Chapter 3         Ashley

"Ashley was my girlfriend at the time I was on planet Mar-Sara. We were a great couple; we cared for each other a lot. We were going out for about a year and a half that night of the attack, when she came by to visit. Her beautiful blonde hair and crystal clear blue eyes…I remember it like yesterday..."-Stryke

            I walked down the corridor of the house, looking around slowly. I was just about to open the door, when a zergling cry suddenly stopped me. It came from behind the door. I grabbed the knife that was left on the desk besides me, my shaking hand reaching for the door. I grabbed the knob and twisting it, standing with the knife in my hand. The zergling stood there, staring back at me. Its red eyes glared at me. I gasped when it suddenly jumped and knocked me off my feet, the knife flying out of my hand. I hit the ground with a loud thud; my instincts made me sit up quickly to reach for the knife. The zergling leaped at me, its claws thrashing at the air. The claw sliced the air, hitting my face.         

I sat up quickly with a scream, sweat beading down my face, even though I felt the air conditioning breeze hitting my face. The clatter of the hammer rang in my ears. Marc was working on the house, boarding it up, getting it ready for the next Zerg attack, if it happens. A sigh escaped my lips as I looked around slowly. We got most of the work done, and I remember sitting down on the couch to take a break. I must have dozed off.

I stared at the ground, the dream repeating in my head. I saw a C-10 canister rifle shell on the ground. Marc must have been attacked, and he used his gun to kill the creatures. Blood stains stained the carpet that was there. The blood was a blackish color; it had to be those creatures' blood.

"You awake yet there, bro?" my brother voice rang in my head from across the room. I didn't answer though, I was still in thought.

"You were supposed to go out on a date with Ashley tonight, man." Marc said again. "I am guessing that it is canceled due to the attack?"

I suddenly remembered about the date. I stood up and grabbed my jacket, looking back at Marc.

"You are going to be alright by yourself?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine, man. I got my gun here." He said with a smile. "Have fun man"

I rushed out the door, disappearing into the darkness. The wind howled, the stars shone brightly, lighting the path for me. I walked with my hands in my pockets, looking down at the dark brown dirt under me. I was thinking about what had happened earlier.

"These things are impossible!" Matt shouted.

"Their armor is much harder then those of the little ones!" I shouted back, continuing to fire my rifle.

            My actions today weren't me. It was my instinct of survival. Yelling at Duke wasn't me either; I usually would follow orders of a military officer. But there was something about him that made me do it. I had a feeling that he knew something that all of us didn't.

            The dust around me kicked up. I felt a chill go up my spine. It is kind of chilly out tonight. Ashley's house isn't that much farther down. I put my head back down, but then bumped into someone. I stumbled back some, but caught myself.

            "You alright there, son?" the person said.

            "Yeah, I'm fine" I said, looking up.

            The man was a big one, a Vulture hover cycle was behind him. Now I know who it is. It's Jim Raynor, the marshal of Mar Sara.

            "Oh, hey Jim" I said.

            "Is that you, Justin?" Jim asked.

            "Yes, it is"

            "What are you doing out so late, man?" asked the marshal

            "Just walking to my girlfriend's house." I replied, looking up at him.

            "Oh, alright. Well I am just patrolling around these here streets, due to that attack. I don't even know what those lil' fuckers were, but to be on the safe side, I am staying up late to make sure nothing like that happens again."

            "Hey, you got an estimate of how many people died from the attack?" I asked, my brown hair blowing in the wind, my leather jacket swaying slightly.

            "About 438 people" said the marshal, cracking his knuckles.

            "Holy shit…"

            "Yeah, that's a lot of people, and if you don't mind, Justin, I am going back to duty."

            I watched the marshal give me a wave, turn around, and walk to his vulture. When he turned it on, it whined loudly, and began to float in the air. It floated up about 3 feet off the ground; the marshal's feet no longer touched the ground. Then he sped off, the thrusters burning on the back of the bike.

            I began to walk towards the house again, looking up at the sky. Something unusual was up there, and I could feel it. I saw some unusual bright lights up in the far east of the sky. I shrugged it off. It is probably just the confederacy wraiths and battle cruisers in orbit.

            I saw Ashley's house in the distance, and I checked my jean pockets to see how much money I have. I pulled out the crumpled bills, examining them closely, just barely able to see the numbers. The result was 23 dollars. Just enough for a small drink, popcorn, and two tickets at the movies. If there was any movie building left.

            I jumped up onto the porch, clearing the three steps. The lights were lit, shining dimly through the windows. I guess she is still up, doing something. She is going to be a bit mad; I am about 45 minutes late. I pressed the doorbell, and the little song played.

             The door creaked open, the light shined into my eyes. I blinked a couple of times, looking at the figure. It was her dad.

            Ashley is about 19 years old, and still lives with her parents. She says it is easier to go to college this way. She wants to be a doctor when she grows up. The only thing I am afraid of is she might become a medic, a confederate medic.

            "Come in, Justin" her father said giving me that evil glare.

            I stepped my way inside the house, my sneakers tracking in dirt, but I didn't know. Her father didn't really like me too much. He probably thinks I am banging his daughter. Well, maybe I did once. But he doesn't know that.

            I sat down at the single seater couch, and then her father sat down in front of me.

            "So Justin, where do you work?" he asked me, his eyes fixed onto mine.

            "I work at Happy Burger" I said. I felt kind of embarrassed. "I cook"

            "Oh, I see" said her father, disappointment sounding in his voice.

            "I'm ready" Ashley said, walking down the stairs.

            Ashley was a cute girl. She had a slender body, with long blonde hair going down to her shoulder blades. Her eyes were a crystal clear blue color. Her fingernails were colored red. She was wearing a white tank top, with female looking blue jeans. She was also wearing white and pink sneakers.

            She came barreling down the stairs. A smile was pasted on her face. She always smiled. I stood up from my chair and then began to walk for the door, she followed behind.

            "Be back no later then 1:00, got that?" her father said.

            "Sure Dad" Ashley replied. Then the door closed behind her, and the light faded behind me.

            I hopped down the stairs, Ashley jumping down with me, walking by my side.

            "Why did you arrive so late?" she asked, she sounded a bit mad. I knew she would be a little angry.

            "Sorry, I was kind of drifted off into some business." I said glumly, not even looking at her.

            "You had to work today? It's Saturday. You are usually off on Saturdays." She demanded. She wanted the truth, but I couldn't let her know the truth.

            "Marly got sick today, so I needed to cover for him" I lied.

            "Oh, ok. So where are we going anyway?" she said. She already lightened up. She is normally never mad for long.

            "Uh, well, I guess the movies."

            "Sounds fun" she said with a laugh.

            Her laugh trailed off into the wind. All the rest was silence. She grasped my hand with hers, holding it close by her side. She always loved holding my hand. I smiled when she did, the wind blowing her blonde hair across the back of her head.

            We walked down the streets of the destructed town. Then she finally figured out what had happened. Fire fighters were still working on putting out the fire. Cars were flipped over, the glass shattered. Buildings were either on fire, or turned into a pile of rubble. Dead bodies lied everywhere. The red blood stained the streets, which was also layered with the blackish blood of the Zerg.

            Man, I was so stupid! I forgot, due to the attack, the movies wouldn't be open. Now she would be demanding the truth, and what had happened. I don't want to tell her though; I don't want to scare her.

            "Justin, what happened here?" she asked, her voice trembling.

            "Well….there was an attack on the city….by the zer—creatures." I replied glumly, trying to keep her calm.

            A marine stood in the middle of the street, his Impaler Gauss Rifle in his hands. The huge combat armor's gloves clasped the rifle tightly. He held the rifle with one hand on the barrel, and then the other one on the handle. His fingers caressed the trigger, but care not to press it. He spotted us, and then jogged over.

            "Sorry sir, ma'm, but you will have to go home. The streets are off limits for now." His voice was deep and scratchy.

            I held onto Ashley's hand as I then turned around and began to walk her away from the streets of the half destroyed city. I could feel her hand get all sweaty, a sign of fear. Her body shook also, and I just stood by her, leading her somewhere else. Somewhere far away from the city. Those images must have gotten her a bit scared.

            She finally stopped, and pulled her hand away from mine. She stopped short, an angry, yet scared look spread upon her face.

            "Justin, what is going on?" she demanded. Her voice was shrill.

            "I told you before. It was those creatures that were on TV. Well they kind of attacked the city. And there is more then just one type of breed; there are bigger ones, and even huge ones. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I just didn't want to scare you. It was supposed to be a fun date out, but apparently, the city is off limits."

            "Justin, I just want to go home. I want to go home, and go to sleep. And think about this. This is all too much. I am really scared Justin, really scared. How could you not tell me about this?"

            "I just didn't want to scare you. That was all my intentions were."

            Ashley looked at me. Even through the darkness, the moonlight showed the tears building up in my eyes.

            "You were attacked, weren't you? You lied to me. You didn't go to work!" She was starting to yell now.

The houses around us began to light up. The light shined on us, I can see her quite clearly now. Her muscles were tense. She was shaking like a baby's rattle. I tried to calm her down. But she wouldn't listen.

"You want to know how I could tell you were attacked?" she said, then hitting the shoulder that I had the cut on.

I looked down at where she hit. There was a light red blood spot there, where the cut lied. I was still wearing that white shirt, so it was clear as daylight to tell I was bleeding. She must have seen it when my jacket was blowing in the wind, revealing it. The flash back of when it happened ran before my eyes.

 A zergling attacked from the side, as I then jumped back and its claws lightly scratched my shoulder. Blood lightly dripped out from the new hole of my shirt.

"I'm sorry, Ashley. I just didn't want to scare you." I said.

The flashback kept going on and on through my head. The thought of the zerglings killing the marines, those spine spitting things piercing through marines, made me have a nauseating feeling. I just wanted to get on my hands and knees and throw up my dinner.

"You want me to walk you home?"

"No, Justin, I am going home alone."

"But-"but before I could finish, I watched her disappear into the darkness. I watched her figure run and run, until I couldn't see that white figure run anymore.

I walked home; I wasn't very far away from my house. It took about 20 minutes from my old position to get there. When I finally made it, I saw that Marc had finally finished what I asked him to do.

The TV's light was flashing through the window, or what was not covered by the boards. I could hear Marc bursting out in laughter. He must be watching some cartoons or something. I opened the door and entered. I looked to see Marc was watching cartoons.

"Hey bro" Marc said.

I was just about to answer hey, but he didn't even wait for me to answer.

"Nothing is up, how about you?" He replied, still staring at the TV.

            "How did you know what I was go-"I started, but he interrupted me.

            "What? Oh, I just kind of knew." He laughed nervously, looking up at me. "Everyone always says 'What's up' you know?"

            "Yeah, sure, whatever. I am going to go to bed now."

            "Good night, bro"

            I made my way up the stairs. It was such a long day. To think about it, I could have been dead. But, my instinct helped me live. If it weren't for that, and Matt, and even Duke, I would have been dead.

            But here I am, alive. Out of so many people that have died today, I am one of the survivors. But what I didn't know was I would be surviving through a lot more hell. And worst then this day I have had.