Awake

By Gyula Mészáros

Three short stories are compiled in this e-book, each one taking the reader to different areas of the science-fiction realm.

Counter Attack: After the alien invasion the Earth is devastated. Small groups still resist and fight back, but their days may run out soon. By luck, they have the chance to take revenge on the aliens.

Calm, Calm West: Everett Marshall is not an ordinary sheriff, he is from the future, doing a job. If he does it well, the Wild West is going to change for good. Unfortunately not everyone is satisfied with the expected result, they want the West as Wild as it is. And they have better gadgets.

Awake: Before William Calver had an accident and fell into coma, he had put a card into his wallet, allowing the doctors to use his organs to save lives. He couldn't imagine that they will use his whole body. He couldn't imagine that it will save his own life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gyula Mészáros
• Release date: Mar 7, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310244278

Book preview

Awake

Julius Butcher

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2014 by Julius Butcher

These stories are works of fiction. Names, characters, places and events are products of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual events, places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to Julius Butcher:

[e-mail]

AWAKE

by

JULIUS BUTCHER

Contents

Counter Attack

Calm, Calm West

Awake

About the Author

Counter attack

I'm sitting in the darkness, waiting. There will be a rumble above me soon, and the ground will shake. The moment is coming - my big moment, when I take revenge for my parents and my friends. The moment when I strike back on behalf of the fallen soldiers and the slaughtered women and children, when I can show what I am made of. My hands are on my knees, but they don't stop shaking. The coward in me wants to run away, to find a way out, to save himself. However, my braver part is winning, at least for now. So I'm sitting in the dark, waiting.

***

I never wanted to be a hero. Sometimes though, higher authorities have other plans and the responsibility falls on you, whether you want it to or not. Then you accept your fate, swallow your fear and do your part.

A few days ago I was on watch duty with Ethan. We were hiding in the top floor of the multiplex movie building. Ethan stood in the shadow, looking through an empty window frame to the ruined city. It was his turn to keep an eye on the enemy movements, so we could alert the bunker in case the Droks came any closer. I sat on the floor, chewing a dry cereal bar. I gave up half-way through and for a moment I considered throwing it away. Instead I rewrapped it and put it in my pocket. Food is too precious to waste, no matter the taste.

I hope I can blow up a few of their brains before I die. Damn Droks! Ethan spat on the ground.

Why brains especially? I asked.

They have much bigger brains than we do.

It wasn't much of an explanation but I let it go, and instead asked, You were in the army, right?

Lieutenant, Second Corps.

You've seen them? Face to face?

Ethan frowned. Droks are hard to catch. They blow up before you get to them. Must be a self-destruction thing.

I had heard that there are human-shaped beings inside the heavily armoured exoskeletons. To me, Droks were robots with laser guns, though the geeks said it was not exactly a laser gun. Who cared about the proper name, they blew you into pieces all the same?

What do they look like? I asked.

Have you seen Area 51 movies? Grey aliens?

Yup, I said thinking, when we still had movies.

Pale skin, big head, smaller eyes than in the films, but a lot more teeth. Ethan nodded as if to confirm the description. Then he continued without being asked. No one knows why we call them Droks. A guy told me the name was D.R.O.K. when they appeared. Some acronym only geeks could decipher. We should call them jerks instead.

I completely agreed with him. We sat in silence for a while.

You think another ship will come? I asked.

You bet, he replied. This is a goldmine for them.

I never thought that air could be so valuable.

Yeah. Hell of a price to pay, killing all of humanity for it. Even the animals. Bastard Droks! He spat again.

I still remembered when the spaceship arrived. It was gigantic. It landed next to the city and started to suck up the air. For days we watched the tornado-like funnels the machines made. Then the ship took off and left and it became clear why they decided to kill us: they