Outrunning the Storm by Michele Dutcher	Against a Diamond by Michele Dutcher	A Fisherman's Guide to Bottomdwellers by Michele Dutcher	Louisville's Silent Guardians by Michele Dutcher

Sitting Ducks

by Michele Dutcher

“Wesley is dead,” she screamed at my face, as if it made any difference.

“And this should concern me why exactly?” I asked her quietly, waiting for her to slap me.

“It was probably Doc.  He always hated Wesley. You could at least give him last rites or something. You are a freaking priest.”

I instinctually ran a finger along the inside of my collar.   “It won’t make a difference. Live or die, you and I are the only ones left now, and we’ll soon be dead or worse. Whoever killed him did Wesley a favor.”

She crumpled into a chair in front of my desk, as if the truth had hit her in the gut like a curled fist.

“But I loved him,” she finally squeaked out.

“You hated him as much as you loved him – just like the rest of us. It was all science with him – all black and white, right or wrong.” I tried to sound compassionate, more out of habit than sincerity.

I turned away from Elisa and gazed out a transparent plate facing the surface of the Earth. One side of the heavens over the planet was bathed in sunlight and the other side was covered in darkness.  The black side sparkled with constant forks of lightning exploding inside the clouds, spreading one right after the other like electrified demon claws raking over a black velvet blanket. The side of the planet facing the Sun was dotted with hundreds of explosions, the force of blasts shooting debris into the ionosphere.

“They’re coming for us, Father,” she finally said. I could feel her eyes looking up at me.  “The last thing Wesley told me was that the navigator had spotted four of their ships on the radar – ships on a course to intersect with the ISS.” 

“I wondered how long it would take those soul-less monsters to notice us floating here in this tin can. I suppose they won’t consider their work complete until Earth is transformed into a replica of whatever environment they come from and all Earthlings are dead.” I stepped away from the window and walked over to where Elisa sat, placing my bottle of Bushmills on my desk.  “At least the screaming is over…” I said, trying to comfort the girl, kneeling beside her chair.

“It was a good thing when Wesley turned off the radio signals coming up from the surface,” she agreed.

“Two days of trying to tune in on anyone surviving was enough. I suppose our alien demons enjoy hearing the cries of humans, killing us slowly, lapping up our blood.”

“Do something, Father – you must do something…Daniel, please.  Those creatures will be docking here in a few minutes.  All the others are gone, most done in by their own hands, the cowards. But I am the biggest coward of all. Please, save me.”

I looked down on her lovely freckled shoulders, thinking of the times I had thought of allowing my hand to simply brush the curls away from her young neck.  She had loved Wesley and I had loved her.  Did I love her enough now to do what needed to be done?

I quietly took out a syringe filled with fluid, one of two I had been handed by the doctor on the second day after the alien capture of Earth.  I could hear the space-dock being triggered by the alien ship. The gears were wheeling; there was a sudden whoosh of air.  I began to sing gently, so I wouldn’t hear her breathing stop. “Michael row the boat ashore, Halleluiah. Michael row the boat ashore, Halleluiah.” I plunged the needle into the base of her spine.  At least she would be going to heaven, but my murderous hands had condemned me to hell. 

Why hadn’t mankind ever made it off this infernal rock? Why had we made genocide of the human race so easy? I could hear their shrill voices coming through the station, checking one room after another.  I wondered what they looked like. I wondered if they had a god, if they had someone like me who blessed their vile works. 

I took out the second syringe, aiming it at my aorta with shaking hands. 

The End

Read more stories by this author

Outrunning the Storm by Michele Dutcher	Against a Diamond by Michele Dutcher	A Fisherman's Guide to Bottomdwellers by Michele Dutcher	Louisville's Silent Guardians by Michele Dutcher

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