The Day the World Stopped

I stood stock still in awe at witnessing what I could only describe as uninhibited power and control, the fate of the universe written in the sky. It took a persistent amount of chirping from the Robin I held in my hands to draw my eyes away from the sight. 

I looked down and could tell, despite him being a bird, that worry was written across his face. Though I still wished to lose myself in those sights of godliness, it reminded me that we had more immediate concerns. 

"You're right," I said to the bird, "It's dangerous out here, we can't stare at this new sky right now." At me saying this, Rain tilted his head in confusion, and looked at me with a skeptical side glance, as if questioning my sanity. This further confused me in turn. "Can you not see all the moving planets and stars in the sky?" Rain shook his head.

The events unfolding in the sky now confused me further, who else could see this, is it even real, is it just a stress hallucination? A thought struck me, could this be the change that cat in my dreams was referring to? My version of Rain's transformation into a bird?

Regardless of my curiosity on the matter and the questions surrounding what the sky was revealing to me, the fact still remained that we had more immediate issues. 

"We need to find a safe place to hide, and plan our next actions. We need to figure out what and where these invaders are and try to find other survivors. Maybe we can find a weak spot, but for now we need a place to hide and rest. It's clear the aliens have already found the underground."

Whilst I still remembered and wished for the security our little train car, an island in a dark ocean, had provided, it was clear already that the underground spots were being found and searched by the aliens. Not to mention, I wouldn't be able to bear going back there with just us desolate remains. It would remain a safe haven in my mind, a final home before everything was truly swallowed up.

The thoughts steeled me, filing down my wonderment at the beauty the sky had unveiled to me. I gripped the axe we had taken and put Rain on my head as a safe perch. It was time to venture into the unknown dangers of this ruined world.

We'd stepped out onto a road seemingly in an industrial district. Surrounding us like felled beasts were behemoths of concrete and steel, torn and broken into unrecognizable heaps. They might have been apartment buildings, but I figured those would have dyed the surroundings red. The morning sun tauntfully reminded me that most people would have still been in bed when it all ended.

The thought changed little, the pit in my stomach already felt inescapable, thinking more would change nothing. 

And so we walked, creeping along the shadows of the wrecks to see what lay in our fortunes ahead. 

We hadn't walked long before we came across something of interest. Far down the road, further than I could see clearly something other than collapsed steel occupied a small clearing of pavement. Though I could not see so clearly, Rain's eyes seemed to differ. His talons gripped my head and glancing up I could see him hunched in fear and anxiety. 

He chirped a low peep and pecked his beak towards the strange thing. I squinted and focused on the object. It was vaguely ellipsoidal, like a rugby ball, and was made of a bluish metal that seemed familiar. Then it struck me, the alien!

I hunched over in a crouch and got behind a rogue steel beam with only my head peeking out over. Though I thought I could see the shimmering indication of movement I wasn't close enough to be sure.

What I was about to do might be stupid, but I made a promise. It starts from one step. I whispered to Rain, who was still perched on my head, "Stay here, and be ready to fly away if they get too close". With that I reached up and put him onto the steel beam and went to start creeping my way towards the alien encampment.

But before I could take a second step a bird angrily flew before my face and started to chirp upsetly. "I know but I have to do this, we can't change anything if we can't even see what they are doing." I gritted my teeth and determined my face, when Rain burst towards my forehead and seemed to deliberately crash into me.

I frowned and reached up to rub the spot where he'd hit me, when I realised something strange. My vision had disappeared. Or atleast was replaced. Instead of seeing a bird flapping its wings angrily at me I saw a person, a man with a dusty worn face twisted into an expression of painful resolution. He had a mop of strangly black hair, a slight stubble and eyes that glowed purple. With the thin face and slightly sticking out jaw, and hand half raised to the forehead, I confirmed it. I was looking at myself.

The vision turned towards the road leading towards the encampment, before slowly rising into the air. The realisation finally came, this was Rain's eyes. He flew high into the sky before making his way towards the Aliens. This was perfect I thought, we can observe what the aliens are doing and make a plan from there!

 We were clueless.