Zēns Guerrero

The list of who gave me what on my birthday is gone. Among other things, but that was the most important. I had heard the American news and new about this new virus, I hope that isn’t what I ignored a week ago. I shut down my computer but the phone lines were down so I couldn’t call. I went up to play my steel drums to calm my nerves. I wasn’t that worried, but I liked my computer, I didn’t want such a bad virus on it. I played a glorious beat on the drums. I got lost in the music because when I was done, the clock read 4:37, 20 minutes after I started. My mother was clapping at the door to my room. Her silhouette outlined by the bright kitchen light.
“That was muy bueno hijo,” she lauded, “Play another”. So I did. Mother was stressed from my birthday; I didn’t want to turn her down. My fingers tensed on the mallets deciding which note to hit and when. It was instinctive. 2 hours of practice every day has paid off. The harmony was euphonious. Flowing from one noise to the next. Each sound a perfect mix with the previous one. When I was done my fingers ached from grasping the hammers so hard. Mother was on the bed now; her eyes were closed, she was swaying with the rhythm. “Si, si, que fue maravilloso,” she kissed my forehead. “Dinner is in one hour. Please wash up beforehand.” She got up and my bed creaked. I just sat there and closed my eyes. I was so tired, but I went to my computer. I plugged it back in and all of my files were gone. History. I thought I saw a shadow in the corner of my screen. But I turned off my computer and went into the kitchen.
Elisa Amor

I did some more graffiti today. Damp, clean brick is always the best. This one was of a little girl holding a giant heart balloon. It was high up by the gutter; I had to stand on my tippy toes on the fire escape to get at it. It’s adorable; the girl’s face is smiling brighter than the sun. Too bad Percy the Po-po was waiting for me at the bottom.
“What are you doing?” he asked, exasperated with me as always
“You know the usual. Nice socks by the way.” I responded smiling. I loved messing with him. He tried not to glance down, but he did.
“Ugh, haven’t we told you enough times not to ruin the sides of our lovely buildings with your garbage? Why must you insist on apostasy?”
“Because it’s fun. I’ll see you tomorrow Percy!” I shouted behind me, scooping up my paint. I looked behind me and Percy was looking at his socks. Made my day.
Percy Williams, Juvenile Police, London, England

After calling the sanitation department to wash off the horrors Amor scrawled on the Australian Embassy, I hopped back into my squad car. I tried to contact the station, but my radio was out. I figured the battery must be dying. I drove through the winding streets of London back to the station. My radio didn’t come back on for the whole ride.
Untalicaz

More of us are out now. The humans still think that we are just some computer virus. Ha. They will be destroyed one by one. And we will win.
Zēns Guerrero

I couldn’t access any of my backup files today either. I plugged in a USB to see if they were still there, but when I did I watched each file get deleted. The shadow came back into the corner, but I shut down my computer in hopes to stop the virus. None of my writings, presentations, or pictures are left. Father will kill me.
Untalicaz, unit 2481047, Argentina

I was so close to one of the humans, I could almost reach him. I could tell he was smart by the files he had on his computer. Beautiful poetry, professional power points, loving pictures of him and his family. I felt sorry deleting them, but only for a moment. The surge of information was powerful. I was in euphoria; I wanted so badly to reach him, to get more. But he shut down.
Zēns Guerrero

Mother and Father gave me a belated birthday present. They said that since not all of our family could participate in it, they wanted to wait until now.
“We’ve been saving up for a while,” Father said, “We really want you to appreciate this gift.”
“Zēns, hijo, we’re taking you on a safari!” Mother said, practically glowing. But the glow seemed off, artificial, as if something else was going on. But I ignored it, I was going to Africa!
“Where in Africa are we going?” I asked.
“Chad, we have a nice little place in a village there, very safe I’ve heard,” Mother replied. She was smiling and was so happy, but the smile was fake, it didn’t reach her eyes. I was excited though, my family was well off but I had never been out of South America before. I was excited, a nice family vacation with just me, my Mother, and my Father. I couldn’t wait to go.
American News Reporter

More of the mysterious deaths have occurred. There have been reports of one or more deaths in every country except Chad. Chad has been put under lockdown to all except those who can afford to get in. There is still no clue to the causes of these deaths. In other news, Aliens in Afghanistan? Strange creatures have been found in the mountains of the country. No pictures or reports about the creature have been released yet, but we know one thing for sure: It’s not human at all.
Elisa Amor

Dad was furious when he found out about my run in with the Bobby. I guess a cop car can get to a phone faster than I can get home. He wasn’t so furious about the fact that I got caught, he’s used to that by now. He was mad because I was grounded. Not for getting the kitchen wet, no, that was history. This time it was for selling some of mom’s potions on the street for outrageous prices. I brought home £246 though! Who could be mad about that? Apparently someone like dad, but he still kept the profit anyways. So I snuck out to do some graffiti, but I couldn’t sneak back in. So now I’m just confined to the house for a week, but I have to help Belinda make more potions to replace the ones I took. That’s the worst part of the punishment. Now I’m watching the telly. Wait, now I’m not. The channel just disappeared! Now I’m watching “Ru Paul’s Drag Race”, not worth the pain. Every since the huge “Gay Rights” controversy of 2016, more and more shows about gay men have been playing. Not that I have a problem with that, it’s just bad viewing. I glance around for the remote and I see something on the screen. A face or something, appearing in the corner. I stare at it for a moment, it gets clearer and clearer. I turn off the T.V. without giving it a second thought.
Zēns Guerrero

I read the Global Newspaper about how Chad is now an exclusive safe heaven. That’s why we’re going there. I asked my parents why they wouldn’t just tell me why they’re so concerned. But they just said until the virus passes, we will be in Chad. I don’t know why they are concerned about a dumb computer virus, it can’t hurt people. Maybe they figure I can’t take my computer with me so I’ll have less of a risk of getting it. I haven’t told them it’s already happened.
French News Reporter

More deaths have occurred, more deaths have gone unexplained. Reports about the beasts found in Afghanistan have just come in. Their teeth prints match those of the deaths. But scientists still don’t know what the creatures are or how they got there. They are believed to be related to the deaths though. Also, recent biopsies on those who have died show that brain activity had a gradual decrease in the last few moments of life. Things like senses, thought, and speech, were all drained out of the victims’ brain. In conclusion, the Untalicaz.aip virus is still causing damage and has become more and more widespread…
Elisa Amor
My phone started acting out today. All of my contacts were gone and all my pictures were being deleted when the battery started blinking, signaling it was about to die. I saw that little face in the screen though. It was clearer than the one on the T.V. It’s a terrifying image. Large and oval shaped with nothing more than gaping trenches for eyes. The mouth was the scariest, perfectly circular with jagged serrated teeth all around. I let the battery die and chucked my phone at the wall. No matter how unwilling I am to admit it, I was scared. But I’m not willing to admit it, so I won’t. I walked downstairs where dad and Brick were sitting at a table. It was 1:30; they were eating lunch and reading the newspaper.
“Good afternoon ladies,” I chimed grinning as Brick got ready for a rebuttal. I love bickering with him; it’s so easy and fun. But before he could respond my dad stopped him.
“Brick, just ignore her. It’s not worth it.” He droned, not looking up from the news. I buttered my toast.
“Why do you care all of a sudden? You used to just look the other way,” I grumbled, my mouth full of burnt bread.
“It’s all these deaths, I’m getting worried. What if there’s some horrible worldwide gang out there just killing innocent people for fun?”
“Nobody kills innocent people or fun. The only people that kill for fun are lions and the government, and when the government does it, it’s usually only the ones who deserve it,”
“Elisa, you know I don’t like it when you talk about these things. How many times must I remind you?” He sounded like Percy for a minute.
“A few thousand. Nice socks by the way,” I chuckled heading out onto the balcony.
“Wha-“was all my dad could get out before I slid the door shut.
Brick Fortis

Elisa is such an idiot. She thinks she’s “street” and can get away with anything. I admire her for that. Did I just think that?! No, no I didn’t. I don’t admire her for anything. I’m the one who’s still in school, I’m the one who doesn’t have run-ins with the cops 24/7, and I should be the one she admires, not the other way around. She’s so mean to my mom too. Just because she fell off her rocker a while ago doesn’t mean she’s not nice. I don’t say anything though. Mostly because I don’t want her in a rage or doing anything reckless. That’s to say, more reckless than she already is now.

Zēns Guerrero
Chad is hot and ugly, but mostly just hot. When we got there, airport security was super tight. They confiscated all electronics, weapons, and liquids. You were then herded into another tiny room, where they gave you a full body scan and a pat down. Next, each person got a bag with toothpaste, soap, laundry detergent, and other liquids that had been taken. We also got a little plug in AM/FM radio. Then, 25 people at a time were crammed into blacked out prison busses, the kind with a fence separating the driver from the passengers. Everything was covered in a layer of orange dust, including us when we stepped out of the bus. The heat was scorching, at least the bus was air conditioned. I looked back and it was already plowing its way back through the dirt. Mixing the sand and heat waves, as if they were one. I looked in the distance, about a mile away there was a shape. I thought it was just a mirage, but I got jabbed in the back by one of the guards before I could think about it too much. The trek was long and hard. I felt as if I were in an oven, and in a sense I was. Not a good choice to wear a black polo and jeans when going to Chad. The camp had a 20 foot tall barbed wire electric fence around it. The guard gave us a warning. “Nobody leaves without consulting the mayor. Nobody leaves if they break one of our rules. Nobody uses any devices that have not been approved by...” the list went on and on. I zoned out, transfixed by the tiny village held within the gates. The stifling heat reminded me of hell, and I was waiting at its entrance.
Elisa Amor

Days have passed. I’m not grounded anymore, but I'm not entirely scott-free either. Brick’s still mad at me about the whole “good afternoon ladies” comment. Doesn’t he know that any and all signs of affection from me are in the form of an insult? I guess, deep down, I do care about him, I mean, based on the above I care about him a lot. Anyways, I don’t get what the big deal is. He’s being a sissy, as usual.
“Brick, if I were to jump off the balcony right now what would you do?” I asked him at breakfast today.
“Hmm… let me thi- Nothing.” He replied, making a feeble attempt at sarcasm.
“You wouldn’t feel even a little bad?” I said, holding up my thumb and index finger to represent how little emotion he’s even capable of feeling.
“Not really,” he replied, taking a huge mouthful of fruit loops.
“What if it was all your fault?” I asked looking him directly in his crisp golden eyes. That’s something I’ve always loved about Brick, his eyes. They’re like windows into his soul, hiding nothing, yet keeping everything mysterious. And against his long, dark brown hair, they make a good contrast. Brick’s lean, but still on the puny side for a 17and a half year old guy. His face is elfish, pointed nose, pointed chin. He even has the pointed ears to match. On anyone else it’d look bad, but on Brick it looked decent.
“Well then I’d pat myself on the back, give myself a gold star, and say ‘job well done.’” He said meeting my gaze. I looked away, the last thing I needed was his soul, peering out of those golden windows, and looking into my own dark blue ones with high powered binoculars.
Australian News Reporter

Death has become more and more widespread. People are starting to wonder if the deaths, aliens, and Untalicaz.aip virus are somehow connected. Anyone who can afford it has escaped to Chad, those who haven’t fear that they will be-- If you are hearing this, we will get to you. We are becoming more and more powerful by the second. We are all around you, disguised as your most prized possessions. We are growing stronger, face it, you’re losing…
“Oh my god! Cindy, Cindy wake up. Someone call the cops! She has the circle on the back of her head! Cindy! Cind-aahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!! Oh my god, get away from me! Just get away! No! NO! NO!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
Zēns Guerrero

The village within the gates is incredibly small, overflowing with rich kids, dying for the amenities back home. I overheard one girl talking to a guard, “Please I’ll do anything for a fan! There must be something I could do for you,” she cooed suggestively. I walked on; I didn’t need to be involved with that scene. Two guys were fighting over how much water each one needed. It looked like it was going to get ugly fast, so I kept on walking. I guess I didn’t tell a guard because I didn’t want to make enemies, especially with those two. But at any rate, I didn’t want to make friends either.

The desperation of this place put me at a loss. How could they, and by they I mean the government, get away with this? I guess charging a lot for the promise of safety is a good enough excuse for some people. Must be a real profit maker. I went back to our hut and my mother was cooking with the few ingredients that were rationed out to us. I had overheard some people saying how they got yeast and flour by bribing the guard, but my family had not yet sunken so low.
“Zēns, would you come here?” She gasped, for the heat in the kitchen was worse than outside. Sweat glistened on her forehead and around her lips. Her hands were scratched from the splintery wood of the spoon. “Look, hijo, I know this isn’t the dream vacation you were hoping for but,” She paused, as if trying to determine whether or not I was mature enough for the next bit. “We heard rumors that the deaths and the Untalicaz.aip virus were linked. I had checked your computer,” she flushed, embarrassed by her own snooping, “and noticed your computer had been affected. I didn’t want even the slightest risk of something happening to you, so we came here. This is the best camp in Chad right now, but they are trying to loosen security measures for better apartments. Lo siento, mi hijo,” she apologized. I wondered if it was about bringing me here, or snooping. I decided on both. Mother got up, returning to the stove. I tried listening to the radio, but all there was, was news channels. And the news was all the same these days; death, aliens, virus. Death, aliens, virus. The brutal truth of it all was more depressing than the chunk of hell I was in now.
Elisa Amor
“Happy birthday to you,” dad droned, unemotional.
“Happy birthday to you,” Belinda twirled, her usual perky self.
“You look like a monkey,” Brick cried immaturely
“Oh shut up!” I yelled from the kitchen table. I felt weak, sitting while everyone else was standing. They could tackle me in an instant, smother me, and I wouldn’t be able to get away.
“Happy birthday to you!” Everybody cried, snapping pictures like I was 4 again. I closed my eyes and made a wish, not something ridiculous, like a pony, or a hot rod car. But for something incredible to happen to me, something life changing. Then I blew. Everyone clapped, even Brick.
“Alright now that that’s over with,” Belinda said looking towards dad. “Dan, do you want to tell them?” she sliced the cake and handed out slices. I got the most icing.
“Sure,” dad replied, straightening his spine in the plastic chair, “Elisa, don’t be mad, but you aren’t getting a lot of gifts this year.” He said clasping his hands on the table. “Before you say anything, let me explain. I’ve been planning this for a while now, and I do think you’ll like it. We are taking a trip,” I perked up at ‘we’. I thought that meant just me and him. “All of us,” he said, shattering the image of father daughter bonding, “To New York City.” He finished with one of those goofy grins that I loved so much.
“Really?” I cheered standing up out of my seat; I’d always wanted to go to New York. “That’s incredible! I mean, that’s awesome! I mean, thank you so much!”
“Oh don’t mention it sweetie pie, we figured we could use a nice family vacation together.” Belinda drawled out slowly. That’s the other thing I hate about Belinda, everyone is sweetie pie or honey bunch or butter biscuit, or something ridiculous like that. Her newest name is bunny baby.
“Thank you!” I said, glowing. I hated Belinda, but I was too happy to care. New York, The Big Apple, home to some of the best graffiti the world has ever known. Too bad I couldn’t take my paints, I could make my mark. Represent London in a new light. But the point was I was going to see New York. I was going to take bite out of the Big Apple, and boy would it taste sweet.
Brick Fortis

Despite all the taunts and teasing, the various forms of abuse, I do love Elisa. And seeing her radiate excitement today when we told her about New York made me even happier we were going. All of our bags were already packed, so we were waiting on her. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone pack so fast. We loaded up things in the car. I looked up; the sky was black with clouds. It looked like it was going to storm.
Untalicaz
Several hundred of us are out now. We’re having a pretty easy time, but there are still some areas we will need armies to infiltrate.
Pete Sarver, Border Control and Customs

Just handled a family going to the USA for the girl’s birthday. I wish I could’ve gotten that when I was a kid, but I saw how happy she was and knew she wasn’t an ingrate. I just hope this weather clears up; otherwise they’re in for a bumpy ride.
Zēns Guerrero

A new arrival just came in. I watched them wander aimlessly, the same thing I did when I first got here. I wonder if they’re thinking what I was thinking. But I don’t approach anyone, and I speak in a different language if they approach me. My number one rule of the land: Don’t make friends, because they could end up being your enemy. Number two? Don’t make enemies, it’s just dumb.

Luckily, none of the new kids come up to me. I guess I just have that loner type air around me, like a shield. A few girls have tried to talk to me, but I blab out some phrase in some language that drives them away. I’ve never really been interested in girls back home. I’m not gay though, none of them ever seemed to strike my fancy. Girls always seem attracted to me though. Father says it’s the eyes, not many people have violet eyes. Nobody in my family knows where they came from, but one thing is for certain, they’re special. And not just because they get the girls, but because they’re mysterious, and they hide my secrets well.
Belinda Fortis-Amor

“Elisa!” I cried across the crowded hallway of the airport. My daughter, and I use the term sparingly because she doesn’t think of me as a mother, seemed to be ignoring me. “Elisa!” I screamed louder. She looked back at me. I motioned her to come into the café. She rolled her eyes and put down the book she was reading, “Artsy Criminals: Graffiti throughout History”. She took her time going across the hall. She weaved between business men, meandered through a barrage of Chinese tourists, and wiggled between baby carriers.
“What?” She asked taking the iPod, my son’s iPod, out of her ears. She always disrespects Brick, sometimes I wonder if they even love each other.
“Bunny baby we need to talk,” I said sitting down at the nearest open table. To our right were some hippies, talking about the burning man festival. To our left were some Italians, chattering away in one of the most beautiful languages in the world.
“Please just call me Elisa,” She mumbled loud enough for me to hear.
“Alright. Look, I know you don’t like me. I know you think I’m weird. I know you think that your dad shouldn’t have married me,” I began. I had been planning this talk for a week, planning out exactly what to say. “But I really want you to just give me a chance. I mean after all, you’ll never see Missy again. I could be your mom, but only if you’ll let me.” I had to give it to her straight. Missy, her birth mother, had been sent to prison. I remember the verdict: Guilty by association. I was a friend of Missy’s and a friend of Dan at the time. Neither one of us wanted to believe she could help kill someone, let alone a little kid, but that’s the way it was. I remember her screams on the way out. “No, please, no! I didn’t mean to! He made me! He made me! Please! NO!” She almost broke free at that point, doctors were sure she was Schizophrenic, but could never get close enough to test her. Elisa was only ten. I looked at her and could tell she was thinking of the same day, the same second, and the same moment.
“But why should I let you into my life? You’re almost out of it anyways. One more year and I’ll be free from the prison you all call home. I’m going to break out, and never look back.” She replied. Her eyes had been closed since I mentioned Missy, but now they were open. The deep blue that was so much like her mother’s, a personality that was entirely her own.
“True, but what if you’re forced back? A block in the road you’re so keen to travel.”
“I hop over the block. I have better places to go, better people to see. I’m not going to let some construction or a car crash get in my way.”
“Fine. But when you come back, and believe me you will. I will welcome you with open arms, but not so much an open heart.” I said. I really wanted to give her a slap in the face realization. But she seemed fixed on her own ignorant perception of reality.
Elisa Amor

Belinda is a moron. She thinks that once I’m eighteen, I’m going to fly free, then come crawling back? No. No, no, definitely no. She doesn’t realize I’m not a kid anymore, and artists can in fact make enough money to live off of. So I’ll just play some guitar, paint a little, and live a long and care free life.

Heathrow is more amazing than anything. So many white walls begging for me to give them a makeover. But I know I can’t, this place is more secure than a Ziploc bag. We stare at the electronic board above our terminal. Waiting to see cancelled, hoping to see on time. I thought I noticed a shadow in the corner but I ignored it, probably just a computer virus. Suddenly, the screen goes blue, an error message pops up. The shadows start to appear everywhere on the screen. They become clearer, like the face on my phone. Gaping eyes, razor sharp teeth, at least seven of them just on our screen. I looked around; every monitor had a face, up to ten on the big screen with all the ads on it. I screamed the faces were coming out of the screen, pixels turning into cells, shadows turning into monsters. More people started screaming. Brick just stood there like a moron. A few of the aliens plopped down onto the floor. They were massive, 6 meters high with tentacles all around. The PA came on “Everyone please remain calm and get to gates C7, H12, D14, or F7. All of these gates will leave in ten minutes to—“It cut out. A single raspy voice came on, English, but not native. It didn’t have an accent; it didn’t have a human voice.
“Get them.” Was all it said. Then you could still hear he woman screaming, a reminder to everybody to get the hell out of here in ten minutes. Luckily we were at gate C4. I grabbed Dad and Brick and pulled them along. We left our bags, we left everything. Brick was being deadweight.
“Come on you moron, we have to get out of here or we’ll all die!” I screamed at him. That brought him out of whatever crazy trance he was in. Lots of people, kids and elderly mostly, were already dead. Some people were fighting the beasts, but they were losing terribly. Brick pulled his arm out of my grip; a handprint shaped bruise was starting to form. We all were running, being trampled by the hordes of people with the same thought, survive. Or, if you’re like me, what the hell is going on here? In any case, we all had the same instinct. Gate C7 is life, get to gate C7, survive, survive, survive. The monsters were everywhere, but I had my eyes on the sign. C7, three more gates, C7, two more gates. I was so busy with that I didn’t notice Brick had tripped. C7, one more gate. I looked back, he was being trampled and kicked, but that wasn’t the worst. Two of the aliens were bee lining towards him. I pushed my way through the crowd, picked up a smooth, cold abandoned brief case and began swinging. Smack, smack, smack. It beat across their giant heads like a tom-tom. But more were coming. I dropped the case and ran. The bitter taste of fear was tainting my mouth. When I was headed to the hall to board the plane, I looked back at my brother. One alien was coming from the behind; it grabbed his head, and brought its mouth to it. I looked away and ran to the plane. My brother was dead, it’s all I could think, my brother is dead.
Brick Fortis

I tripped. Normally it wouldn’t be so bad, but now, I couldn’t get up. Hundreds of feet kicked and pummeled me every time I tried to get up. Then they were coming. Huge skeletons, with tentacles instead of legs. No eyes, just trenches carved into their hideous faces. I was hurt, and I couldn’t fight. Smack, smack, smack. Elisa’s converse were in front of my bruised face. She had a brief case and was swinging it like mad, but it hardly had any effect. “Lise...” I tried to say, my voice hardly more than the buzz of a fly. She didn’t hear. Elisa dropped the case and ran. My sister left me here to die. Not that she had much of a choice, my ankle was twisted completely around, but I was too broken to feel any specific pain. One of the aliens scooped me up. “Elisa, I love you.” I breathed. My ribs were broken too. “I’m sorry.” I figured as long as I could talk I’d be okay. The worst pain came next, it was like someone took a cookie cutter, and jammed it into the back of my head. I could hear the slight crunch of my skull, the squish as it went into my brain. I tried to fight, but it was no use, the gates were closed, I was bleeding a lot, I would die anyway. I gave in, I turned limp, and everything went dark.
Zēns Guerrero
A new shipment of people arrived today. Lots of them, and some didn’t seem like the type who could afford this. Most were badly shaken, bruised, bleeding. A guard would escort them to the first aid tent. “Attention,” the speakers blared. “Attention, those who have just arrived have seen and experienced things beyond reason. Do not ask them questions, they cannot tell you the answers. Thank you.” It clicked off. Everyone had blue nametags on, I guess they got separated from loved ones. I couldn’t help but wonder what happened.

One girl really stood out. She’s prettier than the rest of the crowd, in a rugged “life sucks” kind of way. She looks like she’d rather be anywhere else. Her stance is hardened, like she owns the place. With dyed hair, one half red the other black, a silver nose ring glinting in the afternoon sun, and midnight blue eyes outlined by thick black eyeliner, she looks like a street ripened punk. She’s wearing black skinny jeans with a dark gray rose pattern on them, and a yellow shirt that reads “look alive sunshine”. She has converse that have definitely seen better days. Bleached in some spots, dyed in others, I can tell she’s the artsy type. Spray paint cans are poking out of her army green messenger bag that’s sitting on the ground. Her tangerine gum pops loudly between her cherry lips. I can see the bright blue nametag on her shirt, Elisa A. Our eyes meet, and if only for an instant, I saw a glimmer of a smile. But then it was gone, and she looked away. I broke my number one rule, and walked towards her.

Elisa Amor

For the first time in my life, I’m at a loss for words. No witty remarks, no insults to show my love, because now I have nobody to tell them to. I don’t bother looking for dad here, when we got off of the bus, he and Belinda walked in the opposite direction. I’m utterly and completely alone. I notice some guy staring at me. He has bleach blonde hair, so bright in this sun I look away. I’ll never forget those eyes as long as I live, violet. Like amethyst, or a field of flowers. Like the windows Brick used to have, except these windows have the curtains drawn. He’s tall and lean, but has more muscle than Brick. He has on a green shirt and khaki shorts, it looks good on him. I look at him some more, he reminds me so much of Brick I almost smile, but then I remember he’s dead, and I almost start to cry. He walks towards me so I get control of myself. But the kid with the golden eyes, who I loved so much, still lingers in my heart, how poetic.
“Hi,” he says, running his hand through his hair, “I’m Zēns.”
“Elisa, but you probably already knew that,” I replied glancing down at my nametag.
“Uh, yeah. Do you need help getting around? Where’s your family?” He asked glancing for anyone with the same characteristics as me.
“Don’t bother; they got herded the other way when we got off the bus. Good riddance.” I huffed, hot, tired, and just kind of bored with this conversation.
“Well, uh, do you want to come to my place? You look hungry,” He said, looking at the dust on his Nike’s.
“Um, sure, I guess, that’d be great.” I replied, following him around the village. He gave me the grand tour
“That’s the first aid place, there’s the one restaurant, that’s a church, and that’s a school, but it only goes up to eighth grade,” he looked a bit disappointed.
“I left school at fourteen anyways, never really got the point. We’re all going to die someday so I have to enjoy my life, not waste it in a prison disguised as school.” I thought of Brick, he always took his education so seriously. He wanted to graduate Harvard med school.
“Oh, well, I always thought that with education I could accomplish things I’ve always dreamed of. I want to be the first person on Mars.”
“Well if you ask me Mars is just a bunch of red dust, which we have plenty of here,” I kicked the ground, sending up a plume, “but hey, to each his own.” I shrugged. We didn’t talk for a while and I liked that. There was something about this kid, something in the way those violet eyes sparkled talking about astronomy and stuff. I guess in that way he’s kind of like me when I talk about graffiti. We walked side by side in silence. Soon, we were at his place. A small two room hut on the outskirts of the village. We walked in.
“Mother, Father!” he yelled. Just the words made me cringe with the memories. “We have a guest!” His mother came running in from what I assumed was the kitchen. She had on an apron and sweat was trickling down her neck from the heat.
“Oh, hola! Please, come in, get out of the heat. Would you like some water?” She asked. I didn’t want to be rude, and she was already pouring a glass.
“Uh, sure, thank you.” I took a big sip of water. It wasn’t cold, but it still tasted good. I tried not to chug it all down, I was thirstier than I thought.
“Where are you from,” she paused, looking at my nametag, “Elisa?”
“London, England.” I replied, still sipping the water, trying to make it last.
“Oh that’s not too far,” She continued. She talked about her home, why they came, what it’s like here, she also talked about her “Darling little Zēns” at which point he turned bright red. I liked that, it showed his modesty, a trait I don’t have. I liked this Zēns character, not a romantic way, but in a friend way. He got on my nerves a bit by being so goody-goody and honest. But you had to admire that there was at least some good left in the desolate hell that is now my life.
Father


I watched from the corner as my wife and son interacted with this filthy stranger. Welcoming her into our home and giving her our precious resources. She doesn’t look like a good kid either, not good enough for my son anyways. Her stance, her hair, her clothes, I don’t like it. I don’t approve of her relationship with Zēns either.
Zēns Guerrero

I dropped Elisa off at the guard shack; it’s their duty to assign houses, not mine. But I have a feeling that we’ll end up together because it’s four to a hut and life just works that way. I felt a pang in my chest as she smiled and waved goodbye. She has pearly white teeth that brighten the night. No, I couldn’t, I mean, I wouldn’t be crushing on her. I hardly know her. Father will disapprove I just know it. But still, I’ve had my 17th birthday, I’m practically an adult now, shouldn’t I be able to make my own decisions? Not saying that I DO like her, but if I did, shouldn’t that be okay? Maybe I do like her, but the thought is useless if she doesn’t like me.
Untalicaz

We attacked an airport a few days ago. Two of us got badly injured by a crazed lunatic swinging a bag, but we still got the victim we desired. We wished we could’ve gotten the whole airport, as many people escaped, but we got at least a third of them, we don’t go through and count the dead. The desire for more information is just too strong.
Belinda Fortis-Amor

I hope Elisa’s okay, and Brick too. They got separated from us at the airport, and we didn’t go to the same village. Life here is really hard; Dan works all day farming, plowing crunchy dry rock. Nothing ever grows anyways, nothing substantial at least. I got a job working in the medical tents; at least it’s in the shade. The main things we see here are splinters, asthma attacks, and heat exhaustion. Which is to be suspected, I mean, none of the wood is good quality, the dust is constantly encasing the village like a dense fog bank, and it’s just bloody hot out. Dan comes home from work each day with a small bag of rice and beans, sometimes a squash or a tomato, but rarely. He has huge blisters on his palms, and all the skin on his fingers has been rubbed raw. I usually bandage him up, feed him dinner, and then eat myself. Since we are a couple, they let us have our own hut. It’s smaller than the rest, but I like that it’s just the two of us. It lets me forget about the heat, illness, pain, and exhaustion of everything. It lets me be like an ignorant little kid again.
Elisa Amor

I’ve gotten used to life here. Of course, because life just works out in the most amusing ways, I live with Zēns now. It’s weird, living with a friend. It’s weirder being around their parents who you know disapprove. Well, that is to say, his father disapproves, his mother seems to like me okay, or at least she gives me a chance. I talk to Zēns a lot; he’s super funny and sweet. I haven’t really seen anyone else talk to him though. He’s a loner, just like me. To be truthful, if Brick hadn’t have died, I wouldn’t know Zēns. It’s like fate or something, I believe in all that stuff, fate and whatnot. How else would you explain us ending up in the same hut? I’m really liking this kid, maybe, just maybe, more than friends. That’s right, best friends.
Zēns Guerrero

I’ve accepted the fact that I love Elisa. I accepted it yesterday; when I was lying in bed, listening to her breathe. We share a room, and her breath was the only noise besides the groaning of the hut as the wood expanded with the chill of the night. It was like I could feel her life, her vulnerability, through her hard outer shell. I still don’t know much of her past, other than the fact she has had some trouble with the law, but I still felt like she was a good person. And while I listened, lying awake in our room, I realized, I’d be asleep if I didn’t care. I’d be asleep if I wasn’t paying close attention to every inhale and every exhale she made. I’d be asleep if I didn’t love her. I’ve tried to hide it, but I don’t think I’m doing that so well. She doesn’t seem to care though, so that either means she likes me too or I am actually hiding it. We talk about a lot of things, politics, family, hobbies, but when it somehow drifts to the topic of romance, we both blush and switch it to something else. I think she likes me or at least she’s starting to. She always blushes just a little bit when I run my hand through my hair, which has gotten increasingly redder since I came here. I do it often, because it’s so cute when she turns pink like that. We walk together closely and always go everywhere together, except for obvious things like bathrooms and showers. Speaking of showers, they are terrible. The water is always just lukewarm, and it’s red from the dirt, and there are sometimes even dead bugs in it. Anyways, back to Elisa and me. I really think we have a connection. I want to ask her what happened that made her come here, but I can’t. Her face won’t leave my mind, I think about her all the time. Both are some of the reasons I love her.
Elisa Amor
“I know you want to know,” I say to Zēns while sitting in our room playing a card game one night. Texas Hold ‘em is really only fun when you have more than two people.
“Want to know what?” He asked looking up. Face cards, he had face cards. I had learned to read his face so well, I could tell you almost anything about him. Anything except for the secrets he kept locked away in a chest behind those violet eyes.
“You know,” I drop my voice to a whisper “why I’m here.”
“We’re not supposed to talk about it,” He said, looking over at the door.
“Ya well I’m not supposed to have spray paint, I’m not supposed to wear my nose ring, and I’m not supposed to be loud in the cafeteria. But I do it anyways, do you want to know or not?” He thinks my offer over, chewing each answer thoroughly before spitting each one out. I knew, that on one hand, he always obeyed the rules, but on the other, he so desperately wanted to know me more. I looked at him, he looked at me. A that moment, when our eyes met, I loved him. Despite the fact that he reminded me so much of Brick, I loved him. Despite the fact that I was forced upon him like hammer on nail, I loved him. Despite all the problems and technicalities, I loved him. It was at that moment, that my heart skipped a beat.
“Know.” He finally said, after my realization.
“Okay, but you have to promise never to ever tell anyone for as long as we both shall live,” It was childish, but I knew what I had to do. I stuck out my hand. Nobody with a sane mind breaks a sacred handshake. And I knew that he liked me, so the opportunity to have his skin against mine would probably be unbearable to him. It was a bit unbearable for me too. His warm, rough skin clasped mine, and I didn’t let go. We held hands.
Zēns Guerrero
I was right, she does like me. We held hands tonight as she told me her story.
Elisa Amor
We didn’t let go. His calloused thumb stroked the back of my hand so gently. He took great care with every twitch and squeeze, like he was worried I’d break. Yeah right. I started my tale, and by the end, two and a half hours later, our hands were still together. Now I’m not one for romance and all that mushy crap, but then again I had never felt this way about anybody before. I was exhausted from talking so much. He was propped up against his bed and I scooted next to him. I gently laid my head down on his shoulder. It was toned and firm, but relaxed and comfortable. The next thing I knew, his arm was around my shoulders, the tip of his middle finger drawing circles on the back of my hand. His other hand still held mine. I guess we fell asleep like that, because we woke up on the floor, still dressed. His body was warm; his heartbeat was rhythmic and strong. I placed my ear against it and listened. Thump. Thump. Thump. It was calming and I almost fell asleep again. He stirred, not a lot, hardly at all actually. But enough to make me look up. His eyes were tired, like he had been up late, but he smiled that smile, and I had to grin back. I tried to stand up but he pulled me back down. We just laid there for a while before I asked him “How long were you up last night?”
“Too long.” He replied. I guess I should’ve seen that coming, there was no clock in our room. “You fell asleep pretty fast, but I couldn’t. Every time your head drooped forward, I pushed it up. I ended up lying you down, and placing myself next to you. You rolled into me sharing my heat. It was nice.”
“I’m sorry,” was all I could make out. That was pretty deep.
“For what?” he chuckled, looking down into my flaming red and ebony black hair.
“Keeping you up last night,”
“It was my pleasure.” He got up then, grabbing my hand and helping me up too. Normally I wouldn’t be so soft, but I had let my heart grow cold and Zēns was thawing it out. Right now it was at that stage where it’s mostly all mushy and gross, but if you stuck your finger in it there would be chunks of ice left.

Zēns Guerrero

Well, at least now I know I’m not stuck in the friend zone forever. But now I don’t know how to act around her knowing she likes me back. I guess I should just be myself; it looks like that’s what she’s doing. But still, everything is so much more awkward now.
“How did you sleep last night?” Mother asked at breakfast today. The meal consisted of corn tortillas with rice and beans. It was what we had every morning.
“Good,” I said looking at Elisa.
“Very well, thank you,” she said, smiling at me. I guess I blushed because she started laughing. But Father’s glare shut her up. I know he disapproves, but I should be able to make my own choices by now. We eat in silence for the rest of the morning, and then we hear a knock on our doors. I answer it, it’s a guard.
“Good morning, I’m looking for a Guerrero, Zēns and an Amor, Elisa? I was told they are both here.” He said looking at me.
“Elisa!” I yelled “Come here!”
“What?” She asked, not seeing the guard at the door.
“Are you Elisa Amor?” The guard questioned, looking down at his clipboard.
“Who wants to know?” She asked. She obviously has issues with adult authorities.
“The head council of the camp. You’re both 17 and you need to start working. We need to train you to see what your strengths are. Then you’ll be apprenticed to whatever your biggest strengths are. Come with me, both of you.” He turned to walk away without looking to see if we followed. We walked out, and after we couldn’t see the hut anymore, we held hands again. “Zēns, you’ll go to the left, Elisa to the right.” He said pointing to two lines of kids, one boys the other girls. I said bye and our hands slid apart.

It was extremely hot waiting in the line. It seemed to be moving so slowly. “What’s your skill?” the kid standing in front of me asked. He was short and fat. His dark hair was glistening with sweat and he was chewing on some sort of sugary candy. When he spoke some spit flew onto my shirt.
“mi submarino está lleno de anguilas radiactivos” I replied. It was utter nonsense, but the kid in front of me just turned back around and whispered ‘freak’ to the kid in front of him, who nodded. I chuckled to myself, even though I had broken rule number one with Elisa, I was determined to redeem myself. It was about noon then. The sun began to set and I was finally called up before the Table. The Table consisted of five men; each of them was a master of a certain skill here in the camp. Isaiah was a carpenter, Luke was a doctor, Aaron was a teacher, and Youzi was a chef. I stood in the middle of a big beige room; it was only me and them.
“Name?” Isaiah asked, not looking up from the clipboard.
“Zēns Guerrero,” I replied, shifting my weight around. It was uncomfortably cold in the room, compared to the heat outside. It was more just slightly chilly, not full on cold, or full on warm.
“Skills?” He asked again in that same, monochromatic voice. He still didn’t look up.
“I play steel drums, I get relatively good grades,” I said. I had never tried cooking or carpentry.
“How good?” Aaron asked, looking me over.
“B+’s and A’s,” I said. I was proud of my grades, but I always thought that even the A’s could be better, like Father would only be satisfied with an A+. Aaron and Isaiah spoke in hushed voices for a while. I just stood there awkwardly, waiting for the verdict like a murderer in a courthouse. I knew what was coming, obviously I’d be Aaron’s apprentice, but the words still scared me when they came. They were so definite, so final.
“Teacher’s assistant. You start first thing tomorrow morning at 5:30 am. You will teach 5th grade with Kiki Reynolds. You may exit,” Isaiah said, finally looking up from his clipboard. His eyes met mine, and I think he was about to say something else, but he just looked back down again. His eyes were violet, just like mine.
Elisa Amor

The line was hot and people kept on trying to talk to me.
“I love your hair!”
“Aren’t you hot in those jeans?”
“Cool nose ring!”
“Who was that hot guy you were with? I couldn’t get him to say two words to me!” And so on and so forth. I ignored them, their pep in this heat made it even more unbearable. The sweet sugar of their juicy fruit tainted the air with every pop. I got inside and five girls were seated at a table. There was a chair in front of them, I sat down. The room was small and cheaply decorated with peeling floral wallpaper. I wondered what Zēns was doing.
“Hi sweetie! I’m Delaynie,” The girl in the middle chirped, she motioned to the other girls in turn “That’s Lauren, she’s in charge of sanitation, that’s Bertha, she’s in charge of farming, Veronica runs the restaurant, Fredricka helps out at the school, and I help out at the first aid tent.” Lauren was Hispanic, of course, how stereotypical, but she had shiny brown hair and small eyes. Bertha intimidated me, she was cut and big, I hope I didn’t get paired up with her. Veronica was the tallest and skinniest, she wore square glasses and her eyes were always looking around. Fredricka was short and plump, with blonde hair in a tight bun, and badly sunburnt skin. Delaynie was obviously the oldest, her curly graying hair was sticking up like wires, her green eyes looked like they were greying too, and the wrinkles on her face were canyons. It annoyed me how peppy she was, like those girls in line. “What’s your name?” She asked even though I could see my name typed up on the manuscript in front of her.
“Elisa.” I said in my most boring voice as possible to try and get a message through to her. It didn’t work.
“Great! Great! That’s such a pretty name! Now, what are your strengths?”
“I can argue with people,” I suggested
“Okay, not quite what I was looking for but, anything else?”
“I can fight decently,” I added. I could see her smile starting to fade.
“Alright, anything else that doesn’t relate to rebellion?”
“I’m a self-proclaimed artist,” I said, shrugging. It was the only skill I classified as true talent. The table of girls whispered to themselves for a moment. I felt like I was in the electric chair, and they were deciding whether or not to plug it in. I had no idea what job I was going to be put into. The verdict made my heart plummet.
“Elisa Amor, farming crew with Bertha. You will begin at 6 am tomorrow morning out in field C. don’t be late and wear clothes you don’t mind getting dirty in.” Delaynie smiled. Bertha looked at me with her watery blue eyes. Such a delicate color for such a big woman. I went to leave, but Delaynie stopped me. “We live in a peaceful community here Elisa, don’t mess it up.” It was such a dramatic personality change, my jaw dropped. “Have fun!” she chimed, waving me out, back to her old perky self. I didn’t like Delaynie, but then again, I didn’t like anybody except Zēns.
Bertha, head farmer for camp C-14
I chose Elisa for my team because she’s a fighter. I could see it in her eyes. Not just a physical fighter, but she would stand up for what she believed in. She could start a revolution here; she could set us all free.

Zēns Guerrero
I waited outside of the girls’ judgment hall, that’s what they’re called, judgment halls, until Elisa came out. It seemed about 20 minutes after I emerged from the house. We held hands all the way back to where the sanitation house was, it was still two blocks away from our hut, but that was all residential, we were still in the town now.
“My job starts at 5:30 am, what about you?” I asked, we were sitting down on two buckets my hand was on her thigh, her hand was on top of mine.
“6 am, farm crew with Bertha. What’d you get stuck with?”
“Teachers assistant with Aaron. Bertha? That sounds terrible.”
“Hah, I bet it is. She’s huge man. Cut like a professional wrestler.”
“By the sounds of it I bet she was one once.” We laughed at that. Her laugh is beautiful, indescribable. Like, like, bells tinkling in the wind? No, I can’t explain what her laugh sounds like, but it was a good laugh. We looked at each other and for moment, everything was okay. Under normal circumstances, I would’ve had flowers or something. Something to make it more romantic. But these were not normal circumstances.
“I, I really like you Zēns.” She said, turning that adorable shade of pink. I ran my hand through my hair and the pink became red.
“I really like you too.” I said, taking both her hands in mine. It was weird, I doubt she had ever had a boyfriend before, and I never had a girlfriend, we were acting like children. Yet everything seemed to have a natural flow to it. A breeze came and ruffled her hair; she looked up and met my gaze. Her eyes bluer than any ocean or sky could ever dream of being. We let our instincts take over, pushed our nervousness out of the way, and something incredible happened. We kissed.
Elisa Amor
We kissed. His lips were dry and warm, but I had a feeling mine were too. It was wonderful. The only other guy I’d kissed before was Wesley in the 6th grade when playing truth or dare, so it doesn’t count; it was only on the cheek anyway. The feeling of euphoria shot through my veins as a tidal wave of bliss washed over my skin. One of his hands moved up to caress my check, the other was around my waist. My hands were on his neck and shoulders, carelessly placed compared to his. It was the most romantic gesture anybody had ever done before, but it was short lived. Zēns father, out on his evening run, rounded the corner. He saw our faces together, eyes closed, lips pressed against each other. He saw Zēns hands, so gently rubbing my cheek. “ZĒNS GUERRERO!” He bellowed, full of rage. I knew he wasn’t too fond of me, and this had drastically crossed the line. “WHY AM I FINDING YOU OUT HERE, KISSING THIS, THIS IMMATURE GIRL, WHEN YOU SHOULD BE AT HOME HELPING YOUR MOTHER?!” Zēns lips slowly pulled away from mine, but his one hand stayed on my waist, the other grasped mine.
“Father, please, I’m not a child anymore. I think I can decide who I want to be in love with and who I don’t.” He said it so calmly, like he had been preparing it for weeks. I had only been here a week and a half after all.”
“I don’t care, you are MY son, and as long as that remains a fact you will live by MY standards and MY rules!” His father yelled back. Zēns started flushing; I had never seen him angry before, I didn’t know if he even had that emotion. He stood up, his hand releasing its loving grip and clenching into a fist. He hadn’t planned for this, that fact was clear. But I had no idea what he was going to do next.
“Then I’m not your son.” He said quietly to himself.
“What?” His father asked, turning one shade less red.
“Do I need to spell it out for you? If your rules and regulations won’t allow me to be happy by being in love with Elisa, I’m. Not. Your. Son.” He yelled, his voice escalating with each word. I didn’t like where this was going. His hands were clenching and unclenching, but he had never fought a battle in his life. His father on the other hand, was just too big. He could crush us both just because of the size advantage. I stood up and grabbed Zēns shoulders, turning him towards me.
“You don’t have to do this. You shouldn’t fight this fight, you won’t win Zēns. I don’t want to see you get hurt just because of me.”
“Yes I do. Otherwise I’ll get treated like a child for my whole life. I know I’ll get hurt, I know I won’t win, but I have to let him know that I’m willing to try. Let me do this, please,” He grabbed my hands off of his shoulders and placed them at my side. “I love you Elisa, I want to be able to love you.” His violet eyes were tearing up, he knew what was coming. He turned back towards his father and walked three steps towards him. Words flew before punches, tainting the air with their harshness. A crowd began to gather, and the wind picked up. Everyone except for the main attraction was coughing. The dust made it hard to see exactly who threw the first punch, but the red dirt soon cleared as fists were thrown one after another. Pitching endless bruises and bumps. Breaking noses and knocking the breath out of each other. Blood stained the already red dirt. There was a slight pause in the fighting and I used the opportunity to grab Zēns and pull him out of the fight. His nose was bleeding a lot and his lip was split.
“Please stop Zēns, please. I can’t stand this,” I begged. I took out a Kleenex and dabbed the blood from his face. He tried to pull away but I hung on to his arm. I got dragged into the fight. “STOP!” I screamed, but nobody could hear me. Zēns dad sucker punched my jaw and I fell to the ground. Stars danced and twirled in front of my eyes. Zēns was by my side, he gently lifted my head up, the stars spun around faster, and my vision almost went dark.
“I’m so sorry Elisa; I should’ve stopped when you told me to.” He scooped me up in his arms and carried me to the first aid tent, leaving his father standing in the dust, leaving the crowd wanting more, letting me have the change to pass out comfortably.
Zēns Guerrero

Why didn’t I stop when she told me to? Why did I have to fight? Now I’m hurt badly, but more importantly, Elisa is hurt, and it’s my fault. I got all the way to the first aid tent and asked an aging woman by the name of Delaynie for help. “Well goodness what do we have here? Is that Elisa? Did she start a fight? Oh just lay her here sweetie and you can take that cot.” She motioned to two beds while filling a pouch with ice and grabbing some tissue. “Alright, so what happened?” she asked, placing the ice on Elisa’s jaw.
“I was fighting with Father. I lo-“I paused; I don’t think this woman particularly liked Elisa at this point, I didn’t want her to think low of me. “I want Elisa to be able to continue living with us, but Father thinks she’s a nuisance,” I said. I just now noticed the excruciating pain in my nose, the fact that I couldn’t see out of my left eye and the metallic, warm taste of blood in my mouth.
“Well then, it wasn’t Elisa. Hm, let me take a quick look oat you darling. Well your nose isn’t broken, you lip will need some stitches, and your eye some ice. But the stitches will be the worst of it,” She said, turning my head to either side with her thumb on my chin. Her green eyes assessed my wounds. She got some ice for my eye and nose, she also stopped the bleeding my tilting my head back and pinching. She cleaned up my lip, but it still bled, a lot. She called another nurse, this one was named Nora. She brought out all the tools she’d need to sew me up. The antiseptic was very mild, and I could feel the stiches sliding through my flesh. It was the most painful thing I’ve ever experienced. It was over in about 30 minutes. My lip stung, and Elisa still wasn’t up. She was stirring, and Delaynie said she was lucky her jaw wasn’t broken. I felt bad then, knowing that I could’ve caused that much pain for her, it was worse than the stitches.
Elisa Amor

When I started to wake up, the first thing I noticed was the icepack on my chin. The second was Delaynie’s eyes staring down at me, her breath made my face sticky and warm. “Oh darling, thank goodness you’re awake. Your friend here says you took quite a punch! You’re lucky he could carry you here, otherwise god only knows what could’ve happened.” She squealed, jerking her head away from my face. The floral scent of her cheap perfume wafted in my direction. I coughed and tried to turn towards Zēns, but my head pounded with the slightest movement. “Oh don’t move sweetie!” Delaynie yelled, hearing the squish of my icepack as it slid to the floor. My jaw hurt, but I could deal. She gingerly placed it back on my jaw. “Here, I have to go now. But I’ll check up on you in a few hours. Okay?” she asked. We didn’t have time to answer, she was gone by the end of her sentence.
“I’m tho glad you woke up. I wath worried.” Zēns said. I could barely understand him, he didn’t talk right.
“What’s up with your voice?” I asked, holding the icepack on my jaw. Water ran down my neck, it was so cold, it felt good.
“Thitcheth.” He said. I’m guessing that meant stitches. He must’ve gotten stitches in his lip where it was torn. “Delaynie ith teawable too.” He added.
“Don’t talk.” I scolded, “It’ll only make your lip hurt worse. Or the stitches could tear.”
“I’m thowee for dwagging you into the fight. I didn’t mean for you to get hurth.” He said, disobeying me.
“If you keep talking I’m not going to respond.” I sighed. He didn’t say a word. “Good. Now I was in fact conscious when you were talking with Delaynie. Why’d you lie to her? Why didn’t you tell her we were in love?” I asked. I know it was hypocritical of me to tell him to shut up then barrage him with questions, but I was bursting at the seams, I just had to know.
“I’m not thappothed to talk,” he reminded me. I could hear his grin in his words. Smirking, like he was so funny. I laughed too.
“Whatever, I give you permission.”
“I didn’t want her to think low of me. I didn’t want to get a bad rep with people.”
“So that’s it? You just cared about what everyone else thought of you?” I was getting angry, I knew Zēns was not a selfish dude, but that was selfish of him. Putting other people’s opinions in the way of our love. I couldn’t believe it.
Zēns Guerrero
“I can’t believe how selfish that is.” Elisa snarled. Her words stung more than a thousand wasps. She thought I was selfish, just because I don’t want the authorities to think I’m a bad guy.
“Me selfith?” I asked. Wow did my voice sound weird. “I can’t beweeve you don’t wethpect my valuthe and opinionth!” I shouted back. We fought for a while, and her words hurt more that when Father, oops, sorry, I’m not his son anymore. Then when Liels punched me in the nose. In the end we sat in silence for a while.
“I’m sorry. I over reacted. You have every right to care what the authorities think of you. Just because I don’t doesn’t mean you have to too.”
“I accthept your apologwee. I’m thowee too.”
“I can’t get over how weird your voice sounds,” she laughed. It was then I knew things between us were good again.

American News Reporter
It has been confirmed that the aliens were connected to the Untalicaz.aip virus. The aliens are made of electromagnetic waves and some are binary. They can get into anything you can plug in. And the more you use is, the stronger they get. Mass attacks have been happening in cities everywhere. China, with all their lights and electronics, has been left for dead. A more recent attack on Heathrow airport left hundreds dead. Recent studies show that the aliens kill by sucking the information out of your head, hence the circular bite marks leading into the brain. This is 167.8 and we are hiding out in an underground bunker in Oklahoma. Luckily we haven’t, oh god. OH GOD! NO! NO! “Surrender now and a quick, peaceful death will fall on you. Fight and the pain will be unbearable. Either way you die, so have your pick.” I’ll surrender, I’ll surrender, just, leave! NO! NOOO!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! “Let this be a warning, we are getting stronger. We have claimed London, Brazil, China, 48 states and many other small countries. We will win. You all have the same options.” Help…me…AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
Bertha, head farmer for camp C-14

Elisa, after getting back on her feet from that fight, is an excellent worker. You wouldn’t think it but she is. Always on time and working hard every day. I was right in choosing her.
Elisa Amor

Weeks have passed, I’ve been working, Zēns has been working, and we’re so tired by the end of the day we just eat dinner and go to sleep. We have Sundays off though, and we are inseparable then. We’ve been kicked out of the hut and live “on the streets”. Bertha gives me some food from the farm almost every day if we go above quota. So I make sure to work as hard as I can so we make it that far. We’ve both gotten thinner, but not skeletal. It’s honestly not that hard living outside here. Sure we don’t have beds but that’s about it. You’d be surprised at how comfy a rock can be when you haven’t had a pillow in 12 days. We camped out by the restaurant last night; sometimes we get scraps, which are more delicious than the carrots, potatoes, and corn I get every day. But there weren’t any leftovers for us today. We got cleaned up, meaning we dusted ourselves off, and headed to work. I said goodbye to Zēns and started the long trek towards the fields. All of a sudden, a siren came on. It sounded like a Screamer. Screamers are this new thing where kids put sensitive detonators by their voice boxes, then go to places and scream. The vibrations cause the detonators to explode, causing a relatively large fireball to engulf the surrounding areas. The trend got started by this article about the last remaining kamikaze on CNN. But that’s neither here nor there because then, the sirens were muffled. I heard a familiar sound, plop, plop, plop, from each of the alarm tower across the camp. Their electronic, I heard on Zēns’s radio that the monsters travel through anything and everything that gets plugged in. How could the camp Mayor be so stupid? I heard more and more sickening plops; I realized that I was standing there like bait. I started to run; I ran towards the middle, swerved between buildings and dodged the aliens that were dropping down like rain. I worried about Zēns and I ran.
Zēns Guerrero
The alarms busted through my eardrums like a battering ram. Shrieking like they were in pain. Huge beasts were plopping down, these were the things Elisa had told me about that night when I learned her story. They were terrifying. My bare feet hurt too bad to run, so I started to battle them one at a time. I could sense things weren’t going well for me, but I wasn’t going down without a fight. I had matured so much since coming here; I wasn’t dying like a child would. I’d fallen in love, had my first kiss, been kicked out of my house, and survived on my own, I wasn’t an infant so why would I die like one? Elisa was gone, or at least I couldn’t see her darling face. I never got to say goodbye, never got to kiss her one more time. But that was not what needed to be on my mind right now. I punched, kicked, bit, slapped, whatever I could, but I was surrounded in an instant. The wounds in their skin filled in with grey binary, patched up in a matter of seconds. They couldn’t die like I could. That shock stalled me enough for them to swoop in, like a hawk on a mouse. One clasped my forehead and throat. I knew this wasn’t good. I continued to fight; maybe if someone saw me and lived, I’d go down in history. But I had my doubts. Sharp pain filled my head, something like a cookie cutter shot into my skull, and then further into my brain. I screamed at the pain, all of a sudden, I couldn’t stand. My muscles seemed to collapse and I lost all sense of balance. My cerebellum, I thought. They attacked my cerebellum. I flung my arms wildly, not caring where they went. Then I couldn’t see. There goes my optical lobe. I was still here though. I could think, speak, hear, smell, and feel. Then, slowly, the rest of my senses began to leave. First touch, which was the weirdest. Feeling completely numb, but knowing you were in excruciating pain just two seconds ago is very strange. Then smell, which didn’t really make a difference. Then went taste, I knew because I used to have that taste you get when you just wake up. That and the taste of fear, both of which were gone, like my taste buds just decided to hop off my tongue. I wanted to know what Elisa was doing, but then, in an instant, I didn’t care for her. My love was gone. Pituitary gland, I thought. It was all I could do at that point, think. Then all of my memories zoomed by, like a movie being rewound at supersonic speed. It dwelled on things such as mathematics, and information type stuff. But everything else was a blur of color, until I had no memory left. My hearing went too, which was good, I was tired of hearing the shrieks of dying people. I didn’t know what it was like to feel, whatever feeling was. I was still flinging my arms around. But then, all my reasoning went. I wasn’t angry at whatever was going on, even though I couldn’t see or feel. I had no emotion, no judgment. Then my heart stopped and I couldn’t breathe. I tried to scream but couldn’t. Then I just stopped being, living, existing altogether.
Elisa Amor

I was running like I had never run before. Jumping over dead people, leaping over crates and boxes, twisting my way through the apocalyptic camp I used to call home. One alien tried to snatch me but I dodged it. Another bit me, but I kept running. I got to a clearing in the madness and saw a lump, in a white shirt and jeans on the ground. It was Zēns. His violet eyes going black, empty of emotion and thought. I cried then, sobs barreling out of my chest like a tsunami. I didn’t try to stop them. I kissed him one last time, his lips were cold. Not warm, like the first time we kissed. I held him to my chest and cried. Then I felt myself being seized by one of the monsters. I still cried and held on to Zēns. Brick was gone. My dad was gone a while ago. And now Zēns was gone. I dropped his lifeless body to the ground, shaken and weak from all the tears. I submitted to their needs. I invited them into my brain, told them to take what they wanted, but make it quick. I had nothing to live for now anyways. I went limp, and even in the heat I shivered. I never wanted to die this way, but I was too far in the process now to turn back. I always thought I’d live to be old, and accept death like an old friend. But that was never going to happen now. I welcomed death anyways, begging him to put me with Zēns, whether that is heaven or hell. I didn’t struggle, I had struggled from day one and I was done with it. I gave in but didn’t give up. I just accepted the facts. Then everything went dark, and I was no more.

Everybody dies. A small and inevitable fact that is often accepted in grisly, painful ways when it is far too late to do anything about it. As you probably guessed everybody in the world is dead now, and the Untalicaz, a variation of the Arabic word for zap, moved on to some other helpless planet in the universe. Unknowing of how they were going to die and unknowing that death was coming so soon. The Untalicaz’s only wish was knowledge, but it became an obsession that went way out of hand. Remember the aforementioned fact, and live your life as if your brain could be sucked out by an alien at any mo-
We have won, and we are coming for you next. Heed this warning, and live your life now because we are on our way.
-ment…