It's a grey and dreary day as I walk through town. The sky is grey. The large flakes floating down from the clouds are grey. The fallen flakes on the ground are grey. It isn't snow; it's ash. I can smell it - a dry, acrid smell heavy in the still air. The sounds around me seem muffled somehow, as if sound itself has become grey and dull.
There are a couple of people scuttling along by the buildings on the other side of the road. From one of the doorways, a man emerges and hurries towards me. Before I have time to react to him, he has gripped my right arm and spun me back to face the direction I have just come from. A sense of panic mixed with relief courses through me as he drags me along.
A noise pierces through the cloak of dead air. It's like an incredible crackle of electricity that fades almost instantly to a throbbing hum. Turning my head, I can see a brilliant purple shaft of light extending from the ground up in to the greyness of the sky somewhere out of town. My companion increases his speed and I am pulled along in awe of this beam that punctures a hole through the cloud. As abruptly as the sound and light began, it ends. The humming is replaced within a few seconds by the sound of a great force of rushing air. From inside the wound in the sky appears a circle of fire. It spreads out, setting light to the whole of the sky in rolling waves of gold and scarlet. When the flames cease, the greyness returns to the sky and the world around me. The ash falls even thicker.
I am lead in to a side street and then immediately in to an alleyway. The man who has been pulling me along clamps a hand over my mouth and pushes me backwards in to a doorway. My head and back slam in to the wooden door, but little sound beyond a whimper issues from me as his hand is so tight. I notice a mechanical whirring sound drawing closer. The man removes his hand from my mouth and replaces it with his own mouth. His kiss is rough and insistent, but my hands cling to him rather than pushing him away. Something is in the side street. It's shadow darkens the doorway. I can't see it, but I know what it looks like as I have seen them before. A large metallic craft, about the size of a bus hovering twenty feet or so above the ground. After a few seconds, it withdraws back on to the main street. The man I am with pulls back from me slightly. He smiles and uses a thumb to wipe ash from my face.
Once the sound of the craft has gone, my companion and I break from the cover of the doorway and run along the side street. He still holds my arm tightly as we run. We emerge back on to the main street which is devoid of people and cars. After running for a few minutes, we come to a helicopter with a group of other people waiting around it. As we reach it, I am bundled inside and then there is a flurry of activity as everyone climbs aboard and the engine starts. I feel like my breathing has stopped as I am gripped by the fear that the noise of the helicopter will attract unwanted attention. We take off and head for the outskirts of town. Suddenly there is shouting and then the helicopter lurches forward violently as something slams in to it's rear. The pilot manages to land in the field below us, but the jolt of the forceful landing leaves everyone shaken. Running from the downed craft, I end up scrambling face down on the ground as a blast of hot air propels everyone when the helicopter explodes.
A short distance across the field, there is a farmhouse. Once inside I am forced down on to the floor against the wall. Everyone is silent as we listen to the sound of mechanical whirring outside. The large metallic craft moves away presumably satisfied that those inside the helicopter have perished. After a time, I fall asleep, completely exhausted - physically, mentally and emotionally.
A sudden burst of light wakes me from my fitful slumber. Startled, I hear a voice telling me it is okay. From a doorway opposite where I was sleeping there is a curtain pulled back to reveal light from a kitchen beyond. I eat some kind of thick stew crouching in the darkness once the curtain has been returned to it's position.
The man who rescued me from the centre of town earlier appears through a doorway to my right. He takes my hand and leads me upstairs. In a long corridor lit by a couple of candles, he presses me against the wall and kisses me again. His kiss is not as rough as the first time but is even more insistent.
Somewhere outside in the darkness is a large bang...and that is where I woke up.
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