shubes but with three u's

Me: I'm actually pretty good at this writing thing

*Reads my own writing*

The uncertainty was the worst. Not knowing where the next alien ship would come crashing down was bad enough - my neighbor Clyde's house was completely crushed by one of their hulls - but there being no sense of normalcy in the world hit me at a deeper level, shook me to my bones.

For months, I had somewhat known what to expect. Zombies were nothing new to us. I'd watched plenty of depictions of brainless husks in movies and TV shows growing up. They would stumble around, moaning incoherently as they tried to latch on and eat the brains of the closest person they could find. It was a surprise to find that, when zombies finally did emerge from the ground, they weren't all that different from us. Sure, they couldn't sustain themselves with burgers or sushi, but that was a minor speed bump to cooperative living. Once they realised that we humans need our brains to live, they almost seemed…apologetic. A few quick advances in lab-grown brain tissue later, and we found coexistence possible. An occasional rogue Z-man (their preferred nomenclature) might try and take a bite out of a living human, but all in all, their crime rate was quite a bit lower than ours.

And then the aliens came.

We were never really sure exactly where they came from; their speech wasn't tuned to our ears, and I don't think they had anything resembling ears at all. They didn't seem to hate us, but man-oh-man did they not like the Z-men. We tried to explain that they were peaceful, but our words fell on deaf - well, somethings.

The violence was swift. I don't know if the aliens thought they were protecting us, but all I can say is that they were brutally effective. Many human tears were shed in those days as all we could do is watch, helplessly, as our new Z-friends were vaporised in front of us.

And then the asteroids came.

The aliens had been occupying our air-space with their ships while they carried out their atrocities on the surface. Within hours of the asteroids falling, nearly all of these ships were destroyed. A spare few may have buggered off to another star system to cut their losses, but for the most part, they were gone.

But the asteroids didn't stop there. They indiscriminately bombarded the planet, killing human, Z-person, and alien alike.

I don't know if I should feel lucky to have woken up the next day alive. I was surrounded by death, destruction, a cloud of misery. There were food stores and, remarkably, some potable water, so I could survive.

But as I sit here now on the rotted dock, my feet dangling over the pond near the ruins of my home, I feel hopelessly alone. What am I supposed to do now that -

"AAAEEEOGGGHHHHH."

I jump up, startled, whirling behind me to see…

A Z-man.

He looks in terrible shape, even for a Z-man. But despite the eye dangling from a socket and the half-exposed wormy skull, I recognise him. I'd played basketball with him at the rec centre just a month ago. He beat me at the buzzer that day.

"Ronnie…? Is that you?"

"UERRGHH." He nods and stumbles toward me, arms outstretched in a warm greeting. He's limping badly. I rush forward to meet him -

PEW!

A laser blast whiffs past my head and grazes Ronnie's shoulder, sloughing off some skin. I spin back around in time to see the assailant. It's one of them - an alien. They're on hands and knees on the dock, dripping with water and holding a battered blaster in one shaky tentacle. The indicator on the side of the weapon tells me it's charging back up.

I don't hesitate.

I rush forward, tackling the alien just as they fire again. The blast goes wild as the gun is knocked from their grasp. I scramble to my feet and find myself standing over the alien, looking into their eye-sack. I think they're looking back…

…and they tremble. One tentacle reaches up to hide their face, and their body is wracked with…sobs.

We don't speak the same language - or even the same auditory frequency - but some things are universal. I step back and hold out my hand. The alien slowly looks back up at me, and after a moment, their tentacle reaches up to grab my hand.

"EURGH!!!" I can hear Ronnie's protest behind me. I hold my other hand up in an it's alright gesture. The alien wraps their tentacle around my hand, and I help pull it to its feet-like appendages.

I take a step back, putting myself between these two beings. None of us can communicate with words, but we all share the same feelings in this moment.

Apprehension. Fear. Anxiety. Grief.

But there is no hatred. We have all lost everything, and there's no room for animosity any more.

In place of those feelings, there's something else. A tiny bud of an emotion. I can feel it like a dying ember beneath the coals of our destroyed world, a feeling that, with proper care, could be nurtured into something resembling trust between the three of us.

I beckon Ronnie and the alien towards me, forcing a smile in both of their directions. After a moment, they each take a step forward. That simple act fans the tiny flame…

The uncertainty was the worst. Not knowing where the next alien ship would come crashing down was bad enough - my neighbor Clyde's house was completely crushed by one of their hulls - but there being no sense of normalcy in the world hit me at a deeper level, shook me to my bones.

For months, I had somewhat known what to expect. Zombies were nothing new to us. I'd watched plenty of depictions of brainless husks in movies and TV shows growing up. They would stumble around, moaning incoherently as they tried to latch on and eat the brains of the closest person they could find. It was a surprise to find that, when zombies finally did emerge from the ground, they weren't all that different from us. Sure, they couldn't sustain themselves with burgers or sushi, but that was a minor speed bump to cooperative living. Once they realised that we humans need our brains to live, they almost seemed…apologetic. A few quick advances in lab-grown brain tissue later, and we found coexistence possible. An occasional rogue Z-man (their preferred nomenclature) might try and take a bite out of a living human, but all in all, their crime rate was quite a bit lower than ours.

And then the aliens came.

We were never really sure exactly where they came from; their speech wasn't tuned to our ears, and I don't think they had anything resembling ears at all. They didn't seem to hate us, but man-oh-man did they not like the Z-men. We tried to explain that they were peaceful, but our words fell on deaf - well, somethings.

The violence was swift. I don't know if the aliens thought they were protecting us, but all I can say is that they were brutally effective. Many human tears were shed in those days as all we could do is watch, helplessly, as our new Z-friends were vaporised in front of us.

And then the asteroids came.

The aliens had been occupying our air-space with their ships while they carried out their atrocities on the surface. Within hours of the asteroids falling, nearly all of these ships were destroyed. A spare few may have buggered off to another star system to cut their losses, but for the most part, they were gone.

But the asteroids didn't stop there. They indiscriminately bombarded the planet, killing human, Z-person, and alien alike.

I don't know if I should feel lucky to have woken up the next day alive. I was surrounded by death, destruction, a cloud of misery. There were food stores and, remarkably, some potable water, so I could survive.

But as I sit here now on the rotted dock, my feet dangling over the pond near the ruins of my home, I feel hopelessly alone. What am I supposed to do now that -

"AAAEEEOGGGHHHHH."

I jump up, startled, whirling behind me to see…

A Z-man.

He looks in terrible shape, even for a Z-man. But despite the eye dangling from a socket and the half-exposed wormy skull, I recognise him. I'd played basketball with him at the rec centre just a month ago. He beat me at the buzzer that day.

"Ronnie…? Is that you?"

"UERRGHH." He nods and stumbles toward me, arms outstretched in a warm greeting. He's limping badly. I rush forward to meet him -

PEW!

A laser blast whiffs past my head and grazes Ronnie's shoulder, sloughing off some skin. I spin back around in time to see the assailant. It's one of them - an alien. They're on hands and knees on the dock, dripping with water and holding a battered blaster in one shaky tentacle. The indicator on the side of the weapon tells me it's charging back up.

I don't hesitate.

I rush forward, tackling the alien just as they fire again. The blast goes wild as the gun is knocked from their grasp. I scramble to my feet and find myself standing over the alien, looking into their eye-sack. I think they're looking back…

…and they tremble. One tentacle reaches up to hide their face, and their body is wracked with…sobs.

We don't speak the same language - or even the same auditory frequency - but some things are universal. I step back and hold out my hand. The alien slowly looks back up at me, and after a moment, their tentacle reaches up to grab my hand.

"EURGH!!!" I can hear Ronnie's protest behind me. I hold my other hand up in an it's alright gesture. The alien wraps their tentacle around my hand, and I help pull it to its feet-like appendages.

I take a step back, putting myself between these two beings. None of us can communicate with words, but we all share the same feelings in this moment.

Apprehension. Fear. Anxiety. Grief.

But there is no hatred. We have all lost everything, and there's no room for animosity any more.

In place of those feelings, there's something else. A tiny bud of an emotion. I can feel it like a dying ember beneath the coals of our destroyed world, a feeling that, with proper care, could be nurtured into something resembling trust between the three of us.

I beckon Ronnie and the alien towards me, forcing a smile in both of their directions. After a moment, they each take a step forward. That simple act fans the tiny flame…