Newtons Law
Newtons third law of motion is for each force there is an equal and opposite reaction. Many people unwittingly apply this to real life under the same category as karma. I like to think of it from a physics point of view, for it is a more reliable and accurate description on what happens when you change or do something. For example, I take your orange, and you take my apple. I get an orange, but you get my apple. Nothing is gained nor lost, no energy is wasted, the circle is complete. But that's just apples and oranges, what about something bigger. War, deceit, anger, these all can be a means of force. There are people who turn their heads to force and would rather push is a subtle but deadly way.
Christopher J.M.
October 1st 2020
It was my 21st birthday today, I didn't drink anything though. Nothing alcoholic anyway. I'm not much for that sort of thing. Flynn pressured me to, holding a bottle of vodka, but I still said no. The party was fun. I invited most of my friends. They didn't seem too fond of my lack of inebriation. Jesus it felt like I was in a zoo. Flynn's brother wasn't there though. He was sick apparently, but whenever I asked Flynn if I could say hi, he either ignored my question, or had an excuse. I lost my other journal the other day and had to pick up a new one. I lost my other journal I don't think you know how devastating that is to me. All year I had kept at least every week logged in that journal and now it's gone.
October 3rd 2020
Sorry I didn't log this yesterday but nothing really happened. I just stayed at home because all my friends were wasted. Well, I did do some classwork, but thats about it. I'm writing this at work right now and I swear to god there has got to be something going around because the manager's gone too. No way I'm getting that.
October 4th 2020
So I called Flynn today to check up on him and he was fine. Everything was going well until I heard a scream on the other line. When I questioned him, he hung up. I have no idea whats going on and I'm going over there tomorrow. Again, like yesterday, nothing much happened. Manager is still gone and work was cancelled today. Not surprising, that restaurant breaks down every month. No big deal.
October 5 2020
So I went to Flynn's house to check on his brother, Francis, and Flynn didn't answer the door, right? So I tried the knob and it was unlocked. His house seemed empty, but I heard some sounds coming from the upstairs portion of his house, so I went up the stairs. His room door was closed. I knocked on it only to be greeted by Flynn's angry voice telling me to fuck off. Fine. I left. Never talking to him again
October 8th 2020
Ha, I lost my journal. Nothing happened, but it is an integral part of my life. I love writing in this thing. I love writing. Never have ever finished a story before though. I want to really badly though. Well, I guess I have finished some really short stories before, but never a long one. I force my friends to read them sometimes.
October 10th 2020
I don't want to write in this every day actually. It got a little personal there, even for myself. I know I know it sounds weird but I'm not the most secure person. Then again, I am the helper. I help, but don't get help in return. I don't mind and I hope that wasn't awkward but it's true. That's what happens. And thats how its going to be. I'm perfectly fine with that.
October 11th 2020
Okay, really, what happened to Flynn. He hasn't called me or talked to me about anything since he told me to fuck off. I'm starting to worry about him. We usually talk to each other at least every other day. I don't know what the hell has been going on seriously I'm worried. Okay, I'm going to his house tomorrow again.
October 12th 2020
I went to Flynn's house yesterday and. And. I don't know what happened to him. The door was blown out. All the way. No door to the front of his house. His brother wasn't there as well, and there was a trail of oil or something coming out of his house and into the street. When I went back to my house to report it, the police lines were full. Not sure why, but I did hear sirens outside, and when I turned on the television to see what was going on, all I saw was infomercials. God I hate this country.
October 13th 2020
I came down with a cold or something today in my sleep I think. It's nothing. But damnit I hate having a runny nose. I just hope I don't get as sick as Flynn.
October 14th
I think I might just be as sick as Flynn. Oh I threw up all over everything today it was embarrassing. Really, I ruined everything. Ugh, and then I had to clean it up. And then I think one of my eyes stopped working. Or maybe it just fell out, I don't know.
October 15th
I got the news working , not me, the idiots at the T.V. station. And apparently a Prawn had been spotted closeby or something. I thought they all left in, like the 2000's or something. I guess not. And one here? That kills me. Here? In America? They landed in Africa didn't they. I don't know, Hannibal knows more about this stuff than I do. They left when I was seven or something, yeah, in 2006 they all left. District 9 was empty. They made a documentary out of it. It's all over the internet. "Government conspiracy" It said, and according to my sources, the footage was never officially released because of...something. Well, at least thats what I thought. But I don't seem to know anything anymore do I? I do.
October 16th
Oh my god it's happening. Wiki threw up at the end and I'm throwing up oh Jesus christ what the frik is going to happen.
October 17th
Blood, blood everywhere. Oh it's terrible I'm not leaving the house ever again this is what I get for being curious. Well, what the hell I might as well make a documentary out of it too, maybe I can put it together in fucking movie maker and complete the conspiracy. Yeah I use windows fuck you.
The screen fades to black and a video with Chris' face in the center fades in.
"Hello, um, this is episode one of my vlog?" Chris pulls a jar of black sludge out from under the frame. "This is my uh, my uh. Uh. Well. My." He opens his mouth and points to his esophagus. "I don't know what's happening, but I'm quite sure I should keep my, uh, excretions. Nothing else has happened today, so I'm leaving. Bye." He waves goodbye and the video ends.
The nest video begins, supposedly on October 20th
"Sorry I didn't update, I just, my leg has been in a lot of pain lately" He avoids looking at the camera and instead fixates on the leg. "I wrapped it up and took the day off of life. It should be better later." He reaches over to the trackpad on his laptop and the video cuts out.
The date is unknown, but the video sill is on. It starts with Chris in the edge of the screen. He looks up at the camera. "What happened to my leg?" He holds his leg up and it is covered in blood. Underneath was an exoskeleton. "Is this what happened to Wik-wik-vik-wiks? Someone better be watching this." He looks back at his leg
The video logs end.
October 29th
Man they should've made jeans for Prawns cause District damn I look hot. Oh god it's weird now. What the fuck am I saying what is wrong with me.
A video from a home camera started up.
"Take your pants off" Hannibal said
Chris dropped his pants
"The transformation is accelerating dude, you better get used to this." He looked up, again, not phased at all.
"How do you know this? And why, are you not surprised at all? Are you an alien?"
"Ah, big guy, fuck off, you're the alien here."
Chris crossed my arms and looked away. Hannibal continued
"I'm part of a, well, cult, it started in District 9, but migrated over to America. It's eh, joined it a while ago."
"What's it called?" Chris was curious
"There is a meeting place under the Red Lobster you work at. We call them Districts and there is a code. Just order the Prawns with licorice sauce and they will let you in."
"What" I said "Is that where they go? I thought that was just the meeting room, the entree is expensive as fuck."
"No dude, it's an elevator. How did you not know that?"
"I don't know. Also, how does the maintenance crew not notice the elevator to this 'District' thing?"
"That's just it, Chris. Whenever the place shuts down, it's because an outsider sees the District."
"Wait, then what do you do if they don't-"
"We kill them and eat them."
"Whoa, what. You eat them?"
"No no," Hannibal said, "The Prawns do."
"Hannibal I don't know if I should be talking to you right now."
"Kidding dude, We turn them into cat food."
"Yeah, haven't you ever heard of Purina?" He said
Hannibal and Chris hung out for a while before Chris passed out.
Chris woke up to the face of a Prawn. "Oh god."
The Prawn replied "Chris it's me."
"Who?" Then He realized who it was, "Flynn?" His voice sounded different when he spoke.
"Yes!" He closed one of his eyes and said "Ayyyy" while pointing at Chris. He laughed nervously and got out of the cot. The other people surrounding him backed up to let him through. He ran to the bathroom and looked in the mirror, Hannibal followed with the camera. A Prawn stared back at him. The full meaning of what was happening hit him and he banged my head on the sink. He looked back into the mirror. No. He looked harder, darting his eyes across his face to try and confirm what happened.
"Chris, I know. Just look. You're fine okay."
Chris turned to Hannibal. "No, I am not fine. I am clearly, not fine!" He said pointed to his face.
"Whoa man, just calm down okay." Hannibal kept the camera on Chris.
"How, can I calm down. HO-" He collapsed again.
Hannibal ran to Chris. "It's okay man I'm sorry I'm sorry." He dropped the camera and picked Chris up. The footage cuts out
The footage picks back up to Chris sitting in a chair in supposedly the same "District" as before, his transformation complete. Hannibal's voice is heard on the other side of the camera.
"Hey man, most people don't take it as calmly as you do."
Chris didn't look up. "Really?"
"Yeah dude I-"
Chris stood up and put his hand on Hannibal's chest. "What is happening."
"Hey man, just calm down okay. You're fine, just wait."
"No. No. I am not fine, Hannibal. I am not fine. We went through this already."
Chris pushed Hannibal closer and closer to the cement wall. "Hey, c'mon," He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small can of cat food. "Here, I got you some food." Chris knocked the can out of his hand and pushed him against the wall. The camera clattered to the floor.
"You knew about this didn't you?"
"Uh"
"Didn't you?"
"Well…"
"And what happened to Flynn?"
"Well…"
"You knew. WhY DIDN'T YOU-" Chris walked back to the chair. "No it's okay, like there was anything you could do anyway."
"No, Chris, there wasn't anything I could do. Yes I knew about it but what was I supposed to do?" He retrieved the can of cat food and the camera from the ground. "Look, this is all we've got, just eat it." He warily held out the can to Chris. He snatched it out of Hannibal's hand, opened it, looked quizzically at the camera and downed the food.
"What the fuck."
"Sooo?"
"What- uh- come here"
Hannibal leaned over close to Chris, he whispered something into Hannibal's ear and He handed Chris another can of food.
BANG. The elevator doors collapsed
"GET DOWN EVERYBODY GET DOWN HANDS ON THE GROUND HANDS ON THE GROUND."
Chris and Hannibal got on their knees and put their hands up. Hannibal stuck the camera in his pants pocket and the video became black.
"You guys are coming with me." A rough voice said.
Footsteps, shuffling, static, and a car door shutting.
"Get in the car."
"Officer, why-"
"Because of. That."
"No sir, it's not what it looks like."
"Haha, can you believe this guy?"
"Excuse me sir I-"
"Shut up Prawn"
"I have rights you know. I demand a trial!"
"Yeah, sure you do."
The starting up of a car. Engine purring. Distant conversation. Whispering between Chris and Hannibal. Tires screeching.
"Whoa hey what the?!"
BANG BANG. The shattering of glass rang out and the microphone struggled to equalize it.
"What the hell? Get out of here freaks!"
Two gunshots. Inhuman squealing, human screaming. The Noises stopped and the engine fired up again.
"God damn protesters. What do they want anyway, eh?"
"Yeah, what could they possibly want?" Said a sarcastic voice.
"Shut up faceache."
Silence but the engine whirring. Nothing for more than half an hour.
"Alright guys get out of the car." A door opens, a door shuts. Another door opens. Rustling.
"I am not in the mood for this."
"Shut up and cooperate, they can't do anything if we cooperate."
"Don't talk to the Prawn, kid, you'll get herpes or something."
"Hey!"
"I said shut the fuck up!"
Gunshot
"AH! JESUS MY ARM, SHIT!"
"Come on buddy, you can do it."
"MY BLOOD IS LITERALLY LEAKING ONTO THE FLOOR."
"Don't worry, you can clean that up later."
Footsteps on marble.
"Got these guys from hotspot twelve. The only ones there too."
"Why are you bringing the human in?"
"I dunno, to keep him safe."
"Okay good, put him in the interrogation room just in case."
"What do I do with the Prawn?"
"Kill it."
"No no, please sir, uh."
"Quiet."
"No, uh, i know where the other places are I know where."
"Really?"
"Yes, re-really."
"We'll see about that."
"Hey, what are you doing with that needle, stop!"
"OW!"
"No! No! You can't do this! We have rights!"
"Not here you don't."
"What's that in your pocket?"
"My dick shitface."
"No. Give it to me."
"Perv."
"Ah, a video camera."
A furry man came into view. Chris was on the floor and the building around them was shiny marble and steel. There were four elevators behind the man and a logo above them that said MNU.
The video starts with a the same furry man close to the lens. He backed up to reveal Hannibal sitting in front of a table with another man in a black suit sitting across. The man in the suit spoke.
"So, do you want to tell us about your little friend?"
"Not really, no."
On the other side of the world chaos was at the helm. A rogue, abandoned by his friend on a rampage through the streets of Johannesburg. The people screaming, blood staining the streets vibrant red. The radio in his ear rang.
"You've gone too far this time, it needs to stop! This is what you didn't want to do, when you were waiting, this is what you didn't want to do."
"It's not fair, Gil, it's not FAIR."
Another person blown to smithereens.
"So you come in here and tell me that you know nothing?"
"No dumbass, you brought me here, and I do know things, I just don't want to tell you."
"Ah, so you're a smart one are ya? Whats the real name of these Prawns?"
"First of all, what the fuck does their name have to do with this?"
"Well do you know it?"
"Maybe."
"What is it?" The officer leaned in.
"Punjabi's."
"Wait really?"
"Sure." He giggled.
Hannibal leaned back in his chair.
"Well good, I guess that's all we needed you for Mr. Uh, Mr,"
"Smith."
"Thank you, Mr. Smith. You may leave now."
Hannibal got up and opened the door.
"Oh yeah, and uh, get your friend too."
"Dumbass." Hannibal muttered.
"What?"
"Nothing. Oh yeah, could I get my camera?"
"Yeah, sure, here."
The furry man grabbed the camera from the tripod and handed it to Hannibal.
"Thanks."
Hannibal spoke into the camera as he left into the hallway.
"I have no, idea where Chris is, and they just let me wander around. Also, they gave me my camera back. Bad ideas MNU, bad ideas."
Hannibal positioned the camera on the floor and broke the windows on the doors of every room.
"Hannibal!"
Flynn was in one of the rooms. He was bonded to an operating table and was missing his right arm. A metal plate had been placed over it, and the disconnected arm was laying on a counter by the wall, with various instruments haphazardly jutting out of them.
"Hannibal get me out of here."
"Don't worry, I will."
Hannibal placed the camera on the counter next to Flynn's arm and started to pry Flynn's restraints apart
Chtc the first one came undone
Chtc the second one
An alarm went off as Hannibal undid the last restraint.
"Shit run!"
Hannibal hastily grabbed the camera. and left the room.
"Hannibal, wait!
"Oh yeah, sorry!"
Hannibal ran back into the room with Flynn in it and started to help him up.
"Sorry dude."
"It's fine, just, yeah."
A stern voice came out of the P.A."THIS BUILDING IS UNDER LOCKDOWN THIS BUILDING IS UNDER LOCKDOWN. ALL PERSONNEL PLEASE REPORT TO EMERGENCY BUNKERS, REPEAT, ALL PERSONNEL PLEASE REPORT TO EMERGENCY BUNKERS. THANK YOU.
Solid iron doors slid down in front of the normal doors in every room, shutting Hannibal and Flynn inside.
"See, thats better right?"
"Maybe Gil, maybe, but it still hasn't fixed the heartache."
"Yes, but it never will. And you know that."
He was silent.
"Just come back, it's happening to me too."
"Now you know how I feel."
"Just come back, please." She was crying now.
"Fine."
Hannibal backed up from Flynn into the chair by the counter.
"Well, that's it, we're screwed. Hey Flynn?"
Flynn sighed,"Yeah?"
"If-if we are stuck in here and we run out of food, can I...eat you?"
Flynn sighed again. "Sure."
"Cool."
Flynn sighed again.
"Stop sighing, I won't actually eat you."
"Well good then but then we're both gonna die."
"No dude, I'll find a way out. Promise."
Flynn sighed again.
"How'd you get here anyway, they said we were the only ones in the District?"
"I tried to go back home and they caught me."
"Oh. What happened to your brother?"
"I'm not sure. I just hope he's okay. He's small you know? He was the first to turn, and the neighbors started to complain when he went outside. Then one day, they just took him. Right from our front yard."
"Damn. Sorry."
"I'm sorry too."
"What was his name? Sorry, I forgot."
"Charley, Charley Oliver.."
"Charley huh? Nice name. But why is his last name a first name?"
"I don't know, and thanks."
Hannibal got up and kicked the iron door.
"Fucking door!"
"Don't just kick the door Hannibal they'll find us!"
"They will?"
Hannibal kicked the door repeatedly, harder each time. They heard a voice.
"Hey who's there!? Open the door!"
"How the fuck are we going to open the door?!"
The voice replied.
"Hannibal?!"
"Chris is that you!?"
"Yeah, can you open the door?!"
"No I can't it's locked can you?!"
"Yeah hold on."
The door started to slide upwards. Chris' face appeared near the floor. "Hey guys!" He placed his hands under the door and pulled it up more. "A little help?"
Hannibal started to help chris with the door. It was heavy. "Thanks man, I was gonna eat Flynn if someone didn't come to help us."
"Wow, do me a favor."
"What?"
"Don't"
Flynn hopped off the table. "C'mon guys, the building is in lock down, we gotta go."
Chris followed Flynn out of the room. Hannibal checked the camera lens and left with them. The hallways were dark and empty, every room was barricaded off and all of the vents were closed.
"So, Chris, how'd you get out?" Hannibal said.
"During the lock down, the door of the cell they were holding me in just opened up. Not sure why. Hey Flynn, what happened to your arm?"
"They cut it off." Flynn replied bitterly.
"Oh. Why? Did they knock you out?"
"No, they didn't."
Hannibal butted in, "Hey, you guys? You mind speaking English?"
Flynn turned to Hannibal. "We are."
"No, you're not. Look, I can understand you either way, but just practice English at least. People won't be so frightened when you speak the same language."
"Really? We're not speaking English, but-"
"Look at each other's mouths guys."
"But I-" Flynn said. Chris observed.
"Oh my god."
"Yeah, guys." Hannibal said, "Imagine how much more peaceful the world would be if we all spoke the same language. It has to start somewhere. This is what happens. You spoke English to the officer and he let you live. Just stick with human English okay. I'm sorry but-"
"That's the only thing we have left." Chris finished Hannibal's sentence.
"No Chris, don't think like that. I've heard that that guy- Wikus -got help from a Prawn and was human again."
"Was that his name huh?"
"Yeah, Wikus Van de Merwe I think. Not sure though."
"Oh. Oh wow. Hold on, just give me a minute please."
Hannibal started to talk to Flynn. "WHt sb aacvbnm,t.y."
"Excuse me?"
Hannibal continued, "HWASBBABSNCOSFN." And spewed black stuff everywhere
"What." Flynn said, wiping some much black mucus from his eyes.
"Do you need an ambulance, because we're not going to find one here."
"PO das2 s- -as-dasd3asd==sdas~df."
Hannibal fell over and his pupils dilated. He dropped the camera.
"Hannibal!"
"Good, I'm glad you came back."
"I'm sure you are."
"Are you okay? Look, I'm sorry this happened, I'm doing all I can."
"Yeah, and I've got four copies of the limited edition of Alvin and The Chipmunks with behind the scenes 12 hours of unseen footage on fokken blu ray here in my fokken trench coat but it ain't doin shit!"
"Please calm down. I know you're going through a lot, and look, it's happening to me too but you can't let it control your life. They're coming now, we can't just sit here and do nothing anymore. And you can't try and raid again. I know it worked the first time but it's not going to work now."
"Oh whats the point Gil?" He sat down on a crate. "Christopher's left me here to die anyway, I might as well just carry out his wish."
"I'm sure he didn't want this to happen. He's probably got things to do."
"Like what, take care of his son. That shitface is probably in college right now or whatever-the-fock they have on that backwards planet!" He got off of the crate and kicked it across the yard.
"I said calm down! Control yourself!"
"You're a cunt Gil, you know that?!"
"Please stop!"
"Oh please, you don't even know my name!"
"Yes I do Mr. Merwe, and-"
"That is my last name Gil!"
"Well I kno-"
"Don't even talk to me right now."
Hannibal lay on the ground, un-moving. Flynn hovered over him trying to figure out what happened.
"Chris! Hannibal's collapsed!"
Chris whirled around. "What?"
"He just spurted gibberish and fell over."
"Flynn, you have mucus on your face."
"So?"
"I think he's turning."
"What!? He can't be! Oh wait! I will be right back!" Flynn ran off towards the room they came from and came back shortly afterwards with a spiked metal collar.
"What, why did you get a dog collar?"
Flynn ignored him and put the collar around Hannibal's neck.
"Hannibal told me about this thing. They found a collar used by MNU to control the, the, outlanders, and Hannibal helped modify it to delay the transformation process."
"Why didn't we get those!?"
"Because we were too far in, just leave it okay."
"Jesus Flynn no need to freak out. We're all facing the same dilemma here, just look at me."
Click. The collar locked around Hannibal's neck. Blood started to drip from it, and Hannibal jolted up.
"OH SHIT. What-the-fuck just happened?"
"You were about to become one of us."
"Oh thanks for saving me, you guys are ugly. No offence."
Chris replied "None fucking taken."
"Oh good. Now, my neck is bleeding, the building is under lock down, you guys are prawns, so-how do we get out of here?"
"I don't know, Hannibal, you need to stop playing around."
"No Flynn, because what's the easiest way to get in?"
"Where?" Flynn said, rolling his eyes.
"The front door."
"What."
"What."
"What." Hannibal said, "Sorry, just wanted to be in the moment." Then he ran down the hall in the opposite direction towards the front door. Flynn and Chris followed.
"Hannibal what are you doing."
"Get over here Poleep's! Get it like peeps, but like-"
Flynn glared at Hannibal. Hannibal received the message. "Just get over here and help me!"
Chris ran over to help Hannibal with the door. Flynn didn't move. "What are we going to do when we get out huh? Just look at us. Me and Chris are both, Prawns, and you're just weird!" He threw up his hand at Hannibal and leaned against the wall.
"Just- never mind. Whatever. Just stand there and stagnate you dick."
"Hey, Hannibal guess what. Fuck off!"
"I don't think you realize what you're dealing with Flynn, I could take you out in a heartbeat!"
"Yeah, I'm sure of that you five-foot-eight midget."
"You wanna go right fuckin' now Prawn?"
Chris let go of the door, causing it to slam down on Hannibal's fingers.
"AH WHAT THE FUCK CHRIS"
"Hey guys guess what, stop fighting okay just get over here Flynn and help us with the door." Chris said after backing away from Hannibal. Hannibal massaged his hand. "Yeah, he's right I guess, just Flynn, come over here and help us."
Flynn gave up and went to help them with the door.
"Put your hands up, now."
Flynn and Chris turned to the voice. An MNU official stood, gun pointed at the three of them. Hannibal didn't turn but instead muttered under his breath "Of course."
"You! Turn around, now!"
Hannibal reached into his pocket.
"I said now!"
He started to pull out a gun.
"I'll shoot! Put your hands up! Drop the weapon!"
Hannibal sun around and shot the officer. The gun had an orange tip.
"RUN!" Hannibal took off down the hallway.
"Mr. Merwe please."
"Please leave, Gil."
"What has gotten into you today? Do you have any idea how much I do for you every day?"
"Yeah, you help the Prawns a lot don't you. Seems you care about them more than me."
"You know that's not what they're called."
"You say 'they' like I'm not one of them."
"You don't want to be 'one of them', and, unlike you, I respect others' wishes."
"You watched me kill those innocents Gil."
"You forced me to."
"How can I trust you won't tell?"
"Because they're all dead!"
"Not to me they aren't. I hear them screaming. I can hear a thousand innocents, screaming. Screaming, crying for a way out."
"It's all in your head, just please, cooperate for once."
"FOR ONCE? DO YOU KNOW WHERE THAT GOT ME? RIGHT FOKKEN 'ERE! RIGHT 'ERE IN THIS FOKKEN DUMP WITH A USELESS SHIT LIKE YOU."
"Stop, don't say that to me! That's not what I meant!" Tears welled up in her eyes.
"I CAN SAY ANYTHING I WANT TO YOU!"
Gil stood up. "Well, I want to say some real shit to you Mr. Merwe, but you know what? I never do. At least I have the common decency to control myself. What happened to you Mr. Merwe? You used to be in love. You used to have hope. Now look at you!"
"Don't even MENTION THAT TO ME, WITH YOUR, 'MR. MERWE' THIS AND 'MR. MERWE' THAT, WHY DON'T YOU JUST FOCK OFF?"
"Maybe I will! Mr. Merwe! Maybe I'll go find Christopher! At least he didn't cuss me out when I was trying to help!"
"Don't you dare leave me woman! Not ever for Christopher!" He snatched her arm as she left and pulled back.
"Let me go!"
"NEVER."
He picked her up and threw her on the ground. Gil lost consciousness, her ribs broken and visible through her shirt.
"Oh no." He collapsed next to her. "What have I done?"
"Hannibal will you please stop with the running?!" Chris yelled to Hannibal from behind.
"No! Running's fun haven't you ever tried it?!"
"Not like this no!"
"Where's Flynn?!"
Chris stopped "I don't know." He turned and ran back towards the front door.
"Chris where are you going?! He's fine! He'll catch up!"
"No what if they cut his other arm off or something?!"
Hannibal reluctantly followed Chris down the hallway and back to Flynn. Flynn came into view near the now opened front door.
Hannibal ran towards him "Oh nice Flynn! You got the doo-" He noticed the dead and mangled body of the MNU officer below him. "Oh. I see. Flynn don't kill people it's...bad." Hannibal squatted over next to the body and looked up at Flynn. His face was dabbled with blood.
"What?"
"Goddamnit Flynn." Chris said as he noticed the blood on his face as well.
"What? The door's open now! I did what you wanted!"
Hannibal looked disgustedly at Flynn and went out of the front door. "Why do you guys always take so long to follow me?"
"Because we're not crazy." Flynn said as he ran to catch up with Hannibal.
He carried Gil's body through the city, looking for a possible survivor. Her precious blood leaking out like a leaky faucet, leaving a trail of tears and blood down the empty roads he trudged down. Every so often, Gil would wake up and mutter something, then fall back into unconsciousness. As time passed, he got more wary. Checking up on Gil every few seconds to make sure her heart was still beating. Then, about a two hours in, it stopped. He collapsed to the asphalt.
"No. Gil. Please don't go." He ran his hand through her hair.
The deep rumbling of a ship boomed overhead. The giant disk came into view. He looked up at it.
"You came back?"
"H-Hannibal, why are the streets so empty, I feel like someone is going to jump out and kill us or something." Flynn asked, holding his hands close to his chest.
"How the hell am I supposed to know? Why don't we just take advantage of this. Now you guys, go home. Do it while you can please. If there really is no one here, they won't stop you."
"Yeah, and what happens when there are people? They dissect us. Of course, they won't kill you, but maybe they will. You do have that collar on after all." Chris said.
"Yeah well maybe they won't be huh? What about then? What about if we could all just go fucking home and do nothing." Hannibal threw up his arms. "Wouldn't life just be so easy then?"
"Yeah, of course it would be. But it ain't that easy is it Hannibal? Remember, when you lost your job and had to come back to America and live with Flynn? Huh? You remember that right? You did nothing to come out of that until, like, three years ago."
"Yeah, and remember that one time when you turned into a Prawn, oh yeah, right fucking now!?"
"Shut up! You were just fucking about to when Flynn put that dog collar on you! You know what, maybe we will go home! Maybe we will, go and rot at our houses! Sure is a lot more fun than talking to you!" Chris grabbed Flynn, "C'mon, we're going."
"What, no goodbye."
"See you bitch!"
"Fine."
"And give me back my camera!"
Hannibal chucked the camera at Chris. It hit him square in the face and fell on the ground. Chris picked it up and stopped the video
He scrambled for a better view, leaving Gil behind on the sidewalk. The ship stopped moaning and a translucent beam shot down from a hole in the ship. It was aimed at Gil, and her body started to levitate off the ground towards the ship. He turned around and looked at the now floating Gil.
"What? Christopher! It's me! It's me! Take me!"
The beam ignored him for a while, then moved over to him, lifting him off of the ground.
"Yes Christopher, yes, you came back to me."
The video starts back up with Chris' face in the center.
"I found Charley today. He was just sitting outside of my house, lost I guess. He's so small."
He turned the camera to Charley, who was playing on the T.V. on Chris' couch.
"He's turned too. Now he's playing on the XBOX now. Poor guy. So young…"
He sat down next to Charley. "Hey Charley."
"People call me CJ."
"Do they? Sorry, CJ. I didn't know."
Chris got up from from the couch and turned the camera back to his face.
"He thinks he's from their planet."
He positioned the camera toward the television. A human avatar was moving around on the screen.
"God this thing is so old, its like, from 2013 or something." He moved the camera back to CJ, whose eyes were still glued to the T.V. "CJ you wanna do something else maybe? I have scrabble."
"No. Not really."
"You haven't talked in a while."
CJ clicked a bit.
"Oh god." Chris left with the camera and grabbed his phone. Silence, then:
"Hey, Flynn? Yeah. Yeah, I've got your brother. No. Yeah he's doing it. We need to talk to Hannibal. No I don't know where he is. But he never picks up his phone...but I can't- I can't understand him Flynn I don't know what's happening. I-" Silence again. Chris put down his phone and sighed. The video stopped.
He searched for Christopher, but the ship was empty. There was no one to be found, just a sterile ship. The lights were bright and he could see the multiple control panels that pilots and captains would sit at. He searched some more, calling out Christopher's name over and over again.
The video started up again with Chris' front door in shot. Inhuman squeals were coming from the other side along with banging. Chris was cackling to himself.
"Is this how I die."
He continued cackling. "What the fuck, hey Charle- CJ get over here!" CJ came from what was supposedly the couch.
"Who are you? Are you my dad doooooooo?"
"What, whatever dude check this out." Chris opened the curtain to reveal a multitude of Prawns gathered up at every door, including Chris', at every house on his street. He turned the camera back to him.
"I checked with Flynn and this is happening at his house too." He giggled some more. "I wonder how Hannibal's holding up." He turned back to CJ, who was holding the door open.
"CHARLEY WHY?" Charley looked straight into Chris' face. "Who are you?"
"Charley what."
"Ahhhhhhhhh." A disinterested sound came from the group of aliens rushing into Chris' house. It was coming from Hannibal. "Hey guys, just wanted to, drop on in." He winked.
"Was that supposed to be a joke?"
"No, what, no. I'm just happy to see you that is all."
"Did you organize-"
"No. What, no why would I do that? These guys aren't bloodthirsty though." Hannibal gestured towards the group of Prawns who were now sitting on the floor in front of Chris' television.
Chris' shoulders dropped. "Oh."
"What? We can still kill them if you want."
"No no, just, where did they all come from?"
"Well, my guess is that-"
One of the Prawns in the group started to talk "We were all uh, not like this."
"Well why didn't you just come out?"
"Fear of ridicule most likely." Hannibal answered for the Prawn.
The Prawn turned away and started to fiddle with the rug.
"Well. I. I. I." Chris was trying to say something when he noticed Chris was on the phone.
"Ctchhkkk thhhekkhh."
"What? Han-What?"
Hannibal frustratedly shushed Chris, and continued to talk on the phone. Chris impatiently tapped his foot as Hannibal continued to talk on the phone. After a while, he hung up.
"Why, and how, and most importantly how and why?"
"To call the Prawns."
"The what? How? What?"
"Yeah, they're coming."
Chris noticed that Hannibal's collar was missing. "Hannibal. You're collar is missing, we need to find it now."
"I know it is. I took it off."
"Why?"
"None of your concern Chris."
"Why?!"
"I said none of your concern!"
The house started to shake, and everyone inside looked up at the ceiling. Most of the Prawns scrambled outside, along with some others who had come out of their own houses to see. A large grey metal disk the size of a city was descending upon them Chris shielded his eyes with his arm as the bright engines came into view. They glowed bright blue and were the size of a block. They seemed to growl as the decelerated, vibrating the landscape.
"That's them now!" Hannibal said, eager.
CJ rushed up to Chris and embraced his leg. "What's happening dad?"
"What. Damon's your dad isn't- oh whatever."
A small escape-pod-like-thing descended from the ship and started to touchdown next to Hannibal. I landed with a whoosh and a wall panel slid open. A prawn slid out and seemed delighted as he ran his eyes along the crowd of others until he reached Chris. When he reached Chris, his eyes softened and his expression became weak. He turned back towards the pod.
"Whoa whoa whoa, where are you going?"
The Prawn turned back around and stood outside of the door, extending his arm to it. The crowd rushed in, Hannibal shoved Chris into the pod and waited on the ground.
"Hannibal, what are you-?!"
The pilot Prawn squeezed in and closed the door.
"But…" The camera was still recording, and the pod started to groan under the weight of all the people. It lifted off of the ground and started to ascend towards the giant disk. The pod was alive with chattering, but Chris stayed quiet. Hydraulics squealed and the pod stopped. The same hydraulics squealed and the door panel on the pod opened. The pilot stepped out of the pod and asked the people inside to come out. Chris came out to a ship. It was bright and seemed to only be occupied by the chairs and equipment used to pilot the ship. The ship was passively humming and each control panel let out a high-pitched squeal. It smelled of air-conditioner and there were no windows.
Chris reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. Just as he was about to call Hannibal.
"CHRISTOPHER! CHRISTOPHER!?" A prawn in a tattered coat came running down the hall. The pilot stepped forward, quizzically. So did Chris. The pilot moved away from Chris.
"What's wrong?" Chris said to the pilot.
The pilot ignored him and focused on the strange man running down the hall.
"CHRISTOPHER!" The man squealed as he saw the pilot. He tackled him. "Change me back you got me now change me back!"
"I will I will. Don't worry! Now get off me!"
"Yes, yes, sorry."
The man got off of the pilot. "Where's Gil?"
"Who?"
"Gil, the girl you picked up?"
"Oh, in the hospital."
"Where is that?"
"Down the hall to your left."
The man took off.
Chris turned to the pilot. "Who was that guy?"
"Don't talk to me, please."
"Gil!" He screamed, running down the hallway and to the left. There was a room, white instead of grey, that said HOSPITAL in red letters on the top of a large opening that lacked a door. The only person inside it was Gil, who was sleeping on one of the many hospital beds. He ran up to her.
"Gil, Gil!" He looked at the sleeping Gil. "Please, please. I'm sorry I'm sorry."
Gil smirked without opening her eyes.
"Hello, hey, Hannibal? Yes, why'd you put me in here this grumpy-ass Prawn wont let me down again. Because you know my what? What?" Chris brought the phone away from his ear. "Fine asshole, hang up abruptly again. Jesus."
The other people were forming a line in what seemed to be for flu shots. But there were more now, there were twice as more actually, half not lined up, but just standing next to the ones in the line.
Chris went up to one of the Prawns on the side.
"What's this line for? Flu shots."
"No. Antidote."
"What?"
The Prawn hesitated before continuing to talk to Chris.
"Well, we saw how intensely your human acted when he mutated himself, and we thought, hey, what the most passive aggressive thing we could do to you guys that wouldn't involve war?"
"Well, why not war?"
"Because, we would crush you and that wouldn't be very fair."
"Wow, so you're saying this happened to us because of what we did over twenty years ago?"
"Well, most of you are still alive and-"
"No! It's bullshit! I used to be human man, no offence but, I don't like this very much!"
"And that's exactly the reaction we were hoping for."
Chris stormed off into the wall, then, noticing what he did, stormed off down the hall aimlessly.
Gil woke up and he backed away slowly.
"Gil? Please forgive me I'm so so sorry."
She opened her eyes. "Yes, Wikus, I forgive you."
A Prawn wearing jeans and sweater vest came into the hospital. He was holding a camera and his other hand was a fist.
"Uh, excuse me, sir?" Wikus said. "Could you please uh, leave?"
The Prawn clicked some indistinguishable sounds then spoke. "Why, you having a date up here?" He saw Gil. "How you making that work huh?"
"Shut up okay! You have no idea what I've- we've been through!"
Gil giggled.
The Prawn continued. "Ay man, don't spill your entire life story out over here. I am just as confused as you seem to be."
Gil burst out laughing.
"Hey! We have something special you know! I used to be human so bug off!"
"Yeah, so did I."
Gil stopped laughing.
"Really? Really?"
"Yes really."
"Oh. I am so sorry. I know what you're going through."
"I figured. Hey, I'm going to go, I figured out what to say." The Prawn turned around and started to leave. Then he stopped. "And hey, good luck you two."
He turned around and came back to the line.
"And you know what-" He was ready to give them a piece of his mind when he noticed that the pod that they had arrived in was loaded, and there was only one syringe left. The Prawn from before spoke. "Hey, we saved you one." Chris grabbed it. "Thanks, I'll use it." But he didn't. He was just about to insert it into his arm when he stopped. He bolted back to the Hospital room and gave it to the Prawn in the coat. "Here." He said. "This is yours now I want you to have it. I have nobody at home but it looks like you do. Just, here."
Wikus took the syringe from the Prawn and reluctantly injected himself with it. The Prawn walked away and Wikus fell to the ground.
"Wikus!" Gil said as she got out of the bed. He got back up to his feet. His head and torso was human, his arm slowly following, the exoskeleton shedding off like a giant scab. He looked at himself in awe and then looked at Gil and hugged her. They followed the Prawn out of the door, and into the escape pod, waving goodbye at him before the doors closed.
"Well, there they go." Chris thought out loud. "My only chance of becoming human again."
The Prawn from before consoled him. "Hey don't worry, we've got some more of that stuff on our planet. The important thing is that you learned your lesson right?"
"I guess." Chris said. He looked for a place to sit and found a small air-conditioner near the wall. The pod came back up and the pilot stepped out.
"We are…" He sighed. "Ready for takeoff."
"Why's he such a sad sack?"
The Prawn from before shrugged.
"And where is CJ?"
"Your child? Oh, he's playing in the captains chair."
"He's not my child. And thank you." He looked for the captains chair, sure enough, CJ was playing with the powered off control panel.
"C'mon CJ we're leaving."
"But, human?"
"No, sorry. No humans. Not right now anyway."
The pilot almost pushed Chris out of the way to get in his chair but he didn't. Instead, he ran back to the escape pod and closed the door.
"Oh god, Larry?"
"Yeah?!"
"Christopher's bailed out we need another captain!"
"Okay!"
Supposedly Larry ran to the captains chair and pushed Chris and CJ away. He sat down and powered on the control panel. He started pressing buttons and telling the rest of the crew what to do.
"Prepare for light jump maintained flight."
The engines roared to life. And the ship started up. A screen flashed in front of Larry showing the view ahead and some coordinates on the side. The ship rocked back and forth as they left the Earth atmosphere, CJ fell over. The engines switched from a low humming to a high-pitched sound, much like an electric motor spooling up. Stars whooshed by on the screen and a warning bell was heard. The coordinates turned red and a large WARNING sign displayed on it.
The camera signal started to get fuzzy. Chris yelled over the alarm bells "WHAT'S HAPPENING?!"
Larry replied "I DON'T KNOW AND-"
WOOSH
The escape pod ejected.
"WHAT THE FUCK CHRISTOPHER?"
"WHAT?"
"CHRISTOPHER LEFT."
"WHAT HAPPENING DO YOU KNOW NOW?"
"NO- WAIT- YES, WORMHOLE."
"OH COOL GREAT."
CJ started crying.
"DON'T CRY CJ WE'LL BE FINE, DON'T CRY."
The video started to fizz up more and glitched to a black screen. Only sound was screeching, and the time recorder reset to zero. When the screen started working again, Chris was on the wall. CJ was on the ground, and Larry was dead. The image on the screen was of Earth. The control vehicle they were in started to fall. It hit the ground with a bang. Chris' legs buckled. His clothes were gone. The door of control pod was forced open, and Chris looked out of the door and crawled out of it. CJ was crying. He looked up. Their ship was floating above them, and no one else was there. He got up to his feet and checked his phone. 1983. He dropped the camera.