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  I didn’t think I’d ever been so scared in my life. I remembered being frightened when we’d first learned about the existence of extra-terrestrial life. We’d all been brought up on movies of what would happen to us—how we’d all end up either abducted by weird-looking aliens or shot to pieces by giant spaceships—but that wasn’t what happened at all. Life on other planets was much like we were. They were humanoid, with structured societies, and governments and rulers, and families and workers. They didn’t want us dead any more than we wanted them dead. The fear had surrounded all of us, at first, but now, years on, the other populations on different planets were no different than people in neighboring countries. I still remembered that initial terror, though—even though I’d only been small at the time—and this felt very similar, only a thousand times worse. I’d been terrified back then that organized life on other planets would mean the end of ours, but the expectation of it happening was very different from the knowledge it actually was happening!

  We skidded into my bedroom, and I shoved my hand under my pillow, still warm from where I’d been sleeping. My fingers touched the cool, slim metal, and I yanked it back out again.

  “Shit!”

  I had seven missed calls already, and, as I was holding the phone, it started to buzz.

  Some people had implants in their arms to use their phones, but I’d always resisted. Maybe it was the paranoid side of my nature, but I had never liked the idea that I would be contactable at all times and that people would be able to track my location whenever they wanted. That was something I could live without.

  I swiped the phone to answer. “Casey?”

  “Camille, thank God. You’re all right.”

  “What’s happening, Casey? How the fuck did we not predict this?”

  His voice came down the line. “I have no idea. They literally came out of nowhere. One moment, there was nothing above us, and the next second these things were dropping out of the sky.”

  “Someone used shielding to hide them from our satellites. That can only be done deliberately, so we’re definitely under attack.”

  “Looks that way.”

  “Fuck.” I ran my hand over my mouth. “Do we know who yet?”

  “No idea.”

  I exhaled a frustrated sigh. “Okay, I’m coming in. I’m bringing my sister with me.”

  “She won’t have clearance.”

  I glanced over at where Molly stood, staring worriedly at me, trying to get a gist of the conversation. “Fuck clearance,” I told him. “People are dying. There’s no way I’m leaving her.”

  He hesitated and then said, “Just be careful.”

  I didn’t think I had much choice about that. It didn’t matter how careful I was, if one of those things hit us, we were dead.

  The phone went silent, and I reached down to the floor to grab the pair of jeans I’d dumped there a couple of nights ago. I ran to my drawer and yanked out a pair for Molly as well, and threw them at her. “Put those on. We’re getting out of here.”

  Thankfully, she didn’t argue with me, and we both pulled on the clothes. I had a strict ‘no shoes in the apartment’ rule, so both of us had our shoes by the front door. I shoved the phone into the back pocket of my jeans and then grabbed Molly’s hand again and dragged her out of the bedroom.

  Nearby, another asteroid—or whatever the hell those things were—hit, and we both cowered, trying to stay on our feet while the apartment shook and vibrated around us. The shaking subsided, and I snatched my keys off the hook on the wall near the front door, and then shoved my feet into sneakers. My sister did the same.

  “Where are we going?” she asked between frightened gasps.

  “The Observatory,” I told her. “That’s the only place we’re going to get answers.”

  My SUV was parked in the underground garage beneath the building. I prayed the structure of the garage hadn’t been damaged with all the explosions. Without a vehicle, it would be a nightmare trying to reach the Observatory. Not that this wasn’t a nightmare anyway. I also worried what the roads would be like. If they were destroyed, we’d struggle to reach my place of work.

  I’d have to deal with those obstacles when I came across them.

  We burst out into the hallway. Others had emerged from their apartments, everyone wide-eyed and white with terror.

  “The stairs,” I told Molly, tugging her toward the fire escape that led down to the lower floors. We were fourteen flights up, and there was no way I was going to trust the elevator. The power was still on for the moment, but I had no idea how long that would last. Getting trapped in a broken-down elevator would be signing our death warrants.

  I recognized some of the other people running alongside us, but everyone was too frightened to have a conversation. Deep down, we all knew what was happening. Besides, I didn’t know my neighbors well. Enough to nod and say good morning, but that was all. It wasn’t that I was rude, I just liked to keep myself to myself, and making small talk was one of the things that left me cringing inwardly and immediately trying to figure out a way to escape the situation.

  Others seemed to have the same idea about the stairwell, and we joined the stream of people pouring down the stairs. Even though Molly was twenty-three and four years younger than my own twenty-seven years, I held her hand tight, just as I had always done when we were children, and tugged her along with me. I didn’t want to let go, terrified that if we were separated, we wouldn’t find each other again.

  Chapter Three

  We reached the underground parking garage. It seemed I wasn’t the only one to have this idea, as a number of people had already reached their vehicles and were now screeching their way toward the exit, the headlights streaking across the dimly lit space. My frantic mind forgot where I’d parked my SUV for a moment, and I had to go back and piece together what I’d done when I’d driven back from work that evening.

  “The car’s over there!” Holly pointed to where my vehicle was parked.

  “Damn. Of course.”

  We stepped out, only for Holly to jerk me back again just as another car screeched past us, narrowly missing me.

  “Shit.”

  There wasn’t time to even catch my breath. Another of the asteroids hit somewhere close by, and the whole of the underground parking lot vibrated with the impact. For one horrifying moment, I was sure the ceiling would give way and bring the building above down on top of us, burying us forever, but then the shaking subsided.

  “Come on.”

  Molly and I ran toward the SUV. I hit the button on the key fob to unlock the central locking, and we both yanked open the doors and threw ourselves inside. Molly’s car was down here, too, but it wasn’t a four-by-four, and, considering the circumstances, I thought we might be grateful for the ability to get over some bumpy ground.

  Molly hung on to the handle above the passenger window as I navigated the parking lot to find the exit. “What’s happening, Camille?” she asked as I drove. “Is it a meteor strike?”

  I shook my head. “No, this kind of damage wouldn’t be caused by meteors. They’re far too small. This kind of damage must be caused by asteroids.”

  Her eyes widened at me. “Didn’t an asteroid strike wipe out the dinosaurs?”

  “Yes, but that one was thought to be eight kilometers wide.”

  “How big are these ones?”

  “I don’t know yet, but they’re nowhere near that big. I’m assuming they’d be more like eight meters than kilometers.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Because, if they were much bigger, we’d all be dead.”

  Other vehicles pulled out around us. Horns blared as people tried to escape. I wondered where everyone else was going. Did any of them think to go to the Observatory? The facility was situated away from the SR 160, and I wasn’t sure how much notice the general public took of us. In the early days, anything to do with space and space travel drew plenty of attention, but it was so run-of-the-mill now that we fad
ed into the background. Selfishly, I hoped people didn’t remember us. The last thing we needed was to be overrun. We needed to work, more than ever, and we wouldn’t be able to figure this out with hordes of people banging on the doors.

  We drove up the ramp and onto the street. Right away, I saw this wasn’t going to be easy. The streets were in chaos. People ran, clutching each other. The roads were already jammed with cars, and though the vehicles were creeping forward, I could see we were going to end up wedged in traffic if we weren’t careful.

  I spotted a gap on the sidewalk. “Hang on,” I told Molly.

  Feeling bad, but knowing our lives were on the line and that they needed me at the Observatory, I veered the car off the road and onto the sidewalk.

  Molly shot me a wide-eyed glance. “What are you doing?”

  “What I need to. This thing is from space, and I know space. In this situation, I’m practically the emergency services.”

  I tightened my fingers around the steering wheel, my knuckles white. I swerved around more people, gritting my teeth and wincing, praying I didn’t hit anyone. Molly let out a scream with every swerve.

  “We just need to get out of the city. The roads should be clear then.”

  My sister clung on tighter. “God, I hope so.”

  The asteroids seemed to have stopped falling, at least close by enough for us to feel. I couldn’t speak for the rest of the United States, assuming whatever this was had spread that far.

  I swerved cars rammed up on sidewalks and did my best not to hit anyone on foot.

  Molly glanced to me. “Have you heard from Tara?”

  My stomach sank. “Oh, shit.”

  In my blind panic to get my sister to safety and reach the Observatory, I’d completely forgotten about my best friend. Tara worked as a croupier in one of the downtown casinos. She was my complete opposite, personality-wise—her outgoing and vivacious, and flirty and fun, while I was the more studious type—but we’d known each other since we were ten years old, and she was as much of a sister to me as Molly. Tara kept crazy hours, just like I did, so I always knew she would be there for me if I had a problem. I often called her at stupid times of the night, knowing she’d most likely be awake and happy to chat. Had she been awake when all of this had hit? Was she working or at home? I prayed that where ever she was, she was safe.

  Awkwardly, I reached into my pocket while I drove and fished out my cell phone. I tossed it to Molly. “Call her, find out where she is and if she needs help.”

  Worry creased Molly’s face. “Don’t we need to get to the Observatory?”

  I tightened my jaw. “I’m not leaving her behind.”

  My sister pulled up Tara’s number and swiped to call. She held the phone up in the air and set it on speaker, so I’d be able to hear without needing to hold the handset. Within a couple of rings, my friend answered.

  “Holy shit, Camille! What the fuck is happening?”

  Noise surrounded her, people screaming. Her heavy breathing came down the line, as though she was running while she spoke.

  “I’m not sure yet. Don’t worry about that for now. Where are you? Are you safe?”

  “Safe?” Tara bleated back. “Are any of us safe?”

  “Just tell me where you are? I have Molly with me. I’m coming to get you.”

  “I’m at work. It’s chaos here. One of those things hit the top of the building. It’s on fire. People are fucking dead!”

  My friend was always quick to curse, but in this situation, I could hardly blame her.

  “Get out onto the road, near the main entrance. I’m coming to get you.”

  “Where are we going? This is crazy—” An explosion sounded down the end of the phone, and suddenly the line went dead.

  “Tara!” I yelled, even though I knew she wasn’t going to hear me.

  I glanced at Molly and knew my fear was mirrored in her eyes.

  “What happened?” my sister asked, her face white. “Do you think she’s okay?”

  I couldn’t lie to her. “I don’t know.”

  I wasn’t going to give up on Tara. Though I should be heading in the opposite direction—out of town, not deeper into the city—I kept going. I prayed the roads would remain clear enough to navigate. I couldn’t risk leaving the car behind. The Observatory was too far out in the desert for us to walk it, and I had to put reaching the Observatory above all other things. I didn’t want to consider the possibility of abandoning my friend, but this asteroid strike had come out of nowhere, and I didn’t believe for a second that it was only asteroids we were dealing with here. Science followed rules, and those asteroids didn’t follow the rules. We should have seen them coming, and we didn’t, which could only mean they’d been shielded for some reason. Asteroids didn’t shield themselves.

  “Keep trying her,” I told Molly, partly to give my sister something to focus on other than what was happening around us. Fires burned where the asteroids had hit, and the sides of buildings had giant, gaping holes in them. I thanked our lucky stars that our building hadn’t been one of those struck. If we’d been sleeping in our beds when an asteroid collided, we’d have been dead instantly. We wouldn’t have even known what was happening. My stomach contracted with fear for our future, and grief for all those dead tonight. I prayed my friend wasn’t one of them.

  I tried to turn down a street. “Shit.”

  One of the buildings alongside it had been hit and had collapsed into the road, a burning pile of rubble. People were trying to pull survivors, or maybe just bodies, out from under the mess.

  There was no possibility of me getting a car down the road. I swung my arm over the headrest behind me and jammed the gears into reverse, heading back the way we’d come and swerving around other vehicles and people.

  “It’s okay. We’ll take the next block,” I told Molly, trying to reassure her, even though I felt less than reassured myself.

  My phone buzzed, snatching both our attention.

  It was Casey, and I tried not to feel disappointed. I’d hoped it was going to be Tara, telling me she was okay.

  “Where are you, Camille?” he asked. “We need you here.”

  “I’m doing my best, Casey. The city is in chaos.”

  “Are you all right?” I heard the concern in his tone.

  “Yes, so far. I’m trying to make it out to you, there’s just been a few hold-ups.”

  “Do the best you can.”

  “I am.” I paused for a moment, and then added, “I’m not just bringing my sister, Casey. I’m bringing a couple of people with me now.”

  I hoped I was correct when I’d said ‘a couple’.

  He paused, silence down the line when mayhem reined around us. “You know that’s not protocol.”

  “Fuck protocol,” I snapped back, borrowing one of my friend’s curse words. “It’s like Armageddon out here. I’m not going to leave my sister and friend behind.”

  He paused again, and I thought he was going to argue with me, but then he said, “Okay, just do what you can.”

  I wondered what it was like out in the desert. I assumed the Observatory hadn’t been affected. I took a little comfort in that. If this was an aggressive strike meant to wipe us out, that would have been one of the first places they’d target. The Observatories were where we coordinated all our space travel and observations, and even had adjoining launch pads. There were thousands of identical buildings positioned all over the world, and I couldn’t help but feel that if this were a tactical strike meant to destroy the human race, then whoever was attacking us would have started with them.

  I realized the line of thought my mind had gone down. I was definitely thinking of this as an attack rather than a freakish act of nature. I hadn’t seen any kind of alien spacecraft, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t follow.

  Unless the asteroids themselves were the ships.

  I let the idea dangle in my mind. It was something I’d raise with the others when I reached the Observatory. I’d
never come across aliens using asteroids to travel before, but perhaps they were never asteroids to start with. They only looked like asteroids. It would certainly explain why they didn’t follow all the usual rules of science.

  I was forced to slow again.

  Hands slammed against the windshield, bloodied fingerprints against the glass, and I jumped in fear and surprise. “Help! You have to help us.”

  The hands belonged to a man in his forties, his face as bloodied as his palms. His eyes were wild with terror.

  “Camille!” Molly cried.

  I reached out and hit the button to activate the central locking. The locks went into place with a thunk.

  The man banged again. “Please, you need to help!”

  I shook my head, feeling horrible. I’m sorry, I can’t. I kept driving, and his hands slapped down the side of the vehicle, my insides coiling into a tight knot with every bang.

  I pressed on, maneuvering the car around the people and other vehicles. If I stopped to help one person, then I’d have to stop to help more. Within seconds we’d be overrun, and someone would probably steal the car from me, and then I’d have no way of reaching the Observatory.

  Tara’s work place was on the next block. Smoke billowed high into the air ahead of us, and I felt sick to my stomach. She’d already told me the building had been hit. Had it received a second strike? I had the horrible feeling I wasn’t going to see my friend again.

  People had run from the area, but there were still more around—those who’d only just made it out of their buildings, or the injured who were wandering around, bloodied and dazed, as though they had no idea what was happening. The worst were those who were crying for loved ones already lost. On their knees and screaming with grief for those trapped under rubble. My vision blurred with tears, and a painful lump balled in my throat. It was like we were in warzone, and I didn’t think I’d ever forget these images, assuming I lived long enough to recollect them.