Written by: hjnelson

SOMEWHERE IN KANSAS, USA

August 27, DAWN

I snuck across the dew-damp grass, gun in one hand, bag of food in the other, dawn still an hour off. Behind me, the house was quiet. Of course it was. Nothing ever happens in Kansas town.

Want proof?

The aliens show up, literally the whole world goes insane, and my dad declares that he needs help patching the fence so the cows stop escaping. That's it. Oh, and that I probably shouldn't go shooting bullfrogs with the guys—on account of all the newcomers driving through.

Most people see the days counting down on the TV as a countdown to impending doom, but for me, it's a countdown for my last chance for adventure.

"Kip," I called softly across the lawn. "Kip, come here boy." I pulled out my dog whistle, and blew, then waited. Damn dog was probably off chasing coyotes—which was exactly why I'd trained him with the whistle. There was no way I was charging off across the country, in search of adventures, or aliens, without him.

Kip suddenly materialized behind the barn, his tongue lolling out of his mouth. I opened the creaking door of my truck—my pride and joy, besides Kip—and he launched himself into the passenger seat. Then I set my rifle in the back seat, along with my food.

The truck rumbled through the pasture, and I left the window open, breathing in the fresh air as my heart beat with the thrill of adventure. I'd felt the earthquakes shaking the land—but I wanted to see it. The ship. I want to be there when the countdown stopped and something finally happened. The back of my truck was already packed with spare bullets, three extra canisters of gasoline, and a pile of canned food from the cellar.

Adventure, aliens, a good dog and a working truck—what more could a guy ask for?

I roared down the highway, thinking about how I needed something more than this small town, that I needed to see the spaceship and crazy happenings for myself—

—then slammed on my brakes.

There, standing in the center of the highway, was a woman.

I'd been expecting military personnel, chaos, even green aliens with too many eyeballs, but this... this wasn't something I'd planned for. I slowed down, and cast a look at Kip. He just sat there, tongue lolling out, no opinion.

I eased the car slowly closer. The woman was youngish, maybe around sixteen. She would have been beautiful, dirty blonde hair and wide eyes, if not for the fact she looked like she'd been in a car crash, covered in scratches and scrapes. In fact, I glanced around, expecting to see a car in the ditch—but there was nothing but Kansas fields for days.

I slowed as I drew level with her. Still she stood there, unmoving. Didn't she know you weren't supposed to stand in the middle of the road? I couldn't see her hands—they were buried in the long flowing cotton dress she wore, so dirty my mother would have had an aneurysm.

"Umm, are you okay, miss?" I stopped the car beside her. "Do you need a ride?" I said when she still didn't respond.

Her eyes suddenly came up to mine—and my stomach bottomed up. They were the color of a summer Kansas storm.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. And then she pulled a trembling hand from her dress.

She was holding a pistol.

My heart beat faster as I looked at the cold weapon in her hands.

"Leave your keys in the ignition," she said, her voice shaking as much as her hands. There was a desperate, terrified look in her eyes. I was suddenly afraid she was going to shoot me without even meaning too. "I... I don't want to hurt you. All I want is your truck."

"Okay," I said slowly, my hands held in the air. Then, because I didn't think it was safe, I said, "I need to shift into park. Can I do that without being shot?"

She nodded, both hands on the pistol now—at least it made her aim a bit more level.

"Kay," I said, when I put the truck into park. "I'm going to open the door, okay?"

"Fine," she said, taking several steps back.

The door creaked open, and I stepped out, looking her dead in the eye. "My name is Ralph... Are you okay?"

"Be quiet!" she said, shaking the gun at me. "Just... go away."

"Can I take my bag?" I said. "It's in the back."

"NO!" she said, and I froze again.

"Okay," I said. "Easy. You can have my truck... Can I at least call my dog?"
Her eyes shifted to the cabin of the truck and back to me and she nodded. "Yeah, fine, call him."

I hadn't planned it. I wasn't even sure why I did it.

But when her eyes went to Kip, I leapt forward. I'd meant to simply knock the gun free from her hands, but somehow I ended up with my arms wrapped around her, the gun skidding down the pavement, as I lifted her free from the ground.

It felt like trying to hold onto a rabid raccoon. She thrashed and kicked against me, literally reaching down to bite me; and then it happened.

The earth started to shake.

It happened all the time now, since the ship had appeared, the earthquakes. But somehow I went from fighting her, to our arms wrapped around each other, holding onto each other while around us the world trembled.

It felt like it lasted an eternity, but was probably only a minute or two.

When it finally stopped, even the birds were silent. The only noise was Kip, letting off a low whine from where he crouched on the pavement.

"Are you okay?" I whispered to the girl.

She nodded, and then, to my embarrassment, I realized my arms were wrapped tightly around her, holding her pressed against me.

I let her go, realizing too late I'd released her right next to the gun. But she didn't go for it. Instead, she just looked up at me with those big, sad eyes.

I cleared my throat, suddenly embarrassed. "You umm, you can take my truck," I said. "Do you know how to drive a stick shift?"

"No."

"Well, um, I could teach you," I said, feeling stupider by the minute.

She stared at me—I wished her eyes weren't so big. "You're going to teach me how to steal your truck?"

I blushed. "I mean, I would prefer you didn't steal it. What if I just gave you a ride?"

She thought about this, then slowly nodded. "Yeah... Yeah, I guess that would be alright."

"Okay," I said, feeling awkward. I made my way over to the pistol on the ground, and picked it up and handed it back to her, hilt first.

"Thanks," she said, her eyes darting up to mine, then back down, something both shy and curious there.

I cleared my throat. "Like I said, I'm Ralph." I nodded to Kip. "That's my dog Kip. Don't give him any sweets, or he'll never leave you alone." Kip had already made his way over to the girl, licking her fingers, not seeming to care about the gun she held.

I opened my truck door, and then watched as the girl walked around the other side, Kip trailing at her side as if he were now her dog. Traitor.

She opened the door and Kip shoved his way ahead of her—he always wanted to sit in the middle. She settled into the passenger seat, silence fell before us, only Kip seeming at ease.

"You can put the pistol in the glove compartment, if you want," I said. With the safety on! I wanted to yell, but didn't. She put it there, and because I honestly had no idea what else to say, I started to explain how to use a stick shift truck, and started off again.

"This is how you shift. It takes a bit to get the feel of it. I flooded the engines the first few times I tried, but only cuz my dad was yelling at me."

She nodded, saying nothing, and, because she'd literally given me no directions, or name, I just took off down the highway. We drove for a bit, saying nothing. Kip lowered his head into her lap, and she petted his head as he laid there.

"He's a nice dog," she said. I glanced at her for a moment, and then quickly back at the road.

"Yeah. He is." Wow, Ralph, amazing conversation you've got going here.

"You from around here?" she said.

"Yeah. Just down the road actually."

She frowned. "Are you going to get something?"

"No... I want to go see it. The ship."
It was like I'd said something foul—she stared at me with an expression that went from shocked to angry. "You want to go into the Twilight Zone? Have you heard what's happening there?"

I had heard, but I just shrugged. "So? The countdown is almost over. What if I miss it?"

Her eyes flashed. "If you miss it? Pray to God you miss it, and after the countdown we're all still here. I saw it, and trust me, you don't want to be anywhere near there. I barely got out."

"What's it like?" I said, because I couldn't help it.

She looked as if she were going to yell again, but instead she shrugged, stroking Kip's fur when she said. "Just like it looks on TV... except everything's dark. And weird shit keeps happening. Honestly, the worst part isn't the ship—it's that everyone has lost their minds." She suddenly looked like she was about to cry. "My mom was too sick to leave. We had this old camper van, we were going to travel the states in it, but when things started to go crazy, she made me promise to take it and drive west as fast as I could. I made it all the way here, until this morning—"

She suddenly cut off, and when I glanced at her, I saw she was crying. Sobbing actually. I would have rather she pointed the gun at me again.

Luckily Kip seemed to know what to do, sitting up and licking her face so fervently that she stopped crying and started laughing.

"Kip, leave her alone," I said. "Down boy." But she didn't seem to mind, and when Kip did settle again, she finished her story. "I had parked in some trees. I thought I was safe there. Some men came and told me I had to leave. I tried to fight them." She flinched at the memory. "They just shoved me down and laughed. They said they would trade me the pistol for the van. I'm pretty sure it's not even loaded. They said 'it ain't' our fault you made a bad trade.' Then they laughed and drove away."

Silence fell again between, and because I had no idea what to say, I said, "I mean, it is kind of a cool pistol."

She started to laugh, and cry at the same time, and then she smiled up at me through the tears. "What did you say your name was?"

"Ralph."

"I'm Claire."

***

We drove for a couple more hours, and I learned more about Claire's life, and I told her a bit about mine. She told me she'd never seen a firefly—I couldn't believe someone had never seen a firefly, and promised to catch her one when it got dark. She told me about her life before the ship appeared in the sky, and the all consuming chaos after. Martial law. Chaos on the streets. Horror everywhere. No wonder her mother had told her to leave. Another smaller earthquake shook the ground when we stopped for a cold lunch. This time she reached out, and took my hand, clenching it tight till it passed.

Even though all we had was some dry sandwiches, it was a nice lunch.

After we ate, I gave her some of the spare clothes I'd packed, and she changed out of her dirty dress. When she came back, wearing my clothes, I was thankful Kip barked twice and put his paws up on her. I didn't know how to tell a girl, especially one in my old farm clothes, that she looked beautiful.

Then we got back in the truck. Claire was determined to convince me that I definitely shouldn't try and go and see the ship—not when half the US was currently trying to flee from it. She spent an hour listing all the reasons why it was too dangerous. I didn't stop her: I liked listening to her voice. She had agreed that she would come with me at least till Topeka, where she would see if she could get ahold of her mother and try to make a new plan from there.

"Stop!"

I slammed on the brake at Claire's voice, the two of us suddenly thrust forward against the seatbelts.

"What?" I said wildly, looking all around the road, expecting something terrible. "What is it?!"

She pointed to a small dirt road off the highway. There, hidden in a copse of trees so that I could barely make it out, was a camper van.

"That's my mom's van," she said. Then with anger, "That's my van!"

Her nostrils flared, and she suddenly opened the glove box and pulled out the pistol. "I'm getting it back. Right now." There was murder in her eyes.

"Woah, woah, wait a sec," I said, reaching out and taking her hand. She looked down in surprise at my hand on her arm, and I quickly let go. "Just hold on. You said they were open to trading, right? Maybe they'll trade."

"Or maybe they'll trade their lives," she said murderously.

"Or maybe something less likely to put us in prison," I said. "Just... let's go see if we can reason with them?"

I reached back behind me, pulling my rifle off the back seat.

She cocked a brow. "I thought you said we should reason with them?"

I shrugged. "Two reasons are better than one, right?

We spent a few minutes debating, but because I wanted to have a quick escape route, we decided to drive all the way up to the van. Then, giving Claire a nod, I honked three times.

It took several minutes, but finally three men stumbled out of the van. They each wore cutoffs and dirty shirts—a contrast to the van that was painted a sunshine yellow with daisies across it.

All three of them had guns.

"What now?" Claire whispered.

I picked up my rifle, holding it easily but not threateningly. "We ask to trade back." I opened the door and shut it heavily, striding across to the men.

"Afternoon, gentlemen!" I called out. "I was wondering if I could have a few minutes of your time." I winced at my words—I always got weirdly formal when I was nervous. And I was definitely nervous.

They laughed at this. The tallest of them belched and said, "What do you want, boy?"

"I want the van."

"Finders keepers," the tall one said. Then he gave an ugly leer back to Claire, who sat in the truck, with Kip. I knew her hands were wrapped around the gun. I just hoped if things got ugly, she'd remember how to drive.

"Oh wait," the tall man said, "I remember her. She traded with us, fair and square." The other two men laughed at this.

"Do you really want to cross the country in a van with daisies on it?" I said. My hands were sweaty on my gun, but I reasoned that they could have done far worse to Claire. There had to be some sense of humanity in them. "Besides, when the ship is gone, you'll be reported for grand theft auto, and things will get ugly. Why don't you just give the van back, and we can go on our way?"

It happened all at once; the tall man's gun came up, my rifle came up, and all at once we were at a standstill.

"Don't test me boy," the tall man growled.

"Don't test me," I said back. "I've been shooting since I could walk."

He smirked at this, and then, to my surprise, slowly lowered his gun. "You know, maybe we could help each other out." He glanced back at the van, and then across to my truck. "That's a real nice truck you got there."

My stomach dropped when I realized what he was suggesting. My truck was more than just four wheels and a cab—it was my ticket to freedom. To see the world. To adventure. I cast a glance back—and saw, there, in the window, Claire staring at us white-eyed, Kip beside her.

Maybe there are other adventures out there.

"The truck for the van?" I said hesitantly.

The tall man nodded, and after a moment, I lowered my gun and said, barely able to form the words, "Fine... It's a deal." Then I turned back to Claire and called out. "Claire, bring the keys!"

She made her way out of the truck, pistol in one hand, keys in the other.

"Ralph," she whispered. "Are you sure?"

I nodded, and then I waited until the tall man had tossed me the keys to the van, to toss him the keys to my beloved truck. He smirked as the two men climbed into my truck.

Then he turned back, gun pointed straight at Claire. "Oh, and one more thing. The dog too."

"My dog?" I said, my voice dry. "Why?"

"Need a good guard dog."

I swallowed hard. Claire's eyes were vividly angry, but I silenced her with a look. Stiff-legged, I walked to the back of the truck, opened the tailgate and called for Kip. At once he jumped into the truck bed, his loyal eyes focused on mine and his tail wagging.. Always game for adventure.

"Sit boy," I said. He obeyed at once. The next word was harder to say, barely a whisper. "Stay." Again he obeyed. I shut the trailer and he began to whine as I took a single step back, then another and another. His whining grew as the tall man, laughing, slammed the door shut, and then took off.

With my beloved truck and my dog.

I watched them as they roared down the dirt road, headed for the highway. Claire slipped up next to me and took my hand in hers.

"Ralph, I'm so, so sorry."

As soon as they'd rounded the bend, I tossed her the keys to the van. "Come on, let's hurry."

She looked bewildered as she took the keys and started the van. I lowered my window and blew the dog whistle and said, "Don't worry about Kip. He should be running his ass back here any moment."

Sure enough, two minutes later, a black blur of fur crested the hill of the highway. He ran towards us, his tongue lolling out happily.

As Kip came closer, I saw a distant black cloud grow on the horizon—different from any storm cloud I'd ever seen.

"What is that?" Claire said, pausing on the edge of the highway.

I opened the door and Kip jumped inside. With the door open the sound grew louder, like an ocean wave, yet filled with terrifying chirping.

"Birds," I whispered.

We sat in stunned awe as the cloud of birds blacked out the sky, so many it sounded like a storm was raging all around us. The sky actually darkened from the sheer numbers of them.

Claire's hand reached out and wrapped around mine.

As suddenly as they'd come, they were gone, the wave of noise receding. I looked to where they'd gone, west, away from the ship, and then back east, to where I'd thought I was going this morning.

But seeing the ship no longer felt like the most important thing.

"Take a left, follow the highway," I said to Claire. "We'll go back to my house. It'll be safe there—we can try and get ahold of your mom. My parents have plenty of food and supplies."

"What about your adventure?" Claire said, staring at me with a frown

"I thought that was a pretty good adventure... I'm happy with my trade." I winked at her and the smile she gave me—well, I would have traded for more than a truck to see it again.

We drove down the highway, and when dusk grew, I had her pull over in an open field. It took only a few minutes before I saw it, blinking with light, then gone, then blinking again.

Claire suddenly shrieked—she'd seen it too. "Is that a firefly?" she gasped.

"Yeah." I smiled.

"Can we catch one?"

"Of course." 

<<<<< END >>>>>

Find more stories by hjnelson on Wattpad.

H.J. Nelson is an Idaho native who graduated from the University of Wisconsin. She began writing on Wattpad in 2015, where her story The Last She garnered over 12 million reads and became one of the most read Science Fiction stories on Wattpad in 2016 and 2017. Since then, The Last She has been acquired for publication as a three books series, optioned for television by Sony and translated into French and Italian. 

When not writing, Nelson has lived on a boat in the British Virgin Isles, worked in two zoos and ridden an elephant through the jungles of Laos. You can sign up for her newsletter at hjnelsonauthor.com, or find her on Instagram at @h.j.nelson.