Arrival: A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller

19

Blood splattered the window.

Reno opened the door and raised his hands to his head when he saw Sean’s body lying on the porch.

Maya jumped up and rushed to the door, but when she saw Sean’s body, she immediately knew he was dead.

“Sean,” Reno said, dropping down next to him—without apparent consideration for what else was happening nearby.

“Get back inside,” Maya said, her words soft and her hands shaking.

She counted six men in the road. One said something as she watched, and then two others flanked him, walking toward the house.

“Now!” Maya pulled on Reno’s arm. “He’s gone. We can’t help him.”

Reno grabbed the assault rifle Sean had carried outside before racing back into the house with Maya. He slammed the door shut and locked it. Maya hurried to the back door and did the same. The two met in the living room.

Footsteps sounded from the front porch, and the men outside knocked on the door.

“Let us in, and this will end best for all of us,” one of the men said.

“No way I’m opening that door,” Reno said quietly to Maya.

“We’ve got to get in the rig and get out of here before they go into the backyard and find it. They’re going to want everything inside.”

Reno nodded at her. “Let’s grab what we can and get out of here.”

Maya took a pistol and a shotgun off the table. She shoved the pistol into the back of her pants and winced as the cold steel of the barrel touched the skin at the small of her back. Then she grabbed boxes of ammunition.

“We’re getting tired of waiting out here!” the man on the porch said loudly. “Let us in, and we’ll take what we want. Then you can leave. But if you don’t… well, I must say that the woman I saw in there looked quite lovely. I might have to have a little fun with her, whether she likes it or not.”

Reno bit his lip and took a few stomps toward the door before Maya stopped him with a hand on his arm. She said, “There’s at least six of them, maybe more. Let’s go now and hope they’re not already at the back door.”

He stared at the front door for another second, but then said, “You’re right. Come on.”

They hurried out the back door as the men at the front continued to pound on the door, their fists getting louder. Maya sighed, thankful the men had not yet circled around the house.

Reno ripped the tarp off the rig while Maya hopped into the driver’s seat. She waited for Reno to get in before she stuck the keys in the ignition, not wanting to crank up the engine and draw attention until the last possible moment. He jumped in then, and she’d already started to turn the key when she had a thought.

“Get us out of here,” Reno said.

“We can’t leave yet.”

“The hell we can’t. Go!”

“No, we can’t. We’re going to leave all those guns inside? Once we take off, they’re going to break in and take them. And then none of the people who live around here will stand a chance.”

“We don’t have time to go back inside—there are too many weapons to grab in one trip and get out of here, Maya.”

Maya saw something red in the weeds on the edge of the lawn.

“Maya!”

“Jump in the driver’s seat and be ready to get us out of here.” She got out, ignoring Reno. Maya ran to the weeds and picked up a red gas can. She shook it, feeling about a gallon sloshing around inside the two-and-a-half gallon can. Maya glanced at the rig to see the look on Reno’s face—his mouth was open and his eyes were wide—before sprinting back into the house through the back door.

Maya filled a blue plastic bag with as much snack food as she could grab off the kitchen counter and then tied it through a belt loop.

After running through the kitchen, she dumped the gasoline onto the sofa and all over the carpet. She soaked the furniture. Then she grabbed the Zippo, the buck knife, and the penlight off the coffee table. Maya hoped the men were too stupid or cocky to send someone around to the back door—at least, not so quickly. Otherwise, things would get more complicated, and in a hurry.

“All right,” the man outside said suddenly. The pounding on the door had stopped, and she realized they were out of time. “We tried playing nice. Now we’re gonna have to break this door down.”

Stupid and cocky, she thought.

Maya flicked the lighter twice, and it ignited on the second try. She touched the Zippo to the couch and took a step back as flames raced up the cushions and crawled up the walls. Maya felt the heat on her face and smelled the bitter tang of gasoline as she ran for the back door and onto the back patio.

“I can see the back of an ambulance back here!” a man yelled. He stood across the yard, and when he made eye contact with Maya, he grinned.

Maya froze. Reno and the rig had been parked around the corner of the house. He wouldn’t know she was in danger.

“What’s the matter, sweetie? Didn’t think we’d walk around back? Where’s your dark friend?”

With a trembling hand, Maya drew the handgun from the back of her pants. She pointed it at the man.

He laughed and raised his hands. “Oh, all right. You got me. I give up!” But he continued to laugh, taking another step closer.

Maya’s lips trembled as she tried to keep her sight on the man’s chest. She shook her head, dropped the barrel, and then raised it up again.

“Don’t make me do this,” she said, taking another step toward the rig.

“You won’t, honey, you won’t. You ain’t got the balls.”

He reached for the gun in his own holster then, and Maya pulled the trigger of hers. The report echoed across the fields, and the kick sent a jolt of pain from her wrists to her shoulders.

The man let out a yelp and looked behind him to where the bullet had gone through the wooden privacy fence. He looked back at her and laughed.

“You stupid bitch.” He raised his gun up, and Maya fired a second time.

This time, she didn’t miss.

The bullet caught the man in the stomach and he fell to the ground.

“Goddammit!” he cried out.

Smoke billowed from the windows and open door of the house, and she heard the men on the front porch yelling.

Maya sprinted to the rig as the man she’d shot rolled over and fired in her direction. Reno kicked the passenger door open and Maya dove inside. Bullets whizzed by, and she shut the door without being hit.

“Go! Go!” she screamed.

They had five seconds, maybe less, before more men with guns came around back or the entire house exploded—neither of which seemed like something she wanted to stick around to see.

Reno slammed on the gas pedal as bullets shattered the back window of the rig. He cut around the corner and crashed through the closed gate. Two armed men on the other side dove out of the way as the rig sped past.

As the vehicle raced out into the street, Maya saw Roy staring them down. The two made eye contact as he lifted a rifle to his shoulder. Maya ducked.

Two gunshots rang out, but neither hit the rig.

She looked out of her window as they turned the corner at the end of the street. Roy raised a middle finger in their direction as flames engulfed what was left of Sean’s house.