The Day the Coyotes Came

My Parents had their eyes glued to the TV screen as they watched sections of the U.S. map slowly change in colors, like leaves from a Hickory Tree in autumn. Each section represented one more community in shambles that was left to fend for themselves. I watched the look of horror and confusion in their faces while their hearts palpitated in their chest.  

"I hope she's okay." My mom said fidgeting on the couch. She couldn't hold it together any longer. "After all that's going on, I really hope she didn't get distracted by one of those crazy drivers on the freeways. You know how crazy people get when they panic." 

"She'll be fine, Mom." I said. "I just know it."

"Sonovabitch!" my Dad pounded his fists on the coffee table to yet another region on the map turning red as they succumbed to the invaders. "Can you believe this?" 

"It could just be an intimidation tactic. Whose to know it's even real?" I said.

"Goddamn Yahoos." he grunted. "They couldn't put up a fight!? THIS." He said with conviction in his voice. "This is why you need to learn how to shoot. None of this flower-power gun control bullshit from those hippies up North!"

"But, Dad, today's wars are being fought with technology. You'd have to be an Einstein to fight and make a difference. You've seen those drones earlier, right? We are so reliant on the internet and tech these days..."

"They can still defend themselvess if any foreign army touches ground!"

Mom had been fed up listening to us bickering, so she had moved to sit by the dining room table to concentrate on her worrying. "Oh, It's been two hours now." she cried. "Is this going to be my gift for Christmas? A damn heart attack?"

She had been desperate for not being able to guarantee the safety of her daughter. My sister, Liz was only seventeen, but she could handle herself.

After three hours my Mother still lingered by the opened window. 

"Why did she have to go and work so far from home? Why?"

"Mom, traffic has got to be terrible right now."

"Pipe down in there!" Dad shouted from the living room. "We just lost contact with Alaska!"

Leave it to him to not share an ounce of concern for his own daughter. 

My Dad kept looking at the screen as he scribbled things on a notepad which looked like chicken scratches, but I peeked over and could make out some things in his checklist.

"1. Wood + Cook + Seeds"

"2. Salt and Cure the Meat."

"3. Collect the Rain Water."

"4. Move 20-gauge to the front house"

He was planning for the apocalypse. 

It had been terrifying watching their news, and watching our enemies choose one of the biggest holidays of the year for the invasion. I wanted to feel helpful around the house, so I tried to gather essential items we would need, like flashlights and candles.

"BARK! BARK! BARK!".

"Eddy! Go check on the Dogs." 

"Is it her!?" my mom jumped out from her seat.

Our two Rottweilers, Louie and Dolly were barking so loud and so obnoxiously at everything passing by, it was an exercise to check on them every few minutes. For now, the neighborhood had been quiet, with people staying in their homes unless they were driving out for supplies which posed a risk for potential hijackings. There was also the occasional Church representative in weird white robes offering salvation.

While out to check on the dogs, I noticed ash and debris falling from the sky, like some sort of Horror-themed snowfall. There was a large forest fire pass the local mountains fifty miles away.  

My Dad joined me outside, and pointed up to the dark smoggy clouds blending into the white ones. "It's all textbook invasion."

"Dad, we'll get through this." 

"Don't even think you believe that yourself."

Then a screeching sound of tires startled me from the corner of the block. It was my sister's car speeding down the street, stopping abruptly in our driveway.

She honked and nudged the metal gate, with her car. It was hard enough to tip the old metal gate from it's hinges, though it was easily adjustable.  

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!!" my sister cried out. "I panicked. There was a blockage back there. I just sped the whole way, people were hiding behind parked cars!"

My Mom came rushing so fast, she pushed me over to get by and embrace her. 

"Don't let the damn dogs out!" my Dad shouted.  

He rushed over to lift the heavy gate upright.

"It's so good to see you. I couldn't even eat lunch with your Dad earlier. You know how mothers are, always worrying about their children. I know I can't relax unless I know you're safe and sound. You know you're my everything." she said caressing my sisters dirty brunette hair. 

My sister hugged her back tight. "Aw, Mom, after I saw what happened at work with the news, you know I had to go to Beatriz's house and pick her up. Her family is out of State for a few weeks, and she needed me, but I'm sorry for making you all worry so much..."

My sister introduced my mom to her best friend Beatriz, a friend of hers I had been introduced to a few times before. 

"Oh Hi, Eddy." 

"Hey Beatriz." I waved. 

She smiled and handed me a box wrapped in sparkling red paper. "Since this might be the last Christmas we get...Merry Christmas."

*****

Later that night we all tried our best to sleep in our own bedrooms. My Mom kept the Christmas lights on from the tree to give us a shimmer of normalcy during what was going on. I had slept in the couch in the living room that night for an easy view of the front yard listening to the instrumental Christmas ballads from the lights around the tree. The Dogs kept me from getting any sleep, they were barking at anything passing by.

Then I heard one of them yelp. 

My male Rottweiler, Louie seemed to be out of breath scuffling around and panting. I went out and shined the flashlight to see what was going on. That's when I saw the creepy pairs of green eyes glaring at me from beyond the gate. 

"Fuck." I jumped. "What is that?!"

One of the coyotes had been inside the yard fighting with Louie. 

I grabbed the back end of a broom nearby and started waving it and swinging it around until I struck one. "Go! Get the hell out! All of you!" I scream-whispered at the dozens of curious coyotes behind the gates. They were trying to steal from the dog's food bowls. 

Several packs of them all continued on and ran down the neighborhood's howling and jumping through lawns. It was as if the wildlife was reclaiming what was once theirs before people built their homes here. The coyotes were putting up one last fight, but with the fire smoke still brewing they were chased out of their own homes too. It was all part of the plan to cause chaos in the community, they were just caught in the middle of it.

I managed to find some long tables to place by the gates as a temporary solution, then got some rest for a few hours until my dogs woke me again. This time it was my female Rottweiler, Dolly growling at something.

I went for a closer look and was startled to find a short metal contraption by a gap behind the gate. I later realized it was one of those four-hydraulic legged robots from those engineering companies I've seen online. It was the size of my own dogs. It waddled one foot over the other in careful steps very awkwardly. I could tell it had a small camera from the blinking red light. Then it spoke to me from the speakers.

"Hey, bro. Don't worry. Just follow me." it said shining a red flashlight towards my face then to a route by an open fence on the side of some residential buildings.

"Who the hell are you?" I said squinting and holding my broom under my armpits like a fighting stick in a samurai movie. "Why are you trying to invade us!?"

"I'm trying to tell you, I'm your neighbo-." I swung the stick hard as I could under its legs but it snapped on its metal appendage. "Please..." He said. I was surprised it sounded like a kid. "I'm here to find that out too. Just trust me."

I was hesitant, but something about his voice sounded scared too. I kept a distance, and brought Louie with me on a leash just in case. The robotic dog lead me to another apartment building just a few blocks away, there was a teenage boy waiting for me. 

"What's up. I'm Kris." he said extending his fist. We're neighbors, I went to school with your sister Liz?"

I watched the portraits in his house, there were baby pictures of him and his parents.

"Oh...So what are you doing with this thing?"

"Come." He said, leaving his robot in the living room with Louie who had been sniffing it obsessively. Kris guided me to his bedroom. "I'll show you something crazy but equally terrifying." 

I looked down at his shoe rack by the front door and noticed some basketball shoes by two pairs of old-fashioned women and men's shoes.

"Are you alone?" 

"Yeah" he said tilting his chin down. "I am but uh, that's a long story...Anyways check this out."

As I sat on the edge of his bed where he lead me, he typed on his computer, eager to show me something. My eyes wandered over to a frame hanging above his nightstand of a greenish-blue elephant-man. "Whose that?" 

"That's Lord Ganesha. A symbol for wisdom, he sort of paves the way for people to move forward in life. I had a dream about him last night actually..."

"Really?"

"Look." he said pointing to his computer screen. "I was able to bypass the DNS spoofing shit, they created. And I hacked the website creating the IP blockage on our server."

"Do you know what's going on? Are the maps real?!"

"It's a lot worse than you think. But, I think I can hijack one of the drones, they hover by the neighborhoods at a three hour interval, just analyzing us, like we're just some fucking working ants ready to get burnt by their magnifying glass. Fuck them!" 

"This is an incredible find. I'll do anything to help out." 

The next few weeks, the water had cut off, and the gas followed, the invaders, they left the energy going for the TV signals almost as if to taunt us. Most of the people in our community had left to join the Saint Jeffrey's Church of Eden, former Governor of California was at the helm of that district. They had assured safety for new recruits, and in most cases what I heard through the grapevines was that they were adequate in that promise. The Live stream had continued, each day a new area highlighted in red, the next area to go was Mexico, a strategic one. Then the islands of Hawaii, then Oregon, Washington and Nevada shortly followed. 

More of the Coyotes had claimed sanctuary in the streets, they were far too many now and more aggressive to fight off and walk alone, but Kris's robot had easily passed through, several blocks unbothered. We used the headless robo-dog to communicate, and occasionally tye a burlap bag to give Kris food from our garden.

One day on Christmas morning, Kris had placed a raggedy old Santa clause hat on it and sent it out to meet me. "Yo , Eddy, you there?" he spoke through the speakers.

I met him at the front gate when I noticed the familiar blinking red flashlight through the widow. "Kris?" I walked over. "What do you have? Any good news on the drones?"

"I think I finally cracked the code, we can corrupt one of them in less than an hour, but they'll probably wonder what happened to it. It's possible they think it ran into birds."

"Yes!" I shouted.

My Dad had come by and noticed my excitement. He had stroked his newly unkempt beard and nodded. He knew the hopeful sound of my voice was something promising to look forward to.

"Prepare a bag for our new friend, some oranges and jerky." My dad said. "We'll be delivering them personally to our new friend, nobody should be alone on Christmas. Besides your robot could guide us on a safe route when those animals aren't around, right?" My dad brought his 20-gauged shotgun to be safe.

"Won't need that sir, you'd he surprised what this pup is capable of."