Dark Fall

Alive

Let’s turn back time to yesterday just as the apocalypse was starting and the aliens were invading.

Claire, Alex’s girlfriend, who was presumed to have been killed by Scourge when he supposedly landed on top of her, had currently just regained consciousness in an unfamiliar place.

The place she woke up in appeared to be a tent. Claire tried getting up but noticed that her body was feeling completely weak. The last memory she remembered was running away with Alex when suddenly that thing fell from the sky and knocked her unconscious.

She honestly thought she was dead and could faintly remember the look of horror on her boyfriend’s face just before she was knocked away. Remembering Alex, Claire immediately tried to see if he was around.

“W-Where am I―Ouch!”

She wanted to look around but suddenly flinched from the sudden movement she made as she felt intense pain all over the left side of her body. It started from her lower left cheek and it streaked down her neck until her left calf.

Someone heard her and entered the tent before going outside again. Claire caught a glimpse of the person and noticed that they were wearing a uniform.

“Ma’am, the civilian is awake!”

She faintly heard that uniformed person say that outside and in the next moment, 2 different people walked into the tent.

“Ah, so you’re awake. That’s great,” said the tough-looking middle-aged lady who was at the head of the two.

She walked over to Claire’s bedside and turned to the person next to her who appeared to be a medic and said, “Check her condition.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“W-Where is this? What happened to me?” Claire asked while the medic began examining her wounds.

She had noticed that the left side of her body was completely bandaged while her right side had a few bruises and scratches that had some kind of gauze applied to them.

“You were hurt when my men and I found you at Central Park while we were evacuating. You were...on the verge of death but we managed to keep you alive.”

Claire felt her back stinging and asked, “Who are you?”

“My name is Marie Edmunds, and you?”

“I-I’m Claire...Claire Emmerson.”

“Well, hello, Claire.”

“I-I’m thankful that you saved me, but my boyfriend was with me. D-Did you also save him?”

“Your boyfriend?”

“Y-Yes, 18 years-old, brownish-black hair and his built well like an athlete.”

Marie had pursed her lips when she heard Claire’s words and replied, “I’m sorry, Claire, but we only found you…”

“...N-No...Alex…”

Claire immediately started crying when she heard this.

“W-We were attacked by those giant things and he s-saved me...I should have been killed from the start but he kept carrying me around…”

Seeing her like this, the medic and even Marie couldn’t help but feel sad as well. However, when Marie first found Claire and rescued her, there was something very special about her that she and the conditions she found her in were something she would never be able to forget for the rest of her life.

Claire had been knocked away by the alien and landed in the shrubbery nearby after falling unconscious due to her head knocking onto a tree. The alien had also lit the entire area up in flames upon its landing and when Marie and her team found her there as they passed by, the place was still burning but Claire was fine as she laid there in the flames like she was completely immune to it all.

There was a large burn mark on her back and her left flank was injured really badly with deep cuts and bruises but other than that, her life was still intact and she wasn’t fatally wounded or anything.

Marie saw something special in Claire that day and she quickly had her team rescue her even while the fire was burning and brought her away from the place. They didn’t notice the pool of sludge nearby that had Alex and his Scourge in it as they were in the process of merging together so without finding anyone else to save, they quickly left the area.

They moved to a different evacuation site with the people they brought along from the park’s field hospital where they were previously stationed. Marie and her people had received intel that a large concentration of aliens was moving towards the park so she made the quick decision to relocate with the people they hadn’t been able to airlift out of the park yet.

They made their way up to an evac site in the Bronx which they were currently staying at right now after traveling for a few days on foot. The group was full of trained soldiers who were able to expertly push back the aliens and kill the Volonoids that chased after them.

Naturally, they would have taken a shorter time to get to the place if they didn’t have the burden of transporting so many people.

The transport cars they used had broken down on the way due to the jammers the aliens had erected but since they were already halfway through their journey, the entire group managed to safely arrive at their destination without losing a single civilian.

The soldiers had experienced a few casualties but it was their duty to serve their country and protect its citizens. With Marie leading, they managed to greatly reduce their casualties to the minimum and after piling up much experience in handling the aliens and monsters, Marie’s squadron was likely the strongest people at the base.

“Claire, currently, we’re at a safe zone in the Bronx. We’ll be holing up here until reinforcements arrive or once we’ve received commands to mobilize.”

“...”

“I know you’re still grieving now, but now isn’t the time. Our world is being invaded and we need capable people who can stand up and fight.”

“I...I’m just an ordinary girl…”

Marie shook her head and said, “I see something very special in you. If you don’t want to stay around and sit on your butt all day, grieving for your boyfriend, how about standing up and getting revenge for him?”

“Revenge…”

“I’ll give you some time to think about it. Report to me once you’ve made your decision. If you decide to come with me, I’ll have you enlist in the army and appoint you into my squadron. You can find me in the military barracks’ second tent.”

Marie left behind those words and Claire contemplated her decisions for a long while. What Marie said to her was very enticing and she really was angry at everything. She loved Alex like she did her family and the aliens had taken him away from her while her own family’s status was unknown.

In the worst-case scenario, they might already be dead or were still in danger. If she just sat around and did nothing, she’d fail to protect or save them just like how she was powerless to help Alex.

With that in mind, Claire already made her decision but she needed to heal up before she could get out of the hospital tent and report to Marie.

Claire’s recovery speed was quite astonishing after waking up. She healed very quickly to the doctors and nurses’ surprise and after a single day, she was already able to stand up and walk around.

She still had her bandages on her arm and body but they weren’t as painful as before, except for the burn on her back. Claire still experienced phantom pains from them even though they were the first to heal up.

Since she was able to move around now, Claire quickly searched for Marie’s tent and managed to find it after asking around.

“It’s quite surprising that you’ve healed to the point where you can start walking around now…”

“...”

“Have you made your decision, Claire?”

Claire gave Marie a determined look before nodding, “Yes, I’ll accept your proposal.”

Marie smiled and said, “Good. I’ve already prepared the papers. Read over them and sign them. Once all this crappy paperwork is over with you’ll be officially enlisted in the army as a private and undergo training once you’ve recovered.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“You can call me Commander once you’ve officially been enlisted. Also, regarding your family, the military will look into their condition and move them to safety with top priority if they’re still alive.”

“Thank you.”

Claire nodded before turning around and leaving the tent with the stacks of papers with her.

She didn’t even bother reading through them before signing. It didn’t matter to her about the restrictions, conditions, or welfare and whatnot. As long as she could gain strength to fight those aliens, she’ll do anything.

“The military will find my family...I just hope that they’re still alive…”

‘Please, mom...dad…”

The next day, Claire made a complete recovery to the surprise of her doctors and a week soon passed. During this week, she and a few other recruits were trained but then, something big happened at the base she was staying in.

“Enemy contact! There’s a large wave of those alien monsters coming right at us!”