Two People Standing

It had been six months since the Pentagon had released the video of those sent from above. The reaction had been slower than anticipated as the world had already been in a state of chaos from a pandemic. No one could have anticipated how that video signified so much more than just a simple encounter with an extraterrestrial being. If anything it was a subtle threat. The pandemic made it hard to focus on anything other than the inability for life to go back to normal. The attack had blindsided everyone. They came in mother-ships that based themselves in every country. Kore was in the twelfth grade when it was broadcasted worldwide. Two months after, she had witnessed her family collapse while they had dinner. One moment she had been talking to her mother about her decision to accept a university, and then the next thing she knew her mother was collapsing onto the floor with a trail of blood falling through her nose. As she sat there holding her mother, she knew this could only be the beginning. No one had picked up the phone. No one else had survived. Kore made sure to check. She had gone door to door in her neighborhood at first. Her phone had still been functioning so she checked to see if the live stream of the mother-ship had still been active. Kore’s stomach dropped as she saw the vacant spot of the mother-ship. Desperately trying to find anyone else who had survived she frantically got into her car and went to her town's grocery store. Car’s had been littered throughout the streets. Everything had stood in a standstill. No one was conscious. Kore had started to shake even harder. She was alone. Getting off of her mother's car she started to run into the direction of the grocery store frantically. On her way she held her phone tighter, someone would call. Kore coughed from the smoke coming out of the surrounding crashed vehicles. As she grew nearer and nearer to the grocery store she saw more and more bodies on the floor. Closing her eyes, Kore hugged herself as she crouched on the floor. She cried as she thought that she was too young to walk the world on her own. That had been three years ago. It had taken her two years to realize that she really had been alone. No one else had survived. Kore had changed. She laughed as she thought that that's what solitude could do for you. Traveling had made her figure sturdier and her brown hair had grown. Kore was currently in the sunny state of California. It was summer and she had spent her time at the beach. After securing her base at one of the homes that had been vacant she fell in love. Getting out from under the umbrella she used she had decided to go and look around the pier. Kore had sighed. As she looked at the water she couldn't help but think that the ocean had never looked more stunning. It had taken a darker blue than it had before the extinction had occurred. Looking around too much had changed. The rides around her had rusted and taken up a brown color. If only she thought to herself. The sun was about to set. On the way back to the beach house Kore had heard a noise. Thinking that it had probably been a dog, she had ignored the shuffling of what had sounded like an opening door. She had been in the area for almost three months, it would not have been the first time she had heard a dog scratch at a door. Kore continued to walk looking forward. Arriving at the beach house Kore walked her down into the basement and turned on the generator. It has been a trick she has learned along the way. Walking back upstairs she heard the radio door open. Kore began to run up the stairs, she had been absolutely positive that she had made sure to close the door. Reaching the kitchen, Kore froze. She found that someone had also been staring at her. In front of her stood a man not that much older. He looked as surprised as she had. He began to tear up, “ I knew I heard something,” he said with a quiet voice. Faltering Kore ran toward him, opening her arms to hold him. They had cried together. “I thought I was alone,” Kore said as she looked at him, “are you alone, are their others,” she said desperately rubbing her eyes. “I have been alone since the attack,” he said as he looked down at Kore. “I looked so long for others that I lost hope,” she was crying again. All Kore has seen for years has been dead bodies decaying. “ I live 40 minutes west from here, I came looking for supplies when I heard a door close loudly,” the boy said to Kore, smiling. “ I don’t know what to say, I really thought I was alone.” Kore had constant nightmares of being alone, and most nights she would wake up in tears. The quietness of everything did that to her. “ My name’s Kore, I’ve been here for almost three months,” She said, wiping her tears again. “I’m Caspian,” He said, extending his hand to Kore. It had been a sturdy handshake. Caspian and Kore began to talk about their experiences after the mother-ship had left them in despair. He had lived in San Diego all of his life and had been a year older than Kore. He had been surfing out on the beach when he returned to find everyone unconscious and unresponsive. Caspian had explained that he had returned to his home to find his family of five dead. Kore understood as she had lost her family too. “ For all we know, we could be the last two people alive,” Caspian said darkly to Kore. They didn't know it at the time but they truly were alone.