Life Not Wasted

A Paid Story Prompt

This is a story prompt from Kim Williams, M.Div. I write each of my paid subscribers a story that they prompt. I am way behind on this, but catching up. Here is the prompt from Kim: Supernatural romance. Two lovers facing the end of the world, the undoing of reality. Lyra and Tom.

Your body may be gone, I'm gonna carry you in
In my head, in my heart, in my soul
And maybe we'll get lucky and we'll both live again
Well, I don't know, I don't know
I don't know, don't think so

-Modest Mouse, Ocean Breathes Salty

---

A blast of hot air jolted Tom from his sleep. He gagged as the scorching wind filled his nostrils with a rancid, briny stench that scraped at his throat.

He felt something draped across his legs. He sat up, resting on his elbows so he could get a sense of what was going on. It was Lyra.

Her eyes were closed and her body laid heavily across his calves, one armed tucked under head. Her elbow was digging into his leg. He prayed that she was just asleep. She had been unmoved by the wave of searing salty air, and that worried him. He pulled himself up and pulled Lyra into his arms. She didn’t stir. He cradled her in one arm and with the other, he brushed her red curly hair back from her face and tucked the wild strands behind her ear as best as he could. A few pieces of her fiery locks refused to stay put, forever refusing to be tamed, even now, as the world was ending. He noticed a large gash across her forehead that had clotted over. She was breathing, and that was something. He leaned down as he pulled her body up and kissed her sweetly on the lips. To his surprise, her body shifted and she began to kiss him back, hungrily. Her arm reached up around his neck and for a moment, they forgot that the world was burning around them.

Their kiss abruptly came to an end as the ground beneath them began to rumble. They looked around and both quickly realized why. Across from them and to the left, a large cliff face broke apart from the mountain and landed into the now blood red Pacific Ocean.

The force of a large dark ship that had landed upon it had caused the collapse. They didn't have much time.

Lyra stood shakily and then held out a hand to Tom. He declined and pulled himself up onto all fours, then stood to his feet. It took a moment for him to find his legs and he almost fell.

“You shouldn’t decline my offer of help next time”, Lyra joked.

“If I would have taken your hand, I would have probably just pulled you back down on top of me.”

They would have laughed at this, but the reality of what was happening to them had quickly returned.

“We have to get to the boat”, Lyra reminded him. They carefully looked over the cliff’s edge. “There!” she added. “It’s still there!”

They quickly made their way back to the path that led down the mountain to the sandy beaches below. They weren’t surprised they had woken up in the manner that they had found themselves in on the cliff above. For days now, the atmosphere’s oxygen levels had been falling, the partial pressure dropping so low suddenly, people would drop wherever they stood. There was no warning when it happened.

Lyra and Tom had been making their way to the small fleet of boats that her father’s company had kept stored on land nearby the tractor launch on Shelter Cove - a tiny, isolated village perched on the steep coastal cliffs behind them.

They didn’t speak as they made their way down to the black-sand cove where the fleet of boats had been stored. There was no marina here in Shelter Cove, as the shoreline was too rough and exposed. They had to store the boats on trailers on the dark sandy shore. Lyra and Tom reached the sand, and made their way to her father’s boat, The Lyrical Lady. The only thing Lyra had time to grab before they fled the village was the boat key. She shuddered at the thought of stepping over her father’s half-eaten corpse to grab the set of keys adorned with a boat float keychain. Nearby was the body of what had been feasting on him when Lyra found him - Its ungodly armored legs folded in towards its slimy black plump body like a dead spider. She found her mother, Grace, laying on her parent’s bed - nothing left but bones that were sucked clean - perched up in bed against a wall of blood splattered paisley pillows. A knitting needle was still clutched in her skeletal hand.

She had been making a blanket. A baby blanket, to be exact. A tear fell down Lyra’s cheek, and she instinctively grabbed her swollen belly. She wished now she would have grabbed the small piece of the blanket her mother had started.

The bodies of several men and women dotted the cove. One of these bodies was hunched over the steering wheel of the tractor they needed to haul the boat into the ocean - Paul, she only guessed, based on the remains of his attire that clung to his bones. Her father’s best friend. She had guessed he had also had the same idea as them but hadn’t made it. After they both inspected the outside of the boat for any damage, Lyra directed Tom over to the tractor. He didn’t think twice about the task ahead. They were both in survival mode. They both froze momentarily as a far-off howl erupted, followed by a woman’s screams. Her painful scream ended so suddenly that Tom and Lyra instantly knew she was gone.

This was their new reality. A reality warped by the arrival of the first other-worldly warship, a few days prior. The slimy 10-legged creatures that had scurried out of that black shiny vessel, immediately began feeding on whomever was nearby. It didn’t take long for word to spread that over 1,000 similar ships had landed all across the world. There were more ships dotting the sky and people had surmised that these ships were the cause in the sudden drops of oxygen that had plagued the earth since the alien ships’ arrival.

What people also quickly realized was, that the creatures hated water - specifically salt water. Everyone who had been on small boats across the ocean, swimming along coastlines, or in saltwater pools, had survived - for the most part. Many had met their demise through other ways - head injuries or drowning from the sudden drops of oxygen that had been occurring since the ships’ arrival. Lyra and Tom, it seemed, and only a few others still left on land, had been lucky. They didn’t know how long it would be before their luck ran out.

Tom removed the skeletal remains of the corpse from the tractor seat as reverently as he could, without wasting any of their precious moments they had been given to try to survive. This all felt very hopeless to him. He thought of running over to Lyra and holding her while they waited on their fate, but the image of the baby growing inside of her slightly protruding belly, as terrifying as that was now, kept him moving. He took his position on the tractor and turned the key. He knew he didn’t have long. Whatever was feasting on the woman they had heard screaming, would be alerted to the noise of the tractor. He hoped that they had time.

He maneuvered the tractor hitch onto the trailer hitch, and Lyra began working to connect them. She had been doing this her whole life and the whole act was over quickly. She hopped into the back of the boat and began rummaging through her dad’s survival gear as Tom pulled the boat with the trailer and carefully backed it into the water. When the trailer was submerged, Tom abandoned the tractor and jumped into the boat with Lyra. He sighed in relief as she handed him one of two oxygen masks. The boat started to slowly float back into the salty water when they heard that other-worldly growl again. They both looked in the direction of the sound as they fastened their masks. They saw the creature hurriedly making itself towards them on the black sandy beach. “I’m going to grab one of dad’s shotguns from downstairs. She tossed the boat key to Tom and he clumsily grabbed them, almost losing them to the sea behind him. Thankfully, he held on and made his way over to the driver’s seat. The engine did not want to turn over at first, and he was afraid that the boat was out of gas. It finally sprang to life as the creature met the coastline. It leaped into the air above them and that’s when Tom heard the loud boom. Lyra was standing next to him, gun pointed towards the air, her feet planted firmly on the ground. The creature’s descent was cut short by the shotgun blast, and his injured body splashed into the shallow waves. It began to screech and Tom and Lyra watched as it dissolved into the salty water.

For the first time in days, relief washed over them. The boat was always stocked with enough supplies to last them weeks, in the event that the boat became stranded for any reason. They just needed to get to the middle of the ocean, away from the large cliff faces, away from any large boats with surfaces large enough for ships to land on, away from bridges. Once they were safely away, they could work on finding the others. They had gotten word that a fleet of small boats, survivors, had all found each other. They had rough coordinates but could not worry about that now.

They had to get to safety. He asked Lyra to check out all of the supplies below deck. He stayed above to navigate and watch out for any more danger.

As the boat drifted further out into the sea, he could see black shapes dotting the sky in the distance. None were close, but close enough. He knew they held more of the alien life forms that now plagued the earth and if they came any closer, they could be in danger. They were safer out in the middle of the ocean, but only slightly. They both knew this. The ocean posed a threat to the species, but he had a feeling they might chance it anyway.

When The Lyrical Lady had made it out far enough out into ocean, Tom idled the boat and put in the coordinates. He set the boat on course and made his way to Lyra below deck. She sat on the edge of the cabin bed, her head buried in her hands. Her mask was off, which worried him, but at least she was safely on the bed and not in any immediate danger. The shotgun rested next to her on the bed. He sat beside her and took her into his arms. Her unruly hair was even more wild now, and he hadn't thought that was possible. She began to sob into his chest. He held her there for several moments. He reached down and kissed her cheek. “Why don’t you try to get some sleep, and I will stay above deck to check for any danger”, Tom suggested.

“Just stay with me a moment longer”, she pleaded. And he did. He motioned for them to climb further up on the bed, and he rested his back against the pillows, and she positioned herself in his arms, her head laying against his chest once again. It didn’t take long for the exhaustion to overcome her, and he felt her breathing begin to slow. He thought again about the baby growing inside of her, and for the briefest of moments, he felt some hope begin to blossom.

He thought about the first time they met. He had been on a trip with some friends, and they had booked on of her father’s fishing expeditions. Shortly after he had started talking to the ol’ captain, a small half smile had appeared on Lee’s face. “There is someone I want you to meet when we are back on land.”

When they had announced their pregnancy to her parents over a Sunday dinner months earlier, Lee had told Tom that he knew from the moment he had met him that he would be his son. A ball of grief formed in his belly at the thought of Lee and Grace never meeting their grandbaby.

Maybe this will all be over soon. Maybe Lyra and him - and the baby - would be able to start over with the few survivors he hoped were still where they had said they would be. He ran his fingers through the red curly locks and he kissed her forehead. He heard a loud crash above them as something landed hard upon the deck. Lyra was startled awake and she and Tom started to move. Lyra grabbed for her mask a moment too late, and the blackness overcame her.

Tom had to act alone. He grabbed the shotgun and moved towards the cabin exit. He carefully cracked open the large wooden door and peaked outside. He had expected to see sunlight shining in, but instead, he was looking up at the large body of the spider-like creature. It’s legs on each side of the cabin stairs. He didn’t hesitate. He pointed the gun towards the shiny black underbelly of the alien being and fired. It screeched but only teetered back slightly, far enough to maneuver its head towards the cabin door. Tom fired again and its head exploded in a black bloody gore. It covered him, but Tom wasn’t fazed. He was just glad this one threat had been eliminated.

That relief only lasted a moment when he saw the torso that still remained above him began to writhe and wriggle. A small shiny black armored leg emerged from the hole that he had created with his shotgun blast. Something was crawling out of it. He heard a light thump above deck as he slammed shut the mahogany door. Lyra was awake now and had safely secured her mask again. They both heard more thumps and what they thought were footsteps, a loud blast followed by an ungodly screech. Something fell hard against the door. Tom held on tight to the gun, but with the other he grabbed Lyra and held her tightly too him. They waited, too afraid to move towards the cabin door. Then suddenly, the heard muffled sounds coming from above. A human voice. They looked at each other, unable to see the expressions on their faces from the masks that they wore. He wanted to look into her eyes, see her beautiful face. They both knew now was not the moment. They heard shuffling and grunts and then quiet. They waited for what felt like an eternity, both breathing heavily. Finally, the door slowly creaked open.

A man appeared in the doorway wearing tattered fishing attire and also wearing an oxygen mask.

They were not alone. Lyra and Tom let go of their tight embrace and moved towards the man. He took off his mask and Lyra realized that it was Dylan, one of her dad’s fishing partners.

“Lyra! I am so happy to see you are alive”. He looked around the room and Lyra realized he was looking to see if anyone else was in there with them.

“Mom and dad…they…didn’t make it.”

Dylan only nodded solemnly. He wasn’t surprised.

“No one else did either. The rest of my crew…”

He never finished his sentence. He passed out. The doorway darkened again as they watched another large shape looming above them. Dylan’s limp body was half in and half out and prevented them from being able to shut the door.

Tom took his mask off and tossed it to the ground. Lyra did the same.

He leaned down and met his lips to hers. They heard a menacing growl outside the cabin door, but they didn’t dare look.

They held on as tightly as they could to each other, lost in their kiss. In that moment they had given up all hope, and with their last breaths they would take on this earth, they only wanted to spend it just like this. Their world went black around them.

---

When they awoke, they were still in each other’s arms. Dylan’s body was no longer blocking the door and was nowhere to be seen. The beast that had been above them was gone.

They remained there in the silence, the boat slowly rocking on the waves of the ocean. Neither of them spoke for several moments. The sight of Lyra still in his arms had given Tom a renewed strength. Their gaze met once more.

“I’m sorry, my love. I will not give up hope again. If I die, it will be a death well earned. I will not stop fighting for you and the life growing inside of you.”

She nodded slightly. A single tear formed in Lyra’s eye and fell down her left cheek as she smiled faintly up at him. He wiped it away and kissed her once more.

It was Lyra’s turn to speak.

“We won’t stop fighting for each other.” She looked down and began to rub her belly through her mud-covered blue tank. “If no one else but us is left, we will survive, and we will grow old together on this scorched earth.”

They should have died a couple of dozen times already.

They were not going to waste this chance at more life that had been given to them.

Tom rested his hand atop Lyra’s, both holding on to the promise she held inside of her.