if it has been sculptured, and there are no obvious lines or joints, almost as if it has skin. It is gigantic, easily as tall as a two-story building, and apart from the strange glowing light that I assume is an eye of some sort, there isn’t an obvious front or back to it.
In the short video , we saw a man standing in front of the machine, bravely deciding to take it on. He shoots it using a regular handgun and the machine appears to absorb the bullets, which does not slow it down. In retaliation, however, it produces its own weapon.
Shots of a glowing bullet fire out, and what I can only assume is an invisible wave of pressure pulses out as well because people in the background, ones running for their lives, are picked up with the blast and thrown about. Glass smashes and then the video stops.
We don’t get to see what happens next , and we have no idea how to stop it.
Now, one day after Europe and two days after we ’ve lost everyone in the southern hemisphere, it is our turn. South America has already gone dark and Canada has reported that their communications are being hacked. Talk from them has been spotty since. Perhaps they’re dark now; I don’t know. Our own devices are shorting out. My mobile phone has stopped working three hours ago and the TV in our dorm room is now only showing static.
Everything is in chaos , and I know we only have, at best, days left.
Humankind will be annihilated in days.
I can’t wrap my head around it. Maybe that is why I haven’t cried yet. Don’t get me wrong, I’m angry and scared and freaking out. Every unexpected sound I hear makes me cringe, expecting to see those evil things. Every thought that enters my mind is of my friends and family back home. A small part of me still hopes and believes that they’re okay. That I’ll be able to go back home and see Mum and Dad again. That I’ll be able to fight with my younger sister, Hannah. I don’t want to think about them hurt or dead…
No, they’re fine. My family is fine.
“Focus!” Sergeant Casper screams at me, and I snap my eyes forwards to stare at him. We’re still at the university where volunteers are being recruited to the football field and asked to help out against this attack.
I’m no soldier and definitely not ready for war, but I can’t sit in my dorm room waiting to die. I can’t sit and do nothing. Something inside me demands that I fight and that I at least die trying to save what is ours.
Lisa isn’t feeling as patriotic as me, however I also refuse to leave her behind, so I’ve dragged her along. Our other friend, Hank, is a fighter, coming from a family of police officers, so with us both willing to fight and unwilling to leave Lisa behind, she has now suffered through a way too short handgun training session with us.
There are many down on the field with us, more than I ’ve expected. Most look to be in shock and afraid, but many have determination in their eyes.
“Are you listening to me?” A small amount of Sergeant Casper’s spit hits my face and I wince, only just managing to resist wiping it off straight away.
“Yes, sir,” I mumble. It’s the best I can manage without either slapping him or breaking down and crying.
He growls at me , but there isn’t time to argue. Perhaps if this had been a proper military and if he knew we weren’t all about to be killed in battle, he might have pressed me. Instead, he stalks away and down the line of women and men scared and frozen in place. As soon as his back is turned away, though, I wipe my face quickly.
Thousands of military men and women like Sergeant Casper have been dispatched and dispersed throughout America. As soon as things became suspicious , they started the process of not only securing the President, but also other important people. They’ve scattered soldiers throughout America and dug into their reserves of weapons to prepare everyone.
So after half an hour of basic gun training, I’ve been given a handgun and