Battle for Earth Ch. 01

Authors Note: "This chapter has been rewritten by yours truly. I hope it reads more smoothly than before. I intend to do this for chapters 2, 3, 4 & 5. Till then there will be no new chapters. Thank you to everyone who has taken a liking to this series."

Where is Everyone?

1, October 2218, 6:00 AM

Monday

**Manhattan, New York City (USA)**

Northern America, Region 1

Waking up to the light and heat of the sun on a brand new day. Benjamin Hatfield, a 32yr old man turned on his side of the bed to wrap his arm around his wife. He wished to pull her in closer to press a kiss on her temple. But as his arm fell on his wife's side of the bed. He felt nothing there. He opened his tired eyes and saw that his wife was not laying in bed by his side as she usually was every morning.

"Lisa?" Benjamin called out her name. He was confused and began to look for her.

Jumping out of his bed, Benjamin checked his bathroom. Then checked the kitchen and the living room. He looked around inside the rest of his east village apartment for her. Reaching his daughter bedroom, Sarah, his only child. He pushed open the door and stared wide-eyed and slack-jawed. His daughter's bed was empty. There wasn't even a trace of her clothes lying on around her bed. His three-year-old daughter was gone. Heartbroken and on the verge of losing what little sanity he had left tethering him. Benjamin fell on his knees at the foot of his daughter's bed and ran his hands across the surface. Tearing up. He let all sorts of terrible ideas run wildly through his mind.

"Did Lisa run off with Sarah while I slept? Did she find someone else and just ran off? Maybe, Maybe they were kidnapped!?"

Benjamin ran back to his bedroom to try calling his wife on his phone. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up when he heard the ringtone of his wife's phone ringing underneath her pillow. The same spot she placed it every night for the last ten years. Going around to her side of the bed. He pulled her light-based phone from under the pillow and stared at a small three-dimensional holo screen projecting up from her phone. It was showing on the caller ID that "My Hubby" was calling. He couldn't believe his eyes. He tried calling his friends next to see if they would pick up. But he got nothing either.

"Are you fucking kidding me right now!? What is this shit, is there no one else around but me?" Benjamin asked himself, angry.

He ran out of his apartment and frantically knocked and banged on the front doors of his neighbors. He hoped someone would answer him. He wanted someone, anyone to come out of the apartment and curse him out. To ask him if he was right in the head. But no matter how long or how hard he banged on their doors. No one came outside and answered the door.

The entire building was dead silent and deserted. There was not the faintest hint of a soul wandering inside besides himself. Benjamin ran back inside of his apartment to changed out of his pajamas, and into a set of fresh clothes. He made his way down the staircase of the building, to the lobby. Walking out into the lobby he noticed the doorman who normally waved good morning to him every day, wasn't at his usual post. But the doorman's absence aside. There was no one else around either. The lobby was a ghost town. The presence of people outside of the glass doors of his building was zero. Every new day had people walking to and from work. He stepped outside of the building to see if he could spot someone who could be in the same dilemma as him. The only thing going back and forth in front of the entrance of his building was garbage. A strange but strong breeze blew from behind him, and almost knocked him down. He turned to see if there was someone behind him. Nothing.

The cars on the streets were all parked beside the sidewalks. There were none in the middle of the road like in some apocalyptic movies and video games that he was aware of. Domestic pets like cats, dogs, and parakeets that escaped the confines of their owner's homes. Were still around, wandering aimlessly in the streets. The parakeets perched themselves on top of streetlights and stared back at him. Steadying his breath to calm himself down from a dangerous level of anxiety coming over him. He ran back inside of the apartment to check the news, hoping this was just an isolated incident and he just happened to be caught in the middle of it.

Not even the last hope he was clinging onto, his television could show him or tell him what was going on. The only thing on television was the colored bars and the ancient high-pitched sine wave tone. Changing the channels did not help. It only reinforced the horrible and terrifying reality Benjamin unwittingly found himself in. He wondered if he was the last person left on earth if he did not come up with answers quickly. God and faith were like a light switch for him. Convenient for him when he needed it. But the rest of the time he thought and felt like an agnostic. Now, more than any other time in his life he felt the utmost need to fall on his knees and cry. He called out, no, cried out to God Almighty for help. Tears rolled down his reddened face that was contorted from sadness and fear.

**Chilpancingo, Guerrero (Mexico)**

Middle America, Region 2

One the same day but in a different place. South of the US-Mexican Border, there's another man who thought he was also the last person on earth. Not just in Mexico, but the world. His name was Oscar Mariano and he was 28yrs old. Prior to waking up to this new day, he was a member of the 'Fuerza de infanteria marina' or The naval infantry force in English. It was the equivalent of the American marine corps. He awoke on the same hour he usually did, around six o clock. He was stationed in his hometown, where he lived and reported for duty every day. Like his American brother north of the Mexican-American border. He wondered where everyone vanished to. The first mission he gave himself was to search for his family and friends. But when he arrived at his home where he grew up in. There were no signs of human life. Different possibilities of what might have happened to his family and countrymen swarmed inside his head. If the country was invaded by a foreign power, where was all the blood and carnage? Where was all of the collateral damage and signs of battle including armored personnel vehicles littering the streets?

As a marine, Oscar carried a Cobra marine VHF radio that he used to try and get in contact with members of his unit and his unit commander. But all of the radio static made it impossible for him to contact anyone. Maybe it was just in his head, but he after tapping his radio with his hand a few times. He heard a voice come through the static somehow. It sounded like broken Spanish, but he understood it nonetheless. It said something along the line of "this....my....game...in" and the rest got lost in the static. He spoke into his communicator, trying to communicate with the voice that came through. He wanted to know their name and location. But there was only more white noise. Angry and frustrated at his situation. He let his military skills and intuition guide him. He left his home and went back to his barracks to grab as much firepower as he could get his hands on. Also included in his list of supplies were bags of clothes along with toiletries. He commandeered a military Humvee and left to find survivors.

**Corbel- Essonne's, Paris (France)**

Western Europe, Region 10

The sun dawned over Europe hours before it did over the Americas. 27Yr old exotic dancer, Roxane Lalande awoke to a new and strange day. From the moment she woke up, she knew this day was vastly different from any other day before in her life. Her boyfriend, Leo, normally woke her up with a little quickie. It was odd if he didn't do it at least four times out of the week. Even stranger on this day, her day off from work. She lived with him in their middle-class neighborhood of Corbel- Essonne's, Paris.

Leo provided more of the bread than Roxane, given his job as a police officer. She looked everywhere inside of their home for him. She called out to him. Tried calling him on his phone. And looked in their backyard, all to no avail. She took a shower and dressed in a fresh pair of clothes. She hoped that in the time she took to shower. He would appear. Back outside of her bathroom, there was still no signs of Leo. She grabbed her keys and stepped inside of her car to look around her neighborhood. As she began to drive, she saw no signs of human life. Her neighbors who were normally outside of their homes, were absent today. The streets were empty, aside from cars parked beside the sidewalk and domestic pets that have escaped and began to wander around aimlessly. The streetlights appeared to be malfunctioning. They flickered on and off. Others bulbs even exploded inside their sockets.

Driving out of her neighborhood. Roxane drove down main-street and saw all of the stores and businesses were still unopened. Locations like playgrounds were deserted. Religious centers like churches were also deserted. She stopped beside Leo's former police station to see if he was in there.

"Leo! Are you here!"

No response. Only her voice echoed back to her. She wandered inside some rooms and grabbed some radio communicators and used to try to contact someone who may have still been alive.

"Hello, is someone on the other line? Anyone, please! My name is Roxane Lalande and I am the only person out here. If there's someone out there on the other line, please contact me! I don't know what's going and I'm very scared!"

The only response on the radio communicator she got back was white noise.

Roxane drove up to a power station and parked her car. She turned the engine of her car off and leaned back on her seat and closed her eyes. She needed a lot of time to think about the situation she found was in. she gathered her thoughts

and spoke softly to herself.

"It feels like I'm in someone's horror film. And there's some sort of monster waiting for me in this city. Or worse, monsters!" She let herself become anxious at first. But slowly relaxed.

"Okay think Roxane, think. What would cause everyone in Paris, no all of France, or even the whole world to disappear?" she thought about possibilities and theories.

As she did, she heard pre-recorded Muslim calls to prayer playing loudly from a nearby mosque a couple down blocks away. Hearing that beautiful singing put a serious idea in her head.

"Did—Did the rapture already happened?" She asked herself, "Did God take everyone who lived right and with faith? If he did, what about the ones with no faith at all? Did Christians get taken, or did it even matter what religious banner someone carried with them? Oh God, what if this is...Hell?"

She rested her forehead on the steering wheel and started to sob. She began to wonder if all of her life choices up to this point was divine punishment. As lonely as she felt right now, she was just happy to hear the sounds of another human voice in the form of a Muslim call to prayer. Even if it was pre-recorded.

**Yaounde, Cameroon**

Central Africa, Region 18

Across the Atlantic ocean from North America. And south of the European continent was the continent of Africa. In the capital city of Cameroon, Yaounde lived a 19yr old girl and college student. Wandering around her section of the city. Eposi Nzola searched frantically for her family and friends, and everyone else in her neighborhood for that matter. Before the apparent end of the world. Eposi was studying to become a lawyer and maybe later down the road, run for a seat in city government. Yet like with Roxane, she was finding all of this hard to believe even when it was right in her face. She believed herself to be the only woman and person left not just in her country, but possibly the whole continent or worse; the world!

Like Benjamin, when Eposi tried calling her mother, father, and sibling on her phone. She got nothing but the ringing tone. She worried and panicked, wondering what might have happened to them. If they all vanished like everybody else, was it painful? Did they even have enough time to cry out for help? Or was it like a mound of sugar that's blown away by a strong gust of air. Storm clouds gathered on the horizon, dark clouds with the trembling of thunder hidden inside them. But the storm was already here for her. The deafening silence of the capital city was abnormal. It was a silence no living person should be subjected to. Before the heavy downpour could arrive, she sought refuge inside of a family van that was unlocked. Not long after the first raindrops began to fall, blanketing the entire city. The sound of rain pittering and pattering on the windshield and roof of the car, along with the voices of her family in her head. Were her only source of company.

"God the father in heaven, please forgive me of my sins. If I have done something that has offended thee, please spare me this curse of loneliness and save me. Save me please!"

Eposi banged on the steering wheel of the car, sobbing hard and breathing deeply. Hours went by and the storm began to calm down. In those hours she slept, just barely though. When she woke up, it was only to check her Light-Based phone to look at the picture of her family and friends, including her boyfriend. She smiled when she stared back at the picture of herself with her parents in different parts of the country. She laughed at the photos she had of her friends messing with her college professor. For a little while, it felt like she was out on the town on a rainy night. It felt normal, with nothing out of the ordinary. Perhaps like the storm above, this other storm too will pass.

**Osborne Park, Perth (Australia)**

Australia/ Oceania, Region 26

"It was the aliens, of course, it had to be, who else could it have been!" Brandon Evans, a 25yr old man, and a former electrician said loudly to himself. He was walking down the middle of the deserted city of Perth, Australia. "They were getting tired of man's pointless and self-destructive path. They just did away with all of us simultaneously using a moon-sized ship that revolved around the planet, firing a wide angled laser beam, yeah that's it!"

Brandon stopped in front of an electronics store and stared blankly through the front window for a good minute or two and then he picked up a large stone and threw it through the window. This, of course, set off the alarm that seemed to blare forever. Brandon climbed through the broken window and retrieved all sorts of radios to add to his collection of every type. After gathering as much as he could and throwing them in the bed of his pickup truck he drove off. He made several stops at different places to stock up on items, such as food and water and medical supplies. Before the supposed end of the world, Brandon had many jobs working for several electrical companies as a union electrical worker. Brandon had always lived by himself in the city of Perth and supporting himself. His fascination with alien life or even the possibility of alien life revealing itself to humanity was always a fruitless endeavor. He has even tried to search and find it for himself. In college, he was a loner who occasionally associated with the geeks of his university. Since they are of like intelligence, but it didn't matter which clique he tried to be a part of; he never genuinely felt a part of something and so chose to live a life of recluse only confiding in one friend. Now those groups, his family, his friend all those cared about were gone. It was only him, the last man in Australia and Oceania.

Brandon spent the first half of his day trying to raise someone on the radio, someone, anyone. He broke into a few homes and set up his radios to see if there was a chance he could connect with someone. He made himself something to eat when he got hungry, so he ate and drank like a king. He would then move to a different location to try and radio someone again. In the evening, Brandon drove out of the city and into the outskirts listening to music on his phone. Beside him in the passenger seat, was a nine-millimeter handgun for his own protection from wild animals and anything else that may threaten him. When Brandon found a good spot, he would stop to set up camp with camping materials he stole from a sporting goods store back in Perth. He brought out cordless crystal powered hot plates to cook for himself later in the night. During the night, Brandon would dance and sing around his campfire, using with his portable speaker.

"Aliens might have caused the end of the world, but Brandon is going to party it up to his last dying breath! Yeah! Ahaha!" Brandon cheered and laughed.

After eating and drinking his fill for the night, Brandon readied himself for bed. As he was about to crawl into his camping tent, a cold breeze blew blowing out the last embers of his campfire. Brandon reached for his gun, releasing the safety, and aiming it in the direction of the cold, almost arctic-like air.

**Northern America, Region 1**

In the United States, Benjamin parked his camper inside of central park. It was getting late and he felt the desire to cook something up for himself. He pulled some steak out of the freezer of the camper and was preparing it when the sound of footsteps inching closer to his vehicle put him on alert. He grabbed his firearm, an SKS semi-automatic rifle, and took a moment to prepare himself. He was unsure of who or what he was going to confront outside of the camper. Man or beast. If they came with the intent to do him harm. They would leave with a belly full of lead. Kicking the camper door open, and to his utter shock and surprise. He found himself staring back at a woman, except this woman was not human.

This strange looking woman was grey skinned. She was an inch shorter than Benjamin was. She wore a full body white flowing tunic that hid a curvy body. She was also a buxom beauty who had long flowing white hair. Irises as grey as her skin. Her ears were unlike humans, which were round in shape. Hers was long, reaching seven inches. On her exposed arms and cleavage, she had blue tribal markings, especially on her arms and breasts. She carried in her hands two hatchets which most likely were for self-defense. She looked just as hesitant to make a move as did he. She raised her hands up above her head, extended them outward from her body and dropped her weapons.

Benjamin lowered his firearm and waited. With an accent akin to British, she called out to him.

"Do you understand me human male? If you do allow me to introduce myself first. My name is Thyia."

She sounded just as beautiful as she looked.

**Middle America, Region 2**

In his state of Guerrero, Oscar Mariano took some time off from looking for his family and answers to this whole dilemma. And walked into a movie theater to watch a movie. But first, he had to set up the film himself in the projector room. When he got it working, he grabbed himself some food and drinks from the concession stand and leaned back on his seat and enjoyed himself a movie.

Fifteen minutes into his action adventure film. Oscar heard quick scurrying steps rush inside of the room he was in. Locked and loaded, he raised and aimed his Kalashnikov at the area of the sound of something scurrying about from out of view. He was unsure of where exactly the source of the scurrying was. He could only mentally prepare himself to react as fast as possible and shoot the unknown threat when it appeared. When the mysterious creature finally appeared. It did so by poking its head up from beneath the backrest of some seats three rows in front of him.

At first, he saw a small head of black unkempt hair. The smell of sulfur was strong. Then he saw

it's small face and eyes. Levitating above the rows of seat, he got a good look of who it was.