text: “We do not know what these creatures are, but they are wreaking absolute havoc on the United States. We’re umm also getting reports that other countries are experiencing this same phenomenon.” Wolfe looked so...mortified. My grandma watched CNN when he was on, and he always seemed so professional, and said his words so matter-of-factly, and here he seemed like he really didn’t want to be where he was. But hey you can’t blame the guy, I still had a few tears running down my cheek. “The US military has been put at DEFCON 1, and the government has issued instructions for all civilians to stay in their homes, and to stay off the streets if at all possible.” Yeah no shit Wolfe. But then he stopped talking. Well I should say he was more listening into his little earpiece and trying to focus on what the person on the other end was telling him. Wolfe muttered a small “are you serious?” And shortly afterwards, he looked back at the camera, appearing more horrified than ever. “Ladies and gentlemen, I have just received word that a-“ Wolfe cut out. The screen went black and was followed by that ear-splitting ringing of the Emergency Broadcast System. After a few seconds of the beeping, a voice came on, saying “this message has been transmitted at the request of the United States Office Of Civil Defense. At this time, the United States government is launching multiple nuclear ICBMs at targets within the continental United States. Areas of impact include Boston, Manhattan, Philadelphia, and Indianapolis. If you are in any of these areas you are advised to get out now. If fleeing is not possible, go to any underground shelter. Impacts will occur within the next fifteen minutes.” The beeping began again, and then the broadcast was over. Wolfe Blitzer didn’t return to the screen. Instead the live coverage was now nothing but the CNN logo plastered on the screen. I bet Wolfe was getting the hell out of there, along with everyone else. “What do we do now?” Someone in the back asked. 11 Months Later You know those zombie or alien invasion movies where world governments topple like a house of cards when things go to hell? Well, this isn’t that kind of movie. The creatures caused some pretty hard hits, and most third and second world countries did fall. But America didn’t. The biggest cities were left abandoned when the creatures took over, and the last few millions of Americans moved into smaller regions of the country. Small towns became large communities of people. The new house of government was in a small town in Kansas. Most military bases were still up and running, which was good, and every able-bodied man and woman seventeen and over were drafted into the United States military to help the war effort. Yes, these creatures could be killed, but not by our bullets or explosives. The reason cities were overrun is because the bullets wouldn’t even penetrate their skin, and explosions only seemed to make them wince. But that’s when our luck changed. We survivors started hearing a rumor that an old lady somewhere in western America was able to kill one of these things with an antique fork. This woman earned herself the nickname “Lady Of The West”. It turns out that the story was true, and people wondered why a fork could kill them, but not bullets. Well, turns out that it’s because the fork was made of silver. Silver seems to be their goddamn Kryptonite, and anything silver that touches them makes them howl in pain. And when we started making our bullets out of silver, oh man it was REALLY over for them. We began taking back cities. Small at first, like Little Rock and Oklahoma City, but now the military’s got their sights set on a bigger city. We were gonna take back Seattle. Now I, having turned seventeen three months ago, had to go on this mission. I had killed quite a few of them up till now, but Jesus they still scared the shit out of me. “Hey Phobia, you want one?” My platoon buddy, Mark, called out to me, holding a peppermint in his hand. We were on a plane headed to the outskirts of Seattle, where we’d parachute down, along with hundreds of other soldiers, and try to take back the city. Phobia was my nickname, given to me due to my extreme fear of these creatures, whom we now nicknamed “Demons”. We soared thirty-five thousand feet above the ground. The hum of the engines actually kinda soothed me for some reason. I played with the safety setting on my rifle, which I was holding in my lap, while we flew. There were about forty other people in this plane, ranging from seventeen to somewhere in their thirties. I didn’t have many friends now. I left all of my friends in my past life, before this hell. Even Mark, who I would say I’m closest to, I wouldn’t really consider a “friend”. On the way there I thought about my past life. Both of my parents died at the hands of the Demons, and I was left an orphan. I miss them. I miss my old school. I miss Ethan, who I haven’t seen since I left the school that day. I don’t even know if he’s alive. A voice came over the sound system in the plane. “Two miles outside of the drop-point.” The pilot said. “Alright ladies, we’re almost there, get the hell ready!” Our platoon sergeant said. About thirty seconds later, the back of the plane opened up, revealing a dark, windy night sky. “On my mark!” Serg said. “Three...two...one!” And he jumped. Everyone else followed, one by one. Eventually it was my turn, and I jumped. The wind on my body was so cold. I formed my body into a diving position as to fall faster, and I caught up with the other soldiers that had jumped. Not long after, our parachutes opened, mine yanking me back, giving me slight whiplash on my neck. We landed on an abandoned interstate littered with cars. I could hear the faint sound of other planes above us, dropping more and more soldiers. We were instructed to not have any light at all, and we were instead supplied with night-vision goggles. I strapped mine around my head and turned them on. I could see everything now, the cars in front of me, lined for miles. There were also dead bodies in the road that had been rotting for a while, and when I looked up, I could see hundreds of men parachuting down onto the ground. Each unit that joined the assault was given their own orders, their own route to take into the city. We were gonna try to surround the city, boxing the Demons in. “Stay low, follow my lead.” Serg said, and we all followed him. The only sounds were our footsteps, animals and small critters near us, and the occasional sound of someone bumping into a car or stepping on a body. I could see the city, it’s buildings were all mostly intact, but there were small plums of smoke rising from some of the buildings. When we reached the inner city, we walked quietly and were told to wait until all the other units were in position before we rose hell. There was a sound from behind us. We all aimed our weapons in unison, almost as if we had practiced for it. We were standing in an alley on the outskirts of the city, and we really didn’t wanna start shooting yer unless we had to. Then, a dog appeared. A big, mange-ridden dog who was digging in a dumpster at the end of the alley. I was about to be relieved it was just a dog, before I heard a gasp and then a BOOM!, and the dog fell over dead in a spray of blood. “Oh shit.” I whispered to myself. Some dumbass in the group panicked and shot the damn dog, and just like we all expected, the sounds of flapping wings and deep growls closed in on our position. Serg could only speak three words by that point. “This isn’t good”.