Defender // Rim of the World Gabriel

The Key

"Line's dead." Gabriel spoke, dropping the phone.

Alex tried to turn on the lights, but the switch did nothing. He looked at me and sighed, eyes narrowed. I shifted on the floor, Armstrong sitting next to me.

"It's cause the power's out. You know what an EMP is?"

"Yeah, that's the music white people dance to." Dariush nodded.

I sighed, "No, dumbass, that's EDM." I looked back to Alex, a signal for him to explain.

"An EMP is an electromagnetic pulse. A nuclear explosion in the upper atmosphere can cause one. And it knocks out most electronics, over a really big area."

I watched as ZhenZhen packed a bunch of things into her bag. I fiddled with the camera around my neck. It was a nervous habit I had developed ever since my dad gave me the camera.

"But what does that mean?" Dariush looked at us.

"It means nothing works." I spoke.

"Not even... cars?" Dariush asked.

I rolled my eyes.

"Well you guys have food and a roof over your head. You could do a lot worse than just staying here and waiting this out." Gabriel said.

"Wait, waiting what out?" Dariush asked, cut off by another explosion.

Armstrong barked. We all jumped, and I grabbed Alex on instinct again. We looked at each other and ran outside, which, in hindsight, was a stupid choice. We let Gabriel lead the way to the water.

"Those are F-22 Raptor air superiority fighters." Alex pointed.

"What the hell are those ships they're fighting?" Gabriel asked, scared.

I looked at Alex, who didn't have anything.

"We've never seen anything like them before." I said. "We should go." I pushed Alex as they got closer to us.

He and ZhenZhen turned and ran, followed by Dariush. Gabriel stayed, staring up at the sky. I scrambled to get a hold of Armstrong's leash.

"Gabriel, come on!" I grabbed his shoulder and tugged him, taking off after Alex.

There was gunfire and explosions just above our heads, and explosions on the ground just feet from us. We were all screaming, but I didn't understand a word any of us said, not even myself. Armstrong was barking, and Gabriel grabbed my wrist and tugged me out of the way of an explosion on the ground. Armstrong whimpered, and we kept running.

"Look out!" I heard Alex, but it was too late.

They hit the ground in front of us, and we all went flying in the dirt. I don't know if my hand held onto Armstrong's leash or not, but he landed on top of me with a whine, and I was glad he was safe. We scrambled to our feet, Gabriel quick to pull me up.

"Alex?" I shouted over the gunfire.

"I'm okay!"

The jets flew right above us, pursued by the foreign ships. We watched in confusion, scared. ZhenZhen grabbed my shoulder, and pointed up. I looked to see something coming straight at us, on fire. Armstrong barked and my trance broke.

"Let's move!" I shouted, grabbing the back of Alex's shirt and pulling.

We were thrown forward onto the ground again, and Armstrong kept barking. I rolled onto my back and groaned. That one had hurt more than the one before. I checked my camera, only to see that it was miraculously still in one piece.

"What is that?" Dariush screamed.

Gabriel held a hand out, probably to help me up. I only shoved Armstrong's leash into it and pushed myself over and up, brushing the dirt off as best as I could. I took Armstrong back as he barked loudly, in limbo between running from the crashed object and running to it.