Introduction
Humanity’s endgame was only the beginning for me.
Aliens ended life as we know it on Earth.
Not on purpose I should add, though that didn’t matter to the billions who died. But it turned out, in some respects, surviving was even worse.
My family used to say good thing I was pretty. In case you were wondering, it didn’t help when the end of the world arrived.
Alone, and afraid, somehow, I managed to hold on. Foraging for supplies. Eking out a hidden existence. Avoiding the mutants that emerged after the alien plague.
I’d resigned myself to dying alone, which was when I literally fell into Xavion’s arms.
And I managed to find love in the apocalypse.
Prologue
The stench of despair and death surrounded me. I’d finally run out of luck. In this dark and dirty place, I’d finally entered the last stage of my life.
The endgame.
How had it come to this?
Five years ago, I thought the most pressing thing I had to worry about was how many people liked my latest selfie. The moment I’d post my very contrived picture—selected from about fifty—I was checking to see who liked it. Did anyone comment? Who could I see active online not responding at all?
Back then I worried about all the wrong things. Petty things that took up my entire day when I wasn’t at work. And by work I meant the mindless drone of answering phones and making appointments for people in need of dental work.
Facing certain, painful death, I missed my old life. Wished I’d not wasted those days when everything was going so fucking good. I could eat whenever I wanted, whatever I desired. Slept in a warm, clean, and comfortable bed. Knew nine-one-one was a phone call away if I needed help.
Then it happened. The world ended.
Not because of climate change—and for the curious, the only thing that improved after humanity stopped polluting was the smog. The weather remained just as unpredictable.
Because of the predicted nuclear apocalypse? Wrong, although it did come close when North Korea had a missile malfunction. That was the end of that dictatorship.
So what destroyed humanity?
Remember the COVID pandemic of 2020? Nope, it wasn’t that.
Nothing compared to the virus that wiped out billions of people. We had no cure. No way of stopping it. After all, it wasn’t manmade or from an animal on earth.
Aliens did it.
I still remember snorting in disbelief as the president of the United States, a man abhorred by half the nation, adored by the other, gave a speech, live streamed to everyone in the world and said, “My fellow Americans, we’ve made contact.”
Chapter 1
Five years ago…
Lips pursed for the ultimate selfie—the pose called duck lips, a pouting thing that made me look sultrier—I found myself distracted when the waiting room for the dental group I worked for erupted into noisy chatter.
Apparently, the president was giving an impromptu speech.
Boring. Like I cared what some old dude had to say. One president or another, they were all the same. Constantly arguing. Claiming the last guy sucked. Making promises that were never kept.
Blah. Blah. Blah.
But then I heard a word that peaked my interest.
Aliens.
Say what?
It didn’t take long to find the live stream. I played it from the beginning.
“Citizens of the United States of America, what I am about to tell you is shocking, perhaps even scary, but I want to assure you that you have nothing to fear.”
Wrong thing to say. My stomach immediately fluttered.
Had Russia finally declared war? The media had been saying we needed to watch them for years, or was it China? Depending on the people in power, the enemy changed. Could even be that man in North Korea who liked wear his hair in a bowl cut.
I’d lost track of who was more of a threat to the USA. Personally, I thought we should watch those sneaky Canadians. Always apologizing, hoarding their maple syrup, eating beaver’s tails. Shudder.
The president then said the most unexpected thing. “My fellow Americans, we’ve made contact.”
Well, that shut everyone in the press gallery right the fuck up. Except for one smartass, who said, “Bullshit.”
“I assure you, it’s quite true, and you don’t have to take my word for it. We have proof.”
Ha, as if. I still remembered that supposed space truck or something the government claimed to have in their possession a while back. Internet rumors claimed it was just some futuristic imagined car. Given it was the year of the COVID pandemic, no one paid it much mind.
The screen to the president’s left began showing all kinds of boring stuff. Science mumbo jumbo about how they’d been sending signals into space. Watching for unusual movements and patterns. I fast forwarded until I was live with the briefing, which was when they finally got to the good part.
Apparently, those science geeks sending out ‘Hello, anyone out there?’ signals got a reply back.
There was skepticism. “How do you know you’re not being pranked?” An understandable concern, given the spacecar thing had spawned all kind of theories.
A scientist took over at this point and went into more incomprehensible jargon about how they’d authenticated the message. How the hell did one verify a message really came from aliens? Was I the only one who wondered if he’d been punked?
It was inevitable that this declaration of having made contact brought mention of Space Force. “Mr. President, what will Space Force do to ensure this supposed contact doesn’t threaten our country?”
“I’m glad you asked. The good news is we’ve been preparing for a while now because we knew we weren’t alone out here in this great universe. But the better news is, all those defense mechanisms we’ve installed won’t be necessary. The aliens come in peace.”
Of course, someone just had to say, “Isn’t the term alien derogatory?”
“For the moment, we don’t have a better term, but I’m sure once we’ve established diplomatic relations, we’ll be able to come up with a name they consider suitable.”
Ooh, well played.
“Are they already here?” a reporter shouted from the back, the usual decorum being tossed out the window.
The president answered. “No. But we are expecting our first delegation shortly.”
The press corps erupted, shouting questions, most of which had no answers.
At that point, I tuned out and my mind went inward.
Aliens were real. Would they be human-killing monsters like in the movies?
Would they infect us so that alien babies burst from our bellies?
Take us as slaves?
Most important of all, I wondered if they were cute.
Chapter 2
The Present
My stomach grumbled. My own fault. I’d waited until I got down to my last can of corn, only to discover it had gone rancid when I opened it.
I almost cried. But I didn’t want to waste the fluids. The rancid can of corn got tossed in my compost heap in the apartment next door. I’d been trying to grow stuff but wasn’t having much luck despite placing it in front of a window that got sunlight. The best I’d managed was a few tiny carrots.