The Walmart built on the edge of the small town near Homer, Alaska was always busy no matter what hour you visited. During this time of the year, people from all corners of the state scrambled out of their dens for supplies to last them through the dark, cold, and relentless winter.

But after the first wave hit, and the strong were weeded out from the weak, it was abandoned, stripped for supplies and left to rot alongside everyone else. Any survivor who passed by knew not to enter places like that. It was too big and too dark. It wasn’t worth the effort or risk.

Mr. Hendricks, a middle-aged high school teacher, was not one of those people. His master’s in American History wasn’t worth much when the apocalypse came. A scoff left the man’s lips as he remembered how ignorant he had been, all that time spent doting on the past and never thinking about what the future might bring. 

He shouldn’t have ever left Oregon, but once again the pursuit of knowledge clouded his judgment. He wanted to visit Attu island, where the Battle of Attu was held, experience what the soldiers experienced. Guess my wish came true in the end, he thought bitterly as he brought his clasped hands up to his mouth, releasing on them the heated air from his lungs. 

And when he did have a chance to get out, he let it slip right through his fingers. A Coyote, Caribous as they called them up in the north, had offered him safe passage across the Canadian border, to a bigger city that was thought to have better control of the situation, but he declined.

The ache in his chest grew as memories of the day this all started resurfaced, the day the airports shut down, leaving him trapped in Anchorage. World leaders had assured their people that everything was alright, that the things that landed on our planet were not to be feared, that they came in peace. What a joke.

In the distance, the man could see the outline of something, something big, but the heavy snowfall made it hard to see. Hope filled him for the first time in months. He picked up his pace, the group he had been with was gone, and so was their car, so he was stuck on foot.

The outline was clearer now and he could just barely make out what the building was, the yellow starburst on a blue background hard to mistake. A Walmart. Gosh, I must have landed the motherload!, he thought. Mr. Hendricks noticed a few carts scattered about and knew he must be close to the entrance.

Frosted glass proved his theory. Prying open the sliding entrance doors proved more difficult than he anticipated and multiple times he had to stop to exhale on his fingers again, heat them up enough to keep going. Something clicked and Mr. Hendricks fell over as the doors released. He hurried inside, it would be dark soon. 

Had it not been for his hastiness and the thick film of dust he would have noticed the words spray-painted across the indoor welcome sign. 

TURN AROUND — THEY’RE HERE.

Crossing the threshold, he held his breath. Gosh it’s so dark. There must be a fuse box somewhere. Mr. Hendricks knew from experience where they kept the thing, his first job had been at the Walmart back home in Portland. 

Pulling out his flashlight, he turned it on and then gave his surroundings a quick scan. No danger yet, but I should keep my guard up anyway, he thought. He began walking towards the back of the store, where the fuse box was located. As he did, the man thought he heard a rattling sound coming from somewhere close to him, but he shrugged it off. 

Mr. Hendricks shone his flashlight across the back wall, and a shimmer caught his eye. Walking over, he flashed his flashlight side to side, trying to find the source. A reflective metal door returned its light. Peeling his other hand out of his thermal jacket, he ran it over the dusty sign bolted to the surface of the metal.

MAINTENANCE ROOM

Another rattle was heard from the shadows, this time Mr. Hendricks turned around, flashing his light in the direction of the noise. His pale grey eyes widened and a metallic-skinned, human-like creature returned his gaze. Mr. Hendricks shouted and pushed himself back to the wall, putting as much distance between the two of them as possible. 

In his panic, the man had lost sight of the extraterrestrial. Slowly, he flicked his light around, searching for the creature. A rattling floated into the air once again and he pinned his light in the direction of the sound. To the man’s surprise, the creature screeched and doubled forward, the flashlight’s glare burning its skin. A stream of a mercury-like substance began to slide down its body and collect in a puddle on the dull linoleum floor. 

The light, Mr. Hendricks thought. The light burns them.

Keeping his eyes and his light glued onto the creature, he reached behind him, forcing open the metal door. A thump came from behind the door as soon as he closed it, then another, then another. 

Mr. Hendricks looked around frantically, flinching against his will as the thumps continued. Before anything he piled some of the space’s clutter in front of the door, tool boxes, cleaning supplies, anything he could find. Then he searched the room for the fuse box. He spotted it in the far corner.

His hands clawed at the box’s latch but his jittering fingers prevented him from getting a good grip. Mr. Hendricks paused, taking a deep breath to calm himself down. After a quick tug, the tiny door screeched open and the man quickly flipped every disabled switch on.

A symphony of barely audible clicks sounded outside as the lights turned on, followed by several haunting shrieks. Mr. Hendricks collapsed, with his chest heavy and tears of relief running down his cheeks. 

...

A few minutes passed, maybe hours, before Mr. Hendricks finally lifted himself off the dirty floor. The dominating clutches of hunger had overpowered his fear, forcing him to leave the safety of the maintenance room to venture out in search of supplies.

He pulled open the door with hesitation, unsure of the creature’s whereabouts. Upon seeing the collection of silvery liquid had grown, from a simple puddle to a pool, his shoulders dropped in relief. 

This experience had sprouted a new seed of ambition in him. He knew the key to taking back his home, and he wouldn’t stop until he did.

THE END.