M
When Martian hordes invaded, we fled to the forest.
“What will we do?” sobbed my wife, Lisa.
“I don’t know. Did you grab any food before we left?”
“Just this,” she said, extending three cellophane-wrapped crackers.
“You eat them,” I said.
“No, we’ll share like we always have. Do you want your cracker-and-a half now?”
I declined. I’d save them for tomorrow. Dammit. How the hell am I gonna make it tomorrow on one-and-a-half crackers?
“I wish it was safe enough to make a fire,” Lisa said.
“But it ain’t. Those Martian bastards would be on us in a minute. Did you see all that green muck running from their mouths? Can you imagine what it’s like to be covered with that slime before they eat you?”
“Don’t remind me. It’s bad enough I saw those monsters eating our neighbor’s kids. I’ll never forget it.”
Then out of nowhere, she started to scream.
I had to punch her. She didn’t come to for several minutes. I musta hit her pretty hard. Can’t let myself feel guilty for hitting her. If we’re gonna survive, I gotta have a clear mind. I’m so exhausted after running for miles. I don’t know how long we can last without food and water. Don’t know where we can get any. Ain’t even sure where we are.
“What happened?” she asked, rubbing her jaw.
“You got dizzy and fainted. Your face hit that boulder.”
“My jaw hurts bad. Wish I had some water to take aspirins. Oh, Frank, what are we gonna do?”
“Let’s see if we can find some Morganites.”
“Who’re they?”
“A religious sect. I hear they store lotsa provisions for emergencies. They’re supposed to have lotsa guns, too. Maybe I can get one from them and start fighting back.”
“How are we gonna find them?”
“A guy in a bar told me they paint big Ms on their barns. Tomorrow morning, we’ll start looking for them. I’m sure they’ll share their stuff with us.”
We lay on the ground, covered ourselves with leaves, and spoke in hushed voices. Next thing I knew, it was dawn. I ate my crackers, then woke her.
Continuing our trek through the forest, we found a brook. First water we had in two days. Could’ve been contaminated, but we didn’t care. We might not survive long enough for a bad infection to take hold.
When we finally reached the edge of the forest, Lisa said, “Look! I see a barn! It has a big M painted on the roof!”
“You sure? I can’t see that far without my glasses.”
“I’m positive. Oh, how wonderful!” She started to run toward the barn.
“Wait,” I hollered. “My knee hurts. I can’t keep up.”
“I’ll run ahead and see if anybody’s home,” she yelled.
Though I called out a few times asking her to stop, she didn’t listen. She disappeared in a cornfield.
When I reached the cornfield, I saw the barn roof with the big M. Lisa was right. Good thing her eyesight was better than mine.
I felt hopeful for the first time in two days. Rushing through the cornstalks, I wondered if the Morganites had apple pie. I was dying for something sweet.
Approaching the end of the cornfield, I heard a blood-curdling scream. Peering through the stalks, I saw two Martians pulling Lisa apart and jamming her into their filthy, green dripping mouths.
Horrified, I fled back to the woods.
I didn’t know which was worse: the hunger, depression, or terrible guilt I felt over Lisa’s death. She never would have run to that barn if I hadn’t told her how Morganites marked their buildings.
I had no idea Martians did the same thing.