Nathan Hystad - The Event

“It’s your cousin Bob. He seems a little off. Not that I know what’s on for the guy.”

She fidgeted with her necklace a moment and told me she’d be right down. I went and shared a cup of coffee with him and when Janine came, I excused myself to let them have a moment. The room had felt tense as I left it, and I made my way to my office; I had some work to do anyway. Without trying to hear what they were saying, I thought I caught him saying I was the wrong man for her, or something along those lines. Then I heard Mary’s name from my wife’s mouth. I never knew exactly what their exchange was that day, but I never saw Bob again.

Carey rushed to the window and barked incessantly at the dark shape outside the truck. My heart pounded in my chest as I tried to see who was knocking on the truck window. With the ship just having left, Ray and I were already at wits’ end. I turned the key and pressed the window button, lowering it slightly.

“Who are you?” I tensely asked.

A woman replied, “We’re here to help. The ship is gone for now.”

Ray and I got out of the car and let Carey out to investigate the new person. He hesitantly sniffed her hand as she crouched down to greet him.

“I love dogs. What’s your name?” she asked.

“His name is Carey. He’s my neighbor’s dog, but he’s been a great companion on our trip so far. I’m Dean, and this is Ray.”

She shook our hands and I caught sight of her face. I knew her. “I’m Mary. Mary Lafontaine. Vanessa is back at the hotel. We were thinking you might make for a hotel near here, but decided one of us should come find you if you didn’t. Then the ship came and I had to hide.”

Mary. It was Bob’s wife Mary. We’d only met on my wedding weekend, which was six years ago now. I had no idea if she would recognize me or not. Things were starting to become a little clearer, but they were still so convoluted and fuzzy. Janine’s cousin Bob was the husband of the woman in front of me. This was no coincidence.

“Hotel, you say. Let’s get going, and get out of the open,” Ray said.

“Yes, my Jeep is just up a little way. I’ll leave my lights off, so just drive up a hundred meters and you’ll see me. We’ll be at the hotel in five minutes.” Mary smiled and took off into the night. She spoke into a walkie-talkie. I couldn’t believe we hadn’t even thought of getting those to communicate if we got split up.

“Dean, you okay?” Ray asked.

Carey finished his business and came and sat down at my feet, his body resting against my shin.

“Ray, I know her. Her husband claimed to be my wife’s cousin. She was at my wedding.”

“That’s some seriously heavy stuff. Let’s get going. Maybe we’ll figure this all out when we get to the hotel and talk to them. She seemed sure of herself, out here all alone.”

“She was US Air Force. I think she can handle herself.”

We got in the truck and followed behind Mary in the darkness. The night sky was clear, and the moonlight and stars lit our way as best they could. In a few minutes, we were pulling up to the Holiday Inn.

“Welcome to our private hotel, gentlemen. Here are a couple keys to rooms beside ours.” She passed us keys. “Luckily, they still have regular keys. I’m not sure we could get into the rooms with those key cards.” She led us down a hallway and we toted our backpacks down the flashlight-lit corridor.

“We’re just down the hall in 105 and 106. We’ll be in Vanessa’s room, 106.” She squinted at me slightly before turning around and walking away.

“Come on, Dean. Let’s freshen up and find out what’s going on here,” Ray said.

In a few minutes, we were standing at the entrance to the room, a little fresher now that the day’s trip was washed off, me with a newly applied layer of deodorant. The door was propped open by the bolt, but Ray still knocked before entering. A voice called for us to come inside.

Mary sat at a desk in the far corner of the room, going over some maps. Her dark hair was pulled into a tight ponytail. They had a generator whirring quietly in the closet, it seemed, with the door closed to muffle the sound. It was funny that just a couple of days with no simple things like lights, and it seemed like magic when you did see it.

The other woman, whom I assumed to be Vanessa, smiled at us as we walked in. She was older than us, maybe pushing fifty, and she wore it well. “So, you’re the other two,” she said, looking us up and down.

“Other two what?” I asked.

“There are four of us, Dean. Four people left behind to save the world. My husband passed this locket on to me before he died, and I wore it, watching my children float away. Do you have any idea what that feels like? To know you’re staying and that you could save one of them, but not?” She was on the verge of crying, and Ray stepped over and put his arm around her shoulders.

“No, I don’t, but I watched my whole workplace get taken. We were working late trying to get a new product’s software done so the manufacturing would be on schedule for a big government contract. I saw twenty of my co-workers get sucked out of the building, and they all looked at me like I was the monster because I wasn’t leaving with them. I’ll never forget Tina’s face as she disappeared through the ceiling; face contorted in agony, looking at me like I was the devil,” Ray said, his hands visibly shaking.

I hadn’t heard Ray’s story yet, and listening to these tales made everything seem so much more real.

Mary came and sat at the end of the bed. “I was in a hangar bay in DC here. We were waiting to be called out in case we needed to try to immobilize the ships. The reports from around the world were saying that all weapons were non-effective against the ships, but we still had to sit there waiting. Like our missiles would have any more power than the Russians’, or the Middle East’s. It was terrifying seeing the news feeds of the missiles and bullets having zero effect on the bastards. They didn’t even have to swat us away like flies; they just hovered there like we were nothing more than a minor nuisance, if they even saw what the humans were doing at all. Those massive black behemoths fell from the sky and I just got a sinking feeling in my stomach, like the end was near. And I suppose it was.” She paused, and we were hanging on her every word. “The sun started to go down, and then things were almost a blur. Everyone started to shout and I didn’t know why, then I saw them floating, all surrounded by green light. This started to burn up” – she showed a large men’s ring on a chain hanging around her neck – “and I finally understood what Bob had been telling me back then. Bob was my husband. He died two years ago.”

The room went silent, and then all eyes fell on me. My story was so boring compared to theirs, but I had to tell it anyway. “I spent the day getting across town to grab my amulet from a storage unit. My wife had made me promise to wear it, but stupid me couldn’t stand the sight of her stuff. It was all a painful reminder of how much I missed her. Janine died three years ago. Just like Ray’s girlfriend died and your husband Bob died, Mary.” I watched Mary, and I saw the light click on in her mind. She knew me, and now she recalled where she knew me from. I nodded to her to let her know I knew and would get to it. She cracked a small smile, and I realized how attractive she really was. It had been a long time since I’d thought like that; the thought of dating after my wife passed had left me with a sick feeling of guilt. Why did I choose this moment to feel a spark? All the memories from the past couple days rushed into my mind, but I almost felt better for it, like my heartache was being cleansed.