Harper Dubois

On June 4th the Earth received its one and only communication from the stars.

“This world has been judged deficient and will cease to exist in 365 days to make way for a new iteration.”

It was a message broadcast across all radio, television and satellite signals from an object no larger than a basketball hovering in lower orbit not far off the coast of Ecuador. Government agencies across the globe made every attempt at communication with the object, and when there was no further response they chose to treat it as a hostile threat.

For just over two days the skies of Ecuador were set ablaze with all manner of weapon thrown at the strange object, and as the clouds of smoke and debris cleared and it remained unmoved humanity had but one question to ask.

What now?

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Harper was in a roadside diner enjoying her retirement when The Declaration took over the air, and before anyone there could even begin to speculate she had already paid for her pie and left.

She knew one thing for sure, shit was about to hit the fan, and she wanted to be nowhere near the blast radius.

Her time in the military had taught her many things but the one thing it had cemented in her mind was that people did not deal well when unknown elements were suddenly introduced, she knew there were only a few possible outcomes.

Some would believe the announcement and throw all caution to the wind and give in to the true anarchy of living only in the present and their baser impulses. Others would strive to maintain normalcy, to facilitate a level of control over the sudden chaos introduced. And there would still be others then whose decision fell under no knowable reason, who merely listened to the whims of their own desires.

She had always been wary of those types, they were hardest to predict.

It took her less than five hours to make it north to the small pawn shop she’d set as her destination; the shop was one of several businesses in a rundown strip mall seemingly always on the brink of going out of business.

Pushing the barred door open a bell above chimed her arrival and for the first time in awhile she was relieved to see the annoyed look of her old friend.

“Didn’t think I’d see you so soon.” He was at least a decade older than Harper with a face that told a tale of a life lived under the heat of the sun, eyes slightly sunken in giving any expression he made a slightly dark tinge.

“I was in the area.” Her eyes briefly scanned the walls for anything she might need.

“Last I heard you were somewhere in Louisiana.”

“What can I say, I love me some creole cooking.” She glanced up and gave an almost playful smile. “You keepin’ tabs on me Rainer?”

“I keep tabs on all my old platoon. Figured you’d know that as you helped me run it.”

The pair stared each other down before putting all airs aside, chuckling and shaking hands like two old friends.

“How the hell are ya Harper?”

“Well,” she gestured to the muted TV. “Could be better.”

“Yeah, proper strange eh? You ever think it’d be aliens that take you out?”

“Can’t say that was on my bingo card.” Crouching down she pointed at a knife near the back of the glass display case. “ That looks decent, surprised you didn’t snatch that up for yourself.”

“Well that’s cause I already got two of ‘em, figured I’d let some lucky duck have it for a song.”

“C’mon now, you know I couldn’t sing to save my life. But I’ll take it nonetheless.”

“Fair enough. Putting a go bag together?”

“Sure am, this place is better than Wal-Mart for these kinds of things.”

“Sweet talkin’ me ain't gonna get you a discount.”

The pair chatted briefly while Rainer gathered all the things needed for such a bag; a compass, military grade tarp, some paracord, several options for starting a fire, a compact but powerful wind-up flashlight, cold weather sleeping bag and emergency blanket, water filtration devices, a solid cook set with some spare fuel, as well as a hand crank charger and an extra large power bank. It was not their first rodeo putting something like this together, but Harper felt a strange pang of sadness that it would likely be their last.

“And now comes the unfortunate part of the conversation, the talk of payment.” Setting the very full pack on the counter top. “Not really sure how much use for money I’m gonna have.”

“Well that does put a wrench in things.” Putting her hands in her pocket she felt the cool metallic teeth of keys brushing against her fingers. Pulling it out she tossed it over to Rainer. “What about my ride?”

“The crotch rocket?” Thinking it over he nodded. “Anything else you need? Figured this is worth anything you could carry out.” He held up the key as he spoke before tucking it into his back pocket.

Looking to the boxes of ammo she nodded. “Think I’ll probably need about a dozen boxes of 9mm, hollow point if you got ‘em. And probably something heavier if I have to deal with a crowd.”

“Well you never were one for crowds, so you probably won’t need it. But I got you covered.”

Harper spent another hour in the shop gathering the things she would need, at fifteen minutes to an hour she had gathered all she needed and was simply lingering around to avoid saying goodbye. Her former commanding officer had clearly picked up on that and slammed his ledger closed suddenly in the middle of their conversation.

“Well, I hate to cut this short but I’ve got to get started on my own bag.”

In terms of lies it was not even a good one, Rainer was the one who had taught her about the importance of a “go bag” and so she could not imagine he had already put something together. He was never one to express himself upfront, this was likely the closest he would come to saying his thanks.

“Of course.” Standing up she slung the bag over her shoulder and saluted Rainer. “Lieutenant. Thank you for all your support over these years. It’s been an honor knowing you.”

The pair saluted each other for longer than one might normally, neither wanting to break rank until it became too awkward. Giving each other one final nod of recognition Harper opened the door and stepped outside, the tinkling of the bell signaling her departure.

It was another four hours walking north until Harper settled down to rest for the evening. As she began unpacking parts of her bag she was surprised to see a long metal cylinder tucked underneath some of the spare clothes she had bought.

“Rainer, you sneaky bastard.”

Smiling she pulled the object out and began to unscrew to the top, letting out a loud laugh at the sight of two large plastic bags; one was filled with a selection of her favorite hard candy, the other her favorite teas. And tucked on top a small note.

“Never underestimate the power of positive attitude."

A saying he uttered often when they were enlisted together, something she and the troops had initially balked at but grew to respect after he’d kept their heads cool singing showtunes in a bunker while under bombardment. Chuckling as she re-read it several times before popping a lemon flavored hard candy in her mouth she shook her head.

“You never cease to amaze me Lieutenant.”