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MILLY WATCHED AS THE alien vehicles landed, holding on to her mother’s hand. Large metallic objects floated sluggishly down from the sky, blocking out the sunlight, casting large shadows that danced clumsily around them. As she pointed with her free hand, Milly shook with fear as the giant, grey, legless bees dropped slowly. What were they here to do?
Milly remembered the time earlier in the day, sitting in school learning her numbers. The principal had stopped in the doorway and whispered some secret to Mrs Brennan, her face seeming to bloat open in fear.
“Right, class, please listen up,” Mrs Brennan had called. Her voice trembled as she announced the school would be closing and all of the kids needed to go straight home. In fact, all of the world’s businesses and schools would be closing.
“What’s happening, Miss?” Milly had asked. She thought of her mother sitting alone at home. In the classroom around her, students were beginning to squirm in their seats, eager to get home for a day off school. The excitement of freedom churned in Milly’s stomach, interspersing with her sense of terror. Something was not quite right in the world.
“The principal has been told by the government to send everybody home and for all residents to stay indoors. It seems they’ve received communications that alien ships have entered our orbit around the world and are descending. At this stage, we don’t know their intentions, and the government is attempting to decipher their signals.” Mrs Brennan broke off, wiping her dark eyes with quivering fingers. “I will also be heading home to my family, and I suggest you all do the same. And, if we never meet again, I want you to know it has been a pleasure teaching you, and I wish you all the best of luck.”
Mrs Brennan then grabbed her bag from her desk and walked briskly to the door. Milly and her peers sat dumbfounded, staring open-mouthed as she moved about the room. To see the teacher leaving the classroom full of students was too incongruous to believe. Surely it had to be a joke.
At the door, Mrs Brennan turned back to the students, her bag over her shoulder. Pity welled in her eyes with her tears.
“Leave! Go straight home, students!” She turned on her heel and stormed away, not looking back at the students who were still in their seats glancing dumbly at their peers around them.
When Milly took the initiative to stand and leave, slowly and with caution, the rest of the class moved with her, mumbling goodbyes to their friends. Once they had left the room, the thought of it all being a horrible joke was gone and they began to rush home.
Milly remembered the first dark mass she saw in the sky as she neared her home, as if a hole had been cut from above, leaving only a patch of blackness.
Milly stopped, her eyes glued on the spectacle above her, unable to comprehend the events of the day. Mauve-coloured clouds moved steadily above her, not caring about the dark shadow moving through them, like a reverse spotlight. The wind moved through the trees, their leaves applauding quietly.
It was only when a second dark shape entered Milly’s view, swelling bit by bit, did Milly regain her mental faculties and go inside, where her mother had stood at the door, watching her. When Milly crossed the threshold, her mother embraced her in her thin arms.
“We got told to come home, Mum. What’s happening?” Milly asked, her face nestled in her mother’s bosom.
“Oh, honey, I know. It’s been all over the news. They’re saying the alien ships came stealthily up to us, and are now preparing to land. Government authorities aren’t sure what they want, but think there are too many around the world to be peaceful. They say it’s either an invasion to take control of us, or to take our resources...” She trailed off as she held Milly, taking comfort from her daughter’s touch and smell.
“Is Dad... Is Dad going to be involved, Mum?” Milly asked, pulling away to look at her mother, whose face was blotchy and puffy.
“I’m not sure, love. They did say the government would deploy troops to be ready for the alien invaders. If it came to battle, then yes, your father might...” She took a breath. “He might be involved, but he’d be with the best army in the world, all of which will be fighting their own battles. The aliens will have a tough battle on their hands.” Milly’s mother smiled, hope emanating from her lips.
“Come, darling. Let’s grab some tea and biscuits. Everything seems better after tea.”
Milly could still feel the warmth from the tea pumping through her body. The ship above her and nearly one hundred metres away, opened its huge door, like a toad opening its mouth to swallow a fly. Inside she could see the aliens, dressed in black military combat gear, ready to depart, guns held in front of them. The reflective glass of their goggles shone ominously on their face as they observed the alien land. They had obviously been briefed before the invasion, scoping the land by satellites, but nothing compared to seeing it firsthand. Milly squeezed her mum’s hand, remembering the conversation earlier in the kitchen.
“Do you think Dad will be okay?” Milly had asked, her hands wrapped around her cup of tea.
“I really don’t know, love,” her mother replied, glancing outside. The air around them had darkened slowly as more ships descended. Their own military aircraft had been deployed and flew around, seemingly aimless. They flew in random patterns, supporting the mass of troops deployed on the ground, moving into position.
Milly could see the troops moving on the street around them, saw them hiding behind objects and communicating with hand signals. From behind their fence, Milly and her mother watched the action happening in her own street. Their once quiet neighbourhood was a hive of activity. Milly had never even heard of any violence or criminal activity in the fourteen years she had been alive. Now though, there was enough violence to last a lifetime.
On the horizon, she could see her country’s military aircraft involved in a mid-air battle with an alien ship, bringing her back to the present. The small planes whizzed around, firing missiles at the spaceship, where they exploded in a small puff of flame, not seeming to make any impact at all. To Milly, the missiles were like tiny grains of sand blown against her legs on a windy day at the beach. Sure, it stung, but there was no damage.
Milly could see the door open on the ship, missiles and bullets still whizzing about. As she watched, she held her breath, gasping as she saw one of her country’s aircraft fly into the open door, like a train in a tunnel. She didn’t think there was an exit for the brave pilot.
Milly saw the explosion before she heard it. Before she felt the shockwave. The kamikaze pilot had crashed the plane inside and, loaded with ammunition, had bypassed the invading ship’s security screen, causing it to explode from inside. Milly could see alien bodies flying from the door as the ship erupted like a volcano; smoke, fire and debris sent flying through the air. The spaceship fell quickly to the ground where it slammed into a tall skyscraper, taking the building down with it in a haze of fiery smoke.
The soldiers around Milly pointed at the action and cheered, uplifted by the small win against the alien opposition. Their cheers were short-lived as the door of the ship closest to them touched the ground, soldiers surging forth onto the road. Bullets flew through the air in all directions. Soldiers shouted orders as they fired at the aliens, rushing for cover from the attacking extra-terrestrial force.
Milly’s mother pulled them towards the house, shouting inaudibly at Milly. Transfixed by the action, Milly pulled back, watching as a soldier was shot in the shoulder. He fell to the ground, his gun thrown aside as he grabbed at the wound. Around him the shooting played out, not caring about one soldier’s flesh wound. Milly watched as more soldiers went down. She hoped, as she was pulled away from the action by her mother, that her dad was doing better than the retreating soldiers stationed on her street.
Once they were inside their house Milly’s mother locked the doors, looking out the windows. From Milly’s position at the lounge room window she could see more ships descending on the horizon. Outside, alien invaders stalked down the street, staying close to the metallic tank, which crept along like a turtle. Its gun turret moved from side to side, before coming to rest facing forward down the street. It paused outside Milly’s house, almost directly in front of her vision, and she knelt down, trying to remain hidden.
Soldiers dispersed methodically into nearby houses, never going alone, and dragged out the residents they found hiding there. Milly watched as her frail neighbour, Mrs Appleton, a retired teacher, was dragged from her house by a large bipedal soldier. A smaller black animal on four legs, covered in short hair, snarled angrily at the whimpering Mrs Appleton, who cowered from the cacophony of noise, her arms covering her face. The aliens stood yelling incomprehensibly, pointing their guns at her.
Milly watched from the darkness of her window, stunned when an alien soldier pulled the trigger. Dark blood burst from Mrs Appleton’s head, splattering to the ground. With a gasp, Milly reeled back, turning to her mother who stood beside her, hands covering her mouth.
The alien soldiers were gathered in the street, pointing further ahead, beginning to grab at their guns. A loud whirring noise pierced the air as the tank’s gun turret moved, then stopped. Smoke and sound exploded from the tank’s gun as it fired, followed closely by louder bangs as the artillery round found its target.
Milly’s mother shrieked, her fingers finding Milly’s shoulder and digging in painfully. Outside their window, an alien soldier was taking off its helmet, revealing a grotesque face. Its black skin was covered in a sheen of slime, with curly fur covering the rest of the face. Some sort of contraption was stuck in one of its orifices – presumably its mouth – perhaps to help it breathe. Milly imagined that the hair covered the rest of its body beneath the uniform. And how was she supposed to tell the difference between male and female? Especially since all of them were wearing identical black uniforms.
Milly wondered if they all looked the same underneath their clothes. Perhaps there was nothing that made them unique.
The soldiers began looking straight at Milly, who cowered back from the window, as if they were looking only at her. Milly’s mother pulled her through the lounge room to the kitchen at the back of the house. Reaching up to the ceiling, Milly’s mother pulled a cord, dragging a set of rickety wooden steps to the floor.
“Quick, Mill, get up there. We need to hide,” her mother whispered urgently, pushing her daughter up the stairs. Milly climbed clumsily, feeling as if all strength had left her body, just like Mrs Appleton’s blood. Or like Mrs Brennan, who left the classroom. Or her dad, all those months ago. It seemed like everyone was leaving her lately.
Milly hoped her mum would stay with her in the dark ceiling space.
The trapdoor clicked into place as Milly’s mother joined her in the cramped and musty ceiling. Milly wiped away cobwebs and dust from her face and head, trying to keep her panic at bay. If she let her sense of terror overwhelm her up here in the ceiling, she would not be able to reverse the panic attack. And those alien soldiers would find them easily. This thought made Milly’s heart beat faster, and she focussed on her breathing, trying to slow it down, trying to keep herself calm.
Milly jumped when her mum reached a hand across the darkness and searched for her hand, holding it in her own, breathing rapidly.
“Shhh, it’s just me, darling,” her mum whispered, crawling closer to her. Down at the front door, they could hear loud bangs as the alien invaders tried to break through. Tried to invade their home.
“Do you think Daddy’s coming to save us?” Milly murmured, hopeful her father would bring the whole military force to fight off their attackers.
“Yes, darling. Dad rang just before you got home,” Milly’s mother whispered, her body shaking with sobs. Beneath them a loud bang shook the house as the soldiers broke through the door.
“He said these aliens came from Earth. Now they’re here, our military force will fight them off. We just have to wait for your dad to come save us.” She paused as the banging and shouting spread through the kitchen beneath them.
“Shhh, be quiet and we should be okay,” Milly’s mother said, so softly that Milly had to strain to hear her above the clamour.
As the aliens gathered beneath them, a babble of incomprehensible shouts filling the void, Milly wondered why they had travelled all these lightyears to invade them. She hoped her trembling wasn’t shaking the ceiling beneath her.
Why couldn’t they have come in peace? Milly was sure the Earthlings would have been welcomed with open arms by her whole amicable planet.
Milly was still wondering as the trapdoor was pulled down, and an alien stuck its helmeted head through the gap, reaching for Milly and her mum.