plume of smoke a few miles away. At the bottom of a smoking asphalt-rimmed crater sat a jagged black stone. First responders came rushing to the scene. Police blocked the area. The crater was roughly ten feet wide and three feet deep. As police escorted people to safety, firefighters approached the strange black stone. As they stepped closer, the smell of ozone, scorched metal, and burnt rubber stung the air. The rock began to hum with faint pulsing heat, making the surrounding air shimmer. One of the firefighters cautiously stepped toward it. “Stay back,” an officer called out. The firefighter reached down and attempted to pick up the stone. For a moment, nothing happened. Then he suddenly froze. His fellow firefighters watched as he dropped his knees. “Hey! You, okay?” There was no response. The firefighter collapsed. A police officer nearby suddenly heard screaming coming from the crater. “What the hell?” He rushed toward the sound, but his vision became obscured by the thick smoke. Then something moved. Before he could react, a figure lunged out of the smoke and tackled him to the ground. It was the firefighter. But something was horribly wrong with him.
The city was in lockdown, forcing citizens to remain indoors, including students. Adrian was ready to head back home, but no. The school was keeping everybody inside. Adrian looked outside. The sky had turned hazy and cloudy, as if a thick fog had settled over the city. Already overwhelmed, he sat across the table from his two friends, Sam and Chloe. “Something about this doesn’t feel right,” Chloe said. Before Adrian could respond, the teacher suddenly coughed. It was a strange, dry metallic cough. The teacher covered their mouth with their sleeve. When they pulled it away, Adrian noticed something scattered across the fabric. Black. Glittering like tiny pieces of glass, the teacher stared at it, confused. Then the school lights flickered. Once. Twice. And then. Darkness The classroom then fell into disarray. Adrian noticed a faint swirling green fog. It was slowly creeping through the ceiling vents. The same strange phosphorus-green color from the flash in the sky. Adrian held his breath and insisted his friends do the same. As the teacher twitched and squirmed, Adrian whispered. “We have to get out of here. Now!”
“Adrian, where are we supposed to go?” Chloe asked. “I don’t know,” he said, grabbing his backpack. “Just get out of this building.” Bursting through the door, the three sprinted down the hallway toward the shop class. They needed respirators. Adrian and Sam stayed silent, while Chloe naturally began to panic. “Keep moving!” Adrian shouted. They dodged and weaved around an infected teacher stumbling through the hallway. Another figure suddenly emerged from a nearby classroom, forcing them to change direction. They barely made it. Adrian slammed the shop-class door behind them and wedged a chair beneath the doorknob. “Come on, come on...” He rushed to the storage cabinet and grabbed three respirators. “Put these on!” The three quickly put on their respirators and headed for the gym. They found a side exit and pushed through the doors. Before leaving, Adrian spotted the gym equipment closet. “Wait.” He quickly grabbed a baseball bat and hurried back to Sam and Chloe. “Now we can go.” The three made their way through the hazy streets, heading toward home. The town looked nothing like it had that morning. A strange fog hung in the air turning the familiar streets into something almost unrecognizable. As they walked, they passed the road that had been closed off after the meteor impact. Adrian slowed down. Something was wrong. The area around the crater was completely empty. No police. No firefighters. Only emergency vehicles. Nothing. Or was it?
Adrian, Sam, and Chloe stood silently, listening for anything through the haze. Then they heard it. A deep crusty growl echoed from the crater. Adrian tightened his grip on the bat. Something shambled out of the haze. A police officer! Its skin was dark and crusted; its eyes glazed completely white. Glittering saliva dripped from its mouth as it let out another shriek. With every scream, a cloud of spores leaked from its mouth and nostrils.
Chloe took a step backward. “Oh my God...”
The officer suddenly stopped. His head slowly turned toward them and then it charged. As the monster grows closer, Adrian winds up and slams the bat across the infected officer’s skull with a loud crack, sending it to the ground. Another figure suddenly lunges on top of Chloe. Adrian is too horrified to react. He watches as the previous officer slowly rises, reaching toward Sam. Just before it can grab her, Adrian raises the bat. With a sickening splat, the zombie stumbles backwards and collapses. Adrian and Sam run for their lives, leaving Chloe behind. They sprint toward their neighborhood, hearts racing sweat running down their faces, as they desperately try to get home not daring to look back afraid to meet the same fate of their friend.
They finally reached Adrian’s driveway. Adrian and Sam both stood checking their surroundings then Sam fell to the ground. Sam is coughing; she doubles over, heaving.
“Sam?” She suddenly rips off her mask. Adrian freezes. Sam spits up the same calcified, glassy substance they’d seen back at the school. She slowly turns toward Adrian. Her eyes glazed over white. Adrian steps back and trips. He lifts his head to see Sam stumbling toward him. Before he can react or even grab his bat, she lunges!
Rusty wind chimes shake on an abandoned home.
A neighborhood once stood there.
Now, only an alien wasteland remained.