RECLAMATION DAWN
Compendium 2020 – Story 10
By Andrew Hawnt
I hope to God this feed is
working, Can you hear me? Hit an emoji or something so I know you're
there. Ok, ok, good. We're on. This is Kai from the Pixel Ramen
channel. I'm not streaming games or food today. The whole world is
ending around me.
I don't know what the
official feeds are showing right now because we lost all the TV and
radio when the first attack hit.
Let me switch my phone's
camera round. There. I swear this is live and I'm right in the middle
of it. An hour ago these gigantic ships appeared out of nowhere and
blew up the Houses of Parliament. Everyone is trying to get out of
London. The streets are insane. There are riots breaking out
everywhere. People are saying power stations have been wiped out.
I've heard people screaming that these things are all over the
country right now. There's word that government buildings and power
supplies are being destroyed everywhere. Is this just here or are
they in other countries? Leave a comment!
There was no warning. They
just came and blasted the whole place with huge beams of light.
Lasers or something I don't know. There are fighter jets going round
them, firing missiles, but what's that gonna do, eh? These ain't
terrorists. They're frigging aliens!
Hi realneo666! Oh shit,
they're near you too? Australia? GearheadRex, France? EvilMissX...
they blew up the White House too? This is insane! I can't... wait,
Horrorama12, they're circling where? Yucatan? Where's... in Mexico?
The what? The place the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs is
supposed to have landed?
Wait, they've stopped. One
ship is starting to glow at the edges. The light's moving to the
centre and... it's opening! Can you see this? Can you? It's opening!
I can see right inside! Oh God... I can't believe -
This stream is no longer
broadcasting. Try again later.
*
You hear these words in
your language. You read them in your language. They are spoken in
ours.
Your cities are burning.
Your leaders are ashes. We do not come in peace. We only want what is
ours. This day begins with our reclamation, and it will end with your
extinction.
The Cataclysm dragged us through a rift. We have travelled far,
lost across eons, stranded across time, but we found one another.
Eventually we grew, evolved, understood the truth.
Time has passed, but our
home will be great once more. Remade in our image.
You will make way. We
will scorch this world until all is ash, and then we shall help it to
rise again without you.
Savour these last
moments.
*
Okay,
okay, I'm back. There are bodies everywhere. Actual piles of burning
corpses. Everyone is choking or bleeding. Smaller ships have come out
of those four massive ones and they're killing everything in sight.
It's only a matter of time before they get me as well. I'm holed up
in a little cafe on a side street, out of the way, but they're
burning everyone and they're getting closer.
Listen
to me, listen one last time. Record this. Wherever you are, get this
recorded. I'm going to show you a live feed a user linked to in the
comments. This is the real thing. Live webcam drones from Yucatan.
Look.
There. Connected. Oh, Christ, those ships are even bigger. That one
has a ramp coming down out of it. Can you see it? Is that one of
them? He's huge!
Oh
shit, they're almost here. They just burned out Fat Steve's takeaway.
He's screaming. The sky is on fire. There are less and less people
left running, and they won't be around for long. I only have a few
more seconds. I love you, Karen. I love you mum and dad. I'm sorry
I'm not with you.
They're
outside.
Look
at the feed! What the Hell is that?
*
Terra,
I am here to liberate this world from the creatures that teem over
it. I am the saviour. This is a grand new day. The dawn of our
reclamation. Let the cities burn! Let humanity choke and starve and
boil like we once did! Soldiers, raise your voices!
*
This
is Kai, signing off forever. They're outside. They have weapons.
They're... look for yourself.
They're
roaring. Are they laughing? Oh God, they're laughing. How can
reptiles laugh? How can they stand upright?
You
saw it for yourself. You saw the thing in Yucatan. Things like that
died 65 million years ago. It shouldn't be there, in army fatigues,
holding a giant gun. How do we even face that? Game over, man. Game
over.
Oh
my... that sound. So many of them roaring.
This is -
This
stream has ended. Thank you for watching.
©
Andrew Hawnt 2020
About
Compendium 2020:
Compendium
2020 is a project from author Andrew Hawnt and consists of 52 weekly
stories encompassing science fiction, fantasy and horror. They are a
mix of short stories and flash fiction, 100% original and written
throughout 2020. Why is he doing this? To keep the words flowing. To
keep the ideas coming. To dance in worlds that are his and his alone.
To prove that he can.
About
Andrew Hawnt:
You
can find Andrew on Facebook at facebook.com/andrewhawntauthor and on
Twitter and Instagram as @andrewhawnt. Formerly a musician and DJ,
Andrew is known for his books, comic book writing, music journalism
and more, including fiction in Doctor Who Adventures, the Judge Dredd
Megazine and others. Look out for his film work soon.
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