Midnight Disaster ~FINALIST Watty Awards 2012~

Chapter 37 (Revised 4/21/2020)

Once the tears broke through the dam, they cascaded down my face until my hand shook. I dropped the wet shirt beside him, staring down at him. I had been crouched on my haunches, not wanting to get too much of the blood on me, but I plopped down onto my butt, suddenly not caring about it. Not caring about anything.

We might have won the war, but it had come at a price that I never would've paid if I had known. I stared at Cameron's blank face, almost angry that he looked so peaceful when my very world was flipped upside down.

"I told you looking for aliens was a bad idea," I said, trying to laugh at the memory of how this all began, but it didn't work. I choked on the attempt, the hitch in my breathing only succeeded in making the tears flow more.

The feeling of the cooling blood soaking through my clothes didn't register as I bent toward him, pressing my cheek against his as I draped myself over his abdomen. All I had wanted to do was keep Cameron and Clarissa safe. After everything, they had been the last two people in the world that I cared about.

I still didn't know what had happened to Clarissa, but it was safe to assume she was just another one of the bodies painting the room.

I hadn't realized how loud my sobs were until I heard scuffling from the hole in the wall. I looked up, meeting Kalma's gaze. Behind her stood Doontron.

I heard a scuffling sound from the eerily dark window hole suddenly. I looked up right into Kalma's gaze and behind her stood Doontron. Before this, I might've been afraid, but now, I was feral, and I bared my teeth to let them know that. My sobs turned to a grow as I crouched over Cameron, waiting for their next move.I growled at them as I crouched protectively beside Cameron, there was no way I'd let them feast on this body. I wondered what they wanted, and where the rest of their aliens had gone since it didn't look like there was any more trying to get in.

Kalma hissed at me, her gaze moving from me to Miles. In my grief, it was easy to forget he was there, but now that my attention was drawn to it, I could pick up details I hadn't noticed at first. His death had been gruesome, though in my opinion, it wasn't gruesome enough for everything he had put me through.

Kalma's eyes stayed on me as she stepped inside though she didn't approach me. She crept toward Miles, dropping to her knees beside him. She set her head to his chest then after a moment, a screech that pierced my eardrums and scrambled my thoughts erupted to her chest.

I didn't want to smear Cameron's blood onto my face, but the noise was so loud, I had no choice but to try and block it out or I'd run the risk of going deaf. At last the sound stopped. With the ringing in my ears, I wasn't sure if she had stopped screaming or if I had temporarily lost my hearing. With teary eyes, I watched as the alien stood up and bounded out the window without looking back once. Doontron was a moment behind.

I stared at Miles' body mystified. With their leader dead, did that mean the invasion was over? Would they go home or would they choose another alien to take Miles' place?

I stood up on shaky legs. I didn't know what would come next, but for the time, it seemed the aliens would back off.

"You were brave as I knew you'd be," Kelly's soft voice drifted through the room then.

I looked toward her. In the shadows of the hall leading to the kitchen, she looked almost otherworldly. She had blood splattered across her face, and I wondered how she had gotten it—fighting or helping others?

"A lot of good that's done me," I said bluntly. I was too numb to register her emotions then.

"You saved the town," she whispered, stepping toward me.