7:00 pm
Run. Run. Run.
Pash sprinted with everything he had, no destination in mind—only one thought echoing: find safety.
"Hey! Why are you following me?" the vendor shouted, glancing over his shoulder.
"Me? You're the one following me!" Pash panted, pushing past him.
"Wait, what do you—"
BOOM!
The explosion tore through the street. Pash was flung forward, his body smashing into a lamp post before everything went black.
---
Riiiiing.
His eyes fluttered open. At first, only haze and ringing. Then the pain.
"Huh… my head…" Pash groaned, clutching it as he forced himself upright.
And then he saw it.
The ground before him was a mess of blood and torn flesh. His breath caught.
"The vendor…" he whispered—then horror twisted his face. The scraps of fabric on the ground left no doubt. It was him.
Pash doubled over and vomited, stumbling backward. His stomach lurched, his mind reeled. He had never seen death this raw, this grotesque—and it clawed at him from the inside out.
Boom. Bang.
Explosions rippled across the city. People screamed. Homes burned, some collapsing into rubble.
Pash staggered forward, still dizzy, and his gaze fell on a dog writhing on the ground. Its lower half was torn away. The sight punched him in the chest.
Nefri… His family. They were home.
"I need to get back. They'll be looking for me," he muttered, forcing his battered body into a limping run. Every step stabbed at him, but he didn't stop.
He collided with others fleeing the carnage, but no one slowed, no one helped. Panic consumed them all.
How did the Scryvians break through the barrier? Why now? What provoked them?
"Almost there," Pash whispered when his house finally came into view through the smoke.
But hope came too soon.
BOOM!
A heavier explosion detonated just ahead. The shockwave hurled him through the air, smashing him across rooftops and into the dirt.
CRASH.
He landed in a heap. Pain tore through him, blood filling his mouth. His body screamed, but he was alive—saved only by the pile of dirt that cushioned his fall.
Pash coughed, spitting blood. His insides felt shredded. His vision swam. But he forced himself upright.
He had to move. He had to find his parents. His sister. Losing them wasn't an option.
And so he staggered forward again, face bloodied, determination barely holding his failing body together.
Buzzzzz.
Pash froze. The sound came from above.
His eyes widened as a sleek pod-like craft descended through the smoke, landing only meters away.
"A Scryvian…" The word escaped his lips in horror.
The door hissed open.
Pash's instincts screamed at him to run. He tried to bolt, but his battered body betrayed him.
CRASH.
A figure landed in front of him, cutting off his path.
Pash's breath caught.
The being was… humanoid. Arms, legs, a head. A mechanical suit clung to its body, glowing faintly with blue lines of power. It stood taller than him—easily a head higher—and its skin was white. Not pale like a human's, but pure, unnatural white.
And its face… beautiful. Far too beautiful. Elegant, symmetrical, flawless—yet cold. Inhuman.
"Oh… what do we have here?" A feminine voice purred.
Pash tried to back away, but she seized his head with one hand and lifted him as if he weighed nothing.
"Arghh!" Pash screamed. The pressure was unbearable. His skull felt like it might burst.
"Humans are so fragile," the Scryvian said with cruel amusement. "Your lives meaningless. And yet… somehow you've survived this long." Her lips curved, tongue running across them as though the thought of slaughtering humans thrilled her.
Movement drew Pash's eye. A woman carrying a baby stumbled into view, running toward them—unknowing.
Pash tried to shout, tried to warn her, but the alien's other hand clamped around his throat, cutting his voice to a strangled wheeze.
Without even looking, the Scryvian raised a hand. Purple energy pulsed through her palm.
ZZZAP.
The beam sliced through the woman. She managed two steps before her body split apart, collapsing in a spray of blood. The baby's cry ended in silence.
"Hahahaha…" The Scryvian's beautiful face twisted with mania. "Exquisite. Pure euphoria."
Her gaze flicked back to Pash, dangling helpless in her grip.
"So, little human… what shall I do with you?" she whispered, almost tenderly, her eyes shining with bloodlust.
"Please…" Pash croaked, barely able to breathe. "Let me go."
The Scryvian tilted her head, smiling as if his words were a child's plea. She brought his face closer to hers.
"What was that? Louder." Her cold breath brushed his cheek.
Then—
"LET. THE BOY. GO!"
The voice thundered through the street.
Pash's blurred vision refocused. Ten figures in sleek military combat suits stood at the other end of the road. Their uniforms gleamed with faint blue circuitry, weapons humming as they powered up.
The Scryvian's smile widened. "Good… more toys to play with."
She raised Pash higher, like a shield. "Here's my proposition—kill yourselves, and maybe I let the boy live."
The squad leader, a tall man with a heavy plasma rifle, stepped forward. His stance was iron. His voice steady.
"It was foolish of us to think we could reason with a Scryvian." He leveled his weapon. "Fire."
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The street erupted in light. Plasma bolts streaked through the air, hammering against the Scryvian's glowing armor.
Pash screamed as he was jolted by the concussive blasts. He felt the alien's grip tighten like a vice as energy scorched the ground around them.
The Scryvian laughed—laughed—amid the onslaught. Her body shimmered as a translucent barrier absorbed the barrage. "Pathetic."
Her eyes glowed violet. With a flick of her wrist, a shockwave burst outward.
CRACK-THOOM.
Half the soldiers were flung aside like rag dolls, smashing into walls, their weapons clattering uselessly to the ground.
The leader held his ground, planting his boots against the street as his rifle charged another shot.
"I'm sorry, kid," he muttered under his breath, locking eyes with Pash. "This might hurt."
The world slowed for Pash.
The Scryvian's grin. The soldier's aim. The glowing plasma round building in the rifle's chamber.
Then—
FLASH.
White light consumed everything.
Pash's vision went black.
*******