Midnight Disaster ~FINALIST Watty Awards 2012~

Chapter 35 (Revised 4/19/2020)

Cameron peered at the window that the alien had been scratching at from the corner of his eye. "I hope those boards are strong," he said.

I nodded in agreement. The sound had stopped, but that didn't stop me from worrying about it. Every scratch they made probably caused it more damage. Eventually, it would be weak enough to break. The question was, how soon would that happen?

Gasping filled the community center, and I had the horrified thought that one of the aliens had somehow gotten in the back door. I shot to my feet, Cameron beside me. Everyone else had formed a ring around something, and some of the tension in my shoulders eased as I registered the situation.

Whatever had captured everyone's interest wasn't a threat. They would've run away if it had been.

Cameron and I hurried forward, trying to push into the crowd enough to see to the center. When we did, I wished I would've stayed in my place. The priest that had come with Kelly's group was on his knees, his face twisted in pain as a withered old hand clutched at his chest.

It looked like a heart attack, most likely caused by the fear of the alien scratching on the window.

I looked up at Cameron, tears bubbling in my eyes, and he put his arm over my shoulders, turning me away. We didn't need to watch it, didn't need anything else to rob us of the little bit of hope we had managed to gather.

Even without looking, I knew the exact moment that the man died based on the sounds of screams and sobs that came from behind me. For just a second, I searched for Kelly, wondering how she would handle this newest blow, but I didn't see her. Most likely, she was in the very center of the crowd, doing what she could to make the priest's last few minutes comfortable.

I was glad. Anything I could say to her right now would be of little comfort anyway.

Clarissa joined back up with us as we made it to our spot. Her eyes were wide and red-rimmed, but she didn't cry. I doubted any of us had the capacity left to do it. None of us spoke as we stood there, watching the crowd from our safe distance away, waiting for them to say the inevitable words.

I flexed my fingers in and out of a fist.

"He's dead," a soft voice said at last.

I didn't know who it was, but it wasn't Kelly.

Partly, I was guilty for focusing more on her than the life that had just passed, but I was curious. Kelly hadn't left the main room of the community center the entire time we had been here except to use the bathroom in the back. Where was she now, during this critical moment?

Cameron stood still beside me, staring through the crowd. I followed his gaze, catching sight of the priest's gnarled hand lying on the floor.

With the shock of his death in the past, people once against resorted to panic.

"What do we do now?" somebody asked.

The response was mechanical, and it was out before I could stop myself. "What can we do?"

"You're the wonder girl! Shouldn't you know?"

I shrugged, not sure what they expected me to do. I couldn't bring him back to life, even if I wanted to.

"If we're here a real long time then he'll start to decay!" a girl said, hands covering her mouth to muffle her words.

I didn't want to admit it, but I agreed with the concern. It was the middle of the summer. This building was air conditioned, but as soon as the power went out, it wouldn't be. The body would start to rot if we were in here long enough.

"I don't want to watch a body decay," Clarissa mumbled, echoing my thoughts.

"Maybe we should offer it to the aliens," someone suggested. "And then maybe they'll leave us alone for a while."

That idea was immediately shot down by everyone.

Finally the voices seemed so loud that they almost rattled my brain, and I couldn't take it anymore. The aliens were probably hoping for this, hoping that we would eventually divide ourselves up instead of sticking together.

I wouldn't let it happen. Gathering myself together, I raised my hands and screamed, "Enough!"

They turned to look at me, half of them calling insults while others ignored me completely.

"You wanted a leader, you've got one. So shut the hell up and listen!" Cameron yelled from his place beside me.

The voices started to die away, people looking grudgingly from the dead man on the floor to each other and then back to me.

"Thank you," I said to Cameron.

"Alright, wonder girl. Floor is yours," came the snide remark.

"First and foremost, let's leave the man alone. Is that so hard to do? Yes, he's dead, and that's a terrible thing, but it's hardly been five minutes and there's already concerns over decay and suggestions to feed him to the aliens? We're not savages."

Silence continued to reign.

Cameron sighed. "She has a point, you know. We can decide what to do with him later, after the shock has passed."

"It's the middle of the night," I tacked on. "Maybe we should get some sleep and brainstorm in the morning."

Grumbling started from the crowd as they moved away from the priest. Thankfully, none of them argued.

My shoulders slumped in relief, and I peered up at Cameron gratefully. "Thank you again. I really don't know what I'd do without you."

Kelly sauntered out of the kitchen then, her features tight and worn as if she had been crying. I stiffened instantly at the sight of her, moving to greet her though I usually did what I could to avoid her.

"Where were you?" I demanded.

She smiled a tiny tightlipped smile and set her hand on my shoulder. "I knew it would happen," she whispered. "I didn't...I didn't want to see."

I searched her face, the red in her eyes and on her cheeks. She wasn't lying, she had been grieving. Most likely before the heart attack had even claimed the man.

"I understand," I said at last.

Kelly sniffled and reached up to wipe her face with the back of her hand. "So what's the plan? I heard something about it from the other room."

"We don't have a plan," I told her. "And that's the problem. Things are getting worse, and I have no idea what I can do to fix it."

She opened her mouth to respond, but before words could come out, the window exploded with glass shards and splintered wood. I looked up in time to see Miles soaring through the open window.

Screaming filled my ears, the chaos around me as everyone scrambled to get away from Miles caused my adrenaline to soar. Miles stood straight up, eyes on Kelly. As soon as Cameron noticed, he stepped protectively in front of her.

Miles wasn't detoured. In the time it took me to blink, he scooped up one of the broken wooden boards at his feet and speared it through Cameron's stomach. Kelly's screams echoed in my head as I watched Cameron clutch at his stomach before collapsing to the floor in a pool of his own blood.