Planet Kill

Chapter 19 — Camp life

After a blast or two from alien tanks, the place isn’t the same.

Back in the civilian world, Granny’s house was a thing of the past. Dust floated in the air as Cheryl blinked her way into consciousness. She tried to brush away the pieces of plasterboard that covered her body, but flinched when she tried to move her arm. Everything hurt — arms, legs; she even winced when she tried to take a deep breath. Cheryl’s head pounded as she tried to survey the room, but the pain was replaced by the gruesome sight of her bleeding grandmother.

“No, no, no!” she groaned. The pain returned when she rose to her knees, so she belly-crawled across the room to her grandmother. “Grandma!” she sobbed. “Come on, wake up!”

Dust still burned Cheryl’s eyes, and it was like an empty jar covered each ear. “Please, don’t do this!” she sobbed. “Not you too!”

Tears plopped onto her grandmother’s dust-covered body when Cheryl thought she heard a thump as the room shook. Then she tried to shake the blockage from her ears as she crawled to a hole and looked outside. Could it be? She blinked to make sure she saw a helicopter destroying the large tank while another bird engaged the robot tanks.

A sigh of relief wracked Cheryl’s body, but she reclined against what was left of the wall. Her…